‘Alcohol Is Our Number One Drug Problem’: Experts Hope Drinking Study Serves As Wake-Up Call
The study finds that a "startling" number of adults in America are binge drinking at least once a week. In other public health news: stroke, Glenn Campbell's struggle with Alzheimer's, gallstones and pregnancy, exercise, video games, asthma, and more.
Bloomberg:
America’s Drinking Problem Is Much Worse This Century
Americans are drinking more than they used to, a troubling trend with potentially dire implications for the country’s future health-care costs. The number of adults who binge drink at least once a week could be as high as 30 million, greater than the population of every state save California, according to a study published on Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry. A similar number reported alcohol abuse or dependency. Between the genders, women showed the larger increase in alcohol abuse, according to the report. (Tozzi, 8/9)
The New York Times:
Stroke Risk Declining In Men But Not Women
The incidence of stroke has declined in recent years, but only in men. Researchers studied stroke incidence in four periods from 1993 to 2010 in five counties in Ohio and Kentucky. There were 7,710 strokes all together, 57.2 percent of them in women. (Bakalar, 8/9)
Stat:
Glen Campbell's Doctor Discusses His Public Struggle With Alzheimer's
Glen Campbell’s decades-long musical career came to an end Tuesday, when the 81-year-old country music superstar died after a six-year struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. He leaves behind a sprawling songbook and one candid documentary, 2014’s “Glen Campbell … I’ll Be Me,” which follows the singer as he deals with his diagnosis and embarks upon a farewell tour, performing the final renditions of “Rhinestone Cowboy” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” in the presence of his family, his band, and his thousands of fans, crisscrossing the country before his disease forces him off the stage and into an around-the-clock treatment facility. (Garde, 8/9)
The Baltimore Sun:
Gallstones Can Cause Complications During Pregnancy
Hormonal changes during pregnancy can make expectant mothers more prone to developing gallstones. While gallstones won’t hurt the fetus or complicate pregnancy, in some cases they may cause pain and discomfort for the mom, said Dr. Marcie Feinman, director of the surgical intensive care unit at Sinai Hospital. Sometimes the gall bladder has to be removed, she said. (McDaniels, 8/9)
The New York Times:
Exercise As A Weight-Loss Strategy
Some types of exercise may be better than others at blunting appetite and potentially aiding in weight management, according to an interesting new study of workouts and hunger. It finds that pushing yourself during exercise affects appetite, sometimes in surprising ways. As anyone who has begun an exercise program knows, the relationships between exercise, appetite, weight control and hunger are complex and often counterintuitive. (Reynolds, 8/9)
Los Angeles Times:
Can A Hormone Called Klotho Enhance Cognition And Hold Off Dementia? Yes, In Mice, At Least
If ever there were a hormone to spark intellectual excitement, it’s klotho. At the dawn of our lives, our blood brims with klotho. But as age and disease stiffen our joints and cloud our minds, klotho ebbs. People who exercise and remain spry into old age have more of the stuff. Those suffering chronic stress or degenerative brain diseases such Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s see theirs depleted. (Healy, 8/9)
NPR:
Action Video Games May Affect The Brain Differently
People who played action video games that involve first-person shooters, such as Call of Duty and Medal of Honor, experienced shrinkage in a brain region called the hippocampus, according to a study published Tuesday in Molecular Psychiatry. That part of the brain is associated with spatial navigation, stress regulation and memory. Playing Super Mario games, in which the noble plumber strives to rescue a princess, had the opposite effect on the hippocampus, causing growth in it. (Columbus, 8/9)
Kaiser Health News:
Asthma, More Deadly With Age, Takes Heavy Toll On Older Adults
In early June, Donna Bilgore Robins stood on a patio in Beaver Creek, Colo., under a crystal-clear blue sky and tried to catch her breath. She couldn’t. With mountain vistas around her, Robins felt as if she was drowning. She gasped for air hungrily again and again. (Graham, 8/10)
PBS NewsHour:
How Industrial Farming Techniques Can Breed Superbugs
As high-density, industrial-scale livestock farms have become fertile breeding grounds for disease, they’ve also become a major source of drug-resistant superbugs. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien and economics correspondent Paul Solman team up to report on how scientists are studying how superbugs can get into the food supply. (O'Brien and Solman, 8/9)
Minnesota Public Radio:
How Can Information About Who Buys Sex Help Prevent Trafficking?
The University of Minnesota wanted to know who buys commercial sex in Minnesota. The answer: Most are married, middle-class white men. The study explores why and how people buy sex, as well as who they are and where in the state they live. (Weber, 8/9)
The Star Tribune:
Icky Truth: Blowing Out Birthday Candles Causes Huge Spike In Bacteria On Cake
Blowing out birthday candles causes an astronomical increase in bacteria covering the cake, a new study says. This is the latest discovery from the same food safety scientists who uncovered the truth about the five-second-rule and other fun germ-y facts guaranteed to validate your inner hypochondriac. (Shah, 8/9)
Tampa Bay Times:
Drinking Moscow Mules Out Of Those Copper Mugs May Cause Health Issues, Report Says
According to an advisory bulletin published late last month from the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division, copper mugs may be poisoning drinkers. In the advisory, health officials note that, in abiding by FDA guidelines, copper should not come into contact with acidic foods that have a pH below 6. (Putterman, 8/9)
