Severe Mental Illnesses Often Overlooked at Hospital Admission: Study

Severe mental illness diagnoses often get missed in patients hospitalized for physical health problems, according to a new study.

Researchers analyzed data from nearly 13,800 U.K. adults who were diagnosed with severe mental illness, including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, between 2006 and 2017 and who had more than 45,700 emerge...

Mom-to-Be's Pot Use Linked With Higher Odds for Kids' Mental Woes

Expectant mothers who smoke pot in pregnancy could increase their baby's risk for mental or emotional problems later in childhood, a new study finds.

Marijuana use during pregnancy was associated with a host of problems in the preteen years, researchers report.

Children exposed to pot in the womb were more likely to experienc...

Smoking Reduces Survival Odds After Bladder Cancer Surgery

Patients who have surgery for bladder cancer fare worse if they smoke, new research shows.

"This study is important because while it is known that tobacco smoking is the leading cause of bladder cancer, this is the first study to suggest that smoking puts bladder cancer patients at risk after diagnosis," said study co-author Dr. Giova...

Diabetes Drug Metformin May Protect the Aging Brain

A common type 2 diabetes drug called metformin may have an unexpected, but positive, side effect: New research suggests that people taking the drug appear to have significantly slower declines in thinking and memory as they age.

"Our six-year study of older Australians with type 2 diabetes has uncovered a link between metformin use an...

Blood Test Could Spot Those at Highest Risk for Severe COVID-19

If you're unfortunate enough to be admitted to the hospital with COVID-19, a common blood marker may predict how severe your illness might become, new research shows.

The blood marker is called "red cell distribution width" (RDW) -- basically, the greater the variance in the size of red blood cells, the poorer a patient's prognosis, th...

Fewer U.S. Women Aware of Their Heart Risks

Fewer U.S. women these days are aware that heart disease is the number-one threat to their lives -- especially younger and minority women, a new study finds.

Historically, heart disease was seen as a "man's disease," partly because men tend to suffer heart attacks at a younger age than women do. Yet heart disease is the top killer of w...

Common Heart Defect Limits Exercise Ability: Study

People born with a hole in their heart may lose 20% or more of their exercise capacity as they age, even if the defect is repaired.

A ventricular septal defect is a hole in the wall separating the heart's pumping chambers. It can be surgically closed or left alone. People born with this defect have poorer exercise ability than hea...

AHA News: How to Protect Yourself From the Stress of Politics

We interrupt your latest binge of breaking political news, fear-provoking campaign commercials and angry posts from your favorite pundit to report that politics can be stressful.

That stress can be bad for your health. But – some good news here – you can take steps to manage it.

If the election has your heart racing a...

U.S. COVID Death Toll Hits 200,000 as Cases Climb in 22 States

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 23, 2020 (Healthday News) -- The U.S. coronavirus death toll reached the tragic milestone of 200,000 on Tuesday, with at least 22 states now reporting a rise in new cases.

Just last Monday, only nine states were reporting increases in new COVID-19 cases, CNN reported. For the most part, the case spikes are showi...

Could Zinc Help Fight COVID-19?

Millions of Americans pop zinc supplements at the first sign of the common cold. Now, new research suggests the nutrient might play a role in COVID-19 outcomes, too.

Researchers from Spain reporting at a European coronavirus conference found that hospitalized COVID-19 patients with low blood levels of zinc tended to fare worse than tho...

Had a Heart Attack? Resuming Sex Soon After Might Be Healthy

Many heart attack survivors worry that resuming sex too soon afterwards might trigger another attack. But new research suggests the opposite may be true.

Research out of Israel finds that resuming a normal sex life in the months after a heart attack may actually boost survival.

Lead researcher Yariv Gerber believes part of t...

Singing Without a Face Mask Can Spread COVID-19

If you sing indoors without a face mask, you run the risk of spreading COVID-19 through tiny airborne particles known as aerosols.

That's the conclusion researchers reached after studying a choir practice.

In Skagit Valley, Wash., one person with mild symptoms of COVID-19 attended a 2.5-hour-long indoor choir practice on Ma...

Kids Often Hit Hard by Death of Beloved Pet, Study Finds

The loss of a pet may be a child's first encounter with death, and new research suggests no one should underestimate the psychological trauma that the loss can bring.

Previous studies have found that kids form deep emotional attachments to their pets and having a furry companion in your youth has been linked to greater empathy, self-es...

Many Health Care Workers Who Have Coronavirus Don't Have Symptoms: Study

Four in 10 health care workers who test positive for COVID-19 don't have symptoms, which means they could unknowingly spread the disease to co-workers and patients, researchers say.

For the new study, the research team reviewed 97 studies that included more than 230,000 health care workers in 24 countries. Rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection...

4 Out of 5 People With COVID-19 Will Develop Symptoms: Study

Folks shrugging off the risk of COVID-19 because they don't think the virus will do them much harm might want to think again.

As many as four out of five people infected with the new coronavirus likely will suffer some symptoms of COVID-19, a new analysis shows.

Only about 20% of infected people remain symptom-free while ...

Teens Aren't Turning to E-Cigarettes to Quit Smoking

Most teens who vape aren't looking to quit smoking, a new study of Twitter suggests.

This finding belies Juul's claim that its e-cigarette is improving smokers' lives, the researchers said.

For the study, researchers analyzed more than 4,000 tweets and found that only 1% of Twitter users mentioned Juul as a way to stop ...

Certain Cancer Treatments May Heighten Danger From COVID-19

People with cancer are at increased risk for severe COVID-19. Now, a preliminary study suggests that certain cancer therapies may heighten those odds even further.

Researchers found that of 3,600 U.S. cancer patients who contracted COVID-19, the highest risk of death was among those who'd received cancer treatment within the past three...

Sleep Builds the Brain in the Early Years, Then Maintains It

For the very young, sleep builds and strengthens the brain, but it quickly switches to maintenance and repair before a child turns 3, new research shows.

Before about the age of 2½, the brain grows rapidly. And during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep a baby's brain builds and strengthens synapses, which connect neurons to each other...

Baby's Heart Rate Reflects Mom's Mental Health

Babies of mothers with anxiety or depression can have significantly higher heart rates than normal, a new study finds.

And this might put them at risk for long-term problems, researchers say.

Mother-infant interaction plays a crucial role in children's healthy development, but moms with depression, anxiety or postnatal depres...

Minorities Hit Hardest When COVID Strikes Nursing Homes

Minority residents of U.S. nursing homes and assisted living communities have been especially hard hit in the coronavirus pandemic, two University of Rochester studies show.

The first found that nursing homes with higher percentages of racial and ethnic minority residents reported two to four times more new COVID-19 cases and deaths co...