Tobacco Laws for Minors May Cut Adult Smoking as Well MONDAY, June 17 (HealthDay News) -- Strict controls on the sale of cigarettes to youth may also reduce adult smoking, a new study suggests. States with tighter restrictions on the sale of cigarettes to teens also had lower adult smoking rates, especially among women, researchers found. These states also tended to have fewer adult heavy smokers. "In most states for many years, it has been illegal to sell cigarettes to people under 18, but few provisio...

Tobacco Ads Spark Teen Smoking, Study Finds WEDNESDAY, June 12 (HealthDay News) -- The more tobacco advertising teenagers see, the more likely they are to start smoking, according to a new study. Every 10 tobacco ads that teens view increases their risk of starting to smoke by nearly 40 percent and boosts their chances of becoming a daily smoker by 30 percent, the German researchers found. The findings, published online in the journal BMJ Open , support the total ban on tobacco advertising advocated by ...

Chronic Illness Afflicts Most Childhood-Cancer Survivors, Study Finds TUESDAY, June 11 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly all adult survivors of childhood cancer have at least one chronic health problem, according to a new study. Many of these health conditions are believed to be linked to treatments used to combat the survivors' childhood cancer, such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Researchers examined data from more than 1,700 adults who were diagnosed with childhood cancer between 1962 and 2001 and u...

Sleep Apnea May Boost Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death TUESDAY, June 11 (HealthDay News) -- Sleep apnea raises the risk of sudden cardiac death, according to a long-term study that strengthens a link doctors have suspected. "The presence and severity of sleep apnea are associated with a significantly increased risk of sudden cardiac death," said study leader Dr. Apoor Gami, a cardiac electrophysiologist at Midwest Heart Specialists-Advocate Medical Group in Elmhurst, Ill. The new research is published onlin...

Blood Tests May Predict COPD Flare-Ups TUESDAY, June 11 (HealthDay News) -- People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who have signs of chronic inflammation in their blood are more likely to have flare-ups of the lung disease than those who do not, a large new study shows. In addition to the slow, steady deterioration in lung function caused by COPD, patients can have sudden, distressing flare-ups. These so-called "exacerbations" are periods of worsening breathing problems that are typica...

Summer Camp Health Tips for Parents SATURDAY, June 8 (HealthDay News) -- Regular hand washing and proper hygiene are essential to avoiding common summer-camp health issues such as lice, pinworm and bathing-suit dermatitis, according to a former summer camp physician. Dr. Alfred Scott Lea, now a professor of infectious disease at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, said making sure cuts and abrasions are clean is particularly important around lakes and rivers, where bacteria can cause po...

Pent-Up Stress Could Harm Health of Middle-Aged Women FRIDAY, June 7 (HealthDay News) -- Many middle-aged women develop aches and pains and other physical symptoms as a result of chronic stress, according to a decades-long study. Researchers in Sweden examined long-term data collected from about 1,500 women and found that about 20 percent of middle-aged women experienced constant or frequent stress during the previous five years. The highest rates of stress occurred among women aged 40 to 60 and those w...

Consistent Bedtime Helps People Stick With Sleep Apnea Treatment FRIDAY, June 7 (HealthDay News) -- Sticking with a regular bedtime helps people with sleep apnea stay with their continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy, according to a new study. CPAP -- which uses mild air pressure to keep airways open during sleep -- is the first line of treatment for sleep apnea but is not effective unless patients use it consistently, the Penn State researchers noted. Their study looked at CPAP adherence am...

Your Stroke Risk Can Shrink With 7 Lifestyle Changes THURSDAY, June 6 (HealthDay News) -- Certain lifestyle changes could greatly reduce your stroke risk, according to a new study. Researchers calculated stroke risk among nearly 23,000 black and white Americans aged 45 and older. Their risk was assessed using the American Heart Association's Life's Simple 7 health factors: be active, control cholesterol, eat a healthy diet, manage blood pressure, maintain a healthy weight, control blood sugar and don't ...

Recession Forced Cutbacks in Care for Special Needs Kids: Study MONDAY, June 3 (HealthDay News) -- The belt tightening triggered by the recent recession appears to have forced families to make tough choices about care for children with chronic physical or emotion problems, a new study suggests. The study, which was published in the June issue of the journal Health Affairs , used a large government database to track out-of-pocket costs for families with private health insurance carriers from 2001 to 2009...