Health News and Scoops

WASHINGTON (Xinhua) — More than 45,000 cases of melanoma occurred in 45 states and the District of Columbia in the United States each year during 2004-2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Wednesday in the most comprehensive melanoma report released in the U.S. to date.

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. Melanoma is the third most common skin cancer, but is more dangerous and more likely to cause death than other skin cancers, causing 8,000 U.S. deaths and costing billions of dollars each year, according to the report, “Melanoma Surveillance in the United States.”
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U.S. health experts estimate that at any given time, about one in 20 patients develop an infection related to their hospital care.
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MINNETONKA, Minn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In observance of Falls Prevention Awareness Day Sept. 23, UnitedHealthcare is urging people to know the risks associated with falling and is encouraging older Americans to take simple yet essential steps to reduce fall injuries. Read more…

The percentage of American adults who smoke decreased from 20.9% in 2005 to 19.3% in 2010, according to a new Vital Signs report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those adults who smoke, 78.2 percent (35.4 million) smoke every day.
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WASHINGTON (Xinhua) — Fewer American adults are smoking cigarettes and daily smokers are smoking fewer cigarettes each day, according to a new report released Tuesday from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The report, which covers data from 2005 to 2010, shows an estimated 19.3 percent — or 45.3 million — of American adults, aged 18 and older, continue to smoke, a decline from 20.9 percent in 2005. Of those adults who smoke, 78.2 percent (35.4 million) smoke every day.
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