Cigarette smoking among American teenagers dropped to a record low in 2012, according to a national study released Wednesday.
The annual survey of about 45,000 students in the eighth, 10th, and 12th grades found that the number of teens who reported smoking cigarettes in the prior 30 days fell to 10.6 percent this year from 11.7 percent in 2011 the lowest number recorded since the survey began in 1975.

More may not always be better in the case of taking aspirin following a coronary artery intervention for acute heart attack. In fact, maintenance on low-dose aspirin may actually be the best approach. Following an intervention after a heart attack such as an angioplasty or a thrombectomy daily aspirin doses may range from 75 mg to 325 mg, but the optimal amount is still in question. (Such interventions are known as percutaneous coronary interventions, or PCI).

Only a few months after cancer was added to the list of ailments covered by the World Trade Center Fund, a study conducted by the New York City Health Department has found no clear link between cancer and the environment to which those present at the world trade center on 9/11 were exposed.

The rate of patient readmission to a hospital may not be associated with a shorter hospital stay, according to a new study. This counters the concern which led to this study, which was that excessive LOS (length of stay) reduction may be harmful because discharge before medical stability may result in increased hospital readmission or use of emergency department services.

Yesterday, ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross presented ACSH s position on access to reduced-risk tobacco and nicotine products at the FDA s public meeting on nicotine replacement therapies and smoking-cessation products.
In his synopsis of the current sad state of affairs, Dr. Ross after discussing the counterproductive FDA approach to communicating risks called to account the public health authorities who have misled and continue to mislead smokers about the risks of various tobacco products. He states,

A new smartphone app has been developed that allows patients to detect an irregular pulse caused by atrial fibrillation (AF). Lead investigator Dr. David McManus of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, explained that patients with AF often wear Holter monitors, portable devices used to continuously monitor electrical activity of the cardiovascular system, for up to 30 days to capture an AF event, but physicians may often choose not to use the monitors due to the infrequency of paroxysmal events.

Yesterday we informed readers that although Olympic athletes tend to live longer than the general population, similar health benefits and longevity could be achieved by all of us through routine physical activity.

You may remember the story we published in Dispatch on November 29, about protection from the pertussis vaccine fading over time. Well here is yet another reason to consider going out to get the booster as an adult. A whooping cough epidemic has broken out in Vermont and as of last week, 522 cases of pertussis have been reported across the state.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the World Health Organization agree that thimerosal should be used in vaccines, countering the ban contained in a draft treaty from the United Nations Environment Program.

Olympic athletes tend to live about 2.8 years longer than the general population, according to a study conducted at the University of Melbourne in Australia.