Girls who begin having sexual intercourse at a younger age may have a significantly higher risk for developing cervical cancer, according to a new study published in the British Journal of Cancer. As the BBC reports, in a study of some 20,000 women, investigators from the International Agency for Research on Cancer found that those who
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Data released this month by the Centers for Disease Control shows that average U.S life expectancy at birth has reached an all-time high of 77.9 years. The latest information from the National Center for Health Statistics shows that, from 2006 to 2007 average life expectancy increased by more than two months.
A new study of post-menopausal women between the ages of 50 to 79 found that, those taking antidepressants had a slightly higher risk for stroke than those not taking the medications. The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, followed more than 136,000 women for about six years, and found that women taking both selective
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People who drink three or four cups of coffee per day have an approximately 25% lower risk for developing type 2 diabetes compared with those who drink two cups or fewer, according to an analysis of previous research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Researchers analyzed data from 18 different studies involving more than
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While use of drugs such as cocaine or methamphetamine has declined among U.S. teens, more adolescents are smoking marijuana, according to the results of an annual survey funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Researchers at the University of Michigan surveyed some 47,000 eighth-graders, high school sophomores and high school
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Chinese-American and Korean-American women have far higher risks of developing diabetes during pregnancy compared with African American and white women, according to a study published in the December issue of the journal Ethnicity and Disease. The research, funded by the American Diabetes Association, expands on previous findings
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Nearly one in ten prescriptions written at hospitals may contain errors, according to research conducted by the U.K.’s General Medical Council (GMC). In a study of nearly 125,000 prescriptions written over seven days at 19 different hospitals throughout northwest England, researchers found that more than 11,000—or nearly 9%—contained
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For breast cancer survivors, regular consumption of alcohol may increase the risk for a recurrence of the disease, according to research presented this week at a conference of the American Association for Cancer Research in Houston. In a study of nearly 1,900 women who had initially been diagnosed with early stage breast cancer between
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Prostate cancer researchers are enthusiastic about new findings that suggest a natural compound found in hops plants might help to prevent the disease. The findings were presented this week at the Cancer Prevention Research Conference, hosted by the American Association for Cancer Research in Houston. Earlier research into the compound
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A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences adds to a growing body of research suggesting that loneliness and isolation may impact cancer risk and health outcomes. This latest research, conducted by Gretchen Hermes at Yale University and Martha McClintock at the University of Chicago, analyzed how
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Preliminary research presented this week at the Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research conference in Houston, reveals promising findings about the role that exercise and coffee could play in the fight against prostate cancer. An analysis of activity levels among 2,686 prostate cancer patients showed that men who jogged, played tennis or
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Between 1991 and 2004, deaths due to opioid overdose more than doubled in Ontario, an alarming trend that corresponds with an increase in prescriptions for oxycodone, a narcotic pain killer derived from extracts of opium. What’s more, the introduction of oxycontin—a long-acting form of oxycodone—in 2000, was associated with a
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As cell phones are growing more prevalent—an estimated 270 million Americans now have one—concerns about the health risks of the mobile devices are increasing as well. As Bryan Walsh reported for TIME earlier this year, the growing trend of cell phone use—or, cast in a different light, of holding tiny emitters of low-level
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