Any Level of Smoking Promotes Heart Risks. You may think that having an occasional cigarette in a social setting is less harmful for your heart than smoking a pack a day, but a new study suggests otherwise. Researchers reviewed health data concerning nearly 40,000 people in the United States and found that both social smokers…

Could Gray Hair Mean a Higher Risk for Heart Disease? Atherosclerosis (the narrowing of the arteries due to the build-up of cholesterol and other substances on arterial walls) and graying hair have similar causes: the damaged DNA that comes with aging, increased oxidative stress, and the aging of cells. An observational study that included 545…

US Pedestrian Deaths Are a Growing Problem. According to a new Governors Highway Safety Association report, 15% of all motor vehicle collision-related deaths in 2016 were pedestrians, which is up from 11% just a decade ago. Factors that may possibly play a role in this increase include increased smartphone use, which can lead to distraction;…

Don’t Watch TV During Meals. Switching off your TV during meal time may help keep you slim. Researchers analyzed data on nearly 13,000 adults and found that those who said they never watched TV or videos during family meals were much less likely to be obese than those who always watched something during mealtime. Additionally,…

Morbid Obesity Doubles Risk of Early Death. In this study, investigators tracked the weight history of over 225,000 participants over a twelve-year period and found the participants who were morbidly obese (greater than 35 BMI) were twice as likely to die from any cause, more than three times as likely to die from heart disease,…

Children May Have Flame Retardant Chemicals in Their Blood. If the flame retardant chemicals often found in textiles, electronics, and furniture mix with household dust, they may pose a health hazard. In this study, researchers found that house cats from 17 households had elevated levels of flame-retardant chemicals in their blood. Because small children tend…

Osteoarthritis Linked to Stroke. Taiwanese researchers report that patients living with osteoarthritis (OA) have an elevated risk for stroke. Using data from Taiwan’s Longitudinal Health Insurance Database, researchers found that patients with mild to moderate OA have a 95% higher risk for stroke when compared to those without OA. Additionally, the risk of stroke is…

Hearing Loss to Increase Significantly in the US By 2060. Researchers report millions of men and women in the United States (US) will face the prospect of losing their hearing as the population ages. The number of adults affected by hearing loss is expected to increase from 44 million in 2020 to 73.5 million by…

Early exposure to secondhand smoke may boost the risk of food allergies among children. Researchers followed the health of nearly 3,800 Swedish children until they were 16 years of age and found that kids whose parents smoked when the children were two months old were more likely to develop signs of food allergies, especially to…

Calcium Buildup in Arteries Among Young May Signal Cardiovascular Problems. Researchers performed CT scans and collected data on more than 3,000 men and women with an average age of 40 and found that individuals with any calcified plaque in their arteries had a five times greater risk for cardiovascular problems. Furthermore, these individuals had a…