Month: September 2021

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New Mexico has linked two deaths in the state to misuse of ivermectin, a medicine typically used for parasitic infections in animals that has repeatedly been used by people as an anti-COVID-19 medication.  New Mexico reported the two deaths on Wednesday, according to the state health department. They were among the 14 patients in the state hospitalized after being poisoned by the use of ivermectin, which has been promoted by both podcast host Joe Rogan and Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist. While the FDA has approved the use of ivermectin in specified doses for humans suffering from intestinal parasites such as worms, it isn’t intended or used to treat viruses. David Scrase, the acting head of the state health department, said the two patients who died — ages 38 and 79 years ...

I knew what to look for, but I missed the signs.  I went to an ovarian cancer awareness walk a decade before I was diagnosed with it at the age of 44. I took home pamphlets describing it as a “silent killer” because most people miss the symptoms, which include frequent urination, feeling full quickly, changes in bowel habits, bloating, fatigue, upset stomach, back pain, pain during sex, constipation and heavy periods. Unfortunately, every one of these symptoms could be a sign of something else, so we are often misdiagnosed and don’t know we have ovarian cancer until it’s already advanced. It is incurable and often fatal. For 10 years after the awareness walk, I didn’t notice any changes to my health that I thought were unusual. I continued getting Pap smears at the recommended int...

Every day, and thousands of times a year in the US, a kid swallows a battery. In the last 20 years or so, this dangerous and sometimes fatal accident has actually become significantly more common in children, and severe injuries caused by button battery ingestion (BBI) have led to a marked increase in hospitalizations.   Thankfully, in most such cases the item ends up passing harmlessly through the patient's digestive tract. However, even tiny batteries can cause tremendous damage if they get stuck in the esophagus. Young children up to six years of age are most at risk of BBI complications due to their smaller body size, which increases the chance that a swallowed battery might get lodged in their esophagus – especially larger button batteries such as the ubiquitous 20-millimeter CR...

When the suburban Chicago hospital where her mother was being treated for COVID-19 refused to give her ivermectin, Tiffany Wilson had her moved to another hospital. The antiparasitic drug achieved a cult following as a treatment for COVID-19, despite no current evidence it is effective. But that didn’t deter Wilson from suing when the next hospital also refused to give her mother, 68-year-old Leslie Pai, ivermectin. And she won. This week, after the hospital obliged a judge’s injunction ordering it to give Pai ivermectin, Pai’s heart rate plummeted, hospital doctors said in court documents. The hospital pushed back in court, and Wilson dropped the case, with her lawyers asking the court to lift the injunction while continuing to argue that the ivermectin was, in fact, helping.  ...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new studies Friday that show enforcing masks in schools helps reduce the spread of COVID-19.  One study looked at data from schools in Arizona's Maricopa and Pima Counties after they resumed in-person learning in late July for the 2021-22 academic year. The two counties account for roughly 75% of the state's population.  The CDC found that the K-12 schools that did not have mask requirements at the beginning of the school year were 3.5 times more likely to have COVID outbreaks than schools that required all people, regardless of vaccination status, to wear a mask indoors from the first day of school.  Of the 999 schools analyzed in the study, 21% had an early mask requirement, 30.9% enacted a mask requirement between nine and ...

Monoclonal antibody treatments are stored in a refrigerator at a clinic at Tikahtnu Commons in East Anchorage on Friday, September 24, 2021. The state-contracted clinic is operated by Fairweather LLC. (Marc Lester / ADN) This week, we address questions and misperceptions about monoclonal antibody therapy, a COVID-19 treatment that is not a substitute for the vaccine but can still help prevent severe illness for those who have recently tested positive for the virus. Have a question of your own? Drop it in the form at the bottom of this story. What is monoclonal antibody treatment? How does it work? The treatment involves laboratory-manufactured antibodies that “help your body take down the virus quickly,” said Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska’s chief medical officer, during a recent call with news me...