Study: More evidence links a virus to multiple sclerosis
There’s more evidence that one of the world’s most common viruses may set some people on the path to developing multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis is a potentially disabling disease that occurs when immune system cells mistakenly attack the protective coating on nerve fibers, gradually eroding them. The Epstein-Barr virus has...
A new look for New Year’s resolutions as Sewickley gym goers navigate pandemic
The New Year’s resolution to get back in shape is taking on a different look in 2022. While January traditionally has been a time for setting new goals and a new start on a healthier lifestyle, living through a pandemic for nearly two years has had an effect on our...
Oakland couple walked their dog through every Pittsburgh neighborhood
Thomas Strock and Erica Silvestri took their dog Chewie on a long walk — through the neighborhoods. Yes, neighborhoods. The South Oakland couple planned out the journey to stroll through all 90 of Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods. They found the list of stops from VisitPittsburgh. They took their first steps on Jan....
Medicare limits coverage of $28,000-a-year Alzheimer’s drug
WASHINGTON — Medicare said Tuesday it will limit coverage of a $28,000-a-year Alzheimer’s drug whose benefits have been widely questioned, a major development in the nation’s tug-of-war over the fair value of new medicines that offer tantalizing possibilities but come with prohibitive prices. The initial determination from the Centers for...
Red Cross: Blood donations needed to reverse worst shortage in a decade
The American Red Cross has issued an appeal for blood donations to help reverse what officials say is the worst shortage in more than a decade as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. As an incentive, people who arrange blood donations through the Red Cross website (redcrossblood.org) during January will...
In 1st, U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human patientVideo
A Maryland man is doing well after surgeons and clinicians from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the University of Maryland Medical Center performed the first successful transplant of a genetically modified pig’s heart Friday to save his life, officials from the health system said Monday. After being...
U.S. hospitals letting infected staff members stay on the job
Hospitals around the U.S. are increasingly taking the extraordinary step of allowing nurses and other workers infected with the coronavirus to stay on the job if they have mild symptoms or none at all. The move is a reaction to the severe hospital staffing shortages and crushing caseloads that the...
3 eating and drinking habits that aren’t good for your brain
Brain health is important at any age. To maintain it, you have to be mindful of what you consume. “There is growing scientific evidence that healthy behaviors, which have been shown to prevent cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, also may reduce risk for (subjective cognitive decline),” the Centers for Disease...
Center for Organ Recovery and Education sees record-breaking number of organ donations
A nonprofit that facilitates organ, tissue and cornea donations for the region saw a record-breaking number of organ donors in 2021. The Center for Organ Recovery and Education announced Thursday that 2021 marked the third consecutive record-breaking year. The group — which facilitates donations across western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and...
How the smoking rate in Pa. compares to the nation
Nearly half a million Americans annually die as a result of smoking, the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Another 16 million Americans are living with a serious illness caused by smoking. Smoking also has an economic impact, including more than $225 billion each year spent on...
U.S. had 5 rabies deaths last year, highest total in a decade
NEW YORK — Five Americans died of rabies last year — the largest number in a decade — and health officials said Thursday that some of the people didn’t realize they had been infected or refused life-saving shots. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report on three...
Omicron surge vexes parents of children too young for shots
Afternoons with Grammy. Birthday parties. Meeting other toddlers at the park. Parents of children too young to be vaccinated are facing difficult choices as an omicron variant-fueled surge in covid-19 cases makes every encounter seem risky. For Maine business owner Erin Connolly, the most wrenching decision involves Madeleine, her 3-year-old...
U.S. urges covid boosters starting at age 12 to fight omicron
The U.S. is urging that everyone 12 and older get a covid-19 booster as soon as they’re eligible, to help fight back the hugely contagious omicron mutant that’s ripping through the country. Boosters already were encouraged for all Americans 16 and older, but Wednesday the Centers for Disease Control and...
U.S. hospitals seeing different kind of covid surge this time
Hospitals across the U.S. are feeling the wrath of the omicron variant and getting thrown into disarray that is different from earlier covid-19 surges. This time, they are dealing with serious staff shortages because so many health care workers are getting sick with the fast-spreading variant. People are showing up...
When should you get a covid vaccine if you’re pregnant? Here’s what one study found
Health officials recommend covid-19 vaccines and boosters for people who are pregnant, breastfeeding and trying to become or planning on getting pregnant. The guidance is based on studies that show risks of severe disease are high among the group. Now, a new study of more than 1,300 pregnant patients reveals...
Researchers: 2 doses of J&J’s covid vaccine slashes omicron hospital stays
Two doses of Johnson & Johnson’s covid-19 vaccine slashed hospitalizations caused by the omicron variant in South Africa by up to 85%, a critical finding since the shot is being increasingly relied upon across the continent, researchers said. The results are a welcome bit of news as the explosive rise...
Hidden danger: Registered sex offenders often go undetected in care homes, sometimes at an unspeakable cost
It was just a few days past Christmas 2020 when a 57-year-old woman with advanced dementia and a penchant for wandering the hallways stumbled into Richard Marlin Walter’s room at Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center. Frail, confused and robbed of her ability to speak, she couldn’t scream for help when...
Flu is making a comeback in U.S. after an unusual year off
The U.S. flu season has arrived on schedule after taking a year off, with flu hospitalizations rising and two child deaths reported. Last year’s flu season was the lowest on record, likely because covid-19 measures — school closures, distancing, masks and canceled travel — prevented the spread of influenza, or...
CDC recommends shorter covid isolation for all — from 10 to 5 days
U.S. health officials on Monday cut isolation restrictions for Americans who catch the coronavirus from 10 to five days, and similarly shortened the time that close contacts need to quarantine. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said the guidance is in keeping with growing evidence that people with the...
College athlete travels across the country for liver transplant at Pittsburgh’s UPMC
Taylor Dockins cried as she listened to UPMC chief of transplantation Dr. Abhi Humar discuss her medical journey. Humar talked about her perseverance for five years fighting cancer and then learning she needed a liver transplant. The two connected when she traveled 2,400 miles for the operation. “Dr. Humar saved...
Omicron less likely to put you in the hospital, studies contend
Two new British studies provide some early hints that the omicron variant of the coronavirus may be milder than the delta version. Scientists stress that even if the findings of these early studies hold up, any reductions in severity need to be weighed against the fact omicron spreads much faster...
Holidays from the Heart remembers patients of UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital
Anne Alter walked back into UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital in Oakland on Friday — but not as a patient this time. She walked in as someone who is living proof that it’s possible to be well and live in recovery. Alter returned to sing a moving Hanukkah song at Holidays...
‘Another storm coming’: WHO warns of omicron surge in Europe
VIENNA — The World Health Organization’s top official in Europe urged governments on Tuesday to prepare for a “significant surge” in coronavirus cases across the continent due to the omicron variant, which is already dominant in several countries. “We can see another storm coming,” WHO Europe regional director Dr. Hans...
Young adults make up many of the long-haul covid patients at Chicago clinic
CHICAGO — When the coronavirus pandemic began, Patrick Malia was an energetic, 37-year-old father of two. In March 2020, coughing sent him to an Illinois emergency room. Two years later, the West Dundee, Illinois resident is still suffering from covid-19 symptoms he never could have imagined persisting so long after...
What are symptoms of the omicron coronavirus variant? Here’s what early data shows
There’s still a lot we don’t know about the omicron coronavirus variant, including whether it causes more severe covid-19 or the degree to which it evades vaccines’ defenses in real-world settings. But early data collected in London reveals the answer to a question we’re all asking: Does omicron cause different...
