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Tiny puffs from asthma inhalers could be causing big climate problems for Mother Earth, a new study warns. Each inhaler dose contains some of the most potent greenhouse gases known, and they are adding up, researchers reported recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association. By the time some inhalers are empty, they have emitted as much greenhouse gas as an average car driven 60 miles, researchers found. Further, the more than 70 million inhalers prescribed in the United States each year contribute more air pollution than the annual electricity use of 200,000 American homes, the researchers added. “There was a really wide range of emissions between different inhaler types, and it turns out that in the U.S. we’re still mostly prescribing the inhalers that are the worst when it comes to emissions,” said lead researcher Dr. Jyothi Tirumalasetty, a clinical assistant professor of pulmonary, allergy and critical care medicine at Stanford University. “But there are some easy replacements for those inhalers, and we hope that patients and providers consider emissions when they choose an inhaler,” Tirumalasetty added in a university news release. There are three main types of inhalers, researchers said: Metered-dose inhalers that use propellant gas to drive medication deep into the lungs Dry-powder inhalers that contain medicine dust that patients must breathe in Soft-mist inhalers that turn liquid medication into an… read on > read on >

Newfangled designs intended to make football helmets more protective have overlooked one key component, a new study suggests. Nearly a third of concussions in pro football involve impacts to the facemask, a part of the helmet that has remained mostly unchanged during the past decade, researchers say. Facemask enhancements could help protect players and minimize injury risk, the study concluded. These findings “suggest that facemask redesign should be the focus of future innovation that can continue to improve the safety of football players at all skill levels,” said lead researcher Kristy Arbogast, scientific director of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention and co-director of the Minds Matter Concussion Program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. For the study, researchers used mouthpieces fitted with motion sensors to track head impacts that NFL players sustained during games. Nearly 100 players wore the mouthpieces during NFL seasons running from 2019 through 2022, and data was captured on more than 5,100 blows to the head that occurred during play. Facemask impacts represented nearly 60% of the most severe head blows during play. Impacts to the facemask were most common among linemen (66%), followed by hybrid players (56%) and speed players (46%). “The sophisticated and specific data collection from sensor technologies like instrumented mouthguards are providing a deeper understanding about the nature of impacts players experience on the field,”… read on > read on >

Ozempic and its weight-loss cousin, Wegovy, outperform another longstanding weight-loss drug that targets the same hormone associated with blood sugar and appetite, a new study finds. Ozempic and Wegovy (semaglutide) promoted the loss of 10% or more body weight in 61% of people being treated for obesity and 23% being treated for diabetes after a year on the drugs, researchers reported Sept. 13 in the journal JAMA Network Open. By comparison, Saxenda (liraglutide) prompted similar weight loss in only 29% of those being treated for obesity and 12% being treated for type 2 diabetes. Studies have shown that losing 10% or more of body weight provides clinically significant health benefits, researchers said. This sort of weight loss can improve blood sugar levels and even put diabetes into remission for some, according to the National Institutes of Health. It can also improve cholesterol levels and promote heart health. “We found that long-term weight reduction varied significantly based on the medication’s active agent, treatment indication, dosage and persistence with the medication,” said lead investigator Hamlet Gasoyan, a researcher with the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Value-Based Care Research. The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute. Liraglutide was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2010 to treat type 2 diabetes and in 2014 to treat obesity. Semaglutide is more recent, having received approval in… read on > read on >

Over 5 million Americans could benefit if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves the “magic mushroom” psychedelic psilocybin as a treatment for depression, researchers estimate. “While our analysis is a crucial first step, we’ve only scratched the surface in understanding the true public health impact psilocybin therapy may have,” said study co-author Dr. Charles Raison. He’s professor of psychiatry and human ecology at the University of Wisconsin, in Madison. Shunned for decades as an illicit drug, psilocybin has undergone a kind of rebirth in recent years as studies have suggested that — given in a controlled, supervised manner — it might help ease tough-to-treat depression. The drug is now under consideration by the FDA as a possible new treatment for depression. Just how many Americans might stand to benefit? To find out, Raison and colleagues looked at national data on the prevalence of depression, as well as patient criteria (sourced from recent clinical trials) that might make a person eligible for psilocybin therapy. The result: In the mid-range of estimates, anywhere from 56% to 62% of Americans currently being treated for depression could be eligible to try psilocybin. That’s anywhere from 5.1 million to 5.6 million potential patients, according to the researchers. The number could even grow higher if people currently untreated for their depression decide they would like to try psilocybin, the investigators noted. “This underscores… read on > read on >

Smokers who make the decision to quit will see almost immediate health benefits, including a quick drop in their risk for atrial fibrillation, new research shows. “The findings provide a compelling new reason to show current smokers that it’s not too late to quit and that having smoked in the past doesn’t mean you’re ‘destined’ to develop A-Fib,” said study senior author Dr. Gregory Marcus. “Even for the current and longtime smoker, A-Fib can still be avoided,” said Marcus, a cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco. His team published its findings Sept. 11 in JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology. With A-Fib, the upper chambers of the heart, called the atria, start to beat irregularly. This allows blood to pool and potentially clot in the atria, increasing a person’s risk of stroke. “There’s strong evidence that smoking increases the risk of A-Fib, but the benefits of quitting smoking have been less certain,” Marcus said. “We wanted to determine whether quitting smoking could lower a person’s risk of developing A-Fib or if the risk would stay the same.” To find out, they looked at British data on over 146,700 current or former smokers whose smoking history and health was tracked for 12 years in the UK Biobank database. Folks who were former smokers (before they joined the study) had a 13% lower odds for A-Fib than current… read on > read on >

Initially approved to treat type 2 diabetes, Ozempic and Mounjaro also can help people with type 1 diabetes lose weight and control their blood sugar levels, a new study finds. Overweight or obese type 1 diabetics taking Mounjaro were able to reduce the amount of daily insulin they needed, researchers reported Thursday at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes annual meeting in Madrid. And both drugs helped patients lose weight, which can improve blood sugar control, researchers said. Ozempic (semaglutide) and Mounjaro (tirzepatide) help the body produce more insulin when needed — something that won’t help type 1 diabetics, who have lost the ability to produce any insulin. However, the drugs also slow down digestion of food and reduce the amount of glucose produced by the liver, both of which should help some type 1 diabetics control blood sugar levels, researchers said. “Some of the mechanisms through which semaglutide and tirzepatide lower blood sugar in type 2 diabetes are also likely to be relevant in type 1 diabetes,” said lead researcher Janet Snell-Bergeon, a professor with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. For this study, researchers analyzed medical data for 100 adults with type 1 diabetes, half of whom where prescribed Ozempic and the other half Mounjaro. Both drugs prompted weight loss. Type 1 diabetics lost an average of 9% of their… read on > read on >

Humans could learn a few medical tips from their gorilla cousins, a new study says. Four plants used by wild gorillas in Gabon have antibacterial and antioxidant properties, researcher reported Sept. 11 in the journal PLOS One. Wild great apes often self-medicate, consuming medicinal plants that can treat their ailments, researchers said. Observing gorillas, researchers identified four native plant species they regularly use: the fromager tree (Ceiba pentandra), giant yellow mulberry (Myrianthus arboreus), African teak (Milicia excelsa) and fig trees (Ficus). The bark of all four plants demonstrated antibacterial activity against at least one antibiotic-resistant strain of E. coli, researchers discovered in lab tests. One in particular, the fromager tree, showed “remarkable activity” against all tested E. coli strains. All four plants also contain compounds that have medicinal effects, including phenols, alkaloids, flavonoids and proanthocyanidins, researchers said. Interviews with 27 people living in a nearby village found that these plants are used in local traditional medicine, the researchers added. Biodiverse regions like central Africa are home to a huge reservoir of potentially medicinal plants, researchers said. By paying attention to wild great apes, humans might be able to find new means of combatting antibacterial-resistant germs. “Alternative medicines and therapies offer definite hope for the resolution of many present and future public health problems,” wrote the research team led by senior investigator Sylvain Godreuil, a professor… read on > read on >

Fear of a having a low blood sugar crash dissuades many people with type 1 diabetes from getting the exercise they need, a new study finds. However, people were more likely to engage in exercise if their doctor discussed how to manage their diabetes while working out, researchers reported Thursday at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes annual meeting in Madrid. “In order to break down the barriers to physical activity and empower our patients to exercise safely and effectively, we need to improve the education we provide and our dialogue about exercise in clinics,” said lead researcher Catriona Farrell, a clinical senior lecturer in diabetes with the University of Dundee in Scotland. “In turn, this should help them to achieve the multitude of health benefits that exercise offers.” Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks the pancreas, severely damaging or destroying its ability to make insulin. As a result, people must constantly monitor their blood sugar levels and take insulin daily. People with type 1 diabetes can receive a multitude of health benefits from regular exercise, Farrell said. “Regular exercise can help individuals with diabetes to achieve their blood glucose goals, improve their body composition and fitness, as well as reduce their risk of heart attacks and strokes, which is higher in people with type 1… read on > read on >

Statistics from 2023 on U.S. obesity rates bring no good news: In every state in the nation, 1 in every 5 people is now obese, the new tally shows. In 2013, not one state had an adult obesity rate topping 35%, but 10 years later 23 states had achieved that dubious distinction, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Obesity is defined by the CDC as a BMI of 30 or higher. A person measuring 5 feet 11 inches and weighing 215 pounds has a BMI of 30; so does a person measuring 5 feet 6 inches with a weight of 186 pounds. Millions more Americans struggling with their weight is really bad news, the CDC said in a statement. “Obesity is a disease that can cause many health conditions such as asthma, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, some cancers and severe outcomes from respiratory illnesses,” the agency said. “In addition, the stigma and bias about a person’s weight can cause social and mental health consequences, such as anxiety and poor body image.” Those 23 states where obesity has now affected at least 35% of the populace include: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wisconsin.… read on > read on >

An ingredient in the hair dye a French woman used caused her to develop a vision-robbing retinopathy, researchers report. When she switched to a dye without these ingredients, called aromatic amines, her vision troubles resolved, according to a team led by Dr. Nicolas Chirpaz, an ophthalmologist at Edouard Herriot Hospital, in Lyon. Such cases could be rare, the researchers said, but spreading awareness of the danger “may allow prompt consideration to remove exposure to such hair dye” so eyes aren’t permanently damaged, Chirpaz and colleagues said. They published their case report Sept. 12 in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology. As the French team noted, this isn’t the first time hair dye has been linked to retinopathy: Three prior cases were reported in 2022 among “middle-aged women following exposure to hair dyes containing aromatic amines.” In the latest case, a 61-year-old woman with no prior history of vision trouble came to doctors with progressively blurry vision in both eyes “a few days after dyeing her hair with hair dye containing aromatic amines,” Chirpaz’ group said. The aromatic amine in the dye used in this case was para-phenylenediamine. Upon examination, the woman was found to have multiple retinal detachments that resembled the damage that can occur in retinopathies that are tied to certain enzymes found in the eye, called MEK1 or MEK2. The woman’s eyes also displayed an… read on > read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Polluting Puff: Asthma Inhalers Are Big Contributors to Climate Change

One Part of Football Helmets Especially Linked to Concussion

Ozempic or Saxenda for Weight Loss: Which Works Best?

Over 5 Million Americans Could Benefit If Psilocybin Approved for Depression: Study

A-Fib Risk Drops Soon After Quitting Smoking

Ozempic, Mounjaro Help People With Type 1 Diabetes Control Blood Sugar, Lose Weight

‘Self-Medicating’ Gorillas Are Leading People to New Medicines

Blood Sugar Worries Keep Many With Type 1 Diabetes From Exercise

In Every U.S. State, at Least 1 in 5 People Is Now Obese

Ingredient in Hair Dye Led to Woman’s Vision Loss