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Abortion Bans Are Driving Off Doctors and Closing Clinics, Putting Basic Health Care at Risk
The rush in conservative states to ban abortion after the overturn of Roe v. Wade is resulting in a startling consequence that abortion opponents may not have considered: fewer medical services available for all women living in those states. Doctors are showing — through their words and actions — that...
How a Medical Recoding May Limit Cancer Patients’ Options for Breast Reconstruction
The federal government is reconsidering a decision that breast cancer patients, plastic surgeons, and members of Congress have protested would limit women’s options for reconstructive surgery. On June 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services plans to reexamine how doctors are paid for a type of breast reconstruction...
Chemo Drug Shortage Impacts Over 90% of Cancer Centers, Finds Survey
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)—an alliance of leading academic cancer centers—published survey results June 7 that shed light on just how widespread the current platinum chemotherapy shortage is, and shared a statement calling on the whole oncology community to work together on solutions. “This is an unacceptable...
Toward a Definition of Long COVID
For many people, a bout with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, doesn’t end when the initial symptoms subside. An array of problems may linger for months or years after infection. They can affect nearly every tissue and organ in the body. Their effects can range from mild to disabling.
People on Modern HIV Treatment Can Have a Near-Normal Life Expectancy
People with HIV who use effective modern antiretroviral therapy (ART) and maintain a high CD4 T-cell count can expect to live nearly as long as HIV-negative people in the general population, according to study results published in The Lancet HIV. But those with a low CD4 count do not fare as well, underscoring the need to start treatment before serious immune system damage occurs.
What’s Needed to Fix a Vital Drug Discount Program
Thirty years ago, when Congress passed the Public Health Service Act, no one could have imagined that section 340B of the law would become the lightning rod that it is today. The little-known provision created a program to help America’s safety net health care providers bring affordable care and discounted medicines to vulnerable, low-income patients.
This Panel Will Decide Whose Medicine to Make Affordable. Its Choice Will Be Tricky.
Catherine Reitzel’s multiple sclerosis medication costs nearly $100,000 a year. Kris Garcia relies on a drug for a blood-clotting disorder that runs $10,000 for a three-day supply. And Mariana Marquez-Farmer would likely die within days without her monthly $300 vial of insulin. At best, a Colorado panel of medical...
Black and Hispanic Cancer Survivors Face Higher Risk of Dying from Subsequent Cancers
New research led by scientists at the American Cancer Society (ACS) showed that among persons with subsequent primary cancers, or SPCs, Black and Hispanic persons had a higher mortality risk from cancer and Black persons also had a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. The findings [were] presented at this year’s annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago, June 2-6.
A Striking Gap Between Deaths of Black and White Babies Plagues the South
Years before the Bamberg County Hospital closed in 2012, and the next-closest hospital in neighboring Barnwell shut its doors in 2016, those facilities had stopped delivering babies. These days, there’s not even an ultrasound machine in this rural county 60 miles south of Columbia, much less an obstetrician. Pregnant women...
Examining Maternal Deaths in Black Mothers
Part one of an Associated Press (AP) series exploring health disparities Black Americans experience from birth to death, examined just how dangerous it is for Black women to give birth in America. Black women have the highest maternal mortality rate in the United States. They are three times more likely...
Medicaid Expansion Improved Treatment Access and Outcomes for Patients With Breast Cancer
Medicaid Expansion Improved Treatment Access and Outcomes for Patients with HER2-enriched Breast Cancer, New Study Shows. A new study led by researchers at the American Cancer Society (ACS) shows Medicaid expansion improved treatment timelines and survival rates for newly diagnosed HER2-enriched breast cancer patients. These conclusions are consistent with improved access to care and outcomes for other cancers attributed to Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act.
The Debt Ceiling Deal Takes a Bite Out of Health Programs. It Could Have Been Much Worse.
Policy analysts, Democrats, and Republicans dissatisfied with the deal agree: Federal health programs have dodged a budgetary bullet in the Washington showdown over raising the nation’s debt ceiling. A compromise bill, approved late Thursday by the Senate, includes some trims and caps on health spending for the next two...
Regular and Increasing Number of Breast Cancer Screenings Improves Survival
New research led by an international team supported by the American Cancer Society (ACS) shows women with an increasing number of regular mammography screening exams prior to diagnosis of breast cancer considerably improved their probability of survival. The findings will be presented at this year’s annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago, June 2-6.
Remote Work: An Underestimated Benefit for Family Caregivers
For Aida Beltré, working remotely during the pandemic came as a relief. She was taking care of her father, now 86, who has been in and out of hospitals and rehabs after a worsening series of strokes in recent years. Working from home for a rental property company, she...
County-Level Incarceration Rates Linked to Cancer Mortality
A new study led by researchers at the American Cancer Society (ACS) associates higher county-level jail incarceration rates with higher cancer death rates. Although incarceration has been linked to poor community health outcomes in the US, few previous studies have examined cancer outcomes. The findings [were] presented at this year’s annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago, June 2-6.
HIV Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day 2023
Monday, June 5, marks HIV Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day (#HLTSAD) 2023. “The day celebrates the resiliencies and strengths of survivors of the AIDS epidemic and raises awareness and sets an agenda to flourish,” according to HLTSAD.com, which adds that this year “HLTSAD is not a one-day event. We are carrying our campaign throughout the year into 2024. We are using Pride as an opportunity to raise awareness that leads to action.”
New Study Ties Loneliness to Higher Mortality Risk Among Cancer Survivors
A new study led by researchers at the Americam Cancer Society (ACS) showed people living with cancer with higher reported loneliness have an increased mortality risk. The findings [were] presented at this year’s annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago, June 2-6. Researchers, led...
Healthy Recipe: Egg Salad With Basil & Capers
This summery sandwich is a perfect lunch or even a protein-packed breakfast. A word of warning: capers are quite salty even after rinsing, so make sure to taste the salad before adding any extra salt. During chemo, when immune system is down, it’s better to make egg salad as needed....
Statins Linked to Lower Risk of Liver Disease Progression
Statins—drugs used to reduce cholesterol—are linked to a lower risk for disease progression in people with chronic liver disease that has not yet advanced to cirrhosis, according to study findings published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and its more severe form, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis...
AI May Be on Its Way to Your Doctor’s Office, But It’s Not Ready to See Patients
What use could health care have for someone who makes things up, can’t keep a secret, doesn’t really know anything, and, when speaking, simply fills in the next word based on what’s come before? Lots, if that individual is the newest form of artificial intelligence, according to some of the biggest companies out there.
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Real Health is the leading health magazine for African Americans in the United States. Launched in 2004, the goal of Real Health is to help African Americans of all ages achieve optimum health and wellness—physically, mentally and emotionally—by offering readers current, accurate information based on the latest science through well-researched stories that educate, entertain, uplift and motivate members of the community at large to be their best selves.
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