HealthWatch

Superbug from human eye drops outbreak spread to dogs

Two dogs treated at a veterinary hospital in New Jersey last year have tested positive for a rare, drug-resistant strain of bacteria linked to a fatal outbreak blamed on now-recalledeye drops that had been used in humans, a CDC investigator said Friday. The animals were infected by a bacteria known as carbapenemase-producing carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, found in swabs of the …

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Dont just track your steps. Here are 4 health metrics to monitor on your smartwatch, according to doctors.

From smart wearables like the Apple Watch or Garmin trackers to the celebrity-sported Oura ring and trendy WHOOP strap, health tech has come a long way from just tracking your steps. “There’s lots of different metrics now that we can begin to look at,” says Dr. Davin Lundquist, family physician and chief medical officer at Augmedix. “Anytime that we can …

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U.S. birth rate drops to record low, ending pandemic uptick

The pace of babies born each year in the U.S. has slowed to a new record low, according to an analysis of 2023 birth certificate data published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last year’s slowdown marks an official end to the uptick in new babies that began during the COVID-19pandemic. At least 3,591,328 babies were born …

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3 times you shouldnt brush your teeth, according to dental experts

Brushing your teeth is good for you, right? Well, not all the time. According to experts, there are a few instances where you want to avoid brushing your teeth in order to protect the enamel. TikTok user@drshaadimanouchehri, a London-based dentist, raised eyebrows for posting about this in December, garnering over 12 million views on her video that advised people not …

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U.S. orders cow testing for bird flu after grocery milk tests positive

The Agriculture Department is ordering the dairy industry to test milk-producing cows for infections from highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI H5N1, before they’re moved between states, federal officials announced Wednesday. USDA’s move to ramp up testing requirements for HPAI H5N1 comes after the Food and Drug Administration disclosed Tuesday that samples of pasteurized milk that had been sold on …

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Doctors perform first-ever combined heart pump and pig kidney transplant

For the first time, surgeons at NYU Langone Health performed a combined mechanical heart pump and gene-edited pig kidney transplant, helping a 54-year-old woman with heart and kidney failure. Before the two procedures, which took place earlier this month, New Jersey native Lisa Pisano faced heart failure and end-stage kidney disease that required routine dialysis, and she was not a …

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For-profit companies open psychiatric hospitals in areas clamoring for care

Grinnell, Iowa — A for-profit company has proposed turning a boarded-up former nursing home here into a psychiatric hospital, joining a national trend toward having such hospitals owned by investors instead of by state governments or nonprofit health systems. The companies see a business opportunity in the shortage of inpatient beds for people with severe mental illness. The scarcity of …

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What is meningococcal disease? Symptoms to know as CDC warns of spike in bacterial infection

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention arewarning about a rise in meningococcal disease, a rare bacterial illness that can lead to meningitis, a potentially fatal infection. In an alert to doctors on Thursday, the CDC noted an increase in cases of one type of invasive meningococcal disease, most of it due to a specific strain of bacteria. Last year, …

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Your guide to preventative health screenings for each decade, from your 20s to your 60s

Making a plan for preventative care and screenings is a great way to put your health first. Whether it’s keeping up with recommended vaccines or scheduling screening tests to detect potential problems early, there are different guidelines to stay on top of at different ages throughout your life. “If everyone followed our preventative health screenings, we would catch disease earlier. …

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Measles spread to at least 3 other states after trips to Florida

Measles cases that turned up in at least three states this year were linked to visits to Florida, federal and state investigators concluded, shedding light on some of the early infections that have fueled an uptick of the highly contagious virus. Florida’s health department thinks families of the cases earlier this year from Indiana and Louisiana may have crossed paths …

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