Cheap antidepressant shows promise treating early covid-19
A cheap antidepressant reduced the need for hospitalization among high-risk adults with covid-19 in a study hunting for existing drugs that could be repurposed to treat coronavirus. Researchers tested the pill used for depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder because it was known to reduce inflammation and looked promising in smaller studies....
FDA advisers back Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine for children ages 5-11
WASHINGTON — The United States moved a step closer to expanding covid-19 vaccinations for millions more children as a panel of government advisers on Tuesday endorsed kid-size doses of Pfizer’s shots for 5- to 11-year-olds. A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted unanimously, with one abstention, that the vaccine’s...
One Day to Remember creates memories for terminally ill Western Pa. parents and their familiesVideo
As an oncology nurse at Hillman Cancer Center in Pittsburgh, Rachel Antin saw the pain. A sick parent would give everything he or she had to get well enough to be with their children. Antin watched as families struggled to find time together, away from the chemotherapy and blood tests...
Explainer: Is it time to get a covid-19 booster? Which one?
Millions more Americans just became eligible for covid-19 boosters, but figuring out who’s eligible and when can be confusing. And adding to the challenge is that this time around, people can choose a different brand of vaccine for that extra dose. A number of factors, including the vaccine you started...
Salmonella outbreak tied to onions sickens more than 650
NEW YORK — A salmonella outbreak tied to onions has sickened more than 650 people in 37 states, U.S. health officials said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at least 129 people have been hospitalized. No one has died. Nearly all of the illnesses were reported in August...
Covid-19 vaccine: CDC panel backs expanded booster rollout
WASHINGTON — Millions more Americans are closer to getting a covid-19 booster as influential government advisers on Thursday endorsed extra doses of all three of the nation’s vaccines — and opened the possibility of choosing a different company’s brand for that next shot. Certain people who received Pfizer vaccinations months...
FDA approves mixing covid vaccines; backs Moderna, J&J boosters
WASHINGTON — U.S. regulators on Wednesday signed off on extending covid-19 boosters to Americans who got the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine and said anyone eligible for an extra dose can get a brand different from the one they received initially. The Food and Drug Administration’s decisions mark a...
Here’s what you need to know about the White House plan to vaccinate children
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Wednesday announced plans to get young children vaccinated against covid-19, a move health officials say will help curb the pandemic, save lives and stabilize the economy. “We’re completing the operational planning to ensure vaccinations for kids ages 5 through 11 are available, easy and...
How Pittsburgh set the stage for recent pig-to-human transplant surgery
A team of surgeons in New York reached a milestone last month in transplant medicine: A kidney from a pig attached to a human patient wasn’t immediately rejected — and the organ appeared to function normally. Announced this week, the procedure was performed at New York University’s Langone Transplant Institute....
Food Podcast: Halloween and checking food labels for bad sugarsVideo
On the latest episode of the Food Podcast presented by Clearview Federal Credit Union on the TribLIVE podcast network, the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank focuses on sugar. With Halloween right around the corner, kids, and lots of adults, will be eating a large amount of candy. “Halloween is a...
Pig-to-human transplants come a step closer with new test
Scientists temporarily attached a pig’s kidney to a human body and watched it begin to work, a small step in the decades-long quest to one day use animal organs for life-saving transplants. Pigs have been the most recent research focus to address the organ shortage, but among the hurdles: A...
U.S. regulators lay out plan for over-the-counter hearing aids
Health regulators on Tuesday unveiled their proposal to allow Americans to buy hearing aids without a prescription, a long-awaited move intended to make the devices more accessible to millions of people with hearing problems. The Food and Drug Administration said the proposed rule would cut red tape that currently requires...
Health clubs want you back. Here’s what they’re offering
Health club chains are pedaling hard to woo pandemic-weary consumers back to the gym. But some of the largest companies are taking different paths as the industry waits to see whether covid-19 infection rates recede enough to make consumers feel safe to resume communal workouts. Discount chains YouFit and Planet...
Covid-19 and pregnancy: Women regret not getting the vaccine
PHENIX CITY, Ala. — Sometimes when she’s feeding her infant daughter, Amanda Harrison is overcome with emotion and has to wipe away tears of gratitude. She is lucky to be here, holding her baby. Harrison was 29 weeks pregnant and unvaccinated when she got sick with covid-19 in August. Her...
Vaccine mix-and-match approach poised to get FDA clearance
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration is poised to clear the use of a covid-19 booster from a different manufacturer than the one that supplied a patient’s original inoculation, according to people familiar with the matter. The FDA is still considering the scope of the measure, including whether to...
In quiet debut, Alzheimer’s drug finds questions, skepticism
The first new Alzheimer’s treatment in more than 20 years was hailed as a breakthrough when regulators approved it more than four months ago, but its rollout has been slowed by questions about its price and how well it works. Several major medical centers remain undecided on whether to use...
Lawsuits demand unproven ivermectin for covid patients
NEW YORK — Mask rules, vaccination mandates and business shutdowns have all landed in the courts during the covid-19 outbreak, confronting judges with questions of science and government authority. Now they are increasingly being asked to weigh in on the deworming drug ivermectin. At least two dozen lawsuits have been...
UPMC doctors offer perspective as more covid booster shots near approval
As federal regulators move closer to approving booster shots of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson covid-19 vaccines, UPMC doctors remain focused on the unvaccinated — those they called most vulnerable people. “I want to make sure we do not put the cart in front of the horse,” said Dr....
FDA panel endorses lower-dose Moderna covid shot for boosterVideo
U.S. health advisers said Thursday that some Americans who received Moderna’s covid-19 vaccine at least six months ago should get a half-dose booster to rev up protection against the coronavirus. The panel of outside advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously to recommend a booster shot for seniors,...
St. Clair Health now using Tyrer-Cuzick Risk Assessment Calculator for breast cancer
Having additional knowledge can never be a bad thing, especially when it comes to detecting breast cancer. St. Clair Health announced it is providing the Tyrer-Cuzick Risk Assessment Calculator, a tool utilized to gather information on a patient from personal history to breast density and mammogram images. The information is...
FDA spells out lower sodium goals for food industry
NEW YORK — Food companies are coming under renewed pressure to use less salt after U.S. regulators spelled out long-awaited guidelines aimed at reducing sodium levels in dozens of foods including condiments, cereals, french fries and potato chips. The voluntary goals finalized Wednesday for 163 food categories are intended to...
Girl power: Women Who Rock event plays on at Stage AE
These females rock, literally. The annual Women Who Rock concert features Rita Wilson, Sheila E, Orianthi, Lauren Monroe (with special guest Rick Allen of Def Leppard), Jackie Popovec with the Vindys and DJ Femi. They will perform starting at 7 p.m. Saturday at Stage AE on Pittsburgh’s North Shore. The...
Advice shifting on aspirin use for preventing heart attacks
Older adults without heart disease shouldn’t take daily low-dose aspirin to prevent a first heart attack or stroke, an influential health guidelines group said in preliminary updated advice released Tuesday. Bleeding risks for adults in their 60s and up who haven’t had a heart attack or stroke outweigh any potential...
Western Pa. hospitals: We won’t deny organ transplants to patients who refuse covid-19 vaccine
Medical providers in Colorado and Washington state have begun denying organ transplants to patients who refuse to get vaccinated for covid-19. That’s not happening in Western Pennsylvania, the Tribune-Review has learned. Neither of the region’s two largest hospital systems and transplant providers are linking transplant eligibility to covid-19 vaccination status....
Advocates, lawmakers push hospitals to help more with bills
Swamped with medical bills? The hospital that treated you may be able to help. Whether you learn about this before those bills wind up in debt collections is another matter. Medical bills often represent large, unexpected shocks that can crash personal budgets. Roughly 1 in 7 U.S. residents with a...
