In the last decade or so, there has been a steadily growing trend in U.K. hospitals of banning bedside flowers. Citing the inconvenience of caring for the blooms, the potential hazard of water dripping onto electronic equipment, and the potential “risk of infection” posed by the stagnant water in vases, medical facilities from Dorset in
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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.
Smaller fingers may create a more precise sense of touch, according to a study published this week in the Journal of Neuroscience. Anecdotally, researchers have observed that women tend to have a finer sense of touch than men, but until now it wasn’t very clear why. This new research suggests that it may just have to do with their
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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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A high end boutique hotel in Miami was forced to move some 300 guests after several were sickened—and one died—from infection with the bacteria Legionella, the cause of Legionnaire’s disease, the New York Times reports. Since October, three hotel guests fell ill and one died from Legionnaires, a severe form of pneumonia that
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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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Recalling a frightening moment or event can be unsettling as your body revisits the sense of danger and panic you first experienced, and the frequent recurrence of these recollections can even lay a foundation for anxiety disorders. Yet, according to new research from the department of psychology at New York University, there may
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In children, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may inhibit the function of a brain region associated with memory, according to a new study published online today in the Journal of Pediatric Psychiatry. In an effort to better understand how trauma may impact brain function in children, researchers at Stanford University School of
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Two studies out this week about sexuality and youth underscore a point once made by Dr. Joseph Hagan, clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Vermont College of Medicine and a practicing pediatrician. Talking about when he would recommend that parents broach the uncomfortable, yet inevitable, subject of sex with their kids.
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As most parents know, as adorable as they are, sometimes kids can also be very frustrating. So, when those trying parenting moments arise, what distinguishes the moms who lose their cool from those who stay in control? According to research published in the journal Psychological Science, it may come down to working memory. In a study of
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Given the online forum of Facebook to create whatever public persona you’d like, it would seem logical that people might portray an idealized version of themselves—putting up their most attractive photos, editing down their thoughts to the most clever and pithy before posting them in a status update, carefully choosing favorite books
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If current obesity trends continue, life expectancy gains due to decreases in smoking could potentially be canceled out in the future, according to research published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine. By analyzing data from several national health surveys including tens of thousands of respondents, researchers Susan
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Former Miss Argentina Solange Magnano died Sunday from complications arising during a gluteoplasty—or bum lift. A friend of the former beauty queen told the Associated Press that liquid injected during the procedure had somehow traveled to her lungs and brain. After three days in critical care in a Buenos Aires hospital, …
