Month: January 2022

Jan 31 (Reuters) - More than 100,000 Americans died from diabetes in 2021, marking the second consecutive year for that grim milestone and spurring a call for a federal mobilization similar to the fight against HIV/AIDS. The new figures come as an expert panel urges Congress to overhaul diabetes care and prevention, including recommendations to move beyond a reliance on medical interventions alone. A report released earlier this month calls for far broader policy changes to stem the diabetes epidemic, such as promoting consumption of healthier foods, ensuring paid maternal leave from the workplace, levying taxes on sugary drinks and expanding access to affordable housing, among other areas. In 2019, diabetes was the seventh-leading cause of death in America and claimed more than 87,000 li...

On the cusp of the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States is battling back the biggest surge of the virus yet with the omicron variant. Cases, even while receding in some places, are near record levels. And daily deaths, while lower than the peak of last winter, are still averaging more than 2,000 nationwide. Despite pitched battles over masks and vaccines, life appears somewhat normal in many respects -- kids are going to school, people are going into work and large indoor gatherings and events are being held. So, while it may be hard to imagine, many experts suggest 2022 could be the year COVID becomes an endemic disease, meaning it is always circulating within the population but at low rates or causing just seasonal outbreaks. During a press conference Wednesday, Dr. ...

An Upstate man has been declared inactive on a kidney transplant list after he said he has no plans to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Jason Wilson, of Easley, has had kidney failure since he was 10 years old. For a while, his condition improved, he said. But about two years ago, he began dialysis and was placed on MUSC Health's list for a kidney transplant. It was on Nov. 1 that he got a letter from the health system that said he would be moved to inactive status if he didn't get the COVID-19 vaccine by Jan. 1, 2022. "If you do not wish to be vaccinated, we will move you to inactive status until we are able to verify proof of completed vaccination," it read, in part.Wilson said there was an effort to get him on board. "Right before they moved me to inactive, I got a phone call fr...

Asthma. Unhealthy gut bacteria. The presence of autoantibodies, usually associated with autoimmune conditions. These are among the risk factors identified in new studies as potentially making someone at greater risk of developing long Covid, a condition in which wide-ranging symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog and racing heart rate persist months after an initial Covid-19 infection.