Wellness Programs Take Hold in American Workplaces

WEDNESDAY, April 24, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly half of U.S. workplaces now offer wellness programs, a new study finds.

"Most American adults work, and many spend half or more of their waking hours at work," said study author Laura Linnan. She's a professor in the department of health behavior at the University of North Carolina...

Young Adults With Autism Need Jobs, But Resources Vary By State

WEDNESDAY, April 24, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- There's a lot of news about the dramatic rise in the number of children with autism and the services available to them, but less attention has been paid to what happens when those kids grow up.

Now, a new study suggests that finding a job can be a struggle, and just how much of a struggle i...

Mind-Reading Tech Could Bring 'Synthetic Speech' to Brain-Damaged Patients

WEDNESDAY, April 24, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Reading the brain waves that control a person's vocal tract might be the best way to help return a voice to people who've lost their ability to speak, a new study suggests.

A brain-machine interface creates natural-sounding synthetic speech by using brain activity to control a "virtual" voc...

Could Common Food Preservative Make People Fat?

WEDNESDAY, April 24, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- If you're watching your weight, you probably know to avoid sugary and fatty foods. But what about preservatives?

Eating a preservative widely used in breads, baked goods and cheese may trigger metabolic responses that are linked to obesity and diabetes, an early study suggests.

Th...

E. Coli Outbreak Tied to Ground Beef Expands to 10 States

WEDNESDAY, April 24, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Federal health officials say 156 cases of E. coli illness linked with tainted ground beef have now been spotted across 10 states.

That's up from the 109 cases reported from six states just two weeks ago, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.

"Ill pe...

Tiny Self-Guided Robot Navigates Through the Heart

WEDNESDAY, April 24, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Many older Americans may remember "Fantastic Voyage" -- the 1966 film where scientists and the vessel they were in shrank to microscopic size and traveled through the human body.

Now, science fiction may be getting closer to reality. Researchers say they've created a tiny medical robot that...

Brain Sharpens the Hearing of the Blind, Study Finds

WEDNESDAY, April 24, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have long wondered why blind people seem to have a sharpened sense of hearing. Now a Seattle team has pinpointed specific brain adaptations that occur in folks without sight.

"There's this idea that blind people are good at auditory tasks, because they have to make their way in ...

Most U.S. Middle-Class Seniors Will Lack Funds for Assisted Living by 2029

WEDNESDAY, April 24, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- A decade from now, more than half of middle-class seniors in the United States will be unable to afford needed housing and personal assistance, a new study contends.

The number of middle-income people over 75 will nearly double to 14 million by 2029, up from about 8 million today, projectio...

Pregnant? The Earlier You Quit Smoking, the Better

WEDNESDAY, April 24, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Quitting smoking during pregnancy reduces the risk of delivering preterm. And the earlier you stop, the better, a new study finds.

"Pregnancy can be a stressful time in a woman's life. And women who smoked prior to pregnancy may turn to smoking or continue to smoke as a way to mitigate this...

AHA News: Woman Almost Declared Dead No Stranger to Heart Trouble

WEDNESDAY, April 24, 2019 (American Heart Association News) -- Jeff and Melanie Baldwin were hanging a picture in the dining room of their Las Vegas home when Melanie collapsed.

Jeff grabbed his phone and dialed 911. Preparing for the ambulance to arrive, he closed the bedroom doors to keep their four cats in, unlocked the front door ...

Fatal Medical Emergencies on the Rise Worldwide: Study

WEDNESDAY, April 24, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Injuries, heart attacks, lung infections, strokes and other medical emergencies caused about half of the world's 28 million deaths in 2015, a new study reports.

Such deaths are on the rise, and rates are much higher in poor countries than wealthy ones, the researchers said.

"We be...

Don't Assume Pot Will Make You Fat

WEDNESDAY, April 24, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Even though marijuana triggers the "munchies" in many people, adults who use the drug tend to weigh less than nonusers, a new study finds.

The finding stems from data on the weight of 33,000 Americans, 18 and older. Researchers found that all gained weight over three years. However, those w...

3 Parenting Essentials to Safeguard Kids' Well-Being

WEDNESDAY, April 24, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- As a parent, you want to do everything right to nurture your child. Besides serving healthy food and encouraging daily exercise, three other lifestyle habits can have a huge impact on your child's mental and physical well-being and development.

In an article in JAMA Pediatrics, Dr....

Do-It-Yourself Veggie Noodles

WEDNESDAY, April 24, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Want to get more veggies into your diet but feeling bored with the same old side dishes? Making noodles from vegetables is the answer. They're a great substitute for high-calorie, low-fiber traditional pasta and work just as well as a base for your favorite sauces.

While it's possible to u...

Asthma Myths That Can Hurt You

TUESDAY, April 23, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Even though asthma is common in the United States, there are many misconceptions about the respiratory disease, an allergy/immunology expert says.

"Asthma is a serious condition that affects more than 26 million Americans -- more than 8% of the population," Dr. Todd Mahr, president of the...

Untrained Caregivers Bear Burden of Care for Families: Report

TUESDAY, April 23, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Twenty million largely self-taught home caregivers in the United States perform complex medical tasks for family members and friends, a new report says.

That means that half of the nation's 40 million family caregivers do things typically performed by health care professionals, such as givin...

Video Games Don't Hamper Boys' Social Skills, Study Finds

TUESDAY, April 23, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Does playing a lot of video games really jeopardize a boy's ability to make and keep friends?

Maybe not, reports a team of Norwegian and American researchers.

Investigators spent six years tracking the gaming habits and social interactions of nearly 900 Norwegian children from ages ...

Can Pregnancy Put a Damper on Your Career?

TUESDAY, April 23, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Many American women feel less welcome at work once they become pregnant, a new study finds.

On the other hand, expectant and new fathers often get a career boost.

"We found that pregnant women experienced decreased career encouragement in the workplace only after they disclosed they...

Americans Sitting More Than Ever, and Tech Is to Blame

TUESDAY, April 23, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- America's couch potatoes are becoming ever more deeply rooted, and computers are the reason why.

The amount of time people spend sitting around has increased in recent years, driven largely by more leisure time spent with a computer, federal survey data shows.

Total daily sitting t...

'Two Wave' Flu Season Unusually Long: CDC

TUESDAY, April 23, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- What looked like a mild flu season in December has turned into the longest flu season in five years, U.S. health officials report.

The season is so prolonged because two waves of flu viruses hit one after the other, making it like two flu seasons in one.

"Those two waves together ha...