Health care costs are higher for people who smoke, are overweight, or sedentary according to the results of a study of more than 43,000 people published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. All three behaviors are risk factors for chronic and expensive-to-treat medical conditions, including heart disease and diabetes.

Although the findings are not surprising, they demonstrate that personal health habits are a big indicator of medical costs.

The average annual increase in cost was 13 percent higher for people who smoked, 45 percent higher for those who were obese, and 33 percent higher for those who were not physically active.

The annual increase was 75 percent higher for those who were both obese and inactive. Those who said they had all three risks had 86 percent higher annual costs on average compared with those in the same age group who said they had none of those risky behaviors.

Study participants with high risks had average annual health care costs of $4,432, while average annual costs were $2,382 for those who did not.

Americans are feeling anxious about the nation’s economy, and their mental health is suffering.

A recent American Psychological Association poll found 80 percent of participants reported the economy was causing them significant stress, up from 66 percent six months earlier. The National Sleep Foundation reports 27 percent of people surveyed last fall had sleeplessness because of economic anxiety. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline calls rose to 50,158 in January 2009, up from 39,465 in January 2008, and economic stress “played a central role,” says Richard McKeon, the organization’s federal project officer.

For help dealing with tough economic times, visit www.samhsa.gov/economy, a Health and Human Services Web site designed to help Americans make it through.

The usefulness of screenings for prostate cancer are called into question by major studies that found prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing —a blood test—saved few lives and often exposed men to unnecessary treatments that left them impotent or incontinent.

An American study showed no statistical difference in prostate cancer death rates between a group of men who had the screening and a control group who did not. European researchers found PSA screenings only slightly reduced the risk of dying from prostate cancer. A man who isn’t screened has about a 3 percent average risk of dying of the cancer; the risk for a man who has annual screenings drops to 2.4 percent. It also found that for every man who was helped by PSA screening, at least 48 received unnecessary treatment.

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