When a child tumbles to the floor from a blow to the head, a parent’s inner alarms should sound. The child may have a brain injury.  Here’s what parents need to know: What is a concussion? A concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) that results from a direct hit to the head, face or neck. Concussions may or may not involve a loss of consciousness. Symptoms may occur immediately or over the course of hours. They usually resolve within days. What are the concussion symptoms in a child? When a child receives a blow to the head, watch for these warning signs of concussion: Headaches Confusion, disorientation Difficulties with memory Blank stare or a stunned appearance Difficulty following directions (inattentiveness) Slow or incoherent speech Dizziness Balance problems Vomiting Emotional instability (inappropriate laughing or crying, increased irritability, depressed mood) What are common ways a child may get a concussion? Any blow to the head, neck or face can cause a concussion. However, the majority of concussions are associated with contact/collision sports. Higher risk sports and activities include: Football Ice hockey Soccer Lacrosse Wrestling Basketball Rugby How is a concussion diagnosed? A concussion is a clinical diagnosis based on the patient history and physical exam done through a variety of standardized assessments performed by a trained healthcare provider such as a physician or an athletic…  read on >  read on >

When a child tumbles to the floor from a blow to the head, a parent’s inner alarms should sound. The child may have a brain injury.  Here’s what parents need to know: What is a concussion? A concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) that results from a direct hit to the head, face or neck. Concussions may or may not involve a loss of consciousness. Symptoms may occur immediately or over the course of hours. They usually resolve within days. What are the concussion symptoms in a child? When a child receives a blow to the head, watch for these warning signs of concussion: Headaches Confusion, disorientation Difficulties with memory Blank stare or a stunned appearance Difficulty following directions (inattentiveness) Slow or incoherent speech Dizziness Balance problems Vomiting Emotional instability (inappropriate laughing or crying, increased irritability, depressed mood) What are common ways a child may get a concussion? Any blow to the head, neck or face can cause a concussion. However, the majority of concussions are associated with contact/collision sports. Higher risk sports and activities include: Football Ice hockey Soccer Lacrosse Wrestling Basketball Rugby How is a concussion diagnosed? A concussion is a clinical diagnosis based on the patient history and physical exam done through a variety of standardized assessments performed by a trained healthcare provider such as a physician or an athletic…  read on >  read on >

A new pill designed to help with weight loss and blood sugar control is showing promise in early studies. Eli Lilly said its experimental drug, orforglipron, helped people with type 2 diabetes lower their blood sugar and lose weight. The company is hoping to bring the first GLP-1 weight-loss pill to market, The Wall Street Journal said. GLP-1 drugs, such as Ozempic and Wegovy, are popular for helping people manage diabetes and lose weight. But right now, they are only available as injections. Doctors and patients have been hoping for a pill version that would be easier to take. “It really gives us an opportunity to reach many more patients than you can reach with an injectable,” Jeffrey Emmick, senior vice president of product development at Lilly Cardiometabolic Health, told The Wall Street Journal. Some people don’t like injections, and injectable drugs often need to be kept cold. The pill version could help more people around the world who don’t have easy access to refrigeration. It may also be easier to produce in large amounts. Lilly’s injectable GLP-1 drug went into shortage shortly after it was released. In the new study, orforglipron was tested for 40 weeks in adults with type 2 diabetes. People who took the highest dose lost an average of 16 pounds, or about 7.9% of their body weight. The most common…  read on >  read on >

Jason Cutter had been feeling pain in his hips for years, and it had started to put a dent in his activities as an amateur hockey player and outdoorsman. Cutter, 50, chalked up his hip problems to aging, insufficient stretching and strain from the heavy tool belts he wore during his side hustle as a house remodeler. But former professional hockey players in Cutter’s rec league said his pain could be coming from the hip joint itself, and urged him to see an orthopedic surgeon. Cutter wound up getting an alternative to total hip replacement surgery that can help hardcore athletes and weekend warriors with hip problems stay in the game and remain highly active. The procedure, called Birmingham hip resurfacing, allows three times as many patients to remain active in high-intensity sports compared to total hip replacement, according to a new study in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. Total hip replacements often limit recipients’ ability to participate in high-impact or intense physical activity, researchers said. But Birmingham hip resurfacing is much more likely to allow patients in their 30s, 40s or 50s to stay active in demanding sports, researchers said. In the procedure, only the hip socket is replaced, and the head of the thigh bone is resurfaced to work more smoothly with the new socket, researchers said. For the new study, researchers…  read on >  read on >

Jason Cutter had been feeling pain in his hips for years, and it had started to put a dent in his activities as an amateur hockey player and outdoorsman. Cutter, 50, chalked up his hip problems to aging, insufficient stretching and strain from the heavy tool belts he wore during his side hustle as a house remodeler. But former professional hockey players in Cutter’s rec league said his pain could be coming from the hip joint itself, and urged him to see an orthopedic surgeon. Cutter wound up getting an alternative to total hip replacement surgery that can help hardcore athletes and weekend warriors with hip problems stay in the game and remain highly active. The procedure, called Birmingham hip resurfacing, allows three times as many patients to remain active in high-intensity sports compared to total hip replacement, according to a new study in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. Total hip replacements often limit recipients’ ability to participate in high-impact or intense physical activity, researchers said. But Birmingham hip resurfacing is much more likely to allow patients in their 30s, 40s or 50s to stay active in demanding sports, researchers said. In the procedure, only the hip socket is replaced, and the head of the thigh bone is resurfaced to work more smoothly with the new socket, researchers said. For the new study, researchers…  read on >  read on >

Health officials in Hood River County, Oregon, are investigating three cases of a rare and fatal brain disease known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).  Two people in the county, which has a population of about 24,000, have died from the illness, and a third case is still being reviewed, Oregon Live reported. CJD is caused by infectious proteins called prions. These proteins damage the brain and lead to fast-moving dementia, problems with movement and changes in behavior. There is no cure; the disease is always fatal. About 350 cases are diagnosed in the United States each year, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In Hood River, one case was confirmed through autopsy, while the other two are considered likely cases. “We’re trying to look at any common risk factors that might link these cases … but it’s pretty hard in some cases to come up with what the real cause is,” said Trish Elliott, director of the Hood River County Health Department. Elliott said the only way to confirm the disease is by testing brain and spinal fluid after death. It can take several months to see results. Most CJD cases are considered sporadic, meaning they appear with no known cause. About 85% of cases fall into this category. Some other cases are hereditary, caused by a gene passed down from a parent, Oregon…  read on >  read on >

Worried about taking the ADHD meds you’ve been prescribed because they might harm your heart health? There’s no need to fret, according to a new evidence review. ADHD medications generally have just a small effect on a person’s blood pressure, heart rate and heart electrical activity, researchers reported in The Lancet Psychiatry. What’s more, there were no significant differences between stimulant ADHD meds like methylphenidate and amphetamine and non-stimulant drugs like atomoxetine and viloxazine, researchers found. “Overall, the risk-benefit ratio is reassuring for people taking ADHD medications,” senior researcher Dr. Samuele Cortese, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry with the University of Southampton in the U.K., said in a news release. For the study, researchers pooled results from 102 previous clinical trials involving more than 22,700 people with ADHD. They found that all ADHD medications were generally associated with small increases in blood pressure and heart rate. Only the ADHD drug guanfacine led to decreased blood pressure and heart rate, results showed. The new findings suggest that the medications’ benefits outweigh the risks, researchers concluded. “Other studies show clear benefits in terms of reductions in mortality risk and improvement in academic functions, as well as a small increased risk of hypertension, but not other cardiovascular diseases,” Cortese said. However, the findings also reinforce that doctors should keep an eye on blood pressure and heart…  read on >  read on >