WEDNESDAY, Nov. 10, 2021 (American Heart Association News) — Acrolein, crotonaldehyde and styrene, compounds found in everything from cigarette smoke to plastics, were associated with higher blood pressure measurements for both the top, systolic, and bottom, diastolic, numbers. “Acrolein is a well-known cardiotoxic chemical, and styrene had a causative signal with diastolic blood pressure,” said…  read on >  read on >

The COVID-19 pandemic has offered some lessons on respiratory disease transmission, and now a new review suggests that hospitals could use those insights to create even smarter infection-control policies. The review, published Nov. 9 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, suggests that some longstanding infection-control tactics at hospitals are “outdated.” And certain changes, like greater…  read on >  read on >

Shining a light on the powerful link between the mind and body, a new study suggests that cardiac arrest survivors who learn to focus their thoughts on the here and now during recovery are less likely to become depressed or anxious. The finding centers on a mental health practice known as “mindfulness,” which amounts to…  read on >  read on >

WEDNESDAY, Nov.10, 2021A key to reduced Alzheimer’s disease risk in women could be how much of the hormone estrogen they’re able to stockpile over the years, new research suggests. Certain lifetime choices — such as having more children, taking hormonal birth control or taking hormone therapy during menopause — mean that a woman has greater…  read on >  read on >

It may look like bad news, but a new study says it’s not: The number of people younger than 21 who had total hip replacement surgery in the United States jumped from 347 in 2000 to 551 in 2016. The increase wasn’t due to a rise in the number of children with inflammatory arthritis, which…  read on >  read on >

Researchers have identified two previously unrecognized symptoms of pancreatic cancer — a discovery that might help with earlier detection and improve extremely low survival numbers, they say. “When pancreatic cancer is diagnosed earlier, patients have a higher chance of survival. It is possible to diagnose patients when they visit their GP, but both patients and…  read on >  read on >