There has been a surge in domestic child abuse during the coronavirus pandemic, suggests the experience of one specialist UK children’s hospital. In just one month, the number of new cases rose by 1493% compared with the same period in the previous three years, pointing to a «silent pandemic» in 2020, suggest the authors. They…

Older adults who are socially isolated are more likely to have missing teeth—and to lose their teeth more quickly over time—than those with more social interaction, according to a new study of Chinese older adults. «Our study suggests that maintaining and improving social connections may benefit the oral health of older adults,» said Xiang Qi,…

A new study shows that the proportion of gun violence relative to other forms of violence in TV dramas increased from 2000 to 2018, with statistical parallels to trends in actual gun homicides among U.S. youths. Firearm injuries and deaths are a major public health concern in the U.S. A long-standing hypothesis suggests that increases…

A combined analysis of results from 149 earlier studies finds that treatment rates for major depressive disorder remain low worldwide, particularly for people living in low and lower-middle income countries. In recent years, national and global initiatives have made increasing efforts to address the tremendous burden posed by major depressive disorder. However, treatment rates remain…

A new study suggests that consistently maintaining face mask use until, and even two to 10 weeks beyond, reaching various vaccination coverage thresholds could not only prevent a substantial number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths but also end up saving businesses, the health care system, insurance companies, taxpayers, and others money. Results from the study’s…

A new study found there were more than 67,300 calls to US Poison Control Centers regarding exposures to natural psychoactive substances. The study looked at calls from January 2000 through December 2017, which totaled an average of 3,743 exposures each year, or approximately 10 calls every day. A new study conducted by the Center for…

Animal-assisted therapy has many benefits in health care. Yet, its biological and psychosocial effects in the military are unknown, especially for injured, airlifted patients. Researchers teamed up with a non-profit animal organization that trains therapy dogs to see if an animal-assisted intervention could reduce stress in this setting. Results showed that levels of the stress…

As global cases of COVID-19 fast approach 50 million, a team of Australian, Afghan, Iranian and Italian researchers examined more than 35,000 tweets and say social media analytics can capture the attitudes and perceptions of the public during a pandemic. They also suggest social media is now the best way to encourage people to follow…

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have released data showing an alarming surge in opioid-related overdoses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonfatal opioid overdose visits to the VCU Medical Center emergency department in Richmond increased from 102 between March and June 2019 to 227 between March and June 2020. That’s an increase of 123%. Nonfatal opioid overdose visits…

With fewer people on the road during the early days of the pandemic, more drivers were speeding and driving recklessly, resulting in more crashes being deadly, a new study found. Researchers at The Ohio State University conducted a detailed analysis of traffic in Franklin County, Ohio, which includes Columbus, from Feb. 1 to May 8,…