All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Gun violence causes a ripple effect that creates a lasting impact on young people lucky enough to survive being shot, as well as their families, a comprehensive new study finds. Child and teenaged gunshot survivors carry the physical and emotional scars of violence, and their families suffer even more dramatic aftereffects, the Harvard-associated researchers found. “The unspeakable tragedy of youth gun violence has overshadowed the massive health crises that occur in the wake of injuries and deaths,” said study author Zirui Song, an associate professor of health care policy and medicine in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Children 19 and younger who survive gun violence experience a 68% increase in psychiatric disorders and a 144% increase in substance use disorders, compared with young people who haven’t been shot, researchers found. Their moms and dads suffer alongside them, experiencing a 30% increased risk of psychiatric disorders compared with parents whose children haven’t sustained a gunshot injury, results show. “Gunshot survivors and their families often experience long-lasting, invisible injuries, including psychological and substance use disorders with roots in the shared trauma they have experienced,” Song, who is also a general internist at Massachusetts General Hospital, said in a hospital news release. “It’s important for clinicians to be aware that these families are at an increased risk for these conditions so that they can…  read on >  read on >

Amid reports of more illnesses and additional product recalls, U.S. health officials have expanded their investigation into potentially lead-tainted pouches of apple cinnamon pureed fruit. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in an updated alert posted Friday that it has received reports of seven illnesses in at least five states possibly linked to contaminated puree. Two new companies, Schnucks Markets of St. Louis and Weis Markets of Sunbury, Pa., announced recalls of certain cinnamon applesauce products because they may contain high levels of lead. WanaBana of Coral Gables, Fla., had previously recalled all lots and expiration dates of its apple cinnamon fruit puree. Eating the contaminated products could result in “acute toxicity,” FDA officials said. Parents and caregivers should not buy or serve the cinnamon applesauce products, which are sold through multiple retailers, including Amazon, Dollar Tree, Weis Markets, Schnucks and Eatwell Markets. Children and others who have consumed the products should be tested for possible lead poisoning, the agency said. Just last week, the FDA issued an initial warning after four children in North Carolina were found to have high levels of lead in their blood that was linked to the WanaBana products, the FDA said.  State health officials detected “extremely high” concentrations of lead in the pouches after analyzing multiple lots.  Lead can enter food products through soil, air, water and industrial…  read on >  read on >

Nearly 30,000 pounds of dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets have been recalled by maker Tyson Foods Inc. after customers discovered small bits of metal in some of the nuggets. There has been one reported minor oral injury associated with consumption of the nuggets, which were produced on Sept. 5, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said in a statement it released Saturday. FSIS said it has received no additional reports of injury or illness from consumption of these products. Anyone who’s worried about an injury or illness should contact a healthcare provider, the agency said. The recall is specifically for the 29-ounce plastic bags of the product called Fully Cooked Fun Nuggets Breaded Shaped Chicken Patties, the FSIS said. Approximately 29,819 pounds of the Fun Nuggets are affected by the recall, and they were shipped to distributors in Alabama, California, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin. The plastic packages contain “Tyson FULLY COOKED FUN NUGGETS BREADED SHAPED CHICKEN PATTIES” with a Best If Used By date of SEP 04, 2024, and lot codes 2483BRV0207, 2483BRV0208, 2483BRV0209 and 2483BRV0210, the agency added. The products subject to recall also have the number “P-7211” on the back on the package. The problem was discovered after Tyson Foods notified FSIS that it had received consumer complaints reporting small metal pieces in the chicken patty…  read on >  read on >

Even with the same prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, Black men are more likely to have prostate cancer than white men, new research shows. The findings point to the need for earlier and more frequent screening, the researchers noted. It’s already known that Black men in the United States are more likely to develop prostate cancer than their white peers. After diagnosis, they’re also more likely to have advanced disease and to die. The new research suggests that at any PSA level, Black men are more likely to harbor prostate cancer than white men. The research included more than 75,000 Black men and more than 207,000 white men who were receiving care from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The researchers used modeling to predict the likelihood of prostate cancer diagnosis from a first biopsy. Prostate cancer was detected in the first biopsy in 55% of Black men and in 43% of white men, the investigators found. After accounting for other factors, Black veterans were 50% more likely to receive a prostate cancer diagnosis based on their first prostate biopsy than white Veterans were, according to the report published online Nov. 6 in the journal CANCER.  Black men with a pre-biopsy PSA of 4.0 ng/mL had a 49% risk of prostate cancer detected during their biopsy. This compared to a 39% risk for white men…  read on >  read on >

An adolescent starts thinking like an adult right around the age of 18, according to new research. That provides some of the first definitive evidence that executive function matures by that time. Executive function is a set of mental skills that include the ability to plan, switch between tasks, resist tempting distractions and focus. For the study, researchers collected and analyzed nearly two dozen laboratory measures of executive functions in more than 10,000 people. Researchers said their findings have significant implications for psychiatrists, neuroscientists, parents, educators and potentially the judicial system. “When I talk with parents, a lot of them say, ‘There is no way that my 18-year-old is a fully formed adult!’” said senior author Beatriz Luna, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and authority on neurocognitive development. “Other important behavioral factors that complement executive function, such as the ability to control one’s own emotions, can change with age. The ability to use executive function reliably improves with age and, at least in a laboratory setting, matures by 18 years of age,” Luna said in a university news release. While many childhood milestones are mapped out, that timeline of adolescence transitioning to adulthood is less formally defined, according to the study. Individuals differ greatly. Analytical tools are limited. “In our study, we wanted to present a consensus and…  read on >  read on >

Put down the saltshaker — especially if you’re at risk of type 2 diabetes. While the condition brings to mind the need to avoid sugar, a new study links it to frequent salt consumption. “We already know that limiting salt can reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases and hypertension, but this study shows for the first time that taking the saltshaker off the table can help prevent type 2 diabetes as well,” said lead study author Dr. Lu Qi. He is chair and professor at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans. “It’s not a difficult change to make, but it could have a tremendous impact on your health,” Qi said in a university news release. To better understand the link, the researchers surveyed more than 400,000 adults registered in the UK Biobank about their salt intake. Over almost 12 years on average, the research team saw more than 13,000 cases of type 2 diabetes develop. Compared to those who “never” or “rarely” used salt, participants who “sometimes,” “usually” or “always” added salt had a respective 13%, 20% and 39% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to the study. Why high salt intake would have this impact is not fully understood. Qi thinks salt encourages people to eat larger portions, which then increases the chances of developing…  read on >  read on >

Drowsy driving causes thousands of car crashes a year and teen drivers say they are often sleepy behind the wheel. In a new survey, teens reported high rates of drowsy driving. School and job commitments were the top factors keeping them up at night. A corresponding survey of U.S. adult drivers showed similar trends. Both teens and adults called drowsy driving “highly risky.” Previous studies have established that young people are at high risk for drowsy driving.  “What we see in our results this year is many teens, early in their driving experience, say they’ve already driven while drowsy. Overall, teens know the risks of drowsy driving, but don’t think it’s as risky as other forms of impaired driving,” Joseph Dzierzewski, a vice president of the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), said in a foundation news release. “The good news is — drowsy driving is preventable, and there’s a lot we can teach our young drivers about the importance of getting the sleep they need before they get behind the wheel,” he added. The NSF’s 2023 Drowsy Driving Survey is part of its Drowsy Driving Prevention Week, a campaign to help Americans get the sleep they need and reduce numbers of sleep-deprived people behind the wheel. Drowsy driving kills an estimated 6,400 people a year in the United States alone, according to the AAA Foundation for…  read on >  read on >

Warnings about the dangers of vaping may be reaching American teens: A new U.S. government report shows e-cigarette use is down among high school students. In fact, use of any tobacco product over the past 30 days declined among this age group during the 2022-2023 school year, from 16.5% to 12.6%. This was driven largely by a decline in e-cigarette use, which dropped from 14.1% to 10%. “The decline in e-cigarette use among high school students shows great progress, but our work is far from over,” said Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, director of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health. “Findings from this report underscore the threat that commercial tobacco product use poses to the health of our nation’s youth,” Kittner said in a CDC news release. “It is imperative that we prevent youth from starting to use tobacco and help those who use tobacco to quit.”  Still, anti-smoking advocates welcomed the findings. “It is terrific news for our nation’s health that e-cigarette use among high school students fell sharply this year, while use of cigarettes, cigars and other smoked tobacco products are at record lows,” said Yolonda Richardson, president and CEO of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “These results are powerful evidence that with the right policies and public education campaigns, we can drive down and even eliminate youth use of all tobacco products. They show…  read on >  read on >

The American Cancer Society has expanded its recommendations for who should get lung cancer screening. The updated guidance now says annual screening should start at a younger age and among those who smoke less, and it should continue regardless of how many years ago a former smoker may have quit. “If you are a person who formerly smoked, once 15 years had elapsed since your cessation you were no longer eligible for lung cancer screening on the assumption that your risk had just gotten too low over time to justify screening,” explained Robert Smith, senior vice president for Early Cancer Detection Science at the American Cancer Society (ACS). “When we look at that, actually the continuing absolute risk and people who had a significant number of years of smoking, we found that just wasn’t true,” Smith said. “In fact, your risk declined a little bit after you stopped smoking. Then it flattened out and started increasing again as your age increased, and eventually, rising pretty steeply — about 9% a year if you smoked 20 cigarettes a day.” To address that, screening should now start at age 50 and continue until age 80, the ACS said. In addition, those who have smoked at least 20 cigarettes a day for 20 years or more should be screened; the previous recommendation was 20 cigarettes a day for…  read on >  read on >

Money may not buy happiness, but it can help make life more satisfying, a new U.S. government survey shows. In 2021, just under 5% of U.S. adults said they were “dissatisfied” with their lives. And researchers found those feelings were more common in households making less than 200% of the federal poverty level — or about $55,000 a year for a family of four. Among those relatively lower-income Americans, 8% were dissatisfied with their lives — more than double the rate (3.6%) among people with higher incomes. That dividing line is not surprising, as past studies have found clear relationships between income and life satisfaction. But lead researcher Amanda Ng said another finding was intriguing: There were some disparities in life satisfaction, based on factors like age and race — but only among lower-income Americans. Within that group, white and Black Americans were less happy than Hispanic and Asian Americans. Meanwhile, middle-aged adults (aged 45 to 64) reported more dissatisfaction than either younger or older adults. And people born in the United States were less happy than their counterparts born elsewhere. None of those disparities existed, however, among Americans with relatively higher incomes. “It was pretty striking that we saw none of those differences,” said Ng, a researcher with the National Center for Health Statistics, which is part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control…  read on >  read on >