NIH study finds factors that may influence influenza vaccine effectiveness

Latest Digestion News By Amy NortonHealthDay Reporter TUESDAY, Feb. 25, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Common heartburn meds may foster the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the gut, a new research review suggests. In an analysis of 12 past studies, researchers found that, overall, the evidence supports a link: People who use acid-suppressing medications — particularly proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) — are more likely than nonusers to harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the gut. The findings do not prove that PPIs — which include popular brands such as Prilosec (omeprazole), Prevacid (lansoprazole) and Nexium (esomeprazole) — are the cause, experts said. But they are the latest to raise safety questions about the top-selling prescription and over-the-counter medicines. In recent years, studies have linked long-term PPI use to increased risks of heart and kidney disease, stomach cancer and certain infections — as well as deficiencies in calcium, magnesium and vitamin B12. That said, PPIs are generally safe to use, according to Dr. Todd Lee, an associate professor of medicine at McGill University in Montreal. But, he said, it’s known that doctors overprescribe the drugs and that many people take them longer than necessary. So any safety concerns underscore the importance of using PPIs […]

Latest Diet & Weight Management News By Serena GordonHealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, Feb. 26, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Starting the day with a big breakfast and keeping dinner light may help you burn more calories and keep you trimmer, new research suggests. Eating this way may also keep your blood sugar levels from going too high, the small study found. “Extensive breakfasting should be preferred over large dinner meals,” said study lead author Juliane Richter, of the University of Lubeck’s Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism in Germany. “This recommendation can be applied to healthy people to prevent metabolic diseases [such as diabetes], as well as to patients with overweight and obesity to reduce body weight,” she added. How could eating breakfast improve your weight and blood sugar levels? Richter said the reason isn’t clear yet and more study is needed. But it appears that digestion and metabolism keep pace with the body’s internal clock, she said. Another reason may be that if you don’t eat enough earlier, you’ll be more hungry throughout the day, Richter said. That could lead to overeating, or to eating the wrong kinds of foods later in the day. She also noted more calories are burned […]

Latest Cancer News WEDNESDAY, Feb. 26, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Female firefighters are exposed to chemicals that may be linked with breast and other types of cancer, researchers say. Compared to women working in offices, female firefighters in San Francisco are exposed to higher levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These chemicals are used in firefighting foam and uniforms, grease- and water-resistant coatings and in fabrics, furniture and food packaging. PFAS have been linked to a number of cancers and are known to interfere with breast development as well as immune and endocrine function, according to the study published Feb. 26 in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. It’s one of the first published from the Women Firefighter Biomonitoring Collaborative, a long-term investigation into chemical exposure among female firefighters. “Women firefighters actually raised concern about what they have perceived as elevated rates of breast cancer among their cohort in San Francisco,” said study lead author Jessica Trowbridge, a doctoral student in the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. “As a team, we decided to conduct an exposure study looking at chemicals that are potential breast carcinogens,” Trowbridge said in a university news release. Studies looking […]

Latest Digestion News By Amy NortonHealthDay Reporter MONDAY, Feb. 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Doctors thought they had a fairly common scenario in front of them: A patient with advanced liver disease who needed help for her alcohol abuse. Then they discovered her own bladder was making the alcohol. The doctors, at the University of Pittsburgh, say it’s a previously unrecognized variant of so-called auto-brewery syndrome. ABS, which has been reported sporadically over the years, occurs when yeast builds up in the gut and converts sugar from food into alcohol. “Traditional” ABS causes blood alcohol to spike, along with symptoms like dizziness, disorientation, coordination problems and mood changes. In contrast, this new variant — what the Pitt team terms urinary ABS — does not affect blood alcohol. Instead, yeast in the bladder produces alcohol in the urine. The patient in this case, who was 61 and had liver cirrhosis, did not show symptoms of intoxication. But her urine tests repeatedly came back positive for alcohol, which meant she could not be placed on the waitlist for a donor liver. Doctors at her initial transplant center told her she would have to undergo treatment for alcohol abuse — a problem she […]

Latest Sexual Health News By Adam Townsend on 02/25/2020 8:32 PM Source: MedicineNet Health News Even as the latest government statistics show record numbers of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) throughout the U.S., a major health poll shows most people are oblivious. As the U.S. Centers for Disease Control works to tamp down spikes in STD rates through screening initiatives and other measures, a February survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that two thirds of adult Americans don’t even realize STDs are a growing problem. The CDC numbers are grim. Rates for many STDs rose from 2017 to 2018, but one of the most dramatic fluctuations is in the total cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis — combined, the number represents an all-time high in U.S. history, according to the agency. In 2018 – the most recent stats available – 2.5 million had an active sexually transmitted infection. This includes almost 1.8 million with chlamydia, nearly 600,000 with gonorrhea and 115,000 cases of syphilis, both primary and congenital (passed from infected mother to baby). In fact, the number of infant deaths from congenital syphilis rose 22% in the U.S. from 2017 to 2018, from 77 to 94 deaths. Total congenital syphilis cases […]

Latest Senior Health News By Dennis ThompsonHealthDay Reporter MONDAY, Feb. 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Americans may want to rethink the stereotype of the pot-loving teen: More U.S. seniors are using the drug now than ever before. The proportion of folks 65 and older who use pot stands at 4.2%, up from 2.4% in 2015, according to figures from the U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health. “The change from 2.4 up to 4.2, that’s a 75% increase,” said senior researcher Joseph Palamar, an associate professor of population health at New York University Langone Medical Center. “It didn’t double, but 75% is a pretty big increase, I think.” Emily Feinstein, executive vice president and chief operating officer at the Center on Addiction, reviewed the study and commented that the trend is “not surprising.” “First, older people are more likely to experience pain and other chronic conditions,” Feinstein said. “Secondly, marijuana has become increasingly available and acceptable within society. Together, these two factors are probably driving this trend.” But Palamar doesn’t think the wave of marijuana legalization sweeping the nation has prompted Grandma and Grandpa to give weed a try, either to ease aches and pains or have a pleasant […]

Latest Skin News SUNDAY, Feb. 23, 2020 (HealthDay News) — People sometimes refer to menopause as “the change of life,” but many women are surprised that one of the things that changes is their skin, an expert says. “Although fluctuating hormones during menopause can result in a number of skin changes, these don’t need to be disruptive to daily life,” said New York City dermatologist Dr. Diane Berson. “With the right care, women can continue to have healthy, blemish-free skin during midlife and beyond.” During menopause, declining estrogen levels result in dryness and itching. Wash with a mild cleanser, as regular soap may be too drying, Berson suggested in an American Academy of Dermatology news release. After bathing or showering and throughout the day, apply a moisturizer with hyaluronic acid or glycerin. To help soothe itchy skin, apply a cool, wet compress, then a moisturizer. Another way to relieve itchy skin is to take a colloidal oatmeal bath. Colloidal oatmeal is available in most drug and beauty stores. Use warm, not hot, water and pat your skin dry — instead of rubbing — to avoid further irritation, Berson advised. If fluctuating hormones leave you with acne, wash with a cleanser […]

Latest Sexual Health News By Steven ReinbergHealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Listen up, guys: A healthy diet is good for your brain and heart, and also your sperm, new research suggests. In a study of more than 2,900 Danish men, median age 19, those whose diet was rich in fish, chicken, vegetables, fruit and water had higher sperm counts than those who ate a “Western” diet rich in pizza, French fries, processed and red meats, snacks, refined grains, sugary beverages and sweets, researchers found. “Because following a generally healthy diet pattern is a modifiable behavior, our results suggest the possibility of using dietary intervention as a possible approach to improve sperm quality of men in reproductive age,” said lead study author Feiby Nassan. She’s a postdoctoral research associate at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in Boston. Sperm count can affect fertility because the lower the count, the lower the chance of getting a partner pregnant. “It may be useful for men’s fertility to follow a generally healthy diet,” Nassan said. For the study, her team compared sperm counts among men who ate a healthy diet; a Western diet; a Danish diet rich in cold […]

Latest Neurology News FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Canadian doctors who conducted the first robotic surgery to treat a brain aneurysm say the approach could boost the availability and precision of lifesaving stroke care. Use of the technology could also be a first step toward remote robotic surgery for stroke and other conditions affecting brain blood vessels. “In the future, perhaps, a patient could end up in a small center somewhere, and the staff there could put the patient into the appropriate suite where the procedure can be done,” explained American Heart Association president-elect Dr. Mitchell Elkind. “And then, an expert at another site, perhaps hundreds or even thousands of miles away, could perform the procedure remotely. It’s really like science fiction stuff. It sounds really exciting and it has great potential.” Elkind wasn’t involved in the new report, which was led by Dr. Vitor Mendes Pereira, a neurosurgeon and neuroradiologist at the Toronto Western Hospital. His team presented their findings Friday at the International Stroke Conference, in Los Angeles. As the Canadian doctors explained, robotic technology is already used in many surgeries, including cardiac procedures. But it has not yet been tried in delicate neurovascular surgeries — […]

Latest Infectious Disease News By E.J. MundellHealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) — A report from doctors battling China’s coronavirus outbreak raises concern that people who have no symptoms and initially test negative on medical tests might still harbor and spread the COVID-19 virus. The case involves an asymptomatic 20-year-old woman who appears to have spread the illness to five relatives who later became ill. If similar reports are found elsewhere, “the prevention of COVID-19 infection would prove challenging,” warned researchers led by Dr. Meiyun Wang of Henan Provincial People’s Hospital in Zhengzhou, China. While the rate of new cases in China appear to be slowing, outbreaks in countries such as South Korea and Iran have experts worried that COVID-19 could go global. As of Friday, a total of more than 75,000 cases and 2,236 deaths were reported in mainland China. For many infectious respiratory illnesses, people have to be symptomatic to transmit the infection to others. But the new report suggests that might not always be the case for COVID-19. As Wang’s team explained, five members of a family in the Chinese city of Anyang came down with coronavirus about 10 days after meeting up with a […]

Latest High Blood Pressure News FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2020 (American Heart Association News) — Nearly two-thirds of people who survive an often-deadly type of stroke caused by bleeding in the brain continue to experience high blood pressure because they aren’t taking enough medication, new research shows. The preliminary study, presented this week at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference in Los Angeles, found most people who survive an intracerebral hemorrhage need three or more medications to control severe hypertension afterward. “If they don’t achieve control, the risk of a recurrent stroke is three to four times higher,” said lead researcher Dr. Kay-Cheong Teo, of the University of Hong Kong’s department of medicine. His team included researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. The study of 1,172 bleeding stroke survivors from Boston and Hong Kong found 64.3% of those in Boston and 32.7% in Hong Kong continued to experience high blood pressure, also called hypertension, six months after their strokes, despite treatment. About a third of the Boston stroke survivors and nearly as many in Hong Kong, 29.7%, experienced hypertension that was resistant to medication. But the balance – 66.5% in Boston and 70.3% in Hong Kong – were not […]

Latest Heart News FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Ambulances outfitted as “mobile stroke treatment units” provide faster treatment and reduce patients’ risk of severe disability and death, German researchers report. The new study examined the use of three mobile stroke units in Berlin. Each unit is staffed with emergency medicine neurologists and has a CT scanner and lab on board that enables treatment at the scene. Treatment may include clot-busting drugs to restore blood flow to the brain. Timing of this treatment is crucial because the clot-busting medication alteplase should be given within 4.5 hours of stroke symptoms. “Just waiting until the patient arrives at the hospital is not enough anymore,” said lead author Dr. Heinrich Audebert, a professor in the Center for Stroke Research at Charité Universitätsmedizin, in Berlin. The study included 749 patients (average age 73) who were treated by the mobile units, and 794 patients (average age 74) who received regular care in the hospital. Sixty percent of patients treated in a mobile stroke unit received the clot-busting drug, compared with 48% of patients who received conventional treatment in the hospital, the study found. When a mobile unit was dispatched, time to treatment was reduced […]

Latest Cholesterol News MONDAY, Feb. 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) — A new type of cholesterol-lowering drug that works differently than statins has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Esperion Therapeutics Inc.’s Nexletol will provide an alternative for people who can’t tolerate or don’t fully respond to statins such as Lipitor and Crestor, the Associated Press reported. Nexletol is a daily pill approved for people with a genetic predisposition for high cholesterol and for heart disease patients who need to further reduce their bad cholesterol. The drug is to be taken at the highest dose patients can tolerate and used in conjunction with a healthy diet, according to the FDA. “This is a nice alternative” to statins, but statins will still be the first choice, Dr. Christie Ballantyne, Baylor College of Medicine’s cardiology chief, told the AP. He consults for Esperion and helped test Nexletol. Copyright © 2019 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SLIDESHOW Lower Your Cholesterol, Save Your Heart See Slideshow

Latest Senior Health News By Steven ReinbergHealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Caring for a loved one at home can be rewarding, but it can also be overwhelming and take a toll on your own health, a new study suggests. According to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 1 in 5 of the nearly 18 million Americans who provide informal, unpaid care may be in fair or poor health. “As the population of America ages and the number of older adults with diseases such as Alzheimer’s continue to grow, there concomitantly has been a growth in the number of non-paid, informal caregivers,” said Dr. Teresa Murray Amato, director of geriatric emergency medicine at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills in New York City. “Many of these caregivers are family members, which can be very helpful for allowing older adults to remain at home,” said Amato, who was not part of the study. Over the three years of the study (2015 to 2017), using data from 44 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, researchers led by the CDC’s Valerie Edwards found that 21% of more than 252,000 respondents were caregivers. […]

Latest Infectious Disease News By Peter Schelden on 02/21/2020 3:43 PM Source: MedicineNet Health News As the global death toll tops 2,100, COVID-19 infections continue to spread in countries across the world, including in the U.S. The region with the most infections is the West Coast, with 11 confirmed cases out of 15 total. In comparison, the East Coast has confirmed only one case. There are nine confirmed COVID-19 cases in California, including one patient recently evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan. Another case was reported last week in Arizona involving a man in his 20s, according to The Arizona Republic. The first confirmed case in the U.S. appeared in Washington state. Other people have tested positive elsewhere in the US. Two cases have been confirmed in Illinois, one in Wisconsin, and one in Texas. The only East Coast state with any confirmed COVID-19 cases is Massachusetts, which reported a Boston man in his 20s was infected earlier this month. An additional 13 evacuees from the Diamond Princess were taken Monday to health facilities in Omaha. These patients are in quarantine. The CDC does not reflect these cases in its official statistics, but confirmed in a statement […]

Latest Infectious Disease News Brenda GoodmanFebruary 20, 2020 As countries work to slow the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19, the screening of international travelers has become a cornerstone of those efforts. Because there are a limited number of lab tests, travelers generally aren’t being swabbed unless they have symptoms or if they’ve answered yes to certain questions. They include whether the travelers recently had close contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus, which is now officially called SARS-CoV-2. A new study by German researchers shows why that approach probably isn’t catching everyone who’s infected. The researchers tested 126 people who were returning to Germany after recent travel from China. On the flight, 10 people were isolated because they were at high risk of being infected — some had symptoms, and others had contact with people who were infected. As soon as the plane touched down, these 10 passengers were taken to a hospital and tested for the virus. None were positive. Doctors examined the rest of the passengers at a medical assessment center at the airport. One passenger had a fever, a hard time breathing, and a cough. He was also tested, and was negative […]

Latest Heart News THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2020 (HealthDay News) — For decades, artery-opening stents have helped prevent heart attacks, and new research suggests they might also help prevent strokes in the brain. In a new study, the self-expanding, intracranial Wingspan brain stent seems effective over the long term in reducing stroke patients’ risk of a subsequent stroke and death. Intracranial stents are tiny mesh tubes that are permanently implanted to open clogged brain arteries and improve blood flow to the brain. The new study looked at medical registry data on recurrent stroke or death in more than 150 stroke survivors who’d received a Wingspan brain stent. The stent appeared to cut risks in half, said American Heart Association (AHA) president-elect Dr. Mitchell Elkind. “After a year, there was a low risk of recurrent stroke or death in these patients compared to what we would expect historically,” Elkind said. “So, about 9% or so of the patients had a recurrent event, compared with what we would expect to be closer to about 20%.” He stressed that this study wasn’t a “gold-standard” randomized clinical trial. Still, “this is promising, and it suggests that for some patients, the benefits of stenting may be […]

Latest Heart News By Serena GordonHealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2020 (HealthDay News) — A noninvasive magnetic brain stimulation device worn less than an hour a day can increase activity near stroke-injured areas of the brain, a small, preliminary study suggests. Those improvements in brain activity might then lead to increased motor function in people who have had a stroke, the researchers said. “We were excited to see a strong hint of improved motor function even in this small study. There is hope for stroke survivors with chronic motor impairment,” said study senior author Dr. David Chiu, director of Houston Methodist Hospital’s Eddy Scurlock Stroke Center. The study included 30 ischemic stroke survivors. An ischemic stroke is one in which a blood vessel becomes blocked, preventing blood flow to the brain. If blood flow isn’t quickly restored, brain damage occurs. The study volunteers all had some brain damage, and as result, had weakness on one side of their body. Chiu said researchers chose people who were at least three months post-stroke because spontaneous improvements generally don’t happen after that. That means any improvements seen could be attributed to the device. The device, which is controlled with a smartphone, looks like […]

Latest Diabetes News THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2020 (American Heart Association News) — Emerging research may help doctors devise better ways to prevent some of the tens of thousands of amputations unrelated to traumatic injury that occur in the U.S. each year. Diabetes is the leading cause of nontraumatic lower limb amputations, including of the toe and foot. That’s partly because diabetes increases risk of peripheral artery disease, or PAD, a narrowing of major blood vessels in the legs and other areas distant from the heart. But research emphasizes another problem in the mix – microvascular disease, impairment of the tiniest blood vessels, which deliver oxygen and nutrients to tissue. Microvascular disease can damage the eyes (retinopathy), the kidneys (nephropathy) and the nerves (neuropathy). Instead of viewing these as separate conditions, researchers suggest in a new review article that they be considered a potential systemic, or body-wide, dysfunction. The article appeared Thursday in the American Heart Association journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. Diabetes, along with high blood pressure, can cause large blood vessels to thicken, narrowing their interior, and small vessels to shrivel or disappear, said Dr. Joshua Beckman, director of vascular medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, […]

Latest Cold and Flu News By Dennis ThompsonHealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) — It’s been overshadowed by the new coronavirus outbreak in China, but this year’s flu season could be near its peak after surging throughout the United States for months. At least 14,000 people have died and 250,000 have already been hospitalized during the 2019-2020 flu season, according to estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 26 million Americans have fallen ill with flu-like symptoms. “There is a deadly respiratory virus that is circulating throughout the United States, and it is at its peak. It is not novel coronavirus,” said Dr. Pritish Tosh, an infectious disease specialist with the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minn. This flu season has come in two waves and has been particularly hard on children, the experts said. The season started early, in October, with an unusual wave of influenza B virus. Influenza B is less likely than other strains to mutate and become more virulent. That means it poses a greater threat to young people than to older folks, who may have gained immunity because they encountered the strain before. There have been 92 flu-related deaths […]

Latest Alzheimer’s News FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) — A proposed project to map the genes of 1 million people in New York living with or at-risk for Alzheimer’s disease was announced Friday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He said the five years of data collected by the Curing Alzheimer’s Health Consortium initiative at the State University of New York would help researchers working to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s, the Associated Press reported. The state will seek proposals for private providers to work with SUNY, other hospitals and non-profit higher education research institutions on the project, Cuomo said. There is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, which affects more than 5 million people in the United States. Current drugs only temporarily reduce symptoms, the AP reported. Copyright © 2019 HealthDay. All rights reserved. QUESTION One of the first symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease is __________________. See Answer

Latest Prevention & Wellness News WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — The mystery of “stinging water” has been solved, scientists say. Stinging water is the seawater near and around upside-down jellyfish (Cassiopea) — and swimmers can get stinging, itchy skin while submerged in it, even if they have no direct contact with the creatures themselves. But it wasn’t clear in the past if the jellyfish were to blame for this discomfort, since several other possible causes had been suggested, including severed jellyfish tentacles, “sea lice,” anemones and other stinging marine animals. In this new study, researchers concluded that stinging water is caused by toxin-filled mucus that the jellyfish release into the water. The mucus contains gyrating balls of stinging cells called cassiosomes. “This discovery was both a surprise and a long-awaited resolution to the mystery of stinging water,” said study author Cheryl Ames, a research associate at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., and an associate professor at Tohoku University in Japan. “We can now let swimmers know that stinging water is caused by upside-down jellyfish, despite their general reputation as a mild stinger,” Ames said in a Smithsonian news release. The study — by […]

Latest Neurology News By Serena GordonHealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Love to cross-country ski? Well, all those days spent striding across the snow-covered wilderness may do more than keep you in great physical shape. Swedish researchers report that very fit long-distance skiers were about 30% less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease during their 20-year study. The research suggests that any activity that keeps you fit might buffer the brain against disease. “Our study highlights the importance of staying physically active throughout life, in order to have a reserve to better cope when the frailties and diseases of old age inevitably arrive,” said study senior author Tomas Deierborg. He’s an associate professor in neuroscience at Lund University in Sweden. Deierborg said the researchers believe these very fit athletes have built up a greater “motor reserve” that slows any brain damage from Parkinson’s disease. He said it’s similar to the idea of “cognitive reserve” in people with dementia that suggests someone who is well-educated can sustain more brain damage from dementia before symptoms of the disorder become obvious. However, not everyone is convinced that motor reserve is playing a role in this study’s findings. Dr. Michael Okun, national […]

Latest Neurology News By Dennis ThompsonHealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Rising drug costs are hampering the care of patients with debilitating neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s, a new study finds. Patients are less likely to fill necessary prescriptions as out-of-pocket costs increase, said senior researcher Dr. Brian Callaghan, a neurologist with the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. “It’s a pretty predictable 5% to 10% drop for every $50 increase in cost,” Callaghan said. For patients with Parkinson’s disease, not taking medications as prescribed can severely impact their quality of life, he noted. “The Parkinson’s medicines are supposed to help make their tremors better, help them walk faster better. Theoretically, it could prevent falls and hospitalizations,” Callaghan said. “It’s not really preventing people from dying. It’s enabling people to live better and have better symptom control.” Previous studies have shown that out-of-pocket drug costs are rising for neurologic medications, Callaghan said. To see how these higher prices affect patient care, Callaghan and his colleagues singled out three neurologic diseases for which there are effective drugs available at a wide variety of prices: The researchers used a private insurance claims database to track more than […]

Latest Heart News By Amy NortonHealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — There may be something about a patient’s age of 80 that makes doctors alter their heart attack treatment decisions — consciously or not, new research suggests. In a study of U.S. heart attack patients, researchers found that just one month in age made a difference in whether doctors performed bypass surgery — one of the treatments for the artery blockages that cause heart attacks. Among patients who had turned 80 within the past two weeks, just over 5% received bypass surgery. In contrast, the rate was 7% among patients who were about to turn 80 in the next couple weeks. Researchers said the finding points to a “left-digit bias” — where doctors may be more concerned about surgery complications just because a patient’s age starts with an 8 rather than a 7. “These patients were really all the same age, with just a few weeks separating them,” said lead researcher Dr. Anupam Jena, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. “But this study suggests doctors were seeing them differently.” Coronary bypass surgery involves taking a healthy blood vessel from a patient’s leg, arm or chest, and […]

Latest Heart News WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — An expandable artificial heart valve could save children with congenital heart disease from repeated open heart surgeries as they grow up, researchers report. Current artificial heart valves are fixed in size, meaning children need to get larger ones as they grow. Children who receive their first artificial valve before age 2 will require up to five open-heart operations before they become adults. This new design means children could keep the same artificial heart valve until adulthood, and it could also benefit adults with heart valve defects, according to the Boston Children’s Hospital team. Current artificial heart valves have three leaflets, tiny flaps that provide a one-way inlet or outlet for blood to keep it flowing in the right direction. This new valve has two leaflets and as a patient grows it can be expanded through a minimally invasive balloon catheter procedure. Lab tests, computer simulations and extensive testing in animals show that the new artificial valve works across a wide range of sizes, and remains functional when expanded, according to a study published online Feb. 19 in the journal Science Translational Medicine. “We hope to bring this new device into […]

Latest Exercise & Fitness News WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Changing up the amount of weight they lift could help weightlifters get stronger with less effort, a new study suggests. In traditional weight training — called one rep max — the maximum weight an athlete can lift dictates the weight load for all sessions. This study compared one rep max with an approach called load velocity profile, in which athletes lift varying weights from session to session. Over six weeks, athletes who used the load velocity profile became stronger than those who used one rep max, despite lifting less overall, according to sports scientists at the University of Lincoln, in the U.K. The study, published recently in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research included 16 men, ages 18 to 29, with at least two years’ weight training experience. The authors said their findings could help improve lifters’ muscle strength and power and make it easier to manage fatigue during training. “There are a lot of factors which can contribute to an athlete’s performance on a particular day, such as how much sleep they have had, nutrition or motivational factors, but with traditional percentage-based methods we would have […]

Latest Diet & Weight Management News WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — The so-called Mediterranean diet is already considered one of the healthiest for your heart, and now scientists say it may give your gut bacteria a boost, too. The diet is typically high in fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, olive oil and fish, and low in red meat and saturated fats. The new study finds that older adults who eat a Mediterranean diet tend to have more types of gut bacteria linked with healthy aging. One nutritionist wasn’t surprised, and believes that the diet‘s reliance on vegetables could be key to the effect. “Dark green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds all have multifold benefits in enhancing our gut microbiome,” said Sharon Zarabi, a registered dietitian who directs the bariatric program at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. She wasn’t involved in the new research, which was led by Dr. Paul O’Toole, a microbiologist at University College Cork, in Ireland. According to O’Toole’s team, prior research has suggested that a poor diet can have a negative impact on an older person’s strength and stamina, as well as their microbiome — the trillions of bacteria living in the human digestive […]

Latest Cancer News WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Gay and bisexual men in the United States have higher skin cancer rates than heterosexual men, while bisexual women have lower rates than heterosexual women, according to a new study. Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston analyzed data culled from national surveys conducted from 2014 to 2018 and found that skin cancer rates were 8.1% among gay men, 8.4% among bisexual men, and 6.7% among heterosexual men. Rates were 4.7% among bisexual women, 5.9% among lesbian women, and 6.6% among heterosexual women. The difference in rates between lesbian women and heterosexual women was not statistically significant, according to the researchers. These findings could be important for patient education and community outreach programs to reduce skin cancer risk, the study authors said. “It’s absolutely critical that we ask about sexual orientation and gender identity in national health surveys; if we never ask the question, we’d never know that these differences exist,” said study author Dr. Arash Mostaghimi, director of dermatology inpatient service at Brigham and Women’s. “This information helps inform the nation about how to allocate health resources and how to train providers and leaders,” he said in a […]

Latest Cancer News THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2020 (HealthDay News) — A U.K. woman played her violin during her brain tumor surgery. Dagmar Turner, 53, is a violinist with the Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra and a number of choral societies. Before her surgery, doctors at King’s College Hospital in London mapped her brain to pinpoint areas that are active when she plays the violin and those that control language and movement, the Associated Press reported. Midway through the surgery, Turner was wakened and asked to her play her violin to “ensure the surgeons did not damage any crucial areas of the brain that controlled Dagmar’s delicate hand movements,″ according to the hospital. “We knew how important the violin is to Dagmar, so it was vital that we preserved function in the delicate areas of her brain that allowed her to play,″ Prof. Keyoumars Ashkan, Turner’s neurosurgeon, said, the AP reported. “We managed to remove over 90% of the tumor, including all the areas suspicious of aggressive activity, while retaining full function in her left hand,” Ashkan said. Turner left the hospital three days after her surgery and hopes to make a quick return to her orchestra, the AP reported. Copyright […]

Latest Women’s Health News TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (American Heart Association News) — Women who experience domestic abuse may be more likely to develop heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes, new research suggests. The British study, published this week in the Journal of the American Heart Association, sought to fill in gaps in what is known about the link between domestic abuse and cardiovascular disease – the leading cause of death in women globally. One in 4 women in the U.S. has experienced domestic abuse severe enough that it resulted in injury, the need for medical help or symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. A 2019 Canadian study found women who experienced domestic abuse had above-average risk factors for heart disease, but comprehensive research on the topic is sparse. The new study looked at data from 18,547 women over age 18 who had experienced domestic abuse and compared them to 72,231 women of a similar age who had lifestyle risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Researchers looked to see which women developed diabetes, high blood pressure and various types of cardiovascular disease, including coronary artery disease, stroke, heart failure and peripheral vascular disease. The study found women exposed to domestic abuse […]

Latest Pregnancy News TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Having high blood pressure in a first pregnancy quadruples a woman’s risk of heart attack or death from heart disease, a new study finds. About 2% to 8% of pregnant women with previously normal blood pressure develop a condition called preeclampsia, which includes high blood pressure that usually begins after 20 weeks of pregnancy. In this study, Rutgers University researchers analyzed heart disease in 6,360 women in New Jersey, aged 18 to 54, who were diagnosed with preeclampsia during their first pregnancy between 1999 and 2013. These women were compared to pregnant women without preeclampsia. Women with preeclampsia were four times more likely to suffer a heart attack or heart disease-related death, and more than two times more likely to die from other causes during the 15-year study period. The findings were published online recently in the Journal of Women’s Health. “Women who were diagnosed with preeclampsia tended also to have a history of chronic high blood pressure, gestational diabetes and kidney disease, and other medical conditions,” said study author Mary Downes Gastrich. She’s an associate professor at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and a member of the Cardiovascular […]

Latest Healthy Kids News TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Being small at birth after a full-term pregnancy could leave you gasping for breath later on in life. Swedish researchers report that babies with low birth weights are more likely to have poor heart-lung (cardiorespiratory) fitness when they reach adulthood. Cardiorespiratory fitness — the ability to supply oxygen to muscles during prolonged physical activity — is key for good health and can lower the risk of disease and early death. Previous research has linked preterm delivery and related low birth weight with poorer cardiorespiratory fitness later in life. In this study, researchers at the Karolinska Institute investigated how low birth weight affects cardiorespiratory fitness in people who were born after a full-term pregnancy of 37 to 41 weeks. They followed more than 280,000 males from birth to entry in the Swedish army at 17 to 24 years of age. At that time, the men had a physical exam that included a fitness test on a stationary bicycle. Those who weighed more at birth performed significantly better on the test than those who had low birth weights. In those who were born at 40 weeks, every 450 grams (about 1 […]

Latest Infectious Disease News WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — There’s been a crucial move forward in efforts to develop vaccines and treatments against the new COVID-19 coronavirus, U.S. researchers say. As of Wednesday, cases of infection with the virus have topped 74,000 (the vast majority in China), including more than 2,000 deaths. Therefore, a quick path to a vaccine and effective antiviral treatment is being sought by scientists worldwide. Now, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin and the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) say they’ve created the first 3D atomic scale map of a crucial part of the virus called the spike protein. It’s this piece of viral anatomy that attaches to and infects human cells. Mapping this part of the virus is an essential step in any effort to create vaccines and antiviral drugs that would effectively fight COVID-19, according to the paper published Feb. 19 in the journal Science. The research is being led by Jason McLellan, associate professor of molecular biosciences at UT Austin. Speaking in a university news release, he said his team has spent years studying other coronaviruses, including the SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV that were behind earlier, smaller outbreaks. McLellan […]

Latest Infectious Disease News TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Hepatitis, appendicitis and viral meningitis are among the serious complications that can occur when you get the measles, doctors warn in a new report. The study — which outlines cases involving three adults who developed major complications — is also a reminder of the importance of vaccination against the illness. Measles is highly contagious, but it’s also easily prevented by getting a vaccine, experts note. However, unfounded fears about vaccination have resulted in reemergence of measles as a global health problem, the authors of the new study said. Measles was once thought to be almost eliminated in the United States, but cases have been increasing as pockets of “anti-vaxxers” proliferate. In 2019, nearly 1,300 cases were reported — the most since 1992, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Measles can also become a serious health threat, as the three cases outlined in the new European report show. The research was led by Dr. Thelma Xerri, from the Departments of Medicine and Infectious Disease at Mater Dei Hospital in Msida, Malta. While typical symptoms include fever, cough, pink eye and an extensive rash, measles suppresses the […]

Latest High Blood Pressure News By Steven ReinbergHealthDay Reporter TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Patients taking a common diuretic to help lower blood pressure may be better off with a similarly effective but safer one, a new study suggests. Current guidelines recommend the drug chlorthalidone (Thalitone) as the first-line diuretic. But it can have serious side effects that can be avoided with another diuretic, hydrochlorothiazide (Hydrodiuril), researchers say. “Diuretics are recognized as among the best drugs to treat hypertension, but there are no randomized studies to help decide which diuretic is best,” said lead author Dr. George Hripcsak, head of biomedical informatics at Columbia University in New York City. Hydrochlorothiazide is the world’s most-used diuretic, but chlorthalidone is gaining favor because it is longer acting and, therefore, might be more effective, Hripcsak said. Guidelines from both the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association recommend chlorthalidone for that reason. But the new study found that patients taking chlorthalidone were three times more likely than those taking hydrochlorothiazide to have dangerously low levels of potassium and other electrolyte imbalances, as well as kidney problems. Six percent of patients taking chlorthalidone had low potassium, compared with 2% of those […]

Latest Cancer News TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Many people don’t realize that cancer patients are in constant need of blood supplies. Chemotherapy and radiation treatments for cancer can damage the body’s ability to produce healthy blood cells and cause potentially life-threatening conditions. Blood transfusions help provide critical clotting factors, proteins and antibodies. Now, the American Red Cross and the American Cancer Society want to remind the public to give blood for this vulnerable group of patients. “The Give Blood to Give Time partnership is a wonderful opportunity to harness the unique strengths of both organizations and provide a way for people to help give patients and their families the resources they need to fight back,” said Gail McGovern, president and chief executive officer of the American Red Cross. “I know from experience that a loved one’s diagnosis can make family and friends feel helpless,” she added in a joint news release. “They often don’t realize that individuals can make a difference by giving blood and platelets.” Nearly a quarter of the nation’s blood supply is needed for cancer patients. “The need for blood in cancer treatments is an important and untold story,” said Gary Reedy, chief executive […]

Latest Infectious Disease News MONDAY, Feb. 17, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Fourteen of the more than 300 U.S. passengers evacuated from a cruise ship hit by the coronavirus outbreak have tested positive for infection during their flights home, U.S. health officials said Monday. The news comes from a joint statement from the Departments of State and Health and Human Services, CNN reported. The 14 passengers aboard the Diamond Princess, docked in Yokohama, Japan, tested positive for the new COVID-19 virus during the disembarkation process, officials said. They were part of an evacuation process involving two flights back to military bases in the United States. “After consultation with HHS officials, including experts from the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, the State Department made the decision to allow the 14 individuals, who were in isolation, separated from other passengers, and continued to be asymptomatic, to remain on the aircraft to complete the evacuation process,” the agencies said in the news release. One of the flights landed at Travis Air Force Base near Fairfield, California, around 11:28 p.m. local time Sunday, while the other arrived at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in San Antonio, Texas at 3:56 a.m. local […]

Latest Infectious Disease News THURSDAY, Feb. 13, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Scientists say that 90% of dengue cases could be slashed by artificially infecting mosquitoes. Dengue viruses are spread to people by infected mosquitoes. But infecting the insects with Wolbachia bacteria blocks the dengue virus from replicating in mosquitoes and being transmitted between people, the international researchers said in a new study. Wolbachia is found naturally in about 60% of insect species, including some mosquitoes, butterflies and moths. “Dengue is a leading cause of illness and death among children across the globe,” said study lead author Lorenzo Cattarino, of MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College London. The team of scientists created the first worldwide map of dengue transmission intensity — a measure of how easily dengue is transmitted to people. Using this map, they predicted the effectiveness of two methods of combating dengue, vaccination and the release of mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia. In trials, scientists are infecting the mosquito species (Aedes aegypti) that carry dengue with Wolbachia and releasing them into areas where dengue is prevalent. The trials suggest the bacteria doesn’t pose a threat to animals or people. Using available data and their new transmission […]

Latest Heart News THURSDAY, Feb. 13, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Optimism might be powerful medicine when recovering from a stroke, a new study suggests. Stroke survivors who had positive outlooks showed lower levels of inflammation, reduced stroke severity and fewer physical impairments after three months compared to more pessimistic stroke survivors, the researchers found. “Our results suggest that optimistic people have a better disease outcome, thus, boosting morale may be an ideal way to improve mental health and recovery after a stroke,” study first author Yun-Ju Lai said in an American Heart Association (AHA) news release. The research was funded by the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the AHA. Lai is a postdoctoral fellow in the neurology department at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. The study involved a group of 49 stroke survivors. Researchers analyzed the connections between optimism, inflammation, stroke severity and physical disability. They found that as optimism increased, levels of inflammatory markers such as interlukin-6 and C-reactive protein decreased. Getting a better understanding of the relationship between these elements could help develop new strategies for stroke recovery, Lai and her colleagues said. Experiencing inflammation after a stroke can damage […]

What are bedbugs and lice? What are their main differences? Symptoms of bedbug bites include red, itchy bite marks on the face, neck, shoulders, arms, hands, and back. What are bedbugs? The common bed bug (Cimex lectularius) is considered a public health pest, but bedbugs do not transmit or spread disease. bedbugs are small, brown, oval-shaped insects that feed on blood, and their bites cause itching and irritation in humans. Bedbugs do not spread disease.  Bedbugs often come into a home undetected through: Clothing  Luggage Used beds and couches Other household items Usually bedbugs live in mattresses, box springs, bed frames, and headboards and bite people during the night. Bedbugs are a problem worldwide, are resurging so they may become a serious problem. What are lice? Lice are parasitic insects that feed on human blood can be found on people’s bodies. Lice found on different areas of the body differ from each other. There are three types of lice that live on humans: Pediculus humanus capitis (head louse) Pediculus humanus corporis (body louse, clothes louse) Pthirus pubis (“crab” louse, pubic louse) Body lice is the only type of lice known to spread disease. “Sea lice” is not the same as […]

Latest Mental Health News By Amy NortonHealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, Feb. 13, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Young men who believe that “real men don’t cry” may be more prone to suicide, a new study suggests. It has long been known that men are more likely than women to end their own lives: In the United States, the suicide death rate among men is about 3.5 times that of women, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The statistics raise the question of whether traditional norms about masculinity could play some role, said lead researcher Daniel Coleman. On the face of it, he explained, it makes sense that those expectations of “manly” men — which include denying emotions, not reaching out for help, and aggressiveness — could contribute to suicide risk. But it’s also a challenging subject to study, said Coleman, an associate professor in the Graduate School of Social Services at Fordham University in New York City. To start to dig into it, his team used data from a health study that began tracking over 20,700 U.S. teenagers back in 1995. By 2014, 22 of them had died by suicide — all but one of whom were men. […]

Latest Healthy Kids News MONDAY, Feb. 17, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Grandparents can be a bad influence on kids’ weight, researchers say. That’s the upshot of an analysis of 23 studies conducted in the United States and eight other countries by a team from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. The study found that kids who were cared for by grandparents had nearly 30% higher odds for being overweight or obese. While Grandma and Grandpa may mean well, they can affect their grandchildren’s weight in various ways, including eating habits, physical activity and perceptions of what represents a healthy lifestyle, according to the researchers. “Through offering wisdom, teaching traditions, providing guidance and making memories, grandparents are often able to leave behind a legacy that their grandchildren will cherish and benefit lifelong,” said lead author Ruopeng An, an assistant professor. “However, some negative influences from grandparental care may also be present and cannot be overlooked,” he added in a university news release. One of those negative influences affects a child’s diet and exercise habits. “The notion of ‘the bigger the healthier’ is still relevant,” An said. Some grandparents may urge their grandkids to eat bigger and more frequent […]

Latest Infectious Disease News New cases of the novel coronavirus continue to increase worldwide, with 73,332 confirmed global cases of COVID-19 as of today, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). That includes 72,528 cases in China and 804 cases in 25 countries outside of China. Some have questioned the accuracy of the statistics released by the Chinese government regarding the reported number of cases and deaths due to the outbreak. Now there are concerns about the accuracy of the laboratory tests used to confirm diagnoses. Reports suggest some people test negative up to six times even though they are infected with the virus, according to the BBC and Chinese media. Such was the case with Dr. Li Wenliang, the ophthalmologist who first identified the outbreak and was reprimanded by Chinese authorities when he tried to warn others. Dr. Wenliang developed a cough and fever after unknowingly treating an infected patient. He was hospitalized, testing negative for coronavirus several times before eventually receiving a positive result. On Jan. 30 the doctor posted: “Today nucleic acid testing came back with a positive result, the dust has settled, finally diagnosed,” according to the BBC. Dr. Wenliang passed away on February 7 in […]

Latest Heart News TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Women remain underrepresented in heart disease research, even though it’s the leading cause of death among women worldwide, researchers say. Women accounted for less than 40% of all people enrolled in cardiovascular clinical trials from 2010 through 2017, according to a study published Feb. 17 in the journal Circulation. “One woman dies from cardiovascular disease every 80 seconds. It’s the leading killer of all women around the globe, claiming the lives of one in every three women, yet disparities continue to persist when it comes to symptom recognition, treatment times and methodologies, and even lifesaving support measures,” said journal editor-in-chief Dr. Joseph Hill, chief of cardiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. For the study, Lijing Yan of the Global Heath Research Center at Duke Kunshan University, in China, and colleagues analyzed 740 completed cardiovascular clinical trials. Those trials were reported between 2010 and the beginning of 2018 on ClinicalTrials.gov, a U.S. government site that’s one of the largest trial registries in the world. The clinical trials included a total of nearly 863,000 adults, aged 25 to 89, with an average age of 61. Overall, only […]

Latest Diabetes News By Serena GordonHealthDay Reporter TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Maybe you’ve gone to Craigslist to find a used car or a secondhand couch, but imagine having to turn to the internet to pay for lifesaving drugs. It’s already happening: A new study found that hundreds of ads were placed on Craigslist for insulin and asthma inhalers during a 12-day period in June 2019. “This study shines a light on how deeply some patients are struggling to afford lifesaving medications. Patients should not have to go to Craigslist to try to find affordable insulin and inhalers,” said study senior author Dr. Jennifer Goldstein, a research scientist with The Value Institute at ChristianaCare, in Newark, Del. People with type 1 diabetes can’t survive without a steady supply of insulin, which has to be injected. Those with type 2 diabetes who need insulin face a higher risk of serious diabetes complications if they can’t get the insulin they need. But it’s gotten increasingly harder to afford. The American Diabetes Association says the average cost of insulin in the United States nearly tripled between 2002 and 2013. The cost of asthma medications has also risen significantly in a similar […]