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Trump cancels NIH grants on equity research

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is canceling dozens of National Institutes of Health grants funding health equity research, including work studying Black maternal and fetal health and HIV.

Grantees were told in termination notices delivered over the last several days that their project “no longer effectuates agency priorities” and ...Read more

Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant/TNS

Gas leaf blowers cause cancer, Alzheimer's, some CT citizens say. Others say it's too costly to ban them

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

With spring in Connecticut comes the persistent whine and pungent exhaust fumes of gas-powered leaf blowers as they prepare pristine lawns for fresh mulch and flowers.

But a ban on the ubiquitous landscaping machines is back before state lawmakers. HB 6263 was the subject of a recent public hearing before the legislature’s Environment ...Read more

Diabetic foot pain: expert tips on how to cope

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

An estimated 1 in 10 people worldwide have diabetes. Africa is the region with the fastest growth and it’s estimated that the number of people on the continent with diabetes will more than double in the next 20 years, increasing to about 55 million people by 2045.

Having diabetes has serious consequences for health and is associated...Read more

Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

Nurse can't shake COVID-19's unrelenting grip: 'I have lost relationships'

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

SAN DIEGO — Five years after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, registered nurse Nicole Baca still visits an infusion center every week to have a mixture of water and other nutrients injected into her bloodstream.

“The treatments help increase my blood volume, and that’s what helps keep me from passing out,” the El Cajon resident ...Read more

Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group/TNS

New Parkinson's treatment developed at Stanford could help millions

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

After a twitching pinky finger led to a diagnosis of young-onset Parkinson’s disease, Keith Krehbiel, then 42, stopped at a bookstore on the way home to learn more about the progressive neurological disorder before telling his wife Amy the shocking news.

“I remember sitting in a parking lot and hearing this sad piece by Miles Davis,” he ...Read more

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Babies with heart defects – and their mothers – may face higher cancer risks

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Babies born with heart defects may be at increased risk for cancer within the first 10 years of life, according to new research that suggests mothers may also be at risk.

"Our research highlights the importance of maternal factors and genetic traits and understanding how they may be connected," study author Dr. June Huh said in a news release. ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Ask the Pediatrician: Keep your child's heart healthy: Habits to start early

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

When it comes to your child's health, do you think much about their risks for developing heart disease? Probably not, since so much of keeping kids healthy means dealing with sore throats, scraped knees and other ailments. But recent research has prompted doctors and parents to take a second look at heart health in children.

Evidence shows that...Read more

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Tribal health leaders say Medicaid cuts would decimate health programs

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

As Congress mulls potentially massive cuts to federal Medicaid funding, health centers that serve Native American communities, such as the Oneida Community Health Center near Green Bay, Wisconsin, are bracing for catastrophe.

That’s because more than 40% of the about 15,000 patients the center serves are enrolled in Medicaid. Cuts to the ...Read more

Esben Hansen/Dreamstime/TNS

FDA crackdown on poppers prompts rush on popular gay party drug

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

LOS ANGELES — There's a rush on Rush.

Stores up and down Santa Monica Boulevard have seen a run on the iconic red and yellow vials this week, as the Food and Drug Administration cracks down on poppers, a product that has long existed in legal limbo.

The active ingredient in Rush and other poppers is alkyl nitrite, a chemical that instantly ...Read more

Renée Jones Schneider/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Health insurers made $41B the year COVID-19 landed. Why are they raising rates now?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Claire Lindell had to wait months for treatment when doctors in April 2020 were forced to suddenly cancel the little girl’s spine surgery.

The delay was particularly stressful because the operation addressed several issues, including the 4-year-old’s high risk of respiratory infection — such as from the emerging COVID-19 virus.

“That ...Read more

Scott Olson/Getty Images North America/TNS

Some patients worry about affording their medications as insurers cut coverage for weight-loss drugs

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

PHILADELPHIA -- Mara Nissley has a rare disorder that causes her brain to swell as if she has a tumor. Losing weight can help treat the condition, called pseudotumor cerebri. Last year, her doctor recommended she start a popular weight-loss drug in the hopes of alleviating her debilitating headaches and vision problems.

In just a few months, ...Read more

Vitali Michkou/Dreamstime/TNS

Mayo Clinic Minute: Warning signs of colorectal cancer in younger adults

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Colorectal cancer, the third-most common cancer in the U.S., has been rising among younger people for the past two decades. It is not one type of cancer but two cancers: colon cancer, which starts in the large intestine, and rectal cancer, which begins in the last part of the large intestine, known as the rectum.

Dr. Derek Ebner, a Mayo Clinic ...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

Toxic braiding hair study forces Atlanta's Black community to seek safer options

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

ATLANTA — A recent report about cancerous synthetic hair extensions has sparked a heated conversation, prompting the Black beauty community to question if there are alternatives for protective styles.

According to a study published Feb. 27 at Consumer Reports, toxins were found in 10 brands of synthetic braiding.

“The products were tested ...Read more

Insomnia can lead to heart issues − a psychologist recommends changes that can improve sleep

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

About 10% of Americans say they have chronic insomnia, and millions of others report poor sleep quality. Ongoing research has found that bad sleep could lead to numerous health problems, including heart disease.

Dr. Julio Fernandez-Mendoza is a professor of psychiatry and behavioral health, neuroscience and public health sciences at ...Read more

5 years on, true counts of COVID-19 deaths remain elusive − and research is hobbled by lack of data

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers struggled to grasp the rate of the virus’s spread and the number of related deaths. While hospitals tracked cases and deaths within their walls, the broader picture of mortality across communities remained frustratingly incomplete.

Policymakers and researchers quickly ...Read more

Laura McDermott for KFF Health News/KFF Health News/TNS

Her case changed trans care in prison. Now Trump aims to reverse course

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

In 2019, Cristina Iglesias filed a lawsuit that changed the course of treatment for herself and other transgender inmates in federal custody.

Iglesias, a trans woman who had been incarcerated for more than 25 years, was transferred from a men’s prison to a women’s one in 2021. And in 2022, she reached a landmark settlement with the Federal ...Read more

Pratchaya Leelapatchayanont/Dreamstime/TNS

Mayo Clinic Q & A: So you're having a colonoscopy: What to expect

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I just turned 45 and am dreading my first colonoscopy. Why do I need to be screened if I'm not having issues? Can you walk me through the process?

ANSWER: Feeling anxious or afraid surrounding a procedure, particularly when you've never done it before, is completely normal. The purpose of screening is to act before someone ...Read more

Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Would you let a robot draw your blood? Northwestern among health systems trying new device

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

CHICAGO — The practice of drawing blood has changed very little over the decades. It looks about the same now as it did 50 years ago.

That process, however, may be about to get a modern makeover. Several health systems across the U.S. — including Northwestern Medicine — are gearing up to try a new way of drawing blood: using a robot.

...Read more

Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Biden's prisons chief tapped to fix lagging mental health care in California lockups

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Following through on intentions broadcast a year ago, a federal judge is putting control of California's troubled inmate mental health programs into the hands of an outsider: President Biden's former chief of prisons.

With inmate suicide rates at an all-time high, U.S. District Senior Judge Kimberly Mueller said her aim is to force changes in ...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Lawmakers vote in favor of bill addressing sexual misconduct in health care, following Tribune report

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

A sweeping bill that would expand reporting requirements related to sexual misconduct allegations against health care workers and impose fines for failure to report serious incidents gained initial approval from a House committee Wednesday.

The bill follows a Tribune investigation last year that exposed how Illinois health care systems failed ...Read more