More than a year after its launch, public awareness of the national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline remains moderate, a new survey found. However, awareness is highest among people who need it most — those in serious psychological distress. Survey participants with serious distress were 45% more likely to have heard of 988 than those… read on > read on >
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Playing Pro Football May Shorten Players’ Lives, Study Finds
Playing professional football, especially if you are a lineman, may shorten your life, a new study suggests. The University of Minnesota researchers thought that perhaps professional football players are unlike “American men in general” in ways that determine their future health. “When we started digging into the literature on later life health outcomes for professional… read on > read on >
Could You Recognize the More Subtle Signs of a Seizure?
A seizure doesn’t always look like what you see in the movies, but a new survey finds most Americans don’t know what the more subtle signs of seizures are. “Anything that interrupts your brain’s circuit can cause seizures, from tumors, infections and strokes to high or low blood sugar, or glucose levels, to inherited genetic… read on > read on >
Simple Antibiotic Switch for Pneumonia Patients Could Prevent Hospital Infection
A new study on Clostridioides difficile infections finds that choosing an alternative antibiotic for high-risk patients with pneumonia can reduce infection risk. C. diff infections can be deadly, and they are often acquired by hospitalized patients taking broad-spectrum antibiotics. More than 450,000 C. diff infections are reported in the United States each year, leading… read on > read on >
Dental X-rays Are Now Safer Than Ever
FRIDAY, Nov. 3, 2023 (HealthDay News) – That heavy lead apron you wear at the dentist’s office when getting X-rays may no longer be necessary. While intended to shield patients from radiation exposure anywhere that isn’t the jaw, the X-ray equipment used in dental offices today is quite safe compared to those of the past.… read on > read on >
U.S. Infant Mortality Rate Climbs for First Time in 20 Years
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 1, 2023 Following nearly two decades of decline, U.S. infant death rates edged up by 3% in 2022, new provisional government numbers reveal. “This was the first year we saw statistically significant increased rates of infant mortality in about 20 years,” said study author Danielle Ely, a statistician at the U.S. National Center… read on > read on >
Could Cellphones Be Harming Men’s Sperm?
Cellphone use might be blunting a fellow’s chances of becoming a father, a major new study reports. Young men who frequently use mobile phones have lower sperm concentrations and sperm counts than guys who rarely dial on the go, Swiss researchers found using more than a decade’s worth of data. However, the data also showed… read on > read on >
While Fewer Americans Have High Cholesterol, Too Many Still Do
Despite progress in recent decades, too many Americans still have dangerously high LDL cholesterol levels, and about a quarter don’t even know it, new research finds. That puts those people at risk for a longer span of artery clogging disease and increases their risk of heart attack and stroke, a new study says. “We are… read on > read on >
Study Confirms Effectiveness of Newer Arthritis Meds
Newer oral medications for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) do work quite well in the “real world,” despite some doubts that they would, according to a new study. The study, of 622 adults with RA, found that most were doing well on medications called JAK inhibitors, a relatively new drug class for the arthritic condition. They are… read on > read on >
FDA Advisors Say New Gene Therapy for Sickle Cell Disease is Safe
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 1, 2023 A new gene therapy for sickle cell disease was deemed safe by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on Tuesday, paving the way for full approval by early December. The FDA had already decided that the therapy, known as exa-cel, was effective. Developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals of Boston and… read on > read on >