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* E-cigarette use.

 

* According to a recent systematic review and meta-analysis of nine longitudinal studies published in JAMA Pediatrics, e-cigarette use is an independent risk factor for subsequent cigarette smoking in adolescents and young adults: http://bit.ly/2xjdXiz.

 

* In August, the Food and Drug Administration announced it would expand its public education campaign, The Real Cost, to discourage the use of e-cigarette and other electronic nicotine delivery systems by youths. The expansion is part of the agency's new plan to more strictly regulate tobacco products.

 

* Violence against women. Findings from an analysis of data in the National Violent Death Reporting System from 2003 to 2014 show that homicide is a leading cause of death in women ages 44 or younger, with one-third of the victims between the ages of 18 and 29. Black and American Indian/Alaska Native women have the highest rates of homicide: http://bit.ly/2uf6HVe.

 

* Recurrent Clostridium difficile. A retrospective cohort study of health plans covering a large U.S. geographic area that was published in Annals of Internal Medicine found an almost 43% increase in C. difficile infections from 2001 to 2012, compared with an almost 200% increase in multiply-recurrent C. difficile cases.

 

* Colorectal cancer. A recent analysis in JAMA of colorectal cancer mortality rates in adults ages 20 to 54 years noted an increase in mortality for whites since 1995, while rates for blacks decreased over the 1970-2014 study period. Screening is typically recommended for people ages 50 and older.

 

* Poverty in high-income countries. A new report by the United Nations Children's Fund, which evaluated the conditions of children living in 41 relatively high-income countries, including the United States, found that many are "going backwards" on key indicators of well-being. Read the full report at http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/RC14_eng.pdf.