Moving away from low-income areas to nicer places had a positive effect on families' well-being and mental health, says a new study. (José Martinez/OnCentral)
Suicides now kill more people every year than car crashes, according to a new study – and researchers say they're still "terribly undercounted." HealthDay says the study also found that over the past decade, car crash deaths have declined but poisoning deaths and fatal falls have gone up significantly.
The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology – a leading group of doctors – has for the first time recommended that doctors offer intrauterine devices (IUDS) and implantable contraception to teenagers, citing the large number of teens who are having sex but are unaware of these contraceptive methods. ABCNews.com says IUDs and other forms of long-term reversible contraception have much lower failure rates than short-term birth control, like the pill or condoms.
Further reinforcing the idea that where you live affects your health, HealthDay reports that when families moved from low-income areas to places that were nicer, they experienced better mental health and general improvements in well-being. That held true even though these families were making about the same amount of money before and after the move.
A new study appearing in the European Heart Journal found that obesity doesn't always mean an increased risk of heart disease or cancer. Researchers found that between 30 and 40 percent of the obese patients they examined were more fit – and as such, were "metabolically healthy," meaning they had the same risk of disease as someone who's normal-weight.
The University of Texas' MD Anderson Cancer Center is funneling as much as $3 billion into an enormous effort to find cures and lower mortality rates for eight different types of cancer, says CBSNews.com, including breast and ovarian, lung, prostate and two types of leukemia.
HealthDay says secondhand smoke-related diseases killed more than 41,000 U.S. adults and 900 infants in 2006, adding that black folks had the highest level of exposure.
Some are criticizing the study as critically flawed, but the Los Angeles Times reports that researchers who fed rats genetically-modified corn later saw these rats develop tumors and have trouble with their kidneys and livers. Critics said the report was too small and its method was problematic.
