22 April 2020
WEDNESDAY, April 22, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Parts of Europe with consistently high levels of air pollution have higher COVID-19 death rates, a new study finds.
The study compared confirmed COVID-19 deaths with air quality data, including satellite readings of nitrogen dioxide air pollution.
Nitrogen dioxide damages the respiratory tract and is known to cause many types of respiratory and heart diseases, according to study author Yaron Ogen. He's a postdoctoral researcher at Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, in Germany.
"Since the novel coronavirus also affects the respiratory tract, it is reasonable to assume that there might be a correlation between air pollution and the number of deaths from COVID-19," Ogen said.
For the study, Ogen compared the nitrogen dioxide...
22 April 2020
WEDNESDAY, April 22, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Women under age 65 with coronary artery disease are more likely to die if they live in rural areas of the United States, and premature deaths among them have surged, a new study finds.
Researchers analyzed nationwide data on premature deaths from coronary artery disease between 1999 and 2017. While premature deaths decreased overall, they remained consistently higher in rural areas -- regardless of sex, race or age group.
Roughly 20% of Americans live in rural areas.
Deaths have not risen among men overall, but the rate in those 55 to 64 stopped improving in small to medium towns in 2011, and in rural areas in 2008, the study found.
In rural areas, death rates due to coronary artery disease rose 11.2% for 55- to 64-year-old women...
20 April 2020
MONDAY, April 20, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Physically active U.S. veterans are more likely to fall but less likely to get hurt when they do, compared with inactive older adults who didn't serve in the military, a new study finds.
Researchers analyzed 2006-2015 data from nearly 12,000 veterans and nearly 37,000 others. Compared to non-veterans, vets had 11% more falls that didn't result in injuries, but 28% fewer falls that did, the study revealed.
The risk of falls increased more with age for vets than for others, but physical activity was more protective against non-injury falls for veterans, according to the study published recently in the Journal of Applied Gerontology.
"The inference is that being active puts you at more risk for a fall, but if you are more active/in shape,...
17 April 2020
FRIDAY, April 17, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- If you're a grandparent, shaking a leg with your grandchild might benefit both of you.
That's the upshot of a new study from Israel, where researchers examined how dancing together affected 16 grandmas and granddaughters. The takeaway: It can encourage exercise and deepen ties between the two generations.
Dancing "promoted physical activity even when the body was fatigued and weak," said study author Dr. Einhat Shuper Englehard, a lecturer at Kibbutzim College in Tel Aviv. "This emphasizes the significance of the close and familiar relationship as a means to promote new experiences [which can occasionally seem impossible] for the older person."
The granddaughters -- all dance movement therapists -- teamed with their Bubbes for three...