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Sparse traffic on U.S. roads during the coronavirus pandemic has spawned a spike in speeding and other types of reckless driving, the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) says. Here are some examples. Police in Colorado, Indiana, Nebraska and Utah have clocked drivers going more than 100 miles per hour on highways. In Los Angeles, cars are going as much as 30% faster on some streets, prompting changes to traffic lights and pedestrian walk signals. In New York City, automated speed cameras issued 24,765 speeding tickets on March 27 — nearly double the number issued daily a month earlier — despite far fewer cars being on the road. Some states have lower crash rates but more serious crashes. Car crash death rates are on the rise in Massachusetts, and pedestrian deaths are on the rise in Nevada and Rhode Island. Car crashes and related deaths in Minnesota are more than double what they were at the same time period in previous years, and half of the deaths were due to speeding or careless/negligent driving. “While COVID-19 is clearly our national priority, our traffic safety laws cannot be ignored,” GHSA executive director Jonathan Adkins said in a news release from the association. “Law enforcement officials have the same mission as health care providers — to save lives.” If you must drive, he said, “buckle up, follow the… read on >

Low-dose aspirin may reduce the risk of several types of digestive tract cancers, according to a team of researchers in Europe. For the new study, the researchers analyzed 113 studies investigating colon/rectal (“bowel”), head and neck, esophageal, stomach, liver, gallbladder, bile duct and pancreatic cancers in the general population. The studies were published up to 2019. The investigators concluded there was a link between regular use of aspirin — taking at least one or two aspirin pills a week — and a significant reduction in the risk of all these cancers, with the exception of head and neck cancer. The study was published April 16 in the journal Annals of Oncology. For colon/rectal cancer, extensive evidence stemmed from 45 studies. “There are about 175,000 deaths from bowel cancer predicted for 2020 in the European Union, of which about 100,000 will be in people aged between 50 and 74,” said study senior author Dr. Carlo La Vecchia. He’s a professor of epidemiology in the school of medicine at the University of Milan, Italy. “If we assume that regular use of aspirin increases from 25% to 50% in this age group, this would mean that between 5,000 to 7,000 deaths from bowel cancer, and between 12,000 and 18,000 new cases could be avoided if further studies show that aspirin does indeed cause the reduction in cancer risk,”… read on >

Today’s youngsters are as socially skilled as previous generations, despite concerns about their heavy use of technology, like smartphones and social media, new research shows. The researchers compared teacher and parent evaluations of more than 19,000 U.S. children who started kindergarten in 1998 — six years before Facebook appeared — with more than 13,000 who began school in 2010. That’s when the first iPad came on the market. “In virtually every comparison we made, either social skills stayed the same or actually went up modestly for the children born later,” said study lead author Douglas Downey, a professor of sociology at Ohio State University. “There’s very little evidence that screen exposure was problematic for the growth of social skills,” he added in a school news release. Both groups of youngsters had similar ratings on interpersonal skills — such as the ability to form and maintain friendships and get along with people who are different — and on self-control, such as the ability to control their temper. The only exception to the overall findings was that social skills were slightly lower for children who accessed online gaming and social networking sites many times a day. “But even that was a pretty small effect,” Downey said. “Overall, we found very little evidence that the time spent on screens was hurting social skills for most children,” he added.… read on >

An analysis of Twitter data suggests that Americans are heeding social distancing and other safety recommendations during the coronavirus pandemic, researchers say. Officials have told people to limit travel, stay home and distance themselves to slow the spread of the virus. “The question though is how effective are these policies? Once you tell people to stay home, it doesn’t mean everyone listens,” said research leader Mark Dredze, a computer scientist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. “It’s important for us to understand on an ongoing basis if people are actually listening to these directives,” he said in a Hopkins news release. But how do experts know people are staying put? For this study, they used location data from Twitter. It showed that the movement of Americans between March 16 and 29 was 52% of what it was between Jan. 1, 2019 and March 16, 2020. People’s movements in some states didn’t fall as much as in other states, particularly states with firm social distancing measures, according to the researchers. The analysis of nearly 400 tweets by 3.7 million users found the greatest reductions in movement in Washington, D.C. (63%); Alaska (62.5%); Washington state (58.8%); New Jersey (58.3%), and Maryland (57.6%). The smallest reductions in movement were in Wyoming (21.5%); Oklahoma (30.9%); Mississippi (35.4%): Iowa (36%), and Idaho (36.4%). Similar research has been conducted by others,… read on >

If you feel like the news about coronavirus is growing worse by the hour, then it might be time to take stock: How much do you really need to know? As the pandemic unfolds, and people routinely wake up to uncertainty, it is necessary to stay informed, psychologists say. At the same time, they caution, remember that media overload is real. And it may raise anxiety to a level that does more harm than good. “The data show that the harm does not come from staying informed in a reasonable way — like reading your morning paper every day,” said Dana Rose Garfin, an assistant adjunct professor at the University of California, Irvine’s School of Nursing. And in the midst of a pandemic, she pointed out, a little worry is normal and necessary. “Some amount of concern is a good thing, so that we’re not complacent,” Garfin said. “We want to be aware of — and following — public health guidelines.” But there is such a thing as too much. “There’s a big difference between staying informed and having the news on all day long, repeating the same things,” said Garfin, co-author of a commentary on coronavirus media exposure that was recently published in the journal Health Psychology. Beyond the amount of news, the content matters, too: News outlets have taken to tracking daily death… read on >

If more women were hired for trucking jobs, the roads would be a lot safer, British researchers suggest. That’s because men, who hold most driving jobs, are more likely to drive dangerously. This puts other road users at risk, said lead researcher Rachel Aldred. She’s a reader in transport at the University of Westminster in London. “Greater gender equity would have a positive impact on [vehicle-related] injuries,” Aldred said. “Policymakers should be looking to measure the risk posed to others, and how to reduce it.” For the study, Aldred’s team drew on four sets of British data. They included injury and traffic statistics, travel survey data, as well as population and gender figures for 2005 to 2015. Men posed a significantly higher risk to others for five of the six types of vehicles studied, the researchers found. For cars and vans, the risk male drivers posed was double that of women per kilometer driven. The risk was four times higher for male truck drivers, and more than 10 times higher for those on motorcycles, the findings showed. Overall, two-thirds of traffic deaths were tied to cars and taxis, but the research suggested other vehicles might be even more dangerous. Trucks and buses were associated with one in six deaths to other road users, according to the report. The number of deaths for each kilometer driven… read on >

With bogus information about the new coronavirus spreading fast online, how can you separate fact from fiction? A communications expert at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg said identifying reliable and useful sources of information is key. Here’s her advice: “Be skeptical of social media posts about the COVID-19 virus, even those that have the superficial look of news items, and check their sources and accuracy,” said Adrienne Ivory, associate professor of communication at Virginia Tech. “If you are not sure whether a source of information can be trusted, check multiple news sources to see if the information is consistent across them.” Always check social media claims about coronavirus prevention and treatment against official sources such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And, Ivory added, pay attention to summary information in news stories, instead of individual anecdotes. “Interesting examples of people and events related to the COVID-19 virus may be true, but not typical,” she said in a Virginia Tech news release. “In addition to reading stories about individuals, pay attention to general information summarizing more broad populations (numbers of cases, rate of growth, hospitalization rates by age group) because it may be more relevant and representative.” Ivory suggested seeking out information that helps you and others stay healthy, not information that worries you. “Much of the most ‘viral’ news you encounter in social… read on >

You went jogging and developed a cough. You did some yard work and now you’re wheezing. Maybe your throat is scratchy. Your first thought is: Do I have COVID-19? The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has posted a new coronavirus self-checker on its website that might ease your mind and steer you toward any medical help you might need. The worst part about the coronavirus pandemic is the way the admittedly vague symptoms of the infectious disease plays tricks on your mind, experts say. “There’s a lot of symptoms here that are going to be nonspecific, as with any upper respiratory infection, and the fact is that many cases of coronavirus are very mild,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore. “You’re going to have people who don’t know what to do.” The CDC’s website has a tracker to help figure out if you have anything to worry about. The web tool first asks if you are ill or caring for someone who’s ill, and where you are located. It gathers basic information such as age and gender. The tracker then asks about a series of life-threatening symptoms, including some that aren’t at all related to COVID-19. These include gasping for air, blue-colored lips or face, severe pain or pressure in the chest,… read on >

Technology can help you maintain social connections if you’re staying home during the coronavirus pandemic, an expert says. “When using technology to stay connected, prioritize keeping deeper, meaningful connections with people,” said Stephen Benning, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Benning suggests using Skype or other video messaging to see and hear from people who are important to you. An old-fashioned phone call will let you maintain vocal connection, and your favorite social media site’s messaging app will let you keep an individual or group dialog going. “In these deep, close, personalized connections, it’s OK to share your anxieties and fears. Validating that other people are concerned or even scared can help them feel like they are grounded in reality,” he said. But don’t stop there, Benning added. “Use these deep connections to plan out what to do, to take concrete actions to live the lives you want,” he suggested in a university news release. “To the extent possible, share hobbies or other pursuits together if you’re shut off from work or other personal strivings for success.” Hold book clubs on speakerphone or group meetings on Zoom. Find online versions of bridge, board games, role-playing adventures or other diversions. Make a date with friends to watch a show or movie on TV or streaming media, and share your reactions… read on >

New research suggests that last summer’s spate of severe lung illnesses tied to vaping prompted many Americans to consider giving up e-cigarettes. Online searches about how to quit vaping spiked after serious lung injuries among vapers started being reported, the study authors found As of January, more than 2,700 hospitalizations for vaping-associated lung injury had been reported in the United States. Sixty deaths in 27 states have been confirmed, with more under investigation, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Before these lung illness cases were connected primarily with vaping of marijuana and additives, many people who used nicotine-containing e-cigarettes were concerned, the researchers noted. “We were curious whether this outbreak led vapers to consider stopping using e-cigarettes or increased people’s desire to quit,” said study author Dr. Sara Kalkhoran, an investigator in the Tobacco Research and Treatment Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “We thought people might be going to the internet to look into ways to help them quit,” Kalkhoran added in a hospital news release. She and her team analyzed Google data and found that searches with terms such as “quit vaping” increased up to 3.7-fold during the lung illness outbreak. “Then these searches then died down, so the timing of the outbreak was strongly associated with searches on how to get off of these products,” Kalkhoran said.… read on >