Month: February 2022

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Of the more than 1,200 people who have died of COVID-19 in Austin-Travis County since the beginning of the pandemic, most had at least one underlying medical condition, health leaders reported Tuesday. Many of those conditions were long-term or chronic. Hypertension, diabetes and cardiac disease were the most frequent comorbidities listed in Austin Public Health (APH) data. Nearly half of the people who have died of COVID-19 in Travis County reportedly had hypertension, the medical term for high blood pressure, that data shows. Expect Stage 4 COVID-19 guidelines in Austin in the next couple of weeks Only 5% of the people who have died of COVID-19 in Travis County did not have any identified underlying medical conditions, APH ...

Photo: MIA Studio (Shutterstock) Snoring can bother your bed partner, and can sometimes be a red flag for health conditions (notably, obstructive sleep apnea). But sometimes you’ve got a snoring habit that is harmless and still drives your partner nuts. Here are some of the ways you can become a quieter sleeper. Change your sleeping position For many people, snoring is more likely when lying on your back compared to your side. (Gravity pulls on some of the body’s tissues, narrowing the airway, and this is most noticeable when you’re face-up.) The traditional fix for this is to sew a pocket on the back of your nightshirt, and put a tennis ball in that pocket so you won’t roll onto your back in the middle of the night. An even simpler method is to go to bed on your side, with a body...

Research has reportedly identified a spike in cases of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, or "broken heart syndrome," over the course of the coronavirus pandemic.  Experts said the potentially fatal stress-induced heart condition is disproportionately affecting women. FEBRUARY IS AMERICAN HEART MONTH: WHAT TO KNOW "I don't know how much we can really blame COVID, or how much of this is that we're just recognizing more of it," Dr. Noel Bairey Merz, director of the Barbra Streisand Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, told "Good Morning America" on Monday. "But, heart disease is the leading killer of women and all ages, including teenagers, midlife women and older women. This is just a component of that major killer. So, it's really something that needs to be addressed." Merz said one i...

The study created a model of what might happen to a man or woman's longevity if they replaced a "typical Western diet" focused on red meat and processed foods with an "optimized diet" focused on eating less red and processed meat and more fruits and vegetables, legumes, whole grains and nuts. If a woman began eating optimally at age 20, she could increase her lifespan by just over 10 years, according to the study published Tuesday in the journal PLOS Medicine. A man eating the healthier diet from age 20 could add 13 years to his life. Focusing on a healthier diet could also lengthen the lives of older adults, the study said. By starting at age 60, a woman could still increase her lifespan by eight years. Men starting a healthier diet at age 60 might add nearly nine years to their live...