(HealthDay News) – Sen. John Fetterman, who checked himself into Walter Reed Hospital for depression five weeks ago, should be back at work soon, his aide said Thursday. The Pennsylvania senator suffered a stroke last May that nearly killed him, and depression strikes one in three stroke survivors. Still, Fetterman’s depression recovery is going well, spokesman Joe Calvello said Thursday. “He’ll be back soon, at least over a week, but soon,” Calvello told the Associated Press. While hospitalized, Fetterman continues to receive daily briefings from his Chief of Staff Adam Jentleson, Calvello added. He is also issuing statements through his office and sponsoring legislation, the AP reported. “We want to give him the space to recuperate,” Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, said during a Wednesday news conference, the AP reported. “He needs it, it’s fair, it’s right. There are other people in the Senate who have taken their time to recuperate but I’m confident he’s going to come back and be an outstanding and fine senator.” Prior to his hospitalization, Fetterman had been withdrawn and not showing an interest in talking or eating, the AP reported. He saw Capitol physician Dr. Brian Monahan, who recommended he be admitted to Walter Reed, just weeks into his time as a senator. After his stroke, he also had surgery to implant a pacemaker with a defibrillator because he…  read on >  read on >

Women with mental illness have a risk for cervical cancer that’s twice as high as that for others, according to new research. Swedish researchers noted that women with mental illness, neuropsychiatric disability or substance abuse were also less likely to get screening tests that can detect cervical cancer. “Our results suggest that women with these diagnoses participate more seldom in screening programs at the same time as they have a higher incidence of lesions in the cervix,” said co-author Kejia Hu, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institute in Solna, Sweden. “We thus found that they have twice the risk of developing cervical cancer.” The study included more than 4 million women born between 1940 and 1995. Researchers calculated their risk of cervical cancer and precancerous cervical lesions, as well as women’s participation in screening programs. They compared women diagnosed with a substance use or mental health disorder or disability with women who did not have these diagnoses. Cancer risk was elevated with all of these diagnoses, researchers found, most of all with substance abuse. In 2020, the World Health Organization announced a global strategy for eliminating cervical cancer. It aims to screen 70% of women for the disease at least once before age 35 and twice before age 45. Unequal care is a major obstacle to reaching this goal,…  read on >  read on >

Ask your teen about their day and try to spend more quality time together. It matters, a new study found. Teens who report better relationships with their moms and dads are healthier both mentally and physically and less likely to abuse drugs or alcohol as young adults, according to researchers. “Teens who reported higher levels of warmth, communication, time together and satisfaction with relationships and communication with parents — when re-interviewed 14 years later in young adulthood — reported higher levels of general health, optimism and quality of romantic relationships,” said study author Dr. Carol Ford, chief of adolescent medicine at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. These teens also reported lower levels of stress and depression, as well as lower use of nicotine, alcohol, cannabis and other drugs, she said. Exactly why or how close relationships with parents protects teens is not fully understood. “We suspect that strong positive connections between adolescents and mother and father figures are broadly protective and promote resilience even into adulthood,” Ford said. For the study, her term reviewed data from a nationwide health study of 15,000 adults who enrolled in the mid-1990s when they were 12 to 17 years of age. They were asked 14 years later about their current levels of stress, depression, optimism, nicotine and substance use, as well as other general health measures. Overall, folks who reported…  read on >  read on >

More American children have autism than previously thought, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. It also finds that the COVID-19 pandemic delayed diagnosis for many, which could have lasting impact. Data from 11 communities in the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, which tracks the number and characteristics of children with autism and other developmental disabilities, revealed that at age 8, about 1 in 36 children has been identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). That’s 2.8% of 8-year-olds, according to an analysis published Thursday in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. A previous estimate, done in 2018, pegged prevalence at 1 in 44 children, or 2.3%. A second report found that progress in early detection of autism among 4-year-olds in the same 11 communities slowed during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. They were less likely to be screened or identified with ASD than current 8-year-olds were at the same age. “Disruptions due to the pandemic in the timely evaluation of children and delays in connecting children to the services and support they need could have long-lasting effects,” said Dr. Karen Remley, director of CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. “The data in this report can help communities better understand how the pandemic impacted early identification of autism in young children and anticipate future needs as these…  read on >  read on >

Global warming is fostering the spread of a deadly flesh-eating bacteria along the northeastern coast of the United States, researchers report. Vibrio vulnificus bacteria grow in warm shallow coastal waters and can infect a person via a cut or insect bite during contact with seawater. The bacteria is found as far north as Philadelphia and is spreading even further north as ocean waters warm. Between 2041 and 2060, infections may spread to waters around New York, the investigators said. “Climate change is likely to lead to Vibrio vulnificus wound infections being found in more northern states along the U.S. East Coast. Case numbers of these serious and potentially fatal infections will increase,” said lead researcher Elizabeth Archer, a postgraduate researcher at the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England. There needs to be increased awareness of V. vulnificus infections among people who take part in coastal activities and health care professionals, she said. “This is especially the case in Northeast states where infections are currently rare or do not occur,” Archer said. “It is very important that any suspected Vibrio vulnificus infections receive medical attention quickly, as cases can become severe very quickly. Although the number of cases in the U.S. is small, someone infected with Vibrio vulnificus has a one-in-five chance of dying.” Many people who survive a…  read on >  read on >

A rare strain of the parasite Toxoplasma has killed four sea otters along the California coast, raising concerns about a potential public health risk. “The appearance of this lethal type of Toxoplasma in coastal California is concerning for two main reasons: First, because of potential population health impacts on a threatened species, and second, because this parasite could also affect the health of other animals that are susceptible to Toxoplasma infection,” said study co-author Devinn Sinnott of the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. This rare strain has never been reported in aquatic animals, she and her colleagues said in a university news release. While toxoplasmosis is common and sometimes deadly in sea otters, this unusual Toxoplasma gondii appears to be especially virulent and capable of rapidly killing healthy adult otters, according to the study. It likely arrived on the California coast only recently, the study authors noted. It could pose a public health risk, but no infections with the strain have been reported in humans, the researchers noted. “Because this parasite can infect humans and other animals, we want others to be aware of our findings, quickly recognize cases if they encounter them and take precautions to prevent infection,” said co-author Melissa Miller of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “We encourage others to take extra precautions if they observe inflamed…  read on >  read on >

The death of a parent is heartbreaking for a child or teenager, and those who experience it are known to be at an increased risk for depression and other mental health issues later in life. But a new study finds that children who participated in a bereavement program with their families following the loss of a parent were significantly less likely to experience depression up to 15 years later. Soon, the program will be available online. Study author Irwin Sandler, an emeritus professor with Arizona State University affiliated with the ASU REACH Institute in the Department of Psychology, said he and the other researchers had a theory about whether they could prevent depression in children after parent loss with the program. “It turns out we were right,” Sandler said. The program enrolled 244 kids ages 8 to 16 who had lost a parent between three months and 30 months before the study. It also enrolled their surviving caregivers, which is an important part of the program. This randomized, controlled trial included a total of 156 families. The families were either in the control group, mailed three age-appropriate books about dealing with grief, or they participated in 12 sessions of the bereavement program. Those who did the program had specific caregiver sessions, separate youth sessions, and then came together for two joint sessions to practice their…  read on >  read on >