Parents of Preemies End Up Just Fine: Study
The early life of a very premature baby can be a hectic and stressful time for parents. But once the child is grown, parents are as satisfied with life as those whose babies were born at full term, new European research finds. Parents of very premature or very low birth-weight children did not differ in quality of life 27 years later compared to parents who had children born healthy and at term, s ...
Healthday - Mon. Aug 28
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Painkiller Misuse Remains a Pressing Problem Across U.S.
Abuse of prescription opioid painkillers is second only to marijuana abuse as the most common illegal drug problem in the United States, a new government report shows. Analysis of 2012-2014 national data found that more than 4 percent of Americans aged 12 and older reported nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers in the past year, says the report from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Heal ...
Healthday - Mon. Aug 28
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Opioid Abuse Down in Younger Americans, But Up Among Older Adults
While opioid abuse has fallen among younger Americans, the same cannot be said for older adults, a new government report shows. Opioid abuse includes either the use of heroin or illegal use of prescription opioid painkillers, such as oxycodone Oxycontin, Percocet and hydrocodone Vicoprofen . Rates of opioid abuse among young adults -- aged 18 to 25 -- decreased from 11.5 percent in 2002 to 8 perce ...
Healthday - Mon. Aug 28
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Netflix Series '13 Reasons Why' Sparks Uptick in Google Searches for Suicide
After the release of the controversial Netflix series 13 Reasons Why -- a show that depicts the suicide of a fictional teenager -- there were surges in the number of Google searches using the term suicide, a new analysis reveals. Specifically, searches that included the word suicide jumped 19 percent over a 19-day period after the series was first released. That amounts to between 900,000 and 1.5 ...
Healthday - Mon. Aug 28
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Need to Calm Down? Try Talking to Yourself
Talking to yourself in the third person can help control your emotions when you re upset, new research suggests. The findings are based on experiments in which volunteers underwent brain scans while confronted with upsetting situations. For example, a man named Fred is upset about a recent romantic breakup. By reflecting on his feelings in the third person Why is Fred upset , he is better able to ...
Healthday - Mon. Aug 28
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Moving From 'Stroke Belt' Doesn't Undo Higher Dementia Risk
Health problems for people born in the so-called Stroke Belt of the United States also include a higher risk of developing dementia -- even if they move elsewhere, a new study suggests. Researchers who calculated data on thousands of adults living in northern California found dementia risk was roughly 26 percent higher for those born in nine states, nearly all in the Southeast. Blacks, in particul ...
Healthday - Mon. Aug 28
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Michigan's Expanded Medicaid Plan a Boon for Workers
Michigan s expanded Medicaid program not only improved low-income residents health, but it helped them do their jobs better or get a new one. Those are the findings from a University of Michigan survey of nearly 4,100 Healthy Michigan Plan enrollees. Eighty percent of the respondents had incomes below the federal poverty level, and 28 percent were out of work. In the survey, nearly half the respon ...
Healthday - Mon. Aug 28
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Med Switch Not Always Best Choice With Tough Depression
Switching to another antidepressant may not be the best way to help depression patients who don t respond to the first antidepressant they take, a new study indicates. Among more than 1,500 depression patients at 35 U.S. Veterans Health Administration medical centers, better symptom relief was achieved when people were prescribed an antipsychotic medication or a second antidepressant rather than b ...
Healthday - Mon. Aug 28
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Maybe That's Why It's Called Work
Physical and emotional strain is common among American workers, and hazards abound in the workplace, a new study finds. A nationwide survey of just over 3,000 adults found many had unstable work schedules, along with unpleasant and potentially dangerous job conditions. The findings stem from a 2015 survey described as one of the most in-depth ever to examine life in the American workplace. I was s ...
Healthday - Mon. Aug 28
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Many Chronic Illnesses Linked to Suicide Risk
People with chronic health problems seem to have a higher risk of suicide, a new study suggests. And, for certain conditions -- such as traumatic brain injury -- the risk is much higher, the study authors said. Researchers looked at nearly 2,700 people in the United States who died by suicide between 2000 and 2013. The investigators identified 17 medical conditions linked to increased odds of suic ...
Healthday - Mon. Aug 28
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'Loneliness Epidemic' Called a Major Public Health Threat
Loneliness may be more hazardous to your health than obesity -- and a growing number of Americans are at risk, researchers report. About 42.6 million American adults over age 45 are believed to suffer from chronic loneliness, according to AARP. Being connected to others socially is widely considered a fundamental human need -- crucial to both well-being and survival. Extreme examples show infants ...
Healthday - Mon. Aug 28
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Know the Warning Signs of Suicidal Thoughts
Family, friends and acquaintances can play a key role in suicide prevention by being alert for signs and taking action to help someone who may be struggling, a mental health expert says. Nearly 43,000 Americans commit suicide each year, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. For the past two decades, suicide rates have been rising in the United States, the federal Centers for ...
Healthday - Mon. Aug 28
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