TUESDAY, Nov. 23, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Folks who’ve had a clogged artery reopened probably can stop taking blood thinners sooner than previously thought, a new study argues. Patients are regularly prescribed blood thinners for a year or more after angioplasty. This is to make sure that blood doesn’t clotContinue Reading

TUESDAY, Nov 23, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Addictive opioid painkillers aren’t the only option for patients seeking relief following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee reconstruction, researchers say. As the United States wrestles with skyrocketing rates of opioid abuse and drug overdose deaths, the findings may come as good news. AfterContinue Reading

TUESDAY, Nov. 23, 2021 (HealthDay News) — A widely available drug used to treat alcoholism has potential as a COVID-19 treatment, researchers say. The investigators found that people taking disulfiram (Antabuse) for alcoholism had a lower risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 and were less likely to die from COVID-19 ifContinue Reading

TUESDAY, Nov. 23, 2021 (HealthDay News) — An experimental Lyme disease vaccine shows promise in animal studies and could also help protect against other tick-borne diseases, researchers say. The vaccine — which relies on the same mRNA technology used by some COVID-19 vaccines — protected guinea pigs against infection byContinue Reading

MONDAY, Nov. 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Most prescriptions for the medication gabapentin are for unapproved uses — and many patients end up taking it along with drugs that create potentially dangerous interactions. That’s the conclusion of a new study that looked at “off-label” use of gabapentin. In the UnitedContinue Reading

MONDAY, Nov. 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Hospitalized COVID-19 patients who take medications that suppress the immune system don’t have a higher risk of severe COVID-19 than those with normal immune systems, a new study finds. Early in the pandemic, it was feared that people taking immunosuppressive drugs were atContinue Reading