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COVID Health
Home Test to Treat Program Extends Nationwide
The federal government has expanded the Home Test to Treat program, an entirely virtual community health program that offers free COVID-19 health services: at-home rapid tests, telehealth sessions and at-home treatments, to eligible participants nationwide. Home Test to Treat, which is a collaboration among the National Institutes of Health, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, launched as a pilot in select locations earlier this year.
Many Autoimmune Disease Patients Struggle With Diagnosis, Costs, Inattentive Care
After years of debilitating bouts of fatigue, Beth VanOrden finally thought she had an answer to her problems in 2016 when she was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease, an autoimmune disorder. For her and millions of other Americans, that’s the most common cause of hypothyroidism, a condition in which the...
HIV May Increase the Risk of Long Covid. Why Aren’t Major Advocacy Groups Addressing It?
At the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, Philip Shubin went to the emergency room when he was infected with COVID-19. At the hospital, he said he was treated like a pariah and went home expecting to die. The visit reminded him of being hospitalized in 1996 with an AIDS-related lung cancer called pulmonary Kaposi sarcoma, which led to the loss of his right lung. The arrival of antiviral medications saved him from dying of AIDS-related complications, but he lost his entire social circle during the crisis.
Medicaid ‘Unwinding’ Makes Other Public Assistance Harder to Get
An hour before sunrise, Shelly Brost walked a mile in freezing rain to the public assistance office. She was running out of time to prove she still qualified for food aid after being stymied by a backlogged state call center. Twice, she’d tried to use Montana’s public assistance help line...
What Would a DeSantis Presidency Look Like for Health Care?
On the presidential campaign trail, Republican Ron DeSantis touts himself as a champion of medical freedom, outlawing vaccine mandates and protecting doctors who refuse to provide certain medical treatments on moral grounds. His record as Florida’s governor suggests a presidency that would prioritize individual freedom over public health, but his...
Cancer Incidence Rates Declined for Most Cancer Types During First Year of COVID-19
A new report led by researchers at the American Cancer Society (ACS) shows, during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, cancer incidence rates declined for almost all cancer types examined. The declines were largely driven by local and regional stage disease, however, cancer incidence rates for distant stage or the most advanced type of disease decreased for just six of the 22 cancer types examined. The study is published November 16 in the International Journal of Cancer.
U.S. Government Offers More Free COVID Tests
The federal government is again offering free COVID-19 rapid antigen tests to all U.S. households. Each household may order four tests, which will be sent by mail directly to the home at no charge. Orders will begin shipping on November 27. People who have not yet ordered any tests this...
A New RSV Shot Could Help Protect Babies This Winter — If They Can Get It in Time
Emily Bendt was in her third trimester of pregnancy when she first heard the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had approved a new shot for infants to protect them from the respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. By October 5, Bendt was cuddling with her new baby, Willow, on the...
Is Novavax, the Latecomer COVID Vaccine, Worth the Wait?
Erin Kissane, a co-founder of the COVID Tracking Project, rolled up her sleeve for the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine in mid-October soon after it was finally recommended in the United States. Like many people with autoimmune diseases, she wants to protect herself from a potentially devastating covid infection. Kissane’s autoimmune arthritis...
HHS Establishes Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Long COVID
Today [November 16], the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announces the establishment of the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Long COVID and invites nominations for the Committee. This Committee is called for in the National Research Action Plan on Long COVID, published in April of 2022 to...
What are the complications of fatty liver disease?
Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD, formerly known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD), involves the buildup of fat in the liver. Over time, this can progress to a more severe condition known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH, formerly known as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH). Estimates suggest that around a third of Americans have fatty liver disease, but many remain undiagnosed.
Ohio Voted on Abortion. Next Year, 11 More States Might, Too.
As activists parse the results of Tuesday’s vote to protect abortion rights in Ohio, Jamie Corley is already well on her way to putting a similar measure in front of Missouri voters next year. Corley, a former Republican congressional staffer, filed not one, but six potential ballot measures in...
Senate Confirms Monica Bertagnolli as National Institutes of Health Director
On October 7, the Senate confirmed Monica Bertagnolli, MD, as the new director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She will take over the job formerly held by Francis Collins, who stepped down in December 2021; Lawrence Tabak, DDS, PhD, has been serving as acting director since then. “As...
Let’s Have an Honest Conversation About What to Expect as You Age
How many of us have wanted a reliable, evidence-based guide to aging that explains how our bodies and minds change as we grow older and how to adapt to those differences?. Creating a work of this kind is challenging. For one thing, aging gradually alters people over decades, a long period shaped by individuals’ economic and social circumstances, their behaviors, their neighborhoods, and other factors. Also, while people experience common physiological issues in later life, they don’t follow a well-charted, developmentally predetermined path.
Are We Having a Moral Panic Over Misinformation?
In 2020,as the Covid-19 pandemic rampaged across the globe, the World Health Organization declared that we had plunged into a second, simultaneous catastrophe: an infodemic. This global crisis was characterized by the rapid spread of false information, or misinformation, mostly in digital spaces. The fear was that such inaccuracies would leave the public unmoored, adrift in a sea of untruth. Eventually, this mass disorientation would cause people to harm themselves and one another.
‘Worse Than People Can Imagine’: Medicaid ‘Unwinding’ Breeds Chaos in States
More than two dozen people lined up outside a state public assistance office in Montana before it opened to ensure they didn’t get cut off from Medicaid. Callers in Missouri and Florida reported waiting on hold for more than two hours on hotlines to renew their Medicaid coverage. The...
How SARS-CoV-2 Contributes to Heart Attacks and Strokes
COVID-19 is known to increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. The intense inflammation that occurs throughout the body in severe cases likely contributes to this increased risk. But it’s not clear whether SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, also affects blood vessels directly. To find out, an...
Start Shopping: Enrollment Begins November 1 for Most Obamacare Insurance Plans
For millions of Americans who buy their own health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, the end of the year brings a day of reckoning: It’s time to compare benefits and prices and change to a new plan or enroll for the first time. Open enrollment starts November...
Why Is Finding COVID Shots for Young Children Still So Hard?
On September 12, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the next round of covid shots for everyone 6 months and older. The shots were expected to be available within days in pharmacies and doctor’s offices across the country, the CDC said. But more than a month later,...
Biden Pick to Lead NIH Finally Has Her Day, but Still Gets Caught Up in Drug Price Debate
[Editor’s note: On October 25, the Senate HELP committee voted 15-6 to advance Bertagnolli’s nomination to a full floor vote.]. A Senate committee finally held a hearing Wednesday on President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the National Institutes of Health. But the panel’s chair, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), was focused on drug prices — an issue over which the NIH has very little control.
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COVID Health is here to help people navigate the unknowns of a COVID-19 diagnosis and what lies beyond. The site is also designed to help people learn how to prevent transmission of the new coronavirus, which is called SARS-CoV-2.
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