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Parents, Arm Your Kids Against COVID-19 With Good Hand-Washing Habits

What's the best thing you can teach your kid as the new coronavirus races around the globe? Proper hand-washing habits, a leading pediatricians' group says.

As early in life as possible, you should get your children into the habit of washing their hands often and thoroughly, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends. All day ...

FDA Approves Malaria Drugs to Treat COVID-19, Despite Little Proof They Work

With little evidence that the malaria drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine can prevent or treat COVID-19, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given emergency approval to distribute millions of doses of the medicines to hospitals across the country.

"These drugs will be distributed from the Strategic National Stockpile to stat...

'Fever Tracker' Suggests Social Distancing Is Already Working

The concept is simple, yet elegant: Use fever readings from thermometers to create a database that can show public health officials whether social distancing is curbing the spread of coronavirus.

A San Francisco medical technology company has been doing just that, and the latest news is heartening: The number of fever readings have dip...

Dirty Air Might Raise Your Odds for Dementia

Smog drives up dementia risk, particularly for older men and women with heart disease, according to a new Swedish study.

For more than a decade, researchers tracked exposure to air pollution and dementia cases among nearly 3,000 Stockholm residents aged 60 and up.

Lead author Dr. Giulia Grande noted that exposure to dirty air...

Don't Fall Prey to COVID-19 Scammers

The COVID-19 pandemic has spawned a wave of scammers looking to take advantage of older adults, experts warn.

Social distancing has created an easy playground for "fraudulent telemarketers and internet scammers," said Karen Roberto, a gerontology expert from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.

"Elder financial abuse costs older Amer...

Fitness Key to Long-Term Weight Loss Success

The more fit you are when you start a weight-loss program, the more weight you could lose, a new study says.

"This research could help us improve the design of our weight-loss programs and suggests that adults with very poor fitness may benefit from additional exercise support during a weight-loss program to achieve higher levels of mo...

AHA News: Video Doctor Visits Gain Ground During Coronavirus Pandemic

Dr. David Wheeler started seeing patients via telehealth in his Wyoming neurology practice 10 years ago as a way to provide routine visits to patients living in remote areas. He'd see three to four patients by video or telephone chat each day, which only made up about a fifth of his regular practice.

Then the new coronavirus began to ...

U.S. Coronavirus Cases Top 163,000; Death Count Set to Surpass China's Total

As U.S. coronavirus cases surged past 163,000 on Tuesday, Americans were told they may soon get a look at the statistical disease models that public officials have been using to urge more than 250 million people to stay at home.

The U.S. coronavirus death toll also edged past 3,000, close to surpassing China's death count of 3,305, th...

Major Study Casts Doubt on Routine Use of Stents, Bypass

Folks with clogged arteries do as well with medication and lifestyle changes as they do after undergoing invasive procedures to reopen their blood vessels, a major new clinical trial reports.

Bypass surgery, balloon angioplasty and stenting are no better than drugs, eating right and exercising at reducing the risk of heart attack and d...

Blood Test Could Spot 50 Different Cancers

A simple blood test for dozens of cancers is in the works.

Researchers say their test can detect more than 50 kinds of cancer at early stages and pinpoint their location in the body.

"If these findings are validated, it will be feasible to consider how this test might be incorporated into a broader cancer screening strategy,...

What You Should Know If Your Surgery Has Been Put on Hold

Thousands of elective and semi-elective surgeries -- including heart and chest operations -- are on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.

If your heart or chest surgery has been postponed, Dr. Robbin Cohen and Dr. Elizabeth David of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons offer some advice.

"We especially don't want to turn postpone...

Being Chained to Your Desk Might Harm Your Thyroid

Could long hours at the office put you at risk for hypothyroidism?

New research suggests it's possible: Hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid) was more than twice as common in adults who worked 53 to 83 hours a week as in those who worked 36 to 42 hours a week (3.5% vs. 1.4%).

Hypothyroidism can cause tiredness, depr...

Can AI Predict Who Will Develop Diabetes?

Artificial intelligence (AI) may be able to identify people who will develop type 2 diabetes, researchers say.

For the study, the researchers used machine learning AI to analyze more than 509,000 annual health checkup records of more than 139,000 people in Japan from 2008 to 2018. They included more than 65,000 who did not have diabete...

Odds of Hospitalization, Death With COVID-19 Rise Steadily With Age: Study

Once infected with the new coronavirus, a 20-something has about a 1% chance of illness so severe it requires hospitalization, and that risk rises to more than 8% for people in their 50s and to nearly 19% for people over 80, a comprehensive new analysis finds.

On the other hand, the death rate from COVID-19 is significantly...

Another Coronavirus Health Threat: Too Few Asthma Inhalers

As hospitals give more and more COVID-19 patients albuterol to help them breathe, people with asthma may have a hard time getting an inhaler.

The American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) said some areas of the United States are experiencing shortages of albuterol inhalers, and the shortage...

Common Heart Drugs' Risk With COVID-19 Unproven, Experts Say

Could a blood pressure or diabetes medicine make COVID-19 more severe?

A new theory suggests the coronavirus could be binding to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors in the lower respiratory tracts. Commonly used drugs like ACE inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) are often used to control heart failure an...

AI Might Spot Which COVID-19 Patients Are at Risk of Severe Disease

An international team has designed a computer program that predicts with up to 80% accuracy which COVID-19 patients will develop serious respiratory disease.

Developed by U.S. and Chinese researchers, the artificial intelligence (AI) program has been tested at two hospitals in China with 53 patients who were diagnosed in January wi...

More Evidence COVID-19 Survivors' Blood Could Help Very Ill Patients

A small study out of China bolsters the notion that transfusing the antibody-enriched blood of people who've survived COVID-19 could help patients still fighting for their lives against the disease.

The study of five critically ill patients from near the initial epicenter of the novel coronavirus pandemic found that all five patients s...

Blood Sugar Control May Aid Stroke Recovery in Diabetes Patients

Good blood sugar control can help protect against mental decline after a common type of stroke in people with diabetes, new research suggests.

The study included 942 patients with diabetes who suffered a lacunar stroke -- one caused by a blockage in an artery that provides blood to the brain's deep structures.

Better blood su...

Doctors Describe First Drone Delivery of Diabetes Meds to Patient

Imagine needing insulin to live but a natural disaster suddenly cuts off access to your medication. New drone technology may one day come to the rescue by making urgent deliveries to remote locations, researchers say.

The world's first documented drone delivery of medications to a diabetes patient in a difficult-to-reach community is...