Common Gout Drug Is Safe in Patients With Kidney Issues

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 26, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Allopurinol, a frequently used gout medication, does not appear to drive up the risk for dying among gout patients who also struggle with chronic kidney disease, new research shows.

The finding is based on an analysis of two decades worth of British health records. And it may ...

Fat Injections Might Ease Pain of Plantar Fasciitis

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 26, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Belly fat is usually unwelcome, but new research suggests it may actually be good for something: relief from foot pain.

A small pilot study suggests that an injection of a patient's own fat cells can help ease the often-excruciating heel pain brought on by a condition known as...

AHA News: Statistics Report Offers Snapshot of the Nation's Brain Health – And a Guide to Protecting It

Brain diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, are closely connected to heart health. They are affected by everyday actions and rank among the nation's leading causes of death.

That's the portrait of brain health that emerges from the American Heart Association's "Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics – 2022 Upd...

Omicron Batters Already Strained U.S. Hospitals

U.S. hospitals continue to reel from the pressure posed by the ongoing pandemic, facing critical workforce shortages and rising labor costs that amount to a "national emergency," hospital executives say.

Nearly 1,400 hospitals — 31% of the nation's total — are on the verge of critical staffing shortages, according to the American Hospi...

Survivors of Severe COVID Face Higher Odds for Another Hospitalization Soon After

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 26, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- People hospitalized for COVID-19 are not necessarily out of the woods once they're discharged: Many land in the hospital again in the months afterward, a large U.K. study finds.

The researchers found that in the 10 months after leaving the hospital, COVID-19 patients were more...

Biden Administration Withdraws Vaccine Mandate for Large Employers

The Biden Administration on Tuesday withdrew an emergency COVID-19 vaccine-or-test mandate for workers at large companies following the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling against the requirement.

The mandate, which required businesses with 100 or more staff to ensure their employees were either vaccinated or were tested weekly and wore mas...

More Than 1 Million U.S. Kids Diagnosed With COVID in Single Week

More than 1.1 million American kids were diagnosed with COVID-19 during the week ending Jan. 20, new data show.

That's 17% higher than the 981,000 cases diagnosed the week before and double the number from two weeks before that.

"As we approach the two-year anniversary of the pandemic, cases of COVID-19 among children and adolescents...

More Proof That COVID Vaccines Won't Harm Fertility

COVID-19 vaccines don't affect the outcomes of in-vitro fertilization (IVF), according to a new study. It's more evidence that the shots won't harm fertility, researchers said.

The results "will give people comfort to know that the COVID-19 vaccine does not affect their reproductive potential,” said senior study author Dr. Alan Copperman...

Many People With Asthma Have Mixed Feelings About Masks: Poll

Although they report difficulty breathing and discomfort while wearing a face mask, most people with asthma still use them in public places during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study finds.

University of Illinois Chicago researchers conducted an online survey of more than 500 adults with asthma. They found that 84% reported discomfort and 7...

COVID Infection Unlikely From Hospital Surfaces: Study

Remember when everyone was disinfecting their groceries at the start of the pandemic, fearful that the new coronavirus could be spread simply by touching a surface on which the virus had landed?

New research confirms that much of that cleaning was unnecessary because people are unlikely to get COVID-19 from contaminated surfaces.

“...

Saline IV Drip Just as Good as Pricier Options in Hospital ICUs: Study

Saline intravenous (IV) fluids are as effective as more costly solutions in treating intensive care patients and keeping them alive, Australian researchers report.

"Just about every patient admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) will receive intravenous fluids for resuscitation or as part of standard treatment," noted the study's lead a...

Keeping Weight Stable Could Help Save Your Brain

“There’s something about maintaining weight and BMI that seems to reflect some health resilience,” said st...

Pandemic Especially Tough on Kids With ADHD

TUESDAY, Jan. 25, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Living through the pandemic has not been easy for kids, but it has really thrown off children who have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), new research warns.

Though they were not more likely to catch COVID-19, they were more likely to experience symptoms if they we...

Extra 10 Minutes of Daily Activity Could Save 110,000 U.S. Lives Annually

TUESDAY, Jan. 25, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Americans, get up out of that chair and get moving.

If everyone between 40 and 85 years of age were active just 10 minutes more a day, it could save more than 110,000 U.S. lives a year, a large study reports.

"Our projections are based on an additional 10 minutes of modera...

Pfizer Begins Testing a COVID Vaccine Targeted to Omicron

Pfizer Inc. announced Tuesday that it has launched a trial that will compare its existing COVID-19 vaccine against a new version tailored to beat back the highly contagious Omicron variant.

"While current research and real-world data show that boosters continue to provide a high level of protection against severe disease and hospitalizatio...

Pandemic to Endemic: Is a New Normal Near?

It has begun to feel like a pandemic that will never end, but public health experts now say the Omicron variant may be ushering in a "new normal," where COVID-19 becomes an endemic, but manageable, disease.

"I do feel that we are moving into a transition phase in the pandemic, and I do think Omicron represents a major move to endemicity," ...

EU Eases COVID-19 Travel Rules Within the Bloc for Fully Vaccinated

European Union residents should be able to move freely between the 27 member nations if they've been vaccinated in the past nine months or have recently recovered from coronavirus infection, bloc officials said Tuesday.

The announcement was made a day after the World Health Organization (WHO) said the spread of the Omicron variant could ch...

Vaccination Key to 'Super Immunity' Against COVID-19

Coronavirus infections before or after vaccination provide equal levels of increased immunity, and the key to this so-called "super immunity" is to be vaccinated, researchers report.

"It makes no difference whether you get infected-and-then-vaccinated, or if you get vaccinated-and-then-a-breakthrough infection," said study co-senior autho...

3 Factors Helped Teens Stay Mentally Healthy During Pandemic

Support from family and friends, along with exercise and sufficient sleep, have helped protect teens' mental health during the pandemic, new research shows.

The study also found that teen girls have been more likely than boys to suffer mental distress during the pandemic.

For the study, researchers analyzed data gathered from more th...

AHA News: At 26, Elementary School Music Teacher Had a Stroke Between Classes

Christina Saldivar felt well-rested and energetic when she headed to her elementary school in Newport News, Virginia, on a Monday morning in February 2020. At 26, she was enjoying her first year of teaching music at the same campus instead of bouncing around as an itinerant teacher.

The morning opened with back-to-back classes to second an...