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It’s not just bumper-to-bumper highway traffic that’s causing your blood pressure to spike during your daily commute. New research shows that the exhaust fumes spewing from all those vehicles triggers a significant increase in car passengers’ blood pressure. The observed increase is comparable to the effect of a high-salt diet, researchers found, and the effect can last up to 24 hours. “The body has a complex set of systems to try to keep blood pressure to your brain the same all the time. It’s a very complex, tightly regulated system, and it appears that somewhere, in one of those mechanisms, traffic-related air pollution interferes with blood pressure,” said researcher Dr. Joel Kaufman, a University of Washington physician and professor of environmental and occupational health sciences. For the study, his team drove healthy adults ages 22 to 45 three times through rush-hour Seattle traffic while monitoring their blood pressure. Unfiltered road air was allowed to enter the car on two of the drives, while on the third the car was equipped with high-quality HEPA filters that screened out 86% of the air pollution from traffic. Breathing unfiltered air resulted in blood pressure increases of more than 4.5 millimeters of mercury, compared to the drives with filtered air, researchers said. The increase occurred rapidly, peaking about an hour into the drive, and it held steady for at… read on > read on >

People can walk away their risk of developing type 2 diabetes – but only if they walk fast enough, a new report finds. Folks who walk at least 2.5 miles an hour appear to have a significantly lower risk of type 2 diabetes, according to a study published Nov. 28 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. That’s the equivalent of 87 steps per minute for men and 100 steps per minute for women, said a team led by Dr Ahmad Jayedi of Semnan University of Medical Sciences in Semnan, Iran. And the faster above that threshold, the better – every half-mile per hour you add to your walking speed is associated with an additional 9% reduction in risk, results show. Walking has been associated with a lower risk of diabetes, but these findings show that a brisk pace is better than a slow amble, researchers said. “While current strategies to increase total walking time are beneficial, it may also be reasonable to encourage people to walk at faster speeds, to further increase the health benefits of walking,” the researchers noted in a journal news release. In this analysis, the team conducted a review of all long-term studies that included data on diabetes risk and walking. They identified 10 relevant studies involving more than a half million people from the United States, the U.K. and… read on > read on >

The world is being flooded with internet-driven misinformation, but there are ways to counter fake news with the facts, a new report says. These include aggressive fact-checking, preemptively debunking lies before they take root and nudging people to be more skeptical before sharing information, the American Psychological Association analysis found. The product of more than a year’s work by a panel of international experts, the report explains why anyone is susceptible to misinformation if it’s presented in an enticing way. For example, a person is more likely to believe misinformation if it comes from an apparently credible source or a group to which they belong, the report revealed. People also are more likely to believe false statements if they appeal to powerful emotions like fear or outrage, or if they paint groups viewed as “others” in a negative light. “’Echo chambers’ bind and isolate online communities with similar views, which aids the spread of falsehoods and impedes the spread of factual corrections,” the report said. And misinformation is viral – people are more likely to believe it the more it is repeated, even if it contradicts their own personal knowledge. “It is effortful and difficult for our brains to apply existing knowledge when encountering new information; when new claims are false but sufficiently reasonable, we can learn them as facts,” the report said. “Thus, everyone is… read on > read on >

It might seem that surfing the web could cause a person’s mental health to suffer, but a landmark new study has concluded that internet use poses no major threat to people’s psychological well-being. Researchers compared country-level internet and broadband use to the mental well-being of millions of people in dozens of countries, and came away with no evidence that the internet is causing widespread psychological harm. “We looked very hard for a ‘smoking gun’ linking technology and well-being and we didn’t find it,” said senior researcher Andrew Przybylski, a professor of human behavior and technology at the Oxford Internet Institute in the U.K. The team also looked more closely at specific age groups as well as gender and, again, came up empty-handed — refuting concerns that internet use might be harming the psychological health of younger people and women. “We meticulously tested whether there is anything special in terms of age or gender, but there is no evidence to support popular ideas that certain groups are more at risk,” Przybylski noted in an Oxford news release. In fact, average life satisfaction has increased more for females over the past two decades, researchers found. For the study, researchers compared data from two different reports on well-being and mental health against the amount of internet and smartphone use. They examined data on the mental health of 2… read on > read on >

Personal trainers can help people increase their strength and their fitness. Could a “brain coach” be just as useful in preventing Alzheimer’s’ disease? A new study suggests that personalized health and lifestyle changes can delay or even prevent memory loss for older adults at high risk of Alzheimer’s or dementia. People who received personal coaching experienced a 74% boost in their thinking and memory tests compared with those who didn’t receive such attention. “This is the first personalized intervention, focusing on multiple areas of cognition, in which risk factor targets are based on a participant’s risk profile, preferences and priorities, which we think may be more effective than a one-size-fits-all approach,” said co-lead researcher Dr. Kristine Yaffe, vice chair of research in psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). For the study, researchers recruited 172 participants and assigned half to receive personal training in health and lifestyle areas believed to increase Alzheimer’s risk. The participants were between the ages of 70 and 89, and all had at least two of eight risk factors for dementia — physical inactivity, high blood pressure, uncontrolled diabetes, poor sleep, use of prescription medications associated with risk of cognitive decline, high depressive symptoms, social isolation and smoking. Patients met with a nurse and health coach and selected specific risk factors they wanted to address. They set personal goals… read on > read on >

Folks who smoke weed along with cigarettes are doing serious damage to their lungs, a new study warns. People who do both are 12 times more likely to develop emphysema than nonsmokers, due to the damage they’re doing to the lung’s air sacs, researchers report. “There is a common public misconception that marijuana smoking is not harmful,” said researcher Dr. Jessie Kang, a cardiothoracic radiologist at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada. “With our study, we show that there are physical effects of marijuana smoking on the lungs and that cigarette smoking and marijuana smoking may have a combined damaging effect on the lungs,” Kang added. Even though weed is one of the most widely used psychoactive substances in the world, little is known about the effects of smoking cannabis on a person’s lung health, researchers noted. Tons of research has linked cigarette smoking to lung cancer, emphysema and COPD, but “currently not much research exists on the effects of marijuana smoking on the lungs,” Kang noted. For their study, Kang and her colleagues examined chest CT images of four patient groups – nonsmokers, cigarette smokers, marijuana smokers and combined tobacco and weed smokers. Weed smokers included in the study had toked at least four times a month for at least two years, researchers said. In addition to increased risk of emphysema, combined weed and… read on > read on >

Evidence that soccer heading — where players use their heads to strike a ball — is dangerous continues to mount. Research to be presented at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting in Chicago on Tuesday points to a measurable decline in brain structure and function as a result of the practice. “There is enormous worldwide concern for brain injury in general and in the potential for soccer heading to cause long-term adverse brain effects in particular,” said senior study author Dr. Michael Lipton, a professor of radiology and an affiliate professor of biomedical engineering at Columbia University in New York City. “A large part of this concern relates to the potential for changes in young adulthood to confer risk for neuro-degeneration and dementia later in life.” Unlike other studies that have examined adverse effects at one point in time, Lipton’s team looked at brain changes over two years. They asked 148 amateur players (average age: 27) how often they play, practice and head the ball — and in what situations. Their exposure was ranked low, moderate or high. Just over a quarter of participants were women. Players’ verbal learning and memory were assessed and each had a specialized head scan known as diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). These advanced MRI techniques track the movement of water through brain tissue. The images were telling.… read on > read on >

Medical imaging for thinking and memory issues happens much later in Black patients than in their white and Hispanic counterparts, new research shows. A study to be presented Thursday at a meeting of radiologists also revealed that Black patients were less often tested with MRIs, a preferred way to identify brain abnormalities that can cause cognitive issues. Other research has found that Black people have a greater risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia and they are more likely to be diagnosed later than white patients. “If disparity in obtaining access to neuroimaging is one possible barrier that delays diagnosis, it is important to identify this and figure out possible solutions to benefit these patients and prevent a delayed diagnosis,” said lead author Dr. Joshua Wibecan, a radiology resident at Boston Medical Center. Increasingly, imaging with MRI plays a big part in diagnosing thinking impairments. But it has been unclear how differences in access to imaging may lead to delayed diagnoses. Wibecan’s team studied four years of imaging data at Boston Medical Center. As a safety net medical center, it cares for people regardless of their ability to pay or insurance status. Researchers identified all outpatient CTs and CT angiographies of the head, as well as MRI brain exams done for mental impairment. Self-identified Black patients were older when they received imaging and… read on > read on >

MONDAY, Nov. 27, 2023 (Healthday News) — Three more brands of cantaloupe have been recalled by U.S. health officials after salmonella infections linked to the fruit more than doubled in just a week. The case count now includes nearly 100 people in 32 states, with Arizona, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio having the highest number of illnesses reported. Two people have died in Minnesota, while 45 have been hospitalized nationwide, according to an updated health alert issued Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s original recall, issued Nov. 14, included Malichita brand whole cantaloupe, Vinyard brand pre-cut cantaloupe and ALDI whole cantaloupe and pre-cut fruit products. Rudy brand whole cantaloupes and Freshness Guaranteed brand and RaceTrac brand pre-cut cantaloupes have now been added to the recall. The actual number of people infected with salmonella in this outbreak is likely even higher, the CDC said, because many recover without care and are never tested for the bacteria. The recalled fruits should be thrown away and any surfaces the fruits touched should be washed with hot, soapy water or in a dishwasher, the CDC advised. Salmonella is the most common form of bacterial food poisoning in the United States, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The symptoms of salmonella typically include diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps within six days… read on > read on >

In a disease cluster last year, one infected but asymptomatic man spread a rare form of syphilis that affects the eyes to five Michigan women, a new report finds. Since ocular syphilis remains very rare, researchers believe the strain of T. pallidum — the syphilis bacterium — that the man carried might have raised the risk for eye complications in his sex partners. The man and the five middle-aged white women he infected eventually all received penicillin treatment and were cured. So the researchers say it’s possible that the strain “ceased to circulate after these patients and their common partner were treated,” although no one can know that for sure. The study was led by Dr. William Nettleton of the Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services Department in Kalamazoo, Mich. His team reported the findings in the Nov. 24 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a journal of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Syphilis is making an unwelcome comeback among sexually active Americans everywhere. According to Nettleton’s group, in Michigan cases-per-100,000-people rose from 3.8 in 2016 to 9.7 by 2022. Most of the rise in cases was concentrated in southwest Michigan (the area around Kalamazoo). Syphilis is an insidious infection, because in many cases it does not cause symptoms although the bacterium can still be transmitted to others. Over time, syphilis… read on > read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Commuting on a Highway? Your Blood Pressure May Pay a Price

Your Walking Speed Influences Your Risk for Diabetes

Misinformation Is Everywhere. Experts Offer Tools to Counter It

Internet Poses No Threat to Mental Health, Major Study Finds

Could a ‘Brain Coach’ Help Folks at Higher Risk for Alzheimer’s?

Smoking Tobacco Plus Weed Greatly Raises Odds for Emphysema

Soccer ‘Heading’ Tied to Declines in Brain Function

Black Patients Wait Longer Than Whites for Alzheimer’s Diagnosis

After Salmonella Cases Double in a Week, Cantaloupe Recall Expanded

In Michigan, 5 Women Contracted Syphilis Affecting the Eyes From the Same Asymptomatic Man