Folks are more likely to drive drowsy than drive drunk, even though both raise the risk of a fatal crash, a new survey shows. About 4 in 10 adults say they’ll find alternative transportation when they haven’t gotten enough sleep, according to the poll from the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). By comparison, nearly 7 in 10 adults say they won’t drive after having a few drinks. Drowsy driving is a significant threat to road safety, just like drunk, drugged or distracted driving can be, according to the NSF. “NSF data consistently show that Americans do not think drowsy driving is as dangerous as other forms of impaired driving, like drunk driving,” said Joseph Dzierzewski, senior vice president of research and scientific affairs for the NSF. “We want the public to know that sleeping only three to four hours before driving is like having a few drinks, and encourage everyone to have a backup plan in place for when they are not alert enough to drive safely, like choosing ride share or taxi options, or calling friends and family to help you and others stay safe,” Dzierzewski said in an NSF news release. Drowsy Driving Prevention Week runs from Nov. 3-9, and the new NSF survey was fielded as part of that observance.  Drowsy driving is responsible for 1 in every 5 deadly motor vehicle crashes,…  read on >  read on >

Folks who depend on e-bikes and powered scooters to get around know they might get hurt, but they might be surprised by just how likely that really is. Rates of injury on the trendy transportation devices skyrocketed between 2019 and 2022, Columbia University researchers report. E-bike injuries jumped 293%; those involving powered scooters were up 88%. “Our results underscore the urgent need to improve micromobility injury surveillance and to identify strategies for cities to improve user’s safety so that micromobility can be a safe, sustainable, equitable and healthy option for transportation,” said first study author Kathryn Burford. She’s a postdoctoral fellow in epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City. Micromobility covers any small, low-speed, human- or electric-powered transportation device. And these devices are growing in popularity: Between 2019 and 2022, e-bike sales surpassed those of electric cars and trucks — up by a whopping 269%. Drawing from a nationwide injury surveillance system, Burford’s team looked at patterns for more than 1.9 million injuries associated with e-bikes, bicycles, hoverboards and powered scooters. The sample included data from 96 U.S. hospitals. Of 48.8 million injuries that resulted in an ER visit between 2019 and 2022, 1.9 million involved micromobility devices. Bicycles were No. 1, accounting for 33.2 of every 1,000 ER injuries. Powered scooters were No. 2, with 3.4 of every…  read on >  read on >

Brain damage that veterans suffered from flying shrapnel has provided a major clue that could lead to better treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a new study says. Veterans who suffered shrapnel damage connected to their amygdala, the fear center of the brain, were less likely to develop PTSD, researchers reported Sept. 24 in the journal Nature Neuroscience. The results suggest that PTSD could be treated by using electrical pulses to disrupt brain networks linked to the amygdala, they added. “This is a very real brain disease, and we can localize it to certain brain circuits,” said corresponding author Dr. Shan Siddiqi, a psychiatrist in the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics. “Unfortunately, people sometimes assume PTSD has to do with how mentally strong or weak a person is, but it has nothing to do with moral character.” Researchers previously have uncovered brain networks to successfully treat depression and addiction using neurostimulation, and have been trying to locate the network associated with PTSD. For this study, the research team examined 193 patients from the Vietnam Head Injury Study who’d suffered brain injuries from shrapnel penetrating their skulls. “Some of these veterans who got shrapnel in their head went on to develop PTSD, but many of them did not,” said study co-author Dr. Michael Fox, director of the Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics.…  read on >  read on >

Millions of Americans are caring for veterans, putting their finances and their mental health on the line to help those who have served the country. More than 14 million Americans now provide daily care to wounded, sick or injured military service members or veterans, a new study finds. And data show that care is taking its toll. More than 40% of caregivers for younger veterans 60 or under meet criteria for probable depression, researchers found. Further, one-third thought they need mental health care but don’t receive it, mainly because they don’t have the time, results show. Caregivers also reported spending more than $8,500 out-of-pocket each year helping veterans, researchers found, and their care made them forego $4,000 a year in additional income. Those costs could be why one-third of military or veteran caregivers report incomes below 130% of the federal poverty line, researchers said. “Military and veteran caregivers are family members who do this out of love and obligation, but they are also friends and neighbors who are taking on these duties out of caring and kindness,” said lead researcher Rajeev Ramchand, a senior behavioral scientist at RAND Corp., a nonprofit research organization. “Care recipients benefit from the work these caregivers do, and caregivers benefit as well. But caregiving is not without its costs, both financial and emotional,” Ramchand added in a RAND news release.…  read on >  read on >

Most parents are placing their kids in harms’ way by moving them out of their car booster seat too soon, a new study warns. Four out of five parents moved their kid out of a booster seat before the child was big enough, according to the report, Booster Seat Use in the USA: Breakthroughs and Barriers, published Sept. 16 by Safe Kids Worldwide. Further, three in four parents didn’t know that children need to ride in boosters until they’re at least 4-foot-9, results show. “Booster seats save lives and prevent serious injuries, but only if we use them and make sure they are adjusted properly,” said Torine Creppy, president of Safe Kids Worldwide. “Here’s a great first step: once your child is big enough to use a booster seat, keep using it until they can safely ride in a seat belt alone. It’s the best way to keep your child safe.” For the study, researchers with Ohio State University conducted an online survey of more than 3,000 parents and caregivers with kids ages 4 to 10. Booster seats can reduce the risk of serious injury by 45% compared to using a seat belt alone, researchers said in background notes. But survey results showed that many parents aren’t making sure their kid is big enough before getting rid of the booster seat. The survey also found…  read on >  read on >