Latest news with #healthRisk
CTV News
16-07-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
Wildfire haze moves into Edmonton and could linger through Thursday
A view of the Edmonton skyline as the air quality index reaches dangerous levels on June 11, 2025. (Brandon Lynch/CTV News Edmonton) The Air Quality Health Index has increased to a 'moderate risk' for the Edmonton region as wildfire smoke has moved into the area from the southeast. The smoke originally pushed into southeast Alberta from Saskatchewan, but Wednesday's south eastly wind has drawn some of the smoke north toward Edmonton. You can see the reduced air quality stretching from Edmonton down to Medicine Hat on this map from early Wednesday afternoon. Air quality Air quality map. (Credit: We're expecting the haze to linger over Edmonton and area through to the end of the day Thursday. But, conditions should improve on Friday and early indications are that wildfire smoke shouldn't be an issue for the coming weekend.
Health Line
25-06-2025
- Health
- Health Line
Hidradenitis Suppurativa and Mortality: What Research Shows
Large, painful bumps in areas where your skin touches might resemble acne, but you may actually be experiencing a skin condition that can impact mortality rate — hidradenitis suppurativa. Your skin is your largest organ, making up the integumentary system along with your hair, nails, and various glands. Like any other body part, it can experience disruptions in function from medical conditions or disease. Skin conditions can negatively affect self-esteem. They're often misunderstood as poor hygiene conditions that can make people feel self-conscious or embarrassed. Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), which can create large lesions and sores, can be particularly challenging. Also called acne inversa, HS is more severe than acne and may be linked to a higher mortality risk. What is the death rate of hidradenitis suppurativa? According to a 5-year population-based cohort study in the United States, participants with HS had a 77% increase in mortality risk compared with those in a control group. In the research, living with HS increased mortality risk from all causes. Similar findings were noted in a 2019 Minnesota-based study spanning 28 years, which linked HS to a twofold increase in risk of death from all causes. Both studies noted that smoking directly influenced the mortality rate in those living with HS, and other evidence indicates that having excess body weight may be an important factor in HS outcomes. How serious is hidradenitis suppurativa? If you live with HS, you're not alone. HS is relatively common, affecting approximately 1% to 4% of the population. Additionally, women are three times more affected by HS than men. If you live with this condition, the lumps, cysts, open sores, and abscesses associated with it can look alarming, especially if you haven't received a diagnosis yet. HS can be a painful, lifelong condition. It's natural to feel dismayed by symptoms. You might experience painful, open sores and scarring. It may be necessary to wear bandages and do regular change-outs. Many people who live with HS also experience mental health impacts such as: depression social isolation sexual dysfunction decreased relationship satisfaction diminished work productivity In some cases, HS may lead to decreased quality of life and suicide ideation. Your outlook when living with HS can vary. In a 22-year cross-sectional study looking at long-term outlook, 39.4% of participants with HS reported remission. Speaking with your healthcare team as soon as possible and making specific lifestyle changes can help improve your outcome. What is hidradenitis suppurativa? Hidradenitis suppurativa is an inflammatory skin condition that may initially look like a type of acne. You might notice it in areas where your skin touches, such as under your armpits, breasts, or between your groin area or inner thighs. Because most people are familiar with pimples, you might not be concerned about a few bumps in a new place. However, as HS goes untreated, the condition will get worse. The lumps that were mistaken for pimples may become larger. They can turn into abscesses or boil-like lesions that break open and drain. It's common to experience scarring from abscesses, but scar tissue won't stop more lumps from forming. Over time, you may develop tunnels under the skin known as sinus tracts. These occur as inflammatory cells infiltrate the soft tissue under a scarred area. The underlying cause of HS is unknown, but certain factors may make you more likely to develop this condition, such as: variants in the NCSTN, PSEN1, or PSENEN gene smoking having excess body weight being female being of African American heritage being between the ages of 30 and 39 having psoriasis There's no cure for HS, but treatment can help manage symptom severity and frequency. While HS isn't necessarily life threatening if properly treated, it can cause severe discomfort and may decrease your quality of life. Treatment options for hidradenitis suppurativa HS can be challenging to cope with, but treatment options exist to help manage your symptoms. Your healthcare team will focus on minimizing discomfort, decreasing the amount of drainage from affected areas, and establishing strategies to limit recurrence. How HS is treated will depend on how advanced your symptoms are, but most strategies involve a regular skin care routine to help reduce irritation and inflammation. Your dermatologist, for example, may recommend gentle deodorants and benzoyl peroxide cleansers. In mild cases of HS, symptoms can be relieved with topical antibiotics and medications that encourage hair follicle health. If your symptoms have progressed, oral medications may be necessary. These prescriptions work systemically, targeting whole-body inflammatory processes and immune responses to improve the symptoms of HS. The following medications have currently been approved specifically for use in HS: adalimumab (Humira) secukinumab (Cosentyx) bimekizumab-bkzx (Bimzelx) Clinical procedures When HS lumps, abscesses, and scarring are causing you significant distress, clinical procedures might be a beneficial part of your treatment plan. Your dermatologist may recommend: laser hair reduction botulinum toxin injection (Botox) deroofing (removing skin above a sinus tract) corticosteroid injection abscess drainage surgical removal of an HS lesion and the underlying tract laser surgery resorcinol peels Both open HS sores and wounds left behind after clinical procedures typically require regular at-home care up to several times a day. Lifestyle changes Smoking cessation and weight management are often part of a successful treatment plan for HS.
ABC News
24-06-2025
- Health
- ABC News
The worrying mystery behind the rise in early-onset bowel cancer
Australia has the highest rate of early-onset bowel cancer in the world with the risk of being diagnosed under the age of 40 doubling since the year 2000. Scientists are now trying to uncover why there's been a dramatic increase in cases. Alysia Thomas-Sam reports with Alison Caldwell.
Daily Mail
26-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Warning to millions of beachgoers over flesh-eating bacteria as victims suffer amputations
For Richard Empson and Cornell Arceneaux of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, what began as a routine day near the water became a fight for their lives. Their stories are a chilling warning as the fast-moving killer Vibrio vulnificus, a flesh-eating bacteria, becomes an increasing threat along America's beaches and shores, from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast. Empson was enjoying a relaxed family vacation in Bay St Louis, Mississippi, in the summer of 2016 when his nightmare began. After wading in warm waters for hours while fishing, the bacteria entered his body through microscopic breaks in his skin. What started as a carefree afternoon ended with a frantic rush to intensive care. Doctors gave him a medication with just a 20 percent chance of working. When it failed, they delivered a brutal ultimatum: lose his leg, or lose his life. Meanwhile, Arceneaux has survived three separate brushes with Vibrio — twice from handling raw shellfish with open cuts on his hand and arm, and once from eating raw oysters. In one instance, pain and swelling set in within two hours. By the time he reached the hospital, blisters had formed and emergency surgery was underway to save his limbs. He lived, but his arms now bear deep scars stretching to his shoulders. Often contracted through small cuts or scrapes, Vibrio vulnificus hijacks the bloodstream and unleashes a cascade of flesh-destroying toxins. It starves tissues of blood and oxygen, turning skin black and muscle into sludge. If not caught in time, a minor wound can spiral into a life-threatening emergency — sometimes in less than 24 hours. About 150 to 200 V. vulnificus infections are reported to the CDC each year and about one in five die. The CDC has not issued an annual report on Vibrio in the U.S. since 2019, when 2,685 infections were recorded—but trends suggest cases are rising. A sweeping review of CDC data from 1988 to 2018 revealed that Vibrio wound infections on the East Coast surged eightfold, from about 10 to over 80 cases per year. Rising ocean temperatures are making colder regions like Alaska, the Baltic Sea, and Chile more hospitable to Vibrio, with scientists flagging them as potential hotspots. Paired with high seafood demand, coastal recreation, and climate change, experts warn of a sharp rise in infections—and deaths—in the near future. When Empson got back to his family's beach house, he began experiencing early signs of vibriosis – swelling and pain in his foot, fever, chills, and blisters. He tried to leave town to return to a hospital near his home in Baton Rouge, but he and his family realized they wouldn't make it. They went to a hospital near their stay in Waveland Beach, Mississippi. 'We got to the emergency room in Bay St. Louis, and when they found out we'd been at the beach, they were calling for a surgeon, and they immediately moved me into intensive care,' Empson told The Advocate. Doctors then attempted to stop the infection in its tracks, but Empson was told the chance of it working was about 20 percent. 'I told him to take the leg, that I could learn to walk again,' he said. His niece Angelle Daggett said: 'When he went in for surgery, his blood pressure [was so high] he should not have been alive.' Empson spent weeks in rehabilitation therapy to relearn how to walk. He needs two canes to get around, do yard work, and fish. These days, he does not wade into the water, staying on the bank instead. Vibrio can enter the body through the smallest break in the skin, even a papercut. It launches a rapid attack, releasing toxins that invade and kill tissues, disabling immune cells that rush to the body's defense, and invading the bloodstream, raising the odds of an infection leading to sepsis. Within about 48 hours of exposure to the bacteria, toxic enzymes ravage tissue under the skin, liquifying muscle and fat, and leaving the skin blackened and rotten. Arcenaux has been infected with the bacteria on two different occasions through cuts on his arms. The first time he was infected, he got a small cut on his arm while about five dozen crabs, having reached into a water-filled bucket to lift one out one by one. 'That was on a Thursday, and within 24 hours I was on the way to the hospital and had surgery within two hours,' he said. Arcenaux was able to avoid amputation. Doctors typically administer high doses of antibiotics intravenously and can sometimes halt the infection's spread by removing dead tissue on the arm. 'It was 36 hours at the Baton Rouge General for the next one, he said. 'To survive, I'm lucky twice, very lucky. Vibrio requires warm water to grow and proliferate, making Gulf Coast beaches prime breeding grounds. Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (LDHH) data indicates there are about 10 to 15 cases per year in the state and has not recorded any steady increases in recent years, though cases fluctate. Most get the infection from skin contact with seawater (80 percent) or consumption of raw seafood (20 percent). Laura Barajas, a 40-year-old mother from San Jose, underwent quadruple amputation after contracting a severe Vibrio vulnificus infection from undercooked tilapia she prepared at home in July. The bacteria — which the CDC warns can cause life-threatening sepsis — left her in a medically induced coma with failing kidneys and necrotic limbs. Barajas, who has a six-year-old son, survived but faces a lifelong disability. Her friend Anna Messina shared that Barajas' 'fingers were black, her feet were black her bottom lip was black' and her kidneys were failing as the infection ravaged her body. 'They put her into a medically induced coma,' Messina added.
