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TUESDAY, Aug. 15, 2023 (American Heart Association News) -- Sure, the end of summer vacation makes many kids groan. But many will also be cheering the return of fall sports. That's a good thing, experts say.Exercise habits form early and pay off for life, said Dr. Benjamin Levine, director of the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. For kids to see that payoff, though, he said exercise "has to become part of your personal hygiene, like brushing your teeth, taking a shower or changing your underwear."Competing as part of a school activity can be a great way to instill the exercise habit. But parents and coaches know it's not as simple as handing a student a football, pompom or clarinet and saying, "Go play." So, we asked...

TUESDAY, Aug. 15, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Millions of Americans are addicted to drugs or alcohol, and millions more struggle with an addicted family member or friend, a new poll finds. Two-thirds of those surveyed said either they or a family member have been addicted to alcohol or drugs, been homeless because of an addiction, or overdosed or died from drug use. Moreover, 19% say they themselves have been addicted to drugs or alcohol, had a drug overdose or were homeless because of an addiction."It's pretty surprising to think about when we talk about addiction and issues with drugs and alcohol, we typically talk about them as isolated incidents," said Ashley Kirzinger, director of survey methodology at KFF (formerly known as Kaiser Family Foundation)."I think what we're seeing in...

TUESDAY, Aug. 15, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- If you have been diagnosed with breast cancer, you may not have to swear off alcohol completely, a new study suggests.In it, researchers report that occasional drinking isn't likely to cause a recurrence of breast cancer."The findings suggest drinking alcohol is not associated with an increased risk of having a breast cancer recurrence or dying from the disease," said lead study author Marilyn Kwan, a senior research scientist at Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. There was no association between alcohol use at the time of a breast cancer diagnosis, or six months later, and the risk of recurrence or death, she said. "We took into account factors such as age at diagnosis, cancer stage, race and ethnicity, socioeconomic...

TUESDAY, Aug. 15, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Men who have a rare cancer of the penis may have a new treatment option, according to researchers who found promise in immunotherapy.This new study focused on cancer that was locally advanced or had spread (metastasized).The investigators found that immune checkpoint inhibitors offered promising benefits for some patients with advanced penile squamous cell carcinoma.“These findings provide encouraging evidence that immune checkpoint inhibitors can be effective in treating a subset of patients with penile squamous cell carcinoma," said study co-author Dr. Amin Nassar, a member of Yale Cancer Center in New Haven, Conn., and clinical fellow at Yale School of Medicine. "We believe that further translational studies and biomarker-based research...