Jimmy Carter 'Happy' in At-Home Hospice Care as 99th Birthday Nears

FRIDAY, Sept. 29, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Former President Jimmy Carter turned quite a few heads last week when he made a surprise visit to the Plains Peanut Festival in Georgia.

Carter, who turns 99 on Sunday, decided back in February “to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instea...

Biden Administration Says Insurance Issues With COVID Shots Mostly Fixed

FRIDAY, Sept. 29, 2023 (HealthDay News) – Despite reports of trouble last week where some people may have been denied insurance coverage while seeking COVID shots at pharmacies, the Biden administration said Thursday those issues have been ironed out.

That issue is "largely, if not completely," resolved after U.S. Healt...

Getting COVID Shot During Pregnancy Helps Protect Newborns, CDC Study Finds

FRIDAY, Sept. 29, 2023 (HealthDay News) – When pregnant women get a COVID vaccine, it helps protect their newborns from the virus, a new government study shows.

"These findings indicate that maternal vaccination during pregnancy could help prevent COVID-19–related hospitalization in infants too young to be vaccinated,...

Most Older Americans Object to Cancer Screening Cutoffs Based on Life Expectancy: Poll

FRIDAY, Sept. 29, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- While guidelines for cancer screening have begun factoring in life expectancy, a new poll shows a majority of older adults disagree with age cutoffs based on how long a person is expected to live.

The University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging queried more than 2,500 adults age...

Childbirth Can Leave New Parents in Serious Medical Debt

New parents bringing home their bundle of joy often carry something else with them as they leave the hospital: medical debt.

That's according to new research from Michigan Medicine that found postpartum women are more likely to have medical debt than those who are pregnant.

The researchers studied this by evaluating collections among...

Brains of Patients With Post-Op Delirium Could Be More Vulnerable

Delirium is common after older patients have surgery and can cause serious complications and distress, but its cause has been a mystery.

New research has found that patients who develop postoperative delirium have increased openings in the blood-brain barrier, the layer of cells that prevent substances from entering the brain.

“The...

Megan Thee Stallion Urges Fans to 'Check on Friends' for Mental Health

THURSDAY, Sept. 28, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Megan Thee Stallion is urging you to check on your friends.

The rapper, whose offstage name is Megan Pete, is part of a new public service announcement called Seize the Awkward, a national campaign to encourage young people to talk to friends about mental health.

“It�...

Biden Administration Gives Funding Boost to Help Curb Suicides

THURSDAY, Sept. 28, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- The Biden administration is allocating $232.2 million in grants to help stem suicides and improve behavioral health care for at-risk groups.

Suicide is happening at an “alarming” rate, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Last year alone, nearly...

Oregon Decriminalized Possession of Small Amounts of Drugs. Fatal ODs Didn't Skyrocket

Critics of a law that decriminalized drug possession in Oregon have blamed the policy for rising overdose deaths in the state, but a new study finds no evidence of that.

Researchers discovered that while drug overdose deaths have risen recently in Oregon, it appears the trend has no relation to a law popularly known as Measure 110.

...

Health Issue Has Bruce Springsteen Postponing Shows for the Rest of the Year

Rock star Bruce Springsteen announced Wednesday that he has postponed all of his remaining shows this year as he deals with peptic ulcer disease.

Springsteen said he’s continuing to “recover steadily from peptic ulcer disease over the past few weeks and will continue treatment through the rest of the year on doctor’s advice,” in a...

Heavy Marijuana Use May Harm the Heart

THURSDAY, Sept. 28, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- People who abuse marijuana may be setting themselves up for heart problems down the road, Canadian researchers report.

The new study found that people with so-called cannabis use disorder may have a 60% higher risk for a heart attack, stroke or other major heart-related event, compared ...

FDA Panel Says No to Experimental ALS Drug

THURSDAY, Sept. 28, 2023 (HealthDay News) – An advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday voted resoundingly against recommending a stem cell-based experimental treatment for ALS.

Although the FDA isn't bound by the votes of its advisory panels, agency scientists have already penned a scathing review of the drug...

Is the First Cure for Advanced Rabies Near?

Rabies virus is incurable and almost always fatal once it has invaded the central nervous system, with the victim doomed to suffer a horrible death.

But researchers now think they’ve found an effective and simple treatment that can cure even advanced cases of rabies.

A monoclonal antibody injected into lab mice successfully protect...

Smoggy Days Raise Short-Term Odds for Stroke

Exposure to air pollution, even for just a short time, drives up your risk of having a stroke over the next few days, new research warns.

That conclusion stems from a review of 110 studies conducted across Asia, Europe and the Americas.

Depending on the specific nature of the pollutant in question, stroke risk rose anywhere from 5% ...

Over a Third of Adults With Type 1 Diabetes Weren't Diagnosed Until After 30

Type 1 diabetes has long been viewed as a childhood disease, but a new study suggests it might be time to revise that thinking.

Investigators concluded that nearly 4 in 10 Americans with type 1 diabetes aren’t diagnosed with the blood sugar condition until they’re at least 30.

“Our research adds to a growing body of studies sho...

Coffee Won't Raise Preemie Birth Risk, But Smoking Certainly Will: Study

Smoking during pregnancy is a significant risk factor for premature births, but drinking coffee is not, new research suggests.

Women who smoked during pregnancy were 2.6 times more likely to give birth prematurely compared to nonsmokers, a risk that was double that of previous estimates, the University of Cambridge scientists found.

...

Adding Just 3,000 Steps Per Day Could Lower High Blood Pressure

THURSDAY, Sept. 28, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Adding 3,000 extra steps a day can help older adults with hypertension significantly lower their blood pressure.

About 80% of older adults in the United States have high blood pressure. Keeping it down can help protect against heart failure, heart attacks and strokes.

“We’ll a...

New Antibiotic Could Help Fight Resistant Staph Infections

New research shows that an antibiotic effective for bacterial pneumonia also appears to fight treatment-resistant staph infections.

The drug is ceftobiprole. It appeared successful in fighting methicillin-resistant staph infections, sometimes called MRSA. It showed similar benefit when tested against the antibiotic daptomycin to treat comp...

Job Loss Within Couples Ups Odds for Miscarriage, Stillbirth

A new study suggests there may be a link between job loss and miscarriage or stillbirth.

The risk of miscarriage or stillbirth doubled after a pregnant woman or her partner lost a job, European researchers found. Their study was published Sept. 28 in the journal Human Reproduction.

“Further research would need to ...

Estrogen Could Be Key to Women's Brain Health

Being exposed to more estrogen throughout life -- or a longer reproductive life span -- may be good for the brain, according to new research that found a lower risk of cerebral small vessel disease in women who had more cumulative exposure.

Cerebral small vessel disease happens from damage to small blood vessels in the brain. It can incre...