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COVID-19 patients face a markedly greater risk for developing persistently high blood pressure, even if they never had blood pressure concerns before, new research indicates. The rise in risk seen among otherwise heart-healthy patients also appeared to be notably greater among COVID patients than in influenza patients. The findings, said senior study author Tim Duong, are the “first to my knowledge.” Duong is a vice chair of research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. He stressed that the increased risk seen among COVID patients is not limited to those with severe illness. At an average six months after initial infection, just over a fifth of patients who had been hospitalized with COVID developed high blood pressure, despite no prior blood pressure problems, the study found. That figure fell to just below 11% among COVID patients who were never hospitalized, Duong said. The findings were published Aug. 21 in the journal Hypertension. A prior history of high blood pressure does tend to boost the risk of more serious COVID symptoms and hospitalization. The new study focused on patients with no prior heart or vascular complications. Researchers reviewed the medical records of more than 45,000 COVID patients. Of those, roughly 28,500 had no history of high blood pressure. All were initially infected with COVID between March 2020 and… read on > read on >

When U.S. parents express their concerns about their school-aged children, social media use and the internet are at the top of the list. Mental health issues are another top worry, according to the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health. “Parents still view problems directly impacting physical health, including unhealthy eating and obesity, as important children’s health issues, said pediatrician Dr. Susan Woolford, co-director of the poll. “But these have been overtaken by concerns about mental health, social media and screen time,” Woolford said in a Michigan Medicine news release. Two-thirds of parents surveyed reported that they are worried about children’s increased time on devices, including overall screen time and use of social media. Those were the No.1 and No.2 concerns on the list this year. “Children are using digital devices and social media at younger ages, and parents may struggle with how to appropriately monitor use to prevent negative impacts on safety, self-esteem, social connections and habits that may interfere with sleep and other areas of health,” Woolford said. Screen time became a growing concern for parents during the pandemic, previous reports have suggested. Woolford encourages parents to regularly evaluate their kids’ use of technology. Certain social media and device settings can also help protect kids. Mental and emotional health were among the other top concerns. The majority… read on > read on >

Walkable neighborhoods — with sidewalks, parks and paths — encourage pregnant women to get more exercise, which leads to good outcomes for both mom and baby. New research looks at the influence of these walkable communities on this activity, which is considered safe for pregnant women. “Gestational diabetes is a growing issue and low birth weight and preterm babies are always a concern, they can just have so many more complications,” said Karen Conway, a professor at University of New Hampshire Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics. “At the end of the day, the data shows walkable communities mean mom and the baby are both in better health.” To study this, Conway and co-author Andrea Menclova, associate professor of economics at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, combined walkability measures created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with federal government data on physical activity and pregnancy outcomes. A 10-point increase in the walkability index — the equivalent of transitioning from the “least walkable” to the “most walkable” category — was associated with a more than 70-minute increase in weekly exercise among pregnant women. That same change increased the likelihood of a full-term birth by almost a full percentage point. It also led to a 27-gram (nearly 1 ounce) increase in birth weight; a 27% reduction in likelihood of gestational diabetes, and… read on > read on >

People may assume that a COVID-19 infection protects them the next time they encounter the virus, but that’s not necessarily true. A new study of 750 vaccinated seniors living in retirement homes and long-term care facilities found that those infected during the first omicron wave were actually more vulnerable to reinfection with a later wave. “This research highlights the need for continued vigilance and underscores the importance of ongoing preventive measures against COVID-19,” said study co-author Dawn Bowdish, an immunologist and associate professor of medicine at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. “We must remain cautious and proactive in our approach to protecting public health,” she said in a university news release. Bowdish and her colleagues said the findings underscore the need to consider COVID vaccine boosters this fall. This should serve as a warning that there are still unknowns about how previous infections will affect susceptibility to the variants now in circulation, said co-author Andrew Costa, an epidemiologist and associate professor in McMaster’s Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact. “These findings strongly suggest broader research is required to understand whether the wider population shares the same susceptibility as the seniors our group studied,” Costa said in the release. “Until we know more, we think it’s smart for everyone to protect themselves.” Bowdish said long-term care residents are easier to study because COVID-19 infections… read on > read on >

Women who have larger breasts tend to exercise less or less intensely, according to a new study that suggests having breast reduction surgery could be a game changer. Australian researchers looking at exercise participation for women in this category called for more accessible, publicly funded breast reduction and other interventions. The study used survey results from nearly 2,000 women who were in the involved in the Parkrun program, which promotes 5K running and walking events. Participants were in Australia, England and South Africa. Women with bigger breasts reported that reducing their breast size would improve their exercise performance and frequency. And among the survey participants, the 56 women who had already undergone breast reduction surgery said they lead healthier and more active lifestyles. “Women who had undergone breast reduction reported increased overall frequency, enjoyment and willingness to exercise in a group,” said lead author Dr. Claire Baxter, a clinical registrar in reconstructive surgery at the Flinders Medical Centre in Bedford Park, Australia. “Our study found that breast size affects exercise habits and that breast reduction surgery changes their willingness to exercise,” she said in a Flinders news release. The study promotes the importance of regular exercise for weight and ischemic heart disease and also points out barriers for Australian Government subsidies for reduction mammoplasty. “As well as the need for patients to have macromastia [enlarged… read on > read on >

Video games and social media are keeping school kids up at night, according to a new survey from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM). But so, too, are more constructive pursuits, including homework and extracurricular activities, which can be a problem when it comes to setting a good sleep routine early in the school year. “Getting enough sleep is just as crucial as nutrition and exercise when it comes to a child’s overall health and well-being,” said Dr. Anne Marie Morse, a pediatric sleep physician and AASM spokesperson. “When a child achieves healthy sleep, they’re more likely to look, feel and act their best, which allows them to stay focused and alert in the classroom, on the field and in their extracurriculars,” Morse said in an academy news release. Half of parents surveyed by AASM blamed video games for disrupting kids’ sleep. About 44% blamed social media; 34%, homework; and 28%, extracurriculars. The academy offered some tips to offset these disruptors. Start by avoiding caffeine after school in sodas, coffee and energy drinks. These make it harder to fall asleep at night. Restrict screen time before bed. Encourage your child to disconnect from all electronic devices 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime, AASM recommends. This will help them wind down for the night. Keep electronics in another room, not the bedroom, to avoid temptation.… read on > read on >

Phillip Durst was working near an industrial dishwasher when something went awry, and the machinery spewed caustic chemicals into his eyes. “If I had been standing a foot left or right, it wouldn’t have hit me right where it did. I was just standing in the wrong place,” said Durst, 51, of Birmingham, Ala. The chemicals caused severe burns to his eyes, blinding him. “I can’t describe the pain — more pain than I’ve ever been in,” Durst recalled of the April 2017 incident. “I’ve had broken bones, stitches in my head, crashed on skateboard ramps, you name it. I’ve hit and hurt myself so many times, the sins of my youth, and I’ve never felt anything so intense or so unreal in my life. “I was clawing at my face, just trying to get my left eye open to get some sort of water flush solution in it,” he continued. “At one point I asked somebody to pick me up and turn me upside down in a 25-gallon sink that we had been filling with water. I was squeezing lemons into my eyes (in an attempt to neutralize the chemicals). That was preferable to the pain I was feeling.” At first, it appeared Durst might be permanently blinded. The injury had clouded over his corneas and blocked his eyes’ natural ability to regenerate healthy… read on > read on >

The brain is a complex organ, and a new study — believed to be the largest ever on the brain’s genetics — identifies more than 4,000 genetic variants linked to brain structure. The research, involving some 36,000 brain scans, was led by a team at the University of Cambridge in England. Brains are quite varied in terms of overall volume, how the brain is folded and how thick the folds are, according to the researchers. The new work shows that how the brain develops is partly genetic, said study co-author Dr. Varun Warrier, who is with the university’s Autism Research Center. “Our findings can be used to understand how changes in the shape and size of the brain can lead to neurological and psychiatric conditions, potentially leading to better treatment and support for those who need it,” Warrier said in a university news release. For the study, researchers accessed MRI scans from more than 32,000 adults from the UK Biobank cohort and over 4,000 children from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study in the United States. The investigators measured multiple properties of the outermost layer of the brain, called the cortex. This included measuring the area and volume of the cortex and how it is folded. “One question that has interested us for a while is if the same genes that are linked to… read on > read on >

Teens’ desire to start smoking, and later to keep smoking, may be linked to differences in gray matter in their brains, a new study reveals. Researchers found that reduced gray matter in the left frontal lobe was found in kids who started smoking by age 14. This area is involved in decision-making and rule-breaking. Once they started smoking, they also had reduced gray matter in the right frontal lobe, a region associated with seeking pleasure. “Smoking is perhaps the most common addictive behavior in the world, and a leading cause of adult mortality,” said co-senior author Trevor Robbins, a professor in the Department of Psychology at the U.K.’s Cambridge University. “The initiation of a smoking habit is most likely to occur during adolescence. Any way of detecting an increased chance of this, so we can target interventions, could help save millions of lives.” Gray matter is brain tissue that processes information and contains all of the brain’s neurons. Growth of gray matter peaks before adolescence. The evidence that these teens had low gray matter volume in the left side of the prefrontal cortex may be an “inheritable biomarker” for nicotine addiction, the study authors suggested. The loss of gray matter in the right prefrontal cortex appeared to speed up only after someone started smoking. “In our study, reduced gray matter in the left prefrontal cortex… read on > read on >

Heavy screen users often buy blue light-filtering eyeglasses to protect their eyes — but they may be wasting their money, a new study suggests. A new research review suggests these blue light-filtering glasses probably make no difference to eye strain, eye health or sleep quality, at least in the short term. And it’s still unclear whether these glasses protect against retina damage because the research did not evaluate this, according to findings published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. “We found there may be no short-term advantages with using blue light-filtering spectacle lenses to reduce visual fatigue associated with computer use, compared to non-blue light-filtering lenses. It is also currently unclear whether these lenses affect vision quality or sleep-related outcomes, and no conclusions could be drawn about any potential effects on retinal health in the longer term,” said senior author Laura Downie. She heads the Downie Laboratory at the University of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. “People should be aware of these findings when deciding whether to purchase these spectacles,” Downie added in a Cochrane news release. Researchers reviewed 17 randomized controlled trials from six countries. The studies’ size ranged from just five participants to 156. Study length varied from one day to five weeks. The quality and duration of the studies need to be considered, Downie said. “We performed the systematic review to Cochrane… read on > read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

COVID May Help Trigger High Blood Pressure

Social Media Is Parents’ Top Concern as Kids Head Back to School: Poll

Great Step for Baby: Walkable Neighborhoods Linked to Safer Pregnancies

Does Prior Omicron Infection Shield Against Future Infection? Maybe Not

Women With Larger Breasts May Be Less Likely to Exercise, Study Finds

The #1 Enemy of Good Sleep for School Kids: Screens

Blinded by Chemical Burns, Patients Regained Sight With New Stem Cell Therapy

Gene Study Reveals Brain’s Complex Organization

Does Smoking Change the Teenage Brain?

No Evidence ‘Blue Light-Filtering’ Glasses Actually Help Eyes

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