1 June 2020
MONDAY, June 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. children and teenagers are still downing too many "empty calories" -- primarily from sugary beverages, sweets and pizza, a new government study finds.
The study, based on a long-running federal health survey, did turn up some good news: In recent years, kids have been eating fewer empty calories, versus a decade before.
The bad news is, by 2016, those sources still accounted for more than one-quarter of kids' total calories.
The term "empty" generally refers to food and drinks that provide a lot of calories but little to no nutrition. In this study, empty calories were defined as those coming from added sugars or "solid" fats (like butter and shortening).
Sugary drinks, the study found, have consistently been a top source of U.S. kids'...
1 June 2020
MONDAY, June 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- A new study suggests the rate of COVID-19 among pregnant women without symptoms is much lower than previously reported.
Fewer than 3% of asymptomatic women admitted to three Yale New Haven Health hospitals for labor and delivery during April tested positive for COVID-19 infection.
That contrasts with a 13.5% rate reported in a study of asymptomatic pregnant women admitted to hospitals in New York City, an epicenter of the U.S. outbreak.
The new study included 770 hospital patients who hadn't previously been diagnosed with coronavirus infection. Of those, 30 tested positive for COVID-19. Of those who tested positive, 22 had no symptoms -- meaning the rate of positive tests among asymptomatic women was 2.9%.
No patients who tested negative...
29 May 2020
FRIDAY, May 29, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- MRI imaging has uncovered key differences in blood flow to the placenta in pregnant women who are healthy and those with preeclampsia.
That could help explain why babies born to mothers with preeclampsia -- dangerously high blood pressure during pregnancy -- are often smaller and premature, according to researchers at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.
The MRI scans also revealed an unexpected finding: The life sustaining organ contracts to help preserve blood flow, scientists say.
The placenta is key to the movement of nutrition and oxygen from mother to fetus. An improperly functioning placenta can lead to preeclampsia.
In this new study, the Nottingham researchers used MRI to observe placental blood flow in 34 women with...
29 May 2020
FRIDAY, May 29, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Women with cancerous cells in their milk ducts -- also known as DCIS -- are at a high risk for developing fatal breast cancer, British researchers report.
DCIS is short for ductal carcinoma in situ, an early form of breast cancer. With stepped-up breast screening, it has become an increasingly common diagnosis.
Though it's not immediately life-threatening, DCIS more than doubles a woman's risk of developing an invasive breast cancer and dying from it, according to a large study of tens of thousands of women in the United Kingdom.
And the increased risk can persist 20 years or more -- longer than previously thought.
But surveillance of women after a DCIS diagnosis typically focuses on the first few years, according to lead author Gurdeep...