All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

It takes a village to help a smoker quit. And a new study published recently in JAMA Internal Medicine shows that smokers had a nearly doubled success rate quitting when supported by an integrated approach that included medication and personal counseling. “Our study demonstrates that providing access to effective medications and trained tobacco cessation specialists offers the greatest chance at successfully quitting and, hopefully, avoiding the potential of lung cancer,” principal investigator Paul Cinciripini, executive director of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Tobacco Research and Treatment Program, said in a news release from the college. Lung cancer is the top cancer killer in the U.S., accounting for one in five cancer-related deaths, researchers said in background notes. Tobacco use is responsible for 85% of lung cancer cases and contributes to nearly 30% of all cancer-related deaths, researchers added. The average smoker requires several attempts before they’re able to break their nicotine addiction and quit, researchers said. For this study, researchers recruited a group of 630 smokers between 2017 and 2021. The smokers were at least 50, and smoked an average 20 cigarettes a day. The smokers were randomly assigned to one of three groups, each containing 210 people. One group was provided nicotine replacement therapy or medication and access to phone-based support. The second received the same, only prescribed by a lung…  read on >  read on >

Eating disorders appear to be linked to differences in brain structure among teenagers. Young adults who develop eating disorders appear to have delayed brain maturation as teenagers, MRI scans show in a new study published Jan. 10 in the journal Nature Mental Health. In particular, reduced maturation of the cerebellum — a brain region that controls appetite — helped explain an increased risk of unhealthy dieting or purging by age 23, researchers said. “Our findings reveal how delayed brain maturation during adolescence links genetics, mental health challenges and disordered eating behaviors in young adulthood, emphasizing the critical role of brain development in shaping eating habits,” lead researcher Xinyang Yu, a doctoral student at the King’s College London Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, said in a news release from the university. For the study, researchers analyzed data from nearly 1,000 people in England, Ireland, France and Germany. The participants all underwent MRI scans at ages 14 and 23, provided samples for genetic analysis, and completed questionnaires related to their eating habits. By 23, about 42% of the participants had healthy eating behaviors, 33% tended to diet and purge, and 25% were binge eaters, researchers noted. Eating disorders were linked to emotional problems in their teenage years like anxiety and depression, researchers found, as well as behavioral problems like hyperactivity. Anxiety and depression also significantly increased…  read on >  read on >

Traffic, delays, disruptions due to storms or wildfires, and other surprises may be part of your next business or pleasure trip. In short: Travel is more stressful (and more expensive) than ever. But you don’t have to submit to the anxiety and upset, Dr. Asim Shah, professor and executive vice chair in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine, said in a news release from Baylor College of Medicine. Disruptions are unavoidable, but your response is not. If you can remain calm, the chaotic travel twists won’t feel so stressful. We’ve rounded up a few expert-backed tips for coping with stress, anxiety, and the chaos that comes with modern travel. 1. Know your triggers What are your travel-related triggers? People who experience anxiety have different sensitivities. If you pinpoint those triggers ahead of time, you will likely have a smoother travel day. “Triggers might include the uncertainty of traffic, flight delays, being in public places or seeing friends and family for the holidays,” Shah explained in a news release from the school. The upside? “Based on your triggers, you can make a plan,” Shah advises. Does traveling alone worry you? Travel with a partner or buddy. Talk to your companion about your fears so they can help you alleviate stress. Use your stress management techniques, such as listening to…  read on >  read on >

Simple neglect can be as damaging to a child’s social development as physical, sexual or emotional abuse. Children whose basic needs aren’t met can have lifelong damage done to their ability to form friendships and romantic relationships, researchers reported in a study published recently in the journal Child Abuse and Neglect. Neglect leads children to withdraw from others, avoid popularity, and become less likely to join groups, results show. “Maltreated children often feel shame and may have lower self-esteem and sense of belonging as a consequence of maltreatment, which precipitates withdrawal from their peers,” lead researcher Christina Kamis, an assistant professor of sociology with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, said in a news release from the school. “Experiencing abuse or neglect may also cause children to anticipate rejection or victimization by their peers, making them less likely to reach out to others,” Kamis added. For the study, researchers analyzed data from nearly 9,200 participants in a long-term federal study tracking the health of teenagers into adulthood. Students were initially surveyed in grades 7-12, then followed as they became adults. Nearly 41% of the participants reported some form of maltreatment before age 12 or reaching the sixth grade, the study says. That included more than 10% who reported physical neglect, which can include a lack of housing, food, clothing, education, access to medical care, or emotional…  read on >  read on >

MONDAY, Jan. 13, 2025 (HealthDay news) — The sleep aid Ambien could be allowing toxic proteins to pollute the brain, potentially increasing a person’s risk of disorders like Alzheimer’s disease. Drugs like the main ingredient in Ambien, zolpidem, suppresses a system designed to clear protein waste from the brain during dreamless sleep, a mouse study published Jan. 8 in the journal Cell shows. The study “calls attention to the potentially detrimental effects of certain pharmacological sleep aids on brain health, highlighting the necessity of preserving natural sleep architecture for optimal brain function,” senior researcher Dr. Maiken Nedergaard, co-director of the University of Rochester Center for Translational Neuromedicine, said in a news release. For the study, researchers used brain imaging along with electrical brain readings to track the activity in lab mice of the glymphatic system, a brain-wide network responsible for clearing away waste proteins. They found that tightly synchronized oscillations occur in the brain during deep sleep, involving cerebral blood, spinal fluid and the biochemical norepinephrine. Norepinephrine is a brain chemical involved in the “fight or flight” response, and is associated with arousal, attention and stress. During sleep, norepinephrine triggers rhythmic constriction of blood vessels independent of a person’s heartbeat, researchers found. This oscillation generates the pumping action that powers the glymphatic system, which removes toxic proteins like tau and amyloid — proteins known to…  read on >  read on >

A fecal transplant could help people whose type 1 diabetes has fouled up their digestive system. Swallowing a handful of capsules filled with donor feces helped ease gut pain, nausea, bloating and diarrhea stemming from diabetes, researchers reported in a study published recently in the journal EClinicalMedicine. “The patients experienced a significant improvement in their quality of life and symptoms, far beyond what we observed with placebo,” lead researcher Dr. Katrine Lundby Høyer, a gastroenterologist with Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark, said in a news release from the college. This is the first time fecal transplant has been tested in type 1 diabetics against a placebo, and “the results are very promising,” Høyer added. As many as a quarter of type 1 diabetics suffer from diabetic gastroenteropathy, a condition in which the nerves that regulate the GI tract become damaged. Few treatment options are available, so researchers decided to see if a fecal transplant might be able to restore gut health in these patients, Høyer said. In fecal transplant, bacteria from a healthy person’s gut is transferred into a person with GI problems. The procedure is frequently used to treat C. difficile, a harmful bacteria that can cause severe diarrhea if it colonizes a person’s gut. For this study, researchers recruited 20 type 1 diabetes patients and randomly assigned them to receive either a fecal…  read on >  read on >

Want to help your child cut back on their screen time? Make sure you live near parks and other open spaces where they can frolic outside. New research underlines the importance of green space access as an alternative to spending time on screens, described as watching television, playing video games, and non-school related computer use. “Neighborhood green spaces may draw children out of the house and give them an alternative space to engage in activities other than screen time,” according to Ian-Marshall Lang, lead study author and researcher at University of Michigan’s (U-M) School of Kinesiology. Published last year in the journal Health & Place, the study was inspired by earlier findings on the differences in the effectiveness of community programming and policies by race and ethnicity. National research shows racial and ethnic inequities in green space availability, so Lang and the other authors suspected access to green space was a key factor behind the trend. While programs aimed at reducing time spent on screens are more likely to be successful in green, park-filled areas, the reverse holds. Programs are less successful in neighborhoods where children have less access to green spaces, described by the study authors as areas such as forests, shrubland, open spaces and grassland. “This raises the question of who has access to high green space. Both our study and national data…  read on >  read on >

Text-based support programs are one of the best ways to help young people quit vaping, a new evidence review says. These texts offer motivational messages and tips for quitting vaping. “I think it’s clear that this approach helps young people,” senior researcher Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, an assistant professor of health policy and management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said in a news release from the college. “The question is, is it going to help other populations?” The review also found evidence that the quit-smoking drug varenicline might also help folks quit vaping. However, there still aren’t enough studies available to point to any concrete, tried-and-true methods for quitting vaping, researchers said in a study published Jan. 8 in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.. “This is an area of research that is in its infancy, but is growing rapidly and organically from people who vape asking about help to quit vaping,” Hartmann-Boyce said. Previous reviews have found that e-cigarettes can help people quit smoking more effectively than other nicotine replacements like patches, gums or lozenges, researchers said. But what to do when one wants to quit vaping, which also involves nicotine addiction? “We also know that people who use vaping as a way to transition away from smoking are often keen to know how they can safely transition away from vaping without relapsing to smoking,…  read on >  read on >

Ever woke in the night with your thoughts racing about work problems, co-worker disputes, or heavy career decisions? Well, it’s more common than you think. Job stress is robbing U.S. workers of the sleep they need, researchers reported in a study published Jan. 8 in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine. Work strain increases risk of sleep disturbances significantly, researchers found. The results indicate that companies could do more to help workers get their rest, which in turn will improve their productivity, said senior researcher Dr. Jian Li, a professor of work and health at UCLA. “Strategies such as redesigning workloads and promoting worker autonomy could play an important role in improving sleep health and workers’ well-being,” Li said. The new study analyzed data from more than 1,700 workers participating in a study of midlife people in the United States. These folks were followed for about nine years on average. Sleep disturbances were assessed based on how often people had trouble falling asleep, waking in the night, waking too early in the morning, and feeling unrested during the day. “Sleep disturbances have been a major public health concern, with recent statistics indicating that approximately 1 in 7 adults experienced difficulty falling asleep, and 1 in 6 adults had trouble staying asleep in the United States,” researchers said in background notes. Researchers analyzed the effect of…  read on >  read on >

The clock is running for people who’ve been diagnosed with dementia, but the time they have left depends on their age. Average life expectancy for people with dementia is largely based on their age at diagnosis, researchers found in a new evidence review. Dementia reduces life expectancy by about 2 years for those diagnosed at age 85, 3 to 4 years for those diagnosed at 80, and up to 13 years with a diagnosis at 65, researchers reported in a study published Jan. 8 in The BMJ. “About one third of remaining life expectancy was lived in nursing homes, with more than half of people moving to a nursing home within five years after a dementia diagnosis,” concluded the team led by senior researcher Dr. Frank Wolters, a senior scientist in epidemiology with the Erasmus MC University Medical Center in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. One of the challenges of dementia involves planning for a person’s care following diagnosis, and these plans can hinge on how long a person will live with the degenerative brain condition, researchers said in background notes. Nearly 10 million people worldwide are diagnosed with dementia every year, researchers said. However, current life expectancy estimates vary widely, and haven’t been updated for more than a decade. For this evidence review, researchers analyzed data from 261 prior studies involving more than 5.5 million people with…  read on >  read on >