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Deaths related to excessive alcohol consumption are rapidly rising in the United States, especially among women, a new study finds. While drinking is still killing more men than women, the rate of alcohol-related deaths is rising faster among women, according to the report published Friday in JAMA Network Open. “The gender gap is narrowing,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Ibraheem Karaye, a professor of population health and director of the health science program at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. (Carroll, 7/28)

As little as one alcoholic drink a day increased systolic blood pressure — the top number in a blood pressure reading — even in men and women with no existing hypertension, a new study found. “We found no beneficial effects in adults who drank a low level of alcohol compared to those who did not drink alcohol,” said senior study author Dr. Marco Vinceti, a professor of epidemiology and public health at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy, in a statement. (LaMotte, 7/31)

John VanDenBerg suspects he was gardening when a mosquito got him. It was September 2018, and VanDenBerg, then 67, had been feeling a little "off" for a few days, he said, like maybe he had the flu. But one morning, as he was walking out of his Colorado home, he collapsed. "I just went down," VanDenBerg said. "That's the last I remember for quite some time." VanDenBerg had a severe form of West Nile virus, caused by a single mosquito bite. (Edwards, 7/29)

Older people with dementia seek care in the emergency room twice as often as their peers, a new analysis suggests — leading to what researchers call “potentially avoidable and harmful visits” for some patients. The study, published July 24 in JAMA Neurology, examined data from the 2016-2019 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, which collects demographic and other information about a nationally representative sample of ER visits. About 1.4 million of the annual 20.4 million ER visits among adults over 65 involved patients with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, researchers found. (Blakemore, 7/30)

More than 120 million Americans — one-third of the U.S. population — have been living under air quality alerts this summer, with citizens in New York City, Chicago, and Detroit at times experiencing some of the unhealthiest air in the world. The hazy conditions, fed by an unprecedented surge in Canadian wildfires likely fueled by climate change, has grounded planes, canceled outdoor sporting events, and filled emergency rooms with asthma patients. (Molteni, 7/31)

Some Americans are being hit harder than others by the extreme heat wave baking swaths of the country because they can't get enough to eat or drink. Food-insecure households are among the most at risk of health and financial hardships during blistering temperatures. They face unique exposure to dehydration and costly relief that further strains dwindling food budgets. (Horn-Muller, 7/30)

At work as a pediatrician, Annie Andrews sees firearm injuries as a “huge public health crisis.” When she ran to represent South Carolina in the U.S. House, Andrews routinely heard from mothers on the campaign trail about their feelings of helplessness and hopelessness about what to do about gun violence. And as a mom to three children — ages 6, 8 and 11 — she sees how simple parent-to-parent interactions are key to reducing potential harm to children. Given the rates of accidental shooting deaths among children, something as simple as a text message could literally save lives. (Gerson, 7/28)

Trader Joe's has recalled its frozen falafel for potentially having rocks in it, after it recalled two of its cookie products for the same reason recently. The company's supplier informed them of the concern, and Trader Joe's said in a statement Friday that "all potentially affected product has been removed from sale and destroyed." (Archie, 7/29)