Most people do not fill their prescriptions for heart medications as directed. Unfilled prescriptions include those fop aspirin, ACE inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, beta blockers, calcium-channel blockers, thiazide diuretics, and statins.
Nearly 40% of older women live alone. This can foster a sense of independence but it can also raise health and safety risks. It’s important for women who live alone to stay socially active and make home modifications to ensure their safety.
Robot-assisted surgery can provide greater magnification and improved dexterity for a surgeon, but outcomes may not be better than with traditional laparoscopic procedures, and costs for robotic surgery can be higher.
Meditation may be an effective method for combatting loneliness, and at the same time reduce markers of inflammation, which might benefit the immune system.
Kids who get even a little more sleep may behave better in school, a small new study suggests. The study included 34 kids, ages 7 to 11. They did not have sleep disorders. They got an average of 9 hours of sleep a night. They also had no problems with mental health or learning. Children were randomly divided into 2 groups. One group went to bed an hour earlier than usual for 5 days in a row. The other group stayed up an hour later than usual for 5 days. On average, the first group got about one-half hour of extra sleep daily. The second group got about an hour less. Before the study, teachers answered questions about each child’s mood and behavior in class. After the study, they answered the same questions. Teachers ranked the kids in the sleep-deprived group as more restless, impulsive and moody than they were before the study.
A new study adds to the evidence that serious side effects of new drugs often show up later. It also shows that drugs approved through a fast-track process may be more likely to have problems. The study looked recent drug approvals in Canada and what was learned about the drugs after approval. Researchers focused on 434 drugs. They were approved between 1995 and 2010. Most drugs went through a 300-day standard approval process. About 1 out of 4 went through a 180-day process. The fast process is used if a condition has no good treatments, or if the new drug may offer a major advantage over current treatments. Of the drugs that went through the standard process, one-fifth became the subject of a serious safety warning or were withdrawn from the market. These problems occurred for about one-third of drugs that went through the fast approval process.
Young adults are more likely to have strokes now than they were in the early 1990s, a new study suggests. The study covered only the greater Cincinnati area, including northern Kentucky. But experts said the trend likely applies nationwide, too. Researchers looked at first-time strokes that occurred between 1993 and 2005. In the first year, people ages 20 to 54 had 13% of the strokes. By 2005, that had jumped to 19%. Stroke rates varied by race. However, increases occurred across all groups. For example, the annual stroke rate for young blacks increased from 83 to 128 per 100,000 people. Among young whites, the rate rose from 26 to 48 strokes per 100,000 people. Better diagnosis could be one reason. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is more widely used now. MRI scans may have uncovered more mild strokes.
Eating a healthy diet may reduce the risk that women who go through pregnancy diabetes will develop type 2 diabetes later, a study finds. Some women develop gestational diabetes during pregnancy. The condition goes away after the birth. But these women are more likely than others to develop type 2 diabetes later. The study looked at information on 4,413 women who developed diabetes during pregnancy. The women were all part of a long-term study of nurses’ health. During that study, they answered questions regularly about what they ate. For the new study, researchers divided the women into groups based on how healthy their diets were. Their diets were compared with 3 diet patterns that are all rich in whole grains, fresh fruits, vegetables and legumes. These diets include poultry, seafood and nuts. They limit red and processed meats.
U.S. teens are half as likely to drink and drive as their counterparts did 20 years ago, a new study finds. Researchers looked at national surveys of teens from 1991 through 2011. Teens ages 16 or older were asked if they had driven after drinking alcohol in the last month. In 2011, about 1 out of 10 teens said yes. In the 1991 survey, more than 22% said they drank and drove. But even the current results added up to about 1 million teens who drink and drive. About 85% of those who drank and drove were also binge drinkers. This means they had at least 5 drinks within a couple of hours. Experts think the lower rates are related to several things. Since 1991, all states have adopted “zero tolerance” laws. These laws set the blood alcohol limit at or near zero for teen drivers. Many states also have graduated licensing laws.