Bacteria May Help Battle Cancer, Study Suggests

SATURDAY, Jan. 31, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Bacteria may offer a new way to treat cancer, a small, preliminary study suggests.

Researchers injected a weakened strain of Clostridium novyi-NT bacteria spores into tumors in six patients. The bacteria grew in the tumors and killed cancer cells, the investigators reported.

C. novyi-NT, which lives in soil, is a close relative of the bacteria that causes botulism. Before injecting C. novyi-NT into the patients, the researchers weakened it by removing its dangerous toxin.

Five of the six patients are still alive, while one died from unrelated causes several months after receiving the bacteria injection, according to the study to be presented Saturday at the annual Symposium on Clinical Interventional Oncology in Hollywood, Fla.

Research presented at medical meetings should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

“When tumors reach a certain size, parts of them do not receive oxygen, which makes them resistant to conventional therapies such as radiation and chemotherapy,” study author Dr. Ravi Murthy, a professor of interventional radiology at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, said in a symposium news release.

“C. novyi-NT thrives under these conditions, hones in on the low-oxygen areas and destroys tumors from the inside while sparing normal tissue,” Murthy explained.

C. novyi-NT also triggers an immune response to cancer.

“Essentially, C. novyi-NT causes a potent cancer-killing infection in the tumor,” study principal investigator Dr. Filip Janku, an associate professor in the department of investigation therapeutics at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, said in the news release.

The new findings are very preliminary and much additional research into the potential therapy is needed.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about cancer treatments.

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Winter Is the Season of Nosebleeds

SATURDAY, Jan. 31, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Nosebleeds are a common during the winter and shouldn’t be cause for concern, an expert says.

“Cold winter air can be drying and irritating to the nose, and so can forms of indoor heat, such as forced air and fireplaces. Blood flow from the nose can range from a few drops to a real gusher,” explained Dr. James Stankiewicz, chair of the otolaryngology department at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill.

“Older individuals are more susceptible to nosebleeds in winter because their mucous membranes are not as lush and the dry air causes the thinning blood vessels in the nose to break,” he said in a university news release.

And older women and people taking blood-thinning drugs have an even greater risk. “Women who are postmenopausal are especially vulnerable to nosebleeds because of the decrease in estrogen that increases bodily fluids. Anyone who is taking blood thinners such as an aspirin regimen or Coumadin also is prone to nosebleeds,” Stankiewicz added.

He offered the following advice.

If you get a nosebleed, don’t panic. “Tilt your head back and apply firm pressure to the nostrils for about five minutes,” Stankiewicz said.

Apply ice. The cold causes blood vessels to constrict, which limits and slows blood flow. Put petroleum jelly on cotton pads and insert them into your nostrils.

“Go to the doctor if the bleeding is profuse and will not stop. The bleeding vessel will likely be cauterized, meaning heat will be applied to the wound to stanch the flow,” Stankiewicz said.

There are some things you can do to prevent winter nosebleeds, too.

“Get a humidifier and run it, especially in the bedrooms, with the door closed, a few hours before bed. You will be spending eight hours or so asleep and your nose, like you, needs a soothing rest,” Stankiewicz said.

“A dab of petroleum jelly on either side of the septum, two times per day, will aid moisture. Saline sprays and specialized gels and ointments also are readily available at stores,” he said.

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about nosebleeds.

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Lead Exposure May Be Bigger Threat to Boys Than Girls

FRIDAY, Jan. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Hormones may explain why lead exposure is less likely to cause brain damage in girls than in boys, researchers report.

Specifically, the female hormones estrogen and estradiol may help protect against lead’s harmful effects on the frontal areas of the brain, according to the findings published recently in the Journal of Environmental Health.

“The study supports existing research suggesting that estrogen and estradiol in females may act as neuroprotectants against the negative impacts of neurotoxins,” study author Maya Khanna, a psychology professor at Creighton University, said in a university news release.

The study included 40 children. They were between the ages of 3 and 6, and all lived in an area of Omaha considered the largest residential lead clean-up site in the United States. The area has high levels of lead contamination in the soil due to emissions from a lead refinery that operated there for 125 years.

Also, many homes in the area are old and still have lead-based paint.

The researchers found that 23 of the children had elevated blood lead levels. Boys with elevated lead levels scored low on tests of memory, attention and other thinking abilities. Girls with elevated lead levels did not do as poorly on the tests, according to the study.

The researchers also found that elevated lead levels had a much stronger negative impact on thinking abilities than on reading readiness.

This is the first study to show that very young children already experience harm from lead exposure, and that lead has a greater impact on thinking abilities in boys than in girls, according to Khanna.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about lead.

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Early Exposure to English May Help Spanish-Speaking Kids in School

FRIDAY, Jan. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Early exposure to English helps Spanish-speaking children in the United States do better in school, a new study shows.

“It is important to study ways to increase Spanish-speaking children’s English vocabulary while in early childhood before literacy gaps between them and English-only speaking children widen and the Spanish-speaking children fall behind,” study author Francisco Palermo, an assistant professor in the University of Missouri College of Human Environmental Sciences, said in a university news release.

“Identifying the best ways to support Spanish-speaking children’s learning of English at home and at preschool can diminish language barriers in the classroom early and can help start these students on the pathway to academic success,” he added.

The study included more than 100 preschoolers who primarily spoke Spanish. The children were learning English. The researchers found that the youngsters’ English vocabulary skills were better if they were exposed to English both at home and in the classroom.

When parents used English at home, it helped the kids learn and express new English words. Using English with classmates also helped the children practice new English words, according to the researchers.

“It is important for parents with limited English proficiency to continue speaking their native languages with children and to look for situations where they, other relatives, neighbors and children’s playmates can expose children to English so that they can have some familiarity with English before entering preschool,” Palermo suggested.

The amount of English used by teachers didn’t have a significant effect on the preschoolers’ English vocabularies. The quality and variety of teachers’ English may be more important than the amount of English they use, according to Palermo.

“Preschool is an ideal setting to study how [Spanish-speaking] children learn language because learning in preschool occurs mainly through social interactions, and languages are learned naturally by engaging in social interactions,” Palermo explained.

“Teachers should support children’s native languages and encourage activities in the classroom that allow children to interact using English,” he added.

The study was published recently in the journal Applied Psycholinguistics.

By 2030, as many as four in 10 students in the United States will be learning English as a second language, according to the Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about building languages.

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These Are the Cities With the Most Bed Bugs

Photo: Getty Images

The cities with the most cases of bed bugs in the United States are Chicago, Detroit and Columbus, Ohio, according to a recent promotional study released by the pest control company Orkin.

Orkin calculated the number of bed bug treatments it performed between January to December 2014, and ranked the cities based on how often they were called in. Having bed bugs doesn’t mean a living place is especially dirty, and any home or workplace is susceptible if bed bugs travel on clothing or in luggage.

Citing data maintained by the pest control industry, Orkin says Americans spent around $446 million getting rid of bed bugs in 2013. The bed bug business increased 18% last year, Orkin says.

Here’s the full list of cities ranked from most to least cases of bed bugs:

1. Chicago


2. Detroit


3. Columbus, Ohio


4. Los Angeles


5. Cleveland – Akron – Canton, Ohio


6. Dallas – Ft. Worth


7. Cincinnati


8. Denver


9. Richmond – Petersburg, Va.


10. Dayton, Ohio


11. Indianapolis


12. Houston


13. Seattle – Tacoma


14. Washington, District of Columbia – Hagerstown, Md.


15. Milwaukee


16. San Francisco – Oakland – San Jose


17. Raleigh – Durham – Fayetteville, N.C.


18. New York


19. Charleston – Huntington, W.Va.


20. Grand Rapids – Kalamazoo – Battle Creek, Mich.


21. Omaha, Neb.


22. Louisville, Ky.


23. Nashville, Tenn.


24. Lexington, Ky.


25. Atlanta


26. Buffalo, N.Y.


27. Sacramento – Stockton – Modesto, Calif.


28. Syracuse, N.Y.


29. Boston – Manchester


30. Charlotte, N.C.


31. Baltimore


32. Phoenix – Prescott


33. Miami – Ft. Lauderdale


34. Knoxville, Tenn.


35. Cedar Rapids – Waterloo – Dubuque, Iowa


36. Minneapolis – St. Paul


37. Hartford – New Haven, Conn.


38. Champaign – Springfield – Decatur, Ill.


39. San Diego


40. Lincoln – Hastings – Kearney, Neb.


41. Kansas City, Mo.


42. Honolulu


43. Albany – Schenectady – Troy, N.Y.


44. Colorado Springs – Pueblo, Colo.


45. Myrtle Beach – Florence, S.C.


46. St. Louis


47. Greenville – Spartanburg, S.C. – Asheville, N.C.


48. Bowling Green, Ky.


49. Ft. Wayne, Ind.


50. Toledo, Ohio

This article originally appeared on Time.com.

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Girls Outperform Boys Academically Around the Globe, Study Says

FRIDAY, Jan. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Girls tend to get better grades in reading, math and science than boys, according to a new study that challenges the widely held belief that boys do better in these subjects than girls.

“Even in countries where women’s liberties are severely restricted, we found that girls are outperforming boys in reading, mathematics and science literacy by age 15, regardless of political, economic, social or gender equality issues and policies found in those countries,” study author David Geary, professor of psychological sciences at the University of Missouri, said in a university news release.

The researchers analyzed the grades of 1.5 million 15-year-old students around the world between 2000 and 2010.

They found that girls outperformed boys in reading, math and science in 70 percent of the countries included in the study. These findings held true even in countries where females face severe social restrictions.

Boys did better than girls in only three countries or regions: Colombia, Costa Rica and the state of Himachal Pradesh in India. Girls and boys were about equal in the United States and Englad, the researchers found.

In countries with low levels of gender equality — such as Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — girls were far ahead of boys in educational achievement, according to the study.

Findings were published recently in the journal Intelligence.

“The data will influence how policymakers think about the options available,” Geary said.

“For example, to increase levels of equal opportunities in education. We believe that policymakers and educators should not expect that broad progress in social equality will necessarily result in educational equality. In fact, we found that with the exception of high achievers, boys have poorer educational outcomes than girls around the world, independent of social equality indicators,” he said.

More information

The American Academy of Pediatrics offers tips to help children succeed in school.

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Researchers Learning More About Deadly Pancreatic Cancer

FRIDAY, Jan. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Scientists are working to find new ways to treat pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest types of cancer in the United States.

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the country. Each year, more than 46,000 Americans are diagnosed with the disease and more than 39,000 die from it, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

Current treatments include drugs, chemotherapy, surgery and radiation therapy, but the five-year survival rate is only about 5 percent. That’s in part because it often isn’t diagnosed until after it has spread.

“Today we know more about this form of cancer. We know it usually starts in the pancreatic ducts and that the KRAS gene is mutated in tumor samples from most patients with pancreatic cancer,” Dr. Abhilasha Nair, an oncologist with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said in an agency news release.

Scientists are trying to develop drugs that target the KRAS mutation, the FDA noted.

“Getting the right drug to target the right mutation would be a big break for treating patients with pancreatic cancer,” Nair said. “KRAS is a very evasive target. We need to learn more about it so we can better understand how to overcome it.”

Other areas of research include learning more about how certain factors increase the risk of pancreatic cancer.

These risk factors include smoking, long-term diabetes, other gene mutations, Lynch syndrome (a genetic disorder that increases the risk for certain cancers), and pancreatitis, which is chronic inflammation of the pancreas that causes abdominal pain, diarrhea and weight loss.

Immune therapies, which have proven successful in treating melanoma and some other cancers, are another area of research in fighting pancreatic cancer.

“Not too long ago, the prognosis for melanoma patients was very poor. But with the advent of these new therapies that boost the patient’s own immune system, the landscape has greatly improved,” Nair said.

“We hope that new research in pancreatic cancer will ultimately give us a similar, if not better, outcome in the fight against this aggressive cancer,” Nair added.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about pancreatic cancer.

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Breast Reconstruction Complications Similar for Older, Younger Women

FRIDAY, Jan. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — The overall risk of complications from breast reconstruction after breast removal is only slightly higher for older women than for younger women, a new study indicates.

Researchers looked at data from nearly 41,000 women in the United States who had one breast removed between 2005 and 2012. Of those patients, about 11,800 also underwent breast reconstruction.

Patients aged 65 and older were less likely to have breast reconstruction than younger women. About 11 percent of older women chose to have the surgery compared to nearly 40 percent of women under 65, the study found.

Women who had breast reconstruction had more complications — such as longer hospital stays and repeat surgeries — than those who did not have breast reconstruction. However, overall complication rates after breast reconstruction were similar. About 7 percent of older women had complications, while slightly more than 5 percent of younger women did.

One exception was the risk of blood clot-related complications after breast reconstruction that used a patient’s own tissue instead of implants. The risk of a type of blood clot called a venous thromboembolism (VTE) was nearly four times higher among women 65 and older who had reconstruction using their own tissue. For women between 70 and 75, the risk of venous thromboembolism was more than six times higher, according to the study.

Venous thromboembolism includes deep vein thrombosis (a clot in the leg) and pulmonary embolism (a clot in the lungs). But the overall rate of venous thromboembolism was low — just 1 percent after reconstruction using a woman’s own tissue, the researchers found.

The study appears in the February issue of the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

“Older patients should be counseled that their age does not confer an increased risk of complications after implant-based post-mastectomy breast reconstruction,” Dr. Mark Sisco, of NorthShore University Health System and the University of Chicago, and colleagues wrote in a journal news release.

“However, they should be counseled that their age may confer an increased risk of VTE,” they added.

Older women may need special attention to prevent venous thromboembolism after tissue-based breast reconstruction. One possibility is longer use of blood-thinning medications, the researchers said.

More information

The American Cancer Society has more about breast reconstruction.

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Flame Retardants May Raise Risk of Preterm Births, Study Finds

FRIDAY, Jan. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Pregnant women exposed to high levels of flame-retardant chemicals may be at increased risk for having premature babies, a new study indicates.

Researchers analyzed blood samples from pregnant women when they were admitted to hospital for delivery. Those with higher levels of flame-retardant chemicals in their bodies were more likely to have preterm babies (before 37 weeks of pregnancy) than those with lower levels of the chemicals, the investigators found.

“Nearly all women have some amount of exposure to flame-retardant chemicals. Many people have no idea that these chemicals can be found on many common items, including household dust and clothes dryer lint,” study author Dr. Ramkumar Menon, an assistant professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Texas Medical Branch, said in a university news release.

Flame retardants have been widely used for four decades in home construction, furniture, clothing and electronic appliances, and they have been found in amniotic fluid, umbilical cord tissue, fetal tissue and breast milk, the study authors said.

More than 15 million babies around the world are born prematurely every year. About 1 million of these babies die shortly after birth, making preterm birth the second-leading cause of death in children under 5, the researchers added.

“Since stopping the use or exposure of flame retardants during pregnancy is not likely, our laboratory is currently studying the mechanisms by which flame retardants cause preterm birth,” Menon said.

While the study found an association between exposure to flame-retardant chemicals and premature birth, it did not prove a cause-and-effect link.

The study was published Jan. 28 in the Journal of Reproductive Immunology.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has more about preterm labor and birth.

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Some With Kidney Stones Might Have Calcium Buildup in Blood Vessels: Study

By Rosemary Black

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Jan. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Some people who develop recurring kidney stones may also have high levels of calcium deposits in their blood vessels, and that could explain their increased risk for heart disease, new research suggests.

“It’s becoming clear that having kidney stones is a bit like having raised blood pressure, raised blood lipids [such as cholesterol] or diabetes in that it is another indicator of, or risk factor for, cardiovascular disease and its consequences,” said study co-author Dr. Robert Unwin, of University College London. Unwin is currently chief scientist with the AstraZeneca cardiovascular & metabolic diseases innovative medicines and early development science unit, in Molndal, Sweden.

The main message, Unwin said, “is to begin to take having kidney stones seriously in relation to cardiovascular disease risk, and to practice preventive monitoring and treatments, including diet and lifestyle.”

Some 10 percent of men and 7 percent of women develop kidney stones at some point in their lives, and research has shown that many of these people are at heightened risk for high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease and heart disease, the researchers said.

But study author Dr. Linda Shavit, a senior nephrologist at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, and her colleagues wanted to find out whether the heart issues that can occur in some of those with kidney stones might be caused by high levels of calcium deposits in their blood vessels.

Using CT scans, they looked at calcium deposits in the abdominal aorta, one of the largest blood vessels in the body. Of the 111 people in the study, 57 suffered recurring kidney stones that were comprised of calcium (kidney stones can be made up of other minerals, depending on the patient’s circumstances, the researchers noted), and 54 did not have kidney stones.

Not only did the investigators find that those with recurring kidney stones made of calcium have higher calcium deposits in their abdominal aortas, but they also had less dense bones than those who did not have kidney stones.

Earlier research has shown that calcium buildup in blood vessels frequently goes hand in hand with bone loss, which suggests a link between osteoporosis and atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries.

Dr. Steven Fishbane, vice president of dialysis services at North Shore-LIJ Health System, in Great Neck, N.Y., was cautious in interpreting the results. “Patients should not be panicked by the findings, but they are worth discussing with your physician,” he advised.

“Many people who develop a kidney stone will go on to form more stones,” Fishbane said. “There is a risk of recurrence, although it can also be an isolated event.”

Shavit noted that genetic factors are responsible for the development of kidney stones in about 50 percent of cases, but diet and lifestyle also play a part. Not drinking enough water or consuming too much calcium, potassium or salt in your diet are major risk factors for kidney stones, she said.

So, Shavit added, individuals with kidney stones should be monitored for heart disease in various ways, including having CT scans that measure both calcium deposits in blood vessels and bone density, and by counting the number of kidney stones that develop and where they are located.

Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, a preventive cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, agreed that CT scans can be useful for these patients. “If you are having recurring kidney stones, it may be worth talking to your doctor about this test since we know that kidney stones can be associated with heart disease down the line,” she said.

The findings were published online Jan. 29 in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

An accompanying editorial, written by Dr. Eric Taylor of Maine Medical Center in Portland and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, noted that it’s too early to incorporate a history of kidney stones into screening guidelines for cardiovascular risk factors or osteoporosis.

More information

Find out more about kidney stones at the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

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Obama to Announce Major Personalized Medicine Initiative

FRIDAY, Jan. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — In what could be a significant advance for personalized medicine, President Barack Obama will ask Congress to fund a research program aimed at developing treatments that would be tailored to a patient’s individual genes, the White House said Friday.

The plan would give scientists access to genetic and medical information for about 1 million American volunteers, according to news reports.

The goal is to help physicians determine the best treatments for specific patients, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), told The New York Times. The NIH will head the ambitious venture.

White House officials told reporters that $215 million is needed to launch the “precision medicine initiative” next fall.

“We do not envision this as being a biobank, which would suggest a single repository for all the data or all the samples,” Jo Handelsman, associate director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, told the Times. “There are existing cohorts around the country that have already been started and have rich sources of data. The challenge in this initiative is to link them together and fill in the gaps.”

The scientists would have access to medical records, genetic profiles, laboratory test results, lifestyle habits and more for the participants.

Already, certain medical fields and centers are moving away from a one-treatment-fits-all approach.

“Patients with breast, lung and colorectal cancers routinely undergo molecular testing as part of their care,” Handelsman told reporters. Results of these tests help doctors select the drug treatments most likely to boost patients’ odds for survival. Some drugs target specific genes implicated in a condition.

The Center for Individualized Medicine at the Mayo Clinic offers genomic testing to patients to personalize care. Currently, it accepts patients with advanced cancers or rare diseases thought to have genetic origins, according to its website.

The aim of the U.S. program is to “harness the power of science to find individualized health solutions,” Collins told the Associated Press.

Collins said the growing affordability of genomic sequencing combined with advances in computer-powered medicine have made it possible to tackle this approach on a large scale.

More information

The U.S. National Institutes of Health has more about matching treatments to your genes.

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Colon Cancer Rates Rising Among Americans Under 50

By Alan Mozes

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Jan. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Although the overall rate of colon cancer has fallen in recent decades, new research suggests that over the last 20 years the disease has been increasing among young and early middle-aged American adults.

At issue are colon cancer rates among men and women between the ages of 20 and 49, a group that generally isn’t covered by public health guidelines.

“This is real,” said study co-author Jason Zell, an assistant professor in the departments of medicine and epidemiology at the University of California, Irvine.

“Multiple research organizations have shown that colon cancer is rising in those under 50, and our study found the same, particularly among very young adults,” he said. “Which means that the epidemiology of this disease is changing, even if the absolute risk among young adults is still very low.”

Results of the study were published recently in the Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology.

The study authors noted that more than 90 percent of those with colon cancer are 50 and older. Most Americans (those with no family history or heightened risk profile) are advised to start screening at age 50.

Despite remaining the third most common cancer in the United States (and the number two cause of cancer deaths), a steady rise in screening rates has appeared to be the main driving force behind a decades-long plummet in overall colon cancer rates, according to background information in the study.

An analysis of U.S. National Cancer Institute data, published last November in JAMA Surgery, indicated that, as a whole, colon cancer rates had fallen by roughly 1 percent every year between 1975 and 2010.

But, that study also revealed that during the same time period, the rate among people aged 20 to 34 had actually gone up by 2 percent annually, while those between 35 and 49 had seen a half-percent yearly uptick.

To examine that trend, the current study focused on data collected by the California Cancer Registry. This registry included information on nearly 232,000 colon cancer cases diagnosed between 1988 and 2009. Half the cases were in men, and over 70 percent occurred in whites.

Less than half a percent of those with colon cancer were between the ages of 20 and 29. And, about 2 percent were between the ages of 30 and 39. Around 7 percent were between the ages of 40 and 49 when diagnosed with colon cancer, according to the study.

The researchers found that between 1988 and 2009, the biannual colon cancer rates had been rising by 2.7 percent among males 20 to 29 and 40 to 49. Among males 30 to 39, the biannual increase was pegged even higher, amounting to 3.5 percent.

In young women, the increases were even higher. Women aged 20 to 29 saw a 3.8 percent biannual increase, according to the study. Those in their 30s saw a 4.5 percent increase, and women in their 40s had a 2.6 percent biannual increase, the study reported.

By contrast, both males and females in their 50s, 60s and 70s, saw a decrease in their colon cancer rates during the study period.

“We’re not saying the proportion is shifting,” Zell stressed. “Most colon cancer is still happening to older people. But I do think we need to do a much better job at early-age detection. Because another thing we observed is that those young adults who get colon cancer have a higher stage of cancer at diagnosis. And that has terrible implications when we look at survival.”

But what exactly is driving the trend?

“That’s the 20-million-dollar question right there,” said Zell, who acknowledged that there is no simple explanation at hand. “But what I can say is that we need more awareness of the trend among both patients and doctors. Because at this point, key symptoms among young adults, like blood in the stool, weight loss or other complaints, are often ignored.”

Dr. Andrew Chan, an associate professor in the department of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and an associate professor of medicine and gastroenterology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, said the findings “should give us pause.”

“Because the actual risk among young people is still quite low, I don’t think by any means that these findings suggest that we need to change what we do in clinical practice,” he said. “But because we don’t really know why this is happening, we have to stop and consider a range of different possibilities. And really think critically about what is it about our lifestyle or environment that may be responsible of this increase in incidence.”

More information

There’s more on colon cancer at the American Cancer Society.

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Teens, Young Adults Most Likely to Go to ER After Car Accidents: Report

FRIDAY, Jan. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — In a finding that won’t surprise many parents, a new government analysis shows that teens and young adults are the most likely to show up in a hospital ER with injuries suffered in a motor vehicle accident.

Race was another factor that raised the chances of crash-related ER visits, with rates being higher for blacks than they were for whites or Hispanics, data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated.

According to information in the study, there were almost 4 million ER visits for motor vehicle accident injuries in 2010-2011, a figure that amounted to 10 percent of all ER visits that year.

Crash victims were twice as likely to arrive in an ambulance as patients with injuries not related to motor vehicle crashes (43 percent versus 17 percent), the study found. However, the chances that crash victims were determined to have really serious injuries were only slightly higher than those who arrived at the ER for other injuries (11 percent versus 9 percent).

“While almost half of the patients arrived by ambulance, they were generally no sicker than patients with non-motor vehicle-related injuries and were no more likely to require admission to the hospital,” said Dr. Eric Cruzen, medical director of emergency medicine at The Lenox Hill HealthPlex, a freestanding emergency room in New York City.

Cruzen — who was not involved in the study — noted that “most patients evaluated after motor vehicle accidents received an X-ray and/or CT scan, and were most often diagnosed with sprains, strains and contusions.”

According to the study authors, Dr. Michael Albert and Linda McCaig of the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), “In spite of improvements in motor vehicle safety in recent years, motor vehicle crashes remain a major source of [injury and death] in the United States.”

And, they wrote, “Motor vehicle-related deaths and injuries also result in substantial economic and societal costs related to medical care and lost productivity.”

Age was perhaps the most compelling determinant of who arrived in the ER with a motor vehicle crash injury, with the rate peaking at 286 per 10,000 persons for those aged 16 to 24. That compared to a rate of 65 per 10,000 persons for those aged 65 and over, and 70 per 10,000 persons for those under the age of 15.

In addition, race also played a part in the likelihood of such ER visits, the findings showed.

The overall ER visit rate for motor vehicle injuries was higher among black people (260 per 10,000 persons) than among whites (119 per 10,000 persons) or Hispanics (104 per 10,000 persons), the study found.

The findings were reported Jan. 30 in the NCHS Data Brief.

More information

Find out more about teen driving safety at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

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