Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
‘Modern Family’ Star Gets New Kidney From Her Father
TV actress Sarah Hyland received a new kidney from her father in April and will spend the summer recovering from her surgery.
The 21-year-old, who plays teenaged Haley Dunphy on ABC’s “Modern Family,” was diagnosed at age 9 with abnormal kidney development. She was often exhausted or in pain due to her condition, the Associated Press reported.
As her health deteriorated, she began seeking a kidney donor and her father, actor Edward James Hyland, was a match.
Hyland told “Good Morning America” that she tells her father, “It’s weird — I’ve got your kidney in me,” the AP reported.
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U.S. National Alzheimer’s Plan has 2025 Deadline
A deadline of 2025 has been set for the U.S. government’s first National Alzheimer’s Plan to find effective ways to treat, or at least slow, the disease.
On Tuesday, the Obama administration is scheduled to outline measures the government and private partners can take in coming years to fight Alzheimer’s disease, the Associated Press reported.
Some efforts are beginning immediately. As of Tuesday, families and caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s can go to a new website (www.alzheimers.gov) to get information about the disease and where they can find help in their own communities.
The National Institutes of Health is funding studies of potential new treatments for Alzheimer’s and the government will begin offering training to doctors and other health providers on the best ways to care for patients and families, the AP reported.
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Woman With Flesh-Eating Disease Awake, Alert: Family
The 24-year-old Georgia woman who lost her left leg after contracting flesh-eating disease is awake and alert but remains in critical condition, her family says.
Aimee Copland, who developed the infection after a zip line injury, isn’t aware that her leg has been amputated and can’t recall the events that landed her in an Augusta hospital for the past 11 days, ABC News reported.
“They are giving her medication to help her forget the stress she’s under, so that explains her inability to recollect many things,” Copeland’s father, Andy Copeland, wrote in a blog detailing his daughter’s situation. “I tell her not to worry. I tell her to concentrate on breathing. I ask her to pray and meditate on healing.”
“The words I hear from the medical professionals to describe Aimee’s continued recovery are ‘astonishing,’ ‘incredible,’ ‘confounding,’ ‘mind boggling’ and ‘unbelievable,'” Andy Copeland wrote, ABC News reported. “All those are fitting words. My favorite word is ‘miracle.'”
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