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WEDNESDAY, Jan. 15, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Mom and dad may be key in curbing the epidemic of drowsy teens, a new study suggests. American teens aren't getting enough sleep, which can lead to anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts. Sleepy teens also are more likely to get into car crashes and have a greater risk of being injured while playing sports. The lack of sleep may be due to too much homework, too many extracurricular activities, too much caffeine, early school start times and too much screen time, researchers say. But parents can play a pivotal role in helping their teens get the rest they need. "Greater enforcement of parent-set bedtimes for teenagers aged 14 to 17 are associated with longer sleep duration," said study lead author Jack Peltz, who conducted the...

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 15, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in newborns with HIV is similar whether it begins within days or within weeks, a new study finds. It included 73 infants in South Africa who were born with HIV infection. Of those, 46 started ART when they were less than 2 days old and 27 started ART between 2 and 14 days after birth. Rates of attaining and sustaining HIV suppression were 51% in the first group and 54% in the second group. The study was recently published online in the journal E-Clinical Medicine. "The results of our trial suggest that very early treatment in newborns may not have to mean within hours of birth," said study author Louise Kuhn, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health in New...

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 15, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The cost of essential medications for multiple sclerosis have nearly tripled this decade, despite the release of the first generic MS drug, a new study shows. The 2015 release of glatiramer acetate -- the generic version of Copaxone -- did nothing to halt skyrocketing prices for MS medications, said lead researcher Daniel Hartung. He's an associate professor of pharmacy with Oregon State University, in Portland. "Overall, there were very minimal effects on the price of all the other medications in the class," Hartung said. "They continued to escalate at about the rate they had before." Medicaid spending on 15 MS drugs increased from $453 million to just over $1.3 billion between 2011 and 2017, Hartung and his colleagues found. Even after...

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 15, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- It's safe again to buy and eat romaine lettuce grown on farms around Salinas, California, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. Back in November, the CDC first issued a warning on Nov. 22 that consumers should avoid all romaine lettuce grown in Salinas, Calif., due to possible contamination with E. coli bacteria. But as of Wednesday, the outbreak of E. coli illnesses linked to the lettuce "appears to be over," the CDC said in a statement. Overall, "a total of 167 people infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 were reported from 27 states," the agency said. "Eighty-five people were hospitalized including 15 people who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure. No deaths were...