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WEDNESDAY, April 29, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- COVID-19 might raise stroke risk in young and middle-aged adults, with virus-linked blood clots causing severe damage to their brains, doctors warn. Word has already spread that the novel coronavirus appears to increase clotting in some patients, experts say. Now, a series of five cases at the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City indicate that those clots might cause strokes in young patients, according to a new report in the April 28 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The cases came during a two-week period from March 23 to April 7. The patients ranged in age from 33 to 49, and all were COVID-19 positive when they came to the hospital for care, Mount Sinai researchers said. The youngest, a 33-year-old woman, developed...

WEDNESDAY, April 29, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- As the U.S. coronavirus case count climbed past 1 million and the death toll neared 60,000, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday that forces beleaguered meat processing plants to stay open so the country's food supply isn't threatened. The order used the Defense Production Act to classify meat processing as critical infrastructure, to try to keep chicken, pork and other meat flowing to supermarket coolers, the Associated Press reported. More than 20 meatpacking plants have been shuttered under pressure from local authorities and their own workers because of the virus. Others have slowed production as workers have fallen ill or stayed home to avoid getting sick, the wire service said. But unions representing...

TUESDAY, April 28, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Even though many Americans might not even know what pulse oximeters are, the tiny devices are flying off pharmacy shelves as high-risk folks worry about COVID-19. That's because they perform a critical function, measuring the concentration of oxygen in the blood. How? Just clip the device onto a patient's finger for a reading. A healthy blood level of "oxygen saturation" normally measures 95-100% on a pulse oximeter, and readings lower than 90% are considered dangerously low. With shortness of breath a key symptom of severe COVID-19, many people are buying pulse oximeters as "early warning" devices to track their blood oxygen levels, in case they require supplemental oxygen in a hospital. According to one recent report from CNN, by last...

TUESDAY, April 28, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Worries over medical bills would prevent 1 in 7 Americans from seeking treatment if they had possible symptoms of COVID-19, a new poll finds. Of more than 1,000 adults surveyed, 6% -- representing 15 million Americans -- said that during the coronavirus pandemic, they or a family member had been denied care for another health problem. Asked if they would seek medical attention for a fever and dry cough -- telltale signs of COVID-19 -- 14% said they would not because of cost, according to the results from the nonprofit West Health and Gallup. Even if they suspected they were infected, 9% said they wouldn't seek treatment -- a finding that suggests insurance coverage shortfalls, lack of money, or poor knowledge of COVID-19 symptoms, the...