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Travel can be fun, but taxing. As the pandemic ebbs and people venture back out into the world, an expert from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston offers tips for ensuring a healthier, more peaceful vacation or work trip. “Though frequent travel can boost your mood and positively impact your mental health, keep in mind that it’s a two-way street,” said Dr. Mike Ren, assistant professor of family and community medicine at Baylor. “While traveling, it is important to keep up your physical and mental well-being to maximize the beneficial effects of travel.” Common symptoms of travel fatigue include trouble sleeping, feeling disengaged, having higher stress or anxiety levels, and overindulging in food or alcohol. Someone might need to take a break from traveling to reset, if symptoms are severe. Ren suggests talking to a doctor about whether a pause is needed or if symptoms don’t resolve. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Make sure you are up to date on all your vaccinations, particularly for international travel, and if you are on prescription medications, make sure you have an adequate supply for travel and a few days upon return,” Ren said in a Baylor news release. “Make sure to maintain a good level of hygiene by washing your hands often and take advantage of telehealth visits while traveling if symptoms… read on > read on >

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a second Alzheimer’s drug, lecanemab, despite reports of rare brain bleeds linked to use of the drug in some patients. However, the FDA pointed to the drug’s benefits, as well. “Alzheimer’s disease immeasurably incapacitates the lives of those who suffer from it and has devastating effects on their loved ones,” Dr. Billy Dunn, director of the Office of Neuroscience in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in an agency news release. “This treatment option is the latest therapy to target and affect the underlying disease process of Alzheimer’s, instead of only treating the symptoms of the disease.” Lecanemab, made by Eisai and marketed by Biogen as Leqembi, will be only the second Alzheimer’s drug to receive the FDA’s blessing in the past 18 months; the agency’s speedy approval of the drug Aduhelm in June 2021 generated controversy in the medical community over its lack of effectiveness, brain bleed concerns and hefty price tag. But Alzheimer’s experts said the story is somewhat different with Leqembi. “Unlike Aduhelm, which had an incomplete data set and where clinical trial data failed to demonstrate a definitive slowing in cognitive decline, lecanemab showed statistically significant slowing in cognitive and functional decline, as well as reduction of brain amyloid levels, and downstream beneficial effects on other markers of neurodegeneration,”… read on > read on >

An antidote to teenage depression might be found in school gymnasiums and on sports fields, a major new review argues. Supervised exercise programs are associated with significant reductions in symptoms of depression among children and teenagers, according to the analysis of data from 21 studies involving more than 2,400 kids. “This is the first time that we’ve been able to put enough studies together so that we can make a pretty good conclusion to answer the question, ‘Is physical activity and exercise good for children with depressive symptoms?’” said co-study author Walter Thompson, a retired professor of exercise physiology with Georgia State University in Atlanta. “The answer is overwhelmingly yes.” Further, the data indicate a specific dose of exercise that will produce the biggest benefit in children: Around an hour of physical activity three days a week provided the best relief for symptoms of depression. “And you know, that’s pretty close to what the federal government has recommended as regular exercise for both children and adults, somewhere between 75 and 150 minutes a week,” Thompson said. The study also found that exercise programs shorter than 12 weeks produced greater benefits — possibly because such a tightly defined program allows participants a positive sense of achievement and accomplishment, according to an editorial co-authored by Eduardo Bustamante, an assistant professor of kinesiology and nutrition at the University… read on > read on >

For teens who are obese, weight-loss surgery can be life-changing — but not always in a good way. A new study finds a troubling downside to weight-loss surgery among 13- to 19-year-olds: They’re at increased risk of alcohol use disorders. And their risk stays higher for up to eight years after their surgery. “We have to be honest about both the risks and benefits of these procedures,” said study co-author Dr. Thomas Inge, director of adolescent bariatric surgery at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. About 200,000 weight-loss (or “bariatric”) surgeries were performed in the United States in 2020, according to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS). And while these procedures have benefited many teens, some have gone on to develop heart problems or had trouble getting adequate nutrition after their surgery. Now, Inge and other researchers report that teens who have had weight-loss surgery are also more likely to develop alcohol use disorder. That’s based on tracking 217 teens for eight years and comparing their alcohol use before and after their surgery. The study found they had eight times the odds for hazardous drinking, a pattern of alcohol use with a risk for harmful consequences; and five times the odds of showing symptoms of alcohol-related harm. They were also 13 times more likely to have alcohol-related legal, domestic,… read on > read on >

FRIDAY, Jan. 6, 2023 (HealthDay News) – While NFL safety Damar Hamlin is still critically ill after suffering cardiac arrest during a game on Monday, he is making a “fairly remarkable recovery,” his doctors said during a news conference on Thursday. “There has been substantial improvement in his condition over the past 24 hours,” Dr. Timothy Pritts, a professor in the department of surgery at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, told reporters. “We had significant concern about him after the injury and after the event that happened on the field. But he is making substantial progress. As of this morning, he is beginning to awaken, and it appears that his neurological condition and function is intact.” Hamlin is “awake and breathing,” though still on a ventilator, Pritts added. He can communicate by writing with a pen and paper. “When he asked did we win, the answer is, ‘Yes, you know, Damar, you won, you’ve won the game of life,” said Pritts, referring to Hamlin’s question about who won the game after his collapse. His medical team could not say what caused the cardiac arrest in the 24-year-old, but Dr. William Knight IV said, “tests will continue to be ongoing as he continues to progress.” “It’s been a long and difficult road for the last three days,” said Knight, a professor in the university’s… read on > read on >

People should test for the naturally occurring radioactive gas radon in their homes to help prevent ill health, the American Lung Association urges. In some areas, like the state of Connecticut, radon was found to be present at high levels in a quarter (26%) of all homes. Radon is emitted from the ground and can enter a house through floor cracks, basement walls and foundations. Exposure to radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the United States and it is the leading cause in people who’ve never smoked. It’s responsible for an estimated 21,000 U.S. lung cancer deaths each year, the ALA said. “Since radon is odorless, tasteless and colorless, the only way to detect radon in your home is to test the air,” said Ruth Canovi, director of advocacy for the lung association. “Radon Action Month is the perfect time to learn more about this dangerous gas and take action to protect yourself and your loved ones,” Canovi said in an association news release. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets an action level of 4 picoCuries per liter or pCi/L for radon. Anyone with a radon level that high should have a professional install a mitigation system in their home, according to the EPA. Both the EPA and the lung association recommend doing so if levels are greater than 2 pCi/L.… read on > read on >

Air pollution may trigger more asthma attacks in urban children and teens, a new study reports. Even moderate levels of ozone and fine airborne particulates — two ingredients of smog — appear to increase kids’ risk of asthma attacks, according to findings published online Jan. 4 in The Lancet Planetary Health journal. “The strong association this study demonstrates between specific air pollutants among children in impoverished urban communities and non-viral asthma attacks further augments the evidence that reducing air pollution would improve human health,” said Dr. Hugh Auchincloss, acting director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The U.S. National Institutes of Health, of which NIAID is a part, funded the new study. The study also tied the two pollutants to distinct changes in children’s airways that could trigger an asthma attack, according to study leader Dr. Matthew Altman, an associate professor in the department of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine, in Seattle, and colleagues. It’s one of the first times elevated levels of distinctive air pollutants in specific urban locations have been tied to the risk of asthma attacks. During an asthma attack, inflammation causes the lining of airways to swell as muscles around the airways contract and mucus floods the passages — all substantially narrowing the space through which air passes in and out of… read on > read on >

You’ve cut back on your eating, started an exercise routine and just can’t seem to lose weight. What’s going on? It could be a number of issues that are causing you to ask yourself, “Why can’t I lose weight?” The good news is that you can work through them. “It’s very complicated, which is what people need to remember. It’s not a simple task to say I’m going to lose weight and it happens,” said Connie Diekman, a nationally known food and nutrition consultant and former president of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “So, give yourself a break.” When it comes to eating, food choices, portion sizes and intent — whether you’re eating because you’re hungry or in an attempt to fill an emotional need — all play a role, Diekman said. Of course, exercise has its place. Not to be discounted is the significant role that biology and genetics play. “Not everyone can achieve the weight loss they want to achieve. In other words, our bodies sometimes are smarter than we are,” Diekman said. That doesn’t mean that everyone can’t achieve what is a healthy weight for them by understanding what they can control. Typically, weight gain or loss is a calculation of energy intake and expenditure, but being overweight or obese is more complex, with genetics, behavior and environmental factors contributing, according… read on > read on >

The Grammy-winning singer Adele told a crowd at her New Year’s Eve concert that “really bad sciatica” is causing her to wobble on stage. The award-winning singer first talked about her chronic back problems in a 2021 interview with The Face. “I slipped my first disk when I was 15 from sneezing,” she said. “I was in bed and I sneezed and my fifth one flew out. In January, I slipped my sixth one, my L6. And then where I had a C‑section, my core was useless. … I’ve been in pain with my back for, like, half of my life, really. It flares up, normally due to stress or from a stupid bit of posture.” Someone shared a video on TikTok of the “Hello” singer asking her concert crowd if anyone else had the condition. She received loud screams in response, CBS News reported. “What if it’s becoming more common because we all are sitting down on our asses all day,” Adele told the crowd. Lumbar radiculopathy, better known as sciatica, causes leg, hip, butt and back pain that ranges from mild to severe. Some feel weakness or tingling in their legs and feet. It stems from the sciatic nerve, the largest nerve in the body, extending from the back of the pelvis to the back of the leg just below the knee. The… read on > read on >

A short but intensive approach to “talk therapy” can help many combat veterans overcome post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a new clinical trial has found. The study tested “compressed” formats of a standard PTSD treatment called prolonged exposure therapy, in which patients learn to gradually face the trauma-related memories they normally avoid. Traditionally, that has meant therapy once a week, over the course of a few months. But while prolonged exposure therapy is often effective for PTSD, there is room for improvement, according to Alan Peterson, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. In general, he said, prolonged exposure (PE) therapy does not work as well for combat veterans as it does for civilians with PTSD. In an earlier trial, Peterson and his colleagues found that about 60% of combat vets still met the criteria for PTSD six months after therapy. So for the new trial, his team tested the effects of two compressed PE formats, where vets attended therapy every weekday for three weeks. It’s a concept that some PTSD programs have been offering in recent years. The general idea, Peterson explained, is that the short time window will help more patients stick with therapy. And the intensity of daily sessions, with patients devoting their time and energy toward getting better, might also boost effectiveness, he suggested.… read on > read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

New Year, New Travel: Stay Healthy on the Move

FDA Approves 2nd Alzheimer’s Drug, Despite Safety Concerns

Exercise, Sports: A Natural Antidepressant for Teens

Could Weight-Loss Surgery in Teens Raise Risks for Alcohol Abuse?

Damar Hamlin Improving, Alert, Communicating by Writing

Does Your Home Have Dangerous Levels of Cancer-Causing Radon?

Polluted Air Means More Asthma Attacks for Urban Kids

Why Can’t I Lose Weight?

Adele Tells Fans She Suffers From Sciatica

3-Week Program Effective in Helping to Ease Combat-Linked PTSD