Health and Wellness News

(HealthDay News) - Back pain can hinder your projects at work, but you can take a few steps to help minimize the problem. The American Council on Exercise offers this advice: - Take frequent walking and stretch breaks, and avoid sitting for long periods. Place a pillow, towel or seat support behind your lower back. Practice good posture while sitting at your desk. Adjust your desk so your computer...
December 23, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 23, 2014 (HealthDay News) - There's good news about the experimental Ebola vaccine that U.S. officials are preparing to test in West Africa - new research shows a precursor of that vaccine produced a safe and potent immune response in Africans. That earlier version of the vaccine, when given to more than 100 Ugandans in 2009 and 2010, prompted the production of antibodies and white blood...
December 23, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 23, 2014 (HealthDay News) - A steady diet of fast food might hurt your child in the classroom, a new study finds. Kids who frequently ate fast food in fifth grade lagged behind by eighth grade, said researchers who reviewed questionnaires and test scores of more than 8,500 U.S. students. "The largest effects were found for the kids who reported daily consumption of fast food," said study...
December 23, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 23, 2014 (HealthDay News) - New research suggests that decades of financial experience help seniors stay smart about money matters, despite the mental declines that come with age. It all has to do with the various ways the brain handles financial issues, explained study lead author Ye Li, an assistant professor of management and marketing at the University of California, Riverside. "Two...
December 23, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 23, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Regular use of touch screens on smartphones changes the way your fingers and brain work together, a new study reveals. People who used touch-screen phones showed greater brain activity when their fingers and thumbs were touched than those who used older-style cellphones, the researchers said. The findings suggest that repetitive movements over the smooth touch-screen...
December 23, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 23, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Gay and bisexual men who have abstained from sex for one year will be allowed to donate blood in the United States, under a new federal policy that would reverse a 31-year ban on donations from men who have sex with men. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday its intention to release a new draft guidance in early 2015 that would ultimately...
December 23, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 23, 2014 (HealthDay News) - New guidelines from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) call for giving the cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins to all people with diabetes to help prevent heart disease. These new standards bring the association in line with the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association, which also recommend giving low- or high-dose statins...
December 23, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 23, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Although metformin, the popular type 2 diabetes medication, is usually not prescribed for people with kidney disease, a new analysis shows the drug may be safer for these patients than once thought. Metformin has been used in the United States for two decades to help lower blood sugar levels among people with type 2 diabetes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration...
December 23, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 23, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Fewer U.S. teens are using indoor tanning beds and booths, although this risky behavior remains popular with more than 1.5 million high school students, a new survey reveals. In 2013, about 20 percent of high school girls and 5 percent of high school boys had sought out some form of indoor tanning at least once in the previous year, according to the latest...
December 23, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 23, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Though most patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can be successfully treated with medication and therapy, between 10 percent to 20 percent have a form of the illness that doesn't respond to standard care, experts say. However, patients with this so-called "refractory OCD" do have hope in the form of a type of brain surgery that disables certain...
December 23, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 23, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Long-term fear of terrorists may damage your heart and increase your risk for an early death, a new study from Israel suggests. Conducted by researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the study involved 17,300 Israelis. In Israel, the threat of war and terrorism has been a part of life for more than 60 years. "We wanted to test whether fear of terrorism...
December 23, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 23, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Longer and colder body cooling does not reduce the risk of death in newborns who have brain damage from a lack of oxygen, a new study finds. The risk of death and disability in newborns with this condition - called hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy - can be reduced by lowering their body temperature to 33.5 degrees Celsius (92.3 Fahrenheit) for 72 hours, experts...
December 23, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 23, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Each year, more than one-third of the more than 10,000 weather-related deaths in the United States occur because of extreme heat conditions, according to recent federal statistics. Now, a new study finds that heat stroke is the leading cause of heat-related illness among Americans, but other conditions, such as kidney failure and urinary tract infections, also...
December 23, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 23, 2014 (HealthDay News) - If you are a high-risk heart patient, you might be better off if you are not treated by a cardiologist, new research suggests. Survival rates among these patients actually improved when cardiologists left town for annual professional meetings, Harvard researchers report. Sixty percent of patients with cardiac arrest who were admitted to a teaching hospital...
December 23, 2014
Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: - Nearly 2 Million New Enrollees for 2015 'Obamacare' Plans - More than 1.9 million new customers have signed up for individual insurance plans for 2015 via HealthCare.gov, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said on Tuesday. That brings the total number of enrollees...
December 23, 2014
MONDAY, Dec. 22, 2014 (HealthDay News) - People who receive a tablet or e-book reader for the holidays might wind up spending some sleepless nights because of their new gadget. That's because the light emitted by a tablet like an iPad can disrupt sleep if the device is used in the hours before bedtime, according to a new Harvard study. People who read before bed using an iPad or similar "e-reader"...
December 22, 2014
MONDAY, Dec. 22, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Rapivab (peramivir) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat influenza. The intravenous drug inhibits an enzyme that releases viral particles from infected cells, the FDA explained Monday in a news release. Rapivab is approved for people 18 and older who have had flu symptoms for no more than two days. Flu affects up to 20 percent...
December 22, 2014
SUNDAY, Dec. 21, 2014 (HealthDay News) - A new vaccine created to fight an illness similar to "mad cow disease" in deer might also protect livestock and even humans from similar brain infections, researchers report. The vaccine appears to help prevent deer from becoming infected by the incurable brain disorder known as chronic wasting disease, according to the report in the Dec. 21 online edition of...
December 22, 2014
MONDAY, Dec. 22, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Teens are more likely to smoke, drink and use marijuana - and to do so at an earlier age - if their mothers were depressed when the kids were in grade school, a new study says. These same teens are also more likely to engage in violence and other delinquent behaviors, according to the study, published online Dec. 22 in -Pediatrics. The researchers expected that...
December 22, 2014
MONDAY, Dec. 22, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Bisphosphonates, which are drugs that treat bone loss, may lower the risk of endometrial cancer, new research suggests. The study found that women taking the drugs had about half the risk of endometrial cancer compared to women who don't take the drugs. Endometrial cancer - one of the most common types of cancer in women - affects the lining of the uterus. Bisphosphonates...
December 22, 2014
(HealthDay News) - Struggling to fit in 30 minutes of daily exercise? - The American Heart Association recommends you: - Go for a walk. Take the dog or child, or head to the mall and do laps while you window shop. Get together a group of friends for a team sport or exercise. Walk while you're talking on the phone. Park further from the door at work or while running an errand. Skip the elevator in favor...
December 22, 2014
(HealthDay News) - Sleep apnea causes brief disruptions in breathing as you sleep. It can lead to any of the dangers of sleep deprivation, such as daytime fatigue. The U.S. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute says warning signs of sleep apnea include: - Loud, persistent snoring, including gasping or choking sounds. Daytime sleepiness. Morning headaches. Difficulty concentrating, learning or remembering....
December 22, 2014
MONDAY, Dec. 22, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Certain immune system cells may play an important role in weight control, an early study suggests. Scientists had known that the immune cells may help ward off obesity in mice. The new findings are the first to suggest the same is true in humans, researchers report in the Dec. 22 online edition of -Nature. The investigators found that the cells, known as ILC2s,...
December 22, 2014
MONDAY, Dec. 22, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Seniors who take the antibiotic Biaxin (clarithromycin) along with certain types of cholesterol-lowering statins are at risk for drug interaction side effects that can lead to hospitalization or even death, a new study suggests. "Physicians need to be made aware of this newly described dangerous interaction and consider alternative antibiotics to prevent toxicity...
December 22, 2014
MONDAY, Dec. 22, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Americans are buying fewer pre-packaged baked goods, such as pies, cakes and cookies, new research shows. However, the study authors also found that people are not choosing healthier foods in their place. And little progress has been made on the part of food manufacturers in making pre-packaged treats healthier, the researchers said. Although the amount of sugar...
December 22, 2014