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A young woman working at a Massachusetts cannabis-processing facility who developed new-onset asthma and later died of a fatal asthma attack is the first such fatality in the burgeoning industry, a new report finds.

Researchers believe large amounts of allergen-laden dust created at these facilities could pose real respiratory dangers to workers.

When it comes to asthma and the dang...

THURSDAY, Nov. 9, 2023 (Healthday News) -- New data from two United Nations agencies shows that millions of workers toiling under the sun's glare is fueling skin cancer cases around the world.

Nearly 1 in 3 deaths from non-melanoma skin cancer is caused by occupational exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (IL...

A kinder, more thoughtful workplace can lead to better heart health among older employees, a new study finds.

Older workers’ heart health risk factors decreased significantly when their office employed interventions designed to reduce work-family conflicts, researchers report in the Nov. 8 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

Specifically, their heart risk fact...

A tentative deal has been reached between Kaiser Permanente and its 75,000 health care workers following a three-day strike last week.

"The frontline health care workers of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions are excited to have reached a tentative agreement with Kaiser Permanente," union officials pos...

Americans are losing sleep over worries about money, a new survey reveals.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) polled about 2,000 U.S. adults, finding that 69% reported lost sleep due to concerns about job security and 75% were kept up with ...

Health care workers who serve millions of Americans began a three-day strike on Wednesday after contract negotiations over staffing levels stalled.

More than 75,000 members of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions began walking off their jobs as early as 6 a.m. in Virginia and Washington, D.C., the Washington Post reported. The union, whose contract expired Saturday, represen...

Health care workers who serve millions of Americans could strike Wednesday if Kaiser Permanente and union workers don't reach an agreement.

More than 75,000 members of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions are poised to strike, CNBC reported. The union, whose contract expired Saturday, represents medical assistants, surgical and lab technicians and pharmacists, among other st...

Extensive exercise regimens are keeping astronauts healthy and protecting their hearts during extended space missions, new research finds.

A study from scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas found no loss of heart mass or output, and no loss of function in the heart's ventricles, during flights that can last up to six months.

The findings could have implications...

Nurses, health technicians and health care support workers face a higher risk of suicide than the general U.S. population does, an alarming new study shows.

Researchers pointed out these workers have to perform stressful tasks while caring for ill patients and managing heavy workloads, with little control over patient outcomes.

Not only that, but “health care workers' relationshi...

A job that's demanding but less than rewarding may take a big toll on a man's heart health, a large new study suggests.

The study, of nearly 6,500 white-collar workers, found that men who habitually felt stressed on the job had up to double the risk of developing heart disease as their peers who ...

Could an algorithm take your job someday? Concerns about artificial intelligence, or AI, are plaguing U.S. workers, according to a new American Psychological Association poll.

Some workers are uncomfortable with the way their employers are tracking them, while others worry that AI will make their jobs obsolete.

“Employers interested in investing in artificial intelligence systems...

The field of surgery has long been dominated by men, and still is today.

But two new studies show that if patients want safe, effective long-term results, picking a female surgeon might be key.

In one study involving more than 1 million Canadian surgical patients whose outcomes were followed for a year, “those treated by a female surgeon were less likely to experience death, hospi...

People working in certain jobs had greater risk of being hospitalized for COVID-19, even in the later stages of the pandemic, researchers report.

Bus drivers rank high on that list, with double the risk of being hospitalized compared to lower-contact jobs.

Several occupations in education and health care were also at greater risk of serious illness, the new study shows.

"Wh...

When astronauts travel to space, the experience depletes their red blood cells and bone, according to a new study.

Fortunately, it appears their bodies can eventually replenish them after they've returned to Earth, thanks to fat stored in the bone marrow.

“We found that astronauts had significantly less fat in their bone marrow about a month after returning to Earth,” said seni...

As the United States wrestles with soaring drug overdose deaths, new research finds that nurses, social and behavioral health care workers and health care support workers are at particularly high risk.

Compared with employed adults who are not health care workers, social workers and other behavioral health care workers are more than twice as likely to die of overdose, said study co-...

Workers may sense it intuitively but their mouse clicks prove it: Friday afternoon is the least productive time of the work week.

It's also when workers make the most typos.

A Texas A&M University team studied this using the computer usage metrics of 789 in-office employees at a large energy company over two years.

“Most studies of worker productivity use employee self-repor...

Ever feel like your job is pointless?

A big part of the population feels just that way — that the jobs they do matter little to society.

And a Swiss study that delved into what's been dubbed the "bullshit jobs theory" found that feeling was especially likely for ...

Workers making the most popular type of countertop sold in the United States are at risk for potentially deadly lung disease, a new study finds.

The risk owes to the tiny particles of dust produced while cutting, shaping and polishing the synthetic quartz.

Inhaling the dust causes the same lung damage, called silicosis, seen for centuries in miners and cutters of natural stone. Engi...

A new study from Australia tied some dangerous and unsettling issues to sleep disorders in young people.

The research found links to daytime drowsiness, mental health issues and motor vehicle accidents and noted that as many as 20% of younger people are affected by sleep disorders.

Workplace productivity losses were up to 40% greater among 22-year-olds with clinical sleep disorders ...

About one-fifth of American workers say their workplace is toxic, and many say their mental health is harmed as a result.

The American Psychological Association (APA) questioned 2,515 employed adults in April for its annual Work in America Survey. Nineteen percent stated that their workplace is very or somewhat toxic.

“The number of individuals who report experiencing a toxic wor...

When thinking of people in high-risk jobs, hairdressers and beauticians don't immediately come to mind.

But cosmetologists have a much greater chance of developing ovarian cancer than the average woman, a new study reports.

Specifically, working for a decade or more as a hairdresser, barber or beautician is associated with a threefold higher risk of ovarian cancer, according to a re...

Space travel appears to weaken astronauts' immune systems, and researchers believe changes in gene expression are the culprit.

These immune deficits aren't permanent. They disappear when back on Earth, often within weeks, according to new research published June 22 in Frontiers in Immunology.

“Here we show that the expression of many genes rel...

While the challenges of farm work are well noted, the stressors affect not just the mental health of adults, but also their teenage children, according to new research.

In results from the first year of a five-year study, researchers found that 60% of both adults and teens on U.S. farms met the criteria for at least mild depression. About 55% of the adults and 45% of the teenagers had sym...

A new study finds that people working with artificial intelligence (AI) systems can be lonely, suffer from insomnia and drink more heavily after work.

In the study, published online June 12 in the Journal of Applied Psychology, the researchers noted these finding...

Astronauts spending six months or longer in space should stretch their time between trips to three years, warns new research on the impact of space travel on the brain.

To study this, researchers examined the brain scans of 30 astronauts, looking at scans that depicted their brains both before and after their missions.

The research team included missions that were two weeks long, si...

Emergency departments aren't perceived as safe for professionals or their patients, according to an international survey from the European Society of Emergency Medicine (EUSEM).

More than 90% of emergency professionals surveyed said they felt at times the number of patients exceeded the capacity the emergency department (ED) had to provide safe care. Overcrowding was a problem, they said...

Working nights can be tough on the body, and a new study suggests it might take a particular toll on men's health.

The research, which involved lab mice and humans, hints that the male of the species might be more vulnerable to the "body clock" disturbances that come with shift work.

In the lab, researchers found that male mice showed a range of negative effects from being exposed t...

A chemical used to degrease industrial parts that was also used as a surgical anesthetic until the 1970s may increase the risk for Parkinson's disease, researchers report.

Their new study found that two years of heavy exposure to the liquid chemical TCE may boost Parkinson's risk by 70%.

TCE, or trichloroethylene, lingers in the air, water and soil. It has been linked to certain can...

Fighting is par for the course in professional ice hockey, but a new study raises the question of whether it is shortening some players' lives.

The study, of hundreds of National Hockey League (NHL) players, found that those who were "enforcers" on the ice — that is, did a lot of fighting ...

Many common household products emit airborne toxins that can harm your health in ways up to and including cancer, a new study reports.

Dozens of different types of consumer products contain toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs), chemicals that escape as gases and accumulate in indoor air, researchers from the Silent Spring Institute and the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkele...

Jobs that regularly expose you to certain chemicals appear to steadily increase your risk of pancreatic cancer, a new analysis reports.

People with more than 20 years of exposure to some chemical agents had a 39% increased risk of pancreatic cancer, compared with an 11% higher risk for 11 to 20 years' exposure and a 4% higher risk for 1 to 10 years' exposure, researchers found.

“<...

Dealing with discrimination at work -- from bosses or coworkers -- may be enough to send your blood pressure through the roof, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that among more than 1,200 U.S. workers, those who felt they often faced on-the-job discrimination were 54% more likely to develop high blood pressure, versus workers with little exposure to such bias.

Over eight year...

Striking a better work-life balance might make you a more effective manager on the job, according to a new study.

A survey of managers and their employees found that bosses who could shut off after-work emails, calls and job-related stress had greater success guiding underlings to meet work goals.

“We found that when leaders psychologically detached from work when at home -- they ...

As summer nears, teens may want to apply for their first job or try to boost their hours for the season.

Not all parents think this is such a good idea though, according to a new C.S. Mott Children's Hospital poll.

“Teen jobs can be super positive and I think we see that in...

During the pandemic, nearly 100,000 U.S. registered nurses called it quits, a new survey shows.

Why? A combination of stress, burnout and retirements created a perfect storm for the exodus.

Even worse, another 610,000 registered nurses (RNs) said they had an “intent to leave” the workforce by 2027, citing those same reasons. And an additional 189,000 RNs younger than 40 reported...

Early-career doctors were more likely to make mistakes when they had long work weeks or extended shifts, new research reveals.

Their patients were also more likely to experience adverse events as a result, according to the study. Moreover, doctors in their second year of training or abo...

Cafeteria workers. Receptionists. Pharmacists. Janitors. Administrators. Physical therapists.

Much has been made of burnout among doctors and nurses, but a new survey has found high rates of work fatigue in nearly every type of job associated with health care.

Physicians, nurses, clinical staff and non-clinical support workers in health care all are experiencing substantial levels o...

Imagine a perfect week at work. Everything runs smoothly, and you love your job. Sounds like a dream, doesn't it?

While those days are possible, work can also be a source of frequent and intense stress.

Let's face it, work stress is unavoidable.

In 2022, 83% of U.S. workers suffered from work-related stress and about 1 million Americans missed work each day because of stress...

Black patients are dying of pulmonary fibrosis, a devastating disease marked by progressive scarring of the lungs, at significantly younger ages than white patients.

A new study probes factors contributing to earlier onset of disease, hospitalization and death in Bl...

A growing number of Americans are feeling the effects of the health care staffing crisis in the United States, a new HealthDay/Harris Poll has revealed.

Health care has witnessed the greatest recent increase in consumers affected by staffing shortages, more so than retail, hospitality, education, customer support and manufacturing, poll results show.

More than a third (35%)...

Many Americans are not getting recommended cancer screenings, and a new study hints at one way to push the needle: paid sick leave from work.

Researchers found that in areas of the United States that passed mandates on paid sick leave, cancer screening rates inched up in the years afterward. Breast cancer screening rose by roughly 3%, while colon cancer screening increased by 6% to 8%.

Work isn't always easy, but sometimes it becomes almost unbearable.

You might experience a constellation of symptoms, including emotional exhaustion, a reduced sense of personal accomplishment and cynicism, which affects how you interact with others in the workplace.

This is a condition known as burnout and though it's not listed in the diagnostic manual used by psychiatrists, it i...

The United States is one of the few developed nations without federal paid sick leave protection, owing at least in part to concerns about potential harms to business, according to a new study.

Yet, researchers studying the issue found that access to paid sick leave could have benefits for businesses.

Among them: fewer occupational injuries, less spread of contagious disease, fewer ...

Men who have physically demanding jobs and regularly lift heavy objects at work also have higher sperm counts and testosterone levels.

A new study that is part of broader effort to explore how exposure to en...

America's health care workforce is under unprecedented strain, and leaders of the medical profession are scrambling to shore up doctors and nurses who are burning out in record numbers.

Nearly two-thirds (63%) of a nationwide group of doctors and nurses said they are experiencing a moderate or great deal of burnout at work, according to a new HealthDay-Harris Poll online survey.<...

Black and Hispanic women who work as hairdressers are exposed to an array of chemicals, including many that have not been previously identified, a small study finds.

Researchers found that compared with women of color in office jobs, hair stylists had higher levels of various chemicals in their urine. Those substances included expected ones -- ingredients known to be in salon products -- ...

One-third of public health workers have endured threats, anger and aggression from the public during the pandemic, and that has come at a steep cost to their mental health, a new study finds.

“The negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on workers have been documented and the research on psychological impacts is building,” said lead study author