The authors of an editorial in the Feb. 19 issue of The Lancet noted that patients with severe mental illness live an average of 16 years less than people in the general population. Heart disease, not suicide, is the major cause of death in these patients and antipsychotic drugs are a factor.

And the surprise is that many of these underage drinkers aren’t just getting a friend to buy a six pack for them or smuggling alcohol out of the family liquor cabinet. Some are getting the alcohol directly from a parent, guardian or another adult relative.

MONDAY, February 14 (Health.com) — Eating a diet rich in fiber—especially the kind of fiber found in whole grains—reduces the risk of dying at an early age from a range of causes, a new government study suggests.

Fiber’s beneficial effects on heart health have been known for decades, so it wasn’t surprising that eating a lot of fiber was associated with a lower risk of death due to heart attack and heart disease. But fiber intake also appears to lower the risk of dying from respiratory diseases (such as pneumonia and chronic bronchitis) and infectious diseases, the study found.

MONDAY, February 14 (Health.com) — Gradual hearing loss is a common symptom of aging, but in some people it may also be an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia, a new study suggests.

The risk of dementia appears to rise as hearing declines. Older people with mild hearing impairment—those who have difficulty following a conversation in a crowded restaurant, say—were nearly twice as likely as those with normal heari

MONDAY, Feb. 14 (HealthDay News) — Among those who served in U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and who were evacuated due to a psychiatric condition, nonmilitary members were more likely than military personnel to return to duty, new research shows.

Nonmilitary personnel — including diplomats, private contractors and Department of Defense civilians — account for about 50 percent of U.S. personnel serving in Iraq and about two-thirds of those in Afghanistan.

FRIDAY, Feb. 11 (HealthDay News) — Stroke patients who do intense physical therapy at home achieve the same amount of improvement in their walking ability as those enrolled in a high-tech training program that uses a body-weight supported treadmill device, the results of a new study show.

The researchers also found that the walking ability of patients who do physical therapy continues to improve for up to one year after their stroke, which challenges the current belief that stroke recovery occurs early and peaks at six months.

FRIDAY, Feb. 11 (HealthDay News) — When overweight, sedentary kids start to exercise regularly, their ability to think, to plan and even to do math improves, a new study suggests.

In addition, exercise was linked to increased activity in the parts of the brain associated with complex thinking and self-control, according to brain imaging scans analyzed by the researchers.

FRIDAY, Feb. 11 (HealthDay News) — Even if their lungs are mature, babies delivered at 36 to 38 weeks are at significantly increased risk for respiratory and other health problems, new research indicates.

In the study, which did not include babies with major birth defects, researchers compared babies with fetal lung maturity who underwent scheduled delivery at 36 to 38 weeks to those delivered at 39 to 41 weeks.

Heavy drinking in the late teen years often continues into adulthood and is associated with long-term alcohol-related problems, researchers warn. There is sufficient evidence to show that reducing drinking among older teens not only prevents immediate harm, but also may lower the risk of long-term problems, the study authors pointed out.

TUESDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthDay News) — Men who have had cancer are at a slightly higher risk of bearing children with congenital problems such as a cleft palate compared to their peers with no history of cancer, according to new research.

TUESDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthDay News) — Removing many lymph nodes may not be necessary in women with early breast cancer who also undergo a lumpectomy to remove the mass, followed by radiation.

Researchers reporting in the Feb. 9 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association found that just removing one or two sentinel nodes — those lymph nodes to which the cancer spreads first — allows women to live just as long as women who have more lymph nodes removed from under their arm.

TUESDAY, February 8 (Health.com) — Women with early-stage breast cancer that has spread to their lymph nodes may require less extensive surgery than previously thought, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.