All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Removing the tonsils and adenoids can improve the sleep of kids with mild breathing problems that disturb their slumber, a new clinical trial reports. Children with sleep problems needed to see a doctor 32% less often and had a 48% reduction in medication use after surgical removal of their tonsils and adenoids (adenotonsillectomy), researchers reported in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. The results mean that “for every 100 children, 125 encounters and 253 prescriptions can be avoided in the first year following surgery,” senior researcher Dr. Susan Redline, a professor of sleep medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said in a news release. As many as 17% of kids in the U.S. experience sleep-disordered breathing, in which snoring or full-blown sleep apnea causes them to wake repeatedly in the night, according to information cited in the news release. Taking out enlarged tonsils is standard treatment for moderate to severe cases, but the practice hadn’t been tested in kids with mild sleep-disturbed breathing. For this study, researchers analyzed data from a clinical trial involving 459 children with mild sleep-disordered breathing who were followed for a year. The kids were 3 to 12 and being treated at seven academic sleep centers across the U.S. During the trial, half the children had their tonsils and adenoids removed while the other half received supportive care without surgery that included education…  read on >  read on >

Dancing is known to lift the spirit, and a new study shows that Alzheimer’s disease patients respond to the rhythmic moves as well. Dance classes eased agitation in a small group of people with Alzheimer’s disease and other related dementias, researchers reported in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. “This study highlights how movement-based interventions, like adapted dance, can be a meaningful way to improve both physical and emotional well-being for individuals with dementia,” researcher Rodney Guttmann, interim chair of biology with the University of West Florida, said in a news release. The three-month study took place in The Retreat, an adult day care fun by the Council on Aging of West Florida. “I was fortunate to witness the dancing intervention multiple times in person, and the activity was so well-run and fun that I could see morale, comprehension and physical ability among the participants improve in real time,” Council on Aging President and CEO Josh Newby said in a news release. For the study, researcher recruited four men and 12 women with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia. Half of the participants were randomly assigned to take hour-long dance classes twice a week for three months, while the other half participated in activities without music like bingo, puzzles, crafts, cards and board games. Those in the dance group were taught six different routines like the box…  read on >  read on >

TikTok’s most popular videos on ADHD are as likely to misinform viewers as they are to provide helpful hints, a new study says. More than half the claims made in the 100 most-viewed TikTok videos about attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are not accurate, researchers reported in the journal PLOS One. Unfortunately, college students are more likely to rate videos containing bad information as accurate and recommend them to others, results show. “TikTok can be an incredible tool for raising awareness and reducing stigma, but it also has a downside,” lead researcher Vasileia Karasavva, a doctoral student in clinical psychology at the University of British Columbia, said in a news release. “Anecdotes and personal experiences are powerful, but when they lack context, they can lead to misunderstandings about ADHD and mental health in general,” Karasavva added. For the study, researchers identified the 100 most popular TikTok videos with the #ADHD hashtag, and had two clinical psychologists who are ADHD experts review the video’s claims. “The creators of the top 100 #ADHD TikTok videos regularly contributed such content; almost 80% had posted multiple videos discussing ADHD,” researchers wrote in their paper. The psychologists judged that only about 49% of the claims made in the TikTok videos were accurate based on diagnostic guidelines for ADHD, the study says. In their next step, researchers surveyed nearly 850 college undergrads about…  read on >  read on >

Where a person lives can influence their recovery from a traumatic brain injury, a new study says. Based on their neighborhood’s characteristics, people are less likely to receive home rehab visits or go to a rehab clinic following a concussion or other traumatic brain injury (TBI), researchers report in the March/April issue of the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation. The results indicate a “need to improve access to rehabilitation services for persons with TBI living in communities with greater social needs,” concluded the research team led by Monique Pappadis, vice chair of population health and health disparities with the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. For the study, researchers analyzed data on more than 19,000 Medicare patients in Texas treated for a traumatic brain injury between 2014 and 2018. About 48% of the patients received home health rehabilitation services, and another 14% attended rehab at a clinic. The rest received no rehab at all. Results showed that: Patients in higher-income areas or areas with higher unemployment rates were less likely to receive home health visits. Rural patients and those in areas with lower insurance coverage were less likely to receive rehab at a clinic. Patients who lived near grocery stores were more likely to have home health visits. People in areas with severe housing problems were more likely to have outpatient visits. Overall, some…  read on >  read on >

Lower doses of a common antibiotic can curb hair loss caused by a rare skin condition, a new study says. The antibiotic doxycycline is commonly used to treat lymphocytic scarring alopecia, a condition in which the body’s immune cells target hair follicles, researchers said. But the relatively high doses of doxycycline used to prevent hair loss and scarring aren’t necessary, according to findings published March 18 in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. That means these patients can receive effective treatment without the nausea, vomiting and rashes that can accompany high doses of doxycycline, researchers said. “Our findings suggest that physicians can prescribe lower doses of doxycycline to patients struggling with lymphocytic scarring alopecia without compromising the efficacy and anti-inflammatory benefit of the therapy,” co-lead researcher Carli Needle, a medical student at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City, said in a news release. For the study, researchers analyzed medical data for more than 240 men and women treated for lymphocytic scarring alopecia between 2009 and 2023. About 27% of patients had been prescribed low doses of doxycycline, and 73% the traditional high doses, researchers said. Results showed that lower doxycycline doses of around 20 milligrams twice daily were equally as effective as higher doses of up to 100 milligrams twice daily. Specifically, there was no significant difference in scalp inflammation,…  read on >  read on >

Elderly people benefit from taking medications to keep their blood pressure low, same as younger folks, a new study says. Systolic blood pressure kept under 130 reduces the risk of heart-related death by about 26% among people 80 or older, researchers reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. “We found that people with blood pressure below 130 have a lower risk of dying from heart disease and stroke,” senior researcher Yuan Lu, an assistant professor of cardiology at Yale School of Medicine, said in an ACC podcast on the study. “Blood pressure above 145 was linked to a higher risk of heart-related death.” America’s leading heart health groups tightened blood pressure guidelines in 2017, setting 130 systolic as the new number at which anyone could be diagnosed as having high blood pressure. Systolic blood pressure is the pressure inside blood vessels during a heartbeat. Prior to that, the threshold was 140 for people younger than 65 and 150 for seniors 65 and older.  However, “the evidence regarding optimal blood pressure targets for adults aged greater than 80 years remains limited and inconsistent across various guidelines,” researchers said in their new paper. That’s because major blood pressure studies have either excluded people 80 and older, or have not been able to perform sufficient follow-up, researchers said in background notes. “The key question is,…  read on >  read on >

Microplastics that invade and burrow deep within the human body are becoming an increasing concern among doctors and health experts. Now, a new study shows that even medical care is causing increased exposure to the tiny plastic particles. Microplastics can be found in the solutions administered through plastic IV bags, researchers recently reported in the journal Environment & Health. In fact, thousands of plastic particles could be delivered directly to a person’s bloodstream from a single standard 8.4-ounce bag of IV fluid, researchers said. “Our findings highlight an aspect of plastic pollution that affects humans most directly, as microplastics are being injected into the bloodstream,” concluded the research team led by senior researcher Liwu Zhang, a professor with the Fudan University Department of Environmental Science & Engineering in Shanghai, China. Studies have tied microplastics to a range of health problems, a recent Forbes article noted. These include dementia and brain health, heart disease, stroke, reproductive issues and infant illnesses. Microplastics have been found in human blood, and they tend to accumulate in organs like the lungs, liver, kidneys and spleen, researchers said in background notes. A study published earlier this year in Nature found that the amount of microplastics found in human brains has increased by about 50% — the equivalent of a plastic spoon in weight. For the new study, researchers purchased two different…  read on >  read on >

Health officials are warning about a rise in injuries linked to the misuse of nitrous oxide, aka laughing gas. The gas, which is used medically as a sedative and in whipped cream cans, is now being sold in small, flavored canisters with names such as Cosmic Gas, Galaxy Gas and MassGass. On Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning that inhaling nitrous oxide to get high can cause dangerously low blood pressure, leading to fainting and injuries.  The administration highlighted that these products, often in colorful packaging, are available at gas stations, vape shops and online. Nitrous oxide can briefly cut off oxygen to the brain, which can be extremely dangerous. While manufacturers claim their products are “for culinary use only,” videos of people inhaling them for recreational purposes have circulated on social media for years. The FDA has seen a rise in reports of health issues related to nitrous oxide, and poison control centers have received more emergency calls from people collapsing after using it. “The FDA advises consumers to not misuse or inhale nitrous oxide products,” the statement said. “These products can result in serious adverse health effects, including death, when inhaled.” No federal laws restrict the sale of nitrous oxide, though some states have set age limits.  The FDA regulates it as a medical product when used by…  read on >  read on >

Nearly 1 in 3 children live with a chronic condition that could significantly affect their health for the rest of their lives, a new study says. Chronic illnesses affected more than 30% of children ages 5 to 17 by 2018, up from around 23% in 1999, researchers report in the journal Academic Pediatrics. This adds up to about 130,000 more children each year being diagnosed with a chronic illness. This increase has been driven by diagnoses of ADHD/ADD, autism, asthma, prediabetes and mood disorders like depression or anxiety, lead researcher Lauren Wisk, an assistant professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, said in a news release. “The prevalence of childhood conditions is currently higher than previous estimates suggest,” she said. “Youth who are subject to socioeconomic vulnerability such as having less education, lower income, are on public insurance, or unemployed are all more likely to live with a chronic condition than youth with socioeconomic advantages.” For the study, researchers analyzed data on more than 236,000 people between 5 and 25 years of age who participated in the National Health Interview Survey between 1999 and 2018. The results also showed that chronic illness increased among 18- to 25-year-olds, rising from about 19% to 29% between 1999 and 2018 — an additional 80,000 young adults per year. Nearly all these conditions are…  read on >  read on >

The blues and the jitters are very common among people battling chronic pain, a new evidence review says. About 40% of adults with chronic pain have symptoms of depression or anxiety, researchers report in JAMA Network Open. Women, younger adults and people suffering from fibromyalgia are particularly vulnerable to mood disorders caused by chronic pain, researchers found. “People who have chronic pain are more likely than those who don’t to have depression and anxiety,” lead researcher Rachel Aaron, an assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in a news release. “This is a significant public health problem that should be addressed with routine screening of depression and anxiety in clinical settings and the development of novel treatments that target their (mood disorder),” Aaron said. At the same time, she added, this is also a story of resilience.  “Most people with chronic pain do not have depression or anxiety,” Aaron said. “These results challenge the ableist narrative that chronic pain is inherently depressing and remind us that people with chronic pain can and do lead psychologically healthy, fulfilling, lives.” About 21% of U.S. adults have a condition that causes chronic pain, researchers said in background notes. For the study, researchers pooled data from 376 studies conducted in 50 countries involving nearly 350,000 people. The average age of…  read on >  read on >