TUESDAY, Nov. 12, 2024 — The epidemic of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the United States appears to be cooling off after more than two decades, a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study says. Gonorrhea cases dropped for a second year in 2023, declining 7% and falling below pre-pandemic levels, researchers say.… read on > read on >
One piece left out of the abortion debate is the high transportation and medical bills facing women forced to leave their state to obtain the procedure. A new study is the first to give hard numbers on those concerns. It finds that, even before the fall of Roe v. Wade, 65% of women who traveled… read on > read on >
Having a child can cause significant and ongoing financial hardship for new parents, even if they are covered by health insurance, a new study shows. More than half of people with private insurance spent more than $1,000 out of pocket on childbirth, and nearly 40% reported being somewhat or very worried about paying their health… read on > read on >
Rates of anxiety and depression among U.S. adults, especially younger folks, continues to rise, the latest federal data shows. Nearly 1 in every 5 (18.2%) adults reported anxiety issues in 2022, up from 15.6% in 2019, reported Emily Terlizzi and Benjamin Zablotsky, researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As for depression,… read on > read on >
Many Americans experience a “winter funk” as the days grow shorter and temperatures turn colder, a new American Psychiatric Association poll reports. Two-fifths of Americans (41%) said their mood declines during the winter months, according to the APA’s Healthy Minds Poll. Midwesterners and Northeasterners are most affected, where 52% and 46%, respectively, said they tend… read on > read on >
Eating fewer burgers and steaks could pay big dividends for Mother Earth, and human health, by combatting climate change, a new study suggests. Small cutbacks in beef production among wealthy nations could remove 125 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, researchers report — an amount that exceeds the total number of global fossil… read on > read on >
More than a third of Americans continue to express mistrust in the science behind COVID vaccines, a new study finds. This level of mistrust has remained relatively consistent, expressed by 36% of people in 2021, 33% in 2022 and 36% in 2023. People who lost a family member or close friend to COVID were significantly… read on > read on >
Banning menthol cigarettes could help convince smokers quit the habit, a new study finds. People who prefer menthol cigarettes would rather buy nicotine gum or other nicotine replacement therapies than switch to traditional tobacco cigarettes, researchers reported recently in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence. In addition, menthol cigarette smokers were less likely to use… read on > read on >
Women who’ve had concussions are more likely to suffer severe mental health problems following childbirth, a new study shows. A history of concussion increased a new mother’s risk of severe mental illness by 25%, after adjusting for other factors, Canadian researchers reported. “We found that individuals with a history of concussion were significantly more likely… read on > read on >
Smokers diagnosed with cancer often shrug and keep lighting up, figuring a few more butts won’t make much difference. They’re very mistaken, a new study finds. Smokers are 22% to 26% less likely to die if they quit following a cancer diagnosis, researchers found. The best outcomes occurred in patients who quit within six months… read on > read on >
