Emphysema is missed more often in Black Americans than in white Americans, and now researchers report they have figured out why. The investigators found that many Black men who were considered to have normal results after race-specific interpretations of a common lung function test called spirometry actually had emphysema when assessed using computed tomography (CT).… read on > read on >
College basketball player Joey Liedel suffered years of debilitating hip pain that limited his ability to play. As a freshman at University of Detroit-Mercy, he was in constant discomfort. Eventually, the Erie, Mich., athlete underwent hip surgery and took some time off to get comfortable on the court again. The 6-foot-1 guard had arthroscopy —… read on > read on >
If heading back into the water this summer has you concerned about flesh-eating bacteria, an expert offers some advice. “Flesh-eating bacteria refers to an infection that spreads so rapidly that the skin and surrounding soft tissue starts to die,” explained Dr. Stacey Rose, an assistant professor of infectious diseases at Baylor College of Medicine, in… read on > read on >
FRIDAY, May 13, 2022 (American Heart Association News) — Justin Ballard of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, stared at the photos in disbelief. “Do I really look that big?” he thought. The pictures came from a joyous occasion – Christmas Day 2019, when Kelsey, the oldest of his three children, had gotten engaged. The couple set a… read on > read on >
FRIDAY, May 13, 2022 (American Heart Association News) — Black or Hispanic adults who experience a witnessed cardiac arrest outside the hospital are substantially less likely than their white peers to receive lifesaving care from a bystander, preliminary new research shows. CPR was least likely for Black and Hispanic adults in a less personal setting,… read on > read on >
Even before the pandemic, the demand for donor kidneys far exceeded supply. That shortfall only worsened when hospitals started refusing to use kidneys from COVID-positive donors. However, new research now suggests that kidneys from deceased COVID-19 patients have almost zero risk of viral transmission to the recipient: In the new study, out of 55 patients… read on > read on >
A diagnosis of pancreatic cancer may feel like a death sentence because this fast-moving disease is often discovered at a later stage, when it’s harder to treat. Now, a new study offers hope for earlier diagnosis, finding an association between recent gallstone disease and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Patients diagnosed with PDAC were six times… read on > read on >
Here’s one way in which the pandemic did not exacerbate health care disparities: A new study shows that telemedicine has closed the gap in access to primary care between Black and non-Black Americans. The use of telemedicine boomed during the pandemic, so University of Pennsylvania researchers decided to examine how that affected Black patients’ historically… read on > read on >
An experimental gene therapy for spinal cord pain shows promise in mice, researchers say. About half of spinal cord injury patients have neuropathy, which is chronic or debilitating pain, tingling, numbness or muscle weakness caused by damaged or malfunctioning nerves. Treatment of neuropathy can be challenging. For example, medications often require complex, continuous delivery and… read on > read on >
The more antibiotics that seniors take, the greater their risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a new study suggests. The findings could help explain some of the increase in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis (common types of IBD) among older adults, according to the study authors. “In older adults, we think that environmental factors are… read on > read on >
