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These Lifestyle Moves Help Ease Low Back Pain, Study Shows

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Suffering from low back pain? Addressing your unhealthy lifestyle habits could help ease your pain better than traditional care, a new study says. Back pain sufferers who got lifestyle coaching functioned better and had improved quality of life compared to others who received standard care, researchers report in the study published Jan. 10 in the journal JAMA Network Open. “Resolving back pain needs to focus on more than the back,” senior investigator Chris Williams, a research fellow with the University of Sydney in Australia, said in a news release. “Our bodies are not like machines, we are more like ecosystems where lots of factors interact and determine how we work and feel,” Williams continued. “Back pain is no different.” For the study, nearly 350 people with low back pain were randomly assigned to receive either lifestyle coaching or standard care conducted under existing guidelines. Physical therapists, dietitians and telephone health coaches helped people assigned to the coaching group figure out which of their lifestyle habits might be making their back pain worse. These risk factors could include excess weight, lack of physical activity, bad diet, poor sleep, smoking or excessive alcohol use, researchers explained. For six months, the coaching group was provided support to help them address the factors potentially linked to their back pain. By the end of the study, people in the lifestyle…  read on >  read on >

Drug Lowers Fracture Risk in Early Postmenopausal Women

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Women past menopause can protect themselves from future fractures through infrequent, cheap IV infusions of a bone-strengthening drug. Women 50 to 60 who got two IV infusions of zoledronate (Reclast) within five years had a 44% lower risk of spinal fractures, compared to women who received a placebo, according to results published Jan. 15 in the New England Journal of Medicine. They also had a lower risk of major fractures related to osteoporosis and fragility fractures caused by little to no trauma, results show. “The results show that prevention of vertebral fractures in early postmenopausal women is possible with very infrequent infusions of zoledronate,” concluded the research team led by Dr. Mark Bolland, an associate professor of medicine with the University of Auckland in New Zealand. “The cost of the treatment, either to individual patients or to health systems, is likely to be low because the drug is generic and the frequency of administration low,” the team added. At menopause, women have a 50% lifetime risk of suffering from a fracture, particularly as their bones grow thin and frail through the aging process, researchers said in background notes. Zoledronate is used to treat or prevent osteoporosis caused by menopause, but it hadn’t been tested to see if early treatment could prevent bone loss in early postmenstrual women, even those with good bone density at the…  read on >  read on >

Why Some Families Consider Brain Donation for Autism Research

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FRIDAY, Jan. 17, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Brain tissue samples are essential for scientific research, especially when it comes to brain disorders such as autism spectrum disorder. Not surprisingly, samples are hard to get. Despite the great need for brain tissue, donations remain rare and aren’t easily collected.  In an article published in Dec. 2024 in the journal Frontiers in Neurology, researchers describe the critical role that brain tissue plays in autism scientific research. The authors’ explain what many families of people with autism know. “The basis for an individual’s autism is not determined, the underlying biological mechanisms are poorly understood, and clinical care is often suboptimal,” they write. Experts rarely understand the exact factors that contribute to autism, and there is much to learn about causes, diagnosis and treatment. What’s more, autism symptoms vary greatly. Anxiety, sleep problems, epilepsy and gastrointestinal problems are some common co-occurring conditions. Noted in the study is Autism BrainNet, a program set up to educate autistic people and their families about the opportunity to donate brain tissue, the process, and the legacy for research created by individual donors.  Surprising facts about brain donation It’s a comforting process during a painful time for these families, according to David G. Amaral, Scientific Director of Autism BrainNet and Distinguished Professor at the UC Davis MIND Institute and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.…  read on >  read on >

Tourette Syndrome Often Overlooked in Girls

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Tourette syndrome is not being diagnosed promptly in women with the condition. Women with Tourette syndrome are less likely to receive a diagnosis for the disorder, researchers reported in a study published Jan. 15 in the journal Neurology. They also take longer to be diagnosed with the disorder, and typically are older than boys at time of diagnosis, researchers found. “These results suggest that health care professionals and parents should be screening female individuals with tics and seeking care for them to give them a better chance of managing tics over time,” lead researcher Dr. Marisela Dy-Hollins, a pediatric neurologist with Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, said in a news release. Tourette causes people to suffer from tics — sudden and difficult-to-control repetitive movements and sounds. For example, people with Tourette might suffer the irresistible urge to blink their eyes, hum, shrug their shoulders, clear their throat, or blurt out unusual sounds or offensive words. Tourette syndrome is currently diagnosed about three times more frequently in boys than girls, researchers said in background notes. For the study, researchers analyzed data from a set of people recruited for genetics research into tic disorders. They identified more than 2,100 people with Tourette syndrome, and nearly 300 others with a separate condition called persistent motor or vocal tic disorder. About 61% of females in the group had been…  read on >  read on >

Teen Stress Is Expensive, Experts Say — So How Can We Reduce It?

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Stressed-out teenagers appear to be dragging down the U.S. economy, a new study says. Teenagers suffering from anxiety or depression are less likely to enter the workforce as young adults, and more likely to earn lower pay when they do, researchers reported in a study published today in the journal PLOS Medicine. The economic impact is so great that $52 billion in U.S. budget savings could occur over 10 years if efforts are made to help even 10% of teens at risk for stress, researchers estimate. “Our new research finds that, at the scale of the United States economy, improvements in adolescent mental health may bring many billions of dollars of federal budget benefits over ten years, potentially offsetting the costs of policy change that could cover critical services for young people,” lead researcher Nathaniel Counts, chief policy officer for The Kennedy Forum in Brigantine, NJ, said in a news release. For the new study, researchers analyzed data on more than 3,300 participants in an ongoing Bureau of Labor Statistics study that is following children as they progress into adulthood. The research team analyzed data gathered in 2000, when participants were 15 to 17, to check their mental health as teenagers. They looked specifically at questions that assessed anxiety and depression among the teens. Researchers then looked at data gathered a decade later, in 2010,…  read on >  read on >

FDA Proposes Nicotine Cap To Help Curb Cigarette Addiction

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A rather historic U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposal aims to make cigarettes and other tobacco products far less addictive by reducing their nicotine content. The move could help millions of Americans quit smoking while preventing many more from becoming addicted. The proposed rule, published Wednesday in a 334-page report, would cap nicotine levels in cigarettes and other tobacco products, potentially, to levels so low they would no longer sustain addiction. FDA officials believe the policy, if finalized, could save millions of lives over the coming decades. However, the proposal is unlikely to be enacted anytime soon, as it comes in the final days of President Joe Biden’s term. President-elect Donald Trump has not yet commented on the policy, leaving its future uncertain. “This action, if finalized, could save many lives and dramatically reduce the burden of severe illness and disability,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf told the Associated Press. Details of the proposal The rule proposes a maximum nicotine level of 0.7 milligrams (mg) per gram of tobacco — a significant decrease from current levels, which can range anywhere from 6 mg to 28 mg per gram. The limit would apply to cigarettes, pipe tobacco, and cigars, but not to e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches, or other products. Research shows that low nicotine levels make it much harder for smokers to maintain their addiction and…  read on >  read on >

Red Meat, Dementia: The Surprising Link

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Steak, hamburgers, beef ribs and hot dogs are bad for the aging brain. Folks who eat lots of red and processed meat are more likely to develop dementia, researchers reported. Eating more than one serving of red meat a day — 3 ounces, about the size of a bar of soap — is associated with a 16% increased risk of cognitive decline, researchers found. And eating more than a daily quarter-serving of processed red meat — bacon, sausage, hot dogs and the like — increased dementia risk by 13% and risk of cognitive decline by 14%. What’s more, people’s brains appear to age faster with every additional serving of red meat they eat daily. On the other hand, replacing red meat with nuts and legumes reduced risk of early brain aging, results show. “Dietary guidelines tend to focus on reducing risks of chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes, while cognitive health is less frequently discussed, despite being linked to these diseases,” senior researcher Dr. Daniel Wang with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, an assistant professor of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said in a news release from the school. “We hope our results encourage greater consideration of the connection between diet and brain health,” Wang said. For the study, researchers analyzed data on nearly 134,000 nurses and health professionals participating…  read on >  read on >

FDA Proposes New Front-of-Package Food Labels

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Grabbing a quick snack might soon come with a little extra clarity. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed a new rule requiring bold, easy-to-read nutrition labels on the front of food and beverage packages. These labels, which would highlight content of sugar, salt, and saturated fat, aim to make it easier for shoppers to make healthier choices in the grocery aisle — helping to tackle the rising rates of obesity and conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure, a media report from The New York Times states. These chronic illnesses affect over 60% of American adults and contribute to an estimated $4.5 trillion in annual health care costs, according to the FDA. “Nearly everyone knows or cares for someone with a chronic disease that is due, in part, to the food we eat,” Dr. Robert Califf, the commissioner of the FDA, said in a statement released by the administration. “It is time we make it easier for consumers to glance, grab and go.” The black-and-white labels would appear on the front of products, unlike the current back-of-package Nutrition Facts panel, which lists dietary facts such as calorie counts, serving sizes, and ingredients. The new proposal is the result of three years of research by FDA scientists, who studied similar front-of-package labeling systems used in countries like Canada,…  read on >  read on >