Misuse of illicit prescription drugs is falling dramatically among U.S. high school students, a new study says. The percentage of seniors who say they’ve misused prescription drugs in the past year has dropped to 2% in 2022, down from 11% back in 2009, researchers reported July 24 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.…  read on >  read on >

There’s a slight but significant rise in dangerous obstetric complications for pregnant women who use marijuana, new research shows. Data from almost 317,000 pregnancies in women in California found those who used the drug had higher odds for gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, weight gain that goes beyond recommended levels and a condition known as placental abruption…  read on >  read on >

A drug called hydroxyurea has long been used to fight sickle cell disease, but some female patients may have shied away from it due to concerns that it could harm future fertility. Those fears may be unfounded: A new study finds that hydroxyurea has no effect on what’s known as “ovarian reserve” — the number…  read on >  read on >

Boredom is the key emotion behind most teens’ use of Instagram, a new study says. Teens open the app because they’re bored, then sift through its contents looking for interesting bits to relieve their boredom, researchers report. Then, bored by slogging through the site’s “content soup,” the teens log off, researchers found. “We saw teens…  read on >  read on >

Defiance, tantrums, aggression: All signs of a condition called conduct disorder, which Mental Health America says affects up to 16% of boys and 9% of girls. Now, research is revealing real differences in the brain structure of children and youths with conduct disorder, compared to those without the condition. Specifically, the study of the brains…  read on >  read on >