29 million Americans may have hearing loss
Hearing loss may be more widespread than believed. Writing in the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers said as many as 29 million Americans might have at least some hearing loss. And not just among older people: Among people ages 20 to 29, 8.5 percent showed some hearing loss, with the incidence apparently on the rise. This study, in which people were given examinations, found more cases of hearing loss than did surveys.
New York Times News Service
Agent Orange, cancer of the prostate linked
Vietnam veterans exposed to the defoliant Agent Orange have double the risk of prostate cancer, especially the most aggressive form of the disease, a new study contends. The findings, published online in Cancer and expected to appear in the Sept. 15 print edition, are the first to connect the now-banned herbicide with this form of cancer. Some scientists not involved with the study said the research does not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.
Cold medicines send small children to ER
A significant proportion — 4.7 percent — of small children going to emergency rooms with an “apparent life-threatening event” had ingested over-the-counter cold and cough medicines, researchers report. Such medicines can cause apnea (cessation of breathing) in young children, noted the lead author of a study published in the August Pediatrics.
U.S. guidelines recommend that these products not be used in children younger than 2.
Get moving! Exercising fights colon cancer
Physical activity can reduce the risk of colon cancer, but few American adults are aware of this, a new study shows.
People who get lots of exercise have a 30 percent to 40 percent lower risk of developing colon cancer, according to study co-author Elliott Coups of the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Cheltenham, Pa.
But only 15 percent of survey respondents said they used physical activity to reduce their risk.
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