Month: June 2021

HOUSTON -- Joshua Garza had a chance to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in January but he passed it up, thinking he didn't really need it. Now, the 43-year-old Texan is hoping to inspire others to get the shot after he became so ill following his COVID-19 diagnosis that he needed a rare double lung transplant to survive. "COVID ended up attacking my lungs," Garza, of Sugarland, told ABC News. After testing positive for COVID-19 in late January, Garza's health deteriorated rapidly. On Feb. 2, when he ended up falling while trying to walk, his wife called for an ambulance to take him to the hospital. He was ultimately transferred to Houston Methodist, where he was put on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine to pump and oxygenate his blood for him. "It was quick, it was wit...

Since the start of the pandemic, many people have anticipated "herd immunity" against Covid as an elusive finish line. The catch is, no one knows for certain what the threshold of herd immunity even is for Covid-19, Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House chief medical advisor, told YouTube's Dr. Mike Varshavski during an interview published June 6. So how will we know if and when we're there? "When you get that level of protection that turns out to be the threshold of herd immunity, you'll know it, because you'll see the infections almost disappear," Fauci told Varshavski. Even if Covid doesn't disappear entirely, infections likely won't be as severe or lead to hospitalization and death because enough people are vaccinated. But herd immunity could also vary depending where you liv...

Travelers look at Covid-19 results after being tested inside JFK International airport in New York on December 22, 2020. Kena Betancur | AFP | Getty Images Federal health officials keep pushing for more Americans to get vaccinated as the delta variant accounts for a bigger share of new cases in the United States. "You have to get vaccinated in order to be protected from Covid-19, the delta variant and any other variant that might come down the road," White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeffrey Zients said Thursday. The variant, first detected by scientists in India, has now spread to more than 80 countries and accounts for more than 10% of new cases in the U.S. That's up from 6% last week. "If you are vaccinated, you are protected, and if you are ...

June 17, 2021 ');var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.clickfuse.com/showads/showad.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; })(); Patient organization Zero – The End Of Prostate Cancer and Bayer are banding together to launch We're Not Gonna Take It — a national prostate cancer education program with guitarist Jay Jay French, founding member of the heavy metal band TWISTED SISTER. The rocker was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2018 and now he is urging men to turn up th...

From vitamins to health plans, exercise programs and strict dieting regimes, the available options for lengthening our lifespan are in abundance. But a new scientific study from biologists suggests they're all totally useless, as there's nothing humans can do to 'cheat death'.  The study authors, representing 42 institutions across 14 countries, analysed information on humans and 30 non-human primates.  They found that all species have succeeded in living longer over time by reducing the rates of infant and juvenile mortality, due to better living conditions.  No matter how many vitamins we take, how healthy our environment is or how much we exercise, we will eventually age and die, researchers say (stock image) AVERAGE LIFE EXPECTANCY AROUND THE WORLD  Japa...

In this March 18, 2021 file photo, Dr. Anthony Fauci testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing. Susan Walsh/AP hide caption toggle caption Susan Walsh/AP In this March 18, 2021 file photo, Dr. Anthony Fauci testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing. Susan Walsh/AP The Centers for Disease Con...