Obesity makes COVID-19 worse and may lead to deadly blood clots in the lungs, a new study finds. The researchers said that obese patients with COVID-19 may have nearly three times the risk of developing what is known as a pulmonary embolism. “Clinicians can utilize our findings to aid in determining which patients should have evaluation for pulmonary embolism with pulmonary CT angiography, as the symptoms for COVID-19 and pulmonary embolism overlap,” said lead researcher Dr. Neo Poyiadi, from the department of diagnostic radiology at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. “Early detection of pulmonary embolism can allow prompt treatment with anticoagulation and minimize clinical problems,” he said. Hospitalized obese patients with COVID-19 should be evaluated for increases in clotting indicated by a rising D-dimer — a blood test for clotting. According to the study, 22% of 328 patients suffering from COVID-19 who had a CT scan angiography had a pulmonary embolism. Researchers also found that patients taking statins to lower cholesterol before coming down with COVID-19 were less likely to have a pulmonary embolism. “Further studies are needed to determine if statins have a protective effect against pulmonary embolism in COVID-19 patients,” Poyiadi said. Poyiadi added that a recent study suggests that COVID-19 patients should be placed on blood thinners to prevent clotting. Obesity may make COVID-19 worse because it’s associated with an increase in…  read on >

(HealthDay News) — Nearly 36,000 American lives would have been spared if strict social distancing measures had been enacted across the country just one week earlier than they were, new estimates suggest. And if those measures had been imposed two weeks before most people started staying home, about 54,000 COVID-19 deaths would have been avoided by early May, Columbia University disease models show, The New York Times reported. The U.S. coronavirus death toll stretched past 93,000 on Thursday, with more than 1.5 million cases. “It’s a big, big difference,” Jeffrey Shaman, an epidemiologist at Columbia and leader of the modeling team, told Times. “That small moment in time, catching it in that growth phase, is incredibly critical in reducing the number of deaths.” On the economic front, another round of weekly jobless claims delivered more bad news: 2.4 million filed for unemployment, bringing the total jobless number for the past nine weeks to more than 38 million. Meanwhile, all 50 states have started reopening their economies, more than two months after the new coronavirus first forced America into lockdown. States in the Northeast and on the West Coast, as well as Democratic-led states in the Midwest, have moved more slowly toward reopening, the Times reported. But a number of states in the South opened earlier and more expansively, albeit with social distancing restrictions in place,…  read on >

(HealthDay News) — Nearly 36,000 American lives would have been spared if strict social distancing measures had been enacted across the country just one week earlier than they were, new estimates suggest. And if those measures had been imposed two weeks before most people started staying home, about 54,000 COVID-19 deaths would have been avoided by early May, Columbia University disease models show, The New York Times reported. The U.S. coronavirus death toll stretched past 93,000 on Thursday, with more than 1.5 million cases. “It’s a big, big difference,” Jeffrey Shaman, an epidemiologist at Columbia and leader of the modeling team, told Times. “That small moment in time, catching it in that growth phase, is incredibly critical in reducing the number of deaths.” On the economic front, another round of weekly jobless claims delivered more bad news: 2.4 million filed for unemployment, bringing the total jobless number for the past nine weeks to more than 38 million. Meanwhile, all 50 states have started reopening their economies, more than two months after the new coronavirus first forced America into lockdown. States in the Northeast and on the West Coast, as well as Democratic-led states in the Midwest, have moved more slowly toward reopening, the Times reported. But a number of states in the South opened earlier and more expansively, albeit with social distancing restrictions in place,…  read on >

(HealthDay News) — As millions of Americans try to navigate a safe re-entry into public life, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday released recommendations to guide schools, businesses and restaurants through reopening during the coronavirus pandemic. Six “checklists” — which also offer advice to day care centers, mass transit and camps — come after many states have already begun to ease social distancing on their own. These final guidances are less detailed than draft recommendations the agency sent to the White House for review last month, the Washington Post reported. A CDC spokesman told the Post that additional recommendations may still come from the agency. The six checklists were ready for release, so the Trump administration decided to put them out while other guidelines make their way through the review process, the spokesman added. The documents are aimed at helping facilities decide if they’re ready to open and inform how they do so, the spokesman told the newspaper. “This was an effort on our part to make some decision trees we thought might be helpful to those moving forward with opening their establishment,” the spokesperson said. But some public health officials say more is needed. “We need to unleash the voices of the scientists in our public health system in the United States so they can be heard, and their guidance…  read on >

Insomnia may significantly increase the risk that older adults will be unable to shake off depression, researchers say. For the study, the investigators analyzed data on nearly 600 people over age 60 who visited primary care centers in New York City, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. All had some level of depression. Compared to patients whose sleep improved, those with worsening sleep problems were about 28 times more likely to be diagnosed with major depression at the end of the 12-month study. Patients whose sleep worsened also had nearly 12 times the odds of minor depression and were 10% more likely to report having suicidal thoughts, according to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health study. The report was recently published online in the journal Sleep. Compared to patients whose sleep improved, those with persistent, but not worsening, insomnia were more likely to have lasting depression. But their risk was not as high as patients whose sleep got worse. “These results suggest that, among older adults with depression, insomnia symptoms offer an important clue to their risks for persistent depression and suicidal ideation,” said study senior author Adam Spira, a professor of mental health at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. “We can’t say that the sleep disturbances we’re seeing are necessarily causing the poor depression outcomes,” he said in a Hopkins news release. “But the results suggest…  read on >

The coronavirus pandemic has been tough on Americans of all ages, but parents need to watch their teens for signs of depression, anxiety, anger and other emotional and mental health problems, a leading pediatricians’ group says. “It’s normal for teens to feel sad during this time, crying sometimes because they miss their friends or because sports and musical productions were canceled,” said Dr. Sara Goza, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). But some teens may find it especially difficult to cope, and parents should watch for the following signs that their teen may need more support, according to the AAP: Changes in mood, ongoing irritability, or feelings of hopelessness or rage. Changes in behavior, such as stepping back from personal relationships. Changes in weight or eating patterns. Changes in appearance, such as lack of basic personal hygiene. A lack of interest in activities the teen previously enjoyed. Difficulty falling or staying asleep, or starting to sleep all the time. Problems with memory, thinking, or concentration. An increase in risky or reckless behaviors, such as using drugs or alcohol, and thoughts about death or suicide, or talking about it. Parents should keep lines of communication open and check in with their teens often to discuss how they’re feeling and managing, and to watch for signs of mental health struggles. It’s important for parents to…  read on >

(HealthDay News) — While most U.S. states had loosened social distancing restrictions by Monday, new data shows the number of coronavirus cases in the country has dropped in recent days. According to The New York Times, in New York state case counts have dropped over the last month, and they have also plunged in hard-hit Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Some states, including Vermont, Hawaii and Alaska, are seeing hardly any new cases at all, the newspaper said. “We’re seeing a decline; undoubtedly, that is something good to see,” Jeffrey Shaman, an epidemiologist at Columbia University, told the Times. “But what we are also seeing is a lot of places right on the edge of controlling the disease.” Of course, testing will be key to further efforts to control the spread of the new coronavirus. But only about 3% of the population has been tested, with nearly 1.5 million cases recorded so far. And more than 1,000 Americans died from COVID-19 almost every day this past week, as the U.S. death toll neared 90,000 on Monday, the Times reported. Meanwhile, a new survey from the Washington Post reveals another dilemma: Though tests for the virus are finally becoming widely available, too few people are lining up to get them. The poll of governors’ offices and state health departments found at least a dozen states where testing…  read on >