It’s normal to feel sad sometimes, but symptoms of depression should not be ignored, especially if you suspect you are depressed. Waiting to see if symptoms pass can make depression worse.
Whole-body CT scans, routine ECG screening, coronary calcium scores, chest screenings, and tuberculosis skin tests are not recommended unless a person has symptoms or risk factors of disease.
Heart patients with a positive outlook may be less likely to die early. And that might be because they’re also more likely to exercise, a new study finds. The study included 607 people with coronary artery disease. They were given a standard survey called the Global Mood Scale. It measured the ability to feel and show positive attitudes such as enthusiasm, joy and pleasure. They also were asked about their exercise habits. People with positive attitudes were twice as likely to exercise regularly as those with negative attitudes. Researchers kept track of people for 5 years. During this time, people with positive attitudes were 42% less likely than to die from any cause. The journal Circulation published the study September 11. MedPage Today wrote about it.
A new study suggests that moderate alcohol use in early pregnancy may not cause early birth or low birth weight for babies. But the authors say it’s still unclear whether any level of drinking during pregnancy can be defined as safe. The study included more than 5,600 women. They were interviewed between the 14th and 16th weeks of pregnancy. About 60% said they drank some amount of alcohol during pregnancy. This included only 5% who drank heavily. This was defined as more than 14 drinks a week. About 20% had 1 or 2 drinks a week. About 25% had 3 to 7 drinks and 10% had 8 to 14 drinks per week. More than one-third of all the women had 6 or more drinks in a single session before becoming pregnant. In this study, that was defined as binge drinking. Nearly one-quarter of the same women also binged during pregnancy.
Use of e-cigarettes by U.S. teens doubled in just a year, a new report says. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the report. It was based on the National Youth Tobacco Survey from 2011 and 2012. The surveys included students in grades 6 through 12. The percentage of high school students who had ever used e-cigarettes rose from 4.7% to 10%. About 2.8% had used them in the last month, compared with 1.5% in the first year of the survey. Numbers for middle school students were smaller, but they also doubled. Electronic cigarettes don’t burn tobacco. They release a vapor that often contains nicotine. The tobacco industry says they can be used to help adults quit smoking. But that’s not how the teenagers were using them. About 76% of e-cigarette users also smoked cigarettes. Among middle schoolers, 20% of users had never smoked tobacco.
Groggy grocery buying can make you fat. That’s one possible conclusion from a new study. Researchers gave 14 normal-weight men about $50 each to spend on a morning shopping trip. This occurred after they had been sleep deprived the night before. They repeated the shopping excursion on the morning after a normal night’s sleep. In each case, the men could choose any of 40 foods to buy. The list was evenly split between high-calorie and low-calorie items. They were supposed to spend most of the money. Before both trips, the men were given a hearty breakfast so they wouldn’t be hungry. Men bought 18% more food, with 9% more calories, after being sleep deprived than after having enough sleep. The journal Obesity published the study online. HealthDay News wrote about it September 5.