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COVID Health
Fatigue Is Common Among Older Adults, and It Has Many Possible Causes
Nothing prepared Linda C. Johnson of Indianapolis for the fatigue that descended on her after a diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer in early 2020. Initially, Johnson, now 77, thought she was depressed. She could barely summon the energy to get dressed in the morning. Some days, she couldn’t get out of bed.
Going Long: Viruses Linger With Lasting Impact
Some viruses, like the common cold, are a flash in the pan. They infect us, our bodies fight back — which is what makes us sick — and then they’re gone, until the next variant rolls along. Other viruses linger. Once HIV gains a foothold in a...
mRNA Vaccine Plus Keytruda Delays Melanoma Recurrence
A personalized messenger RNA (mRNA) cancer vaccine plus Merck’s checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda (pembrolizumab) reduced the risk of recurrence or death in people with high-risk advanced melanoma, according to research presented Sunday at the AACR Annual Meeting 2023. The vaccine, dubbed mRNA-4157 (V940), uses the same mRNA technology as the...
No-Cost Preventive Services Are Now in Jeopardy. Here’s What You Need to Know.
When a federal judge in Texas declared unconstitutional a popular part of the Affordable Care Act that ensures no-cost preventive care for certain services, such as screening exams for conditions such as diabetes, hepatitis, and certain cancers, it left a lot of people with a lot of questions. On the...
Frequent Testing Reduced COVID-19 Deaths in Nursing Facilities
During the COVID-19 pandemic, residents of skilled nursing facilities have been at particular risk of dying from the disease. These nursing facilities are for people who need daily medical care from trained professionals. Although less than 2% of the U.S. population either lives or works in such facilities, they accounted for more than 20% of the deaths from COVID-19 through 2021.
U.S. District Court Ruling Jeopardizes Access to Proven, Life-Saving Preventive Care
On Thursday, March 30, U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor issued his decision on the remedy for his September 2022 ruling that the requirement that Affordable Care Act (ACA)-compliant health insurers cover U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)-recommended services without cost sharing violates the U.S. Constitution. In the decision, Judge O’Connor ruled that the USPSTF coverage requirement must be vacated and cannot be enforced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and that the remedy applies to all ACA-compliant plans, not just for the plaintiffs who brought the litigation. The remedy is a sweeping decision that threatens access to lifesaving cancer screenings and other preventive screenings and services for millions of people across the country.
Judge’s Decision Would Make Some No-Cost Cancer Screenings a Thing of the Past
A federal judge on Thursday overturned a portion of the Affordable Care Act that makes preventive services, such as some cancer screenings, free to enrollees, a decision that could affect health insurance policyholders nationwide. The decision from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas could open the...
Telehealth Services and Medications for Opioid Use Disorder Reduced Overdose Risk
Increased use of telehealth services and medications for opioid use disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic associated with reduced risk for fatal overdose. The expanded availability of opioid use disorder-related telehealth services and medications during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a lowered likelihood of fatal drug overdose among Medicare beneficiaries, according to a new study.
End of COVID Emergency Will Usher in Changes Across the U.S. Health System
The Biden administration’s decision to end the COVID-19 public health emergency in May will institute sweeping changes across the health care system that go far beyond many people having to pay more for COVID tests. In response to the pandemic, the federal government in 2020 suspended many of its...
Feds Move to Rein In Prior Authorization, a System That Harms and Frustrates Patients
When Paula Chestnut needed hip replacement surgery last year, a pre-operative X-ray found irregularities in her chest. As a smoker for 40 years, Chestnut was at high risk for lung cancer. A specialist in Los Angeles recommended the 67-year-old undergo an MRI, a high-resolution image that could help spot the disease.
California’s COVID Misinformation Law Is Entangled in Lawsuits, Conflicting Rulings
Gov. Gavin Newsom may have been prescient when he acknowledged free speech concerns as he signed California’s COVID misinformation bill last fall. In a message to lawmakers, the governor warned of “the chilling effect other potential laws may have” on the ability of doctors to speak frankly with patients but expressed confidence that the one he was signing did not cross that line.
SARS-CoV-2 Infection Weakens Immune-Cell Response to Vaccination
The magnitude and quality of a key immune cell’s response to vaccination with two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine were considerably lower in people with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to people without prior infection, a study has found. In addition, the level of this key immune cell that targets the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein was substantially lower in unvaccinated people with COVID-19 than in vaccinated people who had never been infected. Importantly, people who recover from SARS-CoV-2 infection and then get vaccinated are more protected than people who are unvaccinated.
Inhalable Hydrogel Protects Lungs From SARS-CoV-2, the Virus That Causes COVID
Mutations in SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, continue to produce new virus variants. Some of these mutations may confer resistance to the immunity induced by vaccines or prior SARS-CoV-2 infections. Thus, there is a need for strategies that could prevent infection by a range of SARS-CoV-2 variants. Physical barriers,...
Do I need to drink 8 glasses of water each day?
It’s become accepted wisdom that adults need to drink at least eight glasses of water each day, and some people won’t leave home without a water bottle. But individual fluid needs vary widely, and this broad recommendation is not supported by much scientific evidence. There’s no question that...
Cancer Patients With More Vaccine Doses Have Less Severe COVID Breakthrough
People with cancer who received three doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines were less likely to experience severe breakthrough infection than those who got only two shots, according to study findings published in The Lancet Regional Health. Unfortunately, another recent study found that some cancer patients at high risk for complications are less likely to be vaccinated.
Medicaid Health Plans Try to Protect Members—and Profits—During Unwinding
The federal COVID-19 pandemic protections that have largely prohibited states from dropping anyone from Medicaid since 2020 helped millions of low-income Americans retain health insurance coverage — even if they no longer qualified — and brought the U.S. uninsured rate to a record low. It also led to...
Virtual or In Person: Which Kind of Doctor’s Visit Is Better, And When It Matters
When the COVID-19 pandemic swept the country in early 2020 and emptied doctors’ offices nationwide, telemedicine was suddenly thrust into the spotlight. Patients and their physicians turned to virtual visits by video or phone rather than risk meeting face-to-face. “It was a dramatic shift in one or two weeks...
Biden Administration Urged to Take More Aggressive Steps to Relieve Medical Debt
Dozens of advocates for patients and consumers, citing widespread harm caused by medical debt, are pushing the Biden administration to take more aggressive steps to protect Americans from medical bills and debt collectors. In letters to the IRS and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the groups call for new federal...
Researchers Identify Four Long COVID Categories
Long COVID develop tend to fit one of four categories or types, according to a study supported by the Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative. Researchers found that the following diagnoses often occur together:. Type 1: Heart, kidney, and circulatory problems. Type 2: Lung conditions, sleep disorders, and anxiety.
Much Remains to Be Learned About Long COVID
The annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) is primarily an HIV meeting, but it also often features presentations on the latest infectious diseases in the news, which this year included COVID-19 and mpox (formerly monkeypox). The conference had a symposium dedicated to COVID, several abstract sessions that interwove...
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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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