THURSDAY, Oct. 14, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The coronavirus pandemic forced a significant shift to telemedicine treatment for addiction, but it's not clear whether that approach is better than in-person care, a new study finds.Before the pandemic, addiction treatment services in the United States had many restrictions on telemedicine use, so only about 27% of addiction facilities offered telehealth services, while telehealth was used in just 0.1% of addiction treatment visits.Many of those restrictions were eased by state and federal agencies during the pandemic so that patients could still access treatment, triggering rapid growth in telehealth use. Now, the big question is, which of those restriction changes should be kept. To examine the issue, the researchers reviewed eight...

THURSDAY, Oct. 14, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- You can add obesity and its related health risks to the long list of threats posed by climate change, researchers report.In a new review, researchers from Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia outlined the association between climate change and obesity.As global temperatures increase, people may become less physically active and less able to burn excess fat, putting them at increased risk of being overweight or obese.In turn, that could lead to greater emissions of climate change-causing greenhouse gas emissions as overweight and obese people make greater use of fossil fuel-burning transportation such as cars instead of physically active ways of getting around such as walking or cycling.One of the health consequences of being overweight or...

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- In a development that could mean Johnson & Johnson might encounter resistance over its application for authorization of a booster shot of its coronavirus vaccine, a new analysis filed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday suggests the company's evidence may not be strong enough for approval.A key test used by the company to measure immune response from a booster shot six months after the original shot was likely not sensitive enough, according to the FDA analysis. The agency also questioned whether the boost in immune response was as big as the data suggested."It is likely that the results seen are due to the low sensitivity of the psVNA assay used," the agency stated in its report.Also, the agency said that it didn't have...

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- A new study confirms that fish oil supplements may raise the risk of a common heart-rhythm disorder -- particularly when doses top 1 gram per day.At issue are medications and supplements containing omega-3 fatty acids, which are naturally found in fish oil.Fish is considered a generally heart-healthy food, but some studies have linked omega-3 in capsule form to an increased risk of atrial fibrillation, or a-fib.In a-fib, the heart's upper chambers quiver chaotically instead of contracting effectively. It is not immediately life-threatening, but over time it can lead to complications such as heart failure or stroke.But while some studies have found a heightened risk of a-fib among omega-3 users, others have not, said Dr. Christine Albert, a...