Month: April 2021

COVID-19 is unpredictable. When you contract the virus, it can seem like a dice roll whether you'll have only minor symptoms or develop a serious case and need to be hospitalized. People of every age and health status have become severely ill and died from it. Although older people are more at risk for fatal COVID-19, experts say there's one condition—one that's within your control—that doubles your risk of dying of the coronavirus: Obesity. Read on—and to ensure your health and the health of others, don’t miss these Signs Your Illness is Actually Coronavirus in Disguise. Shutterstock"Being obese, which generally means having a body mass index of 30 or more, decreases lung capacity and is linked to impaired immune functio...

Scientists have found evidence that some face masks that are on sale and being used by members of the general public are laced with toxic chemicals.  Preliminary tests have revealed traces of a variety of compounds which are heavily restricted for both health and environmental reasons.  This includes formaldehyde, a chemical known to cause watery eyes; a burning sensations in the eyes, nose, and throat; coughing; wheezing; and nausea.  Experts are concerned that the presence of these chemicals in masks which are being worn for prolonged periods of time could cause unintended health issues. Evidence obtained by Ecotextile News and shared with MailOnline reveals that although face masks should meet specific standards, not all do. Masks have been mandated in much of the world as they are a h...

ANTWERP, Belgium (AP) — One year into the pandemic, just about everyone’s travel experience has changed. So it’s not surprising that someone came up with this: Instead of a cabin on a Mediterranean cruise ship where vacationers mill around with thousands of others, the total opposite — complete solitude, on land, in the middle of nowhere. And instead of all the luxury of pre-COVID-19 life with air-conditioning, four-course dinners and cocktails, these wooden cabins carry a warning: Don’t stay in the shower too long, it might get cold. And don’t bother looking for Wi-Fi. The Slow Cabin, a concept of Antwerp entrepreneur Xavier Leclair, offers all this and even less: Little chance of catching the coronavirus in the fully sustainable tiny eco homes. “One of our main reasons to go to thi...

The last year of living in a pandemic has stretched human coping skills so thin that experts fear many of us may soon snap, leaving people around the world coping with a mental health crisis of catastrophic proportions. Yet some people -- in fact, many people -- somehow manage to weather stress just fine. Do those folks experience less pressure? That's certainly possible, since not everyone has worked in an essential job or lost a job during the pandemic, or worse, lost a family member to the virus. But it's also possible they have mastered the art of seeing stress as a normal, acceptable and even positive part of life. With that view, experts say, comes resilience. And just like rock, paper, scissors ... resilience covers stress. Viewing stress as harmful can kill It was 1998, and a...

Since the pandemic began, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been managing a massive public health response, reaching every part of the U.S. Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images Since the pandemic began, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been managing a massive public health response, reaching every part of the U.S. Eric...

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed total U.S. deaths last year beyond 3.3 million, the nation’s highest annual death toll, the government reported Wednesday. The coronavirus caused approximately 375,000 deaths, and was the third leading cause of death in 2020, after heart disease and cancer. COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. now top 550,000 since the start of the pandemic. COVID-19 displaced suicide as one of the top 10 causes of death, according to the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The data should serve again as a catalyst for each of us to continue to do our part to drive down cases and reduce the spread of COVID-19 and get people vaccinated as quickly as possible,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday. The U.S. death toll increases most years, ...