THURSDAY, Nov. 2, 2023 (HealthDay News) — A new study on Clostridioides difficile infections finds that choosing an alternative antibiotic for high-risk patients with pneumonia can reduce infection risk. C. diff infections can be deadly, and they are often acquired by hospitalized patients taking broad-spectrum antibiotics. More than 450,000Continue Reading
THURSDAY, Nov. 2, 2023 (HealthDay News) — A procedure to treat the irregular heart rhythm condition known as atrial fibrillation (a-fib) works just as well for women as it does for men, new research shows. The technology, called pulsed field ablation (PFA), can be used to restore a regular heartbeat.Continue Reading
FRIDAY, Nov. 3, 2023 (HealthDay News) – That heavy lead apron you wear at the dentist’s office when getting X-rays may no longer be necessary. While intended to shield patients from radiation exposure anywhere that isn’t the jaw, the X-ray equipment used in dental offices today is quite safe comparedContinue Reading
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 1, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Cellphone use might be blunting a fellow’s chances of becoming a father, a major new study reports. Young men who frequently use mobile phones have lower sperm concentrations and sperm counts than guys who rarely dial on the go, Swiss researchers found usingContinue Reading
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 1, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Despite progress in recent decades, too many Americans still have dangerously high LDL cholesterol levels, and about a quarter don’t even know it, new research finds. That puts those people at risk for a longer span of artery clogging disease and increases theirContinue Reading
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 1, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Newer oral medications for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) do work quite well in the “real world,” despite some doubts that they would, according to a new study. The study, of 622 adults with RA, found that most were doing well on medications called JAKContinue Reading
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 1, 2023 (HealthDay News) – The second person to ever receive a transplanted pig heart has died. Lawrence Faucette, 58, got the transplant just six weeks earlier at the University of Maryland Medical Center in an experimental procedure. Unfortunately, the heart had been showing signs of rejection inContinue Reading
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 1, 2023 (HealthDay News) — A new gene therapy for sickle cell disease was deemed safe by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on Tuesday, paving the way for full approval by early December. The FDA had already decided that the therapy, known as exa-cel, was effective.Continue Reading
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 1, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Many antibiotics long used to treat common childhood infections are no longer effective because of antibiotic resistance. The authors of a new study say global guidelines on antibiotic use need to be updated to reflect this, and they called for an increased focusContinue Reading
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 1, 2023 (HealthDay News) — A new, more comfortable wearable electrocardiogram (ECG) device could be on its way. Researchers from Australia and India have created a compact, lightweight, gel-free hexagonal-shaped ECG patch that they say is ideally suited for point-of-care diagnostics. For those at risk, having a wearableContinue Reading