A nationwide survey of 600,000 people found an uptick in the number of teens and young adults experiencing mental health problems. Specifically, researchers found a 50% increase in depressive episodes among kids ages 12 to 17 and a 63% increase in adults 18 to 25. The latter age group also reported a 70% increase in more serious issues such as suicidal thoughts.

The researchers suggest increased digital media use may be partly to blame, but more research is needed.

Body of Knowledge

When your eyes look right, your eardrums bulge to the left, and vice versa. And your eardrums move 10 milliseconds before your eyes do. The linkage highlights the interconnectedness of senses — in this case, vision and hearing — in making sense of external stimuli.

Get Me That, Stat!

According to the investment firm Fidelity, the average 65-year-old couple can expect to pay roughly $285,000 in out-of-pocket health care costs over the course of their retirement. The sum does not include long-term care expenses.

Counts

13: Percentage that medical spending increased from 2012 to 2016 in 112 metro areas across the United States

17: Percentage that the use of medical services in those areas declined

Source: Health Care Cost Institute

Doc Talk

Sternutate: To sneeze

Mania of the Week

Oniomania: An obsessive or uncontrollable urge to buy things

Best Medicine

A painter got a call from the gallery showing his work. The gallery owner said, "I have good news and bad news. A fellow came in this morning and asked if your work is the kind that would increase in value after the artist's death. I said yes, and he bought all 15 paintings. The bad news is that he's your doctor."

Hypochondriac's Guide

Boanthropy is a psychological disorder in which the sufferer believes he or she is a cow or ox and exhibits grazing behaviors, such as getting down on all fours to chew grass. The most famous person believed to have suffered from boanthropy is Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire from 605 B.C. to 562 B.C.

Observation

"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion." — Dalai Lama

Medical History

This week in 1993, an astronaut received a test infusion while in orbit on the space shuttle Columbia. German physicist Hans Schlegel had saline solution at body temperature pumped into him through a needle. The experiment provided a means of addressing dehydration and other common space problems such as a puffy face and skinny legs.

Ig Nobel Apprised

The Ig Nobel Prizes celebrate achievements that make people laugh and then think — a look at real science that's hard to take seriously and even harder to ignore.

In 2013, the Ig Nobel Prize in medicine went to Masateru Uchiyama and collaborators for assessing the effect of listening to opera on heart transplant patients who are mice.

Self-Exam

Q: Why can most people lift one eyebrow — right or left — or both at the same time, but very few can lift either the right or left eyebrow independently and to the same degree?

A: The nerves and muscles involved are not quite symmetrical, meaning that there are some things one side of your face can do better than the other.

Fit to Be Tried

There are thousands of exercises, and you've only got one body, but that doesn't mean you can't try them all. Here's a handful for people with osteoarthritis in their hands:

1. Make a fist. Start with your fingers straight and then slowly bend your hand into a fist. Make sure your thumb is on the outside of your hand. Don't squeeze too tightly. Then straighten again.

2. Bend your digits. Stretch your hand in front of you, palm up. Then take each finger and move it very slowly to the center of your palm. Hold it. Then straighten.

3. Thumb bends. Thumbs are often most problematic. Bend it toward your palm. Try to touch the pinky, if possible. Repeat.

4. Finger lifts. With your palm flat on a table, fingers spread slightly, lift each one slowly off the table, then back down before raising the next.

5. Easy squeezes. Take a tennis ball or stress ball and squeeze gently repeatedly.

One thing to avoid: Hand activities that are overly repetitive, such as typing on a computer for hours on end or texting with just your thumbs.

Curtain Calls

Allan Pinkerton, founder of the eponymous detective agency, died in 1884 in Chicago when he tripped over uneven pavement and severely bit his tongue. The wound turned gangrenous, leading to his death.

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.