Month: September 2020

A Massachusetts construction worker’s love of black licorice wound up costing him his life. Eating a bag and a half every day for a few weeks threw his nutrients out of whack and caused the 54-year-old man’s heart to stop, doctors reported Wednesday. “Even a small amount of licorice you eat can increase your blood pressure a little bit,” said Dr. Neel Butala, a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital who described the case in the New England Journal of Medicine. The problem is glycyrrhizic acid, found in black licorice and in many other foods and dietary supplements containing licorice root extract. It can cause dangerously low potassium and imbalances in other minerals called electrolytes. Eating as little as 2 ounces of black licorice a day for two weeks could cause a heart rhyt...

“The metrics posted by the state yesterday indicate that we’ve posted number that qualifies us to reopen further,” said L.A. County Director of Health and Human Services Barbara Ferrer. But, as Deadline has previously reported, the county must maintain those numbers for the next week in order to qualify to reopen further. And that’s not looking good. “Unfortunately, we did see an increase in cases last week,” said Ferrer, “so we’re not sure we’ll see another week where our numbers meet the threshold. We will continue to keep an eye on this, especially since these increases are happening after the Labor Day weekend.” What’s more, said Dr. Christina Ghaly, for the first time in weeks the “R” number is greater that one. That number indicates how many additional people are get...

New cases in the ongoing hepatitis A outbreak that has spread through Louisiana since 2018 have been linked to Galatoire's Restaurant.  The French Quarter fine-dining establishment was notified by the Louisiana Department of Health of a "potential incident dating from early to mid-August," according to a statement from the restaurant.  "Consistent with our own high standards, we embraced the assistance of the Department of Health and together outlined steps Galatoire’s could take to be as responsive as possible for our team and our guests," the restaurant said in an emailed statement. The restaurant didn't provide details on how many people had been infected, or if the illness was identified in a staff member or a guest. ...

The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Michigan has risen to 118,615 as of Wednesday, including 6,692 deaths, state officials report. Wednesday’s update represents 705 new cases and 12 additional deaths. On Tuesday, the state totals were 117,910 cases and 6,680 deaths. New COVID-19 cases and deaths remain flat in Michigan. Testing has remained steady, with an average of more than 30,000 per day, with the positive rate between 3 and 3.5 percent. The state reported its highest one-day testing total with more than 41,000 diagnostic tests on Aug. 21. Hospitalizations are stable and the number of patients in critical care is near its lowest point since tracking, dating back to April. Michigan has reported 90,216 recoveries. The state also reports “active cases,” which ...

Sweden's rate of coronavirus deaths per capita was among the highest in the world in May. Many experts attributed this to the country's decision to avoid a full lockdown and either deliberately or inadvertently pursue herd immunity. Sweden's deaths and ICU admissions have declined considerably since June, likely due to protections for nursing-home residents and more social distancing over the summer months. But cases could still climb again as schools reopen, nursing homes allow visitors, and people return home to cities after summer vacation. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Sweden seems to have staged a remarkable turnaround. After imposing few lockdown rules relative to the rest of the world this spring, the nation's death count per capita...

Chris Mooney Reporter covering climate change, energy and the environment. Joe Fox General assignment graphics reporter September 23 at 2:31 PM Scientists in Houston on Wednesday released a study of more than 5,000 genetic sequences of the coronavirus that reveals the virus’s continual accumulation of mutations, one of which may have made it more contagious. The new report, however, did not find that these mutations have made the virus deadlier or changed clinical outcomes. All viruses accumulate genetic mutations, and most are insignificant, scientists say. Coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-2 are relatively stable as viruses go, because they have a proofreading mechanism as they replicate. But every ...