Over the past few years the escalating opioid crisis has touched off a complex debate about how best to reign in suicide risk among patients who are prescribed the addictive painkillers. The question: Could rapidly cutting back on legal opioid prescriptions help, or might patients’ desperation over lack of access inadvertently drive up suicide risk?…  read on >  read on >

Adding menthol flavoring to electronic cigarettes may damage your lungs more than regular e-cigarettes do, a new study reveals. The common mint flavoring helps deliver lots more toxic microparticles, compared with e-cigarette pods that don’t contain menthol. It’s those microparticles that damage lung function, researchers say. “Beware of additives in the e-cigarettes,” said senior researcher…  read on >  read on >

TUESDAY, April 11, 2023 (American Heart Association News) — Shelley Davis packed shorts, bathing suits and sunscreen for a weeklong cruise with her husband, Greg, and their 13- and 15-year-old daughters. The morning before boarding the ship in Port Canaveral, Florida, the family from Mesa, Arizona, soaked up the sunshine and played in an arcade.…  read on >  read on >

(HealthDay News) – The U.S. Justice Department on Monday appealed a Texas court ruling that invalidates the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval in 2020 of mifepristone, the first of two drugs taken during a medical abortion. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas is “extraordinary and unprecedented,” the Justice Department said…  read on >  read on >

Wireless pacemakers could be a safe and effective short-term option for children with slow heartbeats, a new study suggests. Children with a heartbeat that’s too slow — a condition called bradycardia — need a pacemaker to keep their hearts beating normally. Researchers successfully implanted wireless pacemakers into 62 kids to see if the cutting-edge devices…  read on >  read on >

Forcibly moving homeless people away from their encampments is a widespread practice in the United States. And it may be killing them. A new study found significant spikes in deaths, overdoses and hospitalizations with involuntary displacement of the homeless. These forced movements contribute to 15% to 25% of deaths in this population over 10 years,…  read on >  read on >