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Money may not buy happiness, but it might give low-income obese people an extra incentive to lose weight, a new study suggests. The study, of people from urban neighborhoods, found that cash rewards encouraged participants to shed some extra pounds, versus a weight-loss program with no financial bonuses. And the effects were similar whether people were rewarded for reaching their weight-loss goals, or simply for making healthy lifestyle changes. Over six months, 39% to 49% of people given cash incentives lost at least 5% of their starting weight. That compared with 22% of study participants given no monetary motivation. The caveat, experts said, is that no one knows how financial rewards pan out in the long run. In this study, the weight-loss differences among the groups had begun to narrow by the one-year point. “This would only be impactful if people could keep losing weight at this rate over the longer term,” said Karen Glanz, of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics in Philadelphia. Glanz, who was not involved in the study, said that researchers still have much to learn about the role for financial incentives in weight loss — including how and when it’s best to use them. The concept itself is not new. Studies have suggested that offering people money in exchange for lost pounds can bear fruit… read on > read on >

Finally, more than two years into the pandemic, Americans are sleeping better. A new survey from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) found that 31% of people have had insomnia since the pandemic began. That was much lower — a 25% decrease — compared to the 2021 survey that found 56% of people were experiencing pandemic-linked insomnia. “The stress and uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic led to an increase in disruptions in our sleep quality and quantity,” Jennifer Martin, a licensed clinical psychologist and president of the AASM, said in an academy news release. “While some people continue to experience subpar sleep, the good news is that the population is feeling the impact of ‘COVID-somnia’ less now than last year. For those still experiencing ongoing sleep problems, it may be time to speak with your doctor to determine the best course of action for improving your essential nightly sleep,” Martin suggested. Among those surveyed who were still having sleep disturbances, 61% were having trouble falling asleep. About 47% were experiencing worse quality sleep, 39% were sleeping less and 33% were having more disturbing dreams. The academy recommends that those having sleep problems try some “sleep hygiene” techniques: First, maintain a consistent sleep schedule. Get at least seven hours of sleep each night. Go to bed and wake up about the same time each day,… read on > read on >

Firearm injuries traumatize children, saddling them with mental health issues that include stress disorders and drug or alcohol use, according to a new study. In all, 35% of kids injured by firearms receive a new mental health diagnosis in the following year, the research found. That compares to a 26% rate of mental health diagnoses that follows a car crash, investigators said. “We know that trauma exposure, such as that experienced with a firearm injury, is a well-established risk factor for child mental health conditions, but until recently we knew very little of about the mental health consequences following a firearm injury,” said Dr. Peter Ehrlich, director of pediatric trauma care at the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor. “We hope that our study will illuminate the magnitude and types of disorders most likely to arise in young firearm injury survivors, so they can receive timely diagnosis and care,” Ehrlich said in a university news release. About 20,000 young people survive firearm injuries each year. Firearms surpassed motor vehicle crashes as the No. 1 cause of death for 1- to 19-year-old Americans in 2020. Most of the children studied who were diagnosed with mental health issues had problems with drugs or alcohol or a condition like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Such disorders were twice as likely to be diagnosed in youths… read on > read on >

While people’s immune system T-cells can still target the spike proteins of the COVID coronavirus, their power to do so is waning over time, researchers report. As the virus continues to mutate, T-cell recognition of newer variants may be lost, the researchers cautioned. That could lead to decreasing overall protection by the immune system. Despite the fact that T-cells were still able to recognize parts of the spike protein, called epitopes, including those in the omicron variant, recognition was worse in seven of 10 epitopes that were mutated in different variants, the study found. “Our paper shows that although most people have a diverse T-cell response against the virus, some responses are less effective against omicron. As further variants of concern are identified we will need to consider carefully how new viral mutations affect T-cell recognition,” said lead study author Heather Long, an associate professor in the Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy at the University of Birmingham in England. “The vaccines currently in use are still vital to protect us from COVID-19,” Graham Taylor, an associate professor in the institute, added in a university news release. “Should SARS-CoV-2 continue to mutate to evade the immune system, our findings will help researchers to develop new vaccines better suited to those variants.” As part of the study, researchers tested CD4+ T-cells collected early in the pandemic from… read on > read on >

Getting toys for some of the tots in your life this holiday season? Experts at Penn State Health offer tips on making safe choices. Each year, about 200,000 U.S. children end up in the emergency room with a toy-related injury, ranging from poisoning to choking hazards, according to Jen Lau, program manager of Pediatric Trauma and Injury Prevention at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital in Hershey, Pa. “Not all toys are safe,” said Dr. Mary Catherine Santos, a pediatric surgeon at the hospital. “We see problems with children requiring surgery or having traumatic injuries from toys where the child isn’t supervised or the toy is given to a child of the wrong age.” Among the biggest concerns are button batteries or magnets. If ingested, magnets may be attracted to each other internally, causing perforation, twisting or blocking of the intestines and infection. Surgery may be required. “Toddlers instinctively explore by putting things in their mouth,” Lau said. “It’s developmentally what they do. And button batteries are literally life-threatening.” Danger also lurks in holiday cards that play music and have moving parts. They can be easily taken apart, exposing dangerous batteries. “We’ve seen death because of it,” Lau said in a Penn State news release. Here are more ways to keep your child safe: Inspect all new toys. Pay attention to labels ― including age guidelines,… read on > read on >

Winter weather brings with it plenty of hazards, including risks from carbon monoxide poisoning, and fires. But the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) offers suggestions for staying safe on those cold winter nights. When storms knock out power, a portable generator can be a go-to tool, but it does raise the risk of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning and can kill in minutes if not used properly, the CPSC warned in a news release. An odorless, colorless gas, CO can render someone unconscious before they even have a chance to have symptoms of nausea, dizziness or weakness. To stay safe, never operate a portable generator inside a home, garage, basement, crawlspace or shed. Even open doors or windows will not provide enough ventilation to prevent the buildup of lethal levels of CO, the CPSC advised. Portable generators should only be used outside and kept at least 20 feet from the house or any other building someone might enter, with the exhaust blowing away from the home. Keep any windows or other openings in the path of the exhaust closed. Porches and carports are still too close to the home to operate a generator safely there, the CPSC said. Generators should also be properly maintained and used exactly as instructions and warnings advise. When buying one, get the type with a CO shut-off safety feature, designed… read on > read on >

A national hotline that people can call in a mental health emergency went down for a day before it was restored late Thursday. Those in crisis could still reach counselors by texting 988 or visiting 988lifeline.org during the outage. The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Disaster Distress Helpline was also down. It’s unclear what happened to cause the outage, though a spokeswoman from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said the agency was investigating, the Associated Press reported. “While HHS and VA [Veteran’s Administration] immediately acted to provide support to 988 callers via text, chat and alternate numbers, the disruption of phone service was unacceptable, and HHS continues to investigate the root cause of the outage,” spokeswoman Sarah Lovenheim said on Twitter. Intrado, a Nebraska telecommunications company, provides the emergency service. The company issued a statement Thursday, saying it was “working as quickly as possible to resume full service,” the AP reported. The company did not return repeated requests for comment, the AP reported. The 988 hotline started in July with mental health counselors working around the country and has answered about 8,000 calls a day since then, the AP reported. People can dial in those three numbers, similar to a 911 call, to get help. More information The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health has more on help… read on > read on >

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved the first fecal microbiota treatment, aimed at helping adults battling tough-to-treat Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infections. “Today’s approval of Rebyota is an advance in caring for patients who have recurrent C. difficile infection [CDI],” said Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. “Recurrent CDI impacts an individual’s quality of life and can also potentially be life-threatening,” Marks said in an agency news release. “As the first FDA-approved fecal microbiota product, today’s action represents an important milestone, as it provides an additional approved option to prevent recurrent CDI.” Prior to this approval, the infection has been treated using stool samples from healthy donors. Adding healthy bacteria from the donor gut in what is called fecal transplant helps fight the recipient’s infection. Rebyota, from Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc., is still prepared from human stool. Donors are tested for a range of transmissible pathogens, though there is still the possibility of transmitting infections, the FDA noted. The treatment is administered rectally in one dose. Two randomized, double-blind clinical studies and some open label clinical studies were completed prior to the approval to assess safety, involving a total of 978 adults. In one study, the most common side effects among 180 Rebyota recipients when compared to 87 placebo recipients were abdominal pain, diarrhea, abdominal bloating,… read on > read on >

THURSDAY, Dec. 1, 2022 (HealthDay News) – U.S. Food & Drug Administration policies that have limited blood donations from men who have sex with men may soon ease. At the moment, FDA policy does not allow blood donation from men who have had sex with other men in the past three months. That’s already a shorter timeframe than in the past, when the agency required a one-year gap. The agency is now considering switching to questionnaires that focus on individual risk, rather than blanket limitations, CNN reported. “The FDA remains committed to gathering the scientific data related to alternative donor deferral policies that maintain a high level of blood safety,” the agency said in a statement issued Wednesday. “We anticipate issuing updated draft guidance in the coming months.” Information collected through a donor eligibility questionnaire and blood surveillance “will likely support a policy transition to individual risk-based donor screening questions for reducing the risk of HIV transmission,” the agency added, CNN reported. The FDA changed those guidelines in 2020 as the need for blood donations grew during the pandemic, CNN reported. “While today’s reports of an overdue move from the FDA is an important step, our community and leading medical experts will not stop advocating for the FDA to lift all restrictions against qualified LGBTQ blood donor candidates,” Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO and president of… read on > read on >

Two common drugs that veterinarians use to kill parasites on pets could be the solution to getting rid of bed bugs. Both fluralaner and ivermectin, which are used to kill fleas and ticks on household pets, could also kill bed bugs. The newer, longer-lasting fluralaner showed especially strong potential. This new research comes from a North Carolina State University (NCSU) study that examined the drugs and their effectiveness in controlling bed bug populations on poultry farms. Entomologists and veterinary scientists from NC State’s College of Veterinary Medicine tested bed bug death rates in different experiments. One included mixing blood with each of the drugs on a lab bench and letting the bugs eat it. In the other, bed bugs fed off chickens who had received the treatments topically or through ingestion. “The drugs affect receptors in the insect’s nervous system,” said corresponding author Coby Schal, a professor of entomology. Both drugs killed most bed bugs on the lab bench. Fluralaner worked even better on bed bugs that showed resistance to common insecticides, the investigators found. “The bed bug is a globally important insect,” Schal said in a university news release. “The last few decades have seen a resurgence of bed bugs in homes, and now we’re seeing bed bugs return to poultry farms. Since there is no proven method to stop bed bugs in commercial… read on > read on >

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Bribing Folks Can Help Them Meet Weight-Loss Goals, Study Finds

‘COVID-somnia’ May Be Easing as Americans Report Better Sleep

For Kids, Mental Trauma From Gun Injury Far Exceeds That of Car Crashes

Immune System T-Cells Can Still Fight COVID Variants, But for How Long?

Put Safety at Top of Your Holiday Toy Gift List

Winter Brings Rise in Carbon Monoxide Danger: Stay Safe

988 Mental Health Hotline Back in Business After Daylong Outage

First FDA-Approved Fecal-Based Treatment Helps Fight a Tough Superbug

FDA Moves to Ease Restrictions on Gay Men Giving Blood

Two Veterinary Meds Show Promise Against a Tough Foe: Bed Bugs