Health category, Page 133
Narcan available in vending machines in Las Vegas
Vending machines dispense just about anything these days — snacks, soda, aspirin, laundry products. Add anti-overdose medication to that list. In Las Vegas, health officials have begun offering Narcan, the life-saving nasal spray that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. It’s the brand-name version of naloxone. The Center for...
U.S. officials worry paralyzing illness may grow more common
NEW YORK — One morning last fall, 4-year-old Joey Wilcox woke up with the left side of his face drooping. It was the first sign of an unfolding nightmare. Three days later, Joey was in a hospital intensive care unit, unable to move his arms or legs or sit up....
Get on your feet and celebrate National Walking Day
The first Wednesday in April is designated as National Walking Day. Sponsored since 2007 by the American Heart Association, the day is a reminder of the health benefits of taking a walk. Tomorrow, the AHA urges, find a way to build a 30-minute walk into your routine. What’s so great...
Mayo Clinic Q&A: Research needed into treating anxiety with CBD
Dear Mayo Clinic: Is there any harm in trying CBD for anxiety? It seems to have helped my co-worker, but I am hesitant to try it without knowing more about it. Answer: Cannabidiol, also known as CBD, has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat...
Can sharing kindness help your health?
You’ve heard the uplifting stories: Passersby dropping scads of cash into charity collection buckets or anonymous donors paying off hospital bills for strangers. And people helping victims during storms and natural disasters. These acts of kindness make everybody feel good. There’s a science behind that phenomenon called “loving kindness.” And...
Health Happenings – Apr. 2, 2019
Blood drives American Red Cross will host these blood drives: — 11 a.m.-4 p.m. today , American Legion Post 515, 1811 Ligonier St., Latrobe — 12:30-5 p.m. Wednesday , Greensburg Country Club, 309 Pleasant Valley Road, Hempfield — 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Greensburg Hose Company #7, 619 E. Pittsburgh St....
2019 measles count in U.S. already more than all of 2018
NEW YORK — The number of U.S. measles cases through the first three months of this year have surpassed the count for all of 2018, health officials say. There have been 387 cases through March, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday. There were 372 last year. The...
Entire school system in a West Virginia county closes for flu outbreak
NEW CUMBERLAND, W.Va. — All of the schools in a West Virginia county are being closed because of a flu outbreak. A state Education Department spokesperson forwarded a voicemail from the Hancock County school superintendent confirming the Friday closures. In the voicemail, Superintendent Timothy Woodward says all schools in the...
Trump’s small-business health insurance plan struck down
WASHINGTON — A federal judge is striking down the Trump administration’s highly touted small-business health insurance plan, calling it an “end run” around consumer protections. The ruling Thursday by U.S. District Judge John Bates in Washington, D.C., is the second setback in a week for the administration’s health care initiatives....
ACLU: Meijer to change policies on filling prescriptions
PETOSKEY, Mich. — The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan says it has reached an agreement with Meijer on policy changes and training after a pharmacist at one of the retailer’s stores refused to fill a prescription to help a woman complete a miscarriage. The ACLU said in a news...
Walk MS: Pittsburgh event expected to draw 4,000 for a cure
A Pittsburgh walk to support multiple sclerosis research is expected to raise more than $400,000 and draw 4,000 people to Point State Park next month, organizers said. A new study published in February showed nearly 1 million Americans are living with the disease, twice as many as previously estimated. “Twice...
Women need better information on breast implants, FDA panel says
SILVER SPRING, Md. — Members of a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee scrutinizing the safety of breast implants urged the agency on Tuesday to take steps to ensure that patients have a clearer understanding of the risks — which includes a rare cancer that is linked to several deaths...
Kids get measles vaccine after New York county declares emergency
NEW YORK — Some parents who had resisted having their children vaccinated reluctantly brought them in for a measles shot Wednesday as a state of emergency took effect in a county in New York City’s northern suburbs. Rockland County enacted the emergency order Tuesday night to fight a measles outbreak...
Health Happenings
Blood drives • Central Blood Bank: — 1-6 p.m. Wednesday, Champion Christian School, 1076 King’s Way, Donegal — 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday, University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg, 150 Finoli Drive Appointments: 866-366-6711 or centralblood bank.org Classes/programs • Highmark PALS Group meets every first Monday of the month at 10 a.m. in McKenna Center...
Rise Again fundraiser to help parents of children with spinal cord injuries
In church with their son Alex, Eric and Amy Brown helped him stand while he held onto the pew in front. They braced his knees. The song “We Shall Rise Again” played. “Alex now is very accustomed to standing at church with some help and also kneels,” says Amy Brown...
Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau plans regional ‘wellness tour’
For the first time, Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau will offer an organized wellness tour this spring, highlighting regional stops during a day-long public outing. On May 19, the bureau will host “Journey of Self: A Wellness Tour of Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands.” Those aboard the tour bus will visit Nemacolin Woodlands...
4 tips to care for our kidneys
Call them the great filters. Every day, 120 to 150 quarts of blood are strained through our two fist-sized kidneys. During this process, these little organs produce 1 to 2 quarts of urine to rid the body of waste and excess fluid. And our kidneys do a lot more than...
Introduce peanut products as early as 4 months to prevent allergies, report says
Pediatricians now recommend introducing peanut-based foods to infants before their first birthday to prevent peanut allergies, according to a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics. “The big news is to introduce peanuts early,” said Dr. Frank Greer, co-author of the study, which summarizes the latest research on food allergies...
Program aims to raise diabetes awareness
In the United States, about one in every 11 people has diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control. It is the leading cause of blindness, kidney failure and amputations in adults, and a leading cause of heart disease and strokes, making March 26 — the American Diabetes Association’s Alert...
Lifestyle changes can benefit health of those with diabetes, experts sayVideo
Diabetes affects about 30 million people in the U.S., making it a diagnosis about 9 percent of the country’s population will receive in their lifetime, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. March 26 is American Diabetes Association Alert Day. Planned as a one-day “wake-up call” focusing on...
Bingo and bongs: More seniors seek pot for age-related aches
LAGUNA WOODS, Calif. — The group of white-haired folks — some pushing walkers, others using canes — arrive right on time at the gates of Laguna Woods Village, an upscale retirement community in the picturesque hills that frame this Southern California suburb a few miles from Disneyland. There they board...
FDA takes up decades-long debate over breast implant safety
WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials are taking another look at the safety of breast implants, the latest review in a decades-long debate. At a two-day meeting that starts Monday, a panel of experts for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will hear from researchers, plastic surgeons and implant makers, as...
Tyson recalls chicken strips due to metal fears
WASHINGTON — Arkansas-based Tyson Foods is recalling more than 69,000 pounds of frozen, ready-to-eat chicken strips because they may be contaminated with pieces of metal. The U.S. Agriculture Department said Thursday the products were produced on Nov. 30, 2018, and have a best if used by date of Nov. 30,...
Family and friends remember young mother’s death to childbirth complications
Jamie Cordial Hall was picking up a few things for her 5-week-old son Cody’s baptism the morning of May 15, 2018, when she began to hemorrhage. Hall — a healthy, vibrant, 38-year-old middle-class mother of two from Greensburg — was the last woman friends and family would have thought to...
Western Pa. dialysis patients receive packages during awareness campaignVideo
Hundreds of dialysis patients in Western Pennsylvania received special care packages from the National Kidney Foundation as part of the Drive for Dialysis project to generate awareness about kidney disease. Among the items they collected March 14 — World Kidney Day — was a water bottle with measurements to help...
