How COVID-19 Attacks the Body: Lessons From the Morgue
How COVID-19 Attacks the Body: Lessons From the Morgue Source link
It’s Time to Reframe Chronic Pain
Persistent headaches and back pain. Achy bones, especially feet and hands. Gnawing, cramping guts. Whole-body soreness. So many people live with various flavors of chronic pain, and often go months or years without finding relief.Some 20 percent of Americans are affected by chronic pain, according to the Centers for Disease and Prevention (CDC) — making it one of the most common reasons adults seek medical care. Chronic pain can be caused by ailments like fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory bowel diseases, or it can spring from stubbornly lingering injuries. Left untreated, pain can limit mobility, curb daily activities, and lessen quality of life — often leading to anxiety and depression.Chronic pain is different from its cousin, acute pain. The latter occurs in response to tissue damage and inflammatory processes that…
FDA Approves Type 2 Diabetes Drug Mounjaro, Which Is Also Associated With Weight Loss
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Mounjaro (tirzepatide) injection to improve blood sugar control in adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D), as an addition to diet and exercise. The drug, manufactured by Eli Lilly, improved blood sugar more effectively than the other diabetes therapies that were included in the clinical studies that were the basis for its approval, according to the FDA statement, released on May 13.It’s estimated that more than 37 million people in the United States have type 2 diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). People with T2D are twice as likely to have heart disease or stroke compared to someone without diabetes, and at a younger age, per the agency.“Given the challenges many patients experience in achieving their target…
Gun Owners Are Less Likely to Tell Doctors About Suicidal Thoughts
Even when a gun owner has recently survived a suicide attempt, he or she is much less likely to report suicidal thoughts than a person who doesn't own guns, a new study has found.For the study, researchers examined survey data on more than 9,100 adults, including almost 3,000 gun owners. Compared with people who didn’t own guns, those who did were 50 percent more likely to have suicidal thoughts and roughly twice as likely to plan a method, time, and place to attempt suicide, according to study results published May 11 in JAMA Network Open.People who own guns were almost four times more likely to attempt suicide, the study found. But gun owners were half as apt to seek help or tell their doctor about these thoughts.“Part of the reason…
FDA Clears New Underwear That Reduces the Risk of STDs Transmitted Through Oral Sex
A new ultrathin and stretchy latex underwear designed to prevent sexually transmitted infections during oral sex was cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It’s the first and only underwear ever given the nod by the FDA for use to prevent STDs, according to a report in The New York Times.The new underwear, Lorals for Protection, are dental dams “reinvented,” according to the company. The panties provide a protective layer that covers the vulva and anus so that when wearers engage in oral sex, the transmission of bodily fluids, harmful pathogens, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is curtailed.Before this clearance, the only other option for protection during oral sex was a dental dam, a latex or polyurethane sheet that had to be held in place. According to the…
GI Nurse With IBD Wants People to Know They ‘Are Not Alone’
Even as a gastroenterology nurse, Alison Headrick wondered if her symptoms were all in her head.In her nine years as a nurse, Headrick, now 34, had often fielded questions from patients who had inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). She’d get calls from people who were experiencing flare-ups at the worst times, like one woman who was on her honeymoon and wondering if she should go to the emergency room.“I remember hanging up the phone and thinking, ‘I can’t imagine what this is like. I couldn't go through this,’” Headrick says.Six months after that call, Headrick noticed that she was losing weight and experiencing rectal bleeding, but she dismissed it as an effect of overexercise, since she had recently gotten into cycling. When she experienced abdominal cramping, she figured it was just…
Race-Specific Adjustments in COPD Testing May Lead to Underdiagnosis of Emphysema in Black Americans
Many Black men with CT evidence of emphysema go undiagnosed because of the practice of race-based adjustments to spirometry testing, according to research presented at the American Thoracic Society’s ATS 2022 international conference.Black adults in the United States are more likely to have unrecognized emphysema than white adults in part because of this practice, says the presenting author, Gabrielle Liu, MD, a pulmonary and critical care fellow at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “Our study shows that many Black men with ‘normal’ lung function actually have evidence of abnormal lung health or emphysema,” she says.Over 3 Million Americans Have EmphysemaMore than three million people in the United States are living with diagnosed emphysema, according to the American Lung Association. The condition is a type of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease…
After Suicide Attempt, Young Females at Higher Risk for Substance Use
Young women and girls are more likely to develop serious substance use problems after a suicide attempt, a study suggests.Researchers followed more than 122,000 female youths for about three decades, starting when they were 8 to 19 years old. Overall, about 5,800 of them, or slightly less than 5 percent, had attempted suicide.During follow-up, women who had a history of attempted suicide were 5 times more likely to be hospitalized for a substance use disorder, researchers reported in JAMA Psychiatry. The odds rose with the number of suicide attempts, with three or more suicide attempts associated with 21 times the risk of substance use hospitalizations.While the risk of developing substance use disorders was highest over the first five years after a suicide attempt, these women remained at increased risk for…
Homeless Teens at Increased Risk for Suicide, Substance Use
More than 1 in 20 U.S. high school students have experienced homelessness, putting them at increased risk for a wide range of mental health and substance use problems, a new study suggests.As of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered schools and created an avalanche of emotional and financial challenges for American families, 5.6 percent of U.S. high school students were homeless, the study found. Youths without housing were significantly more likely to be male, Black, Hispanic, or identify as gay or lesbian, researchers report yesterday in JAMA.Compared with teens with secure housing, those who experienced homelessness were more than twice as likely to seriously consider, plan, or attempt suicide, the study found. Homeless teens were also more than twice as likely to binge drink or misuse prescription opioids, and roughly…
CDC Investigating Hepatitis Cases in Children as Outbreak Continues
Editor’s NoteEditor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect the latest news and numbers regarding the hepatitis outbreak. Source link