A new survey reveals that younger men aren't going to the doctor enough — less than 63 percent under the age of 30 have visited a primary-care physician in the past year. Doctors say that addressing early warning signs can be the best way to stop illness before it starts:
Lack of health insurance and not needing to go were the most common reasons given for not seeing a doctor, found the online poll of 1,027 respondents conducted by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA).
"While older men may have more reasons to see a physician, younger, healthy men who wait too long between routine physicals and who pass on screenings, such as blood pressure or diabetes, miss the opportunity to detect precursors to heart disease and other illnesses. Addressing these early warning signs is often the easiest and most cost-effective way to stop illness before it starts," Dr. Joseph A. Giaimo, an internist and pulmonologist in Florida, said in an AOA news release.
• Click here to read the article
Concern over the dangers of caffeinated alcoholic beverages is growing after students at colleges in New Jersey and Washington State recently ended up in the hospital. The drinks are currently under review by the FDA:
Sold under catchy names, these fruit-flavored beverages come in oversized containers reminiscent of nonalcoholic sports drinks and sodas, and critics warn that this is no accident. The drinks, they noted, are being marketed to young drinkers as a safe and affordable way to drink to excess.
One brand, a fruit-flavored malt beverage sold under the name Four Loko, has caused special concern since it was consumed by college students in New Jersey and Washington state before they ended up in the ER, some with high levels of alcohol poisoning.
• Click here to read the article
A portable breast scanner may soon allow women the ability to screen themselves at home. Invented by a professor at Manchester University, the device uses radio waves to scan tissue for suspicious lumps:
It is shaped like a cup which can fit over a bra and has a screen which immediately flags up tumors as red dots. The scanner has sensors around the cup which take up to 30 images from different angles every second. The scanners can be fitted over the bra and there is no need to apply liquid gel, as used in ultrasound.
And unlike traditional mammography, the device has a high accuracy rate for women under 50.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox