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A Small Change In Your Stride Can Ease Knee Arthritis Pain

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Slightly altering your stride while walking could considerably ease pain caused by wear-and-tear knee arthritis, a new study says. Foot positioning while walking can reduce stress on a person’s knee joint, researchers reported Aug. 12 in The Lancet Rheumatology. People trained to angle their feet slightly inward or outward from their natural alignment experienced slower degeneration of the cartilage cushion inside their aching knees, results show. They also reported greater reductions in knee pain and better knee function after a year, researchers said. “Altogether, our findings suggest that helping patients find their best foot angle to reduce stress on their knees may offer an easy and fairly inexpensive way to address early-stage osteoarthritis,” said co-lead researcher Valentina Mazzoli, an assistant professor of radiology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City. This strategy could lower patients’ reliance on painkillers and delay the need for knee replacement surgery, Mazzoli added in a news release. For the study, researchers recruited 68 people with knee osteoarthritis and recorded their gait while walking on a treadmill. A computer program simulated their walking patterns and calculated the maximum stress they were placing on their knees. The research team also generated computer models of four new foot positions angled inward or outward by 5 or 10 degrees and estimated which would best reduce stress on each person’s knees. Participants…  read on >  read on >

A Small Change In Your Stride Can Ease Knee Arthritis Pain

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Slightly altering your stride while walking could considerably ease pain caused by wear-and-tear knee arthritis, a new study says. Foot positioning while walking can reduce stress on a person’s knee joint, researchers reported Aug. 12 in The Lancet Rheumatology. People trained to angle their feet slightly inward or outward from their natural alignment experienced slower degeneration of the cartilage cushion inside their aching knees, results show. They also reported greater reductions in knee pain and better knee function after a year, researchers said. “Altogether, our findings suggest that helping patients find their best foot angle to reduce stress on their knees may offer an easy and fairly inexpensive way to address early-stage osteoarthritis,” said co-lead researcher Valentina Mazzoli, an assistant professor of radiology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City. This strategy could lower patients’ reliance on painkillers and delay the need for knee replacement surgery, Mazzoli added in a news release. For the study, researchers recruited 68 people with knee osteoarthritis and recorded their gait while walking on a treadmill. A computer program simulated their walking patterns and calculated the maximum stress they were placing on their knees. The research team also generated computer models of four new foot positions angled inward or outward by 5 or 10 degrees and estimated which would best reduce stress on each person’s knees. Participants…  read on >  read on >

Dollar Store Eats Aren’t Harming American Diets, Study Says

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Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Family Dollar and other dollar stores are chock full of cheap, highly processed foods — just the sort of eats that can lead to obesity, heart disease and other health problems. But dollar store shoppers are surprisingly savvy, and the foods sold in these discount stores don’t appear to be doing drastic harm to Americans’ overall diets, researchers reported Aug. 11 in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The total number of household calories purchased at dollar stores nearly doubled between 2008 and 2020, rising from 3.4% to 6.5% of a family’s food purchases. But the overall healthfulness of household food purchases has remained similar between those who shop at dollar stores and those who don’t, researchers found. That’s because dollar store shoppers tend to purchase more than 90% of their family’s calories at other stores that offer healthier options, the research team found. “Some people seem to be going to dollar stores strategically to buy sweets and snacks, along with other packaged foods,” senior researcher Sean Cash, chair of agriculture, food and environment at Tufts University in Boston, said in a news release. Dollar stores have exploded in the U.S., with the three major chains operating more than 37,000 U.S. storefronts — more than Starbucks, Walmart, Target and McDonald’s combined, researchers said in background notes. These shops…  read on >  read on >

Dollar Store Eats Aren’t Harming American Diets, Study Says

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Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Family Dollar and other dollar stores are chock full of cheap, highly processed foods — just the sort of eats that can lead to obesity, heart disease and other health problems. But dollar store shoppers are surprisingly savvy, and the foods sold in these discount stores don’t appear to be doing drastic harm to Americans’ overall diets, researchers reported Aug. 11 in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The total number of household calories purchased at dollar stores nearly doubled between 2008 and 2020, rising from 3.4% to 6.5% of a family’s food purchases. But the overall healthfulness of household food purchases has remained similar between those who shop at dollar stores and those who don’t, researchers found. That’s because dollar store shoppers tend to purchase more than 90% of their family’s calories at other stores that offer healthier options, the research team found. “Some people seem to be going to dollar stores strategically to buy sweets and snacks, along with other packaged foods,” senior researcher Sean Cash, chair of agriculture, food and environment at Tufts University in Boston, said in a news release. Dollar stores have exploded in the U.S., with the three major chains operating more than 37,000 U.S. storefronts — more than Starbucks, Walmart, Target and McDonald’s combined, researchers said in background notes. These shops…  read on >  read on >

Phone App Reduces Suicide Among High-Risk Patients

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A mobile smartphone app can help reduce the risk of death among people at high risk for suicide, a new study says. The app, called OTX-202, reduced suicide attempts by 58% among a large group of recently discharged psychiatric patients who had previously attempted suicide, researchers reported Aug. 8 in JAMA Network Open. App users also experienced sustained reductions in their suicidal thoughts for close to six months after their psychiatric hospitalization, researchers said. The app could potentially help fill the gap left by a shortage of therapists available to help troubled individuals manage suicidal thoughts, researchers said. This is particularly important during the high-risk period after a psychiatric patient has been discharged from the hospital, said co-lead researcher Craig Bryan, director of the Suicide Prevention Program at Ohio State University in Columbus. “Although suicide-specific therapy is highly effective for reducing suicidal thoughts and urges, finding therapists who know how to do this life-saving therapy after leaving the hospital can be challenging,” Bryan said in a news release. “OTX-202 provides a possible solution to that problem.” OTX-202 offers a series of 12 lessons each 10 to 15 minutes long providing specific cognitive-behavioral therapy for suicide prevention. For example, the first lesson teaches how to restrict access to potentially lethal means of suicide and how to identify suicidal thoughts and behaviors, the study says. Later lessons…  read on >  read on >

Phone App Reduces Suicide Among High-Risk Patients

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A mobile smartphone app can help reduce the risk of death among people at high risk for suicide, a new study says. The app, called OTX-202, reduced suicide attempts by 58% among a large group of recently discharged psychiatric patients who had previously attempted suicide, researchers reported Aug. 8 in JAMA Network Open. App users also experienced sustained reductions in their suicidal thoughts for close to six months after their psychiatric hospitalization, researchers said. The app could potentially help fill the gap left by a shortage of therapists available to help troubled individuals manage suicidal thoughts, researchers said. This is particularly important during the high-risk period after a psychiatric patient has been discharged from the hospital, said co-lead researcher Craig Bryan, director of the Suicide Prevention Program at Ohio State University in Columbus. “Although suicide-specific therapy is highly effective for reducing suicidal thoughts and urges, finding therapists who know how to do this life-saving therapy after leaving the hospital can be challenging,” Bryan said in a news release. “OTX-202 provides a possible solution to that problem.” OTX-202 offers a series of 12 lessons each 10 to 15 minutes long providing specific cognitive-behavioral therapy for suicide prevention. For example, the first lesson teaches how to restrict access to potentially lethal means of suicide and how to identify suicidal thoughts and behaviors, the study says. Later lessons…  read on >  read on >

Drivers Of Childhood Asthma More Complex Than Thought

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Asthma flare-ups in children might be more complicated than previously thought, with hidden forces combining to restrict their airways, a new study says. About 50% to 60% of children with severe asthma have a type called eosinophilic asthma, which are driven by white blood cells called eosinophils. Treatment of eosinophilic asthma typically involves quelling type 2 (T2) inflammation, an immune response that promotes the production and activation of eosinophils, researchers said in background notes. But some children continue to have asthma attacks even with targeted T2 inflammation therapies, suggesting that other factors are at play, said researcher Dr. Rajesh Kumar, interim division head of allergy and immunology at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Now, a new trial has identified three distinct drivers of asthma flare-ups in children with eosinophilic asthma, according to findings published recently in JAMA Pediatrics. “There are multiple different types of inflammatory responses that are involved in exacerbations, and they’re driving exacerbations differentially based on whether patients have a virus or are taking drugs to block different parts of the inflammatory response,” Kumar said. For the study, researchers analyzed data gathered by a randomized clinical trial testing an injectable drug called mepolizumab, a biologic therapy that targets T2 inflammation. During the clinical trial, 290 children with asthma were treated either with mepolizumab or a placebo for a full…  read on >  read on >

Drivers Of Childhood Asthma More Complex Than Thought

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Asthma flare-ups in children might be more complicated than previously thought, with hidden forces combining to restrict their airways, a new study says. About 50% to 60% of children with severe asthma have a type called eosinophilic asthma, which are driven by white blood cells called eosinophils. Treatment of eosinophilic asthma typically involves quelling type 2 (T2) inflammation, an immune response that promotes the production and activation of eosinophils, researchers said in background notes. But some children continue to have asthma attacks even with targeted T2 inflammation therapies, suggesting that other factors are at play, said researcher Dr. Rajesh Kumar, interim division head of allergy and immunology at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Now, a new trial has identified three distinct drivers of asthma flare-ups in children with eosinophilic asthma, according to findings published recently in JAMA Pediatrics. “There are multiple different types of inflammatory responses that are involved in exacerbations, and they’re driving exacerbations differentially based on whether patients have a virus or are taking drugs to block different parts of the inflammatory response,” Kumar said. For the study, researchers analyzed data gathered by a randomized clinical trial testing an injectable drug called mepolizumab, a biologic therapy that targets T2 inflammation. During the clinical trial, 290 children with asthma were treated either with mepolizumab or a placebo for a full…  read on >  read on >

High Blood Pressure? Try An Indoor Air Purifier

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Folks fighting high blood pressure might receive some help from a household air purifier, a new study says. Even in areas with relatively low air pollution levels, using a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) purifier at home might significantly lower a person’s blood pressure, researchers reported recently in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. “High blood pressure remains one of the most important modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease,” lead author Douglas Brugge, chair of public health sciences at University of Connecticut Health, said in a news release. “This research adds to growing evidence that simple interventions, like in-home air filtration, may help improve heart health for people at risk,” he added. For the study, researchers randomly assigned 154 adults living near highways to use either a HEPA air purifier or a sham device in which the filter had been removed. The participants switched devices after a month and an equal amount of time in between, to give all time with either real or fake air purifiers. Their blood pressure was taken at four times to see how it changed during the study. After a month using real air purifiers, people experienced a significant 2.8-point drop in their systolic blood pressure, or the pressure in their blood vessels during a heartbeat. By comparison, people experienced a slight 0.2-point increase in systolic blood pressure after…  read on >  read on >

High Blood Pressure? Try An Indoor Air Purifier

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Folks fighting high blood pressure might receive some help from a household air purifier, a new study says. Even in areas with relatively low air pollution levels, using a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) purifier at home might significantly lower a person’s blood pressure, researchers reported recently in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. “High blood pressure remains one of the most important modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease,” lead author Douglas Brugge, chair of public health sciences at University of Connecticut Health, said in a news release. “This research adds to growing evidence that simple interventions, like in-home air filtration, may help improve heart health for people at risk,” he added. For the study, researchers randomly assigned 154 adults living near highways to use either a HEPA air purifier or a sham device in which the filter had been removed. The participants switched devices after a month and an equal amount of time in between, to give all time with either real or fake air purifiers. Their blood pressure was taken at four times to see how it changed during the study. After a month using real air purifiers, people experienced a significant 2.8-point drop in their systolic blood pressure, or the pressure in their blood vessels during a heartbeat. By comparison, people experienced a slight 0.2-point increase in systolic blood pressure after…  read on >  read on >