After decades of battling the opioid epidemic, U.S. health officials reported Wednesday that overdose deaths have now declined for the second year in a row.
By how much did these deaths of despair drop? There were about 97,000 overdose deaths in the 12-month period that ...
People are at higher risk of schizophrenia if they indulge in psychedelic drugs, a new study warns.
Patients who land in the ER following hallucinogen use have a 21-fold higher risk of developing schizophrenia compared to the general population, Canadian researchers repo...
You encounter someone collapsed on the sidewalk and quickly dial 911.
Whether or not the operator instructs you on how to deliver cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) could mean life or death, especially if the victim is female, new research shows.
In a study ...
Thousands of Americans with heart trouble have small implanted defibrillators, to help regulate their heartbeat and keep cardiac events at bay.
But new research finds that on extremely hot days, people with the devices face nearly triple the odds for a dangerous ar...
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
Canadian researchers have found that about 1 in every 3 people newly diagnosed with cancer experienced at least one emergency department visit sometime during the three months prior to their diagnosis.
Many of the visits ended up being caused by symptoms related to the c...
Researchers looking at the sweltering European summer of 2022 estimated that more than half of the heat-linked deaths occurring on the continent would not have happened if human-led climate change wasn't in place.
"Without strong action, record temperatures and heat-rela...
Every minute spent waiting for a first shock from a defibrillator cuts the odds of surviving cardiac arrest by 6%, a new Dutch study finds.
"Our research shows that every minute of delay in giving the first shock has a major impact," said study first author says
Wildfires that spread so fast they outrun the efforts of fire crews trying to contain them: These types of conflagrations are becoming far more common across the Western United States, a new study warns.
A fire's velocity could be even more important than its size when i...
Anaphylaxis involves a sudden, potentially life-threatening reaction to an allergen, including even very small amounts of food allergens such as egg or peanut.
Now, two studies find that people with allergies, as well as those charged with their care, are often unsure w...
Expanded access to addiction treatment and the overdose-reversal med naloxone likely prompted a 37% reduction in OD deaths linked to opioids taken with meth or other s...
An off-label clot-busting drug appears to work slightly better in treating stroke patients than an approved medication, a new review finds.
Following hurricane damage that shuttered a North Carolina plant that makes 60% of the country's IV fluids, U.S. health officials have invoked the Defense Production Act to hasten rebuilding of the factory.
A nationwide shortage of IV fluids has only worsened since Hurri...
The number of U.S. children who suffer seizures after swallowing prescription medications or illicit drugs has doubled in recent years, a new study finds.
Drug poisonings among kids resulting in seizures increased from 1,418 in 2009 to 2,749 in 2023, steadily rising abou...
Accident victims tend to flood emergency rooms on days with heavy air pollution, a new study shows.
The number of patients treated at ERs increase by 10% to 15% on days with increased particle pollution in the air, researchers found.
That increase is driven by case...
It’s natural for a parent to bundle an injured child into a car and rush their kid to the emergency room.
But that decision could actually delay their child’s emergency care, a new study shows.
Severely injured children brought to an ER by their parents...
As temperatures soar in some of America's hottest spots, death rates among local homeless people rise as well, new research shows.
Data from 2015 through 2022 finds a big bump in deaths among unhoused people in Clark County in Nevada (which includes Las Vegas), and Los A...
New findings may worry many parents: Nearly 8 in 10 emergency rooms lack the supplies and training needed to treat pediatric patients, new U.S. research shows.
To be ready to address children’s emergencies, ERs need “key pediatric equipment and supplies,&rdqu...
More bystanders are stepping in to administer naloxone to people who’ve overdosed on opioids, a new study shows.
Nearly 25,000 OD patients received naloxone from an untrained bystander before paramedics arrived, according to emergency medical services records from ...
Facing a nationwide shortage of vital IV fluids after Hurricane Helene knocked out a North Carolina production plant, officials heaved a sigh of relief at the news that a second plant in Daytona Beach, Fla., was spared by Hurricane Milton and remains functional.
Accordin...
After Hurricane Helene knocked out a North Carolina production plant for a major supplier of IV fluids for U.S. hospitals, officials said the federal government is reaching out internationally to help restore supply.
The situation could get even worse: As Hurricane Milto...
As Hurricane Milton barreled toward the west coast of Florida, hospitals in its path were making ready.
Milton is projected to make landfall a bit south of the Tampa area late Wednesday night. Long-term care facilities in counties where mandatory evacuations have been i...
High winds, torrential rain: All dangerous, but there's a silent killer lurking in the aftermath of hurricanes like Milton -- carbon monoxide.
Experts at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) are warning of the potentially lethal effects of carbon monoxide (...
AI isn’t ready to run a hospital’s emergency room just yet, a new study concludes.
ChatGPT likely would ask for unnecessary x-rays and antibiot...
TUESDAY, Oct. 8, 2024 (HealthDay News) --- The recent approval of a new epinephrine nasal spray gives patients a p...
The large majority of people with food allergy, and the caregivers of kids with such allergies, say the condition has led to psychological distress, a new study finds.
However, only about 1 in every 5 such people have ever been assessed and counseled on their anxieties, ...
In a sign that climate change may be fueling heat illnesses in kids, a new study reveals that such visits to two Texas children's emergency rooms spiked 170% between 2012 and 2023.
Grandma's pill organizer. Fido's pain medication. A tossed-away tissue.
All are potential sources of opioid poisoning for young children, researchers at the New Jersey Poison Control Center report.
Their five-year look at 230 cases of opioid exposure in children be...
Laws that ban assault weapons do indeed protect children from dying in mass shootings, but the same can't be said for more common types of gun restrictions and regulations, new research shows.
“Mass shootings are horrific events. We found that large capacity magazi...
In a move that could mean more Americans in crisis get help and get it quickly, federal officials announced Tuesday that major cellphone carriers now have the technology to direct 988 callers to local mental health services based on their location instead of their area code.
If global warming is left largely unchecked, the number of Americans who succumb to extreme heat will triple by mid-century, new projections estimate.
These deaths could affect poor and minority Americans much more than the white and better-off, according to a team led b...
Climate change and worsening diets are sending global rates of stroke and stroke deaths skyward, a new study warns.
Almost 12 million people worldwide had a stroke in 2021, up 70% since 1990, according to a team led by ...
Black stroke victims are arriving at emergency rooms much later than white patients, greatly increasing their risk of death or lifelong disability, a new...
Rural hospitals – and their patients -- are particularly vulnerable to the aftershocks caused by ransomware attacks, a new study reports.
“Ransomware attacks are bad news for hospitals and pa...
Recreational drug users are three times more likely to have repeated heart health emergencies than people who don’t use, a new study has found.
About 11% of patients admitted to intensive cardiac care units have been using recreational drugs, said researcher
The U.S. opioid epidemic has caused a startling number of overdose deaths, but a new survey shows that most Americans still have no idea how to help an OD victim.
More than 3 in 4 people (77%) said they would not know how to respond if they saw someone having an overdose...
The overdose-reversing drug naloxone can help save the lives of people whose hearts have stopped due to an opioid OD, a new study shows.
Naloxone rapidly reverses opioid ODs by blocking the ability of opioids to bind with receptors in the brain, researchers said in backg...
A new implant could help prevent overdose deaths by automatically administering the OD-reversing drug naloxone, a new study shows.
The implant, about the size of a stick of gum, is placed under the skin, where it monitors vital signs like heart rate and breathing, resear...
Child safety experts have warned about the sometimes lethal dangers of toy water beads.
Now, a report finds a doubling in just one year of U.S. pediatric ER visits linked to the products.
“The number of pediatric water bead-related emergency department visit...
It's been a sweltering summer for much of the United States, and a new poll finds many people can recognize the signs of heat sickness if it strikes them or someone else.
However, many more don’t know crucial information that could help them during a heatwave, suc...
Folks nervous about administering a rescue shot for anaphylaxis finally have a new alternative in a nasal spray.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday announced that it has approved neffy, the first non-injected treatment for life-threatening allergic reactions...
This summer's blistering temperatures have helped prompt an emergency blood shortage, the American Red Cross has warned.
Heat waves affected almost 100 blood drives last month, either by hurting turnout or forcing the events to be canceled. Since July 1, the nationa...
Whites are three times more likely to survive a cardiac arrest after receiving bystander CPR than Black adults are, a new study has found.
Likewise, men are twice as likely to survive after bystander CPR than women, researchers found.
“CPR saves lives -- that...
The rate at which young Americans are ending up in hospital ICUs after using fake Oxycontin pills spiked with fentanyl is soaring, especially in the U.S. West, a new report warns.
Medical toxicology data from one unnamed hospital in the western U.S. found the number of c...
Americans' risk of dying in a firearm accident depends in large part on where they live in the United States, a new study finds.
People in Southeastern states like Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama run the greatest risk of a gunshot accidentally killing them, researcher...
Youngsters so sick they’ve needed treatment in an ICU appear to bear the scars of that experience years later, a new study finds.
Children and teenagers treated in an intensive care unit have a significantly higher risk of developing a mental illness as they grow ...
More and more Americans who use "micromobility" transport, such as electric bikes and e-scooters, are motoring their way straight into the ER, new data shows.
In fact, the rate of e-bike injuries among Americans doubled each year between 2017 and 2022, reportED a team l...
It's a simple strategy that could deliver powerful health dividends: New research shows that giving cash to poor people could help them stay out of the ER.
In the study, investigators followed nearly 2,900 low-income people who applied for a lottery in the Boston area. A...
Just two years after the launch of the nation's three-digit crisis hotline, more than 10 million calls, texts and chat messages have been fielded by counselors, U.S. health officials announced Tuesday.
Gun violence in the United States has become a national public health crisis, the U.S. Surgeon General declared Tuesday.
"Today, for the first time in the history of our office, I am issuing a Surgeon General's Advisory on firearm violence. It outlines the urgent threat ...