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Listeria outbreak from deli meat reported in NY and NJ, including 1 death

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

NEW YORK — A listeria outbreak linked to sliced meat at deli counters in a dozen states has hospitalized nearly 30 people, including at least 10 in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey — where one person has died from the infection.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, samples collected from May 29 to July 5 ...Read more

Beating river blindness: blackfly bites dramatically reduced after breeding sites are destroyed with machetes

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Onchocerciasis, commonly known as river blindness, is a neglected tropical disease that causes severe itching, disfiguring skin conditions and visual impairment.

It can lead to permanent blindness and there is strong evidence that onchocerciasis directly or indirectly induces epilepsy.

As a neglected tropical disease, river ...Read more

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Graphic imagery online can lead to psychological harm, experts say

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Photos showing the bloodied face of former President Donald Trump have been plastered across social media platforms and news outlets in recent days, along with a video of his alleged assailant opening fire at the candidate during a rally in Pennsylvania.

Also inescapable were images of the three other people shot at the event, one fatally, and ...Read more

Fewer bees and other pollinating insects lead to shrinking crops

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Many plants, from crops to carnations, cannot bear fruit or reproduce without bees, beetles, butterflies and other insects to pollinate them. But the population of insect pollinators is dropping in the U.S., due in part to pesticides, climate change, invasive plants and diminished habitats. Rachel Mallinger, assistant professor of entomology ...Read more

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On Nutrition: Tips from readers

Health Advice / Nutrition /

In response to recent columns about counting calories, a few readers responded with their own suggestions:

Karen K. in Dallas (who notes she’s the daughter of a dietitian) writes: "As an alternative approach for those who don’t enjoy counting calories, simply cutting portion sizes does essentially the same thing. Portion sizes in the U.S. ...Read more

Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times/TNS

In the fentanyl crisis, infants and toddlers become unsuspecting victims

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Ezekiel Xavier Rivera idolized his father.

The 2-year-old loved to follow Raul Rivera around the house and ride in the car with him, said Soluna Lora, Ezekiel's mother.

On June 3, 2023, Lora left the little boy with his father in Bakersfield while she took his older brother for a haircut. She and Rivera, who have three...Read more

Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Some have called this area a birthing 'desert.' A nurse midwife is working to change that

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

CHICAGO -- Jeanine Valrie Logan sat in traffic for nearly two hours while she was in labor with her third child.

Logan was determined to have her daughter at a birth center — a type of small facility focused on childbirth, often staffed by midwives. But there weren’t any birth centers near her home in Chicago's south suburbs, so she ...Read more

Patient With Recurrences Of Diverticulitis Debates Surgery

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: I've had diverticulitis repeatedly since 2016. It's been bad enough 10 times (with belly pain and fever) that I was given antibiotics. I've had it at least that many more times where I wasn't as ill (usually just had belly pain), and I didn't take antibiotics, since it went away on its own. I have not needed to be hospitalized ...Read more

What sleep type are you?

Sleep is a restful escape from the tensions of the day ... well, that's a myth for many people who struggle with sleep. A Gallup poll found that a third of you rate your nightly snooze as fair or poor.

Now, new research has identified common sleep patterns and tracked how people shift from one to another, depending on what acute or chronic ...Read more

Long COVID puzzle pieces are falling into place – the picture is unsettling

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Since 2020, the condition known as long COVID-19 has become a widespread disability affecting the health and quality of life of millions of people across the globe and costing economies billions of dollars in reduced productivity of employees and an overall drop in the work force.

The intense scientific effort that long COVID sparked ...Read more

REBA SALDANHA/Boston Herald/TNS

Bernie Sanders, Ed Markey will hold vote to subpoena Steward CEO

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

BOSTON — It’s time for the CEO of now-bankrupt Steward Health Care to show up and answer to Congress, according to U.S. Sens. Ed Markey and Bernie Sanders.

The pair of senior Democrats say their committee will hold a “bipartisan” vote next week on whether to subpoena Dr. Ralph de la Torre, who they say has enriched himself at the cost ...Read more

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Summer COVID surge isn't cause for alarm, experts say

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

President Joe Biden and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra this week became prime examples of the nation’s newest COVID-19 wave, and although it’s unclear what variant they’re infected with, infectious disease experts say the latest dominant strains of COVID-19 are no more dangerous than previous iterations.

Biden, 81, is ...Read more

(Eric Harkleroad/KFF Health News)/KFF Health News/TNS

HealthSherpa and insurers team up to curb unauthorized ACA enrollment schemes

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The largest private company that brokers use to enroll people in Affordable Care Act health plans said it’s joining with insurers to thwart unauthorized Obamacare sign-ups and plan switches.

HealthSherpa, which has its own sales team, announced the new initiative — called “Member Defense Network” — July 16. It will cut off commissions...Read more

Late bedtimes and not enough sleep can harm developing brains – and poorer kids are more at risk

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Shorter sleep and later bedtimes are linked to potentially harmful functional changes to parts of the brain important for coping with stress and controlling negative emotions, our recently published research found. And children in families with low economic resources are particularly at risk.

We are neuroscientists who are passionate ...Read more

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Finland is offering farmworkers bird flu shots. Some experts say the US should, too

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

As bird flu spreads among dairy cattle in the U.S., veterinarians and researchers have taken note of Finland’s move to vaccinate farmworkers at risk of infection. They wonder why their government doesn’t do the same.

“Farmworkers, veterinarians, and producers are handling large volumes of milk that can contain high levels of bird flu ...Read more

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Mayo Clinic Minute: Keeping kids safe outside during summer play

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Summer vacation for kids is well underway. Finding activities to keep the kids busy and destinations to visit can be on many parents' list. There is one place Mayo Clinic's Dr. Steven Maher hopes they don't have to visit — and that's the emergency medicine department.

From wearing bike helmets to keeping kids hydrated, Dr. Maher says there ...Read more

Diabetic Patient Wants To Switch From Metformin To Ozempic

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: I have Type 2 diabetes. My BMI is 29. My last A1C was 8.4%. I currently take metformin and glipizide. I've asked my doctor about the new medications, like Ozempic and Mounjaro, but he is reluctant to prescribe them. The past two times we've discussed it, he talked me out of it, saying that I'd have to take it the rest of my ...Read more

Protect yourself from exercise-related injuries

You've devoted a lot of time and mental energy to getting yourself into a workout routine that provides you with 150 to 300 minutes of aerobic and strength-training exercise every week. And then in a flash, "Ow!" You're benched because of a strain, sprain, tear, fall, or (please, no!) a break.

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

Boston diabetes study: Inconsistent sleep leads to higher risk of type 2 diabetes

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Consistent sleep could be the key to preventing type 2 diabetes.

That’s according to Boston researchers, who found that people with irregular sleep patterns had a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to those who got more consistent sleep.

The study led by Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers looked at sleep patterns over...Read more

Stroke survivors may be saddled with an invisible disability known as spatial neglect – but a simple treatment offers significant improvement

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

More than half of stroke survivors do not receive rehabilitation after the first days of advanced stroke care. Instead of living for months or years with visible or hidden disabilities, stroke survivors can take advantage of new techniques of advanced rehabilitation to improve their function and freedom.

One condition, called spatial ...Read more