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Health News

The US has its first novel coronavirus-related drug shortage

The United States has its first novel coronavirus-related drug shortage, according to the US Food and Drug Administration. The maker of an unnamed drug that has recently been added to the FDA Drug Shortages list told the agency that the shortage is due to the novel coronavirus. On Tuesday, the FDA warned that these types…

Healthy, easy snacks that kids will love

If you are like many parents I know, snacking has become a predictable daily ritual. The opportunity presents itself at after-school pickups, group playdates, before and after sports or homework, and when there’s simply no other activity to engage in at the moment. Children in the United States snack about three times per day, with…

Smartphones, warm weather and SUVs are all to blame for the highest number of pedestrian deaths in more than 30 years, report says

Pedestrian deaths in the United States last year hit a 30-year high, according to data released Thursday. And the reason? SUVs, drug and alcohol use, warm weather and cellphones. That’s according to the Governors Highway Safety Association, a non-profit that works to improve roadway safety. The association released its annual report this month, detailing state…

If coronavirus spreads within the US, here’s how daily life might change

Officials at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have warned that it’s not a question of if, but when the novel coronavirus will spread in the United States — and communities are urged to prepare for the virus that has already killed thousands and sickened 10s of thousands more worldwide. How could the…

A woman took 550 times the usual dose of LSD, with surprisingly positive consequences

Drug overdoses can be life-threatening, but for two women who accidentally took massive hits of LSD, the experience was life changing — and in a good way. A 46-year-old woman snorted a staggering 550 times the normal recreational dose of LSD and not only survived, but found that the foot pain she had suffered from…

Moodiness or more? How to tell if your kid’s suffering from a mental disorder

Children’s lives may not be as hard as adults’ lives, but sometimes their moodiness and sadness are more than just a phase. Around one in six US youth ages 6 to 17 has a mental, behavioral or developmental disorder such as anxiety, depression or attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder, according to a 2019 report in the journal JAMA…

Preparing for a pandemic: What should I buy? Are there places I should avoid?

Officials at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have warned that the novel coronavirus will spread in US communities, and a case announced on Wednesday might be the country’s first instance of it. Now, health officials say, is the time for people in the United States prepare — for canceled events, closed schools…

Federal health officials investigate E. coli outbreak likely linked to Jimmy John’s

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced an investigation into a multi-state E. coli outbreak they believe is linked to Jimmy John’s. The announcement comes a day after the Food and Drug Administration accused the sandwich chain of serving unsafe vegetables. In a CDC Food Safety Alert, the health agency says people reported becoming…

New coronavirus case could be first instance of ‘community spread’ in US, CDC says

A resident of Solano County, California, who has novel coronavirus might be the first example in the country of “community spread,” a situation in which the patient did not have “relevant travel history or exposure to another known patient,” the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. The person’s “exposure is unknown,” the…

San Francisco declares state of emergency over coronavirus. Here’s what that means

San Francisco’s mayor on Tuesday declared a local emergency to make it easier for the populous city and international travel hub to combat novel coronavirus if it comes — even while stressing that it isn’t there yet. The move will, among other things, help the city get reimbursed by state and federal governments for money…

Widowhood increases risk of Alzheimer’s, study says

Losing your spouse or life partner and gaining the designation “widow” or “widower” is one of life’s cruelest blows. Now science believes that widowhood may hasten the development of a type of cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s. Over a three-year period, cognitive abilities declined three times faster in widowed adults with high levels of beta-amyloid…

Can Lysol and Clorox products kill the novel coronavirus? The answer is … complicated

Lysol, Clorox and a host of other household disinfectants widely tout their ability to kill 99.9% of bacteria and viruses. The claim is right there on the label. Included in that 99.9%? Human coronavirus. It’s advertised on the back as a disease the product can disinfect from surfaces, along with two flu strains, E. coli…

A patient kept getting kicked off liver transplant waiting lists for alcohol abuse. But she wasn’t drinking, her bladder was making the alcohol

A woman insisted she needed a liver transplant. But doctors wouldn’t allow it, removing her from waiting lists and recommending treatment for alcohol addiction instead. She denied, again and again, any problems with alcohol. Her urine ethanol levels, though, told a different story. When the patient showed up on the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s…

Gender stereotypes keep boys from reading as well as girls

Girls can’t do math. Boys can’t read. These negative stereotypes are not only reinforced by teachers and parents but by a child’s peers in the classroom as well, a new study finds. “Our study may be the first to investigate how students’ stereotypical beliefs about the reading ability of boys form what you might call…

Nature makes children happier, science shows

As my wife, daughters and I hiked through the woods at one of the many state parks near our home, I explained to them how we were doing three things that were simultaneously boosting our happiness at that moment. First, we were getting exercise, a proven mood booster. Second, we were spending quality time with…

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