General Health

Doctors say you should never clean your ears with cotton swabs, but people reach for them anyway to scoop out the wax. According to the authors of a study in the Journal of Pediatrics, using cotton swabs to clean your ears can be dangerous, especially for children. In fact, use of these cotton swabs sends approximately 3 dozen children to the ER every day. [1]
Approximately 12,500 children under the age of 18 are treated in U.S. emergency departments for ear injuries each year, which amounts to about 34 visits per day.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is tasked with making sure that drugs and medical devices are safe and efficient for Americans to use. However, it appears that the agency doesn’t take its job seriously enough, because a new study shows that nearly 1/3 of medications approved from 2001 to 2010 had safety issues years after they were made widely available to patients, and some were quite serious. [1]

The number of cases of Candida auris (C. auris), a dangerous multidrug-resistant fungus, in the U.S. has grown from 7 to 122 over the past 9 months, the CDC says in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. [1]

Did you know that in past studies, avocado-eaters have been shown to be healthier than non-eaters? Chowing down on the fruit (yes, avocados are technically berries!) is associated with a lower body weight, a lower body mass index (BMI), a lower intake of added sugars, higher nutrient levels, and a better-quality diet overall. It makes perfect sense, then, that a new review of medical literature shows that eating avocados may help you avoid metabolic syndrome.

Marijuana has been associated with reducing seizures in people with epilepsy for years, but only now is the topic getting more of the scientific scrutiny it deserves. In a recent study, cannabidiol (CBD) reduced the number of seizures by half in a substantial number of children and adults with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), a severe form of epilepsy.
GW Pharmaceuticals, a developer of cannabidiol, sponsored the study.

The findings of a Yahoo News/Marist poll show that people over the age of 69 generally don’t have positive views of marijuana. While the majority of younger Americans increasingly view marijuana as a legitimate medication and relatively acceptable recreational substance, the older crowd has been slower to adopt these views.

Researchers announced in April that they may have figured out how eating meat causes heart disease. The nutrient choline, an essential nutrient found in meat and eggs, may feed a certain gut bacteria which produce a compound that makes blood sticky and prone to form blood clots. These blood clots can lead to heart attacks and strokes. [1]

Exercise can undoubtedly help you live better, but what about longer? Are there certain activities that are better than others? Yes, and yes. A study published in the BMJ suggests that exercise can reduce your risk of death from cardiovascular-related issues (think heart disease or stroke), and there are certain activities that may be more beneficial than others. [1]

A 16-year-old South Carolina boy consumed a large Diet Mountain Dew, a cafe latte from McDonald’s, and an energy drink within the course of 2 hours, and it evidently cost him his life. [1]
Davis Allen Cripe’s caffeine splurge likely caused deadly a heart arrhythmia, according to Richland County coroner Gary Watts.

“It was too much caffeine at the time of his death that it caused his arrhythmia.”

The Mayo Clinic explains heart arrhythmias this way:

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in the Fukushima prefecture of Japan was hit by first a massive earthquake, then a devastating tsunami, on March 11, 2011. It was immediately recognized as one of the worst nuclear accidents in world history, alongside Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. According to a team of scientists, the radiation spewed by the crippled plant affected every person on earth. But don’t panic – you got only about a single X-ray’s worth. [1]