Weekly Gravy « Weekly Gravy

All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Severe sleep apnea is a risk factor for diabetic eye disease that can lead to vision loss and blindness, researchers report. Poor control of diabetes can result in damage to tiny blood vessels at the back of the eye, a condition called diabetic retinopathy. It’s a leading cause of blindness in the United States. In some cases, tiny bulges protrude from the blood vessels and leak fluid and blood into the retina. This fluid can cause swelling (edema) in an area of the retina that enables clear vision and is called macular edema. In this study, researchers in Taiwan examined data from 51 patients over eight years at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taipei. They found that patients with diabetic macular edema had a much higher rate (80.6%) of severe sleep apnea than those without the eye condition (45.5%). The worse the sleep apnea, the more severe the macular edema, according to the study. The researchers also found that severe sleep apnea was more common patients who required more treatment to control their macular edema. These patients needed at least three medical or laser therapy treatments, according to the study. It was to be presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), in San Francisco. “Based on these results, we hope that more medical professionals will approach sleep apnea as… read on >

Certain risk factors in childhood can identify those who are more likely to suffer severe obesity in adulthood, a new study finds. The research included more than 12,000 participants from different countries who were followed from childhood in the 1970s and 1980s into adulthood. In childhood, 82% of the participants had normal weight, 11% were overweight, 5% were obese and 2% were severely obese. About 20 years later, 41% had normal weight, 32% were overweight, 15% were obese and 12% were severely obese, the findings showed. Obesity rates were higher among Americans than participants from other nations, according to the study, which was led by researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Severe obesity is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or higher. In the study, those who were severely obese as children had the highest risk of severe obesity as adults. But the researchers noted that more than one-third of severely obese adults had normal weight as children. “The risk of severe obesity in adulthood was substantially higher for girls than boys, for black participants than white, and for those with lower education levels,” study leader Jessica Woo said in a medical center news release. “Early prevention and treatment are critical, because severe adult obesity has significant adverse health outcomes, such as diabetes and heart disease,” Woo added. “And unfortunately,… read on >

Beyonce Knowles’ father first suspected something was wrong when he noticed a dot of blood that kept appearing on his shirts and bedsheets. “Imagine a piece of white paper and you took a red pen and just put a dot,” Mathew Knowles told the New York Times. “That’s what it looked like in my T-shirt.” Knowles scheduled a mammogram in July after he squeezed a nipple and a bit of bloody discharge came out. The diagnosis: stage 1A breast cancer. Knowles is one of about 2,670 cases of breast cancer that will occur among men in 2019, according to the American Cancer Society. About 500 men die from breast cancer every year. “Most men who get breast cancer usually present with a mass behind the nipple,” said Dr. Hank Schmidt, an associate professor of surgery with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. It’s an extremely rare form of cancer in men, and male breast cancer accounts for just 1% of all breast cancer cases, said Dr. Siddhartha Yadav, a hematology-oncology fellow with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Men just don’t have as much breast tissue in which a tumor could grow, Yadav said. They also don’t have high levels of the female hormone estrogen, which can fuel breast cancer. “Men just don’t have that kind of exposure,” Yadav said. About 9 out… read on >

Whether you’re tailgating, cooking for a potluck or bringing in a treat for co-workers, keep safety in mind to avoid food-borne illnesses. Safe handling is always important, but it’s an even bigger priority when you’re away from your kitchen, without the benefit of your fridge and oven to control food temperatures. The key is to plan ahead to keep food safe until eaten. The golden rule is to keep cold foods cold — below 40 degrees, and keep hot foods hot — above 140 degrees. Keeping cold food cold means you’ll need to use a cooler with cold packs or lots of ice, and keep it in the shade. Foods that don’t need to be stored in the cooler include whole fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, and peanut butter and jelly. If you’ll be cooking, such as grilling, at the venue, carry raw food in its own cooler, double wrapped in plastic to contain any juices. Bring disposable wipes for hand washing. If you’re taking food to a friend’s home for a BBQ, for instance, keep meat and poultry refrigerated until ready to put on the grill. Since food may brown before it’s cooked through, test with an instant-read thermometer for safety. Best Internal Temperature for Cooked Meats Red meat: 145 degrees All ground meat: 160 degrees Poultry: 165 degrees If cooking in batches, place… read on >

Want to add pizzazz to your morning bowl of oats? Here’s how to spice things up and boost the nutrition. Oats are rich in important minerals like manganese, which plays a role in controlling blood sugar. They also happen to be very high in fiber, important for gut and heart health. Nuts and seeds are great toppings for oats that you might be enjoying already. But adding fruit and spices boosts the antioxidant level of your breakfast with very few extra calories. The following recipe hits the mark on many counts. It includes turmeric, a healing spice with thousands of medical studies behind it. Turmeric also tastes great when combined with fruit, so this recipe includes mango, rich in vitamins A and C, among others. Black pepper adds a pinch of heat and helps turbo-charge turmeric’s healing properties. Like turmeric, cinnamon is full of antibacterial compounds and has a naturally sweet flavor. Coconut is high in fiber and its fats help curb hunger. Mango-Coconut Oats 1 cup rolled oats 1-3/4 cups unsweetened coconut milk 1 cup diced mango 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 4 tablespoons shredded coconut Place oats in a small saucepan with the coconut milk. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, cover and cook 8 to 10 minutes. While the oats cook, make… read on >

(HealthDay News) — Pregnant women should not ride roller coasters or other jarring rides at the amusement park, says the American Pregnancy Association. The rapid starts and stops and jerky motions that characterize these rides can lead to premature separation of the placenta, the group says. Premature separation has occurred among many women in car accidents. Currently, there are no studies documenting the safety of thrill rides for pregnant women. But the American Pregnancy Association suggests playing it safe, recommending that pregnant women avoid such rides altogether.

SATURDAY, Oct. 12, 2019Fall can be a challenging time of the year for kids with asthma, an expert says. “Although asthma can flare up for a number of reasons, a lot of people with allergies also have asthma, and asthma can be triggered by allergies. So the fall is a tough time for asthmatic sufferers,” said Dr. Gaurav Kumar, a pediatrician at LifeBridge Health in Baltimore. While many kids do well with their asthma during the summer, problems often accompany the return to school. “You go from taking these outdoor summer vacations to now being in a classroom again,” Kumar explained. “So now you’re in contact with people in closed spaces. And of course, what happens is germs are more likely to spread that way. So you could get colds from friends who have colds, and then that becomes a trigger for asthma.” Parents need to make sure their child’s asthma is under control. If a child stopped taking preventive asthma medications regularly during the summer, they should resume daily use now, Kumar advised. Children with asthma should have checkups at least once a year, and in some cases as often as three or four times a year. “An asthma checkup is an opportunity for us to reassess how the year has gone and to make plans in anticipation of what might happen,” Kumar said… read on >

(HealthDay News) — More than 5,000 motorcyclists were killed in crashes in 2017 alone, says the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. To stay safer on the road, the agency encourages motorcyclists to: Practice operating your motorcycle before taking it into traffic. Check your motorcycle’s tire pressure, tread depth, breaks, lights and fluid levels before riding. Wear a helmet that meets federal safety standards and proper body protection. Obey traffic lights, signs, speed limits and lane markings. Stay alcohol- and drug -ree.

Chemotherapy can be hard on the heart, but an individualized exercise program may mitigate some of that damage, new research suggests. Heart problems are a common side effect in patients with cancer because cancer treatments can impair heart function and structure or accelerate development of heart disease, especially when patients have risk factors such as high blood pressure, according to the authors. They also noted that heart disease and cancer often share the same risk factors, and that cancer patients are often advised to have a healthy diet, quit smoking, control their weight, and exercise. The review paper, published online Oct. 6 in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, emphasizes the importance of each patient having an individual exercise plan that takes into account personal history, cancer treatment, response to exercise and personal preferences. The researchers advised that exercise should start as soon as possible after cancer diagnosis, even before starting treatment such as chemotherapy. “Cancer patients are often less active than adults without cancer,” said study author Dr. Flavio D’Ascenzi, a cardiologist from the University of Siena in Italy. “However, exercise is essential for patients diagnosed with cancer who are under treatment, irrespective of the type of treatment. “Endurance training is more effective for improving cardiovascular performance and reducing inflammation, but resistance training may be a better starting point for frail cancer patients,” he… read on >

Weekly Gravy

Look Good – Feel Good – Feed Good

A little about: Weekly Gravy

All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Sleep Apnea Linked to Diabetic Eye Disease

Childhood Risk Factors Can Predict Adult Obesity

Beyonce’s Dad Puts Spotlight on Male Breast Cancer

Put Safety First When Planning to Pack Food-to-Go

How to Spice Up Everyday Oatmeal

Health Tip: Pregnancy and Amusement Park Rides

A Parent’s Guide to Managing Kids’ Asthma During the Fall

A Parent’s Guide to Managing Kids’ Asthma During the Fall

Health Tip: Practicing Motorcycle Safety

Exercise Might Guard Against Heart Damage of Chemo