�鶹Ů��

A new study suggests that raising the minimum wage might lower the suicide rate — especially when unemployment is high — and that doing so might have saved tens of thousands of people from dying by suicide in the last quarter century. The minimum federal minimum wage is $7.25, though many states have set it higher. Between 1990 and 2015, raising the minimum wage by $1 in each state might have saved more than 27,000 lives, according to a report published this week in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. An increase of $2 in each state's minimum wage could have prevented more than 57,000 suicides. (Dangor, 1/8)

The United States may be headed into a bad flu season, according to figures recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of the last week of December, “widespread” flu activity was reported by health departments in 46 states. More ominously, a second measure — the percentage of patients with flu symptoms visiting medical clinics — shot up almost to the peak reached at the height of the 2017-18 flu season, which was the most severe in a decade. (McNeil, 1/8)

Health officials in North Carolina and beyond are watching hospital admissions and doctor visit reports closely to see if the 2019-2020 season could indeed turn out to be a blockbuster one for influenza, as many worry. This year’s activity has so far eclipsed what was experienced at this point in previous years, with the CDC estimating 6.4 million cases of the flu, 55,000 hospitalizations and at least 2,900 deaths so far. That count includes 27 children, the highest number of pediatric deaths seen since the CDC started keeping records 17 years ago, according to CNN. (Ovaska and Goldsmith, 1/9)

Researchers hooked Zach Ault to medical monitors as he slowly climbed onto a gym bike. An invisible disease is sidelining this once avid athlete and he knew the simple exercise would wipe him out -- but Ault was pedaling for science. Chronic fatigue syndrome is one of medicine’s most vexing mysteries. Now doctors at the National Institutes of Health are using volunteers like Ault for a unique study that pushes their limits in search of what’s stealing all their energy. (1/8)

Individualized medicine, in which treatments are customized based on a patient’s unique DNA, is a rising field. Along with an ever-expanding genetic database, it offers tantalizing promise for solving some of medicine's most daunting challenges. But individualized medicine also carries with it questions and risks -- both moral and medical. (O'Brien, 1/8)

After a quiet December, recalls of ranitidine — brand name: Zantac — resumed Tuesday with Appco Pharma pulling all quantities and lots of 150mg and 300mg ranitidine hydrochloride capsules. The problem, according to the company-written, FDA-posted recall notice, is NDMA-related, as has been the case with previous recalls. Recalled capsules might have more N-nitrosodimethylamine, classified as a probable human carcinogen, than FDA acceptable intake levels. (Neal, 1/8)

How would you like to add seven to 10 healthy, disease-free years to your life as you age? Try eliminating these five bad health habits: smoking, not exercising, being overweight, drinking too much alcohol and eating an unhealthy diet. (LaMotte, 1/8)

Electric scooter injuries have surged along with their popularity in the United States, nearly tripling over four years, researchers said in a study published Wednesday. Nearly 40,000 broken bones, head injuries, cuts and bruises resulting from scooter accidents were treated in U.S. emergency rooms from 2014 through 2018, the research showed. (1/8)