7 May 2020
THURSDAY, May 7, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Pets are stress-relievers for parents of children with autism and benefit their kids, too, a new study suggests.
On average, parents of kids with autism have higher stress levels than other moms and dads, the study authors said, so some look to pets to help them relax.
For the study, the researchers surveyed more than 700 families who have a family member with autism about the benefits and drawbacks of having a dog or cat.
Despite the responsibility of caring for a pet, parents and kids with autism had strong bonds with their pets. Pet ownership didn't increase parents' stress, and those with multiple pets reported more benefits, according to the study published recently in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
"Given that the...
7 May 2020
THURSDAY, May 7, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Many drugs are being tested to fight COVID-19, but now researchers report that blocking testosterone might help prevent the infection in men.
Italian men with prostate cancer on androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) were less likely to get infected with COVID-19 and had less severe cases if they were infected, the researchers found.
Lead researcher Dr. Andrea Alimonti, an oncologist at the Università della Svizzera Italiana in Bellinzona, Switzerland, thinks it might be worth trying this therapy on men with severe cases of COVID-19.
"This could give us a therapeutic window to treat patients that have been infected and haven't gotten better, to see whether this therapy would lead them to recover faster or to decrease the severity of their...
7 May 2020
THURSDAY, May 7, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Traces of the COVID-19 coronavirus have been found in the semen of some severely infected men, raising the possibility that the virus might be sexually transmitted, a new study from China claims.
Researchers found evidence of the virus in six men out of a group of 38 COVID-19 patients at Shangqiu Municipal Hospital in China who provided samples.
The six men included four who were still infected and two who were recovering, the researchers said.
The study was led by Dr. Weiguo Zhao of the People's Liberation Army General Hospital in Beijing, and findings were published May 7 in the journal JAMA Network Open.
It's not surprising that the virus was found in semen samples, since it's also been found in stool and other body fluids, said Dr. Ryan...
4 May 2020
MONDAY, May 4, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Having a supportive family can significantly reduce a child's future risk of major depression, according to a new study.
Researchers analyzed data on more than 3,200 pairs of siblings in Sweden -- including more than 600 pairs of full siblings and nearly 2,600 pairs of half-siblings -- who had at least one biological parent with depression.
Each pair of siblings was raised apart, one at home and one adopted into a home with parents who could "provide a supportive and generally advantaged home for their adoptive child."
Being raised by an adoptive family in a supportive environment was associated with a 23% decrease in the risk of treated major depression among full siblings and a 19% decreased risk among half-siblings.
However, the reduction...