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Ketamine Use Is on the Rise in U.S.

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Many more Americans are turning to ketamine for kicks, a new study reports. Recreational use of the anesthetic drug among U.S. adults increased 40% between 2021 and 2022, researchers say. That follows a nearly 82% increase in ketamine use from 2015 to 2019, results show. The more recent increase occurred mainly among young adults 26 to 34, as well as in people with a college degree, researchers found. “These findings are consistent with other research indicating increased use among nightclub attendees in New York City along with increasing law enforcement seizures of illicit ketamine in the U.S.,” wrote the research team led by Dr. Kevin Yang, a third-year resident physician in psychiatry at the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine. Ketamine — also known as “Special K” or Super K” — is typically used an anesthetic for people and animals. In 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of a nasal spray ketamine derivative called esketamine (Spravato) to treat depression in adults, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Ketamine can cause changes in how people perceive reality, the NIDA says. Users might feel like they are floating outside their bodies or dissolving into their environment. “At higher doses, a person may experience extreme detachment from their body and reality, which is called being in a k-hole,” the…  read on >  read on >

Menthol Mimics Pose Challenge to Tobacco Bans

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Menthol cigarettes are under fire in the United States for promoting smoking among Black Americans, with a number of cities and states banning the smokes. In response, the tobacco industry has come up with “menthol mimics” that imitate the cooling effect of menthol, and smokers are taking note of the innovation, a new study published Jan. 14 in JAMA Network Open says. A substantial portion of U.S. adults are “aware of and had already experimented with synthetic cooling agent menthol-mimicking cigarettes,” concluded a research team led by Kelvin Choi, a senior investigator with the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. “These products may serve as a substitute for menthol cigarettes and reduce the public health benefits of a menthol cigarette ban in promoting smoking cessation,” Choi said. Menthol masks the irritation and harshness of cigarette smoke, making it easier for smokers to pick up the habit, researchers said in background notes. This reduced irritation also allows for deeper inhalation, resulting in higher nicotine exposure, researchers added. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has proposed a ban on menthol cigarettes, but that effort stalled under the Biden administration. Despite this, the states of Massachusetts and California and cities in Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Ohio and Oregon have pressed forward with their own bans on the products, researchers said. A recent evidence review found that…  read on >  read on >

The Future of Plant-Based Cheeses

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A slice of tasty, stretchy, creamy cheese may soon be easier to come by for those on a dairy-free diet. Researchers in Canada are working to create plant-based cheeses with all the taste and texture of traditional, dairy cheese but with healthier and more sustainable ingredients, according to a new research review published Jan. 14 in the journal Physics of Fluids. Scientists from the University of Guelph and Canadian Light Source Inc. are studying plant-based proteins and their interactions to mimic the melting, stretching and oil-release qualities that make cheese so, well, delicious.  “If you wanted to strictly only eat plant-based products, you would end up eating a lot of beans and tofu, which can be little bit boring after a while,” study author Alejandro Marangoni, a professor in food, health and aging at the University of Guelph in Ontario said in a news release. “Now, consumers expect essentially the same animal product but with plant-based ingredients, which is very difficult,” he added. Marangoni’s team looked at proteins from lentils, faba beans and peas, combining them with oil blends to create a satisfying cheese-like texture. A blend of 25% coconut oil, 75% sunflower oil and pea protein provided a texture that matched, and in some cases outperformed, cheeses made entirely with coconut oil. Researchers found that the interaction between pea protein and coconut oil increased…  read on >  read on >

These Lifestyle Moves Help Ease Low Back Pain, Study Shows

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Suffering from low back pain? Addressing your unhealthy lifestyle habits could help ease your pain better than traditional care, a new study says. Back pain sufferers who got lifestyle coaching functioned better and had improved quality of life compared to others who received standard care, researchers report in the study published Jan. 10 in the journal JAMA Network Open. “Resolving back pain needs to focus on more than the back,” senior investigator Chris Williams, a research fellow with the University of Sydney in Australia, said in a news release. “Our bodies are not like machines, we are more like ecosystems where lots of factors interact and determine how we work and feel,” Williams continued. “Back pain is no different.” For the study, nearly 350 people with low back pain were randomly assigned to receive either lifestyle coaching or standard care conducted under existing guidelines. Physical therapists, dietitians and telephone health coaches helped people assigned to the coaching group figure out which of their lifestyle habits might be making their back pain worse. These risk factors could include excess weight, lack of physical activity, bad diet, poor sleep, smoking or excessive alcohol use, researchers explained. For six months, the coaching group was provided support to help them address the factors potentially linked to their back pain. By the end of the study, people in the lifestyle…  read on >  read on >

Drug Lowers Fracture Risk in Early Postmenopausal Women

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Women past menopause can protect themselves from future fractures through infrequent, cheap IV infusions of a bone-strengthening drug. Women 50 to 60 who got two IV infusions of zoledronate (Reclast) within five years had a 44% lower risk of spinal fractures, compared to women who received a placebo, according to results published Jan. 15 in the New England Journal of Medicine. They also had a lower risk of major fractures related to osteoporosis and fragility fractures caused by little to no trauma, results show. “The results show that prevention of vertebral fractures in early postmenopausal women is possible with very infrequent infusions of zoledronate,” concluded the research team led by Dr. Mark Bolland, an associate professor of medicine with the University of Auckland in New Zealand. “The cost of the treatment, either to individual patients or to health systems, is likely to be low because the drug is generic and the frequency of administration low,” the team added. At menopause, women have a 50% lifetime risk of suffering from a fracture, particularly as their bones grow thin and frail through the aging process, researchers said in background notes. Zoledronate is used to treat or prevent osteoporosis caused by menopause, but it hadn’t been tested to see if early treatment could prevent bone loss in early postmenstrual women, even those with good bone density at the…  read on >  read on >

Why Some Families Consider Brain Donation for Autism Research

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FRIDAY, Jan. 17, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Brain tissue samples are essential for scientific research, especially when it comes to brain disorders such as autism spectrum disorder. Not surprisingly, samples are hard to get. Despite the great need for brain tissue, donations remain rare and aren’t easily collected.  In an article published in Dec. 2024 in the journal Frontiers in Neurology, researchers describe the critical role that brain tissue plays in autism scientific research. The authors’ explain what many families of people with autism know. “The basis for an individual’s autism is not determined, the underlying biological mechanisms are poorly understood, and clinical care is often suboptimal,” they write. Experts rarely understand the exact factors that contribute to autism, and there is much to learn about causes, diagnosis and treatment. What’s more, autism symptoms vary greatly. Anxiety, sleep problems, epilepsy and gastrointestinal problems are some common co-occurring conditions. Noted in the study is Autism BrainNet, a program set up to educate autistic people and their families about the opportunity to donate brain tissue, the process, and the legacy for research created by individual donors.  Surprising facts about brain donation It’s a comforting process during a painful time for these families, according to David G. Amaral, Scientific Director of Autism BrainNet and Distinguished Professor at the UC Davis MIND Institute and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.…  read on >  read on >

Tourette Syndrome Often Overlooked in Girls

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Tourette syndrome is not being diagnosed promptly in women with the condition. Women with Tourette syndrome are less likely to receive a diagnosis for the disorder, researchers reported in a study published Jan. 15 in the journal Neurology. They also take longer to be diagnosed with the disorder, and typically are older than boys at time of diagnosis, researchers found. “These results suggest that health care professionals and parents should be screening female individuals with tics and seeking care for them to give them a better chance of managing tics over time,” lead researcher Dr. Marisela Dy-Hollins, a pediatric neurologist with Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, said in a news release. Tourette causes people to suffer from tics — sudden and difficult-to-control repetitive movements and sounds. For example, people with Tourette might suffer the irresistible urge to blink their eyes, hum, shrug their shoulders, clear their throat, or blurt out unusual sounds or offensive words. Tourette syndrome is currently diagnosed about three times more frequently in boys than girls, researchers said in background notes. For the study, researchers analyzed data from a set of people recruited for genetics research into tic disorders. They identified more than 2,100 people with Tourette syndrome, and nearly 300 others with a separate condition called persistent motor or vocal tic disorder. About 61% of females in the group had been…  read on >  read on >

Teen Stress Is Expensive, Experts Say — So How Can We Reduce It?

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Stressed-out teenagers appear to be dragging down the U.S. economy, a new study says. Teenagers suffering from anxiety or depression are less likely to enter the workforce as young adults, and more likely to earn lower pay when they do, researchers reported in a study published today in the journal PLOS Medicine. The economic impact is so great that $52 billion in U.S. budget savings could occur over 10 years if efforts are made to help even 10% of teens at risk for stress, researchers estimate. “Our new research finds that, at the scale of the United States economy, improvements in adolescent mental health may bring many billions of dollars of federal budget benefits over ten years, potentially offsetting the costs of policy change that could cover critical services for young people,” lead researcher Nathaniel Counts, chief policy officer for The Kennedy Forum in Brigantine, NJ, said in a news release. For the new study, researchers analyzed data on more than 3,300 participants in an ongoing Bureau of Labor Statistics study that is following children as they progress into adulthood. The research team analyzed data gathered in 2000, when participants were 15 to 17, to check their mental health as teenagers. They looked specifically at questions that assessed anxiety and depression among the teens. Researchers then looked at data gathered a decade later, in 2010,…  read on >  read on >

FDA Proposes Nicotine Cap To Help Curb Cigarette Addiction

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A rather historic U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposal aims to make cigarettes and other tobacco products far less addictive by reducing their nicotine content. The move could help millions of Americans quit smoking while preventing many more from becoming addicted. The proposed rule, published Wednesday in a 334-page report, would cap nicotine levels in cigarettes and other tobacco products, potentially, to levels so low they would no longer sustain addiction. FDA officials believe the policy, if finalized, could save millions of lives over the coming decades. However, the proposal is unlikely to be enacted anytime soon, as it comes in the final days of President Joe Biden’s term. President-elect Donald Trump has not yet commented on the policy, leaving its future uncertain. “This action, if finalized, could save many lives and dramatically reduce the burden of severe illness and disability,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf told the Associated Press. Details of the proposal The rule proposes a maximum nicotine level of 0.7 milligrams (mg) per gram of tobacco — a significant decrease from current levels, which can range anywhere from 6 mg to 28 mg per gram. The limit would apply to cigarettes, pipe tobacco, and cigars, but not to e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches, or other products. Research shows that low nicotine levels make it much harder for smokers to maintain their addiction and…  read on >  read on >