Decrease Your Heart Disease Risk. High blood pressure affects 33% of U.S. adults and doubles their risk for heart disease. 32 million Americans have dangerously high total blood cholesterol levels of 240 mg/dL or greater. Simultaneously controlling your high blood pressure and high cholesterol may cut your risk for heart disease by half or more.…

Brain’s Motivation Blunted! Long-term cannabis users tend to produce less dopamine, a chemical in the brain linked to motivation. Dopamine levels in a part of the brain called the striatum were lower in people who regularly smoke cannabis, especially those who began taking the drug at a younger age. This explains why some cannabis users…

Tobacco Control! Tobacco control measures put in place in 41 countries between 2007 and 2010 will prevent some 7.4 million premature deaths by 2050. These policies can lead to other benefits such as fewer adverse birth outcomes related to maternal smoking (including low birth weight), reduced healthcare costs, and increased productivity due to less smoking-related…

Kids Poisoned. Every 10 minutes a child in the United States is taken to the Emergency Room because of poisoning from swallowing a prescription or over-the-counter medicine. The most common drugs associated with children’s poisoning include those used to treat diabetes, high cholesterol (statins), pain (opioids), and cardiovascular diseases (beta blockers). Pediatrics, June 2013

Summer Heat! Extreme heat causes 658 deaths a year in the United States. That’s more than tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and lightning combined. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges Americans to take measures to stay cool, remain hydrated, and to keep informed. When the weather gets extremely hot, body temperatures can rise, causing brain…

Alarming Cancer Rates! By 2020, nearly 47% of people will get cancer in their lifetime, but almost 38% will survive the disease. One reason more people are getting cancer is because we are living longer and the incident rate of cancer increases with an aging population. The reduction in the number of people dying of…

Dementia Rates Double In China! In 1990, 3.68 million people in China had dementia. By 2010, that number rose to 9.2 million. Dementia patient health care costs will soon be higher than heart disease and cancer combined. Experts believe the increase can be explained by a combination of factors in China such as increased life…

Childhood Disability On The Rise! In the United States, disabilities due to neurodevelopmental and mental health problems increased 16.3% during the first decade of the current century. Six million kids had a disability in 2009-2010, that’s almost 1 million more than 2001-2002. Pediatric Academic Society, May 2013

Texting While Driving. Teens in the United States receive hundreds of text messages a day, but one message they aren’t getting is that they shouldn’t text and drive. 43% of high school students of driving age reported texting while driving at least once in the past 30 days. The specific act of texting while driving…

What Concussion? Many United States high school football players think it’s okay to play with a concussion even though they know they are at risk of serious injury. Over 90% of players polled recognized a risk of serious injury if they returned to play too quickly, but only 54% would always or sometimes report their…