http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A new report on teen driver safety released today by The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and State Farm shows encouraging trends among teen passengers. In 2011 more than half of teen passengers (54 percent) reported "always" buckling up. From 2008 to 2011, risky behaviors of teen passengers (ages 15 to 19 years) declined: the number of teen passengers killed in crashes not wearing seat belts decreased 23 percent; the number of teen passengers driven by a peer who had been drinking declined 14 percent; and 30 percent fewer teen passengers were killed in crashes involving a teen driver. Overall, the report measured a 47 percent decline in teen driver-related fatalities over the past six years. Still, as recent high-profile multi-fatality crashes with teen drivers illustrate, crashes remain the leading cause of death for U.S. teens. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-national-teen-safety-gains-passengers.html Health Thu, 04 Apr 2013 10:50:42 EST news284291435 (HealthDay)—It's hard to quibble with the speed and convenience of connecting through texts and instant messages, but scientists say that today's ubiquitous online social communication may not confer the same feel-good effects as plain old talking. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-texting-doesnt-feel-good-effects.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:20:01 EST news278867241 (Medical Xpress)—It happens to most of us at some point - our eyes are on the road, our mind starts to wander, and several kilometres down the road we're either snapping out of it ... or involved in a road accident.  http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-brain-distracted-drivers-road-accidents.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 20 Dec 2012 06:57:24 EST news275209036 (HealthDay)—Gifts of electronic gadgets, like smartphones and laptops, no doubt bring glee to the teens who receive them. But people thinking of gifting such devices to a kid might want to consider the broader ramifications. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-gadget-givers-urged-ramifications.html Pediatrics Fri, 14 Dec 2012 10:10:23 EST news274702214 Almost one in three pedestrians is distracted by mobile devices while crossing busy road junctions, finds an observational study published online in Injury Prevention. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-pedestrians-distracted-mobiles-street.html Health Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:30:03 EST news274554559 (Medical Xpress)—Scientists have known for many years that human beings, as a general rule, are an overly optimistic bunch. We close our eyes to statistics suggesting our eating habits may be killing us, ignore warnings about texting while driving and almost always believe things will come out all right in the end if we'll just hang in there, despite sometimes obvious indications to the contrary. Research has suggested that two specific symmetrically opposite parts of the brain influence our optimism or pessimism, but until now haven't been able to offer direct proof. Now however, new research by a group of neuroscientists has found, as they describe in their paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that turning off one of these areas via magnetic pulses dramatically reduces overly optimistic tendencies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-magnetic-pulses-brain-overly-optimistic.html Neuroscience Tue, 25 Sep 2012 06:15:06 EST news267772489 Some people have questioned whether a ban on texting while driving will actually lead to more crashes because drivers will conceal their cell phones, making it more dangerous to read and type messages. Research led by high school students, however, shows that texting while driving is unsafe regardless of where the phone is positioned. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-teen-led-highlights-dangers-texting.html Other Sun, 29 Apr 2012 08:20:01 EST news254904405 (HealthDay) -- With a recent flood of new regulations or proposals aimed at governing lifestyle choices such as smoking, eating or cellphone use, is the United States in danger of becoming a "nanny state"? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-americans-ambivalent-laws-aimed-healthy.html Health Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:21:09 EST news251457664 Psychiatry is employing smartphone technology as an innovative tool in the assessment and treatment of schizophrenia and other serious mental illness. Prominent in this endeavor is Dror Ben-Zeev, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Dartmouth Medical School and director of the Thresholds-Dartmouth Research Center in Chicago. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-smartphones-aid-people-schizophrenia.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 15 Mar 2012 10:10:03 EST news251023910 (Medical Xpress) -- Research designed to understand the effect of text messaging on language found that texting has a negative impact on people's linguistic ability to interpret and accept words. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-texting-affects-ability-words.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 20 Feb 2012 09:43:40 EST news248953393 (Medical Xpress) -- Talking on a cell phone or texting while walking may seem natural and easy, but it could be dangerous and result in walking errors and interfere with memory recall. Researchers at Stony Brook University found this to be the case in a study of young people walking and using their cell phones. The study is reported in the online edition of Gait & Posture. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-texting.html Health Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:40:57 EST news246180746 Each day numerous young adults in the U.S. visit hospital emergency departments (EDs) for alcohol-related problems. This study examined the use of text messaging (TM), both to collect drinking data from young adults after ED discharge as well as provide immediate feedback and ongoing support to them, finding that TM is effective on both levels. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-texting-issues-interventions.html Health Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:20:01 EST news243188902 Latino adolescents who share knowledge from the classroom, new media and information technology among immigrant families function as "civic information leaders," a new study by the University of Colorado Boulder shows. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-latino-teens-key-campaigns-immigrant.html Health Wed, 13 Jul 2011 09:30:01 EST news229768186