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As you shelter at home during the coronavirus pandemic, eliminate hazards inside that could lead to falls, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) suggests. Preventing injuries will help avoid putting added strain on a health care system struggling to treat COVID-19 patients, academy spokesman Dr. Todd Swenning said. One out of five falls causes a serious injury, such as a broken bone or even head trauma, he added. “While common perception is that falls only happen to older populations, the truth is that anyone is susceptible, especially with increased family members in the home or changes to your daily routine,” Swenning said in an academy news release. “The good news is that most falls can be prevented with a few simple precautions.” Start with your footwear. Wear sturdy and proper footwear, make sure your shoes are properly tied, don’t wear socks without grips, and replace stretched out or loose slippers, Swenning advised. In the bedroom: Place a lamp, telephone or flashlight near your bed; have a bed that’s easy to get into and out of; put a nightlight between your bedroom and the bathroom; and arrange clothes in your closet so that they’re easy to reach. In other areas of your home: Arrange furniture so there are clear paths between rooms; install easy-access light switches at room entrances so you don’t have to walk… read on >

If you’re one of the many people making your own cleaning products at home because you can’t find them in stores, you need to be sure what you make is safe and effective, an environmental medicine expert says. Do-it-yourself (DIY) cleaning products made from ingredients such as vinegar, essential oils and baking soda are safe, but they haven’t been shown to kill viruses or bacteria, said Robert Laumbach. He’s an associate professor at the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute at Rutgers University, in New Jersey. “It is essential to make a distinction between cleaning and disinfecting products. Cleaners remove dirt and some, but not all, germs. Disinfectants kill germs, including bacteria and viruses,” he said in a university news release. “The effectiveness of cleaners is usually readily apparent to the user. In contrast, verification of the ability of disinfectants to kill particular viruses and bacteria depends on laboratory tests such as those conducted by commercial product manufacturers,” said Laumbach. The only DIY disinfectant that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends for killing the new coronavirus on frequently contacted surfaces is “a dilute solution of 1/3 cup [about 5 tablespoons] of bleach per gallon of water,” he noted. The coronavirus is more easily killed by disinfectants, so common U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-registered household disinfectants should be effective against the virus, according to… read on >

For those with heart problems, home-based rehab can take the place of hospital-based cardiac rehabilitation during the current coronavirus pandemic, heart experts say. “Home-based cardiac rehab is a solution to help provide cardiac rehabilitation to patients with heart disease in a home setting, and to help them survive and thrive during this challenging period of time,” said Dr. Randal Thomas. He’s a preventive cardiologist and medical director of the Mayo Clinic’s Cardiac Rehabilitation Program, in Rochester, Minn. “Home-based cardiac rehabilitation is much more than just going for a walk at home,” Thomas said in a clinic news release. “It is a structured, standardized, evidence-based approach to apply all therapies — lifestyle, medication and otherwise — that are known to help people with heart disease do better, feel better and live longer.” Mayo Clinic has used home-based cardiac rehab with a small number of patients over the years, but the coronavirus pandemic has made it necessary to transition all cardiac rehab to home-based settings in a matter of weeks. If you qualify for cardiac rehab, ask your care provider if at-home rehabilitation is an option for you as well. According to Thomas, there are many reasons why home-based cardiac rehab is so important right now. A big advantage of home rehab is that it keeps patients out of the hospital. Home rehab also ensures that patients… read on >

Whether she gets it from fruits, beans, grains or vegetables, dietary fiber appears to at least slightly lower a woman’s risk for breast cancer, a comprehensive new review finds. The review covered data from 20 different trials involving millions of women. It found that high levels of total fiber consumption “was associated with an 8% lower risk of breast cancer,” compared to low consumption. The studies only included prospective trials, where a trial is set up and results tabulated as time goes on. Prospective trials are thought to have more validity than retrospective diet/cancer studies, which only ask women what they ate in the past. The new study is the first such data review involving prospective studies, said a team led by Maryam Farvid of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in Boston. Beyond the overall reduction in risk, the review also found the anti-cancer benefit of fiber extended to women of all ages. “A high intake of total fiber also was found to be significantly associated with a decreased risk in both premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancers,” Farvid’s group noted. One breast cancer specialist was encouraged by the findings. “With the risk for breast cancer being as significant as it is, we are always looking for ways in which we can decrease a woman’s risk for developing this disease,” said Dr. Lauren… read on >

An analysis of Twitter data suggests that Americans are heeding social distancing and other safety recommendations during the coronavirus pandemic, researchers say. Officials have told people to limit travel, stay home and distance themselves to slow the spread of the virus. “The question though is how effective are these policies? Once you tell people to stay home, it doesn’t mean everyone listens,” said research leader Mark Dredze, a computer scientist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. “It’s important for us to understand on an ongoing basis if people are actually listening to these directives,” he said in a Hopkins news release. But how do experts know people are staying put? For this study, they used location data from Twitter. It showed that the movement of Americans between March 16 and 29 was 52% of what it was between Jan. 1, 2019 and March 16, 2020. People’s movements in some states didn’t fall as much as in other states, particularly states with firm social distancing measures, according to the researchers. The analysis of nearly 400 tweets by 3.7 million users found the greatest reductions in movement in Washington, D.C. (63%); Alaska (62.5%); Washington state (58.8%); New Jersey (58.3%), and Maryland (57.6%). The smallest reductions in movement were in Wyoming (21.5%); Oklahoma (30.9%); Mississippi (35.4%): Iowa (36%), and Idaho (36.4%). Similar research has been conducted by others,… read on >

Children of parents with mental illness are at increased risk for injuries, researchers report. Risk is highest before 1 year of age, but remains elevated to age 17, according to the new study. “Our results show there is a need for increased support to parents with mental illness, especially during the first year of life,” said Alicia Nevriana. She is one of the study authors and a Ph.D. student in the global public health department at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. “There are already recommendations for new parents to ensure their children’s safety, but we think there is a need to update these recommendations also by taking into account parents’ mental health,” Nevriana said in an institute news release. For the study, the researchers analyzed data from 1.5 million children in Sweden born between 1996 and 2011. More than 330,000 had at least one parent diagnosed with a mental illness during that period or five years earlier. Those up to age 1 year had a 30% higher risk of injuries if they had a parent with a mental illness when compared with other kids. The risk declined as children got older, but was still 6% higher among those aged 13 to 17, the findings showed. The risk of injuries was slightly higher if parents had common mental disorders, such as depression, anxiety or stress-related illnesses,… read on >

One side effect of the coronavirus pandemic could be long-lasting: U.S. school closures may worsen the child obesity crisis, experts warn. Previous research has shown that kids tend to gain weight when they’re out of school during the summer — especially Hispanic and black youngsters and children who are already overweight. “There could be long-term consequences for weight gained while children are out of school during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Andrew Rundle, who studies ways to prevent childhood obesity. He’s an associate professor of epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City. “Research shows that weight gained over the summer months is maintained during the school year and accrues summer to summer,” Rundle said in a university news release. “When a child experiences obesity, even at a young age, they are at risk for higher, unhealthy weight, all the way into middle age.” Rundle and his colleagues predicted that COVID-19-related school closures will double out-of-school time this year for many children in the United States. And that, in turn, will aggravate risk factors for unwanted weight gain, they warned. Social distancing and stay-at-home orders limit opportunities to exercise, particularly for city kids living in small apartments. As a result, inactivity, screen time and snacking are likely to increase, Rundle and colleagues wrote in their study published recently in the journal… read on >

If more women were hired for trucking jobs, the roads would be a lot safer, British researchers suggest. That’s because men, who hold most driving jobs, are more likely to drive dangerously. This puts other road users at risk, said lead researcher Rachel Aldred. She’s a reader in transport at the University of Westminster in London. “Greater gender equity would have a positive impact on [vehicle-related] injuries,” Aldred said. “Policymakers should be looking to measure the risk posed to others, and how to reduce it.” For the study, Aldred’s team drew on four sets of British data. They included injury and traffic statistics, travel survey data, as well as population and gender figures for 2005 to 2015. Men posed a significantly higher risk to others for five of the six types of vehicles studied, the researchers found. For cars and vans, the risk male drivers posed was double that of women per kilometer driven. The risk was four times higher for male truck drivers, and more than 10 times higher for those on motorcycles, the findings showed. Overall, two-thirds of traffic deaths were tied to cars and taxis, but the research suggested other vehicles might be even more dangerous. Trucks and buses were associated with one in six deaths to other road users, according to the report. The number of deaths for each kilometer driven… read on >

If you feel like the news about coronavirus is growing worse by the hour, then it might be time to take stock: How much do you really need to know? As the pandemic unfolds, and people routinely wake up to uncertainty, it is necessary to stay informed, psychologists say. At the same time, they caution, remember that media overload is real. And it may raise anxiety to a level that does more harm than good. “The data show that the harm does not come from staying informed in a reasonable way — like reading your morning paper every day,” said Dana Rose Garfin, an assistant adjunct professor at the University of California, Irvine’s School of Nursing. And in the midst of a pandemic, she pointed out, a little worry is normal and necessary. “Some amount of concern is a good thing, so that we’re not complacent,” Garfin said. “We want to be aware of — and following — public health guidelines.” But there is such a thing as too much. “There’s a big difference between staying informed and having the news on all day long, repeating the same things,” said Garfin, co-author of a commentary on coronavirus media exposure that was recently published in the journal Health Psychology. Beyond the amount of news, the content matters, too: News outlets have taken to tracking daily death… read on >

Parenting a teenager can be an emotional minefield in the best of times, but the social distancing of the coronavirus pandemic could really strain young people’s mental health. Teens and young adults who are confined to home during the coronavirus pandemic face numerous disappointments, including not being able to hang out with friends, missing out on new life experiences and trying to manage their time, a mental health expert says. This age group may not understand the importance of social distancing. Parents can help teens and young adults appreciate the need to do so by directing them to reliable sources of information, such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Ann Murphy, director of the Northeast and Caribbean Mental Health Technology Transfer Center and an associate professor at Rutgers School of Health Professions, in New Jersey. “Take time to discuss things they can do to feel more connected to their peers through remote means. For younger teens, this may mean relaxing some of your restrictions on social media use. Explore new apps and tools that can facilitate group chats and video connection so they can stay connected to their peers,” Murphy said in a Rutgers news release. “While you don’t want to encourage them to be on their electronic devices all the time, it is important to recognize the critical role of… read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Sheltering at Home? Take Steps to Prevent Injuries From Falls

Handle DIY Cleaning Products With Care During Coronavirus Pandemic

Heart Patients Should Ask About Home-Based Cardiac Rehab

High-Fiber Diets May Lower Odds for Breast Cancer

Tweets Show Americans Are Following COVID-19 Precautions

Kids of Mentally Ill Parents Have Higher Injury Odds

School Closures Could Be Adding to Kids’ Waistlines

Women Are Much Safer Drivers Than Men, British Study Finds

Beware of ‘Media Overload’ During Coronavirus Crisis, Experts Say

Why Teens Find It Tough to Social Distance