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Researchers have discovered a link between access to welfare payments and foster care. As many as 29,000 fewer children may have entered the foster care system during the 12-year study if U.S. states had made it easier for poor families to receive cash through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. “The relatively small amount of income provided through TANF may be enough to help prevent some child maltreatment and result in fewer kids being placed into foster care,” said study co-author Michelle Johnson-Motoyama, a professor of social work at Ohio State University. “That’s about 29,000 children who might have a different life trajectory if their family had more resources,” she said in a university news release. “I think we have a pretty strong case for why we should invest in families and support them to do their best at parenting.” The TANF program was established in 1996 as a block grant program that gives states up to $16.5 billion a year to provide assistance for needy U.S. families. Benefits vary widely. One example: Monthly cash payments for a family of three were $170 in Mississippi and $923 in Alaska in 2016. “States have a lot of discretion in how they use the block grants for TANF and that allowed us to see how differences between states — and changes in states over… read on > read on >

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 7, 2022 (HealthDay News) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s foods program is in “constant turmoil” and needs stronger leadership, a panel said Thursday. The Reagan-Udall Foundation, a group with close ties to the FDA, released a 51-page report Tuesday noting the need for a clear mission in the program and more urgency to prevent illness outbreaks. FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf first sought the review in July. The group called for restructuring the program’s leadership and culture to address chronic public health issues and food crises. The report did offer suggestions such as creating a separate food agency at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Other suggestions were creating a deputy commissioner for foods or putting the FDA commissioner directly in charge of the foods program. “They lay out all the options,” Bill Marler, a food safety lawyer who testified to the panel that conducted the review, told the Associated Press. “I kind of wish they would have picked one.” As it stands, the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides oversight for some foods. Meanwhile, the FDA oversees not just foods, but drugs and medical devices for humans and for veterinary uses. Critics had earlier expressed concerns about the limited time frame given for the review and that the veterinary center was also not reviewed, the AP reported. “I will… read on > read on >

Pregnant and postpartum women are dying of drug overdoses in record numbers, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only made things worse, a new study shows. Deaths increased about 81% over the past four years, hitting a record high in 2020, according to researchers from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City. “We’ve seen significant increases in fatal and nonfatal overdose in the general population during the pandemic,” said first study author Emilie Bruzelius, a doctoral student at Columbia. “It now appears that pregnant and postpartum women are being affected as well.” The researchers used national death certificate data, which lists whether someone was pregnant or recently pregnant, for the years 2017 to 2020. The investigation included calculating annual overdose death rates and examined the specific drug types involved in each overdose, then comparing those to overdose death rates in non-pregnant women of reproductive age. They found a total of more than 7,600 pregnancy-associated deaths. More than 1,200 of these were due to drug overdose. Overdose deaths spiked to a record high of just over 11.9 per 100,000 in 2020. This compares to a 38% increase among all reproductive-age women. Researchers found large increases in deaths involving fentanyl, methamphetamines and cocaine. Deaths from benzodiazepines, heroin and prescription opioids remained stable. “Pregnant and postpartum people are known to face barriers to accessing drug… read on > read on >

Depression may be a disorder of the brain, but new research adds to evidence that it also involves the gut. While depression is complex, recent research has been pointing to a role for bacteria that dwell in the gut — suggesting that certain bacterial strains might feed depression symptoms, while others might be protective. In a pair of new studies, researchers identified 13 groups of bacteria that were related to the odds of adults having depression symptoms. In some cases, the gut bacteria were depleted in people with depression, while in others they were present at relatively high levels. However, experts stressed that the findings do not prove that any of the gut bugs cause or protect against depression. So, it’s far too soon to recommend probiotics as a depression treatment. In fact, gut bacteria seem to change in their diversity and abundance when any chronic disease is present, said Dr. Emeran Mayer, director of the Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress at the University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine. Mayer, who was not involved in the research, is also the author of the book “The Mind-Gut Connection.” He said the findings may reflect a “general disease effect,” rather than gut bacteria patterns that are specific to depression. The research, published Dec. 6 in the journal Nature Communications, is the latest… read on > read on >

Researchers may have sniffed out why colds are more likely in wintertime: The answer may lie within the nose. A previously unidentified immune response inside the nose is responsible for fighting off the viruses that cause upper respiratory infections, according to researchers at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Northeastern University in Boston. Unfortunately, cold weather inhibits this protective response, making it more likely that a person will come down with anything from a cold to COVID-19. The new study offers the first biological explanation why respiratory virus infections are more likely to spike in colder seasons, researchers said. “Conventionally, it was thought that cold and flu season occurred in cooler months because people are stuck indoors more where airborne viruses could spread more easily,” said senior researcher Dr. Benjamin Bleier, director of Otolaryngology Translational Research at Mass Eye and Ear. “Our study, however, points to a biological root cause for the seasonal variation in upper respiratory viral infections we see each year, most recently demonstrated throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said in a hospital news release. The nose is a prime entry point for viruses or bacteria, which can either be inhaled or directly deposited if a person does something like rub their nose. Once inside the nose, germs work their way backward up the airway and into the body, infecting the cells along the… read on > read on >

Shehzin Tietjen was 27 years old when she felt a lump in one of her breasts while in the shower. That discovery led to a confirmation of breast cancer, an unexpected jolt at her age. “I was really shocked,” said Tietjen, who lives in Atlanta. Though breast cancer is more common in postmenopausal women, about 9% of new breast cancer cases occur in women under 45. Many breast cancer treatments, including chemotherapy, can affect fertility. While Tietjen soon began talking with doctors about preserving her fertility, that’s not a conversation all young women with a similar diagnosis have, according to a survey of more than 700 breast cancer patients by Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC), a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit. Only 49% of survey respondents reported discussing fertility issues with their health care providers, just slightly higher than eight years earlier. Two-thirds of women whose breast cancer was diagnosed before age 45 said it had significant impacts on their sexual health. But 86% said their health care provider was unable to address these issues. Study leader Arin Ahlum Hanson, director of outreach for LBBC, said addressing these fertility and sexual health issues is a critical need. “What is really important is that those conversations are had early on at that point of diagnosis to help young women make those decisions to pursue fertility preservation or just be… read on > read on >

Chips, pizza, cookies: Delicious, but a diet full of ultra-processed foods like these may contribute to brain deterioration, researchers report. Ultra-processed foods have lots of added and unhealthy ingredients, such as sugar, salt, fat, artificial colors and preservatives. Examples include frozen meals, soft drinks, hot dogs and cold cuts, fast food, packaged cookies, cakes and salty snacks. These foods have been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, metabolic syndrome and obesity. Now, scientists in Brazil have tied them to a greater risk of declining brainpower. The study couldn’t prove cause-and-effect. However, “the cognitive decline could be the result of microvascular lesions in the brain, reduced brain volume or even systemic inflammation caused by the consumption of ultra-processed foods,” theorized study lead researcher Natalia Gomes Goncalves. She’s in the Department of Pathology in the School of Medicine at the University of Sao Paulo. “Dietary choices are a powerful way in helping maintain a healthy brain function,” Goncalves said, and it’s never too late to make healthy changes. “Middle age is an important period of life to adopt preventive measures through lifestyle changes, since the choices we make at this age will influence our older years,” she said. “This does not mean that [even] older adults will not see results if they adopt a healthier lifestyle,” Goncalves added, because “research has shown over and over… read on > read on >

Advertising would have you believe that a big bowl of sugary cereal or a syrupy iced coffee drink will make you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the morning. But that sort of sugar-laden breakfast may be one of the worst things you can do to help you wake up alert and refreshed. A major new sleep study shows a breakfast rich in complex carbohydrates — think a big bowl of steel-cut oatmeal, with some strawberries for flavor — is key to waking up without feeling sluggish. “We found that when you have spike in your blood glucose after breakfast, you’re going to feel less alert, you’re going to feel more sleepy after that breakfast,” said lead researcher Raphael Vallat, a postdoctoral fellow at University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Human Sleep Science. “You want to avoid foods that will drastically increase your blood glucose.” Actually, a good breakfast is only one part of a three-step prescription for avoiding morning grogginess, Vallat and his team reported recently in the journal Nature Communications. People who want to wake up alert also should get more than their usual amount of physical activity the day before, Vallat said, and they should sleep a little longer into the morning. “If you wake up later than usual, you’re going to feel a little more alert,” Vallat explained. These recommendations are based on… read on > read on >

When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned fruit-flavored vaping products in early 2020, the idea was to reverse the rapid rise in electronic cigarette use among youths. Now, a new survey of adult e-cigarette users finds that instead of quitting e-cigarettes, most vapers switched to flavored products not covered by the ban, or even went back to smoking traditional cigarettes. The ban does not appear to be working and use of flavored products continues, contends study co-author Deborah Ossip. She’s a professor in the department of public health sciences and Center for Community Health and Prevention at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) in New York. “It really gets to the issue of, if you want to meaningfully restrict the use of flavored products, you really need to close those loopholes,” Ossip said. “And to combine that with the program of enforcing the regulations, and I think a very large public awareness campaign about why that’s happening, because there’s a lot of confused messaging around use of flavored products and e-cigarettes.” The FDA ban was on products using flavored cartridges and pods. It did not include tanks. It also did not ban disposable, flavored e-cigarette products that soared in popularity after the ban. Menthol products were also not part of the ban, said lead study author Dongmei Li, an associate professor of clinical… read on > read on >

Infants and young children could soon receive an updated COVID-19 vaccine as part of their three-dose series. Pfizer Inc. on Monday asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to have the vaccine that targets the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 replace the third dose in the series for children aged 6 months through 4 years old. Children in that age group would still receive two doses of the original COVID vaccine prior to the Omicron-targeted dose. Though children aged 5 and up and adults need only two doses to complete a primary series, younger children need three doses, CNN reported. “With the high level of respiratory illnesses currently circulating among children under 5 years of age, updated COVID-19 vaccines may help prevent severe illness and hospitalization,” the company said in a news release. It is unknown whether parents will choose to get the third shot for their children even if it’s approved. Fewer than 5% of children younger than 5 have been fully vaccinated for COVID, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Uptake is higher in children aged 5 and older, 73% of whom are vaccinated and 13% of whom have also received boosters, CNN reported. Meanwhile respiratory illnesses are surging for this population, including COVID-19 cases, flu and another virus known as RSV (respiratory syncytial virus). No vaccine exists for… read on > read on >

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U.S. States With Tighter Access to Welfare Payments Have More Kids in Foster Care

FDA’s Food Safety Program Needs a Revamp: Panel

Record Number of Fatal Drug ODs for Pregnant, Postpartum Women

Could Bacteria in Your Gut Help Spur Depression?

Cooler Noses May Be Key to Winter’s Spike in Colds

Concerns Around Sex, Fertility Often Ignored in Breast Cancer Care: Survey

Eating Lots of ‘Ultra-Processed’ Foods Could Harm Your Brain

Science Reveals 3 Keys to an Energized, Alert Day

Banning Flavored Vapes Didn’t Spur Folks to Quit

Pfizer Asks FDA to Approve Tweaked COVID Booster as Third Shot for Kids Under 5