The costs of caregiving are myriad and diverse. Often, when the topic comes up, it's about the emotional toll. According to some experts, the divorce rate among couples in which one or both are caregivers to a spouse or family member is as high as 75%.

But the financial toll can be no less devastating. A 2016 study by AARP found that the average caregiver spends $6,954 a year in out-of-pocket costs caring for a family member, with expenses ranging from $7 for medical wipes to thousands of dollars to retrofit a home or hire expensive outside help. (To wit: The going rate in San Francisco for a home health aide is $25 to $35 per hour.)

Some states are attempting to ease the burden. In California, legislators have introduced a bill that would give family caregivers a tax credit of up to $5,000 annually to help offset expenses. Similar legislation is being considered in Arizona, Illinois, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. None has yet been voted on or approved.

At the federal level, bills that would have created a federal income tax credit of up to $3,000 have never gotten out of congressional committees.

Body of Knowledge

It's stronger in aquatic mammals like seals, otters and muskrats, but humans, too, experience a mammalian diving reflex, a set of physiological responses to immersion. The reflex is triggered by the chilling and wetting of the nostrils and face while breath-holding: The heart slows, blood is redirected to vital organs to conserve oxygen, and the spleen releases its store of extra red blood cells.

It's all intended to help air-breathing animals optimize their time underwater, but it also happens in humans, including if they're just splashing cold water on their face.

Get Me That, Stat!

New cases of diagnosed diabetes in the United States have decreased by 35% since a peak in 2009 — the first sign that efforts to stop the nation's diabetes epidemic are working, reports the Centers for Disease Control.

The number of people living with diagnosed diabetes and new cases of diabetes doubled in the 1990s and throughout the 2000s, peaking at 8.2 persons with diabetes per 100 adults. The improvement was seen across ages, racial and ethnic groups and education levels.

Counts

47,600: Number of Americans who died in 2017 from opioid-related causes

88,000: Number of Americans who die each year from alcohol-related causes

44: Percentage drop in auto-related fatalities when bicyclists have protected bike lanes

Sources: CDC, Journal of Transport and Health

Phobia of the Week

Ephebiphobia: Fear of teenagers

Never Say 'Diet'

The Major League Eating speed-eating record for cheese curds is 5 pounds, 2 ounces in six minutes, held by Darron Breeden, who won going a-whey.

Best Medicine

"Thank you for calling the Weight Loss Hotline.

"If you'd like to lose half-a-pound immediately, please press 1.

"... 18,000 times."

Observation

"The closest thing to being cared for is to care for someone else." — American novelist Carson McCullers (1917-1967) in "The Square Root of Wonderful"

Medical History

This week in 1999, Nature Neuroscience published the first demonstration of live rats' brain signals directly controlling a robot arm. Researchers from MCP Hahnemann University Medical School and Duke University taught laboratory rats to operate a water-dispensing robot by thought alone. Their aim is to restore movement to patients who are paralyzed or have had limbs amputated. At first, the robot was controlled by the rat pressing a lever, and researchers identified the corresponding brain activity. Then the robot was linked to a computer interpreting the rats' brain signals. The rats gained water merely by thinking about pawing the lever.

Curtain Calls

In 1999, a male hippo in rut apparently mistook a passing tractor at a French zoo for a rival and smashed through his enclosure fencing. But then the hippo raced past the tractor and trampled the zoo's director, who was cycling past as part of a regular morning exercise regimen. A zoo spokesman described the death as "a crime of passion," but others noted that the director had trained the hippo, that they were friends and the hippo may have inadvertently crushed the director while seeking his comfort.

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.