Health category, Page 100
Delirium, inflammation, stroke, nerve damage: This is the brain on covid-19
NEW YORK — Delirium, inflammation, stroke: This is your brain on covid. Evidence is mounting that covid-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, can cause brain damage regardless of the severity of other symptoms such as respiratory issues. Researchers at University College London studied neurological symptoms in 43 people,...
Lawsuit claims UPMC, doctors failed to get proper patient consent for procedures
A federal lawsuit alleges health care giant UPMC and several doctors failed to get proper patient consent for surgeries and participation in clinical trials and then filed false insurance claims for the procedures. The lawsuit’s plaintiffs include the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare &...
Covid-19 cases in 19- to 24-year-olds on the rise in Pa.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 849 new cases and 25 new deaths from covid-19 on Wednesday, totaling 92,148 cases and 6,812 deaths statewide. Allegheny County reported 230 new coronavirus cases Wednesday and Philadelphia County reported 90 coronavirus cases Wednesday, accounting for almost 40% of the state’s total new cases....
‘Grasping for anything’: Desperation science slows hunt for coronavirus drugs
Desperate to solve the deadly conundrum of covid-19, the world is clamoring for fast answers and solutions from a research system not built for haste. The ironic, and perhaps tragic, result: Scientific shortcuts have slowed understanding of the disease and delayed the ability to find out which drugs help, hurt...
Pennsylvania health officials warn of ticks, Lyme disease
Pennsylvania state health officials on Wednesday issued a warning reminding Pennsylvanians to protect against tick and mosquito bites. Ticks can transmit Lyme disease, which, if not treated, can cause severe symptoms that affect the heart, nervous system and joints. In 2019, Pennsylvania recorded 9,000 confirmed and probable cases of Lyme...
EPA approves use of Lysol disinfectant as first to kill coronavirus on surfacesVideo
The Environmental Protection Agency has given its first approval of disinfectants that kill covid-19 on non-porous surfaces. Lysol Disinfectant Spray and Lysol Disinfectant Max Cover Mist meet the EPA’s criteria for use against SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the ongoing pandemic, based on laboratory testing that found both products kill...
Western Pa. health care leaders: Your simple actions matter the most to prevent covid-19
This letter was signed by nine regional health care leaders, named below. Over the past three months, our organizations have proudly come together in an unprecedented fashion to address the enormous challenges we have faced as a community due to the novel coronavirus (covid-19) pandemic. This public health crisis is...
China’s Inner Mongolia region reports bubonic plague case
BEIJING — While China appears to have reduced coronavirus cases to near zero, other infectious threats remain, with local health authorities announcing a suspected bubonic plague case in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Authorities in the Bayannur district raised the plague warning on Sunday, ordered residents not to hunt wild...
More than 20 treated by UPMC burn center for fireworks injuries over holiday
More than 20 people were treated at UPMC Mercy Burn Center for serious fireworks injuries during the Fourth of July weekend, officials said. Several patients were children. This year marked the highest number of Independence Day weekend injuries recorded at the UPMC Mercy Burn Center, the health system said. In...
Iowa governor signs abortion law amid court challenge
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Monday signed into law a bill that requires women to wait 24 hours before getting an abortion, trying again to institute a restriction similar to one struck down two years ago by the Iowa Supreme Court. Reynolds signed the measure into law just after lawyers...
Closing bars to stop coronavirus spread is backed by scienceVideo
Authorities are closing bars, honky tonks and other drinking establishments in some parts of the country to stem the surge of covid-19 infections — a move backed by sound science about risk factors that go beyond wearing or not wearing masks. In the words of one study, it comes down...
Inside the body, coronavirus is even more sinister than scientists had realized
The new coronavirus’s reputation for messing with scientists’ assumptions has taken a truly creepy turn. Researchers exploring the interaction between the coronavirus and its hosts have discovered that when the SARS-CoV-2 virus infects a human cell, it sets off a ghoulish transformation. Obeying instructions from the virus, the newly infected...
Gilead’s $2,340 price for coronavirus drug draws criticismVideo
The maker of a drug shown to shorten recovery time for severely ill covid-19 patients says it will charge $2,340 for a typical treatment course for people covered by government health programs in the United States and other developed countries. Gilead Sciences announced the price Monday for remdesivir, and said...
Summer may decide fate of lead shots in virus vaccine race
People on six continents already are getting jabs in the arm as the race for a covid-19 vaccine enters a defining summer, with even bigger studies poised to prove if any shot really works — and maybe offer a reality check. Already British and Chinese researchers are chasing the coronavirus...
Uniontown hospice worker inspires baby doll donations for dementia patients
There’s something about cradling a tiny little baby in your arms. It’s comforting. It’s soothing. It’s natural. The feeling of seeing those sparkling innocent eyes and cute round face looking back at you is priceless. Hospice worker Amanda DeGusipe of Uniontown set out to awaken that memory for women with...
‘I’m just so angry’: Residents welcome grand jury report slamming Pa. oversight of fracking industry
Breathing problems, unexplained illness, constant noise, light and smell of chemicals — all problems caused to residents by the oil and gas industry, a statewide grand jury found. None of it sounded new to those who have been living near well pads and pipelines for years. Since the Marcellus shale...
Officials break ground for new UPMC St. Margaret New Kensington Family Health Center
A groundbreaking ceremony Friday marked a new home for UPMC St. Margaret New Kensington Family Health Center. The new facility should open in the spring, said Mary Lee Gannon, president of the St. Margaret Foundation. It will expand from a 4,700-square-foot building to 8,000 square feet. The health center will...
After waves of covid deaths, care homes face legal reckoning
PARIS — The muffled, gagging sounds in the background of the phone call filled Monette Hayoun with dread. Was her severely disabled 85-year-old brother, Meyer, choking on his food? Was he slowly suffocating like the Holocaust survivor who died a few months earlier in another of the care home’s bedrooms,...
Pittsburgh doctors document onset of Guillain-Barré Syndrome in covid-19 patient
Pittsburgh doctors found a potential connection between covid-19 and the onset of the autoimmune disorder Guillain-Barré Syndrome, according to a case study from Allegheny General Hospital. The neurologists, among the first in the country to document this link, published findings in the June issue of the Journal of Clinical Neuromuscular...
Tarentum nurse hosting free diabetes program for 3rd straight year
For a third straight year, a registered nurse is hosting a series of talks on diabetes in Tarentum. Denise Kissell, a certified diabetes care and education specialist, will hold the hourlong programs beginning at 5 p.m. every Tuesday in July under the pavilion at Riverview Memorial Park. The sessions, focusing...
U.S. warns against Mexican sanitizer gel containing methanol
MEXICO CITY — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning about a Mexican-made hand sanitizer gel that it said is dangerous because it contains large amounts of poisonous methanol, or wood alcohol. The FDA said the methanol “can be toxic when absorbed through the skin or ingested,”...
Brighton nursing home put majority of residents in ‘immediate jeopardy’ amid covid-19 outbreak, state survey says
Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center put a majority of its hundreds of residents in “immediate jeopardy” and potentially exposed healthy residents to covid-19 as recently as early May, records show. State health inspectors cited the already-embattled Beaver County nursing home for more than four dozen violations related to improper infection...
Son gives dad ‘new life’ with liver donation at UPMC
Michael Huey showed his 2-year-old son, Luke, the bond between father and son by giving his own dad a precious gift. Huey donated a portion of his liver to his father, Louis, a decision the son said was made out of love. “I prayed about it,” said Michael Huey, who...
Why do some covid-19 patients get seriously sick? It may be blood type, study finds
A genetic analysis of covid-19 patients suggests that blood type might influence whether someone develops severe disease. Scientists who compared the genes of thousands of patients in Europe found that those who had Type A blood were more likely to have severe disease while those with Type O were less...
EPA drops regulation for contaminant harming babies’ brains
The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday ended an Obama-era drive to regulate a widespread contaminant in drinking water linked to brain damage in infants. The agency rejected warnings that the move will mean lower IQs for an unknown number of American newborns. Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s announcement was the latest in...
