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Suicide Rate Doubles for Children of Opioid Users

Children of parents who use opioids have twice the suicide rate of other children, according to researchers from the Universities of Chicago and Pittsburgh. Nearly 700 children whose parents had filled opioid prescriptions in the last year attempted suicide while only 212 children whose parents had not used opioids tried to commit suicide, out of the 330,000 total children in the study, published in Psychiatry, an American Medical Association journal. These findings demonstrate that, independent of age, sex, location, or parental history of suicide attempts, parental opioid use doubles the risk for suicide attempts by their children. (more…)

Why Fentanyl is Leading to More Deaths than Ever

Today, America is facing a disturbing opioid phenomenon. Between 2011 and 2016, the rate of fentanyl-overdose fatalities shot up more than 1,000 percent. Starting in 2014, deaths due to fentanyl overdosing began to double, reports CNN. More than 4,223 deaths turned into 8,251 by 2015, and then a whopping 18,335 the following year. So, the question is, why has the death toll for this drug surpassed that of heroin, and who are the main victims? (more…)

Know your HPV ABC’s

What if you could prevent your children from getting cancer? Can you imagine having this superhero-like power? Well, you can stop imagining because this power is real. By giving your children the HPV shot—Gardasil 9—you can mitigate their risk of acquiring Human Papillomavirus (HPV), and thus, cancer. (more…)

Measles Makes a Comeback

From January 1 to 31, 2019, there are more than 80 individual cases of measles. States that reported cases to CDC are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. (more…)

Slime Harmful to Children, Say Some

Elmer’s glue, contact solution, food coloring, Borax. Which item doesn’t belong? The answer is: they all belong, but not all in a healthy way. This eclectic group of items is the basic ingredients in homemade slime—the latest kid craze. Kids are making so much slime that many have made a business out of it. According to Parents magazine, some children have begun selling it at school. Most parents support the frenzy, for they would rather their kids play with slime than remote controllers. However, this gooey phenomenon has recently caused some controversy. A key ingredient—Borax—might be more harmful than parents first thought. (more…)