Snoring is not only an annoyance, but also a potential health concern. Chronic snoring may be associated with sleep apnea, which can lead to sleep deprivation and potential heart issues. The National Sleep Foundation says certain exercises may strengthen muscles surrounding the airways and help prevent snoring: Push the tip of your tongue against the… read on >
THURSDAY, Nov. 30, 2017More stringent gun laws might spur a decline n domestic violence murders, new research suggests. Thirteen states and federal law prohibit people convicted of domestic violence from buying guns. But the study found that states that extended this ban to people convicted of any violent crime had 23 percent fewer domestic violence… read on >
Bacterial resistance to the antibiotic ampicillin may have begun years before doctors started prescribing it in the early 1960s, a new study suggests. Ampicillin, a broad-spectrum penicillin, is widely used to treat many bacterial infections, including bladder and ear infections, pneumonia and gonorrhea. Resistance was likely triggered by overuse of penicillin in livestock in North… read on >
A program that includes male circumcision and antiviral drug treatment led to a sharp drop in HIV infection rates in a high-risk region of Uganda, researchers report. Their study of a U.S.-funded HIV prevention program in the rural Rakai District on the shore of Lake Victoria followed 34,000 people. The program provides a number of… read on >
All prescribers of opioid pain medications — not just high-volume prescribers — play a role in the U.S. epidemic of opioid abuse and overdoses, a new study says. Deaths from drug overdoses in the United States rose from about 52,000 in 2015 to more than 64,000 in 2016. Most of those deaths involved opioids, including… read on >
The epidemic of opioid abuse in the United States has put hospital ERs on the front line, with staffers increasingly battling infections tied to the problem. ERs are seeing an increasing number of patients seeking care for severe infections resulting from injected use of heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone and the like, new research shows. ER radiologists… read on >
Childproofing a home is important even after your little one reaches toddlerhood. KidsHealth.org offers these suggestions to make your home safer for kids of all ages: Keep guns locked in a sturdy cabinet. Keepcoin lithium (“button”) batteries out of a child’s reach. They may be deadly if swallowed. Keep choking hazards,poisonous substances, hot and sharp… read on >
A new treatment that aims electrical pulses at irritated nerves around the spinal cord appears effective at relieving chronic lower back pain and sciatica, a preliminary study suggests. The minimally invasive procedure, called image-guided pulsed radiofrequency, eased lingering pain in 80 percent of 10 patients after a single 10-minute treatment. Ninety percent were able to… read on >
Former professional football players are at increased risk for an enlarged aorta, which can lead to a life-threatening bulge in the artery, a new study reports. The aorta, the largest artery in the body, carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body. The short part of the aorta is called the ascending… read on >
They may temporarily ease pain, but new research suggests that steroid injections to arthritic hips may exacerbate bone trouble over the longer term. These injections have long been used “for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes for various joint conditions,” noted Dr. Crispin Ong, an orthopedic surgeon who was not involved with the study but reviewed the… read on >
