All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

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 >

Generous parental leave policies at work can do wonders for a new mom’s mental health. This is among the key messages from a new review of 45 studies examining how parental leave policies affect mom and dad’s mental health and well-being. Mothers working for companies with generous parental leave policies were less likely to experience symptoms of depression, poor mental health, psychological distress, burnout, or to require mental health care. The more generous the policy, the greater and more long-lasting the benefits, the new Swedish study showed. “Parental leave was protective against poorer maternal mental health including depressive symptoms, general mental health, psychological distress and burnout; however, improved mental health among mothers was associated with more generous parental leave policies [such as] those with longer length of leave or paid leave,” said study author Amy Heshmati. She is a doctoral student in the department of global public health at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. The findings on dads were less conclusive, but there haven’t been as many studies done on the benefits of father’s paid leave and mental health yet, she noted. Almost all countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) — except the United States — provide new mothers with at least 14 weeks of paid leave around childbirth. New mothers can take up to nine months of paid maternity leave in…  read on >  read on >

Lecanemab: It’s an experimental medication that’s been shown in trials to slow cognitive decline in people with Alzheimer’s disease. It’s also up for accelerated approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, with a decision expected by Jan. 6. However, the drug has also been linked to two deaths from brain bleeds among people who’ve used it in trials, so safety concerns could threaten any approval. If approved, the drug — made by Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai — would follow the controversial drug Aduhelm to become only the second medication ever approved to slow Alzheimer’s disease. Not every patient would stand to benefit from lecanemab, stressed the Cleveland Clinic’s Dr. Babak Tousi. He led the portion of the clinical trial that was conducted at the Cleveland Clinic, in Ohio. “The trial was designed for patients in the earlier stage of Alzheimer’s disease, people with mild cognitive impairment or early stage of dementia,” Tousi noted. “If this medication gets approval, it will probably be for people who have early stage of disease, with no to minimal assistance needed for activities of daily living.” The results of the 18-month trial, which involved about 1,800 patients, gained wide attention when they were published Dec. 1 in the New England Journal of Medicine, Tousi noted. In the trial, early-stage Alzheimer’s patients who took lecanemab showed a 27% reduction in…  read on >  read on >

Cigars are linked with victory, new babies and Winston Churchill, not nicotine addiction, but are they any better for your health than cigarettes? No, say experts who point out the many dangers of cigar smoking. Over the past few decades, through clever marketing, cigar smoking has taken on a rarified aura, with cigar bars and magazines like Cigar Aficionado devoted to a cigar-smoking lifestyle that appeals to male fantasies of power and class. It’s also a way to relax because it is a more leisurely smoke than the frenetic rush of a cigarette. What are cigars made of? Unlike cigarettes, they are all tobacco from the inside to the tobacco leaf wrapper. Do cigars have nicotine? Like cigarettes, they contain nicotine and the same cancer-causing compounds found in cigarettes and are not a safe alternative for smokers. Do you inhale cigars? Some people may think that cigar smoking is less harmful than cigarettes because you don’t inhale. But even if you don’t inhale, large amounts of nicotine can be absorbed through the lining of your mouth. Cigars can be as addictive as cigarettes because it’s the nicotine in tobacco that the body craves. ”While the production, look and consumption of cigars and cigarettes are different, they both pose serious health risks,” Dr. Edwin Lin, a hematology oncology physician at PIH Health Whittier Hospital in California,…  read on >  read on >