Understanding Mental Health Terms
Mental health is something that we’re talking about more and more. But in these conversations, we can often hear terms used interchangeably, such as mental health and mental illness. It can be hard to get the language right. So what does the term mental health actually mean? How does it differ from a mental health […]
Healthcare Consolidation Expected to Continue, Expert Says
Expect more consolidation in the healthcare industry in the coming year, said Ricky Goldwasser, managing director at Morgan Stanley, during the annual “Wall Street Comes to Washington” event sponsored by the Brookings Institution. “We think that we’re definitely going to see more consolidation,” Goldwasser said Wednesday at the virtual event, which was sponsored by Arnold […]
Longevity Without Alzheimer’s Tied to Lifestyle
A healthy lifestyle was tied to a longer life but the extra years did not mean more time living with Alzheimer’s dementia, a prospective study showed. People who had four or five healthy lifestyle factors — spanning diet, cognitive activity, physical exercise, smoking, and alcohol patterns — at age 65 lived longer than their counterparts […]
Early Abortions Are Getting More Expensive
Patients paid increasingly more for medication abortion and first-trimester procedural abortion from 2017 to 2020, while the percentage of facilities accepting health insurance declined, researchers found. From 2017 to 2020, median patient charges for medication abortion rose from $495 to $560, representing a 13% increase, which was higher than healthcare inflation alone, at 8%, according […]
Patiromer Limits Impact of RAAS Inhibitor-Related Hyperkalemia in HF
WASHINGTON — Use of the potassium-binding agent patiromer (Veltassa) allowed more heart failure patients at risk for hyperkalemia to remain on optimal therapy with renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors (RAAS), including mineralocorticoids, the randomized DIAMOND trial showed. For the study’s revised primary endpoint, patiromer led to a significant reduction in potassium levels by study end versus placebo […]
What’s the skinny on those pandemic pounds? New study sheds light on weight gain during the COVID-19 quarantine
More Americans weighed in as obese during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic than in the previous year. Anew study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, published by Elsevier, presents evidence from a large, nationally representative survey that documents this trend and helps to explain behavior changes that led to widespread weight gain […]
Higher blood fats more harmful than first thought
Increased levels of blood fats in people with type 2 diabetes and obesity are more harmful than previously thought, a new study has found. In patients with metabolic diseases, elevated fat levels in the blood create stress in muscle cells — a reaction to changes outside the cell which damage their structure and function. University […]
Eating two servings of avocados a week linked to lower risk of cardiovascular disease
Eating two or more servings of avocado weekly was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, and substituting avocado for certain fat-containing foods like butter, cheese or processed meats was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease events, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an […]
Prenatal Disinfectant Exposure Linked to Asthma Risk in Kids
Mothers who were exposed to disinfectants on the job were more likely to have children with asthma, an analysis of a large birth cohort from Japan suggested. After adjusting for many factors including maternal return to work 1 year after giving birth, mothers who used disinfectants every day in the prenatal period were more likely […]
Solid aerosols found in Arctic atmosphere could impact cloud formation and climate
The Arctic is rapidly losing sea ice, and less ice means more open water, and more open water means more gas and aerosol emissions from the ocean into the air, warming the atmosphere and making it cloudier. So when researchers from the lab of University of Michigan aerosol scientist Kerri Pratt collected aerosols from the […]