Get Healthy!

Vaccines Don't Shield Against Long COVID, But May Ease Symptoms

Vaccinated people who experience a breakthrough case of COVID-19 are at risk for developing long-haul symptoms, though they are better protected against some of the worst ones, new data show.

Compared to the unvaccinated, people who had COVID shots had a 15% lower risk of developing long COVID symptoms after a breakthrough infection, accor...

U.S. Doctors Already Face Big Hurdles Accessing Abortion Pill

WEDNESDAY, May 25, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Even with Roe v. Wade still the law of the land, primary care doctors in the United States have difficulty prescribing U.S. federally approved abortion pills, a new study finds.

Getting in the way is a complex combination of state and federal regulations, insufficient training ...

Most COVID Long-Haulers Still Having Symptoms 15 Months Later

Many COVID-19 patients who didn't wind up in the hospital continue to battle lingering health issues more than a year later, a new study finds.

These long-haulers continue to suffer neurologic symptoms, fatigue and a compromised quality of life long after their initial infection.

"We were surprised by the persistence of most of the ...

AHA News: Asian and Pacific Islander Adults Less Likely to Get Mental Health Services Despite Growing Need

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, FBI data shows that people of Asian descent increasingly have been targets of racially motivated attacks.

"Hate crimes have spilled over to affect the community in dramatic ways. People feel scapegoated and blamed for the pandemic," said Dr. Howard Kyongju Koh, the Harvey V. Fineberg Professor of t...

Limiting TV to Under 1 Hour a Day Could Slash Heart Disease Rates: Study

WEDNESDAY, May 25, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- It's tempting to binge-watch TV shows, and it might be hard to get off the couch after just one or two episodes.

But it could be worth it.

Researchers calculated that if people committed to watching just under an hour of TV a day, 11% of coronary heart disease cases could...

Abbott to Re-Open Baby Formula Plant on June 4

Beginning June 4, Abbott Nutrition will restart producing baby formula at a shuttered factory that's been central to the ongoing shortage of infant formula in the United States, the company announced on Tuesday.

The factory in Sturgis, Mich., has been closed since February for what the U.S. Food and Drug Administration called "insanitar...

Effectiveness of Antiviral Drugs Against Monkeypox Uncertain: Study

Up until recently monkeypox infection outside of Africa was rare, but a look back at seven cases occurring in Britain over the past few years gives hints at what drugs work to fight the disease -- and which don’t.

The need to better understand treatments for monkeypox became more urgent this month when more than a hundred new cases were ...

Long-Term Heart Inflammation Strikes 1 in 8 Hospitalized COVID Patients

A year after being hospitalized with COVID-19, more than 12% of patients had been diagnosed with heart inflammation, according to a new study of the long-term effects of the virus.

For the study, researchers in Scotland followed 159 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 between May 2020 and March 2021. A year later, many patients had ongoing...

Another Study Finds Kids of Same-Sex Parents Do Just Fine

Children raised by same-sex parents are just as well-adjusted as kids raised by different-sex parents, researchers say.

In the new study, the researchers compared 62 Dutch children (aged 6 to 16 years) whose parents were the same sex with 72 kids whose parents were different sexes. The investigators considered prosocial behavior, hyperacti...

Prostate Cancer May Raise Risk for Blood Clots

Doctors need to be aware that prostate cancer raises a man's risk of serious and potentially deadly blood clots by about 50%, researchers say.

All cancer patients are at increased risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE), a dangerous but treatable blood clot in the veins that is a leading cause of death in cancer patients.

Prostate ca...

Use Pot? You May Need More Sedation During Endoscopies

If you use pot, you may need more sedation than normal during a gastric endoscopy, according to a new study.

"Patients didn't have increased awareness or discomfort during procedures, but they did require more drugs," lead author Dr. Yasmin Nasser said in a news release from the American Gastroenterological Association. Nasser is an assist...

Colon Cancer Death Rates Are Falling Among the Young — But Only for Whites

TUESDAY, May 24, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Race and ethnicity matter when battling colon cancer, with young white patients facing notably better odds than Black, Hispanic or Asian patients, new research warns.

A look at colon cancer survival among Americans younger than 50 turned up a glaring discrepancy: Survival five y...

Medical Marijuana May Offer Safe Pain Relief for Cancer Patients

TUESDAY, May 24, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Cancer patients who use medical marijuana experience less pain and a better quality of life, Israeli researchers report.

And, their new study found, these patients were able to rely less on opioid painkillers, with minimal side effects.

"I hope people pay attention to the r...

COVID Can 'Rebound' After Treatment With Paxlovid, CDC Says

COVID-19 can make a comeback after an infected person has gone through a round of Paxlovid, the antiviral used to minimize a bout with the coronavirus, according to an advisory issued Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Recent case reports document that some patients with normal immune response who have complet...

AHA News: New Study Looks at Heart Defect Risk in Children of People With Heart Defects

Congenital heart defects may be much more common among children of women with heart defects than of men with heart defects, according to new research.

Smaller studies had already reported a higher offspring risk for mothers with congenital heart defects, or CHDs. But researchers wanted to confirm those findings in a larger population and a...

With Abortion Access Under Threat, Doctors Focus on 'Contraceptive Counseling'

TUESDAY, May 24, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Women are more apt to use birth control when doctors treat it like a routine preventive health service, a new research review shows.

The analysis of 38 past studies found that women were more likely to use contraception when doctors were proactive about counseling them on the opt...

Cancer Patients Have Even Greater Need for COVID Boosters: Study

Cancer patients continue to face more risk from COVID-19, even if they've been vaccinated.

Although vaccination is effective for most people who have cancer (even though they're immunocompromised by the disease and their cancer treatments), its effectiveness wanes more rapidly in this group, by three to six months compared to the ge...

Your Daily Vitamin D From Tomatoes? Gene Tweak Could Make It Happen

TUESDAY, May 24, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- A genetically engineered tomato could one day rival salmon as a dietary source of vitamin D, if early research pans out.

British scientists used gene "editing" to produce the tomato, which is chock full of provitamin D3, a precursor that the body can convert into vitamin D.

AHA News: Family's Heart Disease History Inspired Her Fitness – and Got Her to the Base of Mount Everest

Lisa Abbott scrolled through the online auction offerings of the American Alpine Club's fundraiser. As a rock climber, ice climber, scuba diver and marathon runner, she enjoyed daydreaming about the various trips up for grabs.

One offering stood out: a guided two-week trek through the Khumbu Valley in Nepal to the base camp of Mount Everes...

Pandemic Has U.S. Hospitals Overwhelmed With Teens in Mental Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic and the isolation it imposed took a dramatic toll on kids' mental health, increasing the demand for services in an already overburdened system.

As a result, many kids found themselves being "boarded" in emergency departments as they awaited care, according to a new study conducted at Boston Children's Hospi...