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Most folks know they’d be healthier if they ate more plant-based foods, but only a quarter are willing to follow through and do it, a new study shows. Surveys reveal that Americans’ beliefs about eating more plants for health are often at odds with their daily dietary choices, researchers say. “U.S. consumers have favorable perceptions of foods and beverages that support human and environmental health, but that’s not translating into what they’re purchasing and consuming,” said lead researcher Katherine Consavage Stanley, a doctoral student in human nutrition, foods and exercise at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. For the study, researchers looked at data from more than a decade of nationwide surveys gathered between 2012 and 2022 by the International Food Information Council, analyzing more than 1,000 participants’ responses. Across all the years, 73% of Americans said plant proteins were healthy, compared to 39% who said animal proteins were healthy. The percentage of Americans who follow a plant-rich dietary pattern more than doubled during the decade studied, rising from 12% to nearly 26%. At the same time, however, the percentage of people eating more red meat also rose, from 13% to 19%. Generation Z (born 1997-2012) and Millennials (1981-1996) were more likely to follow a plant-rich diet than Generation X (born 1965-1980) or Baby Boomers (1946-1964), results show. But about 25% of Generation Z and Millennials also… read on > read on >

Australian researchers say they have identified a gene mutation that causes the skin disease psoriasis. A chronic inflammatory condition, psoriasis causes red, scaly, itchy patches on the skin. Some patients also develop psoriatic arthritis, a condition marked by joint pain, swelling and stiffness. But researchers at the Australian National University (ANU) who have identified the gene mutation hope their findings will point the way to a cure. In the short term, they hope the discovery will lead to improved diagnosis and treatment of both diseases, which they say can stigmatize patients. “So many people are accused of having poor hygiene due to the plaques or even just minor skin lesions as they erupt,” said Rebecca Davey, CEO of Arthritis ACT and one of at least 500,000 Australians with psoriasis. “It’s not the individual’s fault that their skin is in the condition it’s in; psoriasis is a painful, debilitating condition.” But now there might be hope. Researchers used a mouse model to identify a mutation in a gene known as IKBKB that causes a group of immune cells called regulatory T-cells to misfire. Patients with two copies of this gene are at increased risk for psoriatic arthritis, they report March 25 in the journal Nature Communications. “These cells are normally considered gatekeepers of the immune system,” said Chelisa Cardinez, a postdoctoral fellow at ANU in Canberra.… read on > read on >

Vitamin supplements are a big business, with Americans spending roughly $45 billion out of more than $177 billion worldwide on pills, gummies and powders meant to boost health. About 59 million Americans regularly use some type of vitamin or supplement, spending an average $510 each year. But most folks are wasting that money, experts say. A balanced daily diet provides all the nutrients a person typically needs to maintain their health, said Dr. Matthew Silvis, vice chair of clinical operations for Penn State Health Family and Community Medicine. “If you have a well-balanced diet and you’re able to eat nutritious foods ― fruits, vegetables, etc. ― you don’t need a multivitamin or a supplement,” Silvis said in a news release. “The broad answer is most people don’t need them, despite the multibillion-dollar industry that the vitamin industry is,” he continued. “But there are populations of individuals who do need to consider a multivitamin or a supplement. And that is individualized.” Examples of people who do need specific supplements include: Pregnant women who need folic acid to prevent birth defects. Seniors with osteoporosis who can benefit from calcium and Vitamin D supplements. Vegans or people with Celiac disease who need a multivitamin to supplement the nutrients they aren’t absorbing from their diet. High-intensity athletes who regularly participate in draining workouts and fierce competition also might be… read on > read on >

Medicare will now cover the popular weight-loss drug Wegovy if patients using it also have heart disease, U.S. officials announced Thursday. The move comes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved drugmaker Novo Nordisk’s application to add cardiovascular benefits to the medicine’s label earlier this month. As a result, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said it has informed insurers that provide Medicare Part D drug plans that they could cover the medication if it is approved for another use. “CMS has issued guidance to Medicare Part D plans stating that anti-obesity medications [AOMs] that receive FDA approval for an additional medically accepted indication can be considered a Part D drug for that specific use,” CMS said in a statement, CNN reported. Part D plans could begin covering the drug “some time this year,” Tricia Neuman, a Medicare policy specialist at KFF, told the Associated Press. “Medicare plans may be reluctant to move quickly to cover Wegovy given its relatively high price, particularly because they won’t be able to adjust premiums before next year,” she said. Wegovy costs just over $1,300 a month. Even if plans do allow coverage, they may still require higher out-of-pocket fees, prior authorizations or step therapy, where a patient must try a lower-cost drug before proceeding to the new treatment, Neuman noted. Wegovy is one of four popular… read on > read on >

Some people diagnosed with schizophrenia might instead be suffering from a rare visual condition that can cause other people’s faces to appear “demonic,” a new study argues. The condition, called prosopometamorphopsia (PMO), can cause others’ facial features to appear horrific — drooped, larger, smaller, out of position or stretched in disturbing ways. “Not surprisingly, people with prosopometamorphopsia often find it disturbing to look at other people’s faces,” researchers said on their website on the condition. “Fortunately, most cases last only a few days or weeks, but some cases perceive distortions in faces for years.” Unfortunately, this disorder in vision has led to a diagnosis of mental illness in some patients. “We’ve heard from multiple people with PMO that they have been diagnosed by psychiatrists as having schizophrenia and put on anti-psychotics, when their condition is a problem with the visual system,” said senior study author Brad Duchaine, a professor of psychological and brain sciences and principal investigator of the Social Perception Lab at Dartmouth University. To help people understand PMO, Duchaine and his colleagues have produced the first case report to provide accurate and photorealistic examples of the facial distortions experienced by a specific patient with PMO. The patient, a 58-year-old man, sees faces without any distortions if they’re on a screen or on paper. But when he sees someone in person, their face appears… read on > read on >

Working stiffs in the United States are dying at higher rates than those in other wealthy nations, a new study finds. Death rates among working-age Americans are 2.5 times higher than the average of other high-income countries, researchers report in the March 21 issue of the International Journal of Epidemiology. These deaths among people ages 25 to 64 are being driven by car crashes, homicides, suicides, drug overdoses and other highly preventable causes, researchers said. For example, drug-related deaths increased up to tenfold between 2000 and 2019, a trend diverging dramatically from other countries. ‘Over the past three decades, midlife mortality in the U.S. has worsened significantly compared to other high-income countries, and for the younger 25- to 44-year-old age-group in 2019 it even surpassed midlife mortality rates for Central and Eastern European countries,” said researcher Katarzyna Doniec, a postdoctoral researcher with the Leverhulme Center for Demographic Science at the University of Oxford. “This is surprising, given that not so long ago some of these countries experienced high levels of working-age mortality, resulting from the post-socialist crisis of the 1990s,” Doniec added in a university news release. For the study, researchers used annual death data gathered by the World Health Organization between 1990 and 2019. The data included 15 major causes of death in 18 high-income countries, including the United States, the U.K. and seven… read on > read on >

The weight room is becoming an increasingly dangerous place for folks trying to get into shape, a new study discovers. Head and facial injuries related to weightlifting have increased sharply during the past decade for both men and women, researchers found. Between 2013 and 2022, the annual rate of exercise- and weightlifting-related head and facial injuries increased by nearly 33%, according to their recent report in The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery. Most injuries occurred in men, who accounted for nearly 56% of face and head wounds. However, the increase in cases of injury was nearly twice as high in women than in men, 45% versus 24%. For the study, researchers analyzed injury data compiled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, reviewing nearly 583,000 such injuries that occurred during the 10-year period. Prior studies of injuries related to exercise and weightlifting have focused on other parts of the body like the limbs or lower back, researchers said, neglecting injuries that can occur to the face and head. “Ego lifting” is likely behind at least part of the increase observed in men, said the research team led by Rohan Mangal, a medical student with at the University of Miami. Those men get hurt because they feel pressured to exercise or lift weights beyond their capacity, the researchers speculated. This is most likely true for 15- to… read on > read on >

Many teens – especially girls – are affected by body dysmorphic disorder, a condition in which they become obsessed with perceived flaws in their personal appearance, a new study shows. BDD affects about two in every 100 teens (1.9%), according to a report published March 17 in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. The disorder is six times more common in girls than in boys, affecting 1.8% of girls compared to 0.3% of boys, the researchers said. These numbers show it’s important for doctors to keep an eye out for signs of the disorder, said lead researcher Georgina Krebs, an associate professor of psychology with University College London. “Since young people with BDD tend not to spontaneously disclose their symptoms unless directly asked, it is crucial that clinicians utilize BDD screening tools and ask young people directly about appearance concerns,” Krebs said in a university news release. For the study, researchers analyzed data from more than 7,600 kids and teens who participated in the 2017 Mental Health of Children and Young People in England survey. The survey included a question about whether the child is ever concerned with how he or she looks. Those who answered “a little” or “a lot” underwent further screening for BDD. Nearly 70% of young people with BDD also met the diagnostic criteria for at… read on > read on >

If you’re in your 60s, 70s or even older, you might think your days of productively pumping iron are behind you. That’s just not true, said Dr. Adil Ahmed, an assistant professor in the Joseph Barnhart Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Building and maintaining muscle is a great way to stay all-round healthy, he said. “The protective effect of muscle and muscle mass has been well studied — everything from the musculoskeletal system to orthopedics and even brain health,” Ahmed said in a Baylor news release. “Building muscle in your body has been well shown to delay dementia and the effects of dementia and preserve cognitive function.” Don’t forget bone health, either: According to Ahmed, maintaining muscle is the only thing proven to help aging bones stay dense and strong. “It’s a very good protective long-term process,” he said. However, if you’re thinking of engaging into a late-life weight-lifting regimen, be sure to first consult with an expert — a personal trainer or a trusted friend who already understands the process. Ahmed recommends starting first with controlled resistance training and then moving to free weights, with an emphasis on building good (and safe) technique. “In my opinion, free weights are the best for muscle building because of the force you exert with your muscles,” he said. “There’s also a balance… read on > read on >

Your baby could be endangered by now-recalled Comfi Baby Infant Walkers, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) warned Thursday. The walkers, sold on Amazon, “violate the federal safety regulations for infant walkers because they can fit through a standard doorway, are not designed to stop at the edge of a step and have leg openings that allow the child to slip down until the child’s head can become entrapped,” the agency said in a statement. The walkers sold for about $100 online at Amazon from October 2022 through March 2023, and the company that made them, All Merchandise, of Charlotte, N.C., has already ceased doing business, the CPSC said. “The infant walkers contain adjustable height settings, and they have a teal or pink frame, a gray seat and a gray tray with toy attachments, and a push handle,” the agency said. “’Comfi Baby’ is printed on a label on the push handle and on the front of the top frame and the letter ‘M’ is on the bottom front frame.” As well, “Babywalker” is stitched on the gray seat back. ASIN is B0BFJNQSW7. All Merchandise LLC/Comfi Baby…11313 Clayford Rdg…Charlotte, NC 28215…Batch#RWPBELLA 11-22 is printed on a label stitched on the back of the seat. SOURCE: Consumer Product Safety Commission, news release, March 21, 2024 read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Survey Finds Americans Conflicted About Plant-Based Diets

Mouse Study Yields Clues to Why Psoriasis Worsens

Do You Need to Take Supplements If You Eat a Healthy Diet?

Medicare to Cover Wegovy When Patients Also Have Heart Disease

Rare Condition Makes Others’ Faces Appear ‘Demonic’

Working-Age Americans Are Dying at Much Higher Rates Than Peers in Other Wealthy Nations

More Weightlifters Are Injuring Heads, Faces During Workouts

Body Dysmorphia Affects Many Teens, Especially Girls

Can You Build Muscle in Old Age? Yes, and an Expert Has Tips

Don’t Use ‘Comfi’ Baby Walkers Due to Injury Dangers