End of COVID-19 emergency will usher in changes across the U.S. health system

Philly Voice (Health) 3/24 5:00P Rachana Pradhan, Kaiser Health N

The end of the COVID-19 public health emergency in May will bring sweeping policy changes across the health care system. They will affect hospitals, nursing homes, infectious disease surveillance and treatment for people recovering from...

Being 'socially frail' comes with health risks for older adults

Philly Voice (Health) 3/24 4:53P Judith Graham, Kaiser Health New

Social frailty is a corollary to physical frailty, a set of vulnerabilities shown to increase the risk of falls, disability, hospitalization, poor surgical outcomes, admission to a nursing home, and earlier death in older adults. Those who are...

Military families deserve our gratitude, they also deserve access to a full-range of health care...

Philly Voice (Health) 3/24 1:45P Barbara George Johnson and Georg

When it comes to providing quality health care for veterans, military members and their families, our country falls short. Only about half of all veterans who need mental health care ever receive it. Similarly, nearly all wounded veterans...

Gut microbes may help doctors diagnose gestational diabetes earlier in pregnancy, study finds

Philly Voice (Health) 3/24 7:54A Tracey Romero

By examining gut microbes, doctors may be able to diagnose gestational diabetes in the first trimester of pregnancy, thereby reducing the risk of complications for the mother and her unborn baby, a new study suggests. Gestational diabetes are...

How to stop peeing when you laugh

Philly Voice (Health) 3/23 7:37A Tracey Romero

Stress urinary incontinence – bladder leaks that occur when people cough, sneeze, laugh or exercise – can be embarrassing but it is treatable with Kegel exercises and lifestyle changes. In more severe cases, surgery is needed. Risk factors...

Losing just 30 minutes of sleep each night can impact a child's well-being, research shows

Philly Voice (Health) 3/22 8:10A Tracey Romero

Children that lose as little as 30 minutes of sleep each night for prolonged periods experience significant reductions in their physical and mental health, a new study finds. Here's how to help children establish healthy sleeping habits that...

Independence bolsters access to gene-based therapies used to treat rare, inherited health...

Philly Voice (Health) 3/21 10:59A Peter Key

Gene-based therapies offer life-changing results but are expensive. To boost access, Independence Blue Cross has formed the Advanced Network for Gene-Based Therapeutics, which covers gene-based therapies for members at Penn Medicine and the...

Candida auris, a deadly fungal infection, is spreading rapidly in hospitals. Here's what to know

Philly Voice (Health) 3/21 9:20A Tracey Romero

Candida auris, a deadly fungal infection that has become resistant to antifungal drugs, has been spreading at 'an alarming rate' in U.S. health care facilities, the CDC warned Monday, March 20. The fungus appears to kill at least one-third of the...

Older men can help reduce childhood obesity by serving as role models

Philly Voice (Health) 3/21 7:06A Louis Bezich

By serving as role models, older men can show younger generations that a healthy lifestyle is within reach, potentially reducing childhood obesity rates. They also can help to redefine masculine norms by encouraging fathers to be more nurturing...

What you should know about sudden cardiac arrest

Philly Voice (Health) 3/21 6:28A Dr. Richard Snyder, for Independ

In the U.S., there are more than 350,000 deaths a year from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), and 90 percent of people who experience a SCA outside of a hospital setting die.

To reduce infant deaths, Philly will give guaranteed incomes to 250 mothers

Philly Voice (Health) 3/20 12:08P Tracey Romero

To reduce Philadelphia's infant mortality rate, and its underlying racial disparities, the city is testing a program, named Philly Joy Bank, that will give guaranteed monthly incomes to about 250 pregnant women. Health officials say socioeconomic...

Exercise can boost mental health – and may be as effective at treating depression as drugs

Philly Voice (Health) 3/20 7:37A Tracey Romero

Exercise provides tangible mental health benefits, including improved mood, reduced stress and better self-esteem. New research suggests that prescribing physical activity is at least as effective at treating depression as medications and...

Can eating poppy seeds affect drug test results? An addiction and pain medicine specialist explains

Philly Voice (Health) 3/17 9:47A Gary Reisfield, University of Fl

Poppy seeds do not contain enough opiates to cause someone to get high. But consuming certain foods with poppy seeds can cause someone to fail a urine drug test – specifically for morphine or codeine. And it can be difficult to distinguish...

Pandemic stress, gangs, and utter fear fueled a rise in teen shootings

Philly Voice (Health) 3/17 9:01A Liz Szabo, Kaiser Health News

Teen shootings increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, underscoring a gun violence epidemic that particularly affects Black, Hispanic and Native American youth. Chronic exposure to trauma changes the way a child's brain develops, and helps...

Deer ticks are fueling the rise of a flu-like illness that isn't Lyme disease

Philly Voice (Health) 3/17 8:18A Michael Tanenbaum

Deer ticks, known for spreading Lyme disease, are responsible for increased cases of babesiosis, a flu-like illness that is considered endemic in seven states, including New Jersey, the CDC says. Babesiosis, once considered rare, is caused by a...