Top Health Updates:
Concussed College Athletes Almost Twice as Likely to Experience Later Lower Extremity Injuries
A study of Division I college athletes has reinforced the idea that there’s a connection between concussion and later musculoskeletal injury, with an estimate that for as much as a year after the initial head injury, concussed athletes are nearly twice as likely to suffer an acute lower extremity injury than they were prior to the concussion.
Symptom Checkers May Not Get The Diagnosis Right
There’s a warning out today for those who go online or to apps to figure out why they have an upset tummy or nagging cough. Symptom checkers, those tools that ask for information and suggest a diagnosis, are accurate only about half of the time. Read More
Could a Saliva Test Help Spot Alzheimer’s?
Scientists say a test based on a patient’s saliva might someday help detect Alzheimer’s disease.
CMS Offers Concession for Certain ICD-10 Coding Errors
As the October 1st startup date for the ICD-10 coding system creeps closer and closer, the compliance picture seems to be brightening, just as the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announces that it’s taking a somewhat softer approach to how it will handle provider mistakes in the new system. Read More
More News & Recent Health Articles:
Austrian Men Receive Robotic Prosthetic Hands in World First
Three Austrian men are the first to undergo what doctors refer to as “bionic reconstruction”, which involves a voluntary amputation, the transplant of nerves and muscles, and learning to use faint signals from them to command the hand. Read More
Obesity: ‘Slim Chance’ of Return to Normal Weight
The chance of returning to a normal weight after becoming obese is only one in 210 for men and one in 124 for women over a year, research suggests.
Barefoot Running May Contribute to Problematic Patterns
A study found that a significant number of experienced runners age 30 and older (40 percent of men and 20 percent of women) maintained a heel-first running pattern — which naturally occurs when wearing a shoe with an elevated heel — when running without shoes. Maintaining a heel-toe pattern while running barefoot or in a minimalist shoe may lead to more frequent injuries.
Meta-Analysis Backs Use of Electrical Stimulation on Patients Post-Stroke
Authors of a review and analysis of studies on neuromuscular electric stimulation (NMES) in the treatment of patients post-stroke say they’ve taken a step toward settling some of the debate about the technique’s effectiveness. Bottom line: it’s an option that they recommend to reduce spasticity and increase range of motion.
Congress Guarantees Access to Speech-Generating Devices for Medicare Patients
The U.S. House of Representatives on July 14th passed the Steve Gleason Act, which protects Medicare patients’ access to medically necessary speech-generating devices for individuals with communication disabilities, including ALS, cerebral palsy and Rett syndrome. Read More.
Smoking Linked to Schizophrenia
People with schizophrenia are three times more likely to smoke than those who don’t have the mental health condition, according to a study published in Lancet.
Give Us Your Input!
What do you think about the latest health news? Are there any recent discoveries that surprise you? Pique your interest? Are a cause for concern? Share your comments below.
