Morning Medical Update: Why more Americans are putting off going to the doctor - Is it an allergy, or a cold?; Young adults with strong parent relationships have better long-term health outcomes

Why more Americans are putting off going to the doctor

Almost a third of Americans don’t have access to primary care services. Nearly 40% of Americans say cost is large barrier. John Yang of PBS News Weekend sat down with Dr. Maya Artandi, a clinical professor of primary care and population health at Stanford University, to discuss these issues. Following, people from around the country weigh in on their negative experiences with primary care.

Is it an allergy, or a cold?

Spring has finally sprung and with it come a host of upper respiratory problems. Collectively, Americans have one billion colds a year and 30% of adults suffer from allergies. It can be hard to decipher which you are suffering from, especially since they can happen at the same time. As a rule, allergies don’t cause fevers and come with a dry cough, if any at all. Cold symptoms include body aches and a sore throat.

Young adults with strong parent relationships have better long-term health outcomes

According to a recent study published by JAMA Network Open, researchers found that positive adolescent parent relationships lead to greater overall health. Researchers studied over 20,000 in-school adolescents were in the seventh through twelfth grade in the 1994-1995 academic year. The participants were followed through three decades. The study reads, “from a policy perspective, investments to improve parent-adolescent relationships might substantially improve the health of all young adults in the U.S across a wide range of health domains.”