Health category, Page 122
Sleeping with the TV on may make you gain weight
CHICAGO — Dozing off to late-night TV or sleeping with other lights on may mix up your metabolism and lead to weight gain and even obesity, provocative but preliminary U.S. research suggests. The National Institutes of Health study published Monday isn’t proof, but it bolsters evidence suggesting that too much...
Health Happenings
Blood drives — 12-4:30 p.m. Friday, Export Italian American Club, 5930 Kennedy Ave. — 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m. June 19, Laurel Podiatry Associates, 235 Humphrey Road, Pineview Place, Suite 4, Greensburg Appointments: 800-733-2767 or redcrossblood.org; walk-ins welcome Classes/programs • Elder Abuse Awareness Day sponsored by Blackburn Center and McKenna Center is...
‘Bad food’ and other terms that make dietitians cringe
The words we use matter. Our choice of language not only mirrors our current way of thinking, it also has the power to shape our attitudes and behaviors over time. That’s why so many food and nutrition professionals cringe at much of the conversation around food and health today. Seemingly...
New incentives help pregnant women stop smokingVideo
Pregnancy can be a strong incentive to stop smoking. Very few women are likely unaware of the dangers of smoking while pregnant and the potential harm to their developing babies. Along with obstetricians and pediatricians, organizations including the American Lung Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warn...
Social Security error jeopardizes Medicare coverage for 250,000 seniors
At least a quarter of a million Medicare beneficiaries may receive bills for as many as five months of premiums they thought they already paid. But they shouldn’t toss the letter in the garbage. It’s not a scam or a mistake. Because of what the Social Security Administration calls “a...
UPMC preserves access to Hillman Cancer Center for all Highmark-insured patients
Days before a Commonwealth Court showdown against Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, UPMC announced Thursday that it will preserve access at in-network rates for Highmark-insured patients who seek oncology care from Hillman Cancer Center’s 60 locations across Western Pennsylvania and Ohio. The decision applies not only to seniors and people...
‘Sell By’ or what? U.S. pushes for clarity on expiration dates
NEW YORK — If milk is a few days past its “Sell By” date, is it safe to drink? U.S. regulators are urging food-makers to be more consistent with labeling terms like “Best By” and “Enjoy By” that cause confusion. By clarifying the meaning of such dates, they are trying...
Stressed out? Your dog may feel it too, study suggests
NEW YORK — When dog owners go through a stressful period, they’re not alone in feeling the pressure — their dogs feel it too, a new study suggests. Dog owners experiencing long bouts of stress can transfer it to their dogs, scientists report in a study published Thursday in Scientific...
Feds to go public with formerly secret lists of troubled nursing homes
Federal regulators said Wednesday they plan to go public with lists of troubled nursing homes in the future, days after Pennsylvania lawmakers unveiled a secret list of 400 such facilities. Kate Goodrich, the chief medical officer for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, said on a call...
Trump administration imposes new restrictions on fetal tissue research
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Wednesday ended medical research by government scientists using fetal tissue and also cancelled a multi-million-dollar contract for a nongovernment lab that uses the material to test new HIV treatments. “Promoting the dignity of human life from conception to natural death is one of the...
Maine legislators OK assisted suicide; bill goes to governor
AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Legislature voted Tuesday to legalize assisted suicide, passing a bill that would allow doctors to prescribe terminally ill people a fatal dose of medication. The bill now goes to Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who has not indicated whether she will let it become law. Her...
Deaths from falls among older Americans are on the rise
CHICAGO — New research shows fatal falls have nearly tripled in older Americans in recent years, rising to more than 25,000 annual deaths. The findings highlight the importance of fall prevention. A separate study bolsters evidence that programs focusing on improving muscle strength and balance can help achieve that goal....
Pa. woman donates her uterus to help a stranger experience motherhood
As a neonatal intensive care nurse, Heather Bankos has seen up close the heartbreak that comes when babies are born fighting for life, when they don’t make it and — perhaps worst of all — when complications from birth mean women who have lost children will never again be able...
Casey, Toomey report reveals nearly 400 troubled nursing homes, 5 in Western Pa.
WASHINGTON — The federal government for years has kept under wraps the names of hundreds of nursing homes around the country found by inspectors to have serious ongoing health, safety or sanitary problems. Nearly 400 facilities nationwide had a “persistent record of poor care” as of April, but they were...
Travel nursing jobs satisfy need for adventure, flexibility
When it comes to work-life balance, Leslie Giesey of Ligonier seems to have it made. From October to April, she works as a registered nurse at Excela Health Latrobe Hospital. When May comes, she heads west to work as a travel nurse in a clinic near Yellowstone National Park. She’s...
Vaccine best way to combat rise in hepatitis A infections
Drug use and homelessness are cited as two main reasons why hepatitis A infections have increased nearly 300% in the U.S. since 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC says two other groups associated with the increase include men who have sex with men...
Forewarned is forearmed for staying healthy while traveling
A virus with a “terrible” hacking cough eclipsed Deirdre Gerard’s recent South American cruise on the Viking Sun. But for the playwright and her husband, the real disappointment set in after they got home. “Once we started getting better, we heard from other passengers that half the ship had had...
Duchenne muscular dystrophy caused by genetic defect
Dear Mayo Clinic: What is Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and what causes it? Is treatment available? Can Duchenne muscular dystrophy be cured? A: As with all forms of muscular dystrophy, Duchenne muscular dystrophy is caused by a genetic defect. The defect leads to muscle weakness and loss of muscle mass that...
Donate blood at Hotel Monaco in Pittsburgh
Donate blood and enjoy a mocktail afterwards. The Kimpton Hotel Monaco Pittsburgh, Downtown, is hosting a blood drive through Vitalant, a nonprofit transfusion medicine organization that comprises a network of nearly a dozen community blood centers, from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday. The event is to help with the current...
U.S. aims to help more cancer patients try experimental drugs
CHICAGO — Sally Atwater’s doctor spent two months on calls, messages and paperwork to get her an experimental drug he thinks can fight the lung cancer that has spread to her brain and spine. Nancy Goodman begged eight companies to let her young son try experimental medicines for a brain...
U.S. measles cases in first five months of 2019 surpass total for any year since 1994
The United States has reported 971 cases of measles in the first five months of 2019, the greatest number since 1994, when 963 cases were reported for the entire year, federal health officials said Thursday. The agency has typically been updating its measles cases weekly, on Mondays, but announced the...
Health care industry resists White House proposal for pricing transparency
WASHINGTON — President Trump is preparing to issue an executive order to foster greater price transparency across a broad swath of the health care industry while consumer concerns about their costs for medical treatment emerge as a major issue in the leadup to next year’s presidential election. The most far-reaching...
World Health Organization classifies gaming addiction as a mental disorderVideo
Having trouble putting down the latest version of Candy Crush? There may be disturbing consequences surrounding it. Recently, the World Health Organization has classified video game addiction as an official mental health disorder. The Switzerland-based body has added “Gaming disorder” to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health...
Parents sue hospital for ‘wrongful pregnancy’Video
A hospital forgot to perform a sterilization procedure so the family wants them to pay for raising the resulting child. An Ontario couple in 2011 decided that three children was just the right number and requested the mother’s tubes be tied following the birth of their twins at Mount Sinai...
Thousands of kindergartners unvaccinated without waivers
COLUMBUS, Ohio — States are heatedly debating whether to make it more difficult for students to avoid vaccinations for religious or philosophical reasons amid the worst measles outbreak in decades, but schoolchildren using such waivers are outnumbered in many states by those who give no excuse at all for lacking...
