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Want More Exercise? Go To Bed Earlier, Study Suggests

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The age-old “early to bed, early to rise” proverb applies to your daily exercise regimen as well as your health, wealth and wisdom, a new study says. Folks who get to bed earlier tend to be more physically active every day, researchers reported June 30 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. On average, folks with a typical bedtime around 9 p.m. logged about 30 more minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each day, compared to night owls up ’til 1 a.m., researchers found. Even delaying sleep by a couple of hours can hamper the next day’s workout, results show. Those hitting the hay at 9 p.m. recorded nearly 15 additional minutes of exercise compared to those who delayed their sleep until 11 p.m., researchers found. “Sleep and physical activity are both critical to health, but until now we didn’t fully grasp how intricately connected they are in everyday life,” senior investigator Elise Facer-Childs, a senior research fellow with the Monash University School of Psychological Sciences in Australia, said in a news release. For the study, nearly 20,000 people wore a sleep-and-activity tracker on their wrist for a year. On average, the entire sample tended to nod off around 11 p.m. Results show that sleeping less than usual and falling asleep earlier were both associated with increased physical activity, compared with sleeping longer or…  read on >  read on >

Teen Drivers Spend A Fifth Of The Time Looking At Their Smartphone, Study Says

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About a fifth of the time, a teenage driver is looking at their smartphone rather than the road or their rearview, a new study says. Teen drivers spend an average 21% of each trip looking at their phone, according to results published today in the journal Traffic Injury Prevention. Worse, these weren’t quick glances — nearly 27% of the time the drivers focused on their phone for two seconds or longer, a duration that dramatically increases the risk of a crash, researchers said. Teen drivers most commonly check out their phone for entertainment (65%) or texting (40%), with 30% using the phone’s GPS to help them navigate roads, results showed. “Distracted driving is a serious public health threat and particularly concerning among young drivers,” lead researcher Rebecca Robbins, an assistant professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said in a news release. “Driving distracted doesn’t just put the driver at risk of injury or death, it puts everyone else on the road in danger of an accident,” Robbins added. Across the U.S., 35 states have banned all types of phone use for young drivers, researchers said in background notes. But a previous national study found that nearly 92% of teens still regularly engage in texting, talking or dialing in tunes on their smartphone while behind the wheel, researchers said. For the new…  read on >  read on >

Teen Drivers Spend A Fifth Of The Time Looking At Their Smartphone, Study Says

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About a fifth of the time, a teenage driver is looking at their smartphone rather than the road or their rearview, a new study says. Teen drivers spend an average 21% of each trip looking at their phone, according to results published today in the journal Traffic Injury Prevention. Worse, these weren’t quick glances — nearly 27% of the time the drivers focused on their phone for two seconds or longer, a duration that dramatically increases the risk of a crash, researchers said. Teen drivers most commonly check out their phone for entertainment (65%) or texting (40%), with 30% using the phone’s GPS to help them navigate roads, results showed. “Distracted driving is a serious public health threat and particularly concerning among young drivers,” lead researcher Rebecca Robbins, an assistant professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said in a news release. “Driving distracted doesn’t just put the driver at risk of injury or death, it puts everyone else on the road in danger of an accident,” Robbins added. Across the U.S., 35 states have banned all types of phone use for young drivers, researchers said in background notes. But a previous national study found that nearly 92% of teens still regularly engage in texting, talking or dialing in tunes on their smartphone while behind the wheel, researchers said. For the new…  read on >  read on >

Schools Should Be Prepared For These Three Medical Emergencies

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There are three common health emergencies for which all U.S. schools should be prepared, a new study says. Brain-related crises like seizures, psychiatric conditions or substance abuse, and trauma-related injuries are the three main reasons paramedics respond to schools, according to a new report in the journal Pediatrics. All together, these three types of medical emergencies account for about half of emergency medical services (EMS) trips to schools, researchers say. “While many schools have taken steps to ensure they are prepared for medical emergencies, many can still enhance their preparedness,” said lead researcher Dr. Michael Harries, a pediatric emergency medicine fellow at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. “Our study results highlight specific target areas for training of school staff, given that timeliness of treatment in an emergency is essential,” Harries said  in a news release. “We also stress that certain emergency medications should be available in the school setting, including benzodiazepine for seizures, epinephrine for food allergies and albuterol for asthma.” For the new study, researchers analyzed more than 506,500 EMS responses to schools that occurred between 2018 and 2022, including treatment of children aged 5 to 17. Neurologic problems like seizures accounted for 19% of EMS calls to schools, and psychiatric conditions or substance abuse nearly 17% of calls. Injuries caused by accidents or mishaps accounted for another 15%. Elementary…  read on >  read on >

Schools Should Be Prepared For These Three Medical Emergencies

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There are three common health emergencies for which all U.S. schools should be prepared, a new study says. Brain-related crises like seizures, psychiatric conditions or substance abuse, and trauma-related injuries are the three main reasons paramedics respond to schools, according to a new report in the journal Pediatrics. All together, these three types of medical emergencies account for about half of emergency medical services (EMS) trips to schools, researchers say. “While many schools have taken steps to ensure they are prepared for medical emergencies, many can still enhance their preparedness,” said lead researcher Dr. Michael Harries, a pediatric emergency medicine fellow at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. “Our study results highlight specific target areas for training of school staff, given that timeliness of treatment in an emergency is essential,” Harries said  in a news release. “We also stress that certain emergency medications should be available in the school setting, including benzodiazepine for seizures, epinephrine for food allergies and albuterol for asthma.” For the new study, researchers analyzed more than 506,500 EMS responses to schools that occurred between 2018 and 2022, including treatment of children aged 5 to 17. Neurologic problems like seizures accounted for 19% of EMS calls to schools, and psychiatric conditions or substance abuse nearly 17% of calls. Injuries caused by accidents or mishaps accounted for another 15%. Elementary…  read on >  read on >

Sleep Apnea Puts Soldiers In Harm’s Way

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Sleep apnea could be increasing the risks borne by U.S. soldiers serving on the front lines of combat, a new study says. Front-line soldiers are far more likely to suffer PTSD, anxiety, depression and injuries if they have sleep apnea, researchers reported recently in the journal Chest. “This study underscores the growing importance of early intervention in sleep apnea and access to high quality, cost-effective sleep care for service members,” lead researcher Emerson Wickwire, section chief of sleep medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said in a news release. Active-duty service members already struggle to get their minimum seven hours of shut-eye per night, researchers said in background notes. Only one-third regularly get enough sleep. There’s also a growing awareness of sleep apnea among troops, with diagnoses increasing more than tenfold between 2005 and 2019, researchers added. For this study, researchers compared about 60,000 service members with newly diagnosed sleep apnea against soldiers with similar backgrounds but no apnea problems. During the 12 months after their diagnosis, soldiers with sleep apnea had an additional 170,511 doctor’s visits and 1,852 ER visits compared to the healthy service members, results show. They also had a higher risk of health and mental problems, including a: 4.4-times higher risk of PTSD. 3.4-times increased risk of anxiety. 3 times increased risk for depression.  3.3-times higher risk of…  read on >  read on >

Sleep Apnea Puts Soldiers In Harm’s Way

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Sleep apnea could be increasing the risks borne by U.S. soldiers serving on the front lines of combat, a new study says. Front-line soldiers are far more likely to suffer PTSD, anxiety, depression and injuries if they have sleep apnea, researchers reported recently in the journal Chest. “This study underscores the growing importance of early intervention in sleep apnea and access to high quality, cost-effective sleep care for service members,” lead researcher Emerson Wickwire, section chief of sleep medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said in a news release. Active-duty service members already struggle to get their minimum seven hours of shut-eye per night, researchers said in background notes. Only one-third regularly get enough sleep. There’s also a growing awareness of sleep apnea among troops, with diagnoses increasing more than tenfold between 2005 and 2019, researchers added. For this study, researchers compared about 60,000 service members with newly diagnosed sleep apnea against soldiers with similar backgrounds but no apnea problems. During the 12 months after their diagnosis, soldiers with sleep apnea had an additional 170,511 doctor’s visits and 1,852 ER visits compared to the healthy service members, results show. They also had a higher risk of health and mental problems, including a: 4.4-times higher risk of PTSD. 3.4-times increased risk of anxiety. 3 times increased risk for depression.  3.3-times higher risk of…  read on >  read on >

Tens Of Thousands of Heart Attacks, Strokes Could Be Prevented With This Prescription

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Tens of thousands of people suffer needless heart attacks and strokes every year because they aren’t taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, a new study says. More than 39,000 deaths, nearly 100,000 non-fatal heart attacks and up to 65,000 strokes in the U.S. could be prevented if people eligible for statins and other cholesterol-lowering drugs were taking them, researchers reported June 30 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. Nearly half of Americans (47%) who’ve never had a heart attack or stroke are eligible to take statins under U.S. guidelines, researchers found. But fewer than a quarter (23%) of them have been prescribed the life-saving drugs, results show. A substantial number of heart attack or stroke survivors also aren’t taking the drugs, even though all are eligible for them under U.S. guidelines, researchers said. “These results add to a growing body of evidence that there are important shortcomings in the quality of care for common and costly chronic diseases such as high cholesterol, and that addressing those shortcomings would yield major public health benefits,” lead researcher Dr. Caleb Alexander, a professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in a news release. For the study, researchers analyzed data from nearly 5,000 U.S. adults between 40 and 75 years of age who took part in an annual U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…  read on >  read on >

Tens Of Thousands of Heart Attacks, Strokes Could Be Prevented With This Prescription

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Tens of thousands of people suffer needless heart attacks and strokes every year because they aren’t taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, a new study says. More than 39,000 deaths, nearly 100,000 non-fatal heart attacks and up to 65,000 strokes in the U.S. could be prevented if people eligible for statins and other cholesterol-lowering drugs were taking them, researchers reported June 30 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. Nearly half of Americans (47%) who’ve never had a heart attack or stroke are eligible to take statins under U.S. guidelines, researchers found. But fewer than a quarter (23%) of them have been prescribed the life-saving drugs, results show. A substantial number of heart attack or stroke survivors also aren’t taking the drugs, even though all are eligible for them under U.S. guidelines, researchers said. “These results add to a growing body of evidence that there are important shortcomings in the quality of care for common and costly chronic diseases such as high cholesterol, and that addressing those shortcomings would yield major public health benefits,” lead researcher Dr. Caleb Alexander, a professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in a news release. For the study, researchers analyzed data from nearly 5,000 U.S. adults between 40 and 75 years of age who took part in an annual U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…  read on >  read on >