The more social ties you have early in life, the better your health will be at both the beginning and end of it, according to University of North Carolina researchers, who looked at links between social relationships and concrete measures of well-being, such as abdominal obesity, high blood pressure and inflammation. Data was taken from four national representative surveys of the U.S. population.
They found that the sheer size of a young person's social network generally encouraged behaviors that promoted a healthy life, early and late. Indeed, social isolation as a teen increased the risk of inflammation (linked to myriad diseases including cancer) as much as physical inactivity.
Interestingly, the number of friends and social connections one enjoyed in middle adulthood was less relevant to health than the quality of those relationships.
Wake-Up Call
Night shifts and stick shifts don't mix well. Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital asked study participants to participate in a daytime test-drive after working a night shift. More than 37 percent of the bleary-eyed drivers nearly crashed. The same workers took the test drive again after a good night's sleep. Result: Zero near-crashes.
The study has major public health implications. More than 9.5 million Americans work overnight or in rotating shifts. One-third of American workers commute at least 30 minutes. Between 2009 and 2013, a drowsy driver was involved in 21 percent of fatal crashes and 13 percent of crashes causing severe injury.
Eye-opening numbers, indeed.
Body of Knowledge
Humans are losing their Plantaris muscles, already absent in roughly 9 percent of people. The muscle, located along the back of the leg from the knee to the ankle, is used by (other) animals to grip with their feet.
Get Me That, Stat!
In a survey of hematologic oncologists, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, more than half of doctors reported that, in their experience, end-of-life discussions occurred "too late." Almost one-quarter said they waited until a patient was near death before talking about hospice care. Forty percent waited until death was clearly imminent before discussing where the patient wanted to die.
Life in Big Macs
One hour of sitting quietly, like you would in church, burns 68 calories (based on a 150-pound person) or the equivalent of 0.1 Big Macs. If you sneak a Snickers bar into church, you'd need to sit there for more than four hours to burn off the 273 calories.
Counts
45: The number of drugs approved by the FDA in 2015, the most since 1996
90: Percentage of persons who survived a prescription opioid overdose who were able to obtain another prescription for the same drugs
1 in 5: Ratio of publicly funded clinical trials for cancer that do not enroll enough participants to produce solid results
Sources: Food and Drug Administration; Boston Medical Center, Annals of Internal Medicine; National Cancer Institute
Doc Talk
SOB: shortness of breath
Mania of the Week
Empleomania: Mania for holding public office
Hypochondriac's Guide
Nicknamed Alice in Wonderland syndrome, micropsia is a neurological disorder in which the patient sees an object much, much smaller than it actually is, as if looking through the wrong end of a telescope. The illness is not caused by any eye deficiency, but by how the brain interprets visual information from the eyes.
Observation
"Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." — Comedian Steven Wright
Medical History
This week in 1896, the first X-ray photograph in the United States may have been taken by Dr. Henry Louis Smith, a professor of physics and astronomy at Davidson College in North Carolina. It showed the location of a bullet in the hand of a corpse, using a 15-minute exposure. The photograph was published in the Charlotte Observer.
Med School
Q: What happens to the internal organs after an autopsy?
A: After the organs are examined by a pathologist, they may be removed for further study, sometimes biopsied or dissected for more intense inspection. At the end of the autopsy, the organs may be returned to the body and the incision closed or they may be retained for teaching, research or diagnostic purposes.
Sum Body
Three Over-the-top Things to Know About Hair
1. You have pretty much the same coverage and numbers as a chimpanzee, only most human hair is too fine and pale to be visible.
2. Blond women have more follicles than brunettes and redheads, also more estrogen.
3. Males with male pattern baldness have a higher risk of heart disease.
Mycrobes
Propionibacterium acnes is a bacterium commonly found on the skin, in pores and hair follicles. Once, as its name suggests, it was thought to cause pimples and skin problems. In fact, P. acne is mostly benign and helps fend off harmful bacteria by taking up space that pathogens might invade.
Last Words
"Oh, jeez, my head."
— Isidro (Gino) Perez, a 24-year-old lightweight boxer. Perez spoke the words during a 1983 bout in which he would be knocked out and never regain consciousness. He died one week later of massive injuries to the stem of the brain.
To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by otherCreators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
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