The U.S. has twice the number of premature drug overdose deaths compare to at least 12 other countries, as per a new research. The study, published recently in the Annals of Internal Medicine, reported that there were approximately 63,632 drug overdose fatalities in 2016 in the U.S.
Yingxi Chen—researcher and a postdoctoral fellow at the NIH’s (National Institutes of Health’s) NCI (National Cancer Institute)—stated that in the U.S. there is highest death rate owing to drug overdoses for both women and men. There were 20 deaths in 100,000 women and 35 deaths in 100,000 men in 2015, which is more than double compared to those of any other country in the study. Mexico had the least degree: 0.2 deaths per 100,000 women and1 death per 100,000 men. The scientists also revealed that the U.S. had the second-uppermost increase in drug overdose fatalities: 5.3% every year in women and 4.3% every year in men, Chen stated. Norway had the highest reduction in drug overdose mortality rate for the entire population. Reductions were also found among women and men in Mexico, Danish women, and Spanish men. Researchers considered the patterns and trends of drug overdose deaths between people age from 20 Years to 64 Years in 13 countries of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development) for the period of 2001–2015.
Recently, the NIH was also in news as the institute has awarded $13.4 Million grant to support cognitive health research through mobile tools. Reportedly, the grant recipient, which is a Pennsylvania State University’s research laboratory, will also be associating with Sage Bionetworks to build up a standardized set of tools for related projects in the future. Pennsylvania State’s newsgroup stated that the funds will help an investigation that utilizes applications and mobile devices to discover the expansion of late-in-life neurological disorders. Additionally, the grant will support the development of a set of standardized digital devices investigators can control while consolidating mobile devices into future research missions.
