THURSDAY, May 25, 2023 (HealthDay News) – Robert Weymouth, 58, of Portland, Maine, died this year because of a tick bite.You've likely heard of Lyme disease and the problems it can cause when passed to a human through the bite of a deer tick. But Lyme isn’t the only tick-borne illness in the woods.Powassan virus -- a rare and untreatable infection -- is also transmitted by ticks. That's the bite that led to fatal complications in the case of this Maine truck driver.Weymouth -- the third Powassan death since 2015 in Maine and the first this year -- likely contracted the virus in the state, according to Maine's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He developed neurological symptoms and died in the hospital.His widow, Annemarie Weymouth, is now warning others about protecting...

THURSDAY, May 25, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Ketamine may be an alternative to shock treatment for people with treatment-resistant major depression, a new study suggests.Currently, patients with major depressive disorder who don't find a medication or therapy that works may undergo electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), also known as shock therapy. But researchers have also been studying intravenous ketamine -- a powerful anesthetic that's also long been used as an illicit 'party' drug -- as a potential antidepressant. They say the results of a new study were surprising. “I have to say it was a wow,” said principal investigator Dr. James Murrough, director of the Depression and Anxiety Center for Discovery and Treatment at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. That...

THURSDAY, May 25, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have found another clue as to why some infants die suddenly in their sleep, and it's related to a faulty chemical receptor in the brainstem. Experts said the findings provide another puzzle piece in understanding the root causes of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).By examining autopsied brain tissue, researchers found that a particular chemical receptor was altered in the brain stems of babies who'd died of SIDS, versus infants who'd died of other causes.The receptor, called serotonin 2A/C, is believed to play a key role in helping a sleeping infant wake up and gasp for air in response to oxygen deprivation."This 2A receptor is very important in arousing them as a defense mechanism," said Robin Haynes, a researcher at Boston...

THURSDAY, May 25, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- One potential solution to reducing chronic pain: Get moving.A new Norwegian study finds that physically active folks have greater pain tolerance compared to sedentary types. Those with higher levels of activity also had higher pain tolerance, according to the report published online May 24 in PLOS ONE.“Becoming or staying physically active over time can benefit your pain tolerance. Whatever you do, the most important thing is that you do something,” study author Anders Årnes, a PhD student at University Hospital of North Norway, and colleagues said in a journal news release.For the study, the investigators analyzed data from more than 10,000 adults who participated in a large population survey conducted periodically in Norway.Using data...