THURSDAY, Aug. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Safer triggers and training have helped reduce nail gun injuries, but safety regulations are needed to help protect residential carpenters, say Duke University Medical Center researchers.

Nail guns cause more injuries than people realize, according to study lead author Hester Lipscomb, a professor of occupational and environmental medicine.

"There are more than 35,000 visits each year in the U.S. to emergency departments for injuries from nail guns," she said in a Duke news release.

ATLANTA - The average time that hospital emergency rooms patients wait to see a doctor has grown from about 38 minutes to almost an hour over the past decade, according to new federal statistics released Wednesday.

The increase is due to supply and demand, said Dr. Stephen Pitts, the lead author of the report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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MONDAY, Aug. 4 (HealthDay News) -- The fun of jumping into a pool turns into trauma for about 6,500 adolescents a year who end up in emergency rooms for diving-related injuries.

That's an average of one injury an hour, a 16-year study finds, with children aged 10 and 14 most likely to get hurt.

MONDAY, Aug. 4 (HealthDay News) -- A significant percentage of small children going to emergency rooms with an "apparent life-threatening event" had ingested over-the-counter cold and cough medicines, researchers report, despite recent U.S. recommendations that these products not be used in children under 2.

Such medicines can cause apnea (cessation of breathing) in young children, noted Dr. Raymond Pitetti, lead author of a study published in the August issue of Pediatrics and associate medical director of the emergency department at Children's Hospital, Pittsburgh.

THURSDAY, May 29 (HealthDay News) -- Long-term buildup of radiation resulting from repeated emergency room X-rays and scans may be placing some patients at an increased risk for developing cancer, new research suggests.

At issue are routine testing procedures -- currently in widespread use in hospitals across the United States -- that emit a certain degree of ionizing radiation. Such procedures include both standard X-rays and more sophisticated CT scans, as well as nuclear medicine screenings where tiny amounts of radioactive material are swallowed and followed throughout the body.

By Randy Dotinga
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

Side effects from just three drugs are responsible for a full third of all U.S. emergency room visits by senior citizens who had adverse reactions to medications, a new study found.

In 2004 and 2005, the blood thinner warfarin, the diabetes drug insulin and the heart drug digoxin caused about 58,000 emergency room visits a year in those 65 and older, the researchers found.