Health Highlights: March 15, 2007

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments,compiled by editors ofHealthDay:

1.1 Million U.S. Youth Get High on Inhalants: Report

In 2005, about 1.1 million American adolescents (ages 12 to 17) used common household inhalants to get high -- a dangerous and potentially deadly activity, according to a report released Thursday by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

The inhalants used to get high include glue, aerosol air fresheners, hair sprays, nail polish, paint solvents, shoe polish, degreasers, gasoline and lighter fluids.

Almost five percent of adolescent girls used inhalants to get high in 2005, an increase from 4.1 percent in 2002, the report found. About 4.2 percent of adolescent males used inhalants in 2005, about the same percentage as in 2002.

About 605,000 young people (337,000 girls and 268,000 boys) started using inhalants in 2005. That's an increase from 2002, when 591,000 adolescents (285,000 girls and 306,000 boys) started using inhalants to get high.

"We are urging parents to talk to their children about inhalants and take notice when suddenly their children have bad breath, face rash, and stained clothing," Dr. H. Westley Clark, director of SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, said in a prepared statement.

Misuse of inhalants can cause numerous health problems -- such as brain damage, organ failure, cardiac arrest, convulsions, deafness, impaired vision -- and death.

The report was released at a press conference to mark the 15th National Inhalants and Poisons Awareness Week, March 18 to 25.

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Sense of Humor May Mean Longer Life

Adults who can laugh at life's ups and downs may live longer than those who have trouble cracking a smile, concludes a Norwegian study of about 54,000 people tracked for seven years.