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【medical-news】华盛顿邮报健康新闻
Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors ofHealthDay:
Wisconsin Leads U.S. in Drunken Driving: Survey
Wisconsin has the highest incidence of drunken driving in the nation, a new federal report finds.
More than a quarter of adult drivers in Wisconsin, noted for its beer breweries, reported driving under the influence of alcohol, according to the just-released survey from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Completing the worst five were: North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota, theAssociated Pressreported. Nationwide, 15 percent of adult drivers said they drove under the influence.
Utah had the lowest drunk driving rate, followed by West Virginia, Arkansas, Kentucky, and North Carolina.
The agency, part of the National Institutes of Health, also found that blacks had significantly lower drinking rates than whites, theAPreported.
And the number of drivers with blood alcohol levels of 0.08 percent or higher involved in alcohol-related crashes remained about the same over a decade -- from 12,348 in 1996 to 12,491 in 2006.
Rate Doubles for Nasty Infection Among Hospital Patients
The number of U.S. hospital patients stricken with a nasty infection calledClostrdium difficilesoared by 200 percent between 2000 and 2005, a new federal report finds.
Commonly called Cdifficileor "C diff," the infection can cause severe diarrhea, blood poisoning, and even death, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality said in a statement to coincide with its weeklyAHRQ News and Numbersreport. The infection often results when antibiotic use suppresses the bacteria normally found in the colon. The report also found:
There were more than 2 million cases of the illness in U.S. hospitals from 1993 to 2005.Two of three infected patients in 2005 were elderly.People with the illness were hospitalized an average of about three times longer than uninfected people.
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Social Bullying Linked to Adult Depression
The psychological effects of social bullying -- shunning a child or spreading rumors rather than threatening physical violence -- can last well into a person's adult life, a new University of Florida study concludes.
The research involving 210 college students found that victims of social bullying were more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety in early adulthood. Lead author Allison Dempsey, a doctoral student, graduated from Colorado's Columbine High School one year before the 1999 shootings at the school. It was widely reported that the two boys who committed the murders were largely shunned by classmates.
Dempsey and her colleagues found no difference between boys and girls in this type of bullying and its link to depression and fear, the university said in a prepared statement. In a surprising finding, they also found that having friends and other positive social relationships didn't dampen the tendency to develop depression and anxiety in adulthood.
Results of the research are published in the journalPsychology in the Schools.
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Mother's Diet May Influence Child's Gender
What a woman eats at about the time of conception could influence whether her baby is a boy or girl, British researchers say.
The study by the Universities of Exeter and Oxford found that a high-calorie diet, including regular breakfasts, could raise a woman's odds of having a boy,*** Newsreported.
The trend toward low-calorie diets in developed nations could explain why the ratio of boys to girls is shifting in those countries, the network said.
In studying 740 first-time pregnancies, the researchers found 56 percent of women with high-calorie diets at the time of conception had boys, compared to 45 percent of women who had low-calorie diets. Women who had sons also were more likely to consume nutrients including potassium, calcium, and vitamins C, E, and B12, the researchers said.
The study was published in the journalBiological Sciences.
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VA Mental Health Chief Should Resign: Senators
The mental health director of the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department tried to cover up the rising number of suicides among veterans and should resign, two Democratic senators said Tuesday.
Dr. Ira Katz attempted to withhold important information on the true suicide risk among veterans, said Sens. Daniel Akaka of Hawaii and Patty Murray of Washington state, theAssociated Pressreported. Akaka is chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, and Murray is a committee member.
In an e-mail message made public this week, Katz starts with "Shh!" and writes that 12,000 veterans a year attempt suicide while under VA care.
"Is this something we should (carefully) address ourselves in some sort of release before someone stumbles on it?" Katz asks in the e-mail, theAPreported.
"Dr Katz's irresponsible actions have been a disservice to our veterans, and it is time for him to go," said Murray, "The No. 1 priority of the VA should be caring for our veterans, not covering up the truth."
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作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2010-10-28 17:11
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