Earplugs Help Protect Hearing at Loud Concerts.

Earplugs Help Protect Hearing at Loud Concerts. Earplugs can protect concert-goers from the temporary hearing loss that can linger after a high-decibel music concert. In this study, researchers followed 51 participants who attended an outdoor music festival, half of whom used earplugs. The average noise level during the festival was 100 decibels, which is known…

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More Chiropractors, Less Opioids.

More Chiropractors, Less Opioids. Based on data collected in 2011, a new study has found an association between both a higher per-capita supply of chiropractors and Medicare spending on chiropractic care and lower opioid prescription use among younger, disabled Medicare beneficiaries. Opioids are a type of narcotic pain medication that can have serious side effects…

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Exercise Improves Blood Vessel Health Among Stressed.

Exercise Improves Blood Vessel Health Among Stressed. Past studies have shown that constant stress is associated with signs of poor blood vessel health and an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. A new animal-based study has found that exercise protected blood vessel function in rats regularly subjected to stress. The researchers conclude that exercise training may…

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Hearing Loss May Indicate Higher Medical Bills for Some Adults.

Hearing Loss May Indicate Higher Medical Bills for Some Adults. Hearing loss among late middle-aged adults appears to be associated with higher medical costs. Investigators examined the healthcare use of over 560,000 adults between the ages of 55 and 64 and found that those with hearing loss had 33% higher healthcare costs than those without…

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Death and the Very Elderly.

Death and the Very Elderly. Older seniors are often willing to talk about death, but they’re rarely asked about it. British researchers interviewed several dozen people over 95 years of age about their attitudes on death and end-of-life care and noted that most of them felt prepared to die. Study leader Dr. Jane Fleming explains,…

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Vitamin D Levels Linked to Cardiovascular Disease Risk.

Vitamin D Levels Linked to Cardiovascular Disease Risk. New research suggests that the risk of cardiovascular disease could be predicted by measuring levels of total and bioavailable vitamin D in both men and women. The study analyzed the vitamin D levels of 4,200 individuals aged 52-76 and assessed whether vitamin D levels had any effect…

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Musculoskeletal Pain Common in Veterans.

Musculoskeletal Pain Common in Veterans. A recent study investigated the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among United States veterans. The study included 5,237,763 former soldiers and found that non-traumatic joint pain (27%), back pain (25%), and osteoarthritis (21%) are the most commonly reported and treated musculoskeletal disorders among those who received Veterans Health Administration care. The…

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Too Few Children Get 60 Minutes of Exercise Daily.

Too Few Children Get 60 Minutes of Exercise Daily. In this study, investigators observed 453 schoolchildren during a one-week period and found that only 15% achieved the recommended 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) each day. Furthermore, compared with normal or underweight children, the researchers report that the overweight and obese children in the…

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Daily Fruit Consumption Helps the Heart.

Daily Fruit Consumption Helps the Heart. Consuming fresh fruit, such as apples and oranges, each day appears to reduce the risk of dying from either a heart attack or stroke by about one-third. Investigators collected data on more than 500,000 adults between 2004 and 2009 and found that fewer than one-in-five ate fruit on a…

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