TUESDAY, April 6, 2021 (American Heart Association News) — A pandemic, protests and politics have highlighted the nation’s long-standing, deep-seated racial issues and how they affect the health of millions of Americans. People who’ve never confronted racism before are asking, “How can I show I’m an ally?” For the uninitiated, being a partner in the… read on > read on >
TUESDAY, April 6, 2021 (American Heart Association News) — James “Pete” Watt walked into a physical therapy appointment in April 2018 feeling unusually lightheaded and anxious. “I just felt off,” he said. The therapist took his blood pressure reading. It was dangerously high – 200/100. “You’re not going anywhere until someone comes to get you,”… read on > read on >
Millions of Americans have at some point in their lives gotten a long course of antibiotics to treat a bacterial infection. But according to new recommendations from a major U.S. doctors’ group, some of the most common bacterial infections can now be treated with shorter courses of the drugs. The advice, from the American College… read on > read on >
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists thought twice about studying North American bats in their winter habitats. But they’ve now determined that the risk of humans passing the coronavirus to bats under these conditions was low. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) led the study. It found the risk to be one in 1,000 with no… read on > read on >
Black Americans are much more likely to report discrimination or unfair judgment when seeking health care than whites or Hispanics, researchers report. “Discrimination and unfair judgment in a health care setting can result in serious ramifications to health and have cumulative adverse effects on people’s lives,” said study author Dulce Gonzalez, a research associate at… read on > read on >
Beta-blocker blood pressure medications may increase the risk of heart problems in people with HIV, new research suggests. For the study, the researchers reviewed the medical records of more than 8,000 U.S. veterans with HIV who developed high blood pressure between 2000 and 2018. Of those, around 6,500 had never been diagnosed with heart or… read on > read on >
After the pandemic, the next great health care challenge in the United States could be retaining highly trained doctors, nurses and scientists, a new study warns. Up to one in five employees at an academic medical institution are considering leaving their professions because of the strains of coping with the pandemic, according to the researchers.… read on > read on >
Show your baby your love, and you’ll get a kinder, gentler adult child as your reward, a new study suggests. More than 20 years ago, researchers in Israel began studying the impact on newborns of time spent in physical contact with their mothers. The investigators followed these infants, born in the mid- to late-1990s, for… read on > read on >
MONDAY, April 5, 2021 (American Heart Association News) — Bariatric surgery can be a difficult decision for treating obesity, as patients and their doctors weigh the risks and side effects of the procedure against the benefits of the weight loss that usually follows. Heart disease adds another factor to the risk-benefit analysis. Is the surgery… read on > read on >
The stereotypical image of pot smokers has long been one of “stoners” parked on the couch, surrounded by snacks and glued to the television, but a new study dispels that notion. Instead, people who use marijuana may exercise just as much as other people do, and perhaps even a little more, researchers report. Considering how… read on > read on >
