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The COVID-19 pandemic is shaking up America’s approach to addiction treatment, but the fallout hasn’t been all bad, experts say. In-person support meetings either aren’t happening or have been severely curtailed, and addiction centers are facing financial ruin because folks are too afraid of the coronavirus to seek treatment. But paradoxically, people might have better access to addiction treatment than ever before, thanks to the shift to telemedicine across all health care. “Ultimately, I think this will rebound, but not like before,” Fred Muench, president of the Partnership to End Addiction, said of the future of addiction treatment. Muench sees telemedicine as the way to ensure the financial survival of the U.S. network of addiction providers. “We will see the greatest changes in outpatient care, which will truly be a hybrid,” Muench said. “In the future, you will not have to be a telehealth provider to treat digitally — all treatment will have a telehealth component. If not, it will cease to exist. Providers cannot afford to wait to integrate telehealth.” COVID-19 lockdowns forced organizations like Alcoholics Anonymous to shift to web video meetings or teleconferences for their support groups. The pandemic also caused many treatment centers to cut back on their services. More than nine out of 10 addiction centers said they cut back their programs during the lockdown, furloughing or laying off employees,…  read on >

Eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grain foods could lower your risk of type 2 diabetes, two new studies suggest. In one study, researchers looked at more than 9,700 people who developed type 2 diabetes and over 13,600 who didn’t. Participants were from eight European countries and part of a long-term cancer and nutrition study. After adjusting for lifestyle, and social and dietary risk factors for diabetes, people with the highest levels of fruit and vegetable consumption were 50% less likely to develop diabetes than those with the lowest levels, the researchers found. Every 66 grams a day (2.3 ounces) increase in total fruit and vegetable intake was associated with a 25% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, Nita Forouhi, of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, and colleagues calculated. The other study included more than 158,000 U.S. women and over 36,000 U.S. men. After adjusting for lifestyle and dietary risk factors for diabetes, people with the highest levels of whole grain consumption had a 29% lower rate of type 2 diabetes than those with the lowest levels, the findings showed. In terms of specific whole grain foods, one or more servings a day of whole grain cold breakfast cereal or dark bread was associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes (19% and 21%, respectively) compared with less than one…  read on >

Want to make smoking less attractive to young people? Try taking menthol cigarettes off the market, a new analysis suggests. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned flavors in cigarettes in 2009 because flavors appeal to youth and young adults, and the agency recently announced that it also intends to ban menthol in cigarettes. To assess what effect a ban on menthol cigarettes would have, Georgetown University researchers reviewed 24 studies on the impacts of restrictions on flavors in cigarettes. Six of the studies examined menthol bans implemented across Canada, 12 assessed the potential effects of hypothetical menthol bans in Canada, the United States and Europe, and six looked at prior bans of non-menthol flavors in cigarettes in Canada and the United States. Based on their review, the researchers concluded that 11%-45% of current U.S. menthol smokers might quit smoking in response to a menthol cigarette ban, while 15%-30% of menthol smokers might switch to e-cigarettes. Menthol smokers quitting or switching to e-cigarettes are more likely to be young adults, and a menthol cigarette ban may reduce the number of youth who start smoking by 6%, according to the researchers. They also found that while overall compliance with the menthol ban in Canada was high, studies into non-menthol flavor bans in the United States found that some retailers continued to sell banned products. The review…  read on >

With President Donald Trump threatening to cut federal funding for schools that do not fully reopen in the fall, the United States set yet another record for new coronavirus cases on Wednesday with more than 59,000 new infections reported. It was the fifth national record in nine days, according to The New York Times. At least five states — Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia — also set single-day records for new cases on Wednesday. Twenty-four states have reported more cases over the past week than in any other seven-day stretch of the pandemic, the newspaper added. The latest case numbers prompted Dr. Anthony Fauci to tell the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that lockdowns might be wise in some spots. “Any state that is having a serious problem, that state should seriously look at shutting down,” he said. Meanwhile, medical centers across the country continued to face alarming shortages of respirator masks, isolation gowns and disposable gloves, all of which protect health workers from infection, the Times reported. On Tuesday, Trump spent the day pressuring governors, mayors and other local officials to reopen schools during a day of conference calls and public events at the White House, the Times reported. On Wednesday, he also pressured the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to loosen its long awaited reopening guidelines for schools, the…  read on >

Since the coronavirus pandemic began, nearly 50% of Americans have used technology to communicate with their doctors, a new study finds. But less than one-quarter have talked with their doctors about using health information technology, the researchers found. “The results of our statewide survey indicate patients are using health information technology,” said researcher Joy Lee, a scientist at the Regenstrief Institute in Indianapolis. “However, they aren’t talking to their provider about it,” she added. “One of the few widely agreed upon recommendations for electronic communication in health care is for providers to be talking to their patients about it ahead of time. This does not appear to be happening regularly, and may be impacting the use of this technology.” The coronavirus pandemic has changed how patients are communicating with their doctors, Lee said. “But having a shared agenda about how to communicate, what is appropriate to send as a message, and being able to discuss it openly is still important to foster the electronic patient-provider relationship,” she said in an institute news release. Results of a survey sent to Indiana residents found that: 31% use electronic health record messaging 24% use email 18% use text messages These findings are similar to findings across the United States, the researchers noted. But only 21% of participants said they had a conversation with their doctor about how to…  read on >

(HealthDay News)– The tally of U.S. coronavirus cases passed 3 million on Tuesday, even as President Donald Trump pushed for schools across the country to reopen in the fall. The pressure to find a way to resume classes in person was put on governors, mayors and other local officials during a day of conference calls and public events at the White House, The New York Times reported. “We hope that most schools are going to be open,” Trump said Tuesday. “We are very much going to put pressure on governors and everybody else to open the schools to get them open.” In making the argument for a full reopening of schools, White House officials pointed to a recent report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) that advised school districts to do everything they can to bring students back to classrooms. “Children get much more than an education at school,” AAP President Sally Goza said during a meeting at the White House on Tuesday, the Washington Post reported. “Being away from peers, teachers and school services has lasting effects for children. Although this will not be easy, pediatricians strongly advocate that we start with the goal of having students physically present at school this fall.” Still, the United States has been averaging roughly 50,000 new cases a day this week — double what it reported…  read on >

Life in lockdown has led many to overeat and gain weight, a phenomenon referred to as the “COVID-15.” But some small changes can get you back into shape, a weight management specialist suggests. “COVID-19 changed how we eat, what we eat and how we spend our day,” said Dr. Peter Jian, an assistant professor of family and community medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. “Unfortunately, for some of us that meant less healthy choices,” Jian added in a Baylor news release. Jian offered these tips for working off the excess pounds and returning to a healthy lifestyle: Learn how to cook. Or start other new hobbies to keep active. “Use this time as an opportunity to focus on the things that we can do in order to improve our health,” Jian said. Stay physically active. If you’re afraid to go to the gym, try biking, hiking and walking outside. You can also join an online fitness program. Eat a healthy diet. Buy nutritious foods with curbside pickup or delivery. If you shop in person, choose foods placed at the front and side aisles, where the fresh and organic produce is available. Avoid prepackaged and processed foods. To lose weight, start small. Gradually introduce new eating and exercise habits. This makes changes easier to adjust to. Stay clear of fad diets. Many of…  read on >

With the number of coronavirus cases in the United States approaching 3 million on Monday, hospitals across the Sun Belt continued to be flooded with COVID-19 patients. Arizona reached 89 percent capacity for ICU beds, as Alabama, California, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas also reported unprecedented numbers of hospitalizations, the Washington Post reported. For the 28th day in a row, the country’s rolling seven-day average of daily new cases obliterated previous records, though the number of deaths nationwide has remained relatively stable, the newspaper reported. Testing centers across the country are now being stretched to their limits, according to the Post. In many cities, a combination of factors are fueling the problem: a shortage of key supplies, backlogs at laboratories that perform the tests, and surging infection counts as cases climb in almost 40 states. Forget any talk about a second wave of COVID-19 infections, because America is “still knee deep in the first wave,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Monday, the Post reported. Unlike Europe, “we never came down to baseline and now are surging back up,” he explained. Other public health experts have issued similar warnings. “We’re right back where we were at the peak of the epidemic during the New York outbreak,” former U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb…  read on >

Even the sickest COVID-19 patients make T-cells to fight the infection, a new study finds. This means that a COVID-19 vaccine will have to cause the body to make T-cells along with antibodies, researchers say. The immune response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, was the same in American and Dutch patients in the study. “You want vaccine approaches to be grounded in observations from rather diverse settings to ensure that the results are generally applicable,” said study co-leader Alessandro Sette. He’s a professor and member of the La Jolla Institute (LJI) for Immunology’s Infectious Disease and Vaccine Center in La Jolla, Calif. Working with researchers in the Netherlands, his team followed 10 COVID-19 patients who had the most severe disease symptoms. All produced T-cells that worked with antibodies to try to kill the virus and stop the infection. The virus uses spike proteins to enter host cells and many studies are aimed at getting the immune system to recognize and attack this protein, according to an institute news release. Study first author Daniela Weiskopf, a research assistant professor at LJI, said, “This is good news for those making a vaccine using spike, and it also suggests new avenues to potentially increase vaccine potency.” The findings were published June 26 in the journal Science Immunology. More information For more on COVID-19, visit the U.S.…  read on >

Stress from social distancing and isolation to stop the spread of COVID-19 can lead to increased family violence at home, Tulane University experts say. These changes in routine can upset kids, who may lash out and test limits. Stress from bad behavior, along with financial and other concerns can result in angry outbursts — even verbal and physical abuse, said Dr. Charles Zeanah Jr., chair of psychiatry, and Dr. Myo Thwin Myint, an assistant professor of psychiatry. They offered their insights in a perspective piece published in the July issue of the journal Pediatrics. Here’s their advice for parents who feel overwhelmed: Recognize that stress, anger, worry and irritability are to be expected under the uncertainty the pandemic has caused. Provide structure with consistent wake, bed and mealtimes. Structure the day with times for reading, exercise, screen time and the like. If both parents are home, use a tag team approach to childcare. Remember that kids’ bad behaviors probably stem from distress and disruption of their usual routines. When stressed, use a coping strategy like deep breathing and identifying things you’re grateful for. If these don’t work, get some rest. Calling friends or family members can help head off avoid violent behaviors. “The economic stresses of the pandemic and disruptions of families’ usual sources of support will likely extend well beyond the period of stay-at-home…  read on >