Much like intense exercise, vigorous sex can trigger an asthma attack in folks with the chronic lung disease, according to new research. “There is a lack of current literature available on the prevalence of sexual intercourse presenting as exercise-induced asthma,” said study author Dr. Ariel Leung, chief internal medicine resident at Saint Agnes Medical Center in Fresno, Calif. This could be because sex isn’t always the easiest topic to broach with your doctor. “When sexual intercourse-induced asthma is properly identified and treated, allergists are placed in a position where they can improve their patients’ quality of life and even their marriages,” Leung said. When it comes to the risk of having an asthma attack, vigorous sex is akin to walking up two flights of stairs, she noted. The same measures that keep asthma at bay during exercise can also help stave off a sex-induced asthma attack. “We recommend that patients take their short-acting beta agonist inhaler 30 minutes prior to sexual intercourse to prevent an asthma attack,” Leung said. “Some patients might think it takes away from the romance, but nothing is more romantic than taking care of yourself and not having your partner observe an asthma attack.” The wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath and chest tightness that are hallmarks of an asthma attack are caused by inflammation that narrows airways. It can’t be cured…  read on >  read on >

In a finding that challenges the notion that immigrants are freeloaders in the American health care system, a new study shows they are paying a lot more through health care premiums and related taxes than they actually use in care. In fact, the amount that immigrants pay in makes up for some of the amount of health care that non-immigrants use in excess of what they pay. “Some politicians and pundits tell Americans that immigrants are a burden to society, and particularly to our health care system,” senior study author Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a distinguished professor at City University of New York’s (CUNY) Hunter College and lecturer at Harvard Medical School, said in a CUNY news release. “But the opposite is true. Immigrants subsidize the care of other Americans, to the tune of tens of billions of dollars each year,” she explained. The study found that immigrants paid about $58.3 billion more in health insurance premiums and taxes than insurers and federal, state and local governments paid for their care in 2017. About 89% of immigrants’ total surplus contributions were made by undocumented immigrants. Conversely, Americans born in the United States received $67.2 billion more in care than they actually paid, according to the study authors. To arrive at that unexpected finding, researchers analyzed detailed data from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, the American…  read on >  read on >

Equipping offices with “healthier” furnishings could reduce human exposure to risky PFAS chemicals, new research suggests. To look at indoor PFAS levels, a team led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in Boston, analyzed building dust in classrooms and common campus spaces. “Our findings provide desperately needed scientific evidence for the success of healthier materials — which don’t have to be more expensive or perform less well — as a real-world solution to reduce indoor exposure to forever chemicals as a whole,” said Anna Young, lead author of the study. She’s a research associate in the department of environmental health and associate director of Harvard’s Healthy Buildings program. PFAS — or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — are called “forever chemicals” because they persist in the environment. Used for stain and water resistance, at least 12,000 types of PFAS are found in products such as furniture, carpet, textiles, food packaging, nonstick cookware, cosmetics and firefighting foam. Linked to thyroid disease, stunted development, weakened immune systems, high cholesterol, testicular cancer, obesity and diabetes, these chemicals have been detected in the blood of more than 98% of Americans. For this study, the researchers wanted to expand on an earlier investigation that looked at 15 types of PFAS in buildings. It’s difficult because most of the thousands of PFAS chemicals are unknown or can’t be measured with…  read on >  read on >

Evaluating a person’s psychological stress can be a good way to gauge their risk of heart and blood vessel disease, new research suggests. And a brief questionnaire could help with the assessment, the study findings showed. “Our study is part of the accumulating evidence that psychological distress is a really important factor in a cardiovascular diagnosis, such as the other health behaviors and risk factors, like physical activity and cholesterol levels, that clinicians monitor,” said co-author Emily Gathright. She is an assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School, in Providence, R.I. For the study, the team looked at research published within the past five years that included adults without a psychiatric diagnosis who were screened for depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, stress or general mental health symptoms, and followed for more than six months. About 58% were women. In all, Gathright and her colleagues analyzed findings from 28 studies that included more than 658,000 patients. Those reporting high levels of psychological distress had a 28% higher risk of heart disease, the investigators found. According to study co-author Carly Goldstein, an assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior, a brief mental health questionnaire can give clinicians a better idea not only of a patient’s mental health risks, but also their associated risk for heart disease. Based on the results…  read on >  read on >