Three women in the U.S. mainland infected with the Zika virus have delivered infants with birth defects and three others have lost or terminated pregnancies because their fetuses suffered brain damage from the virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. The agency said it was not providing details about where the births occurred to […]
Zika can cause microcephaly even if moms have no symptoms, report says
Pregnant women who become infected with the Zika virus are at risk of having babies with the severe birth defect known as microcephaly, regardless of whether they have symptoms of the disease, according to a new report. The findings, part of the first comprehensive look at the Zika outbreak in Colombia, one of the countries hardest hit […]
WHO: Coffee itself isn’t cancerous, but watch out for ‘very hot’ beverages
If you’re like many Americans and sipping your morning cup of Joe while reading this, you’ll be happy to know that the World Health Organization released its long-anticipated report on coffee, and its findings bode well for your health. In reviewing the most recent scientific evidence over the past 25 years since its last analysis, the WHO concluded that coffee […]
In some zip codes, 1 in 7 children suffer from dangerously high blood lead levels
In one city after another, the tests showed startling numbers of children with unsafe blood lead levels: Poughkeepsie and Syracuse and Buffalo. Erie and Reading. Cleveland and Cincinnati. In those cities and others around the country, 14 percent of kids — and in some cases more — have troubling amounts of the toxic metal in their blood, according […]
WHO: Zika risk not high enough to postpone or move 2016 Olympics
The World Health Organization on Tuesday said the Olympics do not need to be moved from Rio de Janeiro or postponed because there is “a very low risk” that holding the games there will cause further spread of the mosquito-borne Zika virus. The WHO’s expert panel on Zika concluded that hosting the Olympics in August — […]
Superbug found in second pig sample in U.S.
U.S. officials have found bacteria resistant to the antibiotic of last resort in a sample from a second pig, increasing concerns about the spread of a newly discovered superbug that initially surfaced in this country in March. The latest report involves an antibiotic-resistant strain of E. coli from a pig intestine, which was detected by […]
White House, private sector act to reduce organ transplant waiting list
The effort aims to increase the number of donors, improve transplant technology and even create replacement organs
Orlando shooting: Why the White House HIPAA waiver is important for gay rights
In following the news Sunday of the devastating shooting at an Orlando nightclub you may have heard that the White House took some kind of action related to HIPAA. What, you probably wondered, does this have to do with the shooting? HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Passed in 1996, it is one of the most […]
Nearly six in 10 Americans have leftover narcotics at home
One in five say they have shared leftover narcotics with another person
‘Urgent need’: Blood bank is desperately seeking donors for O-, O+ and AB types after Orlando shooting
OneBlood, a foundation that operates blood bank collection centers throughout the southeastern United States, put out a call early Sunday for donors with O-negative, O-positive and AB blood following the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando. Police have said at least 50 people have been killed and 53 have been injured in the early-morning attack. […]
U.S. to send rapid-response teams when Zika hits here
U.S. health officials plan to send a rapid-response team to any community on the mainland and in Hawaii where the mosquito-borne Zika virus begins to be transmitted locally — even if only a single case of infection is confirmed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is prepared to deploy experts to help state and […]
WHO: Women in Zika-affected regions should consider delaying pregnancy
In a move with enormous social implications in countries hardest hit by Zika, the World Health Organization is recommending that millions of people in areas where the mosquito-borne virus is spreading now consider delaying pregnancy to avoid risking a baby born with serious brain damage. The virus has spread from Brazil, the epicenter of an epidemic, […]
Troubling shift in American obesity: Women surge ahead of men, 40 percent now obese
New studies published in the journal JAMA this week present an alarming picture of the shifting demographics of the country’s obesity problem. For nearly three decades, American men and women have been mostly growing fatter together. But in recent years, for reasons researchers still don’t understand, women have broken away — with more of them becoming fatter faster. According […]
Legionnaires’ outbreaks: Cases nearly quadrupled in 15 years
Cases of Legionnaires’ disease nearly quadrupled in the United States over a 15-year period, and almost all might have been prevented with the proper use of disinfectant, the right water temperature and other measures, federal health officials said Tuesday. In the last year alone, about 5,000 Americans were diagnosed with this severe, sometimes fatal pneumonia, […]
New blood test may be able to find best antidepressant match, study says
British scientists took a major step toward bringing personalized medicine to mental health on Tuesday, announcing that they developed a blood test that can accurately predict whether you’ll respond to the conventional, commonly prescribed antidepressants on the market. This is important because about half of patients who try them don’t respond to first-line antidepressants and often […]
Why it’s a bad idea to take food advice from Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake or Snoop Dogg
For many American teens, the stars of pop music are like gods. They want to dress like them, talk like them, dance like them and perhaps even eat like them. That has New York University researcher Marie Bragg worried. Bragg, who focuses on environmental and social factors that impact how people eat, was noticing that more and […]
Extending hormone therapy to 10 years reduces risk of breast-cancer recurrence
CHICAGO — Extending hormone therapy to 10 years significantly reduces the risk of a recurrence of breast cancer in many older women who have early-stage disease, according to a new study. It also found that prolonging treatment decreases the chance of a new cancer developing in the healthy breast. The study involved post-menopausal patients who […]
‘Liquid biopsy’ study offers hope for a blood test to find cancer
CHICAGO — The biggest study to date on new blood tests to detect and analyze cancerous tumors concluded that such “liquid biopsies” are a reliable alternative to conventional biopsies, offering a potentially cheaper and less invasive way of monitoring malignancies. The study, which involved genetic information from more than 15,000 patients and 50 tumor types, […]
A shocking number of college men surveyed admit coercing a partner into sex
Campus sexual assault scandals have practically become routine. The most recent one to make the news led to the firing of the head football coach at Baylor University and the resignation of its president. A new study, published this week in the journal Violence Against Women, suggests that sexual assault by college men is an even more […]
What we know about fentanyl, the powerful drug that killed Prince
It’s as much as 100 times more powerful than morphine and responsible for hundreds of overdose deaths a year.
Researchers claim deodorant can make some men smell more masculine
“You are being hurt by an ugly rumor which asserts that beneath your armpits dwells a ferocious goat. … So either get rid of this painful affront to the nostrils or cease to wonder why the ladies flee.” — Gaius Valerius Catullus (87–54 BC) The importance of smell in human sexual relationships goes back to ancient […]
Life expectancy is up sharply for blacks and Hispanics; whites are lagging
There’s good news and bad news when it comes to American mortality — and the bad is threatening to overwhelm the good. On the positive side, there are fewer deaths, per 100,000 people, from car accidents. There are fewer deaths from cancer. And there has been significant progress in recent years in driving down the […]
Stanford researchers ‘stunned’ by stem cell experiment that helped stroke patient walk
Stanford researchers studying the effect of stem cells injected directly into the brains of stroke patients said Thursday that they were “stunned” by the extent to which the experimental treatment restored motor function in some of the patients. While the research involved only 18 patients and was designed primarily to look at the safety of such a procedure and not its effectiveness, it […]
Doctors detail story of devastated mom of Zika-affected baby born in N.Y. area: ‘Trying her best to cope with this emotionally’
Somewhere in the United States, more than 300 pregnant women infected with Zika virus are waiting to find out what fate holds for their unborn children. The odds are not encouraging. Researchers estimate that the chances that a fetus will develop a severe brain defect known as microcephaly are as high as 13 percent for those who contracted the pathogen during […]
FDA prods industry to cut salt in processed food and restaurant meals
The Food and Drug Administration proposed voluntary guidelines Wednesday that would reduce salt in processed foods and restaurant meals, saying that Americans can’t make needed reductions in their sodium consumption simply by putting down the salt shaker. The agency’s long-awaited proposal establishes salt-reduction targets for a broad range of foods, from baked goods to soups, […]
Reversing long-term trend, death rate for Americans ticks upward
The long decline in Americans’ death rates has reversed course, according to preliminary 2015 numbers for all causes of mortality as compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many factors are implicated in the turnaround, including a rise in deaths from firearms, drug overdoses, accidental injuries, suicides, Alzheimer’s disease, hypertension and stroke. In a […]
Superbug investigation: ‘It’s likely that more of these will be found,’ CDC says
A top U.S. health official said Tuesday that it’s likely more people will be found to be carrying a newly discovered superbug. The bacteria, found in the urine of a Pennsylvania woman, is resistant to antibiotics of last resort. Beth Bell, a top expert on antibiotic resistance at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, […]
New thinking on kids with ADHD: ‘Healthy lifestyle’ could be effective intervention
Helping children with ADHD or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder bring their symptoms under control often involves elaborate school plans and accommodations, time-consuming behavior therapy and stimulant drugs. What if there was an easy an inexpensive alternative? Researcher Kathleen Holton, a behavioral neuroscientist at American University, suggests in a newly published study in the Journal of Attention Disorders that adhering to a […]
Opioid paradox: Could morphine use hurt as much as it helps by prolonging chronic pain?
It’s important to start off by noting that the opioid study everyone’s buzzing about this Tuesday morning was conducted on animals and not humans. The research by Colorado University’s Peter Grace and Linda Watkins looked at injured rats that were given morphine and came to a startling conclusion: that even a short treatment with the opioid appeared to prolong the duration […]
Inventor of Heimlich maneuver saves choking victim with his own technique
Patty Ris doesn’t have a favorite seat in the dining room at the Deupree House, a senior living facility in Cincinnati, where she recently took up residence. But it turned out she picked the best one possible during a meal this week. Though she didn’t know it at the time, sitting beside her was Henry Heimlich, […]
Nightmare superbug: What is it? And should you worry?
The news Thursday that researchers have found a person in the United States carrying bacteria resistant to antibiotics of last resort has caused alarm among public health and infectious disease experts. The antibiotic-resistant strain was found in the urine of a 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman. The E. coli bacteria contained a gene that makes it resistant […]
Zika precautions: What you need to know before you start your summer travels
Ahh, Memorial Day! For generations of Americans the holiday has marked the beginning of the season of sunscreen, barbecues and chlorine. It’s when you start putting sticky notes all over the guidebooks for that exotic trip abroad. And when you start tuning out at work and daydreaming about lying on a hammock with a thick paperback and a smoothie in hand. But […]
Doctors fire back at bad Yelp reviews — and reveal patients’ information online
Burned by negative reviews, some health providers are casting their patients’ privacy aside and sharing intimate details online as they try to rebut criticism. In the course of these arguments — which have spilled out publicly on ratings sites like Yelp — doctors, dentists, chiropractors and massage therapists, among others, have divulged details of patients’ […]
125 experts say Olympics must be moved or postponed because of Zika
More than 100 prominent physicians, bioethicists and scientists from around the world posted a letter Friday urging WHO Director-General Margaret Chan to exert pressure on Olympic authorities to move the Olympics from Rio de Janeiro or delay the games because of public health concerns over the Zika virus. Brazil, which is hosting the Olympics and the […]
The superbug that doctors have been dreading just reached the U.S.
This post has been updated. For the first time, researchers have found a person in the United States carrying bacteria resistant to antibiotics of last resort, an alarming development that the top U.S. public health official says could signal “the end of the road” for antibiotics. The antibiotic-resistant strain was found last month in the urine […]
Why I ‘ghosted’ my grieving friends: I wanted to help but didn’t know how
Five of my friends lost a parent in the past year. This was terrifying, tragic and unspeakably unfair — they’re all younger than 35 and did not expect to have to deal with this for at least 20 years. “Stop asking if I’m okay!” 33-year-old Anna Goldman said, two weeks after her mother died of a […]
FDA may be set to approve an implantable drug to treat opioid addiction
The Food and Drug Administration is expected to decide by Friday whether to approve the first implantable drug to deliver long-lasting medication to people addicted to opioids, such as OxyContin and heroin. The implant, which has four matchstick-sized rods that are inserted under the skin of the upper arm, administers the anti-addiction drug buprenorphine in […]
Is 10,000-steps goal more myth than science? Study seeks fitness truths through our phones and more
PALO ALTO, Calif. — Stanford cardiologist Alan Yeung has embarked on what may be the most audacious study of exercise in history. Using an app on those ubiquitous gadgets that many of us carry around 24/7 — our smartphones, fitness watches and other electronic devices — Yeung and his colleagues are mapping the second-by-second minutiae […]
For Zika-infected pregnancies, microcephaly risk may be as high as 13 percent
Pregnant women infected with the Zika virus during their first trimester face as high as a 13 percent chance that their fetus will develop a severe and rare brain defect, according to research published Wednesday. That condition, known as microcephaly, is characterized at birth by an abnormally small head and often incomplete brain development. Researchers […]
7 things about vaccines and autism that the movie ‘Vaxxed’ won’t tell you
On its surface, the movie “Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe” appears to be a slickly produced scientific documentary with lots of charts and data about one of the most important issues of our time. The central premise of the film is that the country’s mandatory measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine — when given to children under age 2 […]
This is how U.S. officials plan to protect Olympic athletes from Zika
U.S. officials are investigating ways to protect American athletes and members of the U.S. Summer Olympics delegation from Zika as they begin to go to Brazil, the epicenter of the rapidly evolving outbreak. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also assessing the threat that athletes and other travelers to the Games may increase […]
FTC: Beware of companies peddling products to protect against Zika mosquitos
That mint oil Mosquito Shield wristband you picked up last week to protect against Zika as mosquito season rolls into the United States? It’s not going to cut it. The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday issued a strong warning to consumers that some companies may be trying to unscrupulously capitalize on fears about the virus. The […]
Sparking fears of a zombie apocalypse: Controversial study aims to ‘reanimate’ the brain dead
Ever since Ira Pastor declared his company’s intentions to take 20 brain-dead patients and try to “regenerate” their nervous systems, his email box has been overflowing with inquiries from far-flung parts of the world. Skeptical scientists grilling him about the details of the techniques his team is using. Desperate families, who have been paying for years to keep loved ones on […]
Another reason why pregnant women shouldn’t smoke: schizophrenia
Smoking during pregnancy has long been known to increase risks: of miscarriage, premature birth, low birth weight, certain birth defects and sudden infant death syndrome. Now another worry may be added to the list: schizophrenia. A new study, published online Tuesday in the American Journal of Psychiatry, finds that heavy cigarette smoking by a pregnant […]
Here’s a first look at the FDA’s new nutrition label — and 10 reasons why it’s different from the old
Michelle Obama on Friday unveiled the much-anticipated overhaul of the nutrition labels you see on every packaged product at the grocery store and … it looks a lot like the old one — at least superficially. The new label still retains the minimalist black-and-white, two-column look that designers have praised over the years, and it highlights many of the […]
CDC monitoring nearly 300 pregnant women with Zika in the U.S. and its territories
Puerto Rico has the most cases, but more than 150 are in states and other territories, according to the agency. This is a developing story. It will be updated.
CDC monitoring nearly 300 pregnant women with Zika in U.S. states, territories
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that it is monitoring 279 pregnant women with likely Zika virus infections across U.S. states and territories. The largest number of cases by far are in Puerto Rico, where officials are keeping tabs on 122 pregnant women. But they also are tracking 157 other pregnant women across […]
CDC: Have a great summer. But make sure your public pool isn’t a health hazard.
Ah, summer. A time when young and old alike flock to the local pool or splash park for relief from heat. That is, unless the particular public pool, hot tub or water playground you flock to is among the thousands that are forced to close each year because of serious health and safety violations, according to the Centers for Disease Control […]
Scientists discover five genes that impact nose shape. Will designer babies be far behind?
In the futuristic movie “Gattaca,” those in the ruling class are genetically engineered to be a physically perfect version of their parents. They are as thin and tall as models, with perfect cheekbones, square jaws and thick, glossy hair. Think of stars Uma Thurman and Jude Law. When the movie came out in 1997, this idea of “designer babies” was still far-fetched. DNA […]
Consumer nightmare: Theranos ‘voids’ or revises tens of thousands of blood test results, WSJ reports
If you’ve had a blood test conducted by Theranos in 2014 or 2015, perhaps at a Walgreens store or other medical center, you should probably contact your doctor. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the company has “voided” those two years of results from its supposedly revolutionary Edison blood-testing machines and that it is issuing tens of […]
Do our genes ‘remember’ pain? Scientists suspect they might
You pulled a muscle in your back carrying groceries, took a shot to the shin in flag football or suffer from fibromyalgia. But it’s months later, and the lower back still aches, the leg still throbs, the body remains tender to the slightest insult. Welcome to the club of chronic pain. Scientists have long thought […]
Guess what medical condition is the costliest? No, it’s not heart disease or cancer.
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