Health category, Page 131
U.S. measles cases hit highest mark in 25 yearsVideo
NEW YORK — Measles in the United States has climbed to its highest level in 25 years, closing in on 700 cases this year in a resurgence largely attributed to misinformation that is turning parents against vaccines. “This is alarming,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University vaccine expert. Not...
UN: No screen time for babies; only 1 hour for kids under 5
LONDON — The World Health Organization has issued its first-ever guidance for how much screen time that children under five should get: not very much. The U.N. health agency said Wednesday that children under 1 should not have any screen time while those under five should not spend more than...
Americans getting more inactive, computers partly to blame
Americans are becoming increasingly sedentary, spending almost a third of their waking hours sitting down, and computer use is partly to blame, a new study found. Over almost a decade, average daily sitting time increased by roughly an hour, to about eight hours for U.S. teens and almost 61⁄2 hours...
Pennsylvania Congressman John Joyce takes back claims of tuberculosis-infected migrants crossing border
U.S. Rep. John Joyce, a Blair County Republican, is walking back his assertion that 12 cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis were being treated last week among migrants who had crossed the Mexican border and sought asylum in Yuma, Ariz. The freshman Congressman’s about-face came after a spokesman for the Yuma County...
UPMC joins clinical trial for leukemia treatment
UPMC Hillman Cancer Center is joining a collaborative clinical trial for acute myeloid leukemia to explore new ways of treating patients. The Beat AML Master Clinical Trial, led by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, will use genetic testing to determine the best course of treatment for the cancer. It affects...
Study: Ewing sarcoma rate not higher than expected in Canon-McMillan School District
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Monday attempted to allay concerns about the incidence of a rare cancer in Washington County and the Canon-McMillan School District. A health department spokesman said a new study of a group of Ewing sarcoma cases in and around the district found the rates were...
It’s Alexa versus Big Pharma in Penn State research labs
Could Alexa replace Big Pharma when it comes to pain control? In a news release touting their ongoing programs in information sciences, researchers at Penn State said they believe they can deliver pain control through guided mindfulness practices via Amazon’s Alexa. “In particular with opioid addiction, there has been quite...
Allegheny Health Network CEO vows to expand amid Pittsburgh health care war
The challenges were many when Cynthia Hundorfean accepted the job as Allegheny Health Network’s CEO in 2016. For one, the hospital system reported a loss of $17.8 million in the first three months of 2016 and other losses in years prior. The other challenge was gaining respect in an industry...
Gift ideas for women undergoing cancer treatmentVideo
Lisa Lurie gets asked the same question all the time. “People want to know what would make a great gift for somebody undergoing surgery, treatment or in recovery?” says Lurie of Squirrel Hill, a breast cancer survivor and co-founder of Cancer Be Glammed, a company that helps women diagnosed with...
Health Happenings – Apr. 23, 2019
Blood drives — 1:30-7 p.m. today , St. Bruno Church, 1707 S. Poplar St., Greensburg — 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday , St. James, Route 982, Youngstown — 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. April 30, Triangle Tech, 222 E. Pittsburgh St., Greensburg Appointments: 800-733-2767 or redcrossblood.org; walk-ins welcome. Meetings • Grief Without the...
Here’s what to know the superbug spreading in the U.S.Video
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is alerting health care facilities to monitor for Candida auris, a drug-resistant fungus that is difficult to diagnose and treat, and often spreads in hospitals, nursing homes and other health-care environments. Here’s what you need to know about it. What is Candida...
Worried about your fruits and vegetables? Here’s how to wash them
A recent column on the Environmental Working Group’s list of fruits and vegetables with the most and least pesticides generated some reader comments. Most wondered if washing eliminates any pesticides residue. While the EWG said washing doesn’t remove the fruit and produce from their list, it’s still recommended to wash...
U.S. measles cases surge as officials scramble to stop near-record outbreak
The United States is on track to surpass the record number of measles cases in a single year since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000, according to figures reported Monday. For the fourth week in a row, health officials have added dozens of new cases to the year’s list...
Workplace wellness programs barely move the needle, study finds
Workplace wellness programs — efforts to get workers to lose weight, eat better, stress less and sleep more — are an $8 billion industry in the U.S. Most large employers offer some type of wellness program — with growth fueled by incentives in the federal Affordable Care Act. But no...
Study: Genetic test predicts middle-aged obesity risk
NEW YORK — Can a genetic test identify newborns at risk of becoming severely obese by middle age? Researchers say they have come up with one, and that it might allow interventions in childhood to avoid that fate. The test examines more than 2 million spots in a person’s genetic...
Latrobe woman pushes on 2 years after brain tumor changed her life
Meah Ezykowsky was lying unresponsive in her bed when her mom rushed into their Latrobe home, knowing something was wrong. That morning of March 20, 2017, the family learned Ezykowsky had a record-sized meningioma tumor — a noncancerous mass that will impact more than 32,000 people this year. The grapefruit-sized...
From cherry pies to French dressing, FDA to ease some food rules
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump may soon be able to claim a sweet victory for his deregulation push, with officials preparing to get rid of the decades-old rules for frozen cherry pies. Emails show the Food and Drug Administration planned to start the process for revoking the standard for...
Two-wave flu season is now the longest in a decade
NEW YORK — Three months ago, this flu season was shaping up to be short and mild. But a surprising second viral wave has made it the longest the United States has seen in 10 years. This flu season has been officially going for 21 weeks, according to reports collected...
‘We don’t get over it’: Pain of mass shootings stretches on
PARKLAND, Fla. — Alex Rozenblat can still hear the cries of a wounded boy calling for help as she hid from the gunfire that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last year. Talking to therapists at the school in Parkland, Florida, didn’t help. Each session had a...
How to decipher contradictory nutritional research
It’s frustrating when nutrition studies seem to contradict earlier ones: “Are Eggs Good or Bad For You? New Research Rekindles Debate,” the Associated Press groused in mid-March. Though it may seem that dietary science is changing every day, that’s not really the case. I’m here to explain how nutritional research...
Health Happenings – Apr. 16, 2019
Blood drives • American Red Cross will host these blood drives: — 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. today in Westmoreland County Community College Founders Hall, Youngwood campus, 145 Pavilion Lane, Hempfield. — 12:30-5 p.m., Friday , Quatrini Rafferty, 816 Ligonier St., Latrobe. Appointments: 800-733-2767 or redcrossblood.org; walk-ins welcome • Vitalant, formerly Central...
Quinn on Nutrition: Living with 1 kidney
A reader who read a recent column about caring for our kidneys, writes: “I did not realize that the kidneys provided so much to our bodies. My granddaughter was born with 3 kidneys; by the time she was two she had to have the two kidneys that were together taken...
PET scans important in assessing some forms of lymphoma
Dear Mayo Clinic: My father just started chemotherapy for lymphoma, and he is scheduled for a positron emission tomography or PET scan after his first three treatments. How do doctors decide when to perform a PET scan, and what’s the purpose of doing that scan during the treatment? Why wouldn’t...
CDC reports 90 new measles cases as outbreak approaches recordVideo
WASHINGTON — For the third week in a row, U.S. health officials have added dozens of new reports to the year’s list of confirmed measles cases, bringing the total to 555 - already the highest number in the past five years. If the outbreaks aren’t brought under control, public health...
Mainstream retailers embrace marijuana’s less taboo cousin
NEW YORK — Mainstream retailers are leaping into the world of products like skin creams and oils that tout such benefits as reducing anxiety and helping you sleep. The key ingredient? CBD, or cannabidiol, a compound derived from hemp and marijuana that doesn’t cause a high. Retailers are taking advantage...
