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It’s easy for kids to get drawn into Instagram, Snapchat or TikTok, and a leading U.S. psychologists’ group warns they need some training in social media literacy beforehand. The American Psychological Association on Tuesday issued 10 science-based recommendations for teen and preteen social media use, the first time it has done so. The APA compares training in social media to getting a driver’s license. Teens can’t just hit the road without learning the rules. “There are some ways that social media can benefit and there are some ways that it might cause harm,” said Mitchell Prinstein, the APA’s chief science officer. The report authors wanted to make sure their approach was balanced, he said. There are certain psychological competencies kids should have before they use social media. These are tailored to strengths and the level of maturity that individual kids possess, the report noted. Parents can help their youngsters develop those competencies, and they can also screen for problematic online behaviors, the report advised. How parents can help Among the skills parents can teach kids is knowing what’s real and what isn’t on these platforms. “We all have a natural tendency to believe what we see, to overgeneralize and assume that what we see is probably representative of a great number of people. We all have a tendency to compare ourselves to others. These are… read on > read on >

What puts kids at risk for pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and what could help prevent it? A review of 36 observational studies that included 6.4 million kids offers some key clues. Taking antibiotics at an early age, eating a Western diet and living in a more affluent family were associated with an increased IBD risk. But living in a household with pets and siblings and eating plenty of veggies were linked to a lower risk. “Pediatric IBD cases are rising globally, and approximately 1 in 4 of all IBD cases are now diagnosed before age 21,” said lead author Nisha Thacker, a gastrointestinal dietitian who did the meta-analysis as part of her doctoral studies at the University of Newcastle in Australia. IBD is marked by abdominal pain, diarrhea and blood in the stools, indicating that parts of the intestinal tract have become inflamed. The new analysis, presented Sunday at a conference of the American Gastroenterological Association, found that kids who took antibiotics before age 5 had triple the risk for pediatric IBD. Their risk was 3.5 times higher if they had received four or more courses of antibiotics by that age. Exposure to secondhand smoke doubled IBD risk. Surprisingly, lower economic status appeared to have a protective effect: It was associated with a 65% lower risk of IBD. Exposure to animals and having only… read on > read on >

The influence of Neanderthals is evident right in the center of the faces of modern humans. New research finds that genetic material inherited from Neanderthals affects nose shape. A particular gene made the nose taller from top to bottom. This may have been necessary as ancient humans adapted to colder climates. “In the last 15 years since the Neanderthal genome has been sequenced, we have been able to learn that our own ancestors apparently interbred with Neanderthals, leaving us with little bits of their DNA,” said co-corresponding author Dr. Kaustubh Adhikari. He is from the University College London (UCL) Genetics, Evolution & Environment and The Open University, in England. “Here, we find that some DNA inherited from Neanderthals influences the shape of our faces. This could have been helpful to our ancestors, as it has been passed down for thousands of generations,” Adhikari said in a UCL news release. For the study, the researchers worked with data from more than 6,000 volunteers across Latin America of mixed European, Native American and African ancestry. Those participants are part of the UCL-led CANDELA study, which recruited from Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru. To study how different facial traits were associated with the presence of different genetic markers, the scientists compared genetic information from the participants to photographs of their faces. They looked at distances between points… read on > read on >

About 4.5 million adults in the United States have liver disease. If they’re looking for information about their condition, they’d be wise to look beyond TikTok, new research suggests. About 40% of posts about liver disease on the social media platform are false or misleading, pushing claims about fad diets and detox drinks, according to a researcher from the University of Arizona College of Medicine, in Tucson. “People should always consult their doctor first for guidance on their specific medical condition, but we also know that getting health information and tips from social media is extremely common these days,” said study author Dr. Macklin Loveland, an internal medicine resident. “When the average person sees a post about liver disease on social media, they may have no idea that the claims are entirely inaccurate,” Loveland said in a news release from the American Gastroenterological Association. Loveland found more than 2,200 posts on TikTok using the terms “cirrhosis” and “liver disease” between Oct. 1 and Nov. 25, 2022. He compared the information in the posts against established practice guidelines from the American College of Gastroenterology, American Gastroenterological Association and American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. That comparison found that 883 of the posts, nearly 40%, contained misinformation. Claims about herbal products reversing liver disease were the most common inaccuracies. Other falsehoods were that eating certain… read on > read on >

When Ann Alexander underwent chemotherapy to treat breast cancer a decade ago, she was warned about potential hair loss, nausea and vomiting. The 73-year-old wasn’t, however, told about the potential side effects of radiation therapy, namely acute radiation dermatitis. Symptoms can range from mild to severe, and they include itchy skin, swelling, blistering and open sores. “It was painful, and it was scary,” the Bronx, N.Y., resident said. “I did everything I was supposed to do and ended up with really bad burns on my skin. I would have liked a heads up that this could occur.” Now 10 years cancer-free, Alexander routinely counsels other women on what to expect and how to deal with this side effect as a Bronx Oncology Living Daily (BOLD) buddy. Each year, 95% of people undergoing radiation to treat cancer will develop acute radiation dermatitis. Until recently, this condition was poorly understood and there wasn’t much to do to prevent it. This may all change due to the results of two new studies that implicate a common bacterium as the culprit and suggest that a simple antibacterial treatment may be the solution. “I absolutely believe these findings should change practice,” said study author Dr. Beth McLellan, director of supportive oncodermatology at Montefiore Einstein Cancer Center and chief of the division of dermatology at Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein… read on > read on >

So, you ate a banana. You’ve eaten bananas countless times in the past. But this time, your tongue and lips are itching and your lip is a bit puffy. If this happens to you, you are likely experiencing food allergy symptoms. You may have just joined the ranks of 32 million Americans who deal with food allergies. So, what do you do now? Food allergies range from mild to life-threatening. Navigating dietary restrictions can be overwhelming, but with knowledge and tools, allergy management becomes more straightforward. Here, experts explore food allergies, their causes, risk factors, common allergenic foods, symptoms, testing, and management/treatment options. What are food allergies? According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI), a food allergy is an abnormal immune response to a specific food protein. When the immune system misidentifies a food protein as dangerous, it produces an allergic reaction. It’s vital to know that symptoms can range from mild to severe, including hives, itching, swelling, stomach pain, vomiting and difficulty breathing. Some people may experience anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening reaction that can cause a sudden drop in blood pressure, trouble breathing and loss of consciousness. What are the most common food allergens? A wide range of foods can trigger food allergies, but eight foods account for most allergic reactions, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The… read on > read on >

Pollutants produced by the U.S. oil and gas industry cause thousands of deaths and cost the country tens of billions in health care expenses, a new study reports. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), fine particulate matter and ozone all contribute to air pollution, and all are emitted as part of oil and gas production, the researchers said. The new study estimates that the oil and gas industry contributed to 7,500 excess deaths, 410,000 asthma attacks and 2,200 new cases of childhood asthma across the United States in 2016. All told, oil and gas production cost the United States $77 billion annually in health care damages, when factoring in related heart and lung hospitalizations, adverse pregnancy outcomes and other illnesses. That total cost is three times the estimated climate impact costs of methane emissions from oil and gas operations. “These substantial impacts from oil and gas production show that there are serious consequences across the full life cycle of oil and gas, from ‘well to wheels,’ ‘well to power plant’ and ‘well to furnace,’” said co-researcher Jonathan Buonocore, an assistant professor of environmental health at the Boston University School of Public Health. “The health impacts are not just from the combustion of oil and gas,” Buonocore added in a university news release. “In order for energy, air quality and decarbonization policies to successfully protect health, they need to… read on > read on >

In a world increasingly consumed by social media, much has been made of the amount of time younger generations spend online every day — and the harms that habit can bring. But now a new study of older adults suggests that regular internet use may actually be a boon for older Americans, staving off the long-term risk for dementia. “We studied the association between internet usage and the risk of dementia in the long term among dementia-free adults aged 50 and older,” explained study author Gawon Cho. “We found that regular users experienced approximately half the risk of dementia than non-regular users,” said Cho, a doctoral student in the department of social and behavioral sciences at New York University’s School of Global Public Health, in New York City. “Surprised by the magnitude of the risk difference” her team observed, Cho acknowledged that it’s not entirely clear whether dementia-free patients are simply more likely to surf the web in the first place, or whether surfing the web can actually help keep dementia risk at bay. “We cannot tell which is the chicken and which is the egg at this time,” Cho admitted. Still, she said, the findings do indicate that when it comes to maintaining a healthy brain “internet usage in old age matters.” To examine how internet use might impact dementia risk, the study team… read on > read on >

Quitting smoking will have benefits, even for those who are later diagnosed with lung cancer, new research indicates. While often studies compare outcomes for smokers vs. never smokers, investigators found that quitting smoking earlier also was beneficial. Among people diagnosed with the most common type of lung cancer, called non-small cell lung cancer, current smokers had 68% higher numbers of deaths compared to never smokers, while former smokers had only 26% higher numbers of deaths. And the longer a patient had quit smoking before being diagnosed with lung cancer, the better the odds of survival. “Our participants’ smoking histories varied, with some having stopped smoking a few years before their diagnosis and others having stopped several decades before,” said senior study author David Christiani, a professor of environmental genetics at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. “This wide range gave us confidence in our results — that the benefit of pre-diagnosis smoking cessation persists even after lung cancer is diagnosed,” he said in a university news release. The researchers studied nearly 5,600 patients with this common lung cancer who were enrolled in the Boston Lung Cancer Survival Cohort at Massachusetts General Hospital between 1992 and 2022. Among them, 795 had never smoked, 3,308 were former smokers and 1,491 were current smokers. Each participant answered questions about their smoking habits and other health… read on > read on >

Here’s one more reason to watch your weight: Obesity can increase your odds for serious complications after surgery. Compared with patients of normal weight, those who are obese are at greater risk for developing blood clots, infections and kidney failure after surgery, a new study reports. Patients with obesity were also more likely to be hospitalized for these complications. “This is indicative of the obesity epidemic in this country,” said senior researcher Dr. Robert Meguid, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Colorado in Aurora. The increase in complications owes to a variety of factors. These include body inflammation, which is more common with obesity. It can also be more difficult for patients who are overweight or obese to get up and move around after surgery, increasing their risk for blood clots in the legs. “With infection, there’s an issue of fatty tissue in the body which doesn’t heal as well and doesn’t have as good blood flow as muscular tissue,” Meguid said. “With the blood clots it’s a combination of inability for walking easily and readily, and also the body’s inflammatory state in obesity.” Changes in blood flow in patients who are obese probably contribute to the risk for kidney failure, he added. It’s also more difficult doing surgery on someone who is obese, Meguid said, which may boost complication rates. “In… read on > read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Psychologists’ Group Issues First Guidelines on Teens’ Use of Social Media

Household Factors Can Raise a Child’s Odds for Inflammatory Bowel Disease

You May Have Neanderthals to Thank for Your Nose

Need Accurate Info on Liver Disease? Don’t Head to TikTok

New Hope Against Painful Skin Issues Caused by Cancer Radiation Therapy

Food Allergies: Testing, Management & Treatment

Oil & Gas Production Takes Toll in U.S. Lives, Health Costs

Everyday Internet Use by Older Adults Might Help Keep Dementia at Bay

Quitting Smoking Earlier Is Always Better for Lung Cancer Survival

Obesity Can Raise Odds for Post-Surgical Complications