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It’s well known that mothers can suffer postpartum depression, a condition that affects not only their well-being but also their child’s development. Now, new research finds that fathers can also experience depression after the births of their babies and this doubles their children’s odds of having three or more adverse childhood experiences before the age of 5. “There’s a number of things that motivated our study. The first was that father’s depression in the first year of life has already been shown to have other kinds of adverse effects on children, such as parenting difficulties or difficulties in child behavior later in life,” said study author Dr. Kristine Schmitz. She is an assistant professor of population health, quality improvement and implementation science at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey. “We also at baseline know that depression in fathers is often unrecognized and yet can be quite prevalent, so it’s an important topic to pay attention to,” Schmitz added. For this study, Schmitz wanted to explore what the association between a father’s depression early in a child’s life might have with adverse childhood experiences later in life. Those experiences can include household dysfunction and child maltreatment. They can lead to future health and mental health issues, including well into adulthood. This can include poorer mental health, poorer school performance, obesity, asthma and high… read on > read on >

Kids who get discouraged by idealized athletic bodies on social media may end up dropping out of sports, a small study suggests. In a preliminary study of 70 kids who played — or used to play — sports, researchers found that some had quit because they thought they didn’t have the “right” body for the activity. And most got that idea from media images, including TikTok and Instagram posts. Experts said the findings add to evidence that unrealistic, often “filtered” or “edited,” images on social media can make some kids feel bad about their own bodies. And in the case of kids who play sports, the study suggests, those feelings could translate into action: quitting. That outcome would be “heartbreaking,” said researcher Dr. Cassidy Foley Davelaar, considering all that kids can gain from participating in sports. It benefits their physical health, she said, and helps them form friendships, build confidence and resilience, and more. Sports should “be inclusive of all body sizes and shapes,” said Foley Davelaar, a sports medicine physician at Nemours Children’s Health in Orlando, Fla. She is scheduled to present the findings Sunday at a meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics, in Washington, D.C. Studies released at meetings are generally considered preliminary until they are published in a peer-reviewed journal. While this study was small, it aligns with other research tying… read on > read on >

A potentially deadly infection carried by mosquitoes may be more prevalent than once thought, U.S. health officials report. Named the Cache Valley virus after the Utah area in which it was first found in 1956, it has caused seven serious infections nationwide. But it may have infected up to 18% of the population, according to an expert from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We don’t know much about it, there’s only been seven documented cases,” said CDC research microbiologist Amanda Calvert. Of these, three died and the others have had lasting effects, she said. In all seven people, the virus caused a brain infection called encephalitis or an infection of the membranes that cover the brain and the spinal cord, called meningitis. All seven patients had conditions affecting their immune system, which seems to be why they developed a serious infection. Calvert said the last known case was in a patient who got it from a transfusion of infected blood. Most people who get the virus have mild symptoms or none at all, she said. Symptoms are non-specific and can include fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, fatigue and rash. No specific treatment for the virus is known. Care consists of easing symptoms with painkillers. Cache Valley virus is seen mostly in sheep. It causes stillbirths and birth defects in lambs. Whether the virus… read on > read on >

Climate change is bringing diseases once considered tropical afflictions to the United States, and new research warns that a parasite spread by sand flies may be the latest to join this growing list. The Leishmania parasite causes several forms of the disease leishmaniasis, including cutaneous leishmaniasis, which causes skin sores. Cutaneous leishmaniasis infects up to 1 million people each year, mainly in the Middle East, central Asia, northern Africa and Latin America. Another potentially life-threatening form of the disease, visceral leishmaniasis, affects the spleen, liver and bone marrow, and a new study suggests this form may be gaining a foothold in U.S. sand flies when they feed on infected dogs brought into the country by well-meaning dog rescue organizations. The findings were presented Thursday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, in Chicago. Such research is considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. “As our weather gets more erratic and the planet as a whole gets warmer and wetter, it becomes a much better place for these bugs to live and create disease,” said study author Christine Petersen, director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the University of Iowa. “We need to up our game and remember these tropical diseases aren’t going to be so tropical anymore due to global warming,” she added. In addition to… read on > read on >

CVS Health plans to pull cold medications that contain phenylephrine from its store shelves after federal regulators determined recently that the decongestant doesn’t work. Oral phenylephrine is an active ingredient in such well-known products as Sudafed and Dayquil. An FDA advisory committee ruled last month that the ingredient was useless in easing congestion. “We are removing certain oral cough and cold products that contain phenylephrine as the only active ingredient from CVS Pharmacy stores,” the company told CBS MoneyWatch. “Other oral cough and cold products will continue to be offered to meet consumer needs,” the company added. Another drugstore chain, Walgreens, said it “follows FDA [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] regulations,” but did not say if it would stop selling the medications. “We are closely monitoring the situation and actively partnering with the Walgreens Office of Clinical Integrity and suppliers on appropriate next steps,” a spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch. Medications that contain phenylephrine account for $1.8 billion in annual sales, according to FDA data. More information The National Library of Medicine has more on phenylephrine. SOURCE: CBS News, Oct. 19, 2023 read on >

Despite warnings and public education campaigns, kids continue to suffer injuries from swallowing small but strong magnets, according to a new study. Children are also inserting high-powered, rare-earth balls into their ears and noses, even in households where parents fully understand the dangers of the toys, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). “High-powered, rare-earth magnetic balls or beads are often sold as fun, stress-relieving toys, but they are among the most dangerous toys when kids eat them. It doesn’t matter what the child’s socioeconomic or racial background is, whether the child is being watched, or if supervising adults know the magnets are dangerous — kids still manage to eat them and many of them need surgery to fix the internal damage caused by the magnets,” Dr. Minna Wieck said in an AAP news release. She is an assistant professor of pediatric surgery at UC Davis Children’s Hospital in Sacramento, Calif. “The only foolproof way to make sure these injuries don’t happen is to keep these types of magnets away from kids,” Wieck added. For the study, the researchers reviewed 2017 to 2019 data from patients aged 21 and younger from a study that included 25 U.S. children’s hospitals. The investigators previously found that these injuries were increasing despite age restrictions, warning labels and educational public health campaigns explaining the dangers. Among more than… read on > read on >

Tens of thousands of U.S. children received burns over a decade from beauty devices found in many homes: curling irons. “Hair styling tools are a timeless piece of our everyday routine, helping to create the picture-perfect look. Yet they have the greatest propensity to create a not so picture-perfect accident when not handled with care,” said Dr. Brandon Rozanski, lead author of a new study and a pediatric resident at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu. “Electric hair styling tools can reach temperatures as high as 450 degrees F in a matter of minutes, creating potential situations of unintentional burn injury for both the device user and surrounding bystanders,” Rozanski said in a news release from the American Academy of Pediatrics. His study found nearly 31,000 burns in children and young people between 2013 and 2022. Researchers used data from emergency department visits for patients 24 and younger from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System database. There were more than 1,050 emergency department visits. Hair curlers and curling irons were responsible for 97% of the burn injuries. About two-thirds of those who went to hospital emergency departments for burns were age 10 or younger. About 65% were girls. Roughly 72% of the injuries happened at home, and less than 2% required a hospital stay. “This study demonstrated that children have the greatest propensity to present… read on > read on >

Nutrition is important for your whole body, including those two small organs through which you look at the world. The same diet that’s good for your heart and the rest of your body will also help your eyes, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). The academy offers advice on vision-healthy foods and how to create a diet rich in them. “Some nutrients keep the eye healthy overall, and some have been found to reduce the risk of eye diseases,” Dr. Rebecca Taylor, an ophthalmologist in Nashville, Tenn., said in an article on the AAO’s website. Your eyes rely on tiny arteries for oxygen and nutrients, similar to how your heart relies on much larger arteries, so a diet that’s low in fat and rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains is good for them. The AAO suggests including orange-colored vegetables and fruits with vitamin A in your diet. The nutrient gives your retina what it needs to help turn light rays into images and helps your eyes stay moist. Carrots are a well-known source of vitamin A, but sweet potatoes provide even more of the nutrient, Taylor noted in an AAO news release. “A sweet potato has more than 200% of the daily dose of vitamin A doctors recommend,” Taylor said. Cantaloupe and apricots are also good sources. The antioxidant vitamin C is… read on > read on >

Think twice about ordering that double cheeseburger, salami on rye or juicy T-bone. Just two servings of red meat a week — processed or unprocessed — can increase your risk of type 2 diabetes by 62%, according to a new study. “A modest but statistically significant increase in risk was seen with even two servings of red meat per week, and risk continued to increase with higher intakes,” said lead author Xiao Gu, a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. “Our findings suggest that replacing red meat with healthy plant-based protein sources, such as nuts and legumes, or modest intakes of dairy foods, would reduce the risk of diabetes.” The study can’t prove that eating red meat causes type 2 diabetes, but there appears to be a link. And a serving of meat is likely smaller than you might suspect. One serving of unprocessed red meat is about 3 ounces of pork, beef or lamb; a serving of processed red meat is about 1 ounce of bacon or 2 ounces of hot dog, sausage, salami, bologna or other processed red meats, Gu said.Red meat is usually high in saturated fat and low in polyunsaturated fat, Gu said. “Studies have shown that saturated fat can reduce beta cell function and insulin sensitivity, which results in type 2 diabetes,” he… read on > read on >

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 >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

A New Dad’s Postpartum Depression Can Be Tough on His Kids

Teens Are Quitting Sports as Social Media Ups Body Image Concerns

Cache Valley Virus: Another Mosquito-Borne Illness Making Inroads in U.S.

A Tropical Skin Infection Spread by Sand Flies Is Spreading in the U.S.

CVS Pulling Popular Cold Meds From Shelves After Report Deems Them to Be Useless

Kids Still Getting Injured After Swallowing High-Powered Magnets

Mom’s Curling Iron Can Be Big Burn Hazard for Kids

Put These Foods on Your Grocery List for Better Vision

Just 2 Servings of Red Meat Per Week Raises Your Diabetes Risk

Living Alone Raises Americans’ Cancer Risk by Nearly a Third