Health Highlights: June 18, 2019

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

Facebook Posts Can Reveal Medical Conditions: Study

Medical conditions are among the many things your social media activity can reveal about you, according to a new study.

By analyzing nearly 950,000 posts of more than 500 words by 999 Facebook users, researchers were able to predict 21 types of medical conditions, ranging from skin disorders to pregnancy, CNN reported.

“People’s personality, mental state, and health behaviors are all reflected in their social media and all have tremendous impact on health,” according to the researchers.

They looked for language in the posts that likely indicated characteristic behavior or symptoms of certain conditions, CNN reported.

The study will be published June 19 in the journal PLoS One.

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High Temperature Records Will be “Smashed” in Coming Century: Study

Climate change will cause some regions of the world to “smash” high temperature records every year in the coming century, researchers warn.

That will push “ecosystems and communities beyond their ability to cope,” according to the authors of the study in the journal Nature Climate Change, CNN reported.

The researchers used 22 climate models to forecast future summer temperatures. They determined that by the end of the 21st century, temperature events “will be so extreme that they will not have been experienced previously.”

High monthly mean temperature records will be set in 58% of the world every year, with the greatest impact in developing countries and small island nations.

The researchers predicted that the highest monthly mean temperature records will occur in 67% of the least developed countries and 68% of small island developing states, CNN reported.

High temperatures increase the risk of heat stroke, breathing issues, heart attacks, asthma attacks and kidney problems, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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