Everywhere you go, there are commercials and ads promoting shock-absorbing insoles that are supposed to help prevent injuries or stress fractures among folks who refuse to just walk places. But do they actually help runners stay healthy?

Not according to a paper published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, which analyzed data from 11 clinical trials on foot orthotics and seven studies of cushiony, supposedly therapeutic insoles.

Insoles are supposed to reduce injuries caused by the hard, repetitive striking of foot to pavement, but the researchers found they didn't reduce the risk of any type of injury, including tendon and muscle problems, knee pain or back issues.

Foot orthotics, which generally attempt to even pressures on the feet, are typically designed for individual runners, often at the direction of a physician. They proved more beneficial, reducing the risk of stress fractures in the legs or feet by 41 percent.

Reefer Sadness

Teen drug use is generally down, according to the National Institutes of Health.

For example, just fewer than 5 percent of high school seniors surveyed report using opioid pain relievers for non-medical reasons, down from a peak rate of 9.4 percent in 2004. The use of heroin has remained stable (0.3 percent) and the ADHD drug Adderall (6 percent).

There is one notable exception: Nearly 23 percent of high school seniors said they had used marijuana in the past month. "Now we have more teenagers smoking marijuana than cigarettes," Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse told STAT. "If you ask if they smoke, they think you mean marijuana."

Body of Knowledge

Women remember dreams better than men, but at least 95 percent of dreams are never recalled upon waking. Of those recalled, the four most common themes (roughly 60 percent of both genders) are being chased or pursued, falling, school/studying and sexual experiences.

Number Cruncher

A scoop of Asian fried ice cream (28 grams) contains 77 calories, 35 from fat. It has 3.9 grams of total fat or 6 percent of the recommended total fat intake for a 2,000-calorie daily diet.

It also contains 10 milligrams of cholesterol (3 percent); 68 mg of sodium (3 percent); 9.8 grams of total carbohydrates (3 percent); 0.2 g of dietary fiber and 1.1 g of protein.

Doc Talk

Pillow positive: Patients who are regularly admitted into hospitals for prolonged stays, but with no apparent physiological problem. It's joked that they arrive at the hospital with their own, favorite pillows.

Phobia of the Week

Linonophobia: fear of string

Never Say Diet

The world's speed-eating record for ice cream (vanilla) is 1 gallon, 9 ounces in 12 minutes, held by Cookie Jarvis. The feat was not unexpected, given that ice cream and Cookie naturally go together.

Best Medicine

Phlebotomist: I'm here to draw some blood.

Patient: But I just received blood yesterday.

Phlebotomist: You didn't think you'd get to keep it, did you?

Hypochondriac's Guide

Muscle Dysmorphia: A psychiatric condition, generally limited to Western males, in which sufferers believe they are not inadequately "ripped." That is, their muscles lack sufficient visible definition. As a result, they may obsessively lift weights in gyms or use unapproved drugs that promote muscle growth, such as anabolic steroids.

Observation

"One doctor makes work for another." —English proverb

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. Smith had obtained the hand of the cadaver and fired a bullet into it to create the image, which was subsequently published in the Charlotte Observer newspaper.

Med School

Q: Is there such a thing as an "old person smell?"

A: Yes, but there's also a "young person smell" and a "middle-aged person smell," according to research published in the journal PLOS ONE. The natural odor of the human body goes through several age-dependent changes in chemical composition. Researchers found that old age odors were less intense and less unpleasant that body odors originating from young and middle-aged study participants. They also found that humans are able to differentiate ages (of unseen persons) based upon odor.

Epitaphs

"174517"

Primo Levi (1919-1987) was an Italian chemist and writer who opposed the Fascism movement and was sent to the German concentration camp at Auschwitz at the beginning of World War II. He survived. The numbers on his tombstone were his identifying numbers at Auschwitz.

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.