CDC: Fentanyl Overdose Deaths Increased 279% Over Recent Years
Drug overdose death rates involving fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine increased from 2016 through 2021, CDC researchers said. The age-adjusted overdose death rate involving fentanyl rose by 279%, from 5.7 per 100,000 standard population in 2016 to 21.6 per 100,000 in 2021, reported Merianne Rose Spencer, MPH, an epidemiologist in the Division of Analysis and Epidemiology […]
Higher BMI Tied to Other Severe Respiratory Infections Too
A higher body mass index (BMI) was associated with increased risks for hospitalization and death due to COVID-19 and other respiratory infections as well, according to a study using data from the U.K. Biobank. After a mean follow-up of 11.8 years, the hazard ratios per 10-unit higher BMI was 2.26 (95% CI 2.05-2.49) for severe […]
Opinion | It’s Time for a Risk-Adapted Approach to Breast Cancer Screening
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women in the U.S., and there is a substantial disparity in breast cancer mortality by race, particularly for early-onset breast cancer in Black women. In a recent study I co-authored and published in JAMA Network Open, we showed that if breast cancer screening is […]
Turkey-Syria Quake Death Toll Could Top 20,000, WHO Official Says
A senior official at the World Health Organization warned Monday the death toll from the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria could rise “eightfold” as rescue efforts continue. Catherine Smallwood, WHO’s senior emergency officer for Europe, told the AFP injuries and fatalities linked to severe earthquakes often rise “significantly” in the week after the disaster. […]
Drinking 2 or more cups of coffee daily may double risk of heart death in people with severe hypertension: Green tea, in contrast, did not increase mortality risk at any blood pressure level
Drinking two or more cups of coffee a day may double the risk of death from cardiovascular disease among people with severe high blood pressure (160/100 mm Hg or higher) but not people with high blood pressure not considered severe, according to research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open […]
Opinion | ‘That’s a Big Deal, That’s Life and Death’: What We Heard This Week
“That’s a big deal, that’s life and death. That is the gold standard of all cancer research.” — Joshua Brody, MD, of the Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai, commenting on a study that showed that high-dose chemotherapy followed by transplant as consolidation treatment for primary central nervous system lymphoma prolonged survival. “No one that’s […]
Katie Couric’s Breast Cancer
In 2000, 2 years after the death of her husband, Jay Monahan, from colon cancer, Katie Couric underwent a colonoscopy live on “The Today Show,” leading to a 20% jump in national colonoscopy screening rates, something the University of Michigan dubbed the “Couric Effect.” Now, Couric is once again advocating for cancer screening. On September […]
Former Smokers See Even Better Outcomes With Healthier Lifestyles
Former smokers still face higher disease and premature death risks, but they were able to cut down on that mortality risk by sticking with a healthy lifestyle, according to a prospective cohort study. Among people who used to smoke, higher total adherence scores to healthy lifestyle recommendations (e.g., healthy weight, balanced diet) were linked with […]
What Causes Henipavirus? Symptoms, Transmission, Vaccine & Cure
About four out of seven Hendra henipavirus infections may result in the death of the infected individual. Henipavirus infection in humans is caused either by the Nipah virus or Hendra henipavirus species. For both these species, flying foxes, also called pteropid fruit bats, act as reservoir hosts. A reservoir host means an animal in which the […]
Bottoms Up on Black Tea for a Long Life?
A few cups of tea a day might help to stave off an early death, a U.K. Biobank prospective cohort study showed. Among nearly half a million middle-age adults, those who consumed two or more cups of tea a day saw a modest but lower risk for all-cause mortality over a median 11.2-year follow-up, reported […]