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Study reveals spatial patterns of alcohol‐related mortality in post-Soviet countries

In some former Soviet bloc countries, men often die early due to alcohol abuse. Alcoholism-related mortality varies considerably from one region to another, according to a study in the European part of Russia, Belarus, Lithuania and Poland.

12 Mar 2020

The startling inequality gap that emerges after age 65

In an era when "deaths of despair" — from substance abuse and suicide — are on the rise among middle-aged Americans, those who reach age 65 are living longer than ever.

12 Mar 2020

COVID-19 epidemic is now an official pandemic

The spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has reached pandemic status, spanning 114 countries and territories, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared. The novel coronavirus that emerged three months ago has rapidly infected more than 126,000 people, taking the lives of more than 4,600.

12 Mar 2020

Weight gain could lower woman’s chances of getting breast cancer before menopause

Gaining weight from early adulthood is linked to a lower risk of breast cancer before the menopause, a major global study of more than 600,000 women has found.

11 Mar 2020

Alcoholics Anonymous the best way to abstain

Researchers from the Stanford School of Medicine have found that utilizing the help of a support group like Alcoholics Anonymous could be the best possible way for those with alcohol dependence to abstain. This finding came from a review article titled "Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12‐step programs for alcohol use disorder," published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Review.

11 Mar 2020

Involuntary job loss causes dramatic increase in criminal behavior

Everyone knows that losing your job hurts, but the negative effects are not solely experienced by the displaced worker and his or her family. Newly published research by a Case Western Reserve University economist finds that involuntary job loss also causes a dramatic increase in criminal behavior.

11 Mar 2020

Heavy stress and lifestyle can predict life expectancy

Life expectancy is influenced not only by the traditional lifestyle-related risk factors but also by factors related to a person's quality of life, such as heavy stress.

11 Mar 2020

Alcoholics Anonymous found to be very effective for achieving alcohol abstinence

Alcoholics Anonymous, the worldwide fellowship of sobriety seekers, is the most effective path to abstinence, according to a comprehensive analysis conducted by a Stanford School of Medicine researcher and his collaborators.

11 Mar 2020

Alcoholics Anonymous and 12-step programs help people with AUD achieve sobriety

Newly updated evidence published in the Cochrane Library today compares Alcoholics Anonymous and clinically-related Twelve-Step Facilitation programs with other treatments, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, to see if they help people who suffer from alcohol use disorders achieve sobriety or reduce the amount of alcohol that they consume.

11 Mar 2020

Community characteristics may influence life expectancy

While lifestyle choices and genetics go a long way toward predicting longevity, a new study shows that certain community characteristics also play important roles.

10 Mar 2020

How effective is Gabapentin in alcohol use disorder?

A new study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine in March 2020 reports the striking efficacy of the drug gabapentin in helping people with alcohol use disorder (AUD) with their alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

9 Mar 2020

Stress-linked disorders increase the risk of later brain degeneration

A new study published in the journal JAMA Neurology in March 2020 suggests that stress-related disorders increase the risk of later development of dementia and other neurodegenerative disorders.

9 Mar 2020

Why do women live longer?

It has been a widespread belief that men live a shorter life due to lifestyle choices, such as smoking and drinking alcohol. But a new study shows that men are genetically predisposed to dying younger because their Y chromosome is unable to protect an unhealthy X chromosome.

9 Mar 2020

Improving lifestyle habits may be useful additions to management of atrial fibrillation

Weight loss, regular physical activity and other lifestyle changes are effective yet underused strategies that should be added to optimize management of atrial fibrillation (an abnormal heart rhythm), according to "Lifestyle and Risk Factor Modification for Reduction of Atrial Fibrillation," a new Scientific Statement from the American Heart Association published today in the Association's flagship journal Circulation.

9 Mar 2020

Liver fibrosis associated with one type of heart failure, regardless of HIV or hepatitis C status

While there is an association between liver fibrosis and heart failure, the mechanisms for this association are currently unclear but may be of particular importance for people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and/or hepatitis C, both of which are chronic infections that affect the liver and heart.

7 Mar 2020

Study: Whites consume more cigarettes and are more nicotine dependent than Native Americans

Multiple past studies have reported that, compared to whites, Native Americans have relatively high cigarette use, and this has contributed to speculation that Native Americans might be inherently prone to such use.

5 Mar 2020

Coronavirus and currency notes – the connection

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended people to avoid using currency notes to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus or the novel coronavirus that has caused a global panic infecting over ninety-thousand individuals and killing over 3,000 up until now.

5 Mar 2020

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: A ‘Super Tuesday’ for the health debate?

The Super Tuesday presidential primaries have left only two major Democratic candidates standing: former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Whoever prevails to face off against President Donald Trump in November will shape how the party confronts Republicans on health care.

5 Mar 2020

Researchers identify mechanism that explains why women experience more pain than men

Imagine taking a pill to control your pain and, instead, the medication actually increases the pain you feel.

5 Mar 2020

New repair mechanism for alcohol-induced DNA damage discovered

Researchers of the Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht, The Netherlands, and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, United Kingdom, have discovered a new way in which the human body repairs DNA damage caused by a degradation product of alcohol.

4 Mar 2020