A growing number of U.S. kids are ending up in the intensive care unit after overdosing on prescription painkillers or other opioids, a new study finds. Researchers found that between 2004 and 2015, the number of children and teens admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit for an opioid overdose nearly doubled. That included teenagers… read on >
Teenagers who use e-cigarettes expose themselves to cancer-causing toxins, particularly if they choose fruit-flavored products, a new study reports. Urine tests revealed elevated levels of five different toxins in the bodies of teens who use e-cigarettes (often called vaping). And all of the toxins are known or suspected carcinogens, said lead researcher Dr. Mark Rubenstein,… read on >
Your teeth are incredibly strong, and with the proper care and regular dental visits, you can keep them that way. The American Dental Association offers these “tooth truths”: Tooth enamel, which is 96 percent mineral, is the hardest substance in the body. Your teeth can exert an average of 200 pounds of pressure when you… read on >
Temporarily boosting the dose of inhaled steroids may not do much to reduce the frequency of severe asthma flare-ups in children, according to two new studies. Short-term increases in inhaled steroids might even be tied to slightly slowed growth in kids, one of the studies suggested. Asthma flare-ups in children are common and many doctors… read on >
If watching the Winter Olympics made you want to try some new sports, go slow and ease into them, sports medicine experts caution. “The biggest issue we see are people who push too hard when trying something for the first time, and it gets out of control,” said Dr. Jayson Loeffert, a sports medicine doctor… read on >
Women who’ve had a friend or relative die of breast cancer say they’re likely to opt for aggressive prevention measures if they develop the cancer, according to new research. “The cancer of someone you care about is a lens through which you interpret your own risk,” study lead author Tasleem Padamsee said in a news… read on >
Nonfatal gun injuries in the United States are becoming more severe, increasing pressure on the health care system, researchers say. Since the 1990s, the severity of nonfatal gun injuries treated in U.S. hospitals has risen 1.4 percent a year, the new study found. “Both males and females and all types of intents of firearm injury… read on >
The brutal flu season continues to ease its grip on the United States, with the latest government data showing that doctor visits are still dropping and less severe strains of the flu are starting to account for more infections. But hospitalizations for flu are still rising, as are pediatric deaths. For the third week in… read on >
American soldiers who have babies after a recent deployment are at increased risk of preterm birth, a new study suggests. The finding comes from the analysis of data on nearly 12,900 births to U.S. soldiers from 2011 to 2014. Overall, just over 6 percent of the births were premature — three or more weeks early.… read on >
People’s chances of living longer have been increasing dramatically for decades. But, that seems to have slowed recently, a new worldwide study has found. The sharpest decline has come in countries that already had the shortest life expectancy, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. They said the… read on >
