A life-threatening heart emergency can spell financial doom for people who don’t have health insurance, a pair of new studies shows. Around 4 out of 5 uninsured patients hospitalized for a heart attack, stroke or heart bypass surgery faced financial ruin before the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed in 2010, the researchers reported. “Medical… read on >
It’s a common Hollywood trope — an older guy is having enthusiastic sex with a gal half his age when he suddenly flops over dead. But in real life, sexual activity very rarely causes cardiac arrest, a new study reassuringly reports. Sex was linked to only 34 out of more than 4,500 cardiac arrests that… read on >
If you love to while away a weekend watching a season’s worth of episodes from a favorite TV series, you may inadvertently put yourself at risk for developing a dangerous blood clot. When researchers compared people who reported watching TV more often to those who seldom or never watched TV, the risk of a venous… read on >
America’s hang-ups over sexuality and gender could cost women their lives when their heart suddenly stops, a new study suggests. Simply put, women suffering from cardiac arrest in a public setting are less likely to get lifesaving CPR from a passerby than men are, researchers reported. “When it comes to life and death, we need… read on >
Need another reason to keep your weight under control? Excess weight can cause dislocation of your knee and may even lead to a complication that results in amputation of your leg. A new study attributes a surge in dislocated knees to the U.S. obesity epidemic. “Obesity greatly increases the complications and costs of care,” said… read on >
Your comfortable recliner and state-of-the-art office chair may be increasing your risk for heart disease. A sedentary lifestyle can raise cholesterol and threaten heart health. If you have a desk job, it’s especially important to counter long bouts of sitting with an hourly 5-minute exercise break, even if you stay within your office. If you… read on >
Exposure to air pollution can increase the risk for osteoporosis and broken bones in older adults, a new U.S. study suggests. Researchers analyzed data on 9.2 million Medicare enrollees in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic area who had been hospitalized for fractures from 2003 to 2010. The investigators found that even a small increase in exposure to air… read on >
Cats with diabetes, dogs with cancer, birds with high cholesterol or even rabbits who cannot turn around to clean themselves — what do these animals all have in common? They are either overweight or obese, and it’s serious. “We have a problem — almost all of American pets are overweight or obese,” explained veterinarian Dr.… read on >
The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, first developed to help guard against cervical cancer, also seems to protect against a rare, chronic childhood respiratory disease, a new study suggests. It’s believed that the disease — recurrent respiratory papillomatosis — occurs in children when HPV type 6 or 11 spreads from mother to child around the time… read on >
Low-carb diets are often thought of as fad diets that might yield a rapid initial weight loss, but aren’t sustainable or necessarily healthy. But when there’s academic research behind the approach, it’s worth taking a second look. A study from Tulane University made headlines for showing that a low-carbohydrate diet (think Atkins and South Beach,… read on >
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