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By the numbers
By Times Staff
Published May 23, 2006
By the numbers 19 percent (which equals about 4.5-million teenagers) teens surveyed who admit getting high by abusing prescription medications such as pain relievers Vicodin and OxyContin and stimulants Ritalin and Adderall. 10 percent (2.4-million teens) who get high by abusing cough medicine. 31 percent (7.3-million teens) who say there's "nothing wrong" with using prescription medicines "once in a while" to get high. 10 percent (1.9-million teens) who say they have used cocaine or crack cocaine. Source: survey of 7,300 teenagers in grades 7 through 12 on drug use and attitudes, by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. Paging on-call specialists Almost three-fourths of emergency department medical directors say that their hospitals have inadequate on-call specialist coverage, compared with two-thirds in 2004, according to the American College of Emergency Physicians and researchers from Johns Hopkins University. Recent changes in federal law permit specialists to be on-call at more than one hospital at the same time. The five specialities most cited for shortages were orthopedics, plastic surgery, neurosurgery, ear, nose and throat, and hand surgery. Forty-five percent of the hospital directors reported that patients in 2005 left without being seen, compared with 29 percent in 2004. Rat-racers: some good news . . . Eating a little less and exercising a little more over a lifetime can reduce or even reverse aging-related cell and organ damage - at least, if you're a lab rat. "Even slight moderation in intake of calories and a moderate exercise program is beneficial to a key organ such as the liver, which shows significant signs of dysfunction in the aging process," according to Christiaan Leeuwenburgh, an associate professor of aging and geriatric research at the University of Florida's Institute on Aging. UF researchers found that feeding rats just 8 percent fewer calories a day and moderately increasing the animals' activity extended their average life span and reduced negative effects on liver function and overall health. . . . and not-so-good news Nearly half of us in the United States admit we have not been physically active for at least one year. But among those who do get regular exercise, women say they do so for health and weight reasons, while men exercise as a way of socializing, according to a survey of 1,011 American adults conducted this spring by AARP. Women reported walking as their preferred form of exercise, while men opted for group sports such as basketball, racquetball and soccer. As for those not currently exercising, 58 percent said they don't exercise because they feel tired or lack energy, and 50 percent cited a lack of time. New treatments for carotid artery disease Doctors specializing in preventing and treating stroke and in cardiac surgery will hold a public discussion Thursday on new treatments for carotid artery disease - the buildup of plaque in those arteries. Registration is required for the session, which will take place from 9 to 11 a.m. at Morton Plant Mease Healthcare, Clearwater; call (727) 462-7500 or register at www.mpmhealth.com.
[Last modified May 23, 2006, 07:48:03]
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