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For women, keeping a stable weight after the age of 60 may boost their odds of reaching the advanced ages of 90, 95 or even 100. Older women with a more stable weight were 1.2 to 2 times more likely to live that long than those who lost 5% or more of their weight, the study showed. Women who unintentionally lost weight were 51% less likely to survive to the age of 90. Gaining 5% or more weight, compared to stable weight, was also not associated with exceptional longevity. “It is very common for older women in the United States to experience overweight or obesity with a body mass index range of 25 to 35. Our findings support stable weight as a goal for longevity in older women,” said first study author Aladdin Shadyab, an associate professor at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at the University of California, San Diego. “If aging women find themselves losing weight when they are not trying to lose weight, this could be a warning sign of ill health and a predictor of decreased longevity,” Shadyab said in a university news release. For the study, the researchers used data from more than 54,000 women who enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative. Throughout the follow-up period, more than 30,000 women, or 56% of the participants,… read on > read on >

It’s known that older men with type 2 diabetes have higher odds for erectile dysfunction, or ED. Now, new research suggests problems in the bedroom for younger men may signal undiagnosed prediabetes or diabetes. Researchers found that men 40 and younger with ED have about a one-third increased risk for prediabetes or full-blown type 2 diabetes compared to men without impotence. The results indicate younger patients with ED should be screened for diabetes, they say. “This indicates a remarkable ability to predict the potential onset of illness and treat it early with lifestyle or medication,” study co-author Dr. Jane Tucker said in a school news release. She’s an associate professor of family and community medicine at Saint Louis University. For the study, Tucker and her colleagues looked at the electronic health data of more than 1.9 million male patients from 2008 to 2022 and examined the links between these two conditions, at a time when 2.5% of the U.S. population has persistent, undiagnosed diabetes. Narrowing it down to men aged 18 to 40, the researchers found that ED patients had a 34% increased risk for prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. Additionally, 75% of patients developed prediabetes or type 2 diabetes within a year of ED diagnosis. The prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes declined from 1988 to 2020 in the United States. Yet about 8.5 million adults… read on > read on >

Using ECMO, a highly advanced form of breathing support, does not appear to complicate treatment for obese adults in intensive care. ECMO, which is short for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, may even help these patients when they experience respiratory failure, despite the fact that its use has been questioned for those with obesity. Obese patients who received ECMO for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) had lower death rates compared to patients with ARDS who received ECMO and were not obese, according to the study funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). To come to that conclusion, the researchers reviewed data from 790 patients from more than 20 medical centers across 10 countries who received ECMO for ARDS. In all, 320 of these patients were obese. The study found 24% of patients with obesity died in the intensive care unit, compared to 35% of patients who weren’t obese. Although the authors couldn’t control for all variables, including disease severity, they concluded the findings support the concept that obesity shouldn’t factor into treatment decisions for ECMO. “We hope that clinicians will consider the data from this study when making bedside decisions for ARDS patients with obesity, instead of preemptively withholding this lifesaving therapy,” study author Dr. Darya Rudym, a pulmonologist and assistant professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health in New York City, said in an… read on > read on >

If you are in your 90s, is hip replacement surgery too dangerous for you? That depends, new research shows: While elderly patients have more complications and higher death rates after such a procedure, the surgery can be “appropriately considered.” That’s because the risks for total hip replacement depend not just on patients’ age, but also on their overall health and fitness. Dr. Vincent Leopold and his colleagues of the Charité-University Hospital in Berlin analyzed the characteristics and outcomes of more than 263,000 patients over 60 who had hip replacement surgery between 2012 and 2021. Of this large group, 1,859 patients were in their 90s. The analysis focused on how patient age and health status affected the risks of complications and death associated with hip replacement surgery. Nonagenarians did have overall higher complication and death rates, compared with younger age groups. The study found major complications for nearly 20% of patients in their 90s, compared with 10.7% for patients in their 80s, 6.2% in those in their 70s and 3.7% for those in their 60s. Among these major complications were acute kidney failure, delirium and blood-clotting abnormalities. The rate of minor complications also increased with age, up to 62.7% for nonagenarians. Patients in their 90s also had the highest death rate, at 26.5%. This compared to 11.8% for patients in their 80s, 6% in their 70s… read on > read on >

Suicide has become an urgent issue among American military veterans, with rates increasing by more than 10 times in nearly two decades, a new study reveals. “Suicide rates for post-9/11 veterans have steadily increased over the last 15 years and at a much faster pace than the total U.S. population, and post-9/11 veterans with TBI [traumatic brain injuries] have a significantly higher suicide rate than veterans without TBI,” said lead researcher Jeffrey Howard, from the department of public health at the University of Texas at San Antonio. In fact, the suicide rate for those with a TBI was 56% higher than among veterans who didn’t suffer a TBI, the researchers found. Exposure to TBI, even a mild one, is associated with severe long-term health risks, including suicide, Howard noted. “It used to be believed that once initial symptoms of a mild TBI resolved, the patient was healed and there were no long-term health impacts, but as we are compiling longer-term follow-up data on these patients a different picture is emerging,” Howard said. These data suggest that closer and longer-term monitoring of patients with TBIs may be needed, he explained. “In addition to the clinical implications, the data point to the need for a more holistic approach to ensuring veterans’ health and well-being, which would integrate family and social support networks and other societal factors,” Howard… read on > read on >

If you need quick directions on performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in an emergency, don’t rely on Alexa, Siri or another voice assistant. A new study finds the directions provided by these AI (artificial intelligence) helpers are inconsistent and lack relevance. “Our findings suggest that bystanders should call emergency services rather than relying on a voice assistant,” said co-author Dr. Adam Landman, chief information officer and senior vice president of digital operations at Mass General Brigham in Boston. “Voice assistants have potential to help provide CPR instructions, but need to have more standardized, evidence-based guidance built into their core functionalities,” Landman, an attending emergency physician, said in a hospital news release. Researchers presented eight verbal questions to four voice assistants: Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant’s Nest Mini, and Microsoft’s Cortana. The study authors also typed the same questions into ChatGPT. The responses were evaluated by two board-certified emergency medicine physicians. Nearly half of the responses from the voice assistants were unrelated to CPR, the study found. This included information related to a movie called “CPR” and a link to Colorado Public Radio News. Only 28% of the replies suggested calling emergency services. Only 34% provided CPR instruction and just 12% gave verbal instructions. The most relevant information offered through AI was on ChatGPT. Using existing AI voice assistant tools may delay care and yield inappropriate… read on > read on >

Starting Wed., Aug. 30, travelers to China will no longer need a negative COVID test to enter that country, officials announced Monday. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced the plan in a government news release, marking a big milestone in a country that has enforced strict lockdowns and “zero COVID” policies during the pandemic. This is the latest in changes to policies that have isolated China from the rest of the world. In January, the country ended quarantines for citizens returning from foreign travel and has since expanded the numbers of countries that Chinese citizens could travel to. Prior to December, China had a “zero COVID” policy that included full lockdowns and long quarantines for infected people. Some people were sealed inside their homes with wires and bolts on their doors or trapped inside office buildings. The city of Shanghai locked down its 25 million residents from April to June 2022, providing government food supplies and requiring frequent PCR tests, the Associated Press reported. The restrictions affected the Chinese economy, leading to unemployment and protests in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Nanjing last November. The policies were rescinded abruptly in December, leading to spikes in infections that a U.S. study has found to lead to nearly 2 million deaths, the AP reported. More information The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and… read on > read on >

When the pandemic began, spending on mental health services skyrocketed and it continues to rise even as use of telehealth services leveled off. That’s the key takeaway from a new study published Aug. 25 in JAMA Health Forum. Some rules for expanded payment for telehealth services have now expired, so it’s not known whether this level of spending will continue, according to researchers at the RAND Corporation and Castlight Health. “If greater utilization of health services drives higher health care spending, insurers may begin pushing back on the new status quo,” said lead author Jonathan Cantor, a policy researcher at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. “Insurers may look for ways to curb costs and that could mean less flexibility about using telehealth for mental health services,” he said in a RAND news release. Cantor and his colleagues found that spending on mental health services rose 53.7% between March 2020 and August 2022 in a large group of people with employer-provided insurance. Use of mental health services increased by nearly 39%, according to the research, which used claims data from about 7 million commercially insured adults. The analysis included anxiety disorders, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and PTSD. The claims information was from Castlight Health, a health benefit manager for employer-sponsored health insurance plans for about 200 employers nationwide. From March 2020 to December 2020,… read on > read on >

It’s always a good idea to use caution when having some summer fun — and that includes preventing burns from barbecues and other heat sources. An expert from UT Southwestern Medical Center offers tips for avoiding heat-related pitfalls, including grilling and metal playground equipment during extreme outdoor temperatures. “Concrete, metal and even plastic surfaces sitting in the sun are hot enough to burn, and children are particularly at risk,” said Dr. Samuel Mandell, associate professor of surgery at University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas. Mandell, who spoke in a hospital news release, specializes in burn care. According to UT Southwestern, contact burns from hot surfaces result in about 70,000 emergency room visits a year in the United States. And concrete is one surprising example, reaching 125 degrees when the air temperature is a far cooler 77 degrees. Barbecue grill or stove accidents are also a common source of burn injuries. More than 10,700 people were treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms each year between 2018 and 2022, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. “When grilling food outside, remember that grills — both gas and charcoal — are an open source of flame and a potential danger,” said Mandell, who is also director of the Parkland Regional Burn Center in Dallas. Some ways to be safe are to always wear… read on > read on >

Paper straws, meant to be an eco-friendly alternative to plastic, may not be better for the environment, a new study concludes, warning that they also contain “forever chemicals” that can harm human health. “Straws made from plant-based materials, such as paper and bamboo, are often advertised as being more sustainable and eco-friendly than those made from plastic,” said researcher Thimo Groffen, an environmental scientist at the University of Antwerp in Belgium. “However, the presence of PFAS in these straws means that’s not necessarily true.” For this study, published Aug. 24 in the journal Food Additives and Contaminants, Groffen and colleagues tested 39 straw brands in a variety of materials for poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Straws were paper, bamboo, glass, stainless steel and plastic. Each straw went through two rounds of testing for PFAS. PFAS were found in 69% of the straws. Testing detected 18 different PFAS. These chemicals were found in 90% of paper straws; about 80% of bamboo straws; 75% of plastic straws, and 40% of glass straw brands. PFAS were not detected in any of the five types of steel straws tested. The most commonly found PFAS was perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which has been banned worldwide since 2020. Testing also detected trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (TFMS). These “ultra-short-chain” PFAS are highly water soluble and so might leach out of straws… read on > read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Keeping Weight Stable Key to Reaching 90, 100 for Women

Impotence in Younger Men Often a Sign of Diabetes

ECMO Breathing Support Safe, Effective for Obese Patients in Respiratory Failure

Should Folks Get Hip Replacements in Their 90s?

Suicides Among U.S. Veterans Jumped 10-Fold in Decades After 9/11

Need Quick Help Learning CPR? Don’t Rely on Alexa, Siri

China to Drop COVID Test Requirement for Foreign Travelers

Americans’ Spending on Mental Health Services Rose 53% Since Pandemic Began

Don’t Get Burned Grilling, and Other Hot Weather Tips

‘Eco-Friendly’ Paper Straws Contain Harmful PFAS Chemicals