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It’s a little safer to get into the water: Unprovoked shark attacks dropped to a 10-year low worldwide in 2022, shark watchers say. A total of 57 unprovoked bites occurred in 2022, tying with 2020 for the fewest number of reported incidents during the last 10 years, according to the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File. Of those attacks, five were fatal — down from nine deaths in 2021 and 10 in 2020. Since 2013, there have been an average 74 unprovoked bites a year, researchers say. The 2020 low likely was related to COVID-19 travel restrictions and beach closures, which resulted in fewer encounters between humans and sharks, researchers said. Declining shark populations are one likely cause of the low numbers of bites in 2022, researchers said. “Generally speaking, the number of sharks in the world’s oceans has decreased, which may have contributed to recent lulls,” said Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Museum of Natural History’s Florida Program for Shark Research. “It’s likely that fatalities are down because some areas have recently implemented rigorous beach safety protocols, especially in Australia,” Naylor said in a museum news release. The United States had the most bites, with Florida reporting more bites than anywhere else in the world. None of Florida’s 16 unprovoked bites were fatal, but two resulted in amputations. Long Island also experienced… read on > read on >

A new study shows the importance of the messenger when trying to encourage people to get their COVID-19 vaccines. People who know someone who was sickened by the virus or who died from it were twice as likely to get their own vaccinations, researchers report. “This study shows that the messenger matters more than the message: Hearing about the experiences of a trusted person, such as a friend or a family member, can be more effective than vaccine mandates,” said lead author Saurabh Kalra, a doctoral student at the Rutgers School of Public Health in New Brunswick, N.J. “A corollary to this finding is that an influential public figure whom people admire and trust can adversely impact public health if they share misinformation such as the disease is harmless or the vaccines are harmful or unnecessary,” he said in a Rutgers news release. The researchers surveyed just over 1,100 people who were eligible for the vaccine from April 7 to April 12, 2021. They asked whether each person knew family members or friends who had recovered, were still sick or had died from COVID-19. They also asked about COVID vaccination. Certain categories of people were more likely to have received an initial vaccine dose within four months of the emergency use authorization for the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines. These included essential workers, people with… read on > read on >

After living with disabling low back pain for nearly 30 years, Dennis Bassett, 64, finally has a new lease on life. The Hempstead, N.Y., native injured his back in the 1980s when helping a friend. He tried everything to relieve his back pain, from self-medication, acupuncture, and chiropractor work to steroid injections, physical therapy and exercise. “My back only got worse,” recalled the retired real estate professional. “Some days, I could barely make it into the house and up my stairs.” But that was then. Everything changed a few months ago after his doctor suggested a new procedure that involves implanting a muscle-stimulating device called the ReActiv8 into his lower back to activate a dormant and withering core muscle. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave its nod to the device in June 2020. The father of six underwent the procedure at Lenox Health Greenwich Village in New York City several months ago. Now, he is considering moving down South and starting a trucking business. “I feel good enough that I can take a chance,” he said. “I can walk upstairs, sit down and stand up with no problem. I thought, ‘this is too good to be true.’” But when this procedure is paired with the right patient, it’s not too good to be true, said Bassett’s surgeon, Dr. Kiran Vishal Patel, director of pain… read on > read on >

Genes may have a strong influence over whether kids develop an eating disorder marked by extremely limited food choices, a new study finds. The study focused on a condition called avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). It’s a relatively new diagnosis that describes people who severely limit the types or quantity of food they eat — but not over body image concerns or a quest for thinness. Instead, food is the center of the issue. People with ARFID may have a strong aversion to various tastes, smells or textures, have little appetite, or may fear choking, vomiting or suffering an allergic reaction if they eat an unfamiliar food (often based on a past experience). Studies suggest it affects 1% to 5% of the population. Yet researchers still know little about the causes. The new study suggests genetic vulnerability plays a major role. Looking at data on nearly 17,000 pairs of twins, Swedish researchers found that genes seemed to explain 79% of the risk of having ARFID. “This strongly suggests that genetic studies have huge potential to help us understand the biological pathways underlying ARFID,” said lead researcher Lisa Dinkler of the Karolinska Institute’s Center for Eating Disorders Innovation in Stockholm. An eating disorders specialist not involved in the study agreed. The findings help affirm that there are biological processes underlying ARFID, said Kamryn Eddy, co-director… read on > read on >

Researchers have uncovered groundbreaking evidence that pharmacies in tourist areas of Northern Mexico are selling counterfeit pills containing fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamines. The pills, mainly sold to U.S. tourists without a prescription, were passed off as controlled substances, including oxycodone, percocet and Adderall, the study found. This could add to the already high number of overdose deaths from these drugs in the United States and Mexico, U.S.-based researchers said. “These counterfeit pills represent a serious overdose risk to buyers who think they are getting a known quantity of a weaker drug,” said senior study author Chelsea Shover. She is an assistant professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). About 68% of 40 pharmacies studied in four cities in Northern Mexico had at least one controlled substance for sale without a prescription, the researchers found. These were sold in either bottles or as individual pills. The investigators found counterfeit pills containing fentanyl, heroin and/or methamphetamine from 11 pharmacies. Nine pill samples sold as Adderall contained methamphetamine. Eight sold as oxycodone contained fentanyl. Three sold as oxycodone had heroin in them. “It is not possible to distinguish counterfeit medications based on appearance, because identically appearing authentic and counterfeit versions are often sold in close geographic proximity,” the researchers reported. “Nevertheless, U.S. tourist drug consumers may be more trusting… read on > read on >

People who live near traffic noise, especially when it continues at night, are more likely to develop the repetitive whistling or buzzing sounds in their ears known as tinnitus. Danish researchers found a link between the risk of developing the condition and traffic noise, with a vicious cycle of stress reactions and sleep disturbance as a potential cause. Living near a busy road may increase your stress and affect your sleep, they explained, and those who are sleeping poorly and have higher stress may be at greater risk for tinnitus. For the study, the researchers used data from 3.5 million Danes, finding more than 40,000 cases of tinnitus. For every 10 decibels more noise in people’s homes, the risk of developing tinnitus increased by 6%, said researcher Manuella Lech Cantuaria, an assistant professor at the Mærsk Mc-Kinney-Møller Institute and affiliated with the department of clinical research at the University of Southern Denmark. The need exists for more focus on the importance of traffic noise and human health, said researcher Jesper Hvass Schmidt, an associate professor in the department of clinical research and chief physician at Odense University Hospital. Schmidt thinks there are likely even more unreported cases of tinnitus not referred to a hearing clinic by doctors. Tinnitus is ringing, buzzing, whistling or humming sounds that don’t come from an external source. It can be… read on > read on >

Winter’s icy beauty can also be dangerous. An orthopedic expert offers some tips for avoiding serious injuries on slippery ground or hazards hidden by snow. “When people have injuries during the winter, it commonly involves tripping over an object or slipping on ice,” said Dr. Richard Samade, an assistant professor of orthopedic surgery who specializes in hand and upper extremity surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. “To protect themselves from greater injuries, people will instinctively stretch their hand and arm out to break their fall,” Samade said in a center news release. “Unfortunately, this leads to a decelerating force concentrated through the wrist, forearm and elbow that often leads to injury in the small bones of those areas.” Staying alert and aware of surroundings can help. People should take note of dark patches on pavement that may be iced over, Samade advised. Wear appropriate footwear with good traction, he said. If you use a walker or cane, consider having someone walk with you in case you lose your balance. Of course, it’s important to stay safe year-round. Pay attention to what’s ahead of you while walking rather than texting or looking down at a phone screen, Samade suggested. Use corrective lenses or walking aids if poor vision, chronic conditions and medication have increased your fall risk. In warmer months, outdoor work and recreational… read on > read on >

American schoolchildren could be getting school lunches that have less sugar and salt in the future, thanks to new nutrition standards announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday. These are the first school lunch program updates since 2012, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. What’s different this time is a limit on added sugars, starting in the 2025-2026 school year. Limits would at first target high-sugar foods, including sweetened cereals, yogurts and flavored milks. By fall 2027, added sugars must be less than 10% of total calories a week for school breakfasts and lunches. Sugary grain foods like muffins or doughnuts can’t be served more than twice a week at breakfast. Another example is that an 8-ounce container of chocolate milk must contain no more than 10 grams of sugar under the revised rules. Some popular flavored milks contain twice that amount. “Many children aren’t getting the nutrition they need, and diet-related diseases are on the rise. Research shows school meals are the healthiest meals in a day for most kids, proving that they are an important tool for giving kids access to the nutrition they need for a bright future,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in an agency news release. Vilsack said the agency’s goal is to get school guidelines to align with U.S. dietary guidelines for the nearly 30 million… read on > read on >

Could asking teens a simple, but pointed, question about their mental health reveal whether they are at risk for suicide? It might, new research suggests. Since suicide is now the second leading cause of death among American teens, any strategy that could lower that risk may be worth trying. “The depression screening tool we used is not a suicide risk assessment tool, but it does include one question that asks [students] about thoughts of self-harm,” explained study lead author Dr. Deepa Sekhar, an associate professor in the department of pediatrics at Penn State College of Medicine. The question is: “How often have you been bothered by… thoughts that you would be better off dead or of hurting yourself in some way?” Compared with those teens who were not asked that question, those who were “were seven times more likely to be identified at-risk for suicide, and four times as likely to initiate treatment,” Sekhar noted. To assess the potential benefit of asking teens about suicidal thoughts, the researchers worked with students at 14 Pennsylvania high schools. About 46% of the nearly 13,000 students in the study were girls, and 43% were Black or Hispanic. The researchers used a standardized health questionnaire. Its main goal was to screen for symptoms of major depression disorder. It comprised nine questions, the last of which touches on suicide and… read on > read on >

While you can’t trust everything you read or see on social media, some information is reliable. Researchers from Duke University studied popular videos on the social media site TikTok. The videos offered information on ways to obtain a medication abortion. These were typically informative and useful, the study authors said. “When we started the study, we expected to find more videos with misinformation,” said Dr. Jenny Wu, a resident in obstetrics and gynecology at Duke in Durham, N.C. “After looking at the data, we were surprised by how accurate the videos were. A significant number of videos were created by health care professionals and organizations providing abortion. TikTok says it has internal policies for blocking inaccurate information which might also have helped on this topic.” For the study, the Duke team evaluated the 100 most-viewed TikTok videos tagged #abortionpill, #medicalabortion and #medicationabortion. Those videos often describe the pills, what a medication abortion is and how to get that medication. About 89% of the videos that depicted public health information were mostly accurate, the study found. About 11% were mixed. Of 51 videos that presented scientific claims, about 86% were mostly accurate. About 14% were mixed. Social media platforms can help educate patients and combat the stigma surrounding abortion, according to the researchers. “It’s important that people in more restrictive states have the opportunity to learn… read on > read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Shark Bites Are Declining Worldwide

Knowing Someone Who’s Been Ill or Died of COVID Pushes Folks to Get Vaccine: Study

His Debilitating Back Pain Lasted Decades, Until a New Implant Changed Everything

Rare But Dangerous Form of Eating Disorder Could Run in Families

U.S. Tourists in Northern Mexico Are Buying Counterfeit Pills Containing Fentanyl

Live Near Busy Traffic? You May Be at Higher Odds for Tinnitus

How Ice & Snow Can Harm Your Wrists, Hands

USDA Proposes New Rules to Cut Sugar, Salt in School Meals

When Schools Ask Students About Suicide, Those At Risk Get Help Sooner

TikTok Videos on Abortion Pills Are Largely Accurate: Study