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TUESDAY, April 28, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Work stress may increase your risk for ending up in the hospital with peripheral artery disease, a new study suggests. Peripheral artery disease (PAD) occurs when cholesterol or other fatty substances accumulate in blood vessels away from the heart -- usually in the legs -- and restrict blood flow. Left untreated, PAD increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. Previous studies have linked work stress to other types of artery-clogging disease, but few have specifically examined PAD. This new study assessed the association between work stress and hospital treatment for PAD. The results were published April 28 in the Journal of the American Heart Association. "Our findings suggest that work-related stress may be a risk factor for...

TUESDAY, April 28, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Bats and coronavirus have been evolving together for millions of years, researchers report. In a new study, investigators compared different kinds of coronaviruses living in 36 bat species found on islands in the western Indian Ocean and coastal areas of the African nation of Mozambique. The researchers discovered that 8% of all the bats they tested were carrying a coronavirus and that different groups of bats had their own unique strains of coronavirus. "We found that there's a deep evolutionary history between bats and coronaviruses," said study co-author Steve Goodman, a field biologist at Chicago's Field Museum. "Developing a better understanding of how coronaviruses evolved can help us build public health programs in the future," he...

TUESDAY, April 28, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Young people who pull themselves out of poverty may be no better off when it comes to their heart health, a new study suggests. Researchers found that "upwardly mobile" U.S. adults tended to be less stressed and depressed than peers who spent their whole lives below the poverty line. Unfortunately, it did not make a difference in their cardiovascular health. They were just as likely to have conditions like obesity and elevated blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol, the study found. The results might sound surprising, said Dr. Nieca Goldberg, a cardiologist and volunteer expert with the American Heart Association. After all, both higher income and better mental health have been consistently linked with better physical health. "But I...

TUESDAY, April 28, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- While health experts continued to call for a national strategy to test more Americans for coronavirus, President Donald Trump on Monday announced a "blueprint" for boosting testing capacity as some states began reopening their economies. But the national guidance says states must develop their own testing plans and rapid-response programs while the White House provides "strategic direction and technical assistance," and helps "align laboratory testing supplies and capacity with existing and anticipated laboratory needs," the Washington Post reported. Trump was joined at the media briefing by some major retailers who said they had ramped up both testing and the production of medical supplies. They predicted they would doubling both their...