Health & Fitness

Parents are being asked to look out for symptoms of hepatitis in their kids as an unexplained outbreak of cases in children continues across the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a health alert Tuesday aimed at educating parents on symptoms. "Hearing about severe liver disease in children can be concerning. If you have any questions about your child’s health, call your child’s healthcare provider," the CDC wrote, adding that parents should be aware of the symptoms associated with liver inflammation, including fever, fatigue, nausea, and jaundice, which is yellowing of the skin. Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver. It can be caused by heavy alcohol use, toxins, some medications and medical conditions and is often caused by a virus, according t...

New research suggests that the brewing method and the sex of the drinker may be important to coffee’s link with raised cholesterol. Widest gender difference seen for espresso; narrowest for plunger (cafetière) coffee. The sex of the drinker, as well as the brewing method, may be key to coffee’s link with raised cholesterol, a known risk factor for heart disease, suggests research published on May 10, 2022, in the open access journal Open Heart. Drinking espresso was associated with the widest gender difference in cholesterol level; plunger (cafetière) coffee was associated with the narrowest, the findings show. Naturally occurring chemicals in coffee—diterpenes, cafestol, and kahweol—raise levels of cholesterol in the blood. The brewing method is influential, but it’s not cl...

More than 2,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported by Los Angeles County on Tuesday, May 10, while the overall virus-related death toll reached the grim 32,000 milestone. The 2,044 new infections reported Tuesday lifted the county’s overall total from throughout the pandemic to 2,897,513. The county logged four more COVID-related fatalities to reach the 32,000 mark. The number of COVID-positive patients in county hospitals ticked up slightly to 252, up 10 from Monday. The number of those patients being treated in intensive care was 27 on Tuesday, the same as the previous day. Health officials have noted that while COVID case numbers have risen sharply in recent weeks, hospitalization numbers have held relatively steady, and daily deaths have continued declining. On Monday, the co...

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Palisades Charter High School students ride the Expo line after school on April 21. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)Coronavirus conditions are likely to worsen, with case rates continuing to rise and hospitalizations starting to increase, according to the top health official in the San Francisco Bay Area's most populous county. "We are also seeing a pretty significant uptick in reports of outbreaks, from schools, work sites and other congregate facilities," Dr. Sara Cody, the Santa Clara County public health director and health officer, said at a news conference Tuesday. "Many of them are related to social gatherings. It's spring — school is ending and people are gathering, and COVID is spreading." Caution is especially needed as it's becoming clear that the latest Omicron subvariants...

Nothing wakes you up more than a cup of coffee. Whether it’s a latte, mocha or an espresso, some of us like it so much, we have several cups a day. But how does this impact our health? Well, a new study suggests the type of coffee we select can make a difference. Drinking coffee has been linked with raises levels of cholesterol in the blood. But the latest research suggests it could also be down to how you brew your coffee and your gender. The findings highlight that drinking espresso was associated with the widest gender difference in cholesterol level; plunger (cafetière) coffee was associated with the narrowest. Naturally occurring chemicals in coffee—diterpenes, cafestol, and kahweol—raise levels of cholesterol in the blood. Brewing method is influential, but until now, it’s not b...

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Santa Clara County’s top health official warned on Tuesday that COVID case counts and hospitalizations are on the upswing and urged everyone to consider wearing masks in high-risk settings, keep a stockpile of tests and exercise caution when socializing indoors. “The pandemic is still here,” said Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody. ” It is time to break out your mask and break out your tests and just be a bit more cautious than you were a month ago.” Santa Clara County is currently experiencing a weekly average of 552 cases — just slightly higher than the number of cases during the peak of the Delta wave that hit in summer 2021. The cases are being driven by two cousins of the BA.1 omicron strain that caused a major surge during winter, which are currently dominant across the rest of the co...

"These data should not be interpreted as vaccines not working," one expert said. May 10, 2022, 10:03 PM • 6 min read Share to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this article A growing proportion of COVID-19 deaths are occurring among the vaccinated, a new ABC News analysis of federal data shows. In August of 2021, about 18.9% of COVID-19 deaths occurred among the vaccinated. Six months later, in February 2022, that proportional percent of deaths had increased to more than 40%. Comparatively, in September 2021, just 1.1% of COVID-19 deaths occurred among Americans who had been fully vaccinated and boosted with their first dose. By February 2022, that percentage had increased to about 25%. Experts said the increase in breakthrough deaths is expected with more Americans reaching full...

Photo: Berka7 (Shutterstock) Nonstick pans are useful kitchen items. Our senior food and beverage editor Claire Lower won’t cook an over-easy egg or a thin pancake without one. But do you need to worry about the coating being bad for your health? Not exactly, but it’s important to know how to handle a nonstick pan properly. The coating of concern is the one you might know as Teflon (one nonstick brand name). Chemically, it’s polytetrafluoroethylene, or PTFE. This substance isn’t a health hazard in itself. It’s inert, meaning it won’t react chemically with your body or anything else. But there are a few related chemicals that may be less safe. What are the health concerns with the chemicals used in nonstick pans? The chemical that people are usually concerned with when they talk ab...