Cancer & COVID Drove Him to Double-Lung Transplant

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• May 13, 2024
• Full Page

Chicago resident Arthur “Art” Gillespie fell ill in early March 2020 with COVID, after he and his father went to visit an uncle in a nursing facility.

“I was hospitalized for 12 days with a high fever and cough, and during that time, they were taking scans of my lu...

First Pig Kidney Recipient Dies Almost Two Months After Transplant

• Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter
• May 13, 2024
• Full Page

Rick Slayman, the first person to receive a kidney transplant from a genetically modified pig, has died nearly two months after having the historic surgery.

In a statement released Saturday, Slayman's family said they were "deeply saddened about the sudden passing of our...

Test Might Predict Which Kids Will Outgrow Peanut Allergy

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• May 13, 2024
• Full Page

About a third of young children who are allergic to peanuts will outgrow the allergy by the age of 10, and an antibody test might predict who those kids might be.

Fluctuations in two immune system antibodies in the blood, called sIgG4 and sIgE, could point to a probable ...

Avoid Overheating Dangers When Recharging Medical Devices

• Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporter
• May 12, 2024
• Full Page

SUNDAY, May 12, 2024 (HealthDay News) — If you use a medical device such as a blood glucose monitor or insulin pump, keeping it charged is a must. 

But devices that rely on a USB charger can overheat, which may cause minor injuries, serious burns or fires. That's ...

Tips to Celebrating Mom on Her Day, Even When Dementia Intervenes

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• May 11, 2024
• Full Page

Women account for two-thirds of all Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease, which means this Mother’s Day will be bittersweet for many families across the nation.

“Mother’s Day is all about honoring the mother figures in our lives who loved, nurtured, and supp...

Feds Announce New Measures to Monitor, Prevent Bird Flu

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• May 10, 2024
• Full Page

H5N1 avian flu is now infecting U.S. dairy cows and the federal government on Friday announced a myriad of initiatives aimed at preventing the virus' mutation and spread in humans.

The illness is typically not fatal in bovines, but monitoring and prevention on the nation...

His Cancer Journey Shows Health Dangers Firefighters Face

• Lori Saxena HealthDay Reporter
• May 10, 2024
• Full Page

For 14 years, David Perez fought fires in South Florida, thinking he was in peak physical shape. Then a routine physical turned up anomalies in his blood work that turned his life upside down.

"The labs came back irregular. Everything was off," Perez, 44, recalled. “I ...

Baby Girl Born Deaf Gains Hearing After Gene Therapy

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• May 10, 2024
• Full Page

Opal Sandy was born into a world she could not hear. 

The British baby girl, now 18 months old, had a rare genetic condition called auditory neuropathy that interrupted nerve impulses that travel from the inner ear to the brain. She'd been fitted with a cochlear imp...

Cyberattack Cripples Major U.S. Health Care Network

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• May 10, 2024
• Full Page

Ascension, a major U.S. health care system with 140 hospitals in 19 states, announced late Thursday that a cyberattack has caused disruptions at some of its hospitals.

"Systems that are currently unavailable include our electronic health records system, MyChart (which en...

Cancer Patients Often Face Medical Debt, Even With Insurance

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• May 10, 2024
• Full Page

When cancer strikes, you could easily go into debt, even with health insurance in place, according to a new survey from the American Cancer Society.

The survey, based on responses from nearly 1,300 cancer patients and survivors from March 18 through April 14, found that ...

One in 8 U.S. Adults Have Now Used Blockbuster Meds Like Ozempic

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• May 10, 2024
• Full Page

About 1 in 8 U.S. adults (12%) have tried a weight-loss drug like Wegovy, Ozempic, Zepbound or Mounjaro, a new KFF Health Tracking Poll says.

About 6% are taking one right now, the poll found.

Most patients say they use the drugs (61%) to treat a chronic condition ...

Pushing the Body in 'Extreme' Sports Won't Shorten Life Span

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• May 10, 2024
• Full Page

Athletes who push themselves to maximum performance don’t appear to pay a price when it comes to their longevity, a new study says.

The first 200 athletes to run a mile in under four minutes actually outlived the general population by nearly five years on average, acco...

Utah Kids Got E. Coli From Playing Around Lawn Sprinklers

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• May 10, 2024
• Full Page

Happily jumping around lawn sprinklers or playing with garden hoses on a hot summer day: An idyllic childhood scene.

Not so for a bunch of kids in Utah, who all got serious E. coli illnesses from the contaminated water they were exposed to.

In total, 13 kids avera...

Getting Help for Alcohol, Drug Abuse Tougher for Rural Americans

• Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporter
• May 10, 2024
• Full Page

FRIDAY, May 10, 2024 (HealthDay News) — When folks in rural America need treatment for a substance use disorder, significant obstacles stand in their way, researchers say.

They are more likely to have to look outside their insurance network for care, resulting in highe...

Outdoor Workers Face Skin Cancer Danger

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• May 10, 2024
• Full Page

Steve Murray, 68, has spent a lot of time out in the sun, at work and at play.

Murray worked construction for several decades, and as a child spent summers on the beach in Ocean City, N.J., and enjoyed winter visits to sunny Florida.

He’s also repeatedly battled ...

The Pros & Cons of Robotic Knee Replacement Surgery

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• May 10, 2024
• Full Page

Robot-assisted total knee replacements tend to have better outcomes on average, a new study reports.

Unfortunately, there’s a downside – having a surgical robot assist a human surgeon can make the procedure much more costly.

Patients who had a robot-assisted kn...

Oral Rinse Might Alert Doctors to Stomach Cancers

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• May 10, 2024
• Full Page

A quick swish at the doctor’s office could someday provide early detection of stomach cancer, the fourth-leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, a new study reports.

Researcher found distinct differences in bacteria samples taken from the mouths of people with stomac...

Telehealth Tougher When English Isn't First Language

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• May 10, 2024
• Full Page

Telehealth is revolutionizing health care in America by making it easier than ever to reach a doctor – but not everyone is benefitting, a new study reports.

People with limited English skills are more likely to have worse experiences with telehealth visits than people ...

More Than 200 Insulin Pump Users Injured After App Causes Malfunction

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• May 9, 2024
• Full Page

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a Class 1 recall -- its most urgent kind -- for an IOS app linked to a specific kind of insulin pump used by people with diabetes.

The recall notice, which the FDA says is a "correction" rather than a product removal, invo...

Americans Got Drug-Resistant Infections After Stem Cell Treatments in Mexico

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• May 9, 2024
• Full Page

Antibiotic-resistant meningitis or severe, long-lasting joint infections: That's what three U.S. "medical tourists" brought home after seeking out unapproved stem cell treatments in Mexico, according to a new report.

The germ involved in all three cases was Mycobacte...