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Physicians and scientists are experiencing alarming levels of harassment on social media, according to a new survey. About two-thirds of respondents said they had been harassed on social media since the COVID-19 pandemic began — up from 23.3% of physicians surveyed in 2020. About 64% reported harassment related to comments made about the pandemic, while 64% of those harassed said the pandemic had affected their use of social media platforms. “This study highlights that physicians and scientists changed the way they used social media during the pandemic,” said first author Dr. Regina Royan, a research fellow at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and an emergency medicine physician. “Sadly, those that use social media to share public health messages are more likely to face harassment,” she said in a university news release. “These are the people that we can’t afford to lose in this conversation, especially at a time when trusted messengers for public health information are essential.” For the study, researchers surveyed 359 U.S. physicians, scientists and trainees. Their comments revealed that advocacy around topics such as vaccination, masks, firearms, reproductive rights and gender-affirming care appeared to fuel the harassment. Respondents also shared personal experiences of online attacks. “When I posted a picture of myself with my badge in my white coat after my COVID-19 vaccination, I received hundreds of harassing anti-vax messages, including… read on > read on >

Jeremy Davis made sure his wife, Chloe, got lots of support when she was breastfeeding each of their three sons. “When she’d been up nursing all night, I’d take over with the baby in the mornings so she could get extra sleep,” the Wilton, Conn., man recalled. Davis also learned to give special breastfeeding massages to help with milk flow and took on middle-of-the-night diaper duty. Now, a new survey finds that all this help from dad can set mom and baby up for success. When dads wanted their infant’s mother to breastfeed, moms were more likely to do so and to do so for longer periods. In addition, dads can help promote safe sleeping practices such as placing the baby on its back to prevent sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). “Fathers make major contributions to the health of their families by supporting breastfeeding and adhering to safe sleep practices,” said study author Dr. John James Parker. He is an instructor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, a pediatrician at Lurie Children’s, and an internist at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago. “Fathers are an important audience for health promotion campaigns, and clinicians and health care providers need to engage fathers and discuss all the ways that fathers can be helpful with an infant,” Parker added. For the study, Parker and his colleagues surveyed… read on > read on >

The herbal supplement berberine has become the latest social-media obsession for weight-loss, with some on TikTok calling it “nature’s Ozempic.” Experts don’t agree. “I would say it’s a big exaggeration to call it ‘nature’s Ozempic,’” said Dr. Melinda Ring, executive director of the Osher Center for Integrative Health at Northwestern University, in Chicago. But berberine has been associated with a variety of health benefits, including modest weight loss, lower cholesterol and improved blood sugar levels, she said. Ring said she “wouldn’t swap one for the other” if someone is already prescribed a medication for any of these conditions. Berberine also has its drawbacks. It can cause potentially dangerous interactions if used with some other medications, and shouldn’t be used by pregnant or breastfeeding women or by children, Ring cautioned. “But that being said, it is one of my favorite compounds,” she continued. “The safety profile is good and the potential benefits are diverse. So I actually like it for people who have weight concerns. Especially if they have weight concerns and blood sugar issues and insulin resistance and high cholesterol, then I think it could be a good option.” Berberine has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for at least 3,000 years, Ring noted. “Berberine isn’t a plant itself. It’s an alkaloid compound that’s found in a variety of plants,” she explained. Plants that contain… read on > read on >

It can be challenging for people with type 1 diabetes to exercise safely while controlling their blood sugar. People with the condition often struggle with this balance, according to a new study based on a survey conducted through social media groups restricted to adults with type 1 diabetes who run, jog or walk for exercise. The survey findings were presented Thursday at a meeting of the Endocrine Society, in Chicago. “Managing high and low blood sugar levels before, during and after aerobic exercise remains one of the greatest challenges for people living with type 1 diabetes,” said lead researcher Dr. Joseph Henske, an endocrinologist at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. “This study provides a number of key insights into the degree to which published guidelines and recommendations surrounding exercise with type 1 diabetes are understood and implemented in the real world,” he said in a meeting news release. In all, 102 adults with type 1 diabetes responded to the survey. Of those, 68% said they exercised four or more days per week, with weekly average of 23 miles. Nearly all (97%) said they used continuous glucose monitors. About 75% used insulin pumps. The respondents had a self-reported average HbA1C of 7.1%, indicating their diabetes was well-controlled. HbA1C is a measure of average blood sugar levels over the past three months.… read on > read on >

Just like their humans, dogs get cranky when temperatures and air pollution levels surge. Heat and air pollution have previously been linked to human aggression. Now, researchers say it also appears that there are more dog bites on hot, polluted days. More research is needed to confirm these findings, according to study author Tanujit Dey, of the department of surgery at the Center for Surgery and Public Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston, and colleagues. For the new study, the investigators used dog bite data from 2009 to 2018 in eight U.S. cities: Dallas, Houston, Baltimore, Baton Rouge, Chicago, Louisville, Los Angeles and New York City. The data included more than 69,000 reported dog bites, an average of three per day over 10 years. When the researchers compared this bite information with daily levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), ozone, temperature, UV light and precipitation, they found that dog bites rose 11% on days with higher UV levels; 4% on higher temperature days; and 3% on days with increased ozone levels. Dog bites decreased slightly, by 1%, on days with higher levels of rainfall. No changes were seen in dog bites on days with higher levels of PM2.5 air pollution. The study findings were published online June 15 in Scientific Reports. These records did not include information about other factors that could have… read on > read on >

An advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously on Thursday to recommend that COVID booster shots be updated for the fall to protect solely against one of the three XBB variants that have taken hold in the United States. Those three XBB variants, which are all sublineages of the Omicron variant, are XBB.1.5, XBB.1.16 and XBB.2.3, CNN reported. What will be dropped from the updated vaccines will be protection against the original strain of the virus because experts believe it could contribute to lower vaccine efficacy against newer strains. “Your immune response likes to react to what it’s seen before,” Dr. David Ho, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Columbia University whose research was cited in FDA briefing documents, told CNN. “That’s why we made the recommendation that if you want to broaden out your antibody responses, it’s best to remove the ancestral spike in future vaccines,” Ho explained. Although the FDA will make the final decision on the updated vaccines, it typically follows the advice of its advisory panels. While infections have declined across the United States, the virus could be a concern next winter, the FDA’s vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks said as the daylong meeting began, the Associated Press reported. “We’re concerned that we may have another wave of COVID-19 during a time when the virus has… read on > read on >

For the first time, researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have broken down statistics on depression among Americans, pinpointing which states the debilitating illness is most likely to strike. Adjusted for age, 18.5% of all American adults included in the new analysis said they’d been diagnosed with depression at least once in their lifetime. But incidence varied widely by state, from a low of 12.7% in Hawaii to more than double that (27.5%) in West Virginia, according to a team led by Benjamin Lee. He’s with the CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. The new findings should “help guide state- and local-level efforts to prevent, treat and manage depression,” depending on each state’s level of need, Lee’s group said. The need appears greatest in the Southeast and Northwest areas of the country. For example, besides West Virginia, residents in six other states in the Southeast — Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Tennessee — had rates of reported adult depression near or above 23%, the study found. In the Northwest, Montana, Oregon and Washington all had rates of depression 21% and higher, the researchers found. Nearly 23% of adults living in Utah said they’d been diagnosed with depression at least once, and two states in the Northeast — Maine and Vermont — each had adult depression rates… read on > read on >

Intermittent fasting is all the rage due to the lengthy list of health benefits associated with this style of eating. Now, a new, small study suggests that one type of intermittent fasting — early time-restricted eating — may be key for preventing type 2 diabetes in people who are at high risk for the blood sugar disease. The study included 10 people with prediabetes and obesity. Prediabetes refers to when blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be defined as diabetes. Obesity is also considered a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Folks in the study ate 80% of their daily calories before 1 p.m (early time-restricted feeding) or half of their calories after 4 p.m (usual eating) for one week, and then they switched to the opposite group during the second week. Early time-restricted feeding reduced blood sugar fluctuations and decreased the time that blood sugar was above normal levels throughout the day, and this was independent of any weight loss. “There is a large body of evidence that eating early in the day is beneficial for metabolic health, and many people experience weight loss even though their calories may not be restricted, but it was unclear whether these benefits were related to weight loss or independent, and this study suggests they are independent,” said study author Dr.… read on > read on >

While food allergies have not historically been top of mind for racial and ethnic minorities, new research shows that Hispanic, Black and Asian communities all face a higher prevalence of these issues. Money also mattered: In households where incomes were higher, at more than $150,000 a year, food allergies were less prevalent. “Food allergies are not frequently talked about impacting racial and ethnic communities,” said study co-author Dr. Ruchi Gupta, director of the Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research and a professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “It’s not on the radar. But we now know it does impact them more, and it’s important to improve awareness.” “It is also critical to improve access to diagnosis and treatments for food allergy,” Gupta said in a university news release. “It is an exciting time with new treatments, and it’s essential to make sure they reach racial and ethnic minorities who have higher rates of food allergy.” For the study, the researchers administered a survey online and via telephone to a nationally representative sample of the U.S. population, including more than 50,000 households with responses for nearly 80,000 individuals. The survey was given from October 2015 to September 2016. Food allergy affects 11% of adults and 8% of children in the United States. The study found that prevalence of food… read on > read on >

Regulators want your next tattoo to be as safe as it is trendy. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a draft of new guidance aimed at helping manufacturers and distributors of tattoo inks prevent microbial contamination. “With about 30% of people living in the U.S. having a tattoo, it’s imperative that the FDA take all necessary steps to help ensure that tattoo inks are free of contamination,” said FDA Chief Scientist Namandjé Bumpus. “Pathogens or other harmful substances in these inks can cause infections and serious injuries,” she said in an agency news release. “The FDA is issuing this draft guidance to help tattoo ink manufacturers and distributors recognize situations in which tattoo ink may become contaminated with microorganisms and take steps to protect public health.” The FDA issued a safety alert on tattoo inks in May 2019. It advised consumers, tattoo artists and retailers to avoid using or selling certain tainted inks. Many people have reported to federal regulators illness caused by contaminated tattoo inks. Testing has found that many sealed tattoo inks in the United States have microbial contamination. “Unlike most cosmetics, tattoo inks are injected into the dermal layer of the skin, and therefore have the potential to introduce harmful pathogens directly into the body. Because of this, it is particularly important for tattoo inks to be manufactured using methods… read on > read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Two-Thirds of Doctors, Researchers Say They’ve Faced Harassment Since Start of Pandemic

Dads Can Play Big Role in Baby’s Nutrition, Safe Sleep

Is Supplement Berberine Really ‘Nature’s Ozempic’? Experts Weigh Pros & Cons

Why Exercise Is Often a Challenge for Folks With Type 1 Diabetes

Dog Bites More Common on Hot, Hazy Days

FDA Advisers Say Next Round of COVID Booster Shots Should Target an XBB Variant

Are You Living in One of America’s Most Depressed States?

Fasting Later in Day Might Be Key to Controlling Blood Sugar: Study

Race, Income Affect Your Risk for a Food Allergy

FDA Proposes Tougher Rules for Tattoo Providers to Curb Contaminated Inks