Health Headlines Tuesday

MORE GIRLS ARE DEPRESSED:

DOCTORS SAY IT'S NOT AN EPIDEMIC... BUT IT'S GETTING CLOSE.

A SURVEY OF U-S TEENAGERS SHOWS DEPRESSION IS A GROWING PROBLEM ... ESPECIALLY FOR GIRLS.

RESEARCHERS FOUND ONE OUT OF EVERY TWELVE TEENAGERS SUFFERS AT LEAST ONE SERIOUS BOUT OF DEPRESSION EACH YEAR.

AMONG KIDS AGED 12 TO 17...DEPRESSION HIT 13-PERCENT OF ALL GIRLS... BUT JUST 5-PERCENT OF BOYS.

DEPRESSION IS THE LEADING CAUSE OF SUICIDE AMONG TEENAGERS.



ULTRASOUNDS FOR MAMMOGRAMS:

ULTRASOUNDS ARE NOT ONLY FOR LOOKING AT UNBORN BABIES..... A NEW STUDY SAYS ADDING IT TO A MAMMOGRAM CAN HELP DOCTORS SPOT BREAST CANCER TUMORS.

RESEARCHERS AT JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICAL CENTER SAY THE TWO TEST COMBO CAN IMPROVE BREAST CANCER DETECTION IN HIGH-RISK WOMEN.

THEY SAY ONLY HALF OF THE CANCERS DIAGNOSED DURING THE COURSE OF THEIR STUDY WERE ACTUALLY SEEN ON MAMMOGRAM.

BUT WHEN ULTRASOUND WAS ADDED ... DOCTORS WERE ABLE TO SPOT MORE OF THE CASES.

THE FINDINGS ARE PUBLISHED IN TODAY'S ISSUE OF THE "JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION"



OBESITY RATES:

JUST LIKE THE EXPERTS PREDICTED... YOU'RE PROBABLY PACKING ON THE POUNDS AT AN ALARMING RATE.

RESEARCHERS AT WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY SAY OBESITY RATES IN THE U-S HAVE GOTTEN SO OUT OF CONTROL... THAT IT NOW INCLUDES IMMIGRANTS.

NO LONGER ARE TWO-THIRDS OF THE WHITE AND BLACK POPULATIONS OVERWEIGHT...THE HISPANIC POPULATION IS TOO.

AMONG CHINESE AMERICANS... THE OBESITY RATES ARE MUCH LOWER...JUST ONE THIRD ARE OVERWEIGHT AND ONLY FIVE-PERCENT ARE OBESE.

DOCTORS SAY AT THIS PACE... THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC HAS THE POTENTIAL TO START LOWERING LIFE EXPECTANCY RATES.##



HEALTHCARE COSTS GO UP:

WHEN IT COMES TO THE COST OF HEALTH CARE... TENNESSEE IS ACTUALLY A LITTLE BIT CHEAPER THAN THE REST OF THE NATION.

THE 2008 HEALTH CARE E-SURVEY FOUND THAT TENNESSEE PREMIUMS INCREASED BY 10 PERCENT OVER THE LAST YEAR.

NATIONALLY... PREMIUMS WERE UP 11-PERCENT.

TO KEEP COSTS DOWN, AT LEAST HALF OF ALL HEALTH CARE ORGANIZATIONS ARE NOW OFFERING WELLNESS PROGRAMS AND MANY OFFER SMOKING CESSATION PROGRAMS