People who live alone have a greater risk of dying from cancer, a new study warns. Researchers from the American Cancer Society showed that U.S. adults who live alone had a 32% higher risk of cancer death than those who live with others. For men that was even higher, at 38% greater risk, while women living alone had a 30% higher risk. The data was particularly concerning for middle-aged adults, those ages 45 to 64, who had a 43% higher risk of cancer death than those living with others. “Previous studies have shown an association between living alone and cancer mortality, but findings by sex and race/ethnicity have generally been inconsistent, and data by socioeconomic status are sparse,” said study author Hyunjung Lee, principal scientist in cancer disparity research at the American Cancer Society. “Findings in this study underscore the significance of addressing living alone in the general population and among cancer survivors and call for interventions to reduce adverse effects of living alone and social isolation,” she said in a society news release. Researchers studied this using data from 1998 to 2019 for more than 473,000 adults from the U.S. National Health Interview Survey linked to the National Death Index. The data was followed for up to 22 years to calculate the association between living alone and cancer death. About 38 million households lived…  read on >  read on >

Stigma can take a toll on lesbian, gay and bisexual teens, leading to high rates of binge-eating disorders, researchers say. Compared to their non-LGBTQ peers, lesbian, gay and bisexual teens are more than twice as likely to report binge eating, according to a new study. Bullying, discrimination and stigma because of sexual orientation can be stressors that lead to poor self-esteem and disordered eating, explained lead study author Dr. Jason Nagata. He is an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. “Binge eating can result in psychological effects like depression and anxiety, and long-term physical health problems, including diabetes and heart disease,” Nagata added in a university news release. With binge eating, the individual frequently consumes unusually large amounts of food and feels unable to stop eating. It is the most common eating disorder in the United States, but is understudied and often misunderstood, according to background notes in the study. The researchers analyzed data from more than 10,000 adolescents aged 10 to 14 years old who were part of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, the largest long-term study of brain development and child health in the United States. Data was from 2018 to 2020. Parents were asked about their children’s eating behaviors. Youths reported their sexual orientation. “Adolescents with eating disorders should seek professional help. Eating disorders are best…  read on >  read on >

Yellow fever may be resurfacing in the United States, thanks to climate change. The mosquito-borne viral illness decimated southern U.S. cities from 1820 to 1905, and now a new report says it could return to those areas. One of the potential reasons for a yellow fever resurgence? Global warming, because mosquitoes love warm, wet weather. Exactly where yellow fever may turn up in the United States is not known, but historically outbreaks occur in the southern U.S. along ports such as New Orleans, Galveston, Texas, and along the Mississippi River, said study author Dr. Peter Hotez. He is the dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development in Houston. Symptoms of yellow fever range from a fever with aches and pains to severe liver disease with bleeding and yellowing skin (jaundice). There is no treatment or cure for yellow fever, but there is a vaccine available. “There has been an increase in small outbreaks of mosquito-transmitted infections such as malaria, dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus in the southern U.S., especially Florida and Texas,” Hotez explained. “Yellow fever has expanded from the Amazon region into a more populated area of Brazil, so there are concerns that it could also re-emerge here.” It’s time to expand mosquito-transmitted virus surveillance, especially in…  read on >  read on >

An inexpensive medication long used for depression and migraines now has a clinical trial to back up its off-label use for another condition that lowers quality of life: irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). In the study, British researchers found that those taking amitriptyline were almost twice as likely as those taking a placebo to see an improvement in IBS symptoms. “We were delighted that the drug was both effective and safe for IBS when used at a low dose and titrated [slowly increased],” said Dr. Alexander Ford, a professor of gastroenterology at Leeds Institute of Medical Research at St. James’s at the University of Leeds. About 1 in 20 people worldwide live with the abdominal pain and bowel issues that are hallmarks of IBS, a chronic condition with no known cure. “IBS has a substantial impact in terms of affecting social activity, ability to work, out-of-pocket expenses and quality of life for sufferers,” Ford said. Although there are other treatments, most have only a modest impact, according to the study, with people often still suffering symptoms. “First-line treatments do not work for many patients with IBS, so there is a real unmet need as there are few other available therapies in the U.K. and the impact of IBS on the individual, health care systems and society as a whole is substantial,” Ford said. Amitriptyline is part…  read on >  read on >

Many breast cancer survivors take a hormonal drug after cancer treatment to stave off a recurrence, but new research suggests these drugs may be less effective in women who are obese. Breast cancer cells in hormone-positive breast cancers are fueled by the female sex hormone estrogen. Aromatase inhibitor medications lower estrogen levels by stopping an enzyme in fat tissue called aromatase from changing other hormones into estrogen. When compared to breast cancer survivors of normal weight, women who were obese were 18% more likely to have a recurrence even when taking an aromatase inhibitor, and this increased risk was even higher among survivors who were severely obese, the investigators found. “Postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer and obesity who are treated with aromatase inhibitors at are increased risk of having a recurrence of their disease,” said study author Sixten Harborg, a researcher in the department of oncology at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark. However, he added, “Treatment with aromatase inhibitors is still the treatment choice for this patient group and lowers the rate of breast cancer recurrence and [death] in this patient group.” Exactly how, or even if, obesity increases the risk of breast cancer recurrence in women taking aromatase inhibitors is not fully understood yet. “Obesity can affect the response to cancer treatment, as obesity alters drug metabolism and distribution,” Harborg noted. Fat…  read on >  read on >