Weekly Gravy « Weekly Gravy

All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Elevated levels of thyroid hormone appear to harm the aging brain, increasing seniors’ risk of dementia or other cognitive disorders, a new study finds. High levels of thyroid hormone — a condition called thyrotoxicosis — was associated with thinking problems whether they came from an overactive thyroid gland or from taking thyroid medication, researchers found. “Our results suggest that an increased risk of cognitive disorders is among the potential negative consequences of thyroid hormone excess, a common consequence of thyroid hormone therapy,” said senior researcher Dr. Jennifer Mammen, an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. “Clinicians considering thyroid hormone therapy in older adults should avoid over-treatment by using age-appropriate treatment strategies,” Mammen added in a university news release. Some prior studies have suggested that high thyroid levels were associated with an increased risk of cognitive disorder, but those results have been mixed, researchers said. Additionally, those earlier studies didn’t include excess thyroid hormone caused by taking medication. Thyroid hormone is among the most common prescriptions in the United States, researchers said. As many as 20% of people prescribed thyroid hormone might be taking too much, putting them at risk for thyrotoxicosis. “Our goal was to investigate whether aggressive treatment practices … can also possibly cause cognitive harm,” said lead researcher Roy Adams, an assistant professor of psychiatry and… read on > read on >

Minding your heart health when you’re young could spare your brain from dementia decades later, new research confirms. Chinese researchers looked at data on more than 450,000 older Britons. They found that people who’d already been in poor cardiovascular health before they reached the age of 45 had a 25% higher odds of developing dementia, compared to those with better heart heath. “What surprised us most was the linear relationship between age of coronary heart disease onset and dementia,” said senior study author Fanfan Zheng. “This shows the huge detrimental influence of premature coronary heart disease on brain health,” added Zheng, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College in Beijing. The findings were published Nov. 29 in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Doctors have long known that failing heart health can pose a threat to the brain, with links to poorer brain circulation and even strokes. But does the timing of heart disease onset matter? To find out, Zheng’s group analyzed data from the UK Biobank database. They looked at the medical records of hundreds of thousands of Britons who averaged 57 years of age when they were enrolled in the Biobank. About 12% of the participants had already been diagnosed with heart disease by the time they enrolled. The researchers then tracked cases of new-onset… read on > read on >

Migraine sufferers would do better to talk to their doctor about a prescription drug than reaching for a bottle of ibuprofen, a new study finds. Drugs like triptans, ergots and anti-emetics can be two to five times more effective for treating migraines than ibuprofen, according to a report published Nov. 30 in the journal Neurology. “These results confirm that triptans should be considered earlier for treating migraine, rather than reserving their use for severe attacks,” said researcher Dr. Chia-Chun Chiang, a neurologist with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. People in the throes of a migraine experience intense throbbing head pain, sensitivity to light and sound, nausea or vomiting, and even thinking issues. There are many treatments available, but not much head-to-head data comparing their effectiveness, Chiang said. For this study, Chiang and her colleagues tracked more than 3 million migraines self-reported by nearly 300,000 people using a smartphone app. The app allows users to monitor the frequency of their migraines, the triggers that caused them, the symptoms they had and the effectiveness of the medication they took. Participants reported trying different medications for their migraines a total of 4.7 million times, and noted whether each helped or not. Researchers used that information to calculate the relative effectiveness of each drug, evaluating a total 25 meds across seven drug classes. The top three classes of… read on > read on >

Dreary, chilly winter days might cause some year-round runners to think twice about their jog, but recent research suggests the benefits of cold weather running outweigh those of running in warmer conditions. Specifically, cold weather can help runners burn more bad fat, lose more weight and feel healthier overall. “Cold weather doesn’t have to force runners indoors and I encourage my patients to continue safely running outdoors,” said Dr. Joshua Blomgren, an assistant professor at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. “Exercise is medicine, even in the winter.” Running in cold weather produces less heat stress on the body, which can make a winter jog easier than one in the summer, Blomgren said. Higher body temperatures are associated with increased exertion and strain on the heart, lungs and metabolism. On the other hand, winter running can boost your metabolism at a time when cold temperatures are causing your average metabolism to slow down in an attempt to preserve fat, Blomgren explained. Cold weather jogging tricks the body into stopping that slowdown, helping you maintain a healthy weight. Scientific evidence also suggests that exercising in cold temperatures can help convert “bad” white fat to “good” brown fat, Blomgren said. White fat can cause inflammation and insulin resistance, while brown fat is metabolic tissue that helps burn calories. Blomgren does issue some cautions to folks who choose… read on > read on >

U.S. suicide numbers reached a grim new high in 2022. The increase was most acute among women over the age of 24, according to provisional data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overall, almost 49,500 people lost their lives to suicide in 2022, the report found, a 3% rise from the nearly 48,200 deaths recorded in 2021. That makes the 2022 death toll from suicide “the highest number ever recorded in the United States,” according to the CDC researchers. The data they presented is also preliminary, so “the 2022 final number of suicides is likely to be higher as additional death certificates with pending causes of death are determined to be suicides,” they noted. For reasons not explained in the report, middle-aged and older women appeared to be hit hardest by the rise in suicides. In absolute numbers, men are still far more likely than women to kill themselves: In 2022, 39,255 males died by suicide versus 10,194 females. However, the percentage increase in suicides among women in 2022 was much steeper than what was seen among men: 4% versus 1%, respectively, the CDC team noted. The 2022 rise among females was concentrated in those aged 25 and older. While suicide rates fell among younger women and female teens, it jumped 7% for women between the ages of 25 and 34. Women… read on > read on >

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 29, 2023 (Healthday News) — The diabetes drug Mounjaro prompted more weight loss among overweight and obese adults than Ozempic did in a real-world setting, researchers report. Both Mounjaro (tirzepatide) and Ozempic (semaglutide) mimic the effects of the gut hormone GLP-1, which triggers insulin production, helps control appetite and slows the movement of food through the stomach. But Mounjaro also stimulates a second gut hormone known as GIP, which may explain the findings, the investigators said. Both medications treat type 2 diabetes, but they have become wildly popular because they also help people shed unwanted pounds. Because of that, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved higher doses of both Mounjaro and Ozempic for weight loss under the brand names Zepbound and Wegovy, respectively. The new study was published recently on the preprint server MedRxiv and hasn’t yet undergone peer-review so should be considered preliminary. Many doctors have suspected Moinjaro might be more potent after seeing how their diabetes patients fared on both drugs, CNN reported. However, there haven’t been many studies that compared the drugs head-to-head, especially in people who don’t have diabetes. “Over 70% of American adults have overweight or obesity, and so there’s this huge potential for these medications to be used and [there’s] really a lack of information,” lead study author Dr. Patricia Rodriguez, a senior applied scientist at Truveta Research,… read on > read on >

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 >

Weekly Gravy

Look Good – Feel Good – Feed Good

A little about: Weekly Gravy

All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Could an Overactive Thyroid Harm the Aging Brain?

Early Onset Heart Disease Is Key Factor in Later-Life Dementia

Migraine? Reach for Prescription Meds, Not Ibuprofen

Cold Weather Running May Be Even Healthier

U.S. Suicide Numbers Hit New Record High in 2022

Mounjaro Beats Ozempic for Weight Loss in Early Trial

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