Numbers And Rates Of Suicide By Month And Demographic Characteristics: U.S., 2021
Suicide is a major contributor to premature death in the United States, especially among individuals aged 10 to 34, for whom it is the second leading cause of death. In this country, suicide increased 35% from 1999 to 2018 before declining by 5% through 2020. Despite the overall recent decline, rates continued to increase among females aged 10–24 and among males aged 10–44 and 75 and over. The increase in the number of suicides was greater for males (4%) than females (2%), with the provisional 2021 number for males (38,025) nearly four times that of females (9,621). According to a National Vital Statistics System Release in September 2022, provisional numbers of suicide by month in 2021 are reported and compared with final 2020 numbers, in total, and are presented by sex and age combined. Reporting of suicides in particular can be delayed because of investigations regarding the cause and circumstances surrounding the death. Rates for females are more likely to be incomplete because their deaths more frequently involve drug poisonings.
Associations Of Air Pollution With Body Size And Composition In Midlife Women
A study was done of longitudinal associations of air pollution exposure, including fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone with weight, BMI, waist circumference, fat mass, lean mass, and proportion fat mass in midlife women. According to a description of research published on September 9, 2022 in the journal Diabetes Care, analyses provide evidence that exposure to these environmental factors is associated adversely with body composition, including higher fat mass, higher proportional fat mass, and lower lean mass, highlighting their potential contribution to obesity. In this prospective cohort study of 1,654 midlife women representing diverse racial/ethnic groups, exposure to air pollution was associated with adverse changes in body composition measures. In particular, particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide were associated positively with fat mass and proportion fat mass, and inversely associated with lean mass. Ozone was associated positively with proportion fat mass and inversely associated with lean mass.
HEALTH TECHNOLOGY CORNER
Understanding Canine Diseases To Save Human Lives
Dogs develop diseases similar to those of humans. Their inbred genetics makes them a useful model for disease biology, allowing the development of new therapies for veterinary and human use. Inside the cancer center at the Virginia Tech Carilion Health Sciences and Technology campus, equipment, along with much of the building, is shared between veterinary patients and humans participating in clinical trials where dogs and humans can be treated side by side. According to an article published in the September 2022 issue of the journal Nature Medicine, dogs share the human environment and are prone to experiencing many of the same diseases as humans, which means that studying conditions, such as cancer in dogs can be used to develop new drugs for both species. Beyond tapping into the increasingly lucrative global veterinary medicine market (valued at U.S. $29.4 billion in 2021), researchers hope these efforts can improve the health of both pets and their human companions.
The Effect Of Expressive Writing On Wound Healing
Expressive writing is an intervention whereby individuals typically write for 20 minutes a day for three consecutive days about their deepest thoughts and emotions regarding a previous traumatic event or stressor. This activity has been found to be beneficial not only for self-reported health, psychological well-being, and general functioning, but also for immunological function. As described in a paper in the October 2022 issue of the Journal of Psychosomatic Research, investigators studied whether the content (expressive vs control) and timing (pre- vs post-wounding) of a writing task affect the activation of different cell types in the healing skin. The findings showed main effects of both timing and content, whereby those who wrote on either topic pre-wounding had a higher infiltration of Langerhans cells in the epidermis of the healing skin at day 14 compared to those who wrote post-wounding. These particular cells are critical for wound healing because they facilitate transitions between wound healing stages.