Harvard Health Content API

Most teens who have oral sex for the first time go on to have vaginal sex within 6 months, a survey has found. Moreover, half of teens who had oral sex in 9th grade also had vaginal sex before they were seniors, the survey found. But among teens who didn’t have oral sex until the end of 11th grade, 84% finished that grade without having vaginal sex. The study began with surveys of 630 California teens at the start of 9th grade. Most of them also filled out surveys every 6 months until the end of 11th grade. About 1 out of 5 teens had had oral sex before 9th grade. Only 71 had had vaginal sex. For all ages, students were twice as likely to have oral sex rather than vaginal sex first. The study was published online in the journal Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine. HealthDay News wrote about it November 1.

Giving heavy smokers regular CT scans can reduce their chance of dying from lung cancer, a large new study concludes. The study included 53,000 current or former heavy smokers. They were 55 to 74 years old and had no signs or history of lung cancer. Researchers randomly divided them into 2 groups. One group received three annual computed tomography (CT) scans with a low-dose spiral CT machine. The other group received three annual X-rays. Researchers kept track of both groups for another 5 years. In that period, people who got the CT scans were 20% less likely to die of lung cancer than those who got X-rays. In the spiral CT group, 354 people died, compared with 442 people in the other group. The National Cancer Institute announced the study results November 4, the Associated Press reported.

A panel of experts says all adults who smoke should get a shot to prevent pneumococcal pneumonia. The advice is part of a new list of recommended shots for adults. The panel also supports annual flu shots for more people. Flu shots had been recommended for older adults and people with long-term illnesses. Now the experts say their caregivers also should be vaccinated. Finally, the group recommends a shingles vaccine even for older adults who already had shingles. The new list is in the January issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Higher spending on medicine may not mean better care, a new study has found. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh did the study. They looked at Medicare drug spending nationwide. Drug spending varied widely by region. And so did doctors’ prescribing of drugs that have a high risk of harm for older adults. But the areas with high drug spending often were not the areas with the most high-risk prescriptions. In fact, regions with high spending on care other than drugs tended to have more high-risk prescriptions. The study contradicts “the idea that high spending leads to better prescription practices,” said lead investigator Yuting Zhang, Ph.D. The New England Journal of Medicine published the results online. HealthDay News and Reuters Health news service wrote about it November 3.

Exercise and support can make the difference in weight-loss programs, two new studies suggest. One study included 130 severely obese people. Their average weight was 264 pounds. They were randomly divided into two groups. Both got free low-calorie meals and counseling support. One group started an exercise program right away. The other started it after 6 months. After a year, the first group had lost an average of 27 pounds. The group that delayed exercising lost 22 pounds. The other study included 442 women. Their average weight was 200 pounds. They were divided into 3 groups. Two got Jenny Craig meals for free. One of these groups got counseling at Jenny Craig centers, and the other group by phone. Women in the third group did not get free food. They met with a dietician and had monthly follow-up calls.

A group of doctors who treat brain injuries wants more protections for athletes who suffer concussions. The advice came from the American Academy of Neurology. The new statement says that any athlete who may have a concussion should be removed from play until evaluated by an expert. The player would return only when a doctor trained in treatment of sports concussion says it’s safe. Anyone still having symptoms of concussion would not be allowed to play. The group also says that a certified athletic trainer should attend all games and practices when athletes are at risk for concussion. All of the advice applies to all levels of sports, from youth to professional leagues. Most youth sports do not have a trainer at games or practices, the Associated Press (AP) noted. Providing them would be very difficult, people involved in the sports told AP.

Considering harm to others as well as yourself, alcohol is worse than heroin or crack, drug abuse experts say in a new report. In fact, they found alcohol to be the most harmful of 20 drugs considered. The criteria included personal harms such as health effects. On this scale alone, the most harmful drugs were heroin, crack and methamphetamine. But the experts also considered harm to relationships, non-drug crime rates and other criteria. Combining both types of harm, alcohol far outranked other drugs. This was partly because it is used so widely, experts told the Associated Press. Heroin and crack came next in total harm. They were followed by methamphetamine, cocaine, tobacco, amphetamine and marijuana. The journal Lancet published the study online October 31.

Researchers have announced progress in detecting colon cancer or pre-cancers using a stool or blood test. If proven effective, they could be an alternative to the more invasive tests thought to be best now. And that could encourage more people to get tested. Colonoscopy, the most recommended test now, involves threading a tube with an attached camera into the colon. The new stool test comes from Exact Sciences, of Madison, Wis. It looks for hidden blood, a chemical change and differences (mutations) in specific genes. The blood test looks for changes in a single gene. It comes from the German company Epigenomics AG. Results of both tests were reported at conferences. The stool test was tried on samples from people who also had colonoscopies. It detected 64% of the polyps that can grow into cancer and 85% of the cancers.

More U.S. adults know that they have high blood pressure and are taking medicine for it, a new report says. But the overall rate of the condition among U.S. adults is steady. It’s been about 30% for the last decade. The report comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s based on government health surveys from 1999 through 2008. In all, more than 24,000 people were surveyed. They also got blood pressure checks. In early surveys, 70% who had high blood pressure were aware of it. That increased to nearly 81% by the last survey. Also, nearly 74% who had high blood pressure were taking medicine for it, up from about 60%. The Associated Press wrote about the report October 27.