U.S. suicide rates are ticking back upward again after a dip during the pandemic, new statistics show. Suicide deaths per 100,000 people had fallen from 14.2 recorded in the pre-pandemic year of 2018 to 13.5 in 2020. However, by 2022, the latest year for which statistics are available, the rate had climbed once more to 14.2 deaths per every 100,000 Americans, report researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This continues a tragic, longstanding trend, they noted. “From 2002 to 2018, the total rate [of suicide deaths] increased 30%, from 10.9 deaths per 100,000 standard population to 14.2,” wrote report co-authors Matthew Garnett and Sally Curtin, of the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Looking at final 2022 data from the National Vital Statistics System, the researchers found some variations in suicide death by age, gender and method used. Among males, rates decreased somewhat among boys and young men ages 10 through 24 between 2020 and 2022, but it rose among men over the age of 24. However, rates for suicide death among males overall did rise, and “the suicide rate for males was three to four times the rate for females across the period,” Garnett and Curtin reported. In 2022, the suicide death rate among males was 23 fatalities per 100,000 people, compared to 5.9 among females. Nevertheless, the number…  read on >  read on >

As people living near airports probably already know, all that overhead traffic can take a huge hit to their sleep, a new study confirms. Night-time aircraft noise increases a person’s risk of tossing and turning in bed as engines roar overhead, researchers reported Sept. 25 in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Airplane noise also appears to disrupt people’s sleep/wake cycles, leading them to fall asleep and wake up at irregular hours, researchers found. “Higher night-time aircraft noise was linked with disturbed sleep quality, even if people didn’t realize it,” said lead investigator Xiangpu Gong, a postdoctoral researcher with the University of Leicester in the U.K. “Sleep disturbance could have long-term effects on health, so it’s important for policies to address and reduce noise pollution from airplanes.” For the study, researchers tracked more than 80,000 people living near four major British airports — London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham. Study participants wore wrist devices that tracked their sleep patterns, and answered questionnaires about their sleep quality. Researchers compared this sleep data to maps created by the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority that show the level of aircraft noise that occurs in neighborhoods near airports. People exposed to higher levels of aircraft noise tended to move more while they slept, a sign of sleep disruption, researchers said. Higher levels of airplane noise was also associated with irregular…  read on >  read on >

“Body roundness” could be a better measure than BMI at predicting how excess weight might affect a person’s heart health, a new study finds. People who developed a high Body Roundness Index during a six-year period had a 163% increased risk of heart disease, researchers found, and even a moderate BRI was linked with a 61% increased risk. “Our findings indicate that six years of moderate-to-high stable BRI appeared to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, suggesting that BRI measurements may potentially be used as a predictive factor for cardiovascular disease incidence,” said senior investigator Dr. Yun Qian, a researcher of chronic non-communicable disease control at Nanjing Medical University’s Wuxi Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Body Roundness Index (BRI) compares a person’s waist circumference to their height, providing an estimate of their excess abdominal fat. By comparison, body-mass index only compares a person’s weight to their height. Some have criticized the BMI as an inaccurate measure of obesity — for example, very fit athletes can have a high BMI due to their heavy muscle mass. For the study, researchers tracked the BRI of nearly 10,000 adults in China 45 and older during the 2010s. BRI reflects not just a person’s belly fat, but also their amount of visceral fat — the fat packed in around the organs that’s thought to do the most damage related…  read on >  read on >

In a move that could mean more Americans in crisis get help and get it quickly, federal officials announced Tuesday that major cellphone carriers now have the technology to direct 988 callers to local mental health services based on their location instead of their area code. “The goal of 988 is to help people in a mental health or substance use crisis get 24/7 access to compassionate, nonjudgmental help,” Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, leader of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), said in a statement, CNN reported. “Connecting callers to local centers that can share information about their community’s services and resources helps to elevate that quality of care.” Verizon and T-Mobile started rolling out the “georouting” technology last week, CNN reported. Once fully implemented, the change will cover about half of all wireless calls to the 988 lifeline. AT&T also plans to begin the process within the next couple months. Next month, the Federal Communications Commission will vote on a rule that would require all wireless carriers to use georouting for 988 calls. If the final rule is adopted, nationwide providers will have 30 days to begin implementing the technology, while smaller providers will have two years to do so, CNN reported. “In times of crisis, every minute matters — especially when seeking help for yourself or a loved one in need of…  read on >  read on >