Harvard Health Content API

The United Nations met this week to address how to prevent chronic diseases that cost billions of dollars each year. In a two-day meeting, the UN’s General Assembly is discussing how to reduce rates of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and lung diseases. Each year, these diseases account for about 63% of all deaths worldwide. The UN and the World Health Organization are looking at cost-effective ways to prevent these diseases, including taxes on tobacco and alcohol and regulations on the amount of salt and trans fats in foods. The UN meeting took place in New York City September 19 and 20. The Wall Street Journal wrote about it September 19.

Kids’ car seat safety is improving, but there are still areas of concern. This is according to information collected in 2009 and 2010 by Safe Kids USA. The group runs car seat check-up events across the country. Some data was promising. Nearly all seats were installed in the correct direction, rear facing or forward facing. Many children between 20 and 40 pounds were still rear facing, which is recommended by Safe Kids and the American Academy of Pediatrics. But seats that were installed with a seatbelt, rather than with LATCH, were often installed incorrectly. And most forward-facing seats did not use the top tether, which anchors the top of a car seat. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children ages 3 to 14. Proper use of car seats reduces the risk of a child’s death from a car crash by more than half.

Long-term alcohol abuse can severely damage the brain’s outer layer, a new study finds. The damaged layer is the cerebral cortex. It is involved in all higher-level thinking and processing of emotions. Researchers used advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to look at the brains of 65 adults. About half were alcoholics who had stopped drinking. The others had never been alcoholics. In the recovering alcoholic group, the cerebral cortex was thinner. The more people drank, the thinner this layer was. The journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research published the study online. HealthDay News wrote about it September 15. HealthDay also wrote about a statement urging doctors and governments to do more to fight alcohol abuse. The journal Lancet published it September 14. The statement came from a group of 17 leading doctors.

Around the world, someone dies from diabetes every 7 seconds, a new report says. About 366 million people have the disease, the report from the International Diabetes Federation says. The group called the number of cases “staggering.” Treating them costs about $465 billion each year, the report said. Chronic diseases such as diabetes are growing around the world. The United Nations will hold a meeting next week to talk about how to address the problem. The diabetes federation called for government actions to address prevention and treatment. The Associated Press, Reuters and HealthDay News wrote about the report April 13.

People with a congenital heart valve defect have a very low risk of a dangerous problem called aortic dissection, a new study finds. But more than half will need a valve replacement within 25 years, researchers found. The study included 416 people who had been born with a bicuspid aortic valve. This means that the valve has two flaps instead of the normal three. Researchers kept track of people for an average of 16 years. In that time, 2 people — about one-half of 1% — developed an aortic dissection. This is a tear in the aorta, the body’s largest artery. It can be fatal. Rates of other problems related to the valve defect were much higher. About 26% of people developed an aneurysm. This is a bulge in an artery because of a weakness in its wall. Among people with aneurysms, the risk of further problems rose. In the 15 years after diagnosis, 7% had an aortic dissection.

Many Americans think new drugs must be better, a new survey suggests. That may not be true. But people are more likely to pick an older, safer drug with guidance from a clearly worded label, the survey found. Researchers surveyed 3,000 adults. About 4 out of 10 said that the United States approves only “extremely effective ” drugs. About 1 out of 4 said drugs are approved only if they don’t have serious side effects. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviews and approves drugs. The FDA approves a new drug when its benefits outweigh any known risks. It may not be better than another drug on the market. The survey also asked people to choose between 2 fictional drugs that treated heartburn equally well. Only 34% picked the older drug. Then people were asked about the same drugs, but a warning was added about the new drug.

Kids might not absorb as much after watching SpongeBob, new research suggests. The study found that kids do poorly on tests of “executive function” after watching a fast-paced cartoon. Executive function includes the ability to concentrate, integrate new information and solve problems. The study included 60 children. All were 4 years old. None of them had been diagnosed with an attention disorder. Kids were randomly divided into 3 groups. All of them did an activity for 9 minutes. One group watched a segment of “SpongeBob SquarePants,” the popular cartoon on Nickelodeon. Another group watched the slower-paced PBS cartoon “Caillou.” The third group drew pictures. Then everyone took tests that measured executive function. The SpongeBob group did much worse than the other two groups. The kids in the drawing group had the best results.