Tag Archives: health risks

Researchers Study Toenails as Marker for Arsenic Exposure

By Environment, Science, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

*UA scientists have teamed up to study the relationship between arsenic in human toenails and arsenic concentration in drinking water. Exposure to arsenic is associated with several chronic diseases ranging from dermatitis to various cancers.*

Scientists from the University of Arizona specializing in environmental health sciences and pharmacology and toxicology have teamed up with the help of a seed grant to study the relationship between arsenic in human toenails and arsenic concentration in drinking water.

Arsenic exposure in Arizona is a concern because of naturally occurring contamination of groundwater, said Miranda Loh, assistant professor of environmental health sciences at the UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. (more…)

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UF Researchers Find Surgical Breast Biopsies Overused in Florida

By Health, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Thousands of women receive unnecessary surgical breast biopsies in Florida each year, University of Florida researchers state in an article published online this week by the American Journal of Surgery.

These surgeries carry greater health risks and are more expensive than a less invasive, equally effective procedure called a needle biopsy. (more…)

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When Video Games Get Problematic so Do Smoking, Drug Use and Aggression

By Culture, Health, Technology, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A new study on gaming and health in adolescents, conducted by researchers at Yale School of Medicine, found some significant gender differences linked to gaming as well as important health risks associated with problematic gaming. Published yesterday in the journal Pediatrics, the study is among the first and largest to examine possible health links to gaming and problematic gaming in a community sample of adolescents.

Rani Desai, associate professor of psychiatry and epidemiology and public health at Yale, and colleagues anonymously surveyed 4,028 adolescents about their gaming, problems associated with gaming and other health behaviors. They found that 51.2% of the teens played video games (76.3% of boys and 29.2% of girls). The study not only revealed that, overall, there were no negative health consequences of gaming in boys, but that gaming was linked to lower odds of smoking regularly. Among girls, however, gaming was associated with getting into serious fights and carrying a weapon to school. (more…)

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