iStockphoto(MACKINAW CITY, Mich.) -- The Mackinac Bridge in Michigan spans five miles and is one of the longest suspension bridges in the world with the roadway soaring more than 200 feet over Lake Michigan. The bridge's dimensions provide stunning views of the surrounding landscape, but those vistas can be stomach-churning for people with gephyrophobia, or an abnormal fear of crossing bridges.

Between 1,200 to 1,400 calls are made every year to the bridge's Drivers Assistance Program that provides motorists with a crew member to drive them across if they're too afraid to drive themselves.

After the Thursday collapse of a highway bridge in Mount Vernon, Wash., the number of calls might increase with more fearful drivers wanting to be chauffeured across the Mackinac Bridge. But experts say phobias like gephyrophobia are sometimes more complicated in their origins.

Dr. Frank Schneier, a professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University and research psychiatrist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, said many people who're afraid to cross bridges are also suffering from agoraphobia, an anxiety disorder triggered by a fear of feeling trapped.

"They have intense anxiety symptoms or panic attacks," Schneier said. "It's not so much the idea that bridges are [going to collapse]. It's that they are places you can't escape from."

About 0.8 percent of Americans older than 18 have a form of agoraphobia, according to the National Institute of Health.

"There are techniques that can help people overcome these kinds of fears," Schneier said, citing therapy and anti-anxiety mediation as options for drivers to ease their worries.

But for those who haven't conquered their fear of crossing the Mackinac Bridge, the Driver's Assistance Program is another option. Bob Sweeney, the secretary of the Mackinac Bridge, said phone booths on either side of the bridge allow motorists the chance to call the program. Some even use it during their commute to and from work.

"There's a truck driver, who comes once month," Sweeney said. "He gets into a sleeper behind the cab and lays down for the whole trip [under a blanket]. It's amazing."

Only one crew member is available during the night shift, so a toll operator has to pitch in and drive a second car that picks up the crew member for the return trip to the opposite side of the bridge.

The Mackinac Bridge isn't the only bridge that provides the extra service for fearful drivers. A similar program exists for New York City's Tappan Zee Bridge. The New York Thruway Authority allows motorists afraid of driving across the bridge to make an appointment to be chauffeured over.

But a New York Thruway Authority representative estimated that the service is used far less than the Michigan program, likely only a handful of times annually.

Schneier said such programs to ferry scared drivers across bridges can be helpful to keep traffic moving but don't solve the core of the problem and that people should seek help if their fears become incapacitating.

"It's a patch to get the person over the bridge that day," Schneier said. "Most people, with the right kind of help, can overcome these disorders if they become debilitating."

For some people, however, even being chauffeured over the bridge is too much. Sweeney said his own brother-in-law is too afraid to drive across the Mackinac Bridge and, as a result, has never been to his home in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, which is joined to the state's Lower Peninsula by the bridge.

"Surprisingly, there's a lot of people who [have this] phobia," Sweeney said. "I just found out my brother-in-law is so afraid they stay [on the other side of the bridge.]"

For an upcoming family visit, Sweeney's brother-in-law is planning to take two ferries to make the trip.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

iStockphoto(NEW YORK) -- May to September is prime time for fun at the amusement park, and with fun comes a little bit of danger. From frightening news reports to personal YouTube videos, there is no shortage of amusement-ride scares. But a new study has found that it's not always the biggest and fastest rides we should fear.

Smaller ones, which parents might not consider as dangerous, contribute to injuries of more than 4,000 U.S. children each year.

Destiny Malone was just eight when she broke her arm by reaching out while riding a seemingly innocuous kiddie roller coaster.

"When I took her to the emergency room, that's when I found out it was broken," her mother, Crystal Malone, said.

The study, in the journal Clinical Pediatrics, tracked injuries on all kinds of rides: 4,400 per year -- up to 20 a day. When researchers looked at emergency records on which the type of ride was recorded, roller coasters accounted for 10.1 percent, bumper cars 3.9 percent.

But carousels accounted for 20.9 percent -- which might explain why one third of kids injured were five or younger.

The most common kind of accident was falling.

Industry advocates told ABC News that safety is their top priority, and pointed out that injuries among the nearly 300 million riders at their parks are rare. Less than two percent of these injuries required a trip to the hospital, they added.

The best advice may be to take seriously the warnings and instructions on the rides. And if your child may not be able to heed them for any reason, get ice cream instead.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(DENVER) -- Some patients' fears about being admitted to the hospital overnight might just be valid. A recent study of heart patients linked higher death rates with overnight admissions.

Researchers at the University of Colorado recently analyzed heart failure admissions in the state of New York from 1994 to 2007 -- a total of 949,907 admissions.   

They found that death rates and length of stay were lowest when the patient was admitted between 6 a.m. and noon. But death rates for patients admitted between midnight and 6 a.m. were at their highest.

The researchers also compared days of the week and different months. It turns out the highest death rate and length of time in the hospital was for patients admitted on Fridays and during the month of January.  

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- A new report shows it really does pay to give careful attention to your health. A detailed analysis by the American Heart Association (AHA) shows the total annual costs of stroke in the U.S. are projected to increase to $240.67 billion by 2030 -- that’s 129 percent higher than today.

A stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain becomes blocked by a clot or a bleeding vessel, leading brain cells lacking in oxygen-rich blood to die.

Even though stroke, as the fourth leading cause of death and top cause of disability, already accounts for 1.7 percent of national health expenditures, it is predicted to increase dramatically due to the aging of the U.S. population, according to data published in the AHA journal Stroke. More people suffer stroke after the age of 55.

And the deck is further stacked: improved treatment for stroke will lead to higher stroke survivor rates, and our increase in obesity, hypertension, and diabetes will lead to more strokes overall.

With increased survivor rates, medical professionals agree the cost of caring for stroke survivors will eventually take its toll on the healthcare system.

Policy changes in the health system that focus on preventative interventions are necessary now, given the reports findings, or we will certainly pay later.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- A Danish science experiment by a group of 9th-graders has gained worldwide interest and may have us rethinking the proliferation of wireless devices in our homes.

Five girls from Hjallerup Skole, a primary education school in Denmark, began the experiment after noticing that when they slept with their cellphones near their heads overnight, they had trouble focusing the next day, according to Danish News site DR.

The resources weren’t available to conduct an experiment around wireless signals affecting brain activity, so instead the girls decided to monitor the growth of plants near WiFi routers – and the results were a bit shocking.

Six trays containing the seeds of a garden cress herb were placed in a room without a WiFi router, and six trays were placed in a different room and next to two WiFi routers which, according to the girls’ calculations, emitted about the same type of radiation as an ordinary cellphone, reports DR.

During the 12 days of the experiment, the seeds in the six trays away from the WiFi routers grew normally, while the seeds next to the routers did not. In fact, the project photos show that many of the seeds placed near the routers turned brown and died.

“This has sparked quite a lively debate in Denmark regarding the potential adverse health-effects from mobile phones and WiFi-equipment,” Kim Horsevad, biology teacher at Hjallerup Skole told ABC News.

Horsevad said that some of the local debate over the experiment has been over whether the negative effects were due to the cress seeds drying from the heat emitted by the computer/WiFi routers used in the experiment. But she explained that the students kept the cress seeds in both groups sufficiently moist during the whole experiment, and the temperatures were controlled thermostatically.

A similar study was conducted about three years ago in the Netherlands when researchers noticed that some trees in urban areas were showing “bark lumps,” according to Popular Science. The experiment, conducted by Wageningen University, involved exposing 20 ash trees to various kinds of radiation for three months. The trees chosen to test tolerance to heavy WiFi signals began to show typical signs of radiation sickness, including a “lead-like shine” on their leaves.

As for the attention the girl’s science fair project is getting, Horsevad said neuroscience professor Olle Johanssen with the Karolinska Institute in Sweden has expressed great interest.

“[Johanssen] will probably be repeating the experiment in controlled, professional, scientific environments,” said Horsevad. “One would therefore generally be advised to await the results of his experiments before basing any important decisions on the outcome of the girls’ experiment.”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio