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If you’re one of the 50 million Americans with asthma or allergies, 2024 is another year to redouble efforts to manage them. But how? “It’s not always easy to get allergies and asthma under control,” allergist Dr. Gailen Marshall, president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), said in a tip sheet from the organization. “The new year is a great time to take stock of how you’re feeling and assess what kind of changes you might want to make to feel better overall. They might be small changes, which taken together, can mean big improvements in how you navigate your day.” He and the ACAAI offered up a handful of ways you can handle things. Top 5 Resolutions: 1) Update your prescriptions: What worked last year to keep your allergies at bay might not be working by next year: Check in with your board-certified allergist or asthma specialist to make sure you’re up-to-date on the latest meds, the ACAAI said. 2) Ward off respiratory viruses: Folks with asthma and allergies can be at high risk for a lot of germs that hamper breathing, the ACAAI said. Be sure to get up-to-date on your seasonal flu shot, the COVID-19 vaccine and the newly approved respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) shot. The very young and the very old face even higher risks. 3) Keep your… read on > read on >

Dandruff becomes more common in the cold winter months, when the chilly air and dry heat causes a person’s scalp to flake and itch. But while it might be an annoying and unattractive condition, dandruff doesn’t mean you are an unclean person, the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) says. “It is a common misconception that dandruff is caused by poor hygiene,” Dr. Mona Sadeghpour, a board-certified dermatologist in Pittsburgh, Pa. and Lone Tree, Colo., said in an academy news release. “Causes range from oily skin to hair care habits, along with some medical conditions.” Luckily, there are a number of effective treatments available for dandruff, the AAD says. Many folks can treat mild dandruff at home by regularly washing their hair, experts say. Folks with a more persistent case of dandruff might turn to a shampoo specially formulated to treat the condition. Effective dandruff shampoos should contain at least one of these ingredients, the AAD says: Zinc pyrithione, salicylic acid, sulfur, selenium sulfide, ketoconazole, or coal tar. If one shampoo doesn’t work, you should try alternating between shampoos containing different active ingredients, the AAD recommends. Some dandruff shampoos need to sit on your scalp for about 5 to 10 minutes before rinsing, the AAD says. Check the instructions on the bottle. People also can better treat dandruff by shampooing according to their hair type. For… read on > read on >

Much has been made of the effects a pregnant woman’s drinking could have on the health of her unborn child. But alcohol consumption by men also increases the risk of birth defects in newborns – and a new study shows that guys who want to avoid this will have to cut out the booze as much as three months before they try to conceive. Semen from men who regularly consume alcohol has been linked to brain and facial defects associated with fetal alcohol syndrome and other pregnancy complications, researchers said. Now, they say it takes much longer than previously estimated — more than a month — for the effects of alcohol consumption to leave the father’s sperm. “When someone is consuming alcohol on a regular basis and then stops, their body goes through withdrawal, where it has to learn how to operate without the chemical present,” said researcher Dr. Michael Golding, a professor at Texas A&M University’s School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences. “What we discovered is that a father’s sperm are still negatively impacted by drinking even during the withdrawal process, meaning it takes much longer than we previously thought for the sperm to return to normal,” Golding said in a university news release. To play it safe, Golding suggests that fathers abstain from alcohol at least three months prior to conception. “There’s… read on > read on >

SATURDAY, Dec. 16It’s that time of year when your kids come home with sniffles and sore throats, but when should you worry if they have a fever? To a certain extent, fevers are the body’s natural way of fighting infection, one expert says. “Fever helps the immune system,” explained Dr. Christopher Tolcher, a pediatrician with Agoura-West Valley Pediatrics, part of the Chidlren’s Hospital of Los Angeles network. “It slows down the spread of viruses and bacteria. It helps the body make more antibodies and chemicals that fight the infection, and it helps the immune system’s cells move around better in the body.” “Fevers are almost never dangerous…,” he said in a hospital news release. “A fever has to reach 107 to cause damage to tissues. That’s extremely rare.” That said, if your child’s fever reaches 105 degrees, call your doctor. “It doesn’t mean the child is in danger, but the child should be checked by the doctor that day to see what’s going on,” Tolcher said. A normal body temperature for a child ranges from 97 to 100 degrees, with an average of around 98.6. When a person’s temperature reaches 100.4 or above, it’s considered a fever. But when is a fever considered a medical emergency? Call your child’s doctor right away for: A fever that lasts more than four to five days A fever… read on > read on >

Federal agents have seized more than 1.4 million illegal vaping products being smuggled into the United States from China. A three-day operation at Los Angeles International Airport resulted in the seizure of 41 shipments of illegal e-cigarettes worth more than $18 million, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said. The products included the hugely popular brand Elf Bar, as well as other flavored vapes that have been banned by the FDA. The seized vaping products will be destroyed, the FDA said. Many of the products were intentionally mis-declared as items like toys, shoes or household items in an attempt to evade customs, the FDA said. “Those shamelessly attempting to smuggle illegal e-cigarettes, particularly those that appeal to youth, into this country should take heed of today’s announcement,” Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said in an agency news release. “Federal agencies are on to their antics and will not hesitate to take action.” “The significant value of these seized products is also a sobering reminder to these bad actors that their time and money would be better spent complying with the law,” King added. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids applauded the news, noting that Elf Bar was the most commonly used brand among young vapers in the 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey. “This is the strongest enforcement action the government has… read on > read on >

The first postpartum depression pill approved for use in the United States is now available to women who need it, the drug’s makers announced Thursday. Sold under the name Zurzuvae, the medication can quickly ease severe postpartum depression and help women regain their emotional equilibrium following childbirth. The medication, which is now stocked in specialty pharmacies, can also be shipped directly to patients, Biogen and Sage Therapeutics Inc. said in a news release Thursday. “Having an option like Zurzuvae that can work at Day 15 and improve symptoms in as early as three days has the potential to make a profound difference in the lives of women with PPD [postpartum depression],” Dr. Kristina Deligiannidis, a professor at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in New York City who has been the lead investigator on the clinical trials that led to Zurzuvae’s approval, said in the company news release. Advocates welcomed the news. “It’s critical that as a society we recognize PPD is a serious medical condition. I have witnessed the devastating impact untreated PPD can have on women, only heightened by the fact that Black and Brown women and those living in a lower socioeconomic status are disproportionately impacted,” said Wendy Davis, executive director at Postpartum Support International, said in the company news release. “PPD should not be treated as an afterthought. We need to embrace the care… read on > read on >

Most women know that their menstrual cycle can affect their mood. Now, new research suggests suicidal thoughts may peak at certain points during the monthly cycle. The finding could have an upside, helping people pinpoint when they might be most vulnerable to suicide, so they can better prevent it. “As clinicians, we feel responsible for keeping our patients safe from a suicide attempt, but we often don’t have much information about when we need to be most concerned about their safety,” said study senior author Tory Eisenlohr-Moul, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Illinois in Chicago (UIC). “This study establishes that the menstrual cycle can affect many people who have suicidal thoughts, which makes it one of the only predictable recurring risk factors that has been identified for detecting when a suicide attempt might occur,” Eisenlohr-Moul added in a university news release. In the study, her team asked 119 women to complete daily surveys of any suicidal thoughts they might have, or any other mental health issues they experience, over the course of at least one menstrual cycle. The study found that suicidal thoughts, planning and attempts were more common in the “perimenstrual” phase — the days just before and after onset of menses (bleeding). But patterns weren’t universal. Feelings of “depression, anxiety and hopelessness” were most common during the premenstrual and… read on > read on >

Hours plunked down in front of the TV or staring at a phone screen in childhood could bring poor heart health decades later, a new study shows. Finnish researchers say kids who were largely sedentary tended to turn into young adults who battled high cholesterol and other health troubles. “Our study shows increased sedentary time in childhood may contribute to two-thirds of the total increase in a person’s cholesterol levels before their mid-twenties,” study lead author Dr. Andrew Agbaje said in a news release from the Endocrine Society. “This suggests childhood sedentariness may be a major risk factor for elevated cholesterol and subsequent premature heart attack or stroke when individuals reach their mid-forties,” said Agbaje, who is at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio. His team published its findings Dec. 14 in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, an Endocrine Society journal. In the study, 11-year-olds were fitted with activity trackers and were also regularly checked for cholesterol levels. Their health was then followed for 13 years. One main finding: ‘Couch potato’ kids became even more rooted to their sofas as they aged. Average sedentary time rose from 6 hours per day in childhood to 9 hours per day as they became young adults. Agbaje’s group calculate that this lack of physical activity contributed to 70% of the rise in cholesterol over the… read on > read on >

Smoking shrinks the human brain, and once that brain mass is lost then it’s gone for good, a new study warns. Brain scans from more than 32,000 people strongly link a history of smoking with a gradual loss of brain volume. In fact, the more packs a person smoked per day, the smaller their brain volume, researchers found. The study also establishes the potential series of events that leads to smoking-related brain loss, with a genetic predisposition to smoking eventually causing decreased brain volume. “It sounds bad, and it is bad,” said senior study author Laura Bierut, a professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “A reduction in brain volume is consistent with increased aging,” Bierut added in a university news release. “This is important as our population gets older, because aging and smoking are both risk factors for dementia.” The study, published recently in the journal Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science, helps explain previous studies that have found smokers at higher risk for age-related brain decline and Alzheimer’s disease. “Up until recently, scientists have overlooked the effects of smoking on the brain, in part because we were focused on all the terrible effects of smoking on the lungs and the heart,” Bierut said. “But as we’ve started looking at the brain more closely, it’s become apparent that smoking is… read on > read on >

Regular exercise appears to enhance and even grow crucial areas of the human brain, new research using MRI scans shows. It’s long been known that physical activity is a brain-booster, but this international study illustrates ways this could be happening. “With comprehensive imaging scans, our study underscores the interconnected synergy between the body and the brain,” said study senior author Dr. Rajpul Attariwala, a radiologist at Prenuvo, a medical imaging center in Vancouver, Canada. Reporting recently in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, Attariwala and colleagues analyzed more than 10,000 brain scans conducted at various Prenuvo centers. A pattern emerged: People who regularly engaged in running, walking or sports tended to have larger volumes of gray matter in their brains. Gray matter helps with the processing of incoming information, the researchers noted. These avid exercisers also tended to have larger volumes of white matter. White matter helps connect different brain regions and is crucial to memory. You didn’t have to run marathons to get a brain benefit, the team found. “We found that even moderate levels of physical activity, such as taking fewer than 4,000 steps a day, can have a positive effect on brain health,” study co-author Dr. David Merill said in a journal news release. He directs the Pacific Brain Health Center at Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, Calif. “This is much less… read on > read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Resolve to Keep Your Allergies, Asthma in Check in 2024

What Is Dandruff & How Is It Treated?

Men Who Want to Be Dads Should Take a Break From Alcohol

Your Child Has a Fever: When Is It Time to See a Doctor?

FDA Seizes 1.5 Million Illegal Vaping Products, Including Elf Bar

Postpartum Depression Pill Now Available to Women, Drug Maker Says

Suicide Risk May Fluctuate With the Menstrual Cycle

‘Couch Potato’ Kids Can Become Young Adults With Heart Trouble

Smoking Can Shrink Your Brain

More Research Shows the Brain Benefits of Exercise