Mike Stobbe | The Greenwood Commonwealth

Cigarette butts fill a smoking receptacle outside a federal building in Washington, Thursday, April 15, 2021. According to government survey data released Thursday, April 27, 2023, U.S. adults are smoking less. Cigarette smoking dropped to another new all-time low in 2022, with 1 in 9 adults saying they were current smokers. Meanwhile, e-cigarette use rose, to about 1 in 17 adults. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

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US adult cigarette smoking rate hits new all-time low
By MIKE STOBBE - AP Medical Writer
Wed,04/26/23-3:05PM , 146 Reads
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. cigarette smoking dropped to another all-time low last year, with 1 in 9 adults saying they were current smokers, according to government survey data released Thursday. Meanwhile, electronic cigarette use rose, to about 1 in 17 adults.
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An autistic boy holds the hand of his adoptive father as they prepare to leave for a family outing from their home in Springfield, Mass., on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015. Traditionally, autism was diagnosed only in kids with severe language and social impairments and unusual repetitious behaviors. But the definition gradually expanded, and autism is now shorthand for a group of milder, related conditions, too. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

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Study: Milder autism far outpacing 'profound' diagnoses
By MIKE STOBBE - AP Medical Writer
Wed,04/19/23-9:19AM , 608 Reads
NEW YORK (AP) — As autism diagnoses become increasingly common, health officials have wondered how many U.S. kids have relatively mild symptoms and how many have more serious symptoms, such as very low IQ and inability to speak.
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A pharmacist holds a bottle of the antibiotic doxycycline hyclate in Sacramento, Calif., July 8, 2016. On Tuesday, April 11, 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data about some of the most common infectious diseases in the U.S. The numbers show how chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis infections have been accelerating across the country. Meanwhile, the CDC is considering recommending the antibiotic doxycycline to be used after sex to prevent those infections. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

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STDs are on the rise. This morning-after-style pill may help
By MIKE STOBBE - AP Medical Writer
Tue,04/11/23-10:10AM , 932 Reads
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials released data Tuesday showing how chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis cases have been accelerating, but doctors are hoping an old drug will help fight the sexually transmitted infections.
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The owner of a shooting range, prepares to load bullets in his 9mm semi-automatic handgun for a demonstration, Thursday, June 23, 2022, in New York. A government study released on Thursday, March 30, 2023, highlights just how violent America's recent past has been by showing a surge in gunfire injuries during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the number ofpeople fatally shooting each other— and themselves -- also increased. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)

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Gun injuries in US surged during pandemic, CDC study shows
By MIKE STOBBE - AP Medical Writer
Thu,03/30/23-12:14PM , 371 Reads
NEW YORK (AP) — For every American killed by gunfire, an estimated two or more more survive, often with terrible injuries — a fact that public health experts say is crucial to understanding the full impact of guns on society.
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