Four of 10 Americans surveyed report that they were often less than truthful about whether they had COVID-19 and/or didn’t comply with many of the disease’s preventive measures during the height of the pandemic, according to a new nationwide study led in part by University of Utah Health scientists. The most common reasons were wanting to feel...
Health
Adults Who Misused Alcohol as Teens Report Dissatisfaction and Poor Health in Midlife
Teenagers who misuse alcohol may struggle more with drinking problems in their 20s and 30s, be in poorer health and feel less satisfied with their lives, according to a study led by Rutgers and Virginia Commonwealth University. Published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, researchers defined adolescent alcohol misuse based on responses about frequency of...
114 Million Americans Think the U.S. Healthcare System Is Failing Them
Nearly half the country (44%), or about 114 million Americans, give poor (30%) or failing (14%) grades to the U.S. healthcare system, percentages that climb higher and grow even more negative when it comes to affordability and health equity, according to a new report from West Health and Gallup, the polling organization. The 2022 West Health-Gallup...
Coffee Drinking Is Associated with Increased Longevity
Drinking two to three cups of coffee a day is linked with a longer lifespan and lower risk of cardiovascular disease compared with avoiding coffee, according to research published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. The findings applied to ground, instant and decaffeinated varieties. “In this large, observational study, ground, instant and decaffeinated coffee were...
‘Years of Life Lost’ to Unintentional Drug Overdose in Adolescents Spikes During Pandemic
The first year of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a 113% increase in the “Years of Life Lost” among adolescents and young people in the United States due to unintentional drug overdose, according to researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine. Study findings published online in the Journal of Adolescent Health also document the role...
41% of Teenagers Can’t Tell the Difference Between True and Fake Online Health Messages
A new study has found that teenagers have a hard time discerning between fake and true health messages. Only 48% of the participants trusted accurate health messages (without editorial elements) more than fake ones. Meanwhile, 41% considered fake and true neutral messages equally trustworthy and 11% considered true neutral health messages less trustworthy than fake...
Survey Finds Demand for Cosmetic Surgery, Driven by Women Under 45, Surged After the Pandemic
After the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new national survey called the Inaugural ASPS Insights and Trends Report: Cosmetic Surgery 2022 finds many Americans are now investing in themselves through cosmetic procedures, despite an uncertain economy. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons polled member surgeons nationwide and found more than three-quarters of cosmetic-focused plastic surgery practices are seeing more business...
News Addiction Linked to Not Only Poor Mental Wellbeing but Physical Health Too
People with an obsessive urge to constantly check the news are more likely to suffer from stress, anxiety, as well as physical ill health, finds a new study published in the peer-reviewed journal Health Communication. During the last two years we have lived through a series of worrying global events, from the COVID pandemic to Russia...
Psychotic Symptoms in Children May Have a Genetic Cause
A 6-year-old boy began hearing voices coming from the walls and the school intercom telling him to hurt himself and others. He saw ghosts, aliens in trees, and colored footprints. Joseph Gonzalez-Heydrich, MD, a psychiatrist at Boston Children’s Hospital, put him on antipsychotic medications and the frightening hallucinations stopped. Another child, at age 4, had hallucinations...
Using Digital Media to Relax Is Related to Lower-Quality Parenting
Caregivers who consume digital media for relaxation are more likely to engage in negative parenting practices, according to a new multinational study. The new study led by the University of Waterloo aimed to investigate the relationship between caregivers’ use of digital media, mental health, and parenting practices at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. On average,...