Cancer Diagnosis May Quadruple Suicide Risk

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 16, 2019 -- The risk of suicide is more than four times higher among Americans with cancer than those without the disease, a new study finds.

"Even though cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the United States, most cancer patients do not die from cancer, the patients usually die of another cause," said researcher Nicholas Zaorsky, a radiation oncologist in the Penn State Cancer Institute.

Opioid Crisis, Suicides Driving Decline in U.S. Life Expectancy: CDC

THURSDAY, Nov. 29, 2018 -- Life expectancy in the United States has now declined for three years in a row, fueled largely by a record number of drug overdose deaths and rising suicide rates, new government statistics show.

"It's really the first time we've seen this multi-year drop" in decades, said Renee Gindi, chief of the Analytic Studies Branch of the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She's one of the lead coordinators for the report.

After a Spouse's Death, Sleep Woes Up Health Risks

MONDAY, Nov. 26, 2018 -- The death of a spouse can understandably bring sleepless nights. Now, research suggests those sleep troubles raise the odds of immune system dysfunction -- which in turn can trigger chronic inflammation.

For the surviving spouse, that could mean an increased risk for heart disease and cancer, though the study did not prove a cause-and-effect link.