Latest Adolescent Health News

11Sep
2020

TikTok 'Benadryl Challenge' Has Killed at Least One Teen

TikTok `Benadryl Challenge` Has Killed at Least One TeenFRIDAY, Sept. 11, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- A new internet dare, broadcast widely on teen-friendly TikTok, urges kids to overdose on the over-the-counter antihistamine Benadryl. But the "Benadryl Challenge" has already killed one teen and sent others to the ER, experts warn. According to News4 in Oklahoma City, one 15-year-old girl suffered a fatal overdose while reportedly trying the challenge late last month. Other cases of kids being rushed to the hospital after similar incidents are popping up nationwide. The Benadryl Challenge is circulating on social media and encourages users to overdose on the drug to achieve a hallucinatory state. But as with any drug, taking too much Benadryl can quickly prove hazardous and even deadly, according to emergency medicine physician Dr. Robert...

Suicide Rate Keeps Rising Among Young Americans

11 September 2020
Suicide Rate Keeps Rising Among Young AmericansFRIDAY, Sept. 11, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- A nearly 60% jump in suicides by young Americans since 2007 has experts alarmed and somewhat puzzled. Suicides among children and young people aged 10 to 24 rose 57% from 2007 to 2018, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "The increase in youth suicide has been pervasive across the U.S. No area is immune," said report author Sally Curtin of the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics. "Hopefully, these data will inform prevention efforts." The surge was broad: 42 states had statistically significant increases between 2007-2009 and 2016-2018. Eight had statistically insignificant increases. Thirty-two states had hikes of 30% to 60%. In actual numbers, the suicide rate among 10- to...

Children Use Both Sides of the Brain to Understand Language

10 September 2020
Children Use Both Sides of the Brain to Understand LanguageTHURSDAY, Sept. 10, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Adults process language on one side of the brain, but kids use both hemispheres, a new study suggests. The finding might explain why children recover more easily from brain injuries than adults, the study authors added. "This is very good news for young children who experience a neural injury," said researcher Elissa Newport. She's a neurology professor at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. "Use of both hemispheres provides a mechanism to compensate after a neural injury," Newport said in a Georgetown news release. "For example, if the left hemisphere is damaged from a perinatal stroke -- one that occurs right after birth -- a child will learn language using the right hemisphere. A child born with cerebral palsy...

Electrical Brain Stimulation Offers Hope Against Dyslexia

10 September 2020
Electrical Brain Stimulation Offers Hope Against DyslexiaTHURSDAY, Sept. 10, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Electrical stimulation of a sound-processing area of the brain can briefly improve reading skills in adults with dyslexia, a new, small study has found. Researchers say their results suggest that deficits in that brain region are a cause of the reading difficulties seen in dyslexia. But whether that's the case -- or whether brain stimulation can help treat dyslexia -- remains an open question. The study, of 30 adults with and without dyslexia, looked at the effects of electrically stimulating a brain area called the left auditory cortex. Altered activity in that brain region has been linked to the difficulty people with dyslexia have in processing the sounds of language. What's been unclear is whether that brain difference actually...

Youth Vaping Down, But Still Popular: CDC

9 September 2020
Youth Vaping Down, But Still Popular: CDCWEDNESDAY, Sept. 9, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The number of U.S. youths who use e-cigarettes fell from 5.4 million in 2019 to 3.6 million this year -- but vaping remains a dangerous epidemic among children and teens, a new government report shows. "Although the decline in e-cigarette use among our nation's youth is a notable public health achievement, our work is far from over," Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an agency news release. "Youth e-cigarette use remains an epidemic, and [the] CDC is committed to supporting efforts to protect youth from this preventable health risk." The analysis of National Youth Tobacco Survey data also found that 8 in 10 current youth vapers use flavored e-cigarettes. The use of fruit, mint and...
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