Health Headlines: NFL Players Not At Greater Risk For Suicide

Retired NFL players are at no greater risk of suicide when compared with the general U.S. population, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Reseachers calculated the suicide death rate for 3,439 retired NFL players who played at least five seasons between 1959 and 1988 and compared it with the suicide death rate for gender-, race-, and age-matched people from the general U.S. population.

They found that from 1979 to 2013, the rate of suicide among these former professional football players was less than half of what would be expected compared with the general U.S. population.

The NFL group experienced 12 suicide deaths compared with 25 that would be expected in a comparable gender/race/age sector of the U.S. population.

Natural Really Natural?

When you pick up that grocery item labeled "natural," you may think you're doing your family a favor but that may not be the case.

A new survey from Consumer Reports finds three-quarters of shoppers loo for 'natural' foods but most believe the label means more than it does.

Unlike organic foods, products with a 'natural' label are not regulated by any government agency and they may contain artificial ingredients or genetically modified ingredients.

Consumer Reports wants the FDA to either ban the word 'natural' on labels or come up with higher standards for these products.

Ketamine To Treat Depression

A powerful anesthetic may be able to help severely depressed patients who are thinking of killing themselves.

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital recruited 14 patients who'd been having suicidal thoughts for at least three months.

For three weeks, the participants got low i-v doses of ketamine twice a week.

Ketamine is an anesthetic but users also report a high and dream-like state.

It's been sold on the street illegally and sometimes goes by the name "special K."

But in the controlled study, most of the participants had a decrease in suicidal thoughts. Two had complete remission.

Larger studies are ongoing.