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Hospital-acquired infections are rising – here’s how to protect yourself in health care settings

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

A new study from the National Institutes of Health shows a jump in both hospital-acquired infections and resistance to the antibiotics used to treat them. The findings are based on data gathered at 120 U.S. hospitals from January 2018 to December 2022, a five-year period that included the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Nasia Safdar, a professor of ...Read more

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On Nutrition: Regarding processed meats

Health Advice / Nutrition /

LS from Richmond, Virginia writes: “I know that processed lunch meat is not a good choice. Is freshly sliced meat bought in the deli section of the store a better choice, or does that have a lot of the same additives as packaged lunch meat? Thank you!”

Dear LS: It depends on what type of freshly sliced meat you choose. Items like roast beef...Read more

Liz O. Baylen/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Researchers explore potential for AI to predict patients' pain management support needs after surgery

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

A Mayo Clinic retrospective study of 9,731 patients explored the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to predict a patient's need for opioid refills after surgery. The study used deep learning models, a form of AI, to predict which patients are most likely to require additional opioid refills after surgery while ensuring adequate pain ...Read more

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Women need more sleep than men do, studies say

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

It turns out there might be a scientific reason behind women needing extra “beauty sleep.” Studies show, on average, women require about 11 minutes more sleep per night than men do. Although this difference might seem small, it can have significant implications for overall health and well-being.

Research is limited, but the reasoning points...Read more

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What you need to know about listeria

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued an alert after a listeria outbreak in several states. There have been at least two fatalities, and dozens have become sickened.

Dr. Nipunie Rajapakse, a Mayo Clinic pediatric infectious diseases expert, discusses the risks associated with listeria.

"Listeria is a type of bacteria that ...Read more

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Plain ol' water is out. Hydration supplements are in. But do these top 8 brands really work?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

You see them crowding checkout counters at grocery stores — a rainbow of bubble-gum pink, lime green and blueberry packets, slender and upright, like a multicolored chorus line of dancers tempting an impulse purchase. At the gym, they're dissolved into enormous jugs of cherry-tinted water.

They're especially prevalent on TikTok. Just search #...Read more

Carl Juste/Miami Herald/TNS

Women's health care is in a 'perilous place,' rankings say. Where does Florida stand?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

MIAMI — Florida, with high numbers of uninsured and the lofty cost of care, ranks among the worst states in the country for women’s health, according to a new national report.

The Commonwealth Fund, a health care research nonprofit, ranked Florida 39th overall for women’s health and reproductive care in its 2024 scorecard, making it one ...Read more

Treatment For Prostate Cancer Hinges On Its Aggressiveness

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: I had a biopsy done, and several samples showed prostate cancer. A PET scan showed no other cancer. My doctor is uneasy about removal or treatment because of my age (80 years old). Otherwise, I am in excellent health. What treatment, if any, should I have? -- R.B.

ANSWER: Prostate cancer really isn't one disease. There's a ...Read more

Taking a bite out of your dengue fever risk

So far in 2024, countries in North, South and Central America and the Caribbean have reported almost 10 million cases of dengue fever. Puerto Rico even declared a public health emergency because 1,498 cases were diagnosed there in the first half of this year.

Only about a quarter of folks who are infected have symptoms such as nausea, rash, ...Read more

Homeopathy for Eczema: Natural Remedies to Soothe Your Skin

Eczema is a common skin condition that causes itchiness, redness, and inflammation. While conventional medicine offers various treatments for eczema, they often come with side effects. Homeopathy, on the other hand, offers natural remedies that can help soothe your skin without any adverse effects. Here are some homeopathic remedies that can ...Read more

Reba Saldanha/Boston Herald/TNS

Senate committee will subpoena Steward CEO, begin investigation into bankruptcy

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Lawmakers in Washington D.C. say they are fed up with the Steward Health Care CEO’s refusal to volunteer information on what led to the medical system’s bankruptcy and the pending sale of its hospital properties, and so they will compel him to explain what occurred.

On Thursday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and ...Read more

ADHD brains present unique challenges, but the condition is highly treatable − a primary care nurse practitioner with ADHD explains the science

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

“My brain has way too many tabs open.”

“Why can’t I complete tasks?”

“Why do I lose track of time?”

“Why can’t I pay attention?”

These are all things people with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, may ask themselves daily, if not hourly.

As a healthandspirit/health/healthtips/s-3342843">Read more

New treatments offer much-needed hope for patients suffering from chronic pain

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Hundreds of millions of people around the world experience chronic pain – meaning pain that lasts longer than three months. While the numbers vary from country to country, most studies estimate that about 10% of the global population is affected, so more than 800 million people.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ...Read more

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Mayo Clinic Minute: Dangers of heat-related illnesses

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Prolonged exposure to both heat and humidity can lead to heat-related illnesses — from heat cramps to exhaustion to life-threatening heatstroke.

Dr. Jesse Bracamonte, a Mayo Clinic family physician, offers recommendations on what to do if you begin to feel ill.

Prolonged exposure to the heat and humidity can put you at risk for a range of ...Read more

Pratchaya Leelapatchayanont/Dreamstime/TNS

Physicians' role crucial in using AI in patient care

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Artificial intelligence is quickly transforming the health care landscape from helping to diagnose diseases to assisting in surgery. Its rapid progression has the potential to transform how health care teams work by streamlining processes and improving patient outcomes.

As AI is used more in health care, researchers stress that the technology ...Read more

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What is laryngeal chondrosarcoma?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

You may have heard about a recent first at Mayo Clinic, a total larynx transplant. What you may not have heard was what precipitated that transplant. The patient developed a rare form of cancer called laryngeal chondrosarcoma.

Dr. David Lott is a Mayo Clinic otolaryngologist who specializes in laryngeal cancer. He says your larynx, or voice box...Read more

Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun/TNS

COVID is surging again this summer in Maryland, hospitalization and wastewater data shows

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

BALTIMORE — Judging from local wastewater surveillance trends, President Joe Biden has plenty of company in Maryland as he continues to recover this week from his third bout of COVID-19.

The state is currently seeing the biggest spike in COVID levels in its wastewater — or sewage — since early January, according to data from the U.S. ...Read more

Pratchaya Leelapatchayanont/Dreamstime/TNS

Can texting new parents to report their blood pressure help address maternal mortality? These doctors think so

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

PHILADELPHIA — Two Penn Medicine physicians had an unorthodox idea for reducing the number of patients who develop dangerously high blood pressure in the weeks after giving birth: Stop asking them to come into the doctor's office for blood pressure screenings.

Dangerously high blood pressure, is a leading cause of maternal death and hospital-...Read more

Mycobacterium Is Found After An Aortic Valve Replacement

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: In December 2023, I had an open-heart aortic valve replacement. All went well, but then I contracted a staph infection. I had to have a second procedure to remove the top four sternal wires, leaving me with a baseball-sized wound that required a vacuum drain and antibiotics. During my treatment course, my infectious disease ...Read more

Nutrition news about healthy aging

If you're around 40, do you know that by the time you and nine of your friends hit age 70, chances are only one of you will be disease-free and have good physical, mental and cognitive health? Yikes!

Well, you all have a chance to change that, according to researchers at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health. They looked at 30 years of ...Read more