All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

If mountain biking is your exercise of choice, go for it. A new study finds that the benefits of this sport outweigh the risks, dashing a common view that it’s always dangerous, injury-inducing and meant for thrill seekers. “Mountain biking and hiking are some of the fastest growing recreation activities in the world, so understanding the spectrum of injuries becomes paramount for effective medical care,” said lead author Paul Braybrook, a doctoral candidate at Curtin University School of Nursing in Western Australia. His team analyzed data from dozens of studies across the world that included more than 220,000 injured mountain bikers and more than 17,000 injured hikers to try to pinpoint injury types. For mountain bikers, injuries were primarily on upper limbs, mostly bruises, scratches and mild cuts. Hikers had injured legs and ankles, including blisters and ankle sprains. “Despite a common perception of mountain biking as an ‘extreme’ sport, we found most reported injuries were of low severity,” Braybrook said in a university news release. “Although there were high proportions of ankle sprains in hikers and arm fractures in mountain bikers, with one study of the latter reporting more than half suffered head injuries, highlighting the importance of a good quality helmet.” The standard for protective gear and other equipment has increased as the popularity of both sports has grown, Braybrook said. This reduces…  read on >  read on >

Most fathers experience a decline in relationship satisfaction that can last for years after the baby is born, new research shows. “A good couple relationship during the transition to parenthood is important for parents’ mental health, involvement in parenting and bonding, as well as child development,” said lead author Judith Mack, a research associate at the Technical University of Dresden in Germany. “In the last decades, however, fathers have been neglected in research, even though they oftentimes play an equally important role in the family system as mothers. It is therefore crucial to shed light on their experiences,” she said. For the study, published on Aug. 30 in PLOS ONE, the European researchers reviewed responses from German parents to a survey that began in 2017. It included 500 first-time fathers and 106 who were expecting their second child. They were asked about relationship satisfaction with their partners two months before the birth, and then at eight weeks, 14 months and two years after delivery. No matter whether a child was Dad’s first or second, fathers were less satisfied with their relationship after the birth, the study found. First-timers were, however, more satisfied with their relationship before their baby’s birth compared to second-time dads. At eight weeks after birth, they still reported higher satisfaction than second-time dads. But first-time dads’ had a steeper decline in relationship…  read on >  read on >

Vasectomies are becoming more common in the United States, with rates surging by more than one-quarter during the past decade, a recent study reveals. The U.S. vasectomy rate increased by 26% between 2014 and 2021, according to an analysis of commercial health claims data. “All areas in the United States except the Northeast showed increased vasectomy rates,” said senior researcher Dr. Omer Raheem. He is an assistant professor of surgery-urology with the University of Chicago School of Medicine. Overall numbers remain low, with roughly 4% of men having undergone vasectomy, the researchers noted. But doctors expect the demand for vasectomy will continue to increase following the 2022 Supreme Court decision that abolished the national right to abortion. “After the Roe v Wade overturn, there has been a significant increase in Google searches for vasectomy, as well as an uptick in vasectomy consultations and procedures,” said Dr. Stanton Honig, division chief for reproductive and sexual medicine at Yale School of Medicine, in New Haven, Conn. “This recent study points to the fact that men are taking more of a role in reproductive health and family planning, especially when they are finished having children,” continued Honig, who was not involved with the new research. For the study, Raheem and his colleagues gathered health insurance claims data to calculate the annual vasectomy rate among privately insured men in…  read on >  read on >

THURSDAY, Aug. 31, 2023 (HealthDay News) – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has asked the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug under the Controlled Substances Act, a move that could potentially expand acceptance of the drug. The DEA confirmed receiving an Aug. 29 letter requesting the change and will begin its own review, a spokesperson told Bloomberg News. The move wouldn’t legalize marijuana, but could move it from its Schedule I classification to a Schedule III. Schedule I drugs, which carry a high risk of abuse, include LSD, ecstasy and heroin. Meanwhile, Schedule III drugs can be obtained with a prescription. Last October, President Joe Biden announced initiatives to ease marijuana penalties. He pardoned all prior simple possession offenses charged federally, asking states to do the same. At that time, Biden also asked the HHS and U.S. Attorney General to review marijuana scheduling, its medical use, potential for abuse and dependence and safety. Cannabis advocates have said that rescheduling the drug would be acknowledging marijuana’s legitimate uses, Bloomberg News reported. About 18% of Americans used cannabis at least once in 2019, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Cannabis should never have been scheduled alongside heroin and placed at the center of our nation’s destructive drug war,” Edward Conklin, executive director…  read on >  read on >

Postmenopausal women who are stressed, depressed or have trouble sleeping may face an increased risk of a common heart rhythm disorder, new research suggests. The study, of nearly 84,000 women over the age of 50, found that certain psychological factors were linked to the risk of developing atrial fibrillation, or a-fib — a heart arrhythmia that can cause serious problems over time. The higher the women scored on two measures of “stress” and “strain,” the greater their risk of developing a-fib over the next 10 years. Two specific factors — stressful life events and insomnia — showed the strongest connection to the heart condition. The findings highlight the role of mental well-being in physical health, according to an expert not involved in the study. “Don’t let anyone tell you it’s ‘just’ stress,” said Dr. Nieca Goldberg, a cardiologist and clinical associate professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City. “Our psychological health impacts our physical health.” The study, published Aug. 30 in the Journal of the American Heart Association, does not prove stress and strain directly contribute to atrial fibrillation. But there is reason to believe they can, according to Goldberg, who is also a volunteer expert with the American Heart Association. “Stressful life events raise stress hormones like epinephrine and norepinephrine, and elevated levels may trigger arrhythmias like atrial fibrillation,” Goldberg…  read on >  read on >

Taking cholesterol-lowering statin medication after a bleeding stroke, or intracerebral hemorrhage, may lower the risk of a subsequent stroke caused by a blood clot, according to new research. “Previous research has had mixed results on the risk of stroke in people who are taking statins and have already had a bleeding stroke, so we evaluated this further,” said study author Dr. David Gaist, of the University of Southern Denmark in Odense and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. “We looked at whether use of statins after a bleeding stroke is associated with the risk of any additional stroke, including both those caused by bleeding and by blood clots,” Gaist said in an academy new release. “We found that those who used statins had a lower risk of stroke, notably ischemic stroke, while there was no change in the risk of bleeding stroke.” While intracerebral hemorrhage is caused by bleeding in the brain, ischemic stroke is caused by a blockage of blood flow to the brain. Ischemic strokes are by far the most common types of stroke. Researchers studied health records in Denmark, finding more than 15,000 people who had a first bleeding stroke. They followed the patients from 30 days after their bleeding stroke until the occurrence of another stroke, death or the end of follow-up, which on average lasted 3.3 years. The…  read on >  read on >

If a loved one were living with addiction, a majority of Americans say they would know how to get help. About 71% of 2,200 respondents to an American Psychiatric Association poll said they would know how to assist a friend or family members. Most, about 73%, would refer that loved one to treatment, and 74% would talk to them about their addiction. “It’s promising, especially during Recovery Month, that Americans show such openness to talking with loved ones who may have substance use disorders or behavioral addictions,” said APA President Dr. Petros Levounis. “The public’s recommendations for treatment indicate a level of familiarity with certain methods of recovery –mutual help groups, Alcoholics Anonymous, for example, or rehab — which are well-known in popular culture,” he said in an APA news release. “This is good news, but at the same time, physicians like me need to continue to educate patients and families about other safe and effective methods of treating addiction, such as medications and cognitive behavioral therapy,” said Levounis. When asked about the treatment they would recommend to a loved one, only 6% cited medication-assisted treatment and just 4% singled out cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a type of talk therapy. Meanwhile, more than 20% said they would recommend in-patient treatment and support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous. Nineteen percent didn’t know what treatment they would recommend.…  read on >  read on >

When factoring in why children get asthma, a child’s neighborhood may be important to consider. New research finds that living in a neighborhood during early childhood that has better access to resources was associated with lower asthma incidence. Better resources would include high-quality housing, healthy food, parks, playgrounds and clean air. Children who were born in these high-opportunity neighborhoods had about 23 asthma cases per 1,000 children compared to 35 cases per 1,000 in very low opportunity neighborhoods. Those in low opportunity neighborhoods had 27 cases per 1,000, the investigators found. “Understanding neighborhood conditions could help researchers identify vulnerable children who are at high risk for developing asthma,” study author Izzuddin Aris of Harvard Medical School said in a Duke Clinical Research Institute news release. “This information can also inform efforts by policymakers, researchers, and community groups to improve children’s health and foster equity across neighborhoods,” Aris added. The research was part of the U.S. National Institute of Health’s Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program. For the study, the researchers measured neighborhood conditions using the Child Opportunity Index and the Social Vulnerability Index. These link residential addresses at birth, infancy and early childhood, through age 4.8 years, to census-tract data. The Child Opportunity Index, which measures neighborhood resources and conditions deemed essential for healthy child development, showed significant associations with childhood asthma incidence.…  read on >  read on >

It’s become more common for people to share mental health struggles on social media, but that decision could have a negative impact on future employment. Potential employers view job candidates differently if they talk about their personal mental health publicly, a new study finds. “People are often encouraged to discuss their mental health struggles on social media with the goal of reducing the stigma associated with mental health challenges,” said study co-author Lori Foster, a professor of psychology at North Carolina State University. “We think reducing stigma around mental health is extremely important, but our study suggests that mental health posts on platforms such as LinkedIn could have unforeseen consequences for people disclosing their mental health challenges,” Foster said in a university news release. The study showed these disclosures can influence the way employers view someone in professional contexts, said co-author Jenna McChesney, an assistant professor of psychology at Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C. She worked on the study while a grad student at NC State. “It’s important for people to take that into consideration when determining whether to share their mental health experiences online,” McChesney said in the release. The researchers enlisted 409 professionals with hiring experience to participate in the study, dividing them into four groups. One group was shown the LinkedIn page of a job candidate, with no mention of mental health…  read on >  read on >

Many a person has blamed “beer goggles” following a regrettable one-night stand, but a new study suggests that there’s no such thing. Rather, alcohol acts more like “liquid courage,” according to findings published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs — you become more likely to approach people you already find attractive, rather than alcohol making others appear more attractive. “People who drink alcohol may benefit by recognizing that valued social motivations and intentions change when drinking in ways that may be appealing in the short term but possibly harmful in the long term,” lead researcher Molly Bowdring, of the Stanford Prevention Research Center, said in a journal news release. Conventional wisdom has long held that intoxication makes other people seem better looking, but the phenomenon hasn’t been systematically studied, researchers said. “The well-known beer goggles effect of alcohol does sometimes appear in the literature but not as consistently as one might expect,” said senior researcher Michael Sayette, director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Alcohol and Smoking Research Laboratory. Earlier research typically has had participants simply rate other people’s attractiveness based on photos, while sober and while intoxicated. Bowdring and Sayette’s new study added a more realistic element: the possibility of meeting the people being rated. The researchers recruited 18 pairs of male friends in their 20s and asked them to rate the…  read on >  read on >