(NBC News) – Researchers say public health warnings are “essential to prevent the escalation of gambling-related harm and its long-term consequences.”

Internet searches seeking help for gambling addiction have “increased substantially” as the number of states with legalized sports betting has expanded in recent years, prompting a need for more public health awareness, according to a study released Monday.

The findings “suggest that sportsbooks pose a substantial health concern,” researchers at the University of California, San Diego, and Bryn Mawr College wrote in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. (Read More)