Health News – Page 7

Measles Outbreak: What You Need to Know

Written on February 6, 2015. Posted in Featured, Health News, Science News, World News.

Measles, a highly contagious respiratory infection that causes serious complications in about 3 of 10 people, has been grabbing headlines since last December’s outbreak at Disneyland. In January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 102 cases of measles in 14 states. One unconfirmed case was just reported in New Jersey. Measured against the approximately 600 cases reported in 2014, this year is on track to set a record for a...

Could Cannabis Be a Cure for Ebola?

Written on February 4, 2015. Posted in Business News, Featured, Health News, Opinion News, World News.

There have been many people suggesting that Cannabis can treat and even cure Ebola. While there is no scientific evidence to back up such claims… Cannabis can be used to treat a variety of illnesses such as: HIV and AIDS Alzheimer’s Arthritis Asthma Crohn’s Disease Epilepsy and Seizures Glaucoma Hepatitis C Migraines Multiple Sclerosis Nausea from Chemotherapy Pain Some Psychological Conditions Tourette Syndrome Those that...

Contagion: How One Person Can Set Off a Measles Outbreak

Written on February 3, 2015. Posted in Featured, Health News, World News.

Americans may be victims of their own success when it comes to the eradication of infectious diseases and take their disease-free lives for granted, says Jorge Parada, MD, hospital epidemiologist and medical director of the Infection Prevention and Control program at Loyola University Health System. “There are plenty of countries in the world where measles and chicken pox are very commonplace; I have served in Angola where mothers begged...

How Winter Gives Flu a Boost Could Be Key to Prevent Flu

Written on February 3, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, Health News, World News.

Linsey Marr, a professor in the Charles E. Via Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech, is obsessed with flu transmission. This time of year, she’s not alone. Hand sanitizers and cough drops abound, and banners outside drugstores and doctors’ offices proclaim, “Get your flu shot.” But this year, that vaccine will only reduce your risk of ending up in the doctor’s office with the flu by about 23 percent. The vaccine...

Measles Outbreak Was Inevitable but Can Be Halted, UAB Dr Says

Written on January 28, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, Health News, Science News, USA News.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – An ongoing, multistate measles outbreak linked to a California amusement park has already caused 68 confirmed cases between Jan. 1 and 23, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One University of Alabama at Birmingham pediatric infectious diseases specialist says this outbreak was inevitable, and it is likely to worsen. “We’ve been seeing increasing numbers of cases — last year the numbers nationally...

Ebola Virus Appears Tied to Increasing Human Population Density

Written on January 27, 2015. Posted in Featured, Health News, Science News.

Researchers at SUNY Downstate Medical Center have found an apparent link between human population density and vegetation cover in Africa and the spread of the Ebola virus from animal hosts to humans. Michael G. Walsh, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics in the School of Public Health at SUNY Downstate, notes that there is significant interaction between population density and green vegetation cover in the parts of Africa...

Liberia Fights Back, Only 5 Ebola Cases in Entire Country

Written on January 26, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, Government News, Health News, World News.

Just five confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease remain in Liberia, a West African country that has seen more than 3,600 deaths from the outbreak of the deadly virus, Reuters quoted a senior health official as saying Friday. “It means that we are going down to zero, if everything goes well, if other people don’t get sick in other places,” said Deputy Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah, who leads Liberia’s Ebola task force. Three...

Ebola Care Centers in Liberia nearly empty as Outbreak fades

Written on January 23, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, Government News, Health News, Treatments, World News.

Liberia, once the epicenter of West Africa’s deadly Ebola epidemic, has just five remaining confirmed cases of the disease, a senior health official said on Friday, highlighting the country’s success in halting new infections. “We have five confirmed Ebola cases in Liberia as of today,” said Deputy Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah, who heads Liberia’s Ebola taskforce. “It means that we are going down to zero,...

Why you should worry less about Ebola and more about Measles

Written on January 23, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, Health News, Personal Safety, USA News, World News.

Officials stressed the Ebola epidemic in Africa was going to be contained. Then it mushroomed to the worst Ebola outbreak in history and jumped an ocean, as a Liberian man named Thomas E. Duncan brought the disease to Texas. It’s clear the United States has already messed up several times in the fight against Ebola. There will probably be blunders in coming weeks, too. Of course, a mass Ebola outbreak in the United States never materialized. But...

Ebola Deaths Parallel with Devastating Medieval Plague

Written on January 22, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, Health News, World News.

As Ebola Deaths Rise, Researcher Sees Parallels with Devastating Medieval Plague If you think that Ebola is bad – and it is – the current outbreak in West Africa is small compared with another deadly epidemic that engulfed much of the globe centuries ago. It is realistic to estimate that during the Middle Ages, plague – also known as the Black Death – wiped out 40 to 60 percent of the population in large areas of Europe, Africa and Asia, according...