Your Personality Might Help Shield You From Dementia

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• December 1, 2023
• Full Page

Got a naturally sunny disposition? It might protect you from dementia as the years advance, new research shows.

A team at Northwestern University in Chicago report that certain personality traits -- being conscientious, outgoing and positive -- appear to lower a person'...

U.S. Gun Suicides Keep Rising; Now Make Up Half of All Suicides

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• November 30, 2023
• Full Page

The latest national data show that when it comes to suicide, Americans are increasingly resorting to firearms as their method of choice. 

An analysis by researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that of the nearly 50,000 suicides recor...

Does Social Media Raise Teens' Odds for Drug Use, Risky Sex?

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• November 30, 2023
• Full Page

Teens glued to Instagram, TikTok and other social media are more likely to drink, take drugs, smoke and engage in risky sexual behaviors, a new review warns.

For example, spending at least two hours a day on social media doubled the odds of alcohol consumption, compared ...

Could an Overactive Thyroid Harm the Aging Brain?

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• November 30, 2023
• Full Page

Elevated levels of thyroid hormone appear to harm the aging brain, increasing seniors’ risk of dementia or other cognitive disorders, a new study finds.

High levels of thyroid hormone -- a condition called thyrotoxicosis -- was associated with thinking problems whether...

Early Onset Heart Disease Is Key Factor in Later-Life Dementia

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• November 30, 2023
• Full Page

Minding your heart health when you're young could spare your brain from dementia decades later, new research confirms.

Chinese researchers looked at data on more than 450,000 older Britons. They found that people who'd already been in poor cardiovascular health before ...

U.S. Suicide Numbers Hit New Record High in 2022

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• November 29, 2023
• Full Page

U.S. suicide numbers reached a grim new high in 2022.

The increase was most acute among women over the age of 24, according to provisional data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Overall, almost 49,500 people lost their lives to suicide in ...

Misinformation Is Everywhere. Experts Offer Tools to Counter It

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• November 29, 2023
• Full Page

The world is being flooded with internet-driven misinformation, but there are ways to counter fake news with the facts, a new report says.

These include aggressive fact-checking, preemptively debunking lies before they take root and nudging people to be more skeptical be...

Internet Poses No Threat to Mental Health, Major Study Finds

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• November 28, 2023
• Full Page

It might seem that surfing the web could cause a person’s mental health to suffer, but a landmark new study has concluded that internet use poses no major threat to people’s psychological well-being.

Researchers compared country-level internet and broadband use to th...

Charity Scams Get Active Over the Holidays: Expert Tips to Avoid Them

• Ernie Mundell and Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporters
• November 22, 2023
• Full Page

Abandoned animals, kids with cancer, disabled veterans:  These and other pitches for charity can move your emotions and have you reaching for your credit card. 

But beware: Especially around the holidays, fake charity scammers are hard at work trying to part yo...

Holiday Travel Sends Stress Levels Sky High: Here's Tips to Cope

• Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporter
• November 21, 2023
• Full Page

TUESDAY, Nov. 21, 2023 (HealthDay News) —Traffic, crowds and unforeseen delays and disruptions can turn holiday travel from celebratory to chaos in a flash — especially if you're prone to anxiety.

Being aware of your triggers can help you be ready for any glitches th...

'Tis the Season to Be Stressed, New Poll Finds

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• November 20, 2023
• Full Page

The song says ‘tis the season to be jolly, but many Americans find it to be more the season of stress and worry, a new survey reports.

The strain of inflation and world affairs this year are adding to the other holiday-time stressors to create a toxic mental health coc...

Scientists May Have Solved Mystery of How Shock Therapy Works

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• November 20, 2023
• Full Page

It's been around for a century, and electroconvulsive therapy -- formerly known as electroshock therapy -- has helped countless people with psychiatric conditions feel better.

But even the physicians who've used it have had little clue as to how it works.

Now, a t...

Fat Hiding Around Organs Could Raise Odds for Alzheimer's

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• November 20, 2023
• Full Page

Middle-aged folks with lots of belly fat surrounding their internal organs appear to be at higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease later in life, a new study suggests.

This hidden abdominal fat -- known as visceral fat -- is related to changes in the brain up to 15 years b...

Eye-to-Eye Contact in Conversation Is Rarer Than You Might Think

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• November 17, 2023
• Full Page

Have a hard time looking others in the eye?

You aren’t alone, Canadian researchers report.

Eye-to-eye contact rarely occurs when two people are talking, they found.

“We discovered that participants spent only about 12% of conversation time in interactive ...

Mom's Mental Health in Pregnancy Could Affect That of Her Child

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• November 17, 2023
• Full Page

A pregnant woman's mental health might have profound effects on the mind of her unborn child, a new evidence review warns.

Children appear to be at higher risk for mental health and behavior issues if their moms were highly stressed, anxious or depressed during pregnancy...

Failing Health Leaves Older Americans Vulnerable to Scams, Poll Finds

• Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter
• November 17, 2023
• Full Page

FRIDAY, Nov. 17, 2023 (Healthday News) -- Scams are nothing new and older folks are known to be vulnerable to them, but a new poll adds another sad fact to the familiar stor...

Sometimes Keeping a Secret Can Bring Joy

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• November 17, 2023
• Full Page

Good news is fun to share, but you get more of a charge from it if you keep it under your hat for a while, a new study says.

Keeping good news a secret for a bit before telling someone else appears to make people feel more energized and alive, according to findings publi...

Paid Family Leave May Lower Odds for Postpartum Depression

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• November 16, 2023
• Full Page

New mothers living in states with generous mandated paid family and medical leave are less likely to experience postpartum depression, a new study indicates.

They also are more likely to breastfeed their newborns.

“By increasing mothers’ ability to breastfeed a...

Many Clinics Are Selling Ketamine as Bogus 'Cure' for Illnesses

• Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter
• November 14, 2023
• Full Page

The party drug and anesthetic ketamine is starting to show promise in trials as a treatment for depression.

But new research also suggests that hundreds of U.S. clinics may be misleading consumers, hawking off-label and unapproved ketamine to treat a variety of mental h...

People's Heart Health Improves in More 'Flexible' Workplaces

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• November 9, 2023
• Full Page

A kinder, more thoughtful workplace can lead to better heart health among older employees, a new study finds.

Older workers’ heart health risk factors decreased significantly when their office employed interventions designed to reduce work-family conflicts, researchers...

Depression Can Be a Killer for People With Diabetes

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• November 7, 2023
• Full Page

Many people with type 2 diabetes also struggle with depression, and this combination can lead to premature death, researchers say.

“More than 35 million Americans have diabetes, and more than 95 million have prediabetes, making diabetes one of the leading causes of dea...

Gun Violence Takes Huge Mental, Financial Toll on Kids & Their Families

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• November 7, 2023
• Full Page

Gun violence causes a ripple effect that creates a lasting impact on young people lucky enough to survive being shot, as well as their families, a comprehensive new study finds.

Child and teenaged gunshot survivors carry the physical and emotional scars of violence, and ...

Money Can Make Life More Satisfying, Survey Shows

• Amy Norton HealthDay Reporter
• November 2, 2023
• Full Page

Money may not buy happiness, but it can help make life more satisfying, a new U.S. government survey shows.

In 2021, just under 5% of U.S. adults said they were "dissatisfied" with their lives. And researchers found those feelings were more common in households making le...

Those Most in Need of the 988 Lifeline Are Aware of It, Survey Shows

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• November 2, 2023
• Full Page

More than a year after its launch, public awareness of the national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline remains moderate, a new survey found.

However, awareness is highest among people who need it most — those in serious psychological distress.

Survey participants ...

Playing Pro Football May Shorten Players' Lives, Study Finds

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• November 2, 2023
• Full Page

Playing professional football, especially if you are a lineman, may shorten your life, a new study suggests.

The University of Minnesota researchers thought that perhaps professional football players are unlike “American men in general” in ways that determine their f...

Youngest Kids With ADHD in Class No Less Likely to See Diagnosis Fade

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• October 31, 2023
• Full Page

Experts have long wondered whether diagnoses for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the youngest children in a class would hold.

A new study suggests that being the youngest, and possibly most immature, did not appear to make a difference.

“We kno...

'Friends' Star Matthew Perry Dead at 54

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• October 30, 2023
• Full Page

MONDAY, Oct. 30, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Matthew Perry, one of the stars of the beloved television sitcom “Friends,” died on Saturday.

Perry, 54, was best known for his portrayal of Chandler Bing in the long-running show, but he also starred in many other roles.

Many U.S. Health Care Workers Face Harassment, Burnout

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• October 25, 2023
• Full Page

Health workers are experiencing ever-increasing levels of harassment and burnout in the wake of the pandemic, a new federal survey has found.

Reports of harassment on the job more than doubled during the pandemic years, and nearly half of health care workers often experi...

Depression Rates Rising Among College Students, and Race Matters

• Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter
• October 23, 2023
• Full Page

Many college kids are depressed and anxious, especially when they are a minority on campus or the first in their family to go to a university, a new study finds.

These feelings may be particularly pronounced among minorities attending mostly white colleges, the researche...

High-Tech 'Home Simulations' Could Help Folks Fight Hoarding

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• October 23, 2023
• Full Page

A virtual reality program helped hoarders clear out their clutter, researchers report.

Hoarding disorder, which strikes more than 2.5% of Americans, has only been defined as a mental health condition for 10 years, and it's both debilitating and hard to treat.

So, r...

Living Alone Raises Americans' Cancer Risk by Nearly a Third

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• October 19, 2023
• Full Page

People who live alone have a greater risk of dying from cancer, a new study warns.

Researchers from the American Cancer Society showed that U.S. adults who live alone had a 32% higher risk of cancer death than those who live with others. For men that was even higher, at ...

Lesbian & Gay Teens Have Twice the Odds for Binge-Eating Disorders

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• October 19, 2023
• Full Page

Stigma can take a toll on lesbian, gay and bisexual teens, leading to high rates of binge-eating disorders, researchers say.

Compared to their non-LGBTQ peers, lesbian, gay and bisexual teens are more than twice as likely to report binge eating, according to a new study...

Adults With ADHD May Face Higher Dementia Risk

• Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter
• October 17, 2023
• Full Page

Adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are nearly three times more likely to develop dementia than other adults, a new study suggests.

The results also indicate that treatment with ADHD medication may help reduce their dementia risk. No clear uptick ...

Are Trigger Warnings Useless? New Study Says Yes

• Amy Norton HealthDay Reporter
• October 17, 2023
• Full Page

"Trigger warnings" are now widely accepted as away to help people avoid harm from disturbing content. Trouble is, they just don't work, according to new research.

Trigger warnings seem like an obvious good: They alert people that a book, video or other media wil...

Women Face Higher Odds of Depression After Head Injury Than Men

• Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter
• October 17, 2023
• Full Page

Women are more likely to develop depression after suffering a traumatic brain injury (TBI), a new study shows.

The analysis of nine published studies included nearly 700,000 people and found that the risk for depression among women after a TBI was nearly 50% higher than...

As Atrocities in Gaza and Israel Unfold, Psychiatrists Give Advice on Coping

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• October 17, 2023
• Full Page

Whether or not you have loved ones in the Middle East, the horrors of the violence and suffering in Israel and Gaza are heart-wrenching and difficult to bear.

“It's important to be informed, but don't stress yourself out," said