It doesn’t matter if you exercise every day or squeeze it all into the weekend. If you do the recommended 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a week, you’ll get heart benefits, a new study finds. Both regimens protect you from atrial fibrillation (a-fib), heart attack, heart failure and stroke, compared with inactivity,… read on > read on >
All Health and Wellness:
AHA News: A Net Benefit? Here’s How Watching Soccer Might Affect Your Health
TUESDAY, July 18, 2023 (American Heart Association News) — Crystal Cuadra-Cutler lives for soccer. And soccer has added a lot to her life. The Gilroy, Calif., resident is a chapter president for the American Outlaws, a group known as “U.S. Soccer’s craziest fans.” Whether it’s her local Major League Soccer team or U.S. national team… read on > read on >
Ketamine Shows Promise Against Treatment-Resistant Depression in Trial
Dr. Dan Iosifescu’s patient had a history of depression and had done well for a number of years. But the illness returned with a vengeance. “They truly tried to get better with a series of different medications, and none of them did anything. If anything, they were experiencing a lot of side effects,” Iosifescu said,… read on > read on >
New Opioid Use Raises Death Risk 11-Fold in Those With Dementia
Older adults who begin using opioid painkillers after a dementia diagnosis have a significantly greater risk of death — about 11-fold within the first two weeks, according to new research. The risk of death continued beyond two weeks, but at a lower rate, said researchers in Denmark. They found a doubled death risk within 90… read on > read on >
Hearing Aids May Cut Dementia Risk in Those at High Risk
If you’re hard of hearing and at higher risk for dementia, hearing aids could be a win-win. New research, published July 18 in The Lancet, finds hearing aids might reduce thinking declines in older adults –but only in those at higher risk of dementia. “These results provide compelling evidence that treating hearing loss is a… read on > read on >
Checking Blood Pressure at Home Saves Lives, Money
Patients could find lifesaving benefits in using a home blood pressure cuff. New research finds that home blood pressure monitoring saves lives and cuts costs. It also reduces health care disparities in racial and ethnic minorities and rural residents. Furthermore, regular self-testing better controls high blood pressure, especially in underserved patients, reducing the risk of… read on > read on >
Nursing Homes Used COVID Meds Less Than Expected During Pandemic
While nursing home residents are at high risk for bad outcomes if they get COVID-19, use of antiviral treatments, such as monoclonal antibodies, was low through most of 2021 and 2022. The authors of a new study, led by Brian McGarry, a health services researcher at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York,… read on > read on >
East, Southeast Have the Most Alzheimer’s Cases, New U.S. Study Shows
A new study offers the first-ever county-level estimates of Alzheimer’s disease in the United States. It shows that the East and Southeast have the highest prevalence of Alzheimer’s dementia, which researchers said may owe in part to the higher percentages of older people, and Black and Hispanic residents in those regions. The study covered all… read on > read on >
FDA Approves New Drug to Protect Against RSV in Infants
MONDAY, July 17, 2023 (HealthDay Now) — Parents now have a new long-acting drug to protect their children against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a common germ that hospitalizes as many as 3% of children under the age of 1 in the United States each year. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved Beyfortus… read on > read on >
Weekly Insulin Shot Could Be a Game Changer for Those With Type 2 Diabetes
People with type 2 diabetes could soon have access to convenient once-a-week insulin shots that could replace the daily injections now required. A once-weekly insulin formulation called icodec performed just as well as daily doses of the insulin degludec, phase 3 clinical trial results show. Icodec now awaits approval by the U.S. Food and Drug… read on > read on >