Health category, Page 110
Pittsburgh infectious disease specialist: ‘It’s time to prepare for coronavirus surge’Video
With the continued spread of the coronavirus and misinformation about the disease, Pittsburgh-based infectious disease and critical care physician Dr. Amesh Adalja has become a highly sought after expert on the subject. A senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Adalja works on pandemic preparedness, emerging infectious...
Congress eyes billions in funding to fight coronavirus
WASHINGTON — Capitol Hill negotiations on emergency spending to combat the coronavirus outbreak are likely to produce a bill that’s double or even triple the $2.5 billion plan requested by President Donald Trump just days ago. Lawmakers and aides involved in the talks say they are proceeding well and are...
CDC infographic ranks which beards, mustaches interfere with face masks
As people worry about current COVID-19 outbreaks around the world, a three-year-old graphic illustrating the effectiveness of wearing a mask with facial hair has begun to spread across social media and appear on at least one late-night comedy show. In November 2017 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)...
Seeking cure, U.S. researchers infect thousands of monkeys with coronavirus
The U.S. National Institutes of Health has infected thousands of monkeys with a strain of coronavirus in attempt to find a vaccine cure for the illness. According to United Kingdom newspaper The Daily Star, rhesus macaques have been infected with the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS- CoV) and then...
Woman rejected for transplant because her bladder was brewing alcohol
The patient, a 61-year-old woman, insisted she had not been drinking, even though multiple tests found alcohol in her urine. The stakes were high. She had come to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center seeking a liver transplant. Another hospital’s transplant program had rejected her because of positive urine tests,...
Pennsylvania reports 1st child flu-related death of season
Pennsylvania health officials have reported the first pediatric flu death in the state this season — one of a dozen new flu deaths in the past week. Deaths were recorded for the week ending Feb. 22 in each of the four age groups reported by the state health department. That...
Brazil confirms 1st coronavirus case in Latin America
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil’s government confirmed on Wednesday that a 61-year-old Brazilian man who traveled to Italy this month has Latin America’s first confirmed case of the contagious new coronavirus. “We will now see how this virus behaves in a tropical country in the middle of summer, how its...
An increasingly isolated Iran girds for long virus battle
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran girded Wednesday for a long battle against the coronavirus that is spreading rapidly across the country and the wider Middle East, even though officials in the Islamic Republic had earlier minimized the outbreak that has now killed 19 people, the highest toll outside of...
Iran says official who played down virus fears is infectedVideo
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The head of an Iranian government task force on the coronavirus who had urged the public not to overreact about its spread has tested positive for the illness himself, authorities said Tuesday, as new cases emanating from the country rapidly emerged across the Middle East....
Animals work as healers
Pet therapy is gaining fans in health care and beyond. Animal-assisted therapy can reduce pain and anxiety in people with a range of health problems. What is pet therapy? Pet therapy is a broad term that includes animal-assisted therapy and other animal-assisted activities. Animal-assisted therapy is a growing field that...
Times Square campaign features White Oak cancer survivor
A White Oak woman diagnosed as a teen with stage II rectal cancer will be among 14 people featured in a new awareness campaign in New York City’s Times Square on Feb. 26. Denelle Suranski, 37, is an awareness ambassador with the nonprofit Fight Colorectal Cancer. At 9 a.m. Wednesday,...
Clarifying the carrot confusion
My recent column on carrots brought these letters. And they piqued my curiosity to get more information: Q: I just finished a column by you about carrots in the Fredericksburg Virginia Free Lance Star. I always wondered about baby carrots. Now that you have confirmed that they are cut regular...
Health Happenings: Week of Feb. 24
Blood drives • American Red Cross will host these blood drives: — 2-6 p.m. today , Brush Valley VFD, 5540 Route 259 Highway, Homer City — 12:30-6 p.m., Friday, Excela Square at Latrobe, 100 Excela Health Drive — 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, St. Michael’s Orthodox Church, 1182 Ashland St., Greensburg...
UnitedHealthcare tackles homelessness as a root cause of poor health
PHILADELPHIA — Purvis Wright’s health, and life, were spiraling out of control. Wright went to the hospital in July 2018 after a spate of blackouts and throwing up blood. “It was all downhill,” Wright said this month. “I wound up with my eight or nine different sicknesses all at once.”...
Tobacco company must pay $12.5 million to widow of man who died of lung disease, jury finds
MIAMI — James “Jim” McHugh started smoking when he was a teenager and continued to do so for nearly five decades. He tried quitting cold turkey. He tried chewing gum. He even tried hypnosis. By the time he found a prescription medicine that could help him, he was a very...
Latrobe Lions Club cancels dementia presentation
Editor’s note: Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Latrobe Lions Club has announced that a presentation on dementia it was co-sponsoring with the Latrobe Area Historical Society has been cancelled. Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia among older adults, is the sixth leading cause of death in the...
South Korea becomes newest front in shifting virus outbreak
SEOUL, South Korea — Cases of a new virus swelled Friday in South Korea, making the country the newest front in a widening global outbreak centered in China and now reverberating elsewhere. South Korea said two people have died and 204 have been infected with the virus, quadruple the number...
Lyme patient hopes to raise awareness through ‘tickmojis’ tracking appVideo
It may seem a little odd to want emojis on your smartphone that depict 10 of the most common varieties of tick in North America. Then again, if you spot one attached to your leg, it’s nice to know you can actually identify it by using Olivia Goodreau’s “tickmojis,” which...
3 more Allegheny County residents die from flu, bringing total to 10
Three more people have died due to influenza complications in Allegheny County, bringing the total number of such deaths to 10, according to the Allegheny County Health Department. The residents were in their late 90s, late 80s and mid-70s. All had underlying conditions, the health department said. “Weekly flu cases...
U.S. medical schools boost LGBTQ students, doctor training
Aliya Feroe recalls the flustered OB-GYN who referred her to another physician after learning she identified as queer. For Rhi Ledgerwood, who was designated female at birth, identifies as trans and doesn’t have sex with men, it was a doctor advising about condoms and pregnancy prevention. For Tim Keyes, who...
Changing clocks is bad for your health, but which time to choose?
Changing over to daylight saving time — a major annoyance for many people — may be on its way out as lawmakers cite public health as a prime reason to ditch the twice-yearly clock-resetting ritual. The time change, especially in the spring, has been blamed for increases in heart attacks...
Health Happenings: Week of Feb. 17
Blood drives • American Red Cross will host these blood drives: — 2-6 p.m. Wednesday, First United Methodist Church of Irwin, 310 Oak St. — Noon-4:30 p.m. Friday, St. Mary Church, 5900 Kennedy Ave., Export — 2-6 p.m. Monday, Apollo United Presbyterian Church, 401 First St. Appointments: 800-733-2767 or redcrossblood.org;...
2 years later, Parkland students tackle the real struggle — mental health
All it takes is the shrill sound of a fire alarm. When Ryan Deitsch heard the sound in his dorm at American University earlier this month, he froze. As the rest of the students fled, yelling at him to follow, the freshman’s heart raced as he relived the afternoon of...
Mayo Clinic Q&A: Cause of ventricular tachycardia determines treatment
Dear Mayo Clinic: Recently, I was diagnosed with ventricular tachycardia, but doctors said a cause cannot be determined. What usually causes this problem? Does knowing the cause make a difference in treatment? Answer: There are many causes of ventricular tachycardia. Some do not present a serious health threat, while others...
Why parents aren’t taking kids to the pediatrician
The Flora family no longer visits the pediatrician as often as they used to. “We used to live in our pediatrician’s office,” said Jennifer Flora, 36, a Greensburg mother of three. “I would say, in the past two years, we have finally cut out the doctor visits, outside of yearly...
