Harvard Health Content API

There’s new advice on the best way to protect children riding in cars. And it may mean changes in the way many parents use car seats. A group of children’s doctors and U.S. highway safety officials issued the new guidelines. They say that kids should use rear-facing car seats until age 2 instead of age 1. The change is based on evidence. Research shows that 1-year-olds are 5 times less likely to be hurt in a crash if they’re in a rear-facing seat. Bigger kids who outgrow front-facing seats should use a booster seat. They need the booster until they’re 4 feet, 9 inches tall. Boosters can help prevent abdomen and spine injuries. Poorly fitting seatbelts can cause these injuries during crashes. Finally, the guidelines say, every child younger than 13 should ride in the back seat. The American Academy of Pediatrics issued the new advice. It appears in the journal Pediatrics.

Two surgeries for coronary artery disease provide similar relief from chest pain, a study says. The study included 1,800 people. All of them had narrowed arteries. This can cause severe chest pain. It also puts people at risk for heart attack. About half of people in the study had coronary artery bypass graft surgery, or CABG. In this surgery, blood flow is rerouted to avoid narrowed arteries. The other half of people in the study had their affected arteries held open with wire-mesh tubes called stents. The stents released a drug that helps to reduce scarring of the artery walls. Both surgeries helped. About 7 of every 10 people who had the surgeries were free from chest pain a year later. The study was published March 17 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Whole-body scanning at airports has become more popular over the past few years. Some are concerned that the radiation from these scans can be a health risk. One type of scanner does not expose people to radiation. But the other type does expose people to a small amount. Experts point out that millions of people will undergo whole-body scanning. But there are many other sources of radiation that people are exposed to each day. Experts also recommend that airports choose scanners with millimeter wave technology, which does not expose people to radiation. The articles appear in the April issue of the journal Radiology.

U.S. smokers are less likely to be heavy smokers than they were in the 1960s, a new study finds. The study used data from 40 years of government health surveys. In 1965, about 56% of smokers went through at least a pack (20 cigarettes) each day. By 2007, the figure had dropped to 41% of smokers. Heavy smokers were about 23% of the U.S. adult population in 1965. Forty years later, they were only 7.2%. In California, where anti-smoking efforts have been intense for decades, rates are even lower. Only 2.6% of adults in the state are heavy smokers today. Researchers said that heavy smoking is less common for two reasons. Many older smokers quit. The surveys also show that young smokers are less likely to be heavy smokers. The Journal of the American Medical Association published the study. HealthDay News wrote about it March 15.

Health concerns have risen as more radiation leaks from a nuclear power plant in Japan. The plant was damaged by last week’s tsunami. Explosions and a fire have occurred. Officials advised people within 20 miles to stay indoors. Plant workers are trying to prevent further damage or a meltdown of the reactors’ fuel source. This could release much more radiation. One risk from escaping radiation is thyroid cancer. Potassium iodide pills can prevent the thyroid from absorbing radioactive iodine. The government has sent pills to evacuation centers as a precaution. Radioactive cesium is another concern. The whole body can absorb it. It also stays in the body and the environment longer than radioactive iodine. But cesium also is relatively heavy. If larger amounts escape, officials hope it will fall near the reactor or else be carried out over the ocean.