Latest Health News

26Sep
2023

Blood Tests for Long COVID Could Lead to Better Treatments

Blood Tests for Long COVID Could Lead to Better TreatmentsTUESDAY, Sept. 26, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- People who develop long COVID have distinct abnormalities in their immune and hormonal function that can be picked up with blood tests, researchers have found.In a new study of 268 patients with and without long COVID, those with the condition showed a number of biological "markers" in their blood samples.People with long COVID often showed signs of compromised immune function, including abnormal T cell activity and a reactivation of "sleeping" viruses that their immune system had previously kept in check -- including Epstein-Barr and other herpesviruses.They also had markers of hormonal dysfunction, like reduced morning-time levels of cortisol. That hormone, which normally peaks in the morning, plays an essential role in many bodily...

Teen Boys With High Blood Pressure Face Danger Decades Later

26 September 2023
Teen Boys With High Blood Pressure Face Danger Decades LaterTUESDAY, Sept. 26, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Teenage boys who have high blood pressure may find themselves on the road to serious heart problems in adulthood.Swedish researchers found that boys who had high blood pressure at 18 were at risk for heart failure, heart attacks, strokes and death as adults. And the risk began when blood pressure crossed 120/80 mm Hg, a normal reading. "Hopefully, the results of this study will encourage practitioners to measure blood pressure in adolescents more often," said lead researcher Dr. Helene Rietz of the department of public health and clinical medicine at Umeå University in Sweden. "This offers the possibility of identifying individuals with increased cardiovascular risk and enabling targeted intervention."Rietz said doctors may not be taking...

Nurses, Health Care Staff Face Higher Suicide Risks

26 September 2023
Nurses, Health Care Staff Face Higher Suicide RisksTUESDAY, Sept. 26, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Nurses, health technicians and health care support workers face a higher risk of suicide than the general U.S. population does, an alarming new study shows.Researchers pointed out these workers have to perform stressful tasks while caring for ill patients and managing heavy workloads, with little control over patient outcomes. Not only that, but “health care workers' relationship roles are often characterized as having a kind of a high achievement and a perfectionistic or compulsive personality traits that can make them excessively devoted to their work and have trouble taking time off,” said study first author Dr. Mark Olfson, a professor in Columbia University's Department of Psychiatry. “And all of this can contribute to poor...

Humans Outperform AI in Interpreting Chest X-Rays

26 September 2023
Humans Outperform AI in Interpreting Chest X-RaysTUESDAY, Sept. 26, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- AI tools may help boost radiologists’ confidence in their diagnoses, but they can't be relied on to identify common lung diseases on chest X-rays, a new study says.Researchers pitted 72 radiologists against four commercially AI tools in an analysis of more than 2,000 X-rays. The human experts won, according to results published Sept. 25 in Radiology. “Chest radiography is a common diagnostic tool, but significant training and experience is required to interpret exams correctly,” said lead researcher Dr. Louis Plesner, resident radiologist and PhD fellow in radiology at Herlev and Gentofte Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark.“While AI tools are increasingly being approved for use in radiological departments, there is an unmet need to...

About 1 in 14 U.S. Adults Have Had Long COVID

26 September 2023
About 1 in 14 U.S. Adults Have Had Long COVIDTUESDAY, Sept. 26, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- One in every 14 American adults has suffered from long COVID, a new federal survey has found.About 7% of adults have ever had long COVID and more than 3% still have it, according to the 2022 National Health Interview Survey.The survey, published Tuesday as an NCHS Data Brief, also found that certain groups are more likely to develop long COVID -- women, young adults, the less wealthy and people living in rural areas or small towns.Children have been much less likely to develop the syndrome, the survey found. A little more than 1% of all U.S. children have ever had long COVID, and about half a percent continue to have it.Long COVID involves clusters of different symptoms that affect different parts of the body. These symptoms can include...

Strike a Pose: Yoga Helps Heart Failure Patients

26 September 2023
Strike a Pose: Yoga Helps Heart Failure PatientsTUESDAY, Sept. 26, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Heart failure can make everyday activities and exercise tough to carry out, but yoga might be a beneficial add-on to standard care.A new study from India finds this ancient practice improves quality of life and cardio functioning.“Our patients observed improvement in systolic blood pressure and heart rate compared to patients who were on medication without yoga,” said lead study author Ajit Singh, a research scientist at Manipal Academy of Higher Education. (Systolic blood pressure is the first number in a blood pressure reading.)In heart failure, the heart muscle is either too weak or too stiff to pump properly. This can lead to fluid buildup, shortness of breath and other complications.How might yoga help?“Yoga is a combination of...

Stigma, Even Harm Common When Transgender People Meet With Doctors

26 September 2023
Stigma, Even Harm Common When Transgender People Meet With DoctorsTUESDAY, Sept. 26, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Transgender people have a tough time receiving adequate medical care due to issues like voyeurism, being treated as abnormal and even being denied care due to their gender identity, a new study finds. “I would say what I read was not surprising at all, based on things I have heard from trans members,” said Tari Hanneman, director of the Health and Aging Program at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. She reviewed the findings, but was not involved with the study. “I've heard stories of patients basically being treated as a medical oddity," Hanneman said. "I've even heard horror stories of some residents or medical students taking photographs and things like that, that are just completely inappropriate.”The study aimed to understand...

Buying Marijuana Online Easy for Minors, Study Finds

26 September 2023
Buying Marijuana Online Easy for Minors, Study FindsTUESDAY, Sept. 26, 2023 (HealthDay News) – The lax enforcement of age limits by many online marijuana dispensaries makes it easier for minors to buy weed, claims new research that looked at online weed sales in 32 states.“It is imperative to require strict age-verification procedures prior to cannabis purchases online and to establish stringent surveillance of online marijuana dispensaries to protect youth,” wrote the authors of the new study, published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.The authors looked at age-verification policies and other practices of 80 online dispensaries. About 18.8% of dispensaries “required no formal age verification at any stage of the purchasing process,” according to the study.Meanwhile, more than 80% accepted “non-traceable” payment...

Common Plastics Chemical Tied to Higher Odds for...

TUESDAY, Sept. 26, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Moms with higher prenatal levels of plastics chemicals known as phthalates may face a slightly increased risk of postpartum depression, according to a...

Climate Change's Hotter Days Could Bring More Alcohol,...

TUESDAY, Sept. 26, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Sweltering temperatures appear to fuel drug-related hospital visits, a problem that could be worsening with climate change, a new study suggests.“We...
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