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Cannabis use in U.S. states where recreational use is legal could be contributing to children’s asthma, according to new research. A study found increases in asthma in teens where cannabis is legal, compared to states where it remains banned for medicinal and recreational use. The study also found increased asthma in children in some minority and ethnic groups. “Our findings suggest that state-level cannabis policy could have downstream impacts on children’s respiratory health,” said study first author Renee Goodwin, an adjunct associate professor at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Cannabis use on the rise among adults with children in the home, particularly in states that have legalized it for medical or recreational use, she noted. “Exposure to secondhand smoke is a key risk factor for asthma among children,” Goodwin said in a university news release. “This study offers a critical first step in identifying a key children’s health concern emerging in the context of rapid, ongoing changes in cannabis policy that are unaccompanied by clinical or public health guidelines for parents.” Researchers used data from the 2011-2019 National Survey on Children’s Health. It offers a snapshot of the physical and mental health of non-institutionalized U.S. children through age 17. Nationwide, they found a statistically significant drop in pediatric asthma between 2011-2012 and 2016-2017. They saw no decline since then. Asthma rose slightly… read on > read on >

Winter may feel like a time for hibernation, but it’s important for seniors to safely keep up their hobbies and physical activity in the cold weather. “It’s important to get outside as much as possible, whether it’s temperate or even if it’s colder, as long as it’s safe to do so,” said Dr. Angela Catic, an associate professor in the Center on Aging at Baylor College of Medicine, in Houston. “If it’s cold, bundling up and getting outside is good for your spirit and good for you physically,” she said in a Baylor news release. Continue walking, biking or being in nature, Catic suggested, while being cautious of snow or icy conditions. But don’t pick up a new active sport like skiing or snowboarding, unless that was already a hobby, she cautioned. Here are some of her tips: If you typically garden outside, grow some indoor plants in the winter. Plan for the upcoming growing season by perusing gardening catalogs and making a springtime plan. Explore indoor activities, such as reading, doing puzzles, playing games, crafting or knitting. Go to concerts, visit museums and take road trips. If the thought of picking up a new hobby post-retirement seems daunting, reflect on activities you enjoyed in the past before you were focused on work. Check out adult education programs in your area. They may offer a… read on > read on >

As Americans struggle to eat better, plant-based diets have become the rage, but exactly what are those and how hard are they to follow? A growing number of people have turned to plant-based eating, as evidenced by the fact that the plant-based foods market increased by 29% in recent years, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Still, even though the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine says there are many health benefits to plant-based eating patterns, making the switch from consuming a diet rich in meat to one that centers on plants can be a challenge. What is a plant-based diet? “When we talk about a whole foods, plant-based diet, we mean the majority (at least 80% to 90%) of the food should be unprocessed plant-based foods — things like legumes, fruits, vegetables, seeds, whole grains and nuts,” Dr. Urvi Shah, a hematologist oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, said in a recent blog post. “Some people may end up eating minimal amounts of processed plant foods or animal-based foods like dairy or meat occasionally, but not on a regular basis,” she added. Fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, seeds, fish and meat that contain a variety of micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fat) should be included in a plant-based diet, according to a perspective published in the journal Advances in… read on > read on >

Water weight. It’s the bane of dieters looking to lose pounds, causing bloating, puffiness and disappointment when stepping on a scale. While a full 60% of your body is water, sometimes too much water is retained. That can make losing weight frustrating because it may seem like you aren’t actually losing weight. Varying water levels can make a person’s weight fluctuate by 2 to 4 pounds in just one day. The amount of water your body contains is a function of your body’s composition, sex and age, but eating can cause you to retain a few extra pounds of water. This extra water is fluid the kidneys would normally purge from the body. “Most of our weight is water,” said Dr. Gabe Neal, a family medicine physician and clinical assistant professor at the Texas A&M College of Medicine. “It’s the heaviest thing in our body besides our bones, and it is one of the first to go when you start losing weight.” So the question is, how do you lose water weight? The MIDSS (Measurement Instrument Database for the Social Sciences) has some advice. Why do you retain water? There are lots of reasons, including too much salt or carbs, menstrual hormones and dehydration. “Water, when used efficiently, goes all over our bodies,” Neal said recently. “We want it to go to our arteries, veins,… read on > read on >

Doctors already test seniors’ hearing and vision. Sense of smell could be added to screenings one day, according to researchers who found links between its loss and risk of frailty in older adults. “We use our sense of smell to identify the threat of a fire or to enjoy the fragrance of flowers on a spring day. But just like vision and hearing, this sense weakens as we age,” said study co-author Dr. Nicholas Rowan. He is an associate professor of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery at Johns Hopkins Medicine, in Baltimore. “We found that both impaired olfactory identification and sensitivity functions are associated with frailty, which is interesting because it shows that it’s not just your aging brain at work here, but it may also be something peripheral, like something at the level of your nose that is able to predict our impending frailty and death,” Rowan added in a Hopkins news release. For the study, the researchers analyzed data from 1,160 older adults enrolled in the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project between 2015 and 2016. Participants, average age 76, were exposed to five scents to measure olfactory identification and six scents to measure sensitivity levels. Olfactory sensitivity is the ability to detect an odor’s presence. Olfactory identification is the ability to detect and name an odor. The latter relies on higher-order brain… read on > read on >

Worries that clergy will urge depressed congregants to rely on prayer and not other mental health care appear to be unfounded. A nationwide survey found that 90% of clergy members embraced a medical understanding of the causes and treatment of depression. About 10% said they would recommend using religious means alone to address depression. “We consider this good news,” said study co-author Mark Chaves, a professor of sociology, religious studies and divinity at Duke University in Durham, N.C. “We’ve known for a while that a lot of people bring their mental health challenges to clergy,” he said in a university news release. “There’s been concern about what clergy have been telling them. Have they been telling them just to pray, or to see a doctor? This should allay concerns.” Clergy can often be the first point of contact for a person with depression, the study authors noted. The survey results largely held true across denominations, said study co-author Anna Holleman, a postdoctoral research associate. “We couldn’t find any subset of clergy in which anything but a small minority rejected medical wisdom,” she said. For the study, the researchers used data from Duke’s National Survey of Religious Leaders, which includes U.S. clergy across the religious spectrum. The survey was conducted in 2019 and 2020, largely before the COVID-19 pandemic. It drew responses from about 1,600 congregational… read on > read on >

FRIDAY, Jan. 13, 2023 (HealthDay News) – Despite tobacco industry claims, a new study found that banning menthol-flavored cigarettes did not lead to more people purchasing illicit smokes. Researchers at the University of Waterloo surveyed smokers to study the impact of a menthol cigarette ban in Canada. Smokers of both menthol and non-menthol cigarettes were surveyed before and after Canada’s ban, and asked about their usual cigarette brand and the last one they bought. Smokers who were still smoking after the menthol ban were also asked where they last purchased cigarettes. After the ban, researchers found no change in purchasing cigarettes from First Nations reserves, the main source of illicit cigarettes in Canada. “The tobacco industry has a long history of claiming that policies to reduce smoking will lead to substantial increases in illicit trade,” said lead study author Janet Chung-Hall, a research scientist for the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Policy Evaluation Project at Waterloo. “We can add the Canadian menthol ban to the long list of effective policies, such as graphic warnings and plain packaging, whose evaluation disproved the scare tactics by industry — showing that illicit trade did not, in fact, increase,” Chung-Hall said in a university news release. A 2022 study that combined ITC Project data and a comparable evaluation study in Ontario found increased smoking cessation among menthol smokers compared to… read on > read on >

Social isolation is a substantial risk factor for dementia in older adults, according to a pair of studies that add evidence to past research on this threat. But these new studies offer a potential solution: using technology to encourage older adults to text and email to stay in touch. Although the studies don’t prove lack of regular social contact causes dementia, researchers said they do strengthen observations that isolation increases the risk. They suggested that relatively simple steps to increase social support may reduce that risk. About 1 in 4 people over age 65 in the United States is socially isolated. “Social connections matter for our cognitive health, and it is potentially easily modifiable for older adults without the use of medication,” said Dr. Thomas Cudjoe, senior author of both studies. He’s an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. The first study used data collected on more than 5,000 Medicare beneficiaries for a long-term study of health and aging trends that began in 2011. Participants were asked to complete an annual two-hour, in-person interview to assess their mental functioning, health status and overall well-being. About 23% reported social isolation at the start. They showed no signs of dementia. After nine years, 21% of participants had developed dementia. And the risk was 27% higher among socially isolated older adults,… read on > read on >

Cancer deaths continue to decline, dropping 33% since 1991 and saving an estimated 3.8 million lives, according to the American Cancer Society’s annual statistics report. But individual trends within that overall success story highlight the struggle to find the best ways to prevent, detect and treat cancer for all Americans, the society said. On the positive side, the United States saw an “astounding” 65% reduction in cervical cancer rates among 20- to 24-year-old women between 2012 and 2019, a direct result of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, said Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer at the American Cancer Society (ACS). “The effort that our children went through over the last 20 years or so to go through vaccinations have actually saved lives,” Dahut said, noting that the plummeting case level “totally follows the time when HPV vaccines were produced.” Chief executive officer Karen Knudsen added that “this is some of the first real-world evidence that HPV vaccination is likely to be effective in reducing cancer incidence and [death rates].” Unfortunately, rates of advanced prostate cancers are on the rise, likely driven by confusion and conflict over screening guidelines, ACS officials said. The second-leading cause of cancer death for U.S. men, prostate cancer cases rose 3% a year from 2014 through 2019 after two decades of decline, the report found. There’s also been a 5% year-over-year increase… read on > read on >

Look at a bodybuilder who has bulked up with bulging muscles, and it might not seem that lifting weights can shed pounds. But first impressions can be deceiving. Instead, experts say, building muscle can indeed be one way to transform your body and lose weight. “Weightlifting activates your large muscle groups and, when done appropriately, can burn more calories than steady state cardio,” said Dr. Russell Camhi, who works in primary care sports medicine for Northwell Health’s Orthopaedic Institute in Smithtown, N.Y. Still, weightlifting on its own is not the key to weight loss. At least 80% of weight loss is through nutrition, Camhi said. “No matter what exercise program you choose you will not lose weight if you are not monitoring your intake and properly fueling your body,” Camhi said. A person lifting weights to gain muscle mass should eat a high-protein diet, Camhi said. The goal should be 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. People who are already fit and trying to gain muscle may not lose weight, but someone who is overweight or obese will, Camhi said. “Once you lose a good portion of fat and become more fit then, yes, the weight loss will plateau but will be replaced with muscle growth and increased fitness,” Camhi said. “At that point, be less concerned about the number on the… read on > read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

When States Legalize Marijuana, Teens’ Asthma Rates Rise

Seniors, Make This Winter an Active & Healthy One

Plant-Based Diets: What Are They, and How Do You Start?

Water Weight: How to Lose It for Good

For Seniors, Declining Sense of Smell Could Signal Frailty

Most Clergy Agree With Science on Treatment of Depression: Study

Ban on Menthols Won’t Push Smokers to Black Market Cigarettes: Study

Social Isolation Can Raise Odds for Dementia

U.S. Cancer Deaths Decline Overall, But Prostate Cancers Make Rebound

Weightlifting Your Way to Weight Loss