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The Independent
27 minutes ago
- The Independent
What to know about Legionnaires' disease, which has sickened dozens in New York City
An outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in New York City has killed two people and sickened 58 since late July. City health officials link the Central Harlem outbreak to cooling towers, structures containing water and a fan that are used to cool buildings. They said 11 of these towers initially tested positive for a type of bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease, but the problem has been remedied. They urged people in the area with flu-like symptoms to contact a health care provider as soon as possible, especially if they are 50 or older, smoke or have chronic lung conditions. Here's what to know. What is Legionnaires' disease? It's a type of pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria, which grow in warm water and spread in building water systems. They can be found in places such as showerheads, hot tubs and cooling towers. People often get the disease by inhaling aerosols from contaminated water. Hospital patients can also contract it through contaminated water or ice, and babies can be exposed during water births, health officials said. People don't get it from each other. Symptoms usually develop two days to two weeks after exposure and include cough, fever, headaches, muscle aches and shortness of breath, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. How does Legionnaires' disease hurt you and how can you treat it? It's important to be diagnosed quickly and treated with the appropriate antibiotics, health officials said. If untreated, the disease usually worsens during the first week, the World Health Organization said. Complications can include respiratory failure, shock and kidney or multi-organ failure. How can Legionnaires' disease be prevented? People responsible for the safety of buildings and water systems can reduce the threat by taking steps to minimize the growth of the bacteria, the WHO said. For example, they should regularly clean and disinfect cooling towers, maintain an adequate level of chlorine in spa pools and flush unused taps in buildings weekly. There are also steps people can take to reduce the risk of Legionnaires ' disease at home. New York state health officials suggest draining garden hoses; following manufacturers' instructions for cleaning and replacing water filters; checking chlorine levels in pools and hot tubs regularly and flushing hot water heaters twice a year. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.


Reuters
28 minutes ago
- Reuters
Hims & Hers falls as weight loss treatment shift hurts revenues
Aug 5 (Reuters) - Shares of Hims & Hers (HIMS.N), opens new tab fell nearly 9% on Tuesday after the telehealth firm reported weaker-than-expected quarterly revenue, in part as its move from branded to lower-cost, personalized weight loss treatments led to lower revenue per subscriber. Hims said it saw strong demand for its weight-loss offerings in the second quarter, but noted that a pivot toward personalized compounded GLP-1 treatments lowered the revenue it earned per order versus its previous compounded offering. The new personalized offering is more costly to run, the company said. Compounded medications are less expensive than branded drugs like Novo Nordisk's ( opens new tab Wegovy, which Hims had offered under a now-terminated partnership with the Danish drugmaker. Hims reported $190 million in GLP-1-related revenue during the quarter, down around $40 million from the preceding quarter. Overall platform subscriptions rose 31% year-over-year. Leerink Partners analysts flagged the GLP-1 revenue dip as expected. However, the market reaction was negative after the results, as investor expectations were elevated due to a surge in Hims' shares this year. The company's stock has more than doubled so far this year, while Denmark-listed shares of Novo have fallen over 50%. The brokerage called the softness in Hims' core business, which includes treatments for conditions related to sexual health, a negative surprise. Hims & Hers reported a decline in its subscribers for its sexual health business, which sells generic drugs for erectile dysfunction, in the second quarter. Canaccord Genuity echoed a near-term caution for the company, but remained constructive on the longer-term growth potential, citing strong year-over-year gains in newer specialties such as dermatology, weight management, and daily-use sexual health solutions. Despite the stock's sharp post-earnings pullback, the brokerage called the move a potential buying opportunity. Hims shares are priced at 95.85 times the company's estimated earnings for the next 12 months, a common benchmark for valuing stocks.


The Guardian
28 minutes ago
- The Guardian
The 1am shut-eye: what is the prime bedtime for your health and happiness?
Name: Bedtime. Age: Bedtimes vary depending on how old you are, so if you're a newborn … A very clever, early-developing, Guardian-reading newborn. If you were a newborn, you wouldn't really have a bedtime; you'd sleep in bursts of a couple of hours, night and day. They do need a lot of rest. But this is about adults – and a new study. I was waiting for that, the new study. Go on. A survey of 2,000 Americans, conducted for a mattress company, found that the average time people fall asleep is 11.18pm. Seems quite late. For those who stayed up later than they planned, 29% said they were kept up by chores. But 21% said they stayed up because night was their favourite time of day. Anyway, the average American begins their going-to-bed routine at 10.15pm. How long does that take? Twenty-one minutes. They're tucked up by 10.36pm. Then it takes them 42 minutes to nod off, on average. What are they doing? Reading? Scrolling? Tantric sex? The survey is about bedtimes, not what goes on in them. And is there a prime time to go to bed? Good question. Thank you. Research from 2021 suggests that going to sleep between 10pm and 11pm is linked to a lower risk of heart disease. Better research than the mattress-company survey? More scientific, certainly, using data from more than 88,000 participants aged 43 to 74, published in the European Heart Journal. But even so, as the British Heart Foundation points out, it doesn't prove cause and effect, just shows an association. What else you got? A study from last year by researchers at Stanford University, published in Psychiatry Research, which analysed the sleep patterns of nearly 74,000 adults. Sounds legit. It found that staying awake too late can be bad for your mental health. What time? I need a time. They recommend lights out by 1am. What! Too late? Then do what the twentysomethings are doing, apparently. Which is? Going to bed at 9 o'clock. What! How long are they staying there? Asleep? Nine hours and 28 minutes, on average. That was from analysis in 2022, up from eight hours and 47 minutes in 2010. It's probably about 12 hours now. No partying? A 19-year-old told the Wall Street Journal: 'Nothing good happens after 9pm.' Generation Zzzzzzz. Of course, that might all change when they get a job … on the night shift. Do say: 'Early to bed and early to rise makes a zoomer healthy, wealthy and wise.' Don't say: 'Elon Musk tweets all night and he's doing OK.'