American Heart Association of Greater Pittsburgh hosts mass CPR training
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey had never learned how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, known as CPR, an emergency procedure to maintain the blood flow to vital organs and to restore normal heart function after sudden cardiac arrest. When he was asked by the American Heart Association of Greater Pittsburgh to join...
From billionaire Mark Cuban to independent store owners, criticism for pharmacy benefit managers is plentiful
At first glance, billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban may seem to have little in common with an independent pharmacy owner. But they have one shared adversary: pharmacy benefit managers. They claim the drug price negotiators are putting mom-and-pop drugstores out of business. Pharmacy benefit managers — known as PBMs — are...
Researchers find association between air pollution and Alzheimer’s
ATLANTA — A new study from Emory University researchers has found an association between traffic-related air pollution and Alzheimer’s disease in humans. Using brain tissue donated by metro Atlanta residents, researchers evaluated their home addresses for air pollution generated by nearby traffic. The study, released Wednesday, does not prove air...
A pacemaker for the brain helped a woman with crippling depression. It may soon be available to more
NEW YORK — Emily Hollenbeck lived with a deep, recurring depression she likened to a black hole, where gravity felt so strong and her limbs so heavy she could barely move. She knew the illness could kill her. Both of her parents had taken their lives. She was willing to...
Bitter pill: Customers lament loss of small-town pharmacies as reimbursement formulas become unsustainable
As Erica Yurt’s husband battled head and neck cancer, she relied on Mainline Pharmacy in Harrison City to get critical prescriptions for him on time. The independent pharmacy also stayed open past closing on a Friday to make sure he got the medications he needed. Now, the Level Green woman...
Carnegie Mellon students sickened from on-campus eatery, officials say
Food safety inspectors from Allegheny County report finding violations in a campus eatery at Carnegie Mellon University after the school said numerous students reported symptoms consistent with a foodborne illness. The Allegheny County Health Department inspected Stack’d Underground in the basement of the Morewood Gardens residence hall on Thursday. Their...
Pitt to launch doctor of chiropractic program
Lower back pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide, and evidence indicates chiropractic care effectively treats pain with less reliance on opioids, some experts say. Those are among the reasons cited by the University of Pittsburgh for establishing a Doctor of Chiropractic (DC) program, the first at a research-intensive...
Shaler woman creates Hannahtopia, selling EEG caps called NillyNoggins
Heather Shuker, 49, is a mother who knows fear — she’s felt helpless as she’s watched her daughter, Hannah, battle severe intractable seizures for the past 20 years. Hannah has seen the inside of a hospital more than she’s seen the inside of a high school. Despite doctors telling Shuker...
Penn State dance marathon raises $17 million, beats record by $2 million
Their voices are likely shot, their ankles probably sore and they definitely could use some sleep. But the 700-plus dancers — and thousands more who participated in this year’s Penn State University IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon — know they made history, raising almost $17 million in the fight against childhood cancer,...
3 more measles cases confirmed at South Florida elementary school
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Four students at Manatee Bay Elementary School in Weston have confirmed cases of measles, the Broward School District announced in a news release Saturday. The first case of measles was confirmed Thursday night. Three more cases of the highly contagious illness have been confirmed since, according...
Shock value: Pirates’ rapid response saved Ernie Withers, inspired him to pay it forward
BRADENTON, Fla. — Ernie Withers stood in left-center field at Pirate City, where he almost died during a spring training workout a year ago, and reflected on how the Pittsburgh Pirates saved his life. And, by doing so, saved his wife. When Withers went into sudden cardiac arrest at the...
Potential covid quarantine guidance change draws mixed reactions
Eleanor Nicholson of Apollo says she isn’t that concerned about covid. “Maybe (it’s) because I’ve never really had it. Nobody in my family has,” she said. Her opinion hasn’t changed with the reports that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could drop the five-day waiting period for people who...
Study: More people die after smoking drugs than injecting them
NEW YORK — Smoking has surpassed injecting as the most common way of taking drugs in U.S. overdose deaths, a new government study suggests. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called its study published Thursday the largest to look at how Americans took the drugs that killed them. CDC...
Lyme disease case counts in U.S. rose by almost 70% in 2022 due to change in how it’s reported
NEW YORK — Lyme disease cases in the U.S. jumped nearly 70% in 2022, which health officials say is not due to a major increase of new infections but instead a change in reporting requirements. Reported cases surpassed 62,000 in 2022, after averaging about 37,000 a year from 2017 through...
Cyberattacks on hospitals are likely to increase, putting lives at risk, experts warn
WASHINGTON — Cybersecurity experts are warning that hospitals around the country are at risk for attacks like the one that is crippling operations at a premier Midwestern children’s hospital, and that the U.S. government is doing too little prevent such breaches. Hospitals in recent years have shifted their use of...
TV Talk: Jon Burnett comforted by viewer support after former KDKA-TV host’s diagnosis revealed
For former KDKA-TV weathercaster and “Evening Magazine” and “Pittsburgh Today Live” host Jon Burnett, it wasn’t a difficult decision to share the story of his suspected CTE diagnosis. However, answering a question about it can prove challenging due to the disease’s effects. Then Burnett’s charming, folksy personality comes through clear...
CDC plans to drop 5-day covid isolation period, report says
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans on doing away with the five-day waiting period for people who test positive for covid, according to the Washington Post. Instead of going with a time-based approach, the Post reported that the guidance will be symptom-based — people will no longer need...
Treasury Secretary Yellen visits Pittsburgh, won’t tip hand about review of pending U.S. Steel sale
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday became the latest Biden administration official to visit Pittsburgh, where she toured a hospital and touted the president’s efforts to expand health care access and lower prescription drug costs. Hosted by U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, Yellen toured West Penn Hospital, held a...
Mental health emerges as a dividing line in abortion rights initiatives planned for state ballots
CHICAGO — The weeks after Kaniya Harris found out she was pregnant were among the hardest in her life. Final exams were fast approaching for the college junior. Her doctors told her she had an ovarian cyst, and the risk of ectopic pregnancy was high. The wait times for abortion...
‘A horrible, perfect storm’: Frustrations rise as shortage of Adderall, other ADHD medication continues
All Jennifer Howell wanted was to find medication for her son. Instead, she was caught in a maze of desperate phone calls to pharmacies and physicians. Her son, Linus, had been diagnosed with ADHD in 2021 during the grips of the covid-19 pandemic. Many of his behavioral traits — restlessness,...
In wake of Biden report, experts explain how aging affects the brain
No model predicts how an individual’s mind changes or memory fades over time, according to local experts. “It’s very much an individual thing,” said University of Pittsburgh associate psychology professor Marc Coutanche. “You can have someone who’s very sharp right into their 80s, and you can have someone in their...
Paxlovid can lessen the chance of a severe covid-19 illness. Why is it underused?
Tens of thousands of Americans are hospitalized with covid-19 every week. Thousands die from it every month. And yet, an antiviral treatment proven to lessen the chances of severe outcomes is going underused. The drug, Paxlovid, is lauded by experts as a powerful tool that can prevent hospitalization and death...
How to get covid-19 antiviral pills like Paxlovid
For some people with covid-19, antiviral pills that can be taken at home can lessen the chances of winding up in the hospital. But the pills have to be taken right away, so you must get tested, obtain a prescription and get the medication within five days of symptoms appearing....
As cancer treatment advances, patients and doctors push back against drugs’ harsh side effects
For cancer patients, the harsh side effects of powerful drugs have long been the trade-off for living longer. Now, patients and doctors are questioning whether all that suffering is necessary. They’ve ignited a movement to radically change how new cancer drugs are tested, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration...
Rio de Janeiro declares a dengue health emergency days ahead of Carnival
RIO DE JANEIRO — Rio de Janeiro on Monday has declared a public health emergency because of an outbreak of mosquito-borne dengue fever, the city announced Monday, just days before Carnival celebrations kick off across Brazil. The outbreak wasn’t expected to derail Carnival, which officially starts Friday evening and runs...
