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Infants too young to be vaccinated for COVID-19 get some protection from their mothers’ breast milk, researchers say. The new study follows up on findings published in 2021 that showed the breast milk of vaccinated people contained antibodies against the COVID-19 virus. For the study, researchers analyzed infants’ stool. “Our first study showed there were SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the breast milk, but we couldn’t say if those antibodies were getting through the babies’ gastrointestinal tract and possibly providing protection there,” said senior study author Joseph Larkin III. He is an associate professor in the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, in Gainesville. Larkin and his team used a technique known as a neutralization assay to show that the antibodies found in the infants’ stool offered protection against the virus. “The antibodies run interference and don’t let the virus get to the cells,” Larkin said in a university news release. Even though people think of COVID-19 as a respiratory virus, it can invade the gut. Finding antibodies there is significant, the researchers said. “The antibodies ingested through breast milk may provide a protective coating in the infants’ mouths and gastrointestinal tract,” said first author Dr. Vivian Valcarce Luaces, a postdoctoral fellowship trainee in neonatology. Antibodies found in the blood plasma and milk of the mothers were better able to neutralize the virus, though they… read on > read on >

Six minutes of high-intensity exercise might prolong the lifespan of a healthy brain, perhaps delaying the start of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, a new, small study suggests. Researchers found that short but intense cycling increased the production of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is essential for brain formation, learning and memory. It’s thought that BDNF might protect the brain from age-related mental decline. “BDNF has shown great promise in animal models, but pharmaceutical interventions have thus far failed to safely harness the protective power of BDNF in humans,” said lead study author Travis Gibbons, from the University of Otago in New Zealand. “We saw the need to explore non-pharmacological approaches that can preserve the brain’s capacity which humans can use to naturally increase BDNF to help with healthy aging,” Gibbons said. The report was published Jan. 11 in the Journal of Physiology. BDNF promotes the brain’s ability to form new connections and pathways, and also helps neurons survive. Animal studies have shown that increasing the availability of BDNF boosts cognitive performance, such as thinking, reasoning or remembering. For this study, the researchers wanted to look at the influence of fasting and exercise on BDNF production in humans. Working with a dozen men and women, the investigators compared fasting, low-intensity cycling for 90 minutes, six-minute high-intensity cycling, and a combination of fasting and… read on > read on >

The updated COVID-19 vaccine boosters intended to defend people against emerging Omicron variants don’t appear to provide any better protection than the original shot does, two new studies find. The new mRNA bivalent boosters produced by Moderna and Pfizer only attack the COVID-19 virus about as well as the companies’ first-wave vaccines, according to a blood testing study led by renowned virologist Dr. David Ho, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Columbia University, in New York City. The bivalent shots also failed to promote higher antibody levels or a better immune response than the original COVID-19 vaccines, according to another study led by Dr. Dan Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, in Boston. Both studies were published online Jan. 11 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Together, the two studies “suggest that with this rapidly evolving virus, vaccines developed for different strains are not going to add a huge difference in terms of protection,” said Dr. Greg Poland, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group. It appears that human immune systems “imprint” after exposure to the first mRNA COVID vaccines, experts say. They are primed to respond to aspects of the original COVID-19 strain that are shared by all the variants, rather than the novel mutations sported by newer variants. “It may… read on > read on >

When teenagers feel good about themselves and their lives, it may also do their hearts good in the long run, a new study suggests. Researchers found that teenagers who generally felt happy, optimistic and loved went on to show better cardiovascular health in their 20s and 30s, versus kids who lacked that level of mental well-being. Overall, they were more likely to maintain a healthy weight, as well as normal blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels. And having such positive feelings appeared particularly important for Black teenagers’ future health. The idea that kids’ well-being can affect their health well into adulthood is not new. Studies have shown that childhood obesity, for example, is tied to increased risks of various health conditions — including type 2 diabetes and heart disease — later in life. And the links go beyond physical factors: Adults who went through childhood hardships like abuse and neglect are at heightened risk of heart disease and other ills, as well. Experts said the new study asked a different question: Are there positive psychological “assets” that might help protect kids’ physical health in the long run? “One thing I’m struck by is, we really don’t have a handle on the ‘good things’ that kids need to support their cardiometabolic health,” said lead researcher Farah Qureshi, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg… read on > read on >

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin has been released from a Buffalo hospital just nine days after he suffered cardiac arrest during a Monday night football game. “Damar Hamlin has been discharged from Buffalo General Medical Center/Gates Vascular Institute,” the Buffalo Bills team announced on Twitter Wednesday. “We have completed a series of tests and evaluations,” Dr. Jamie Nadler, the physician who led Hamlin’s care at Buffalo General Medical Center, added in the posting. “And in consultation with the team physicians, we are confident that Damar can be safely discharged to continue his rehabilitation at home and with the Bills.” There has been no announcement on what caused Hamlin to go into cardiac arrest, The New York Times reported. Hamlin, 24, collapsed after tackling Bengals receiver Tee Higgins during a Jan. 2 football game. When Hamlin suddenly collapsed and fell backward, on-field medical staff swiftly gave him CPR before he was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. The game was postponed and later canceled. The Buffalo Bills played the New England Patriots last Sunday. They finished 13-3, which was a half-game behind Kansas City Chiefs for the AFC’s No. 1 seed, CBS News reported. The Bills would have been No. 1 seed had they won the unfinished game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bills will now play a wild-card round against the Miami Dolphins… read on > read on >

While U.S. policymakers have attempted to lower lead exposure among children since the 1970s, new research finds that kids living near airports are still being exposed to dangerous levels of the heavy metal. “Across an ensemble of tests, we find consistent evidence that the blood lead levels of children residing near the airport are pushed upward by the deposition of leaded aviation gasoline,” said study author Sammy Zahran, associate chair of economics at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. “This indicates we should support policy efforts to limit aviation lead emissions to safeguard the welfare of at-risk children,” Zahran said. When analyzing the blood lead levels of children under the age of 6 from 2011 to 2020, the researchers discovered that the closer a child lived to the Reid-Hillview Airport in Santa Clara County, Calif., the more likely that child had a blood lead level that exceeded California’s safety threshold. That safety threshold is 4.5 micrograms per deciliter. Blood lead levels were much higher when children lived East — or downwind — of the airport. Blood lead levels also increased with piston-engine aircraft traffic and quantities of leaded aviation gasoline sold at the airport. The report was published online Jan. 10 in PNAS Nexus. Leaded gasoline is still a standard part of aviation gasoline. It is used by an estimated 170,000 piston-engine aircraft nationwide, accounting… read on > read on >

Despite routine use of a childhood vaccine, the United States still sees outbreaks of mumps. Now, a new study reinforces the belief that it’s due to waning immunity post-vaccination. Mumps is a viral infection best known for causing puffy cheeks, a swollen jaw, fever and general misery. While it’s usually relatively mild, mumps occasionally causes serious complications like brain inflammation and hearing loss. Because of that, children in the United States are routinely immunized against mumps, using the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. Yet mumps has seen a resurgence in the past two decades. Since 2006, there has been an uptick in annual cases — often among college-age adults who were vaccinated as children, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Similar patterns have been seen in other countries where vaccination rates are high, leading to two theories on why: waning immunity to mumps in the years after vaccination; or the emergence of new mumps strains that evade the vaccine-induced immune response. The new study — published Jan. 9 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences — supports the waning-immunity view. Using mathematical modeling, researchers found that waning immunity could largely explain the resurgence of mumps in the United States in recent years. They also estimated that about one-third of vaccinated kids start to lose their mumps immunity by age 18. But… read on > read on >

Anyone who has ever gardened knows what a labor of love it can be as you dig deep in the dirt to plant seeds and then take pride in your first crop, but new research shows it also translates into better health. It turns out that community gardens in urban areas can have folks eating more fresh food and getting exercise, while it can also ease stress and anxiety. “These kind of interventions that have a strong social organization, that have access to nature and contact with nature, where there’s active participation, these are the ingredients that we need to think about to have successful interventions to address a whole variety of health outcomes,” said senior study author Jill Litt. She is a professor in the department of environmental studies at University of Colorado, Boulder, and a senior scientist at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health. For this study, researchers wanted to do a randomized, controlled trial on community gardens, to add to information from previous gardening studies. Litt said she was approached by Denver Urban Gardens to study the benefits when there were only 40 gardens in the city. Now, there are 180. “It hooked me. It was the most fascinating system where we could actually see how behavior change happens,” Litt said. “People were connecting to the landscape. They had social relationships, they… read on > read on >

Gas stoves could face new emissions standards or even be banned because of their link to indoor air pollutants and childhood asthma, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The federal agency will open public comment on gas cooking stoves and their hazards sometime this winter, Bloomberg News reported. “This is a hidden hazard,” agency commissioner Richard Trumka Jr., said in an interview. “Any option is on the table. Products that can’t be made safe can be banned.” About 12% of childhood asthma cases can be linked to gas stove use, according to a recent study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. “There is about 50 years of health studies showing that gas stoves are bad for our health, and the strongest evidence is on children and children’s asthma,” said study co-author Brady Seals, a manager in the carbon-free buildings program at RMI, a nonprofit clean energy group. “By having a gas connection, we are polluting the insides of our homes.” About 40% of Americans have natural gas stoves in their homes. The stoves emit nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter at levels deemed unsafe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO), according to Bloomberg News. In October, Consumer Reports urged readers to buy electric after tests on gas ranges found… read on > read on >

Sperm donation is apparently a grueling and exacting process through which not many men emerge. Fewer than four out of every 100 men who apply to be sperm donors actually wind up providing a sample that’s used in fertility treatment, a new study reports. The rest either give up or wash out, according to findings reported Jan. 9 in the journal Human Reproduction. For the study, researchers tracked the outcomes of more than 11,700 Danish and American men who applied to be donors to Cryos International, one of the world’s largest sperm banks. “The study with Cryos highlights how hard it is to become a sperm donor,” said lead researcher Allan Pacey, head of oncology and metabolism with the University of Sheffield in the UK. “It’s not like blood donation, where once it’s done you can have a cup of tea and go home. Sperm donation is a regular commitment with lots of screening and regular testing as well as lifelong implications for the donor if any children are born from their sample.” Nearly 55% of potential donors were lost during recruitment, researchers found. They either withdrew their application, failed to respond, or stopped showing up to appointments. Nearly a fifth (17%) were rejected on medical grounds. They either had a health issue, carried a genetic disease or had an infectious disease that could not… read on > read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Vaccinated Moms’ Breast Milk Could Protect Baby From COVID

Could 6 Minutes of Exercise Help Shield Your Brain From Alzheimer’s?

Bivalent COVID Boosters Offer No Extra Protection, Studies Suggest

Happy, Loved Teens Become Heart-Healthier as Adults

Damar Hamlin Released From Buffalo Hospital As Recovery From Cardiac Arrest Continues

Kids Living Near Airports Face Lead Poisoning Dangers

Adults May Be Losing Immunity to Mumps. Are Boosters Needed?

You Can Garden Your Way to Better Health

Federal Agency Mulls Ban on Gas Stoves Due to Health Concerns

Just 4% of Men Who Apply as Sperm Donors Are Accepted