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Overall, suicide death rates for rural counties nationally (17.32 per 100,000 people) were higher than medium/small metropolitan counties (14.86) and large metropolitan counties (11.92), the CDC reported late last week. Dr. W. Vaughn McCall of the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) at Augusta University said Monday that there’s a growing disparity in the economic status of rural vs. urban residents. (Miller, 10/9)

Had Matthew Goodwin’s blood pressure been checked at age 3, when it should have been, he most likely would have been spared a medical emergency a year later. He spent two weeks in the pediatric intensive care unit while doctors tried to determine why his blood pressure had spiked off the charts following minor surgery. (Brody, 10/9)

While surgeons can remove tumors without removing a whole breast, spare nipples and skin, and begin reconstruction immediately after surgery using an implant or fat from a women’s own belly, the scars remain. They are often big, jagged lines women can see every time they look in the mirror. ...Most of the more than 230,000 women diagnosed with the cancer each year require surgery. It’s unclear how many surgeons are working to hide scars, which remains a relatively new approach, [Dr. Dona] Hobart said. (Cohn, 10/10)

On the website of the company Neurocore, an illustration of an anthropomorphized human brain, complete with hopeful eyes and a wide smile, is pumping iron. “A stronger brain makes anything possible,” says the tagline next to the cheery brain. This concept — body-building for the brain — is the premise behind the Michigan-based company’s popular therapy. Known as neurofeedback, the therapy is based on the idea that by monitoring and adjusting electromagnetic signals, or waves, emanating from the brain, people can improve their mood, for example, or alleviate a headache. (Furfaro, 10/9)

Aside from the flames themselves, smoke exposure is one of the biggest health hazards from wildfires. The problems can range from mild (stinging eyes and sore throat) to severe (an uptick in asthma attacks, heart attacks and even premature death). (Feibel, 10/10)