Crashes are up by as much as 6 percent in Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, compared with neighboring states that haven’t legalized marijuana for recreational use, new research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) shows.
Insurance Agent:
“Why do you need a marijuana questionnaire?”
Underwriter:
“Confidential medical information. Besides, I’ve seen her driving record and you haven’t.”
Insurance agent:
Silence.
This new study found that, in addition to how many breathing interruptions occur, how long each one lasts is also important. Patients with the shortest apneas were 31 percent more likely to die during the study’s decade of follow-up with participants. This held true for both male and female participants.
The researchers identified patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease between the years 1964 and 2014 via the Swedish patient register. Using these data, they compared mortality rates in about 9,400 children who developed IBD with those of other children.
Their results show that children who developed IBD before the age of 18 have a three to five-fold higher mortality rate than people without IBD, both during childhood and into adulthood. This translates to a 2.2-year reduction in life expectancy in individuals monitored up to the age of 65.
ConclusionsWe found no consistent evidence of a significantly lower REE than predicted in a sample of long-term WLMs based on predictive equations developed from NCs and OCs as well as 3 standard predictive equations. Results suggest that sustained weight loss may not always result in a substantial, disproportionately low REE.
Full abstract can be found here.
I feel so much better now.
During the years 2002 to 2013 in national databases, the incidence of colorectal cancer increased in patients younger than age 50 at a rate of 1.5% per year, for an average 15% increase over the study period, according to Hisham Hussan, MD, of the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus.
Source article here.
Yikes.
Of 123 181 suicide decedents included in the study, 10 789 (8.8%) had evidence of chronic pain, and the percentage increased from 7.4% in 2003 to 10.2% in 2014. More than half (53.6%) of suicide decedents with chronic pain died of firearm-related injuries and 16.2% by opioid overdose.
Source article here.
Link to The Oklahoman article.
(The article may be behind a paywall).
The Paradox
The National Center for Health Statistics narrowed its life expectancy data to census tracts of a few thousand people, which can be a small town, a large rural area or a neighborhood in a large city. Oklahoma’s least healthy areas are small towns and rural areas, but so are some of its healthiest, according to the life expectancy figures.
The highest life expectancy in Oklahoma — 89.4 years — is in a Caddo County census tract that surrounds, but doesn’t include, Anadarko. McCurtain County, in far southeast Oklahoma, is home to the second-highest life expectancy at 89 years. Sparsely populated parts of Pushmataha County, also in rural southeast Oklahoma, have an average life expectancy of 88 years.
Other long-living parts of Oklahoma include the area around Grand Lake State Park in Mayes County (86.7 years), southwest neighborhoods of Stillwater (86.6 years) and rural areas south of Kingfisher (86.1 years).
All of this bothers and intrigues me at the same time.
This study prospectively examined the relationship between low carbohydrate diets, all-cause death, and deaths from coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease (including stroke), and cancer in a nationally representative sample of 24,825 participants of the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) during 1999 to 2010. Compared to participants with the highest carbohydrate consumption, those with the lowest intake had a 32% higher risk of all-cause death over an average 6.4-year follow-up. In addition, risks of death from coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and cancer were increased by 51%, 50%, and 35%, respectively.
The results were confirmed in a meta-analysis of seven prospective cohort studies with 447,506 participants and an average follow-up 15.6 years, which found 15%, 13%, and 8% increased risks in total, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality with low (compared to high) carbohydrate diets.
For the source article click this link.
CONCLUSIONS – OSA is independently associated with an increased risk of diabetes, whereas insulin-treated diabetes is independently associated with a higher risk of OSA, particularly in women. Clinical awareness of this bidirectional association may improve prevention and treatment of both diseases. Future research aimed at elucidating the mechanisms that underlie each association may identify novel intervention targets.
Access the study here.
The Skeptical Cardiologist weighs in on the aspirin debate.
Thank you Dr. Pearson.
lifeunderwriter.net 
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