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THURSDAY, July 2, 2020 (American Heart Association News) -- A growing body of research suggests heart attacks, angina and other heart events increase during winter and summer. Now, a new study could explain why. Researchers reviewed an international registry of 1,113 people, the majority from Japan, with acute coronary syndrome. Heart attack is a type of acute coronary syndrome, which occurs when the blood supply to the heart muscle is suddenly decreased or blocked. Using images of the fatty deposits in participants' coronary arteries, researchers put people into groups: plaque rupture, plaque erosion and calcified plaque. Each plaque scenario can block blood flow and lead to a heart attack or other cardiac event. But a rupture is more immediate and occurs when the calcified plaque...

THURSDAY, July 2, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- New York City's COVID-19 death rate was more than double that of some countries, and the city's oldest people had the highest risk of death, researchers report. They used a computer model to analyze over 191,000 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases along with more than 20,000 confirmed and probable COVID-19 deaths in New York City from March 1 to May 16. During that time, the city's death rate was 1.45% -- meaning between 1% and 2% of New Yorkers infected with COVID-19 died. That's more than twice the rate already reported elsewhere. For example, COVID-19 death rates in both China and France, where most estimates have come from, were about 0.7%, according to the researchers. So far, the U.S. death rate is unclear, researchers from Columbia...

THURSDAY, July 2, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The coronavirus pandemic makes planning for July 4th a challenge this year, especially if someone in the family has allergies or asthma, an allergy expert says. "This summer will see modifications in how people celebrate Independence Day," said Dr. J. Allen Meadows, president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. "Some traditions like fireworks may go by the wayside, but frankly, fireworks can be really hard for those with asthma because smoke is a trigger for asthma symptoms. You may be better off getting creative with how you mark the day and sticking closer to home. With a little advance planning, your 4th of July can still be patriotic and fun for all," Meadows said in a college news release. If you're trying to...

THURSDAY, July 2, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- An experimental ultrafast-acting insulin could work four times quicker than current fast-acting formulas, researchers say. For the study, the researchers focused on a form of insulin called monomeric insulin. Though its structure should, in theory, allow it to act faster, monomeric insulin is too unstable for practical use, so the Stanford University team had to find a way around that problem. "The insulin molecules themselves are fine, so we wanted to develop a 'magic fairy dust' that you add into a vial that would help to fix the stability problem," said senior author Eric Appel, assistant professor of materials science and engineering. "People often focus on the therapeutic agents in a drug formulation but, by focusing only on the...