Analysis of US life expectancy

JAMA

Bottom Line: Examining life expectancy in the United States over nearly 60 years and identifying factors that contributed to recent increases in mortality were the focus of this expansive report. Researchers used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Mortality Database to analyze changes in life expectancy and mortality rates, and they reviewed epidemiologic literature to add context to the vital statistics and explore explanations for the trends. Life expectancy increased almost 10 years, from 69.9 years in 1959 to 78.9 years in 2016, but the pace slowed over time and life expectancy decreased in the U.S. for three consecutive years after 2014. Contributing to that decrease, the researchers report, was an increase in deaths among working-age adults, those ages 25 to 64, from causes such as drug overdoses, suicides, and a long list of organ system diseases. The report includes an analysis at the state level, showing that the trend was more concentrated in certain regions, notably the Industrial Midwest and northern New England. The authors discuss potential explanations for rising mortality, among them drugs, obesity, the health care system, mounting stress and the economy. Limitations of the report include mortality data that can be subject to errors such as an inaccurate determination of cause of death, race misclassification and undercounting.

Playing board games may help protect thinking skills in old age

People who play games - such as cards and board games - are more likely to stay mentally sharp in later life, a study suggests.
Those who regularly played non-digital games scored better on memory and thinking tests in their 70s, the research found.
The study also found that a behaviour change in later life could still make a difference.
People who increased game playing during their 70s were more likely to maintain certain thinking skills as they grew older.
Psychologists at the University of Edinburgh tested more than 1000 people aged 70 for memory, problem solving, thinking speed and general thinking ability.
The participants then repeated the same thinking tests every three years until aged 79.
The group were also asked how often they played games like cards, chess, bingo or crosswords - at ages 70 and 76.
Researchers used statistical models to analyse the relationship between a person's level of game playing and their thinking skills.
The team took into account the results of an intelligence test that the participants sat when they were 11 years old.
They also considered lifestyle factors, such as education, socio-economic status and activity levels.
People who increased game playing in later years were found to have experienced less decline in thinking skills in their seventies - particularly in memory function and thinking speed.
Researchers say the findings help to better understand what kinds of lifestyles and behaviours might be associated with better outcomes for cognitive health in later life.
The study may also help people make decisions about how best to protect their thinking skills as they age.
Dr Drew Altschul, of the University of Edinburgh's School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, said: "These latest findings add to evidence that being more engaged in activities during the life course might be associated with better thinking skills in later life. For those in their 70s or beyond, another message seems to be that playing non-digital games may be a positive behaviour in terms of reducing cognitive decline."
Professor Ian Deary, Director of the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology (CCACE), said: "We and others are narrowing down the sorts of activities that might help to keep people sharp in older age. In our Lothian sample, it's not just general intellectual and social activity, it seems; it is something in this group of games that has this small but detectable association with better cognitive ageing. It'd be good to find out if some of these games are more potent than others. We also point out that several other things are related to better cognitive ageing, such as being physically fit and not smoking."
Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK, said: "Even though some people's thinking skills can decline as we get older, this research is further evidence that it doesn't have to be inevitable. The connection between playing board games and other non-digital games later in life and sharper thinking and memory skills adds to what we know about steps we can take to protect our cognitive health, including not drinking excess alcohol, being active and eating a healthy diet."
The participants were part of the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 study, a group of individuals who were born in 1936 and took part in the Scottish Mental Survey of 1947.
Since 1999, researchers have been working with the Lothian Birth Cohorts to chart how a person's thinking power changes over their lifetime. The follow-up times in the Cohorts are among the longest in the world.

Aerobic exercise and heart-healthy diet may slow development of memory problems J

Cognitive impairment without dementia (CIND), or mild cognitive impairment, is a condition that affects your memory and may put you at risk for Alzheimer's disease and dementia. According to the U.S. National Library for Medicine, signs of mild cognitive impairment may include frequently losing things, forgetting to go to events and appointments, and having more trouble coming up with words than other people of your age.
Some experts believe that risk factors for heart disease also are risk factors for dementia and late-life cognitive decline and dementia. Recently, researchers examined two potential ways to slow the development of CIND based on what we know about preventing heart disease. They published the results of their study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
The research team had a theory: That the healthy lifestyle behaviors that slow the development of heart disease could reduce heart disease risk and also slow cognitive decline in older adults with CIND. These behaviors include regular exercise and a heart-healthy diet, such as the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet.
In order to investigate their theory, the researchers designed a study titled "Exercise and NutritionaL Interventions for coGnitive and Cardiovascular HealTh EnhaNcement" (or ENLIGHTEN for short). The goal of the study was to examine the effects of aerobic exercise (sometimes known as "cardio" or "cardiovascular" exercise because it involves activities that increase the circulation of oxygen through the blood) and the DASH diet on cognitive functioning in older adults with CIND.
The ENLIGHTEN study examined 160 adults 55-years-old or older. The study participants were older adults who didn't exercise and had memory problems, difficulty thinking, and making decisions. They also had at least one additional risk factor for heart disease, such as high blood pressure (also known as hypertension), high cholesterol, diabetes, or other chronic conditions.
Participants took a number of tests to measure their heart disease risk factors and cognitive ability. Researchers also assessed participants' dietary habits and ability to perform daily activities. The participants were then randomly assigned to one of four groups: a group doing aerobic exercise alone, a group following the DASH diet alone, a group doing aerobic exercise and following the DASH diet combined, or a group receiving standard health education.
People in the exercise group did 35 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercise (including walking or stationary biking) three times per week for six months. They were supervised for three months and then exercised unsupervised at home for three months. Participants in the exercise group did not receive any counseling in the DASH diet and were encouraged to follow their usual diets for six months.
People in the DASH eating plan group received instruction about how to meet DASH guidelines in a series of weekly sessions for three months and then bi-weekly for the remaining three months. Participants in the DASH group were asked not to engage in regular exercise until the completion of the six-month study.
People in the exercise and DASH group followed the exercise and DASH programs for six months. The participants who were enrolled in the health education group received weekly educational phone calls for three months and then bi-weekly calls for three months. Phone calls were conducted by a health educator on health topics related to heart disease. Participants were asked to maintain their usual dietary and exercise habits for six months until they were re-evaluated.
At the conclusion of the six-month intervention and assessment, participants were free to engage in whatever activity and dietary habits they desired, with no restrictions.
The results of the research team's study showed that exercise improved the participants' ability to think, remember, and make decisions compared to non-exercisers, and that combining exercise with the DASH diet improved the ability to think, remember, and make decisions, compared to people who didn't exercise or follow the diet--even though they didn't perfectly follow the programs they were assigned to during the six-month interventions.
The researchers concluded that their findings are promising proof that improved ability to think, remember, and make decisions can last one year after completing a six-month exercise intervention. They suggested that further studies would be needed to learn more.

Salt, sugar, frying in oil bad; Ketogenic diet good

Mice fed a very high-salt diet showed accumulation of a protein in the brain linked with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias

Ketogenic diet helps tame flu virus 

A high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet like the Keto regimen has its fans, but influenza apparently isn't one of them.
Mice fed a ketogenic diet were better able to combat the flu virus than mice fed food high in carbohydrates, according to a new Yale University study published Nov. 15 in the journal Science Immunology.
The ketogenic diet -- which for people includes meat, fish, poultry, and non-starchy vegetables -- activates a subset of T cells in the lungs not previously associated with the immune system's response to influenza, enhancing mucus production from airway cells that can effectively trap the virus, the researchers report.
"This was a totally unexpected finding," said co-senior author Akiko Iwasaki, the Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Immunobiology and Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
The research project was the brainchild of two trainees -- one working in Iwasaki's lab and the other with co-senior author Visha Deep Dixit, the Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Comparative Medicine and of Immunobiology. Ryan Molony worked in Iwasaki's lab, which had found that immune system activators called inflammasomes can cause harmful immune system responses in their host. Emily Goldberg worked in Dixit's lab, which had shown that the ketogenic diet blocked formation of inflammasomes.
The two wondered if diet could affect immune system response to pathogens such as the flu virus.
They showed that mice fed a ketogenic diet and infected with the influenza virus had a higher survival rate than mice on a high-carb normal diet. Specifically, the researchers found that the ketogenic diet triggered the release of gamma delta T cells, immune system cells that produce mucus in the cell linings of the lung -- while the high-carbohydrate diet did not.
When mice were bred without the gene that codes for gamma delta T cells, the ketogenic diet provided no protection against the influenza virus.
"This study shows that the way the body burns fat to produce ketone bodies from the food we eat can fuel the immune system to fight flu infection," Dixit said.

Frying oil consumption worsened colon cancer and colitis in mice

Foods fried in vegetable oil are popular worldwide, but research about the health effects of this cooking technique has been largely inconclusive and focused on healthy people. For the first time, UMass Amherst food scientists set out to examine the impact of frying oil consumption on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colon cancer, using animal models.
In their paper published Aug. 23 in Cancer Prevention Research, lead author and Ph.D. student Jianan Zhang, associate professor Guodong Zhang, and professor and department head Eric Decker showed that feeding frying oil to mice exaggerated colonic inflammation, enhanced tumor growth and worsened gut leakage, spreading bacteria or toxic bacterial products into the bloodstream.
"People with colonic inflammation or colon cancer should be aware of this research," says Jianan Zhang.
Guodong Zhang, whose food science lab focuses on the discovery of new cellular targets in the treatment of colon cancer and how to reduce the risks of IBD, stresses that "it's not our message that frying oil can cause cancer."
Rather, the new research suggests that eating fried foods may exacerbate and advance conditions of the colon. "In the United States, many people have these diseases, but many of them may still eat fast food and fried food," says Guodong Zhang. "If somebody has IBD or colon cancer and they eat this kind of food, there is a chance it will make the diseases more aggressive."
For their experiments, the researchers used a real-world sample of canola oil, in which falafel had been cooked at 325 F in a standard commercial fryer at an eatery in Amherst, Massachusetts. "Canola oil is used widely in America for frying," Jianan Zhang says.
Decker, an expert in lipid chemistry performed the analysis of the oil, which undergoes an array of chemical reactions during the frying process. He characterized the fatty acid profiles, the level of free fatty acids and the status of oxidation.
A combination of the frying oil and fresh oil was added to the powder diet of one group of mice. The control group was fed the powder diet with only fresh oil mixed in. "We tried to mimic the human being's diet," Guodong Zhang says.
Supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the researchers looked at the effects of the diets on colonic inflammation, colon tumor growth and gut leakage, finding that the frying oil diet worsened all the conditions. "The tumors doubled in size from the control group to the study group," Guodong Zhang says.
To test their hypothesis that the oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which occurs when the oil is heated, is instrumental in the inflammatory effects, the researchers isolated polar compounds from the frying oil and fed them to the mice. The results were "very similar" to those from the experiment in which the mice were fed frying oil, suggesting that the polar compounds mediated the inflammatory effects.
While more research is needed, the researchers hope a better understanding of the health impacts of frying oil will lead to dietary guidelines and public health policies.
"For individuals with or prone to inflammatory bowel disease," Guodong Zhang says, "it's probably a good idea to eat less fried food."

Cannabis reduces headache and migraine pain by nearly half

Inhaled cannabis reduces self-reported headache severity by 47.3% and migraine severity by 49.6%, according to a recent study led by Carrie Cuttler, a Washington State University assistant professor of psychology.
The study, published online recently in the Journal of Pain, is the first to use big data from headache and migraine patients using cannabis in real time. Previous studies have asked patients to recall the effect of cannabis use in the past. There has been one clinical trial indicating that cannabis was better than ibuprofen in alleviating headache, but it used nabilone, a synthetic cannabinoid drug.
"We were motivated to do this study because a substantial number of people say they use cannabis for headache and migraine, but surprisingly few studies had addressed the topic," said Cuttler, the lead author on the paper.
In the WSU study, researchers analyzed archival data from the Strainprint app, which allows patients to track symptoms before and after using medical cannabis purchased from Canadian producers and distributors. The information was submitted by more than 1,300 patients who used the app over 12,200 times to track changes in headache from before to after cannabis use, and another 653 who used the app more than 7,400 times to track changes in migraine severity.
"We wanted to approach this in an ecologically valid way, which is to look at actual patients using whole plant cannabis to medicate in their own homes and environments," Cuttler said. "These are also very big data, so we can more appropriately and accurately generalize to the greater population of patients using cannabis to manage these conditions."
Cuttler and her colleagues saw no evidence that cannabis caused "overuse headache," a pitfall of more conventional treatments which can make patients' headaches worse over time. However, they did see patients using larger doses of cannabis over time, indicting they may be developing tolerance to the drug.
The study found a small gender difference with significantly more sessions involving headache reduction reported by men (90.0%) than by women (89.1%). The researchers also noted that cannabis concentrates, such as cannabis oil, produced a larger reduction in headache severity ratings than cannabis flower.
There was, however, no significant difference in pain reduction among cannabis strains that were higher or lower in levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), two of the most commonly studied chemical constituents in cannabis, also known as cannabinoids. Since cannabis is made up of over 100 cannabinoids, this finding suggests that different cannabinoids or other constituents like terpenes may play the central role in headache and migraine relief.
More research is needed, and Cuttler acknowledges the limitations of the Strainprint study since it relies on a self-selected group of people who may already anticipate that cannabis will work to alleviate their symptoms, and it was not possible to employ a placebo control group.
"I suspect there are some slight overestimates of effectiveness," said Cuttler. "My hope is that this research will motivate researchers to take on the difficult work of conducting placebo-controlled trials. In the meantime, this at least gives medical cannabis patients and their doctors a little more information about what they might expect from using cannabis to manage these conditions."

Extra virgin olive oil staves off multiple forms of dementia in mice

Boosting brain function is key to staving off the effects of aging. And if there was one thing every person should consider doing right now to keep their brain young, it is to add extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) to their diet, according to research by scientists at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM). EVOO is a superfood, rich in cell-protecting antioxidants and known for its multiple health benefits, including helping put the brakes on diseases linked to aging, most notably cardiovascular disease. Previous LKSOM research on mice also showed that EVOO preserves memory and protects the brain against Alzheimer's disease.
In a new study in mice published online in the journal Aging Cell, LKSOM scientists show that yet another group of aging-related diseases can be added to that list - tauopathies, which are characterized by the gradual buildup of an abnormal form of a protein called tau in the brain. This process leads to a decline in mental function, or dementia. The findings are the first to suggest that EVOO can defend against a specific type of mental decline linked to tauopathy known as frontotemporal dementia.
Alzheimer's disease is itself one form of dementia. It primarily affects the hippocampus - the memory storage center in the brain. Frontotemporal dementia affects the areas of the brain near the forehead and ears. Symptoms typically emerge between ages 40 and 65 and include changes in personality and behavior, difficulties with language and writing, and eventual deterioration of memory and ability to learn from prior experience.
Senior investigator Domenico Praticò, MD, Scott Richards North Star Foundation Chair for Alzheimer's Research, Professor in the Departments of Pharmacology and Microbiology, and Director of the Alzheimer's Center at Temple at LKSOM, describes the new work as supplying another piece in the story about EVOO's ability to ward off cognitive decline and to protect the junctions where neurons come together to exchange information, which are known as synapses.
"EVOO has been a part of the human diet for a very long time and has many benefits for health, for reasons that we do not yet fully understand," he said. "The realization that EVOO can protect the brain against different forms of dementia gives us an opportunity to learn more about the mechanisms through which it acts to support brain health."
In previous work using a mouse model in which animals were destined to develop Alzheimer's disease, Dr. Praticò's team showed that EVOO supplied in the diet protected young mice from memory and learning impairment as they aged. Most notably, when the researchers looked at brain tissue from mice fed EVOO, they did not see features typical of cognitive decline, particularly amyloid plaques - sticky proteins that gum up communication pathways between neurons in the brain. Rather, the animals' brains looked normal.
The team's new study shows that the same is true in the case of mice engineered to develop tauopathy. In these mice, normal tau protein turns defective and accumulates in the brain, forming harmful tau deposits, also called tangles. Tau deposits, similar to amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease, block neuron communication and thereby impair thinking and memory, resulting in frontotemporal dementia.
Tau mice were put on a diet supplemented with EVOO at a young age, comparable to about age 30 or 40 in humans. Six months later, when mice were the equivalent of age 60 in humans, tauopathy-prone animals experienced a 60 percent reduction in damaging tau deposits, compared to littermates that were not fed EVOO. Animals on the EVOO diet also performed better on memory and learning tests than animals deprived of EVOO.
When Dr. Praticò and colleagues examined brain tissue from EVOO-fed mice, they found that improved brain function was likely facilitated by healthier synapse function, which in turn was associated with greater-than-normal levels of a protein known as complexin-1. Complexin-1 is known to play a critical role in maintaining healthy synapses.
Dr. Praticò and colleagues now plan to explore what happens when EVOO is fed to older animals that have begun to develop tau deposits and signs of cognitive decline, which more closely reflects the clinical scenario in humans. "We are particularly interested in knowing whether EVOO can reverse tau damage and ultimately treat tauopathy in older mice," Dr. Praticò added.

Lack of sleep may explain why poor people get more heart disease

Insufficient sleep is one reason why disadvantaged groups have more heart disease. That's the finding of a study published today in Cardiovascular Research, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).1
People with lower socioeconomic status sleep less for a variety of reasons: they may do several jobs, work in shifts, live in noisy environments, and have greater levels of emotional and financial stress.
This was the first large population-based study to examine whether lack of sleep could partly explain why poor people have more heart disease. It found that short sleep explained 13.4% of the link between occupation and coronary heart disease in men.
Study author Dusan Petrovic, of the University Centre of General Medicine and Public Health (unisanté), Lausanne, Switzerland, said: "The absence of mediation by short sleep in women could be due to the weaker relationship between occupation and sleep duration compared to men."
"Women with low socioeconomic status often combine the physical and psychosocial strain of manual, poorly paid jobs with household responsibilities and stress, which negatively affects sleep and its health-restoring effects compared to men," he said.
He said: "Structural reforms are needed at every level of society to enable people to get more sleep. For example, attempting to reduce noise, which is an important source of sleep disturbances, with double glazed windows, limiting traffic, and not building houses next to airports or highways."
The study was part of the Lifepath project, and pooled data from eight cohorts totalling 111,205 participants from four European countries. Socioeconomic status was classified as low, middle, or high according to father's occupation and personal occupation. History of coronary heart disease and stroke was obtained from clinical assessment, medical records, and self-report. Average sleep duration was self-reported and categorised as recommended or normal sleep (6 to 8.5), short sleep (6), and long sleep (more than 8.5) hours per night.
The contribution of insufficient sleep was investigated using a statistical approach called mediation analysis. It estimates the contribution of an intermediate factor (sleep) to an association between the main exposure (socioeconomic status) and the main outcome (coronary heart disease or stroke).

HPV vaccines & vaccine schedules in adolescent girls and boys Wiley

New evidence published in the Cochrane Library today provides further information on the benefits and harms of different human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines and vaccine schedules in young women and men.

HPV is the most common viral infection of the reproductive tract in both women and men globally (WHO 2017). Most people who have sexual contact will be exposed to HPV at some point in their life. In most people, their own immune system will clear the HPV infection.

HPV infection can sometimes persist if the immune system does not clear the virus. Persistent infection with some 'high-risk' strains of HPV can lead to the development of cancer. High-risk HPV strains cause almost all cancers of the cervix and anus, and some cancers of the vagina, vulva, anus, penis, and head and neck. Other 'low risk', HPV strains cause genital warts but do not cause cancer.

Development of cancer due to HPV happens gradually, over many years, through a number of pre-cancer stages, called intra-epithelial neoplasia. In the cervix (neck of the womb) these changes are called cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). High-grade CIN changes have a 1 in 3 chance of developing into cervical cancer, but many CIN lesions regress and do not develop into cancer. HPV-related cancers accounted for an estimated 4.5% of cancers worldwide in 2012 (de Martel 2017).

Vaccination aims to prevent future HPV infection and the cancers caused by high-risk HPV infection.
HPV vaccines are mainly targeted towards adolescent girls because cancer of the cervix is the most common HPV-associated cancer. For the prevention of cervical cancer, the World Health Organization recommends vaccinating girls aged 9-14 years with HPV vaccine using a two-dose schedule (0, 6 months) as the most effective strategy. A three-dose schedule is recommended for older girls ?15 years of age or for people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection or other causes of immunodeficiency (WHO 2017).

Three HPV vaccines are currently in use: a bivalent vaccine that is targeted at the two most common high-risk HPV types; a quadrivalent vaccine targeted at four HPV types, and a nonavalent vaccine targeted at nine HPV types. In women, the bivalent and quadrivalent vaccines have been shown to protect against pre-cancer of the cervix caused by the HPV types contained in the vaccine if given before natural infection with HPV (Arbyn 2018).

This Cochrane Review summarizes the results from 20 randomized controlled trials involving 31,940 people conducted across all continents. In most studies, the outcome reported was the production of HPV antibodies by the vaccine recipient's immune system. HPV antibody responses predict protection against the HPV-related diseases and cancers the vaccines are intended to prevent.

Antibody response is often used as a surrogate in HPV vaccine studies because it takes many years for pre-cancer to develop after HPV infection, so it is difficult for studies to follow participants over such long periods of time. Moreover, because trial participants were tested for HPV infection and offered treatment, if HPV-related precancer was found, progression to cervical cancer in this group would be expected to be very low, even without vaccination.

Four studies compared a two-dose vaccine schedule with a three-dose schedule in 2,317 adolescent girls and three studies compared different time intervals between the first two vaccine doses in 2,349 girls and boys. Antibody responses were similar after two-dose and three-dose HPV vaccine schedules in girls. Antibody responses in girls and boys were stronger when the interval between the first two doses of HPV vaccine was longer.

There was evidence from one study of 16 to 26-year old men that the quadrivalent HPV vaccine reduces the incidence of external genital lesions and genital warts compared with a group who did not receive the HPV vaccine.

There was also evidence from a study of 16 to 26-year old women that compared the nonavalent and quadrivalent vaccines that they provide a similar level of protection against cervical, vaginal, and vulval pre-cancerous lesions.

Evidence suggested that up to 90% of males and females who received an HPV vaccine experienced local minor adverse events such as redness, swelling and pain at the injection site. Due to the low rates of serious adverse events in quadrivalent and nonavalent vaccine groups, and the broad definition of these events used in the trials, we cannot really determine the relative safety of different vaccine schedules.

Diet pills, laxatives used for weight control linked with later eating disorder diagnosis

Among young women without an eating disorder diagnosis, those who use diet pills and laxatives for weight control had higher odds of receiving a subsequent first eating disorder diagnosis within one to three years than those who did not report using these products, according to a new study led by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Boston Children's Hospital. "We've known that diet pills and laxatives when used for weight control can be very harmful substances. We wanted to find out if these products could be a gateway behavior that could lead to an eating order diagnosis," said senior author S. Bryn Austin, professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Harvard Chan School and director of STRIPED (Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders). "Our findings parallel what we've known to be true with tobacco and alcohol: starting harmful substances can set young people on a path to worsening problems, including serious substance abuse disorder."
The study will be published online November 21, 2019 in the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH).
Use of over-the-counter diet pills or laxatives is not recommended by health care providers as a healthy way to manage weight and can have severe health consequences, including high blood pressure and liver and kidney damage.
The researchers analyzed data from 10,058 women and girls ages 14 to 36 who participated in the U.S.-based Growing Up Today Study (GUTS) from 2001 to 2016.
They found that among participants without an eating disorder, 1.8% of those who used diet pills during the past year reported receiving a first eating disorder diagnosis during the next one to three years compared to 1% of those who did not use the products. They also found that among these participants, 4.2% of those who used laxatives for weight control received a subsequent first eating disorder diagnosis compared to 0.8% of those who did not use these products for weight control.
The researchers called for policies that restrict access to these products, including banning the sale of diet pills to minors. They write that use of these products for weight control may serve as a "gateway" to further disordered eating practices by dysregulating normal digestive function and fostering dependence on unhealthy and ineffective coping methods.
"Our findings are a wake-up call about the serious risks of these products. Instagram took a step in the right direction recently by banning ads to minors for over-the-counter diet pills and 'detox' teas, which are often laxatives," said first author Jordan Levinson, clinical research assistant, Division of Adolescent Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital. "It's time for retailers and policymakers to take the dangers of these products seriously and take steps to protect youth."

Science underestimated dangerous effects of sleep deprivation

Michigan State University's Sleep and Learning Lab has conducted one of the largest sleep studies to date, revealing that sleep deprivation affects us much more than prior theories have suggested.
Published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, the research is not only one of the largest studies, but also the first to assess how sleep deprivation impacts placekeeping - or, the ability to complete a series of steps without losing one's place, despite potential interruptions. This study builds on prior research from MSU's sleep scientists to quantify the effect lack of sleep has on a person's ability to follow a procedure and maintain attention.
"Our research showed that sleep deprivation doubles the odds of making placekeeping errors and triples the number of lapses in attention, which is startling," Fenn said. "Sleep-deprived individuals need to exercise caution in absolutely everything that they do, and simply can't trust that they won't make costly errors. Oftentimes - like when behind the wheel of a car - these errors can have tragic consequences."
By sharing their findings on the separate effects sleep deprivation has on cognitive function, Fenn - and co-authors Michelle Stepan, MSU doctoral candidate and Erik Altmann, professor of psychology - hope that people will acknowledge how significantly their abilities are hindered because of a lack of sleep.
"Our findings debunk a common theory that suggests that attention is the only cognitive function affected by sleep deprivation," Stepan said. "Some sleep-deprived people might be able to hold it together under routine tasks, like a doctor taking a patient's vitals. But our results suggest that completing an activity that requires following multiple steps, such as a doctor completing a medical procedure, is much riskier under conditions of sleep deprivation."
The researchers recruited 138 people to participate in the overnight sleep assessment; 77 stayed awake all night and 61 went home to sleep. All participants took two separate cognitive tasks in the evening: one that measured reaction time to a stimulus; the other measured a participant's ability to maintain their place in a series of steps without omitting or repeating a step - even after sporadic interruptions. The participants then repeated both tasks in the morning to see how sleep-deprivation affected their performance.
"After being interrupted there was a 15% error rate in the evening and we saw that the error rate spiked to about 30% for the sleep-deprived group the following morning," Stepan said. "The rested participants' morning scores were similar to the night before.
"There are some tasks people can do on auto-pilot that may not be affected by a lack of sleep," Fenn said. "However, sleep deprivation causes widespread deficits across all facets of life."

Legumes boost heart health, according to new review study

Consuming beans, lentils, peas, and other legumes reduces the risk for cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, and high blood pressure, according to a review published in Advances in Nutrition.
Researchers reviewed prospective cohort studies that assessed consumption of legumes on the risk for cardiometabolic diseases and related markers. The study found that those who consumed the most legumes reduced incidence rates for cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, and hypertension by as much as 10 percent when compared to those with the lowest intakes.
"Cardiovascular disease is the world's leading--and most expensive--cause of death, costing the United States nearly 1 billion dollars a day," says study co-author Hana Kahleova, MD, PhD, director of clinical research for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. "This study shows that an inexpensive, accessible, and common pantry staple could help change that: beans."
Beans and other legumes benefit cardiovascular health because they are high in fiber, plant protein, and other micronutrients, but low in fat, free of cholesterol, and low on the glycemic index, according to the study authors.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans says that Americans are not eating enough legumes and recommends eating about three cups per week. The average American consumes less than a cup a week.
"Americans eat less than one serving of legumes per day, on average," adds Dr. Kahleova. "Simply adding more beans to our plates could be a powerful tool in fighting heart disease and bringing down blood pressure."

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S., responsible for approximately 1 in every 4 deaths. About 1 in 3 U.S. adults suffer from hypertension.

Sesame allergy common among children with food allergies

Sesame allergy is one of the ten most common childhood food allergies. Reactions to sesame can be severe among children with the allergy. Only an estimated 20% to 30% of children with sesame allergy outgrow it. The Food and Drug Administration is currently considering whether to include sesame in the list of allergens that must be disclosed on food labels. Currently, Europe, Australia, and Canada do so.
Diagnosing sesame allergy has been challenging. Standard allergy tests—skin prick tests and blood tests of sesame antibody levels—have yielded inconsistent results in past studies. These studies have often included only children who were already suspected of having sesame allergy.
Researchers from NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), led by Dr. Pamela A. Frischmeyer-Guerrerio, set out to determine how common sesame allergy is among U.S. children with other food allergies. They also asked whether sesame antibody tests could reliably predict allergic reactions to the seeds.
The research was funded by NIAID and NIH’s National Cancer Institute (NCI). Findings were published on October 28, 2019, in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology.
The research team enrolled 119 children with documented food allergies. Some had recently had an allergic reaction to sesame or were known to tolerate sesame products, such as tahini or hummus, in their diet. Those whose allergic status to sesame was unknown were offered an oral food challenge, considered the gold standard for diagnosing food allergy. This involves eating gradually increasing amounts of sesame under medical supervision and seeing if an allergic reaction occurs.
Overall, 17% of the 88 children whose allergic status could be confirmed had a sesame allergy. The children with sesame allergy often had peanut and tree nut allergies as well.
The scientists then measured the amount of an antibody called sesame-specific immunoglobulin E (sIgE) in the blood of these 88 children. People with a food allergy will produce immunoglobulin E in response to the allergen.
Using this information, the researchers developed a mathematical model for predicting the probability that a child with a food allergy is allergic to sesame. They were able to identify a threshold of sIgE over which a child has a greater than 50% chance of being allergic to sesame. While more tests will be needed to validate this model, it’s a promising step in diagnosing sesame allergy.
“It has been a challenge for clinicians and parents to determine if a child is truly allergic to sesame,” says NIAID Director Dr. Anthony S. Fauci. “Given how frequently sesame allergy occurs among children who are allergic to other foods, it is important to use caution to the extent possible when exposing these children to sesame.”

Healthful diet tied to lower risk of hearing loss

Investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital have found that eating a healthy diet may reduce the risk of acquired hearing loss. Using longitudinal data collected in the Nurses' Health Study II Conservation of Hearing Study (CHEARS), researchers examined three-year changes in hearing sensitivities and found that women whose eating patterns more closely adhered to commonly recommended healthful dietary patterns, such as the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, the Alternate Mediterranean (AMED) diet, and the Alternate Healthy Index-2010 (AHEI-2010), had substantially lower risk of decline in hearing sensitivity. The team's findings are published in the American Journal of Epidemiology
"A common perception is that hearing loss is an inevitable part of the aging process. However, our research focuses on identifying potentially modifiable risk factors -- that is, things that we can change in our diet and lifestyle to prevent hearing loss or delay its progression," said lead author Sharon Curhan, MD, a physician and epidemiologist in the Brigham's Channing Division of Network Medicine. "The benefits of adherence to healthful dietary patterns have been associated with numerous positive health outcomes and eating a healthy diet may also help reduce the risk of hearing loss."
Previous studies have suggested that higher intake of specific nutrients and certain foods, such as the carotenoids beta-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin (found in squash, carrots, oranges and other fruits and vegetables), folate (found in legumes, leafy greens, and other foods), long-chain omega-3 fatty acids (found in seafood and fish), were associated with lower risk of self-reported hearing loss. These findings revealed that dietary intake could influence the risk of developing hearing loss, but investigators sought to further understand the connection between diet and hearing loss by capturing overall dietary patterns and objectively measuring longitudinal changes in hearing sensitivities.
To do so, the researchers established 19 geographically diverse testing sites across the U.S. and trained teams of licensed audiologists to follow standardized CHEARS methods. The audiologists measured changes in pure-tone hearing thresholds, the lowest volume that a pitch can be detected by the participant in a given ear, over the course of 3 years. An audiologist presented tones of different frequencies (0.5, 1 and 2 kHz as low-frequencies; at 3 kHz and 4 kHz as mid-frequencies; and at 6 kHz and 8 kHz as higher frequencies) at variable "loudness" levels and participants were asked to indicate when they could just barely hear the tone.
Using over 20 years of dietary intake information that was collected every four years beginning in 1991, the researchers investigated how closely participants' long-term diets resembled some well-established and currently recommended dietary patterns, such as the DASH diet, the Mediterranean diet, and Alternate Healthy Index-2010 (AHEI-2010). Greater adherence to these dietary patterns has been associated with a number of important health outcomes, including lower risk of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, stroke and death as well as healthy aging.
The team found that the odds of a decline in mid-frequency hearing sensitivities were almost 30 percent lower among those whose diets most closely resembled these healthful dietary patterns, compared with women whose diets least resembled the healthful dietary patterns. In the higher frequencies, the odds were up to 25 percent lower.
"The association between diet and hearing sensitivity decline encompassed frequencies that are critical for speech understanding," said Curhan. "We were surprised that so many women demonstrated hearing decline over such a relatively short period of time. The mean age of the women in our study was 59 years; most of our participants were in their 50s and early 60s. This is a younger age than when many people think about having their hearing checked. After only three years, 19 percent had hearing loss in the low frequencies, 38 percent had hearing loss in the mid-frequencies, and almost half had hearing loss in the higher frequencies. Despite this considerable worsening in their hearing sensitivities, hearing loss among many of these participants would not typically be detected or addressed."
The study included female health care professionals, which enhanced the validity of the health information collected and reduced the variability in educational achievement and socioeconomic status, but the study population was limited to predominantly middle-aged, non-Hispanic white women. The authors note that further research in additional populations is warranted. The team hopes to continue to longitudinally follow the participants in this study with repeated hearing tests over time and is investigating ways to collect research-quality information on tens of thousands of participants for future studies across diverse populations. 

Latest Health Research

Medicine and Supplements

Statins not associated with memory or cognition decline in elderly

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 20 hours ago

Given consumer concern that statins may be associated with memory or cognitive decline, a new study published today in the *Journal of the American College of Cardiology* may offer reassurance, as no difference was found in the rate of memory or cognitive decline of elderly statin-users compared to never-users. "Not only are statins one of the most prescribed medications in the world, there is strong evidence that they reduce mortality in our patients with heart disease, stroke, diabetes, renal disease and other lipid disorders. Most importantly, statins aren't associated with a ri... more »

Folic acid supplementation may positively impact neurodevelopment and cognitive performance in children at seven years of age.

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 1 week ago

*Evidence Rating Level:* 2 (Good) Periconceptional folic acid (FA) supplementation is a protective factor against neural tube defects (NTD), with the recommended time period for this supplementation being limited to the first trimester. This randomized controlled trial of Folic Acid Supplementation during the Second and Third Trimesters (FASSTT) conducted from 2006 to 2007 investigated the potential benefits of FA supplementation during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy on child neurocognitive performance at seven years of age. Mothers were randomly assigned to 400μg/d FA ... more »

Links between prescription medications and risk for suicide

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 1 week ago

A review of 922 prescription medications taken by almost 150 million people over an 11-year period shows that just 10 of these drugs were associated with an increased rate of suicide attempts. Forty-four drugs were linked to a decrease in suicide attempts, including many that carry a "black box" label from the Food and Drug Administration warning of their association with suicidal behavior. The study, published in the *Harvard Data Science Review*, id

Fish oil supplements have no effect on anxiety and depression

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 2 weeks ago

Omega-3 fats have little or no effect on anxiety and depression according to new research from the University of East Anglia. Increased consumption of omega-3 fats is widely promoted globally because of a common belief that it will protect against, or even reverse, conditions such as anxiety and depression. But a systematic review published today in the *British Journal of Psychiatry*, finds that omega-3 supplements offer no benefit. Omega-3 is a type of fat. Small amounts are essential for good health and can be found in the food that we eat including nuts and seeds and fatty fis... more »

Acetaminophen in pregnancy linked to higher risk of ADHD, autism

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 2 weeks ago

Exposure to acetaminophen (TYLENOL) in the womb may increase a child's risk for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality. The study was conducted by Xiaobing Wang, M.D., of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, and colleagues. It appears in *JAMA Psychiatry*. Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is marked by a pattern of hyperactivity and impulsive behavior. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a ... more »

33% of people on anticoagulants take OTC supplements with potentially serious interactions

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 3 weeks ago

Nearly 98% percent of people prescribed direct-acting oral anticoagulants such as apixaban used over-the-counter products. Of those, 33% took at least one such product that, in combination with the anticoagulants, could cause dangerous internal bleeding. People on these medications largely lacked knowledge of some potentially serious interactions. *BACKGROUND* Direct-acting oral anticoagulants are the drug of choice for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation, which occurs most frequently in older patients. Apixaban is one of the most frequently prescribed. However, m... more »

Think you're allergic to penicillin? You are probably wrong

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 2 weeks ago

More than 30 million people in the United States wrongly believe they are allergic to penicillin - resulting in millions of dollars in added health care costs, adverse side effects from the use of more powerful antibiotics and a risk in the rise of dangerous antibiotic resistant infections. This misconception and public health threat could be corrected, said Christopher M. Bland, clinical associate professor at the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy, by asking those who say they are allergic to penicillin to answer a simple one-page questionnaire and, if necessary, take a p... more »

 

Aging

Nearly half of 50- to 64-year-olds think they're likely to develop dementia

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 3 days ago

Nearly half of 50- to 64-year-olds think they're likely to develop dementia, but few have talked to a doctor reducing their risk and many use unproven tactics Nearly half of Americans in their 50s and early 60s think they're likely to develop dementia as they grow older, but only 5% of them have actually talked with a doctor about what they could do to reduce their risk, a new study finds. Meanwhile, a third or more say they're trying to stave off dementia by taking supplements or doing crossword puzzles - despite the lack of proof that such tactics work. The new findings sugges... more »

Improved fitness can mean living longer without dementia

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 4 days ago

Staying fit or improving fitness over time should be a goal for anyone who wants to reduce the likelihood of getting dementia. "It is important to say that it is never too late to begin exercising. The average participant in our study was around 60 years old at baseline, and improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness was strongly linked to lower dementia risk. Those who had poor fitness in the 1980s but improved it within the next decade could expect to live two years longer without dementia," says Atefe Tari of the Cardiac Exercise Research Group (CERG) at the Norwegian University ... more »

Fracture risk for patients taking multiple medications

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 5 days ago

There is a strong association between the number of fracture-associated drugs (FADs) older patients receive and their risk of sustaining a broken bone, according to a new Dartmouth study published in *JAMA Network Open*. In recent decades, the use of prescription medications has increased dramatically in the U.S. due to factors such as improvements in the ability to detect disease, expanding treatment options, and an aging population. For many older Americans (over age 65), these medications provide an effective means of managing disease and improving both quality of life and longev... more »

Regular use of prescription drugs for pain and sleep increases frailty risk by 95 percent

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 5 days ago

Researchers from the Oregon Research Institute (ORI) and Florida Atlantic University (FAU) are the first to demonstrate statistically significant links between self-reported regular use of prescription drugs for pain and/or sleep, and longitudinal risk of frailty in adults ages 65 and older. Frailty consists of deficits in a variety of functional measures, and is a reliable predictor of loss of independence, increased use of health care resources, and mortality. The possible implications of current research findings are especially serious given that it is common for older Americans ... more »

 

Interval walking training improves fitness and health in elderly individuals

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 2 weeks ago

In Japan, health-conscious folks have been known to carry around pedometers to track the number of steps they walk everyday. The target number: 10,000 steps, as a foundation for a healthy lifestyle. Conscientious walkers can now update their device from a pedometer to a smartphone and forget about ten thousand steps with the latest study from Dr. Shizue Masuki of Shinshu University who found an effective way to increase overall fitness and decrease lifestyle-related disease (LSD) through Interval Walking Training (IWT). It's not how much you walk, but how intensely you do so for a ... more »

Being physically active can lower older adults' risk for dying

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 2 weeks ago

For older adults, being physically active is an important part of overall good health. In fact, experts say that nine percent of all premature deaths are caused by not getting enough physical activity. Physical activity is known to reduce deaths from heart disease, diabetes, chronic lung disease, and mental illness. A team of researchers looked more carefully at the relationship between death and physical exercise among older adults in Brazil (where the number of older adults grew 40 percent between 2002 and 2012). Their study was published in the *Journal of the American Geriatrics... more »

High-intensity exercise improves memory in seniors

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 2 weeks ago

Researchers at McMaster University who examine the impact of exercise on the brain have found that high-intensity workouts improve memory in older adults. The study, published in the journal *Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism*, has widespread implications for treating dementia, a catastrophic disease that affects approximately half a million Canadians and is expected to rise dramatically over the next decade. Researchers suggest that intensity is critical. Seniors who exercised using short, bursts of activity saw an improvement of up to 30% in memory performance while pa... more »

Early retirement can accelerate cognitive decline

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 2 weeks ago

Early retirement can accelerate cognitive decline among the elderly, according to research conducted by faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York. Plamen Nikolov, assistant professor of economics, and Alan Adelman, a doctoral student in economics, examined China's New Rural Pension Scheme (NRPS) and the Chinese Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS) to determine the effects of pension benefits on individual cognition of those ages 60 or above. CHARLS, a nationally representative survey of people ages 45 and above within the Chinese population, is a s... more »

 

Diet

 

High-protein diets may harm your kidneys

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 20 hours ago

A high-protein diet is believed to be healthy. It is suggested that it keeps you fit, helps you to lose fat and to retain lean muscle mass. Avoiding carbohydrates and substituting them with proteins has become a leading dogma for all those who care for their looks and health. Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh, Holly M Kramer and Denis Fouque [1] now consider it necessary to question this belief and to put a tough warning label on our modern eating habits. "We may save calories, but we may also risk the health of our kidneys." The promise of saving calories and losing weight is why a high-pr... more »

Unhealthy habits can start young: Infants, toddlers, and added sugars

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 4 days ago

 

A new study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics breaks new ground by evaluating a nationally representative sample of infant and toddler diets and consumption of added sugars [image: IMAGE] *IMAGE: *Top eight sources of added sugars in the diets of US infants and toddlers aged 6 to 23 months, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2011-2016. view more Credit: CDC/NCHS, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2011-2016 Philadelphia, November 14, 2019 - A new study in the *Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics*, published

Too much ultra-processed foods linked to lower heart health

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 1 week ago

Ultra-processed foods, which account for more than half of an average American's daily calories, are linked to lower measures of cardiovascular health, according to preliminary research to be presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2019 -- November 16-18 in Philadelphia. The Association's Scientific Sessions is an annual premier global exchange of the latest advances in cardiovascular science for researchers and clinicians. Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that for every 5% increase in calories from ultra-proc... more »

Evening eating linked to poorer heart health for women

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 1 week ago

Women who consumed a higher proportion of their daily calories later in the evening were more likely to be at greater risk for cardiovascular disease than women who did not, according to preliminary research to be presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2019 -- November 16-18 in Philadelphia. The Association's Scientific Sessions is an annual, premier global exchange of the latest advances in cardiovascular science for researchers and clinicians. Researchers assessed the cardiovascular health of 112 women (average age 33, 44% Hispanic) using the American ... more »

 

Avocados may help manage obesity, prevent diabetes

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 2 weeks ago

Your guacamole may hold the key to managing obesity and helping delay or prevent diabetes, according to a new study by a University of Guelph research team. For the first time, researchers led by Prof. Paul Spagnuolo have shown how a compound found only in avocados can inhibit cellular processes that normally lead to diabetes. In safety testing in humans, the team also found that the substance was absorbed into the blood with no adverse effects in the kidney, liver or muscle. The study was recently published in the journal *Molecular Nutrition and Food Research*. About one in four ... more »

 

 

 

 

Soft drinks found to be the crucial link between obesity and tooth wear

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 3 weeks ago

A new study published today in the journal *Clinical Oral Investigations*, has found that sugar-sweetened acidic drinks, such as soft drinks, is the common factor between obesity and tooth wear among adults. Scientists from King's College London found that being overweight or obese was undoubtedly associated with having tooth wear. Significantly, they also found that the increased consumption of sugary soft drinks may be a leading cause of the erosion of tooth enamel and dentine in obese patients. Drawing on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003-2004,... more »

American Academy of Pediatrics looks at use of nonnutritive sweeteners by children

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 3 weeks ago

Nonnutritive or artificial sweeteners are a growing part of U.S. diets, now consumed by at least one in four children. A new American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) policy statement offers a summary of the existing data around nonnutritive sweeteners and recommends future research into how they affect children's weight, taste preferences, the risk for diabetes, and long-term safety. The AAP policy statement "The Use of Nonnutritive Sweeteners in Children" published in the November 2019 Pediatrics (published online Oct. 28), recommends that the amount of these no- or low-calorie sweet... more »

One avocado a day helps lower 'bad' cholesterol for heart healthy benefits

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 3 weeks ago

Move over, apples -- new research from Penn State suggests that eating one avocado a day may help keep "bad cholesterol" at bay. According to the researchers, bad cholesterol can refer to both oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and small, dense LDL particles. In a randomized, controlled feeding study, the researchers found that eating one avocado a day was associated with lower levels of LDL (specifically small, dense LDL particles) and oxidized LDL in adults with overweight or obesity. "We were able to show that when people incorporated one avocado a day into their diet, they h... more »

 

Sleep

Insomnia symptoms linked to increased risk of stroke, heart attack

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 1 week ago

People who have trouble sleeping may be more likely to have a stroke, heart attack or other cerebrovascular or cardiovascular diseases, according to a study published in the November 6, 2019, online issue of *Neurology*®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. "These results suggest that if we can target people who are having trouble sleeping with behavioral therapies, it's possible that we could reduce the number of cases of stroke, heart attack and other diseases later down the line," said study author Liming Li, MD, of Peking University in Beijing, China. The... more »

Shortened sleep may negatively affect women's bone health

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 1 week ago

Getting too little sleep was linked with a higher risk of having low bone mineral density (BMD) and developing osteoporosis, as reported in a recent *Journal of Bone and Mineral Research* study of postmenopausal women. In the study of 11,084 postmenopausal women, those who reported sleeping 5 hours or less per night had lower BMD at all four sites assessed--whole body, total hip, neck, and spine--compared with women who reported sleeping 7 hours per night. After adjustments, women reporting 5 hours or less per night had 22% and 63% higher risks of experiencing low bone mass and oste... more »

 

Another possible correlation between sleep and overall good health

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 3 weeks ago

New study shows that your gut microbiome and quality sleep are interconnected As if you didn't already have enough to worry about to keep you up at night, a new study indicates that poor sleep can negatively affect your gut microbiome, which can, in turn, lead to additional health issues. Great. That's at the heart - or gut - of the study just published in *PLoS ONE* that involved several researchers from Nova Southeastern University (NSU.) They wanted to see just how much of a connection there is between what is going on in our insides and how that may impact the quality of sleep we... more »

 

General Health

Study: Actually, potted plants don't improve indoor air quality

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 1 week ago

Plants can help spruce up a home or office space, but claims about their ability to improve the air quality are vastly overstated, according to research out of Drexel University. A closer look at decades of research suggesting that potted plants can improve the air in homes and offices reveals that natural ventilation far outpaces plants when it comes to cleaning the air. "This has been a common misconception for some time. Plants are great, but they don't actually clean indoor air quickly enough to have an effect on the air quality of your home or office environment," said Michael ... more »

The reproductive function of the clitoris

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 1 week ago

A recent review published in *Clinical Anatomy* highlights evidence that the female clitoris is important for reproduction. The review notes that stimulating the clitoris activates the brain to cause a combination of changes in the female reproductive tract that creates its readiness to receive and process sperm to achieve possible fertilisation of the egg. These include enhancement of vaginal blood flow, an increase in vaginal lubrication, an increase in vaginal oxygen and temperature, and most importantly a change in the position of the cervix, the entrance to the uterus. This cha... more »

Traffic exhaust at residential address increases the risk of stroke

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 2 weeks ago

High levels of traffic exhaust at one's residence increases the risk of stroke even in low-pollution environments, according to a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and other universities in Sweden. The study, published in the journal *Environmental Health Perspectives*, suggests that it is mainly black carbon from traffic exhaust that increases the risk for stroke, and not particulate matter from other sources. Black carbon is the sooty black material emitted from gas and diesel engines, coal-fired power plants and other fuels. In city environments, the emissions come ma... more »

 

Living in a noisy area increases the risk of suffering a more serious stroke

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 2 weeks ago

The high levels of environmental noise we are subjected to in large cities can increase both the severity and consequences of an ischaemic stroke. More precisely, researchers from the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) and doctors from Hospital del Mar, together with researchers from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), CIBER in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), and Brown University, in the United States, put the increased risk at 30% for people living in noisier areas. In contrast, living close to green areas brings down this risk by up to... more »

 

Exercise

Take a yoga class and depression, anxiety improve

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 5 days ago

Scientific studies already support yoga practice as a means to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. Now a new study out of Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) provides evidence that yoga and breathing exercises can improve symptoms of depression and anxiety in both the short term--with each session as well as cumulatively in the longer term, over three months. Published online in the *Journal of Psychiatric Practice*, these findings suggest yoga can be a helpful complementary treatment for clinical depression or major depressive disorder. A group of 30 clinically depr... more »

by Else... more »

Association between physical activity, lower risk of fracture

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 1 week ago

Women who did the highest amount of physical activity had an 18% lower risk of hip fracture and 6% lower risk of total fracture egular physical activity, including lighter intensity activities such as walking, is associated with reduced risk of hip and total fracture in postmenopausal women, according to new research from the University at Buffalo. Published Oct. 25 in *JAMA Network Open*, the study is the most comprehensive evaluation of physical activity and fracture incidence in older women. The study included more than 77,000 participants in the Women's Health Initiative, who we... more »

Physical activity may protect against new episodes of depression

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 1 week ago

Increased levels of physical activity can significantly reduce the odds of depression, even among people who are genetically predisposed to the condition, according to a new study from researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). In a paper published in the journal *Depression and Anxiety*, the team reported that individuals who engaged in at least several hours of exercise each week were less likely to be diagnosed with a new episode of depression, even in the face of high genetic risk for the disorder. Drawing on genomic and electronic health record data from nearly 8,000... more » entifies several drugs with the potential to prevent suicide attempts that are not currently used for that purpose, including folic ... more »

Is physical activity always good for the heart?

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 2 weeks ago

Physical activity is thought to be our greatest ally in the fight against cardiovascular disease. But there may be significant variations in its protective effects across a range of different situations, such as regularly playing a sport, carrying heavy loads at work, or going for a walk with friends. These are the findings of a new study led by Inserm researcher Jean-Philippe Empana (U970 PARCC, Inserm/Université de Paris) in collaboration with Australian researchers. The results have been published in *Hypertension*. Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality aroun... more »

 

Bicycle-related injuries have increased significantly among older riders

Jonathan KantrowitzatHealth News Report - 2 weeks ago

The rise in popularity of bike riding has led to an increase in more serious injuries, particularly among cyclists aged 55 to 64. They were treated at hospital emergency departments nationwide for traumatic brain injuries and broken bones in the face more than 86,439 times from 2008 to 2017. The incidence of these craniofacial injuries varied significantly among age groups. While patients aged 18 to 24 were injured more frequently, likely due to the popularity of bicycling in younger adults, patients aged 55 to 64 had the most significant increase in injuries, with a 54 percent gr... more »