September 28, 2020

COVID-19 Patients Rarely Survive Cardiac Arrest: Study

MONDAY, Sept. 28, 2020 -- Folks whose hearts stop due to a severe case of COVID-19 are very unlikely to leave the hospital alive, a new study shows.

Out of 54 patients at a Michigan hospital who suffered cardiac arrest while battling COVID-19, none survived their illness even though 29 were resuscitated by cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), the researchers reported.

September 28, 2020

Why Do Gay and Lesbian People Get More Migraines?

MONDAY, Sept. 28, 2020 -- Could migraine risk be affected by sexual orientation? A new study suggests that the answer may be yes.

After tracking migraines among thousands of American adults, investigators found that men and women who identify as gay, bisexual or mostly but not exclusively heterosexual have a notably higher migraine risk.

September 28, 2020

Diabetes During Pregnancy Could Raise Lifelong Heart Risks for Children

MONDAY, Sept. 28, 2020 -- The foundation for early heart disease might begin not during childhood or in the years that follow, but in the womb.

Researchers studying nearly 30 years of data from families in Manitoba, Canada, found a strong connection between heart disease risk factors in teens and young adults and their mother's type 2 or gestational diabetes.

September 28, 2020

Obamacare Cut Out-of-Pocket Costs, But Many Families Still Struggle: Study

MONDAY, Sept. 28, 2020 -- High out-of-pocket health care costs for low- and middle-income Americans with kids have fallen due to "Obamacare," but more needs to be done to reduce their medical-related financial struggles, a new study claims.

The researchers examined data from 2000 to 2017 on more than 92,000 U.S. families with one or more children under 18 and one or more adult parents or guardians.

September 28, 2020

1 in 3 U.S. Parents Won't Get Flu Shots for Their Kids: Survey

MONDAY, Sept. 28, 2020 -- The coronavirus pandemic and the upcoming flu season could pose a double threat, but many U.S. parents plan to skip flu shots for their kids, a new survey finds.

Though public health experts stress the need for people of all ages to get the seasonal flu vaccine during the COVID-19 pandemic, 1 in 3 U.S. parents said they don't plan on taking their child for a flu shot this fall. Just a third think having their child get vaccinated is more important than usual this year.

September 28, 2020

COVID Antibodies Found in Less Than 10% of Americans

MONDAY, Sept. 28, 2020 (Healthday News) -- Less than 10 percent of Americans have antibodies to COVID-19 in their systems, a new U.S. study finds.

The percentages varied by region -- averaging 3.5% in the West to 27% in the Northeast, according to researchers at Stanford University. They put the national average of Americans with antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 at 9.3%.

September 28, 2020

AHA News: Puerto Rico School Relies on Holistic Methods to Teach, Inspire

MONDAY, Sept. 28, 2020 (American Heart Association News) -- Justo Méndez Arámburu's idea to start a nonprofit alternative school in Puerto Rico came to him in a dream.

His 15-year-old daughter, Ana Mercedes, who had died in a car accident a few months earlier, appeared to him and encouraged him to open a school. "How would I do that?" asked the confused father, who was not an educator at the time. His daughter asked him to have faith and call it Nuestra Escuela, or Our School.

September 28, 2020

For Kids With Hearing Issues, Early Intervention Crucial to School Readiness

MONDAY, Sept. 28, 2020 -- When babies with hearing impairments get help very early in life, they are more likely to be "kindergarten-ready" when the time comes, a new study finds.

In the United States, all states have government-funded "early intervention" programs designed to assist parents whose babies are deaf or hard of hearing. Ideally, that intervention starts soon after hearing issues are diagnosed, as early in life as possible.

September 28, 2020

How Important Is Sex as Women Age?

MONDAY, Sept. 28, 2020 -- It's often thought that older women lose interest in sex, but many women continue to rate sex as important, a new study finds.

"In contrast to prior literature reporting that the importance of sex decreases as women move through midlife, we found that for a quarter of women, sex remains highly important to them throughout midlife," said lead author Dr. Holly Thomas, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh.

September 28, 2020

Most Newborns of COVID-19-Infected Moms Fare Well

MONDAY, Sept. 28, 2020 -- Babies born to mothers with COVID-19 only rarely suffer from effects of the virus, a new study suggests.

These newborns generally do well in the six to eight weeks after birth, but more are admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) if their mothers had COVID-19 in the two weeks before delivery.