Can the size of a blood pressure cuff throw off your reading? Yes, claims a new study that found an ill-fitting blood pressure cuff could make the difference between being accurately diagnosed with high blood pressure or not. Blood pressure cuffs come in different sizes, and guidelines say health care providers should use the cuff… read on > read on >
People who’ve had COVID-19 may have long-term immune protection against new variants of the virus, but researchers say vaccination remains the best safeguard against reinfection. Their small new study analyzed blood samples from 24 people whose COVID infections ranged from symptom-free to severe enough to send them to the hospital. While those who had mild… read on > read on >
Though they’re on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. health care workers’ paychecks don’t always adequately reward those efforts. Wages for health care workers actually rose less than the average across all U.S. employment sectors during the first and second years of the pandemic, according to a new study that also reported a… read on > read on >
It looks like coronavirus variants can hide out in the human body much like some of their viral cousins do, making it hard for infected people to get rid of the virus entirely, researchers report. Successive variants have appeared since the original version of SARS-CoV-2 triggered the global pandemic, and vaccines and antibody treatments have… read on > read on >
If you’re a parent using Similac, Alimentum or EleCare infant formulas, here’s updated facts on the ongoing product recall. As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigates, Abbott Nutrition has recalled certain powdered formulas made at its Sturgis, Mich., facility. The products have been linked to bacterial infections in five babies. All had to be… read on > read on >
During the pandemic’s first year, the risk of dying shot up nearly 26% among American seniors with Alzheimer’s disease, a new study reveals. Minorities faced even higher odds of death, either as a direct result of COVID or because of disruptions in health care, researchers found. The main culprit: Unintended fallout from abrupt changes to… read on > read on >
For reasons that remain murky, new research warns that a spike in social media use during the pandemic might have worsened tic disorders in children. Tics are sudden twitches, movements or sounds that people do repeatedly because they can’t control their body. In the study, 90% of 20 tic patients aged 11 to 21 said… read on > read on >
If you’ve had hernia repair surgery and you think you’ve solved your medical issue for good, you might be wrong. A hernia occurs when an internal organ pushes through a weak region of muscle or tissue, often creating a noticeable bulge. Hernias typically do not improve without surgery. Left untreated, a hernia can cause severe… read on > read on >
Alexa can already play your favorite song or tell you whether it is going to rain, but soon you may also be able to tell the popular voice assistant to contact a doctor for health issues. The service from Amazon and telemedicine provider Teladoc Health will be available around the clock on Amazon’s Echo devices,… read on > read on >
Some portable tech devices equipped with powerful magnets can interfere with your heart implant’s ability to regulate dangerous irregular heart rhythms, a new study reports. Swiss researchers found that Apple AirPods Pro, the Microsoft Surface Pen and the Apple Pencil all can temporarily throw a pacemaker/defibrillator off if they are held too close to the… read on > read on >
