The use of tobacco products among middle and high school students is declining, albeit not low enough for health officials. Food and Drug Administration researchers report that 3.6 million young people used tobacco products in 2017, down from 4.5 million in 2011.
E-cigarettes are becoming the preferred tobacco option, with nearly 12 percent of high school and 3 percent of middle school students saying they had used an e-cig in the past month during 2017.
Painful Numbers
When it comes to suicide, the world remains are hard and lonely place. A new report by the World Health Organization says just one-third of upper-middle and high-income countries have national plans to prevent suicides. Only 10 percent of low- and lower-middle income countries have national plans.
Worldwide, the median number of mental health care providers is nine per 100,000 people.
Improving mental health care, though, can pay off big. WHO estimates that for every dollar invested in improving treatments for conditions like depression, there is a $4 return in better health and work ability.
Body of Knowledge
The stomach produces a new layer of protective mucus every two weeks.
Get Me That, Stat!
A Harvard economist and biostatistician estimates that proposed policy changes by the Environmental Protection Agency, including weakening clean air and water rules, would result in the death of 80,000 more Americans per decade.
Life in Big Macs
One hour of sitting or singing in church burns 102 calories (based on a 150-pound person) or the equivalent of 0.1 Big Macs.
Counts
172: Current number of pediatric flu deaths in the U.S., the highest pediatric death toll for a flu season that wasn't declared a pandemic by the Centers for Disease Control
Source: CDC
Doc Talk
Acute gravity attack: the patient fell over
Phobia of the Week
Kopophobia: fear of fatigue (which can be exhausting).
Never Say Diet
The Major League Eating record for watermelon is 13.22 pounds in 15 minutes, held by Jim Reeves. Usually these events are six to 10 minutes long; the extra time was no doubt due to those dang seeds.
Best Medicine
During a physical exam, a doctor remarked on a new patient's extraordinarily ruddy complexion. The patient replied, "High blood pressure, doc. It comes from my family."
"Your mother's side or your father's," asked the doctor.
"Neither," replied the patient. "My wife."
Hypochondriac's Guide
Parry Romberg Syndrome is an acquired, not inherited, disorder in which skin and soft tissues on half of the face begin to shrink (atrophy), leading to a non-symetrical appearance. Symptoms usually appear before age 20 and vary in severity. The cause of the syndrome is unknown.
Observation
"When I'm not in my right mind, my left mind gets pretty crowded."
American comedian Steven Wright
Medical History
This week in 2001, doctors at Jewish Hospital in Louisville, Ky., implanted the first self-contained, mechanical heart replacement inside 59-year-old Robert Tools. Called the AbioCor, the softball-sized device was battery powered. Tools died almost five months later from multiple organ failure.
Self Exam
Q: At birth, how many bones do you have?
a) 206
b) 350
c) 409
A: Newborns begin with 350 bones, but many fuse together over the first several years of life and growth. By adulthood, you have 206.
Epitaphs
"No comment."
American writer and environmentalist Edward Abbey (1927-1989). The words are also reportedly the last ones he uttered before dying.
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.
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