Roughly 1 in 10 adults in the U.S. has a recent prescription for a pain medicine, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey. Six percent of those prescriptions are for opioids.

Prescription pain medication use rises with age. Only 5% of people ages 20-39 said they used a prescription painkiller, compared with 15% for those ages 60 and older. Women were more likely to use a prescription painkiller than men.

Is There a Doctor in the House? Is There a Doctor?

Despite reports of steadily rising incomes, there are also reports of projected physician shortages in the U.S., with up to an estimated 139,000 fewer doctors by 2033 covering both primary care and specialties. The main driver for the projected shortfall is an aging workforce, with approximately 40% of current physicians turning 65 or older within the next decade.

Body of Knowledge

Insects can taste water. There is some research suggesting some animals can, too, such as cats, rats, dogs and pigs. Human cannot taste water. What we taste are trace elements, impurities and chemicals in the water.

Get Me That, Stat!

Thirteen percent of women say they experience postpartum depression symptoms, according to the CDC.

Counts

10: percentage greater that medical spending per patient is projected to be in 2121 compared with this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Source: PwC

Doc Talk

Cavernous sinus granulomatosis: a constant stabbing pain in the eye caused by inflammation of the channels behind the eye: the cavernous sinus and the superior orbital fissure, both filled with nerves. Also called ophthalmoplegia dolorosa and Tolosa-Hunt syndrome.

Phobia of the Week

Atomosophobia: fear of atomic explosions.

Best Medicine

Q: What do you call a student who got C's all the way through medical school?

A: Hopefully, not your doctor.

Observation

"Somewhere on this globe, every 10 seconds, there is a woman giving birth to a child. She must be found and stopped." — American humorist Sam Levenson (1911-1980)

Self-Exam

True or false: Firstborn children have higher IQ scores than their younger siblings.

True. First-born babies tend to receive more mental stimulation in their formative years, according to researchers, and benefit accordingly.

Curtain Calls

In 2007, Surinder Singh Bajwa, the deputy mayor of Delhi, India, fell to his death from a home balcony while trying to fend off a horde of wild monkeys.

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.

Photo credit: nosheep at Pixabay