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“Forever chemicals” are widespread in the environment, and new research finds they can be detected in about 45% of U.S. tap water samples. The chemicals are per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, or PFAS, and their spread through drinking water — both tap and well — may be even higher because researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) were unable to test for all of them, CNN reported. These synthetic substances have been linked to a variety of health issues, including cancer, liver damage, hormone suppression, decreased fertility, obesity, high cholesterol and thyroid disease, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “There’s been almost no place scientists have looked where they have not found PFAS,” toxicologist Jamie DeWitt told CNN. She’s a professor of pharmacology and toxicology at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., and was not involved in the new study. To gauge the impact on drinking water, a team led by Kelly Smalling of the USGS used water samples collected between 2016 and 2021 from 269 private wells and 447 public sources. Their models suggest 45% of U.S. drinking water samples have at least one PFAS chemical. Lab tests developed by the USGS can also test for 32 compounds out of the 12,000 that exist. “I don’t think people should be afraid, but they should be aware and [arm] themselves with knowledge so that… read on > read on >

Loneliness might be a true heartbreaker for people with diabetes — raising their odds of a heart attack even more than unhealthy lifestyle habits do. That’s according to a new study of over 18,000 adults with the blood sugar disease. Researchers found that people who reported feeling lonely were up to 26% more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke in the next decade, compared to those who felt more socially connected. Loneliness, in fact, was more strongly linked to cardiovascular trouble than well-known risk factors like smoking, lack of exercise and unhealthy eating habits. Still, the study, published recently in the European Heart Journal, does not prove that loneliness directly harms physical health. But it’s not the first to link feelings of isolation to heart disease: Experts said that many studies have found a similar connection, and the new findings bolster that evidence. “Loneliness is not a benign condition,” said Theresa Beckie, a professor at the University of South Florida College of Nursing. Beckie, who was not involved in the study, co-wrote a 2022 scientific statement from the American Heart Association on the subject. In a review of published research, she and her colleagues found that social isolation and loneliness were linked to a 30% increased risk of heart attack and stroke, or death from either. To Beckie, the new study adds a… read on > read on >

Could swings in your blood fat levels increase your chances of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease? Yes, suggests a new study that found fluctuating cholesterol levels among older adults may increase the risk for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Those who had the most fluctuations in cholesterol had a 19% higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s or dementia, and those with the most fluctuations in triglyceride levels had a 23% increased risk, the researchers found. Still, Dr. Marc Lawrence Gordon, chief of neurology at Northwell Health’s Zucker Hillside Hospital in Great Neck, N.Y., stressed this study can’t prove these variations actually cause Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. “You don’t know whether the fluctuation is what’s driving the incidence of dementia or an increased incidence of dementia is somehow causing fluctuations,” said Gordon, who had no part in the study. “I could not advise any of my patients to do anything in particular on the basis of these data.” However, lead researcher Suzette Bielinski, from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., believes the findings could be helpful. “Fluctuations in these results [cholesterol and triglycerides tests] over time could potentially help us identify who is at greater risk for dementia, help us understand mechanisms for the development of dementia, and ultimately determine whether leveling out these fluctuations could play a role in reducing dementia risk,” she said in a… read on > read on >

Stimulant medications like Ritalin are commonly prescribed to help treat the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but there have been concerns the drugs may lay the groundwork for later substance abuse. New research may now set those worries at ease. Children who take prescription stimulants for ADHD do not have more substance use disorders as teens or young adults than children who didn’t take stimulants, according to researchers. “The concern was whether or not that would, for multiple reasons, train the brains, train the behaviors of the children to use substances to deal with their problems,” said Brooke Molina, a professor of psychiatry, psychology and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “That’s why we launched into this, to see if, in fact, there was a connection.” About 10% of U.S. children ages 3 to 17 get a diagnosis of ADHD at some point, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Children with ADHD have problems with inattention, hyperactivity and/or impulsivity. These behaviors can affect how they function socially, academically and at home, in childhood and adulthood. Stimulant drugs — paired with counseling to help build skills and parent training — are a first-line treatment, but they’re also classified as schedule 2 controlled substances by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The drugs include methylphenidate (Ritalin and Concerta) and amphetamine/dextroamphetamine… read on > read on >

When frail patients go into cardiac arrest and need cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) during surgery, they’re more likely to die than those who are stronger, a new study shows. Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston studied the impact of frailty on survival in these cases where previously frailty was not considered as a factor. “CPR should not be considered futile for frail patients in the context of surgery,” said lead author Dr. Matt Allen, an attending physician in Brigham’s department of anesthesiology. “But it’s not the case that these patients do just as well as anybody else. In fact, we see a significant association between frailty and mortality.” Overall, about 25% of patients who suffer cardiac arrest and receive CPR in a normal hospital setting will survive. For those who get CPR during or in the immediate period following surgery, where they are closely monitored by specialists who know their medical history and can intervene quickly, that number is 50%. About one in three older frail patients survive, according to the analysis of more than 3,000 patients. Cardiac arrest is the abrupt loss of heart function in a person who may or may not have been diagnosed with heart disease. Frail patients were more likely to die from cardiac arrests that occurred during non-emergency procedures than non-frail individuals, which may mean a higher overall… read on > read on >

Several companies are selling copycat food items that have the potential to trick people, including children, into consuming dangerous quantities of cannabis. On Wednesday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission warned six companies about selling these copycat food products that contain delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as delta-8 THC, a substance found in the cannabis sativa plant. The snack foods with delta-8 THC can be mistaken for regular chips, cookies, candies and gummies, according to the FDA. “Children are more vulnerable than adults to the effects of THC, with many who have been sickened and even hospitalized after eating ‘edibles’ containing it. That’s why we’re issuing warnings to several companies selling copycat food products containing delta-8 THC, which can be easily mistaken for popular foods that are appealing to children and can make it easy for a young child to ingest in very high doses without realizing it,” FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said in an agency news release. The FDA sent warning letters to Delta Munchies, Dr. Smoke LLC (also known as Dr. S LLC), Exclusive Hemp Farms/Oshipt, Nikte’s Wholesale LLC, North Carolina Hemp Exchange LLC and The Haunted Vapor Room. “The products we are warning against intentionally mimic well-known snack food brands by using similar brand names, logos or pictures on packaging, that consumers, especially children, may… read on > read on >

Heather Anderson, a star Australian rules football player who died last November, is the first female professional athlete to be diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. “She is the first female athlete diagnosed with CTE, but she will not be the last,” researchers wrote in a paper published Friday. Anderson was 28 when she died from what was believed to be suicide. CTE is a progressive degenerative brain disease caused by repeated head impacts, like those suffered when heading a ball in soccer (football). The finding was made possible after Anderson’s family donated her brain to the Australian Sports Brain Bank, hoping to discover “whether a lifetime of exposure to repetitive head trauma contributed to her death,” according to a report co-written by one of the researchers. It was published on a nonprofit academic news site, The Conversation. Dr. Michael Buckland, director of the Australian Sports Brain Bank, identified low-stage CTE when conducting the postmortem analysis. “There were multiple CTE lesions as well as abnormalities nearly everywhere I looked in her cortex. It was indistinguishable from the dozens of male cases I’ve seen,” said Buckland in a news release from the Concussion Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in the United States. Although women athletes previously had not been diagnosed with CTE, evidence suggests women are more susceptible to concussions in sports than men,… read on > read on >

Dr. Richard Stumacher’s coworker at Northwell Health in New York City used to smoke to curb her severe anxiety, and tried multiple times to stop. “She went through the program and she would quit, and then she would fall off, and we would always support her,” said Stumacher, who specializes in pulmonary disease and critical care medicine. “And I saw her in the hallway just a few months ago and she hugged me out of nowhere. I’m like, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’” She told Stumacher it was her five-year anniversary of not smoking. “It took her a long time, but she got there,” he said. Just 11.5% of Americans currently smoke cigarettes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But within that population, the CDC found that those with feelings of severe psychological distress or those who were diagnosed with depression were far more likely to smoke. Thankfully, a new study found that people with serious mental illness who were offered medication and counseling to quit smoking had a 26% success rate after 18 months, compared to 6% in a control group. This included successful weight management, which is often a reason smokers are hesitant to quit. Dr. Gail Daumit, vice dean of clinical investigation at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, is first author of the study, published recently in the journal… read on > read on >

A new blood test approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration can predict imminent preeclampsia, helping pregnant women who are at risk of this severe and sometimes deadly form of high blood pressure. The test can identify with 96% accuracy which women with sometimes-vague symptoms will develop preeclampsia within the following two weeks, The New York Times reported this week. “It’s groundbreaking. It’s revolutionary,” Dr. Douglas Woelkers, a professor of maternal-fetal medicine at the University of California, San Diego, said of the test. “It’s the first step forward in preeclampsia diagnostics since 1900, when the condition was first defined,” Woelkers added in the news report. The blood test was created by Thermo Fisher Scientific. It is meant for women in the 23rd to 35th weeks of pregnancy. Those who don’t test positive can be safely discharged from the hospital, while two-thirds of those with a positive result will advance to severe preeclampsia. Women who are positive may need to deliver their babies early. “We don’t have a therapy that reverses or cures preeclampsia other than delivery of the baby, which is more like a last resort,” Woelkers said in the news report. Black women are particularly at risk of preeclampsia, with much higher rates than white women. They are also more likely to experience kidney damage, death and to lose their babies, the Times… read on > read on >

Youth who are both LGBTQ+ and either Black or Hispanic and live in U.S. states that have discriminatory policies are more likely to have depression than their counterparts in states that are more affirming to gender and sexual identity, new research finds. “This study provides scientific evidence to what many queer and trans people of color in the U.S. are experiencing day to day,” said study co-author Tyler Harvey, program administrator of the Yale School of Medicine’s SEICHE Center for Health and Justice. “Queer and trans youth living in states such as Florida that are passing anti-LGBTQ+ legislation know this to be true: Their surroundings are influencing their mental health,” Harvey said in a school news release. When controlling for individual experiences of bullying based on race and ethnicity or sexual orientation, Black and Hispanic LGBTQ+ youth were 32% more likely to have symptoms of depression in states without protections such as anti-bullying legislation and conversion therapy bans, the study found. “The laws, policies and overall social conditions within which individuals live take a toll on their health and well-being,” said lead study author Skyler Jackson, an assistant professor in Yale’s department of social and behavioral sciences. “This study helps to complete the puzzle of the various ways that stigma might show up within the lives of LGBTQ+ individuals.” Jackson is part of a team… read on > read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Nearly Half of Tap Water Americans Drink Is Tainted With PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’

Loneliness Can Really Break a Heart in People With Diabetes

Keeping Cholesterol Levels Stable May Help Shield You From Dementia

Taking ADHD Meds Won’t Raise a Kid’s Odds for Drug Abuse Later: Study

Frailty Greatly Lowers Survival in a Surgical Crisis

FDA Sends Warning to Companies Selling THC Products That Look Like Candy, Cookies

Australian Footballer Is First Female Athlete to Receive Diagnosis of CTE

Program Helps Folks Battling Mental Illness Beat Another Foe: Smoking

FDA Approves First Blood Test to Predict Preeclampsia in Pregnant Women

Depression Rates Rise for Minority Youth in States With Anti-LGBT Legislation