The feared Ebola virus is much less common, study says

FRIDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) — Malaria and typhoid fever — not the much-feared Ebola virus — are the biggest health threats for travelers to tropical regions of the world, according to a new study.

Researchers analyzed data from more than 80,000 people in Australia, Europe, Israel, Japan, New Zealand and North America who sought medical care after traveling to the tropics between 1996 and 2011.

More than 3,600 (4.4 percent) of the patients had one of 13 life-threatening diseases. Thirteen of the patients died, including 10 with malaria, according to the study, which was published online Jan. 16 in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. [Read more…]

Others may misjudge you because of your droopy eyelids, hangdog expression

THURSDAY, Sept. 5 (HealthDay News) — Every face tells a story, and when you’ve had too little sleep the world sees it in technicolor, a new study suggests. What’s more, those red, puffy eyes and sagging eyelids likely influence what people think of you, the researchers say.

So, the next time you’re tempted to pull an all-nighter, consider that “other people might treat you differently because of the way you look when you haven’t slept,” said lead study author Tina Sundelin, from the department of psychology at Stockholm University. [Read more…]

Report tallies $223 billion in total losses, especially from binge drinking

TUESDAY, Aug. 13 (HealthDay News) — Excessive drinking is a major economic problem in the United States, costing billions of dollars in health care costs, lost worker productivity and other consequences involved, the federal government reported Tuesday.

The nationwide economic burden of excessive drinking in 2006 was $223.5 billion. The cost for each state ranged from $420 million in North Dakota to $32 billion in California. The median cost per state for each single alcoholic drink was $1.91, the report said.

The highest per-person cost from excessive drinking was $1,662 in Washington, D.C. [Read more…]

Psychiatric screening would help identify soldiers at greatest risk, experts say

TUESDAY, Aug. 6 (HealthDay News) — The suicide rate in the U.S. military has risen in recent years, but a large new study finds no proof that the problem directly stems from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Instead, researchers say, the risk factors for suicide in the military are the same as those in the civilian world: depression, drinking problems and being a man. They found no clear link between suicide and the number of deployments to Afghanistan or Iraq, or to combat exposure. [Read more…]