All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

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 >

The time of day — or year — an asthma test takes place can affect its accuracy, a new study says. Routine asthma testing is more reliable when done in the morning, researchers reported in the journal Thorax. Starting at 8:30 a.m., the chances of the test accurately detecting a person’s asthma decreases by 8% for every subsequent hour that passes, results show. People are also 33% less likely to have a positive result on an asthma test if it is done during the autumn compared to the winter, researchers found. These results startled researchers, even though they jibe with the known fact that patients respond better to asthma drugs in the morning than in the afternoon. “Given what we know about how the risk of an asthma attack changes between night and day, we expected to find a difference in how people responded to the lung function test, but even so, we were surprised by the size of the effect,” said lead investigator Ben Knox-Brown, lead research respiratory physiologist at Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in Cambridge, U.K. “This has potentially important implications,” he added in a news release. “Doing the test in the morning would give a more reliable representation of a patient’s response to the medication than doing it in the afternoon, which is important when confirming a diagnosis such as…  read on >  read on >

Playing with a dog for just 15 minutes can significantly reduce a person’s stress, a new study reports. Stressed students who interacted with a friendly dog reported less stress, had a reduced heart rate and had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their saliva, researchers said in the journal PLOS One. The experience also appears to be beneficial for dogs, researchers added. Fecal tests showed that canine cortisol levels were lower a week after hanging with a human. “Even brief interactions with dogs can significantly reduce stress levels among university undergraduate students,” concluded the research team led by senior investigator Jaruwan Khonmee with Chiang Mai University in Thailand. For the study, researchers recruited six friendly dogs 3 to 6 years old to interact with college students. They included five chihuahuas raised by veterinarians and a Shetland sheepdog raised by a psychologist. None of the dogs were certified for therapy work, researchers noted. This was the first time they’d participated in any sort of canine-assisted intervention, and they participated without the presence of their owner. In the main library of Chaing Mai University, 122 students completed a stress assessment questionnaire, had their blood pressure and pulse taken, and provided a saliva sample for cortisol testing. They then were given 15 minutes to play with a dog after being told the pooch’s name, personality traits…  read on >  read on >

Nostalgia might be met by eyerolls from some, as the emotion might inspire insipid images of rose-tinted glasses, gooey sentimentality and living in a time-lost past. But people prone to nostalgia have an edge when it comes to their health and well-being, a new study says. Nostalgic people have more close friends and put more effort into maintaining friendships and relationships than less sentimental sorts, researchers reported in the journal Cognition and Emotion. Even teenagers can feel and benefit from nostalgia, researchers noted. “People who feel nostalgic more often and value those memories are more aware of their important relationships and the need to nurture them,” lead researcher Kuan-Ju Huang, a doctoral student at Kyoto University in Japan, said in a news release. “This means these friendships may be more likely to last, even as we get older and our lives, interests and responsibilities, change,” Huang continued. Social networks play a critical role in a person’s well-being, providing psychological and cognitive benefits into old age, researchers said in background notes. The reported results come from three experiments involving nearly 1,500 people in the U.S. and Europe, researchers said. In the first, a group of nearly 450 undergraduate students at the University of Buffalo in New York were surveyed about their level of nostalgia and their networks of friends. Those who said they were nostalgic put…  read on >  read on >

Concussion damage could linger in an athlete’s brain for at least a year, long after they’ve rejoined their sport, a new study says. Concussed college athletes had brain changes that remained visible in brain scans up to a year after they’d been cleared to return to play, researchers reported in a study published March 12 in the journal Neurology. “The presence of significant, long-lasting brain changes after injury reinforces concerns about the consequences of repeated concussions, and to what extent these effects accumulate over time,” lead researcher Nathan Churchill, a postdoctoral fellow in neuroscience research with St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada, said in a news release. For the study, researchers examined 187 college athletes, of whom 25 had suffered a concussion during regular season play in basketball, football, hockey, lacrosse, rugby, soccer and volleyball. The concussed athletes were also compared to 27 athletes, matched for factors like sex and sport, who hadn’t suffered a concussion. Athletes had MRI scans taken before their seasons began, as well as five days, one to three months, and a year after returning to play following a concussion. Concussed players still showed signs of brain injury in MRI scans taken an average five days after concussion, when they’d been cleared to resume play, results show. Those signs of brain injury lasted for up to one year later, researchers noted.…  read on >  read on >

Purposeful splishing and splashing can help you trim your waist size and drop excess pounds, a new evidence review has concluded. Water aerobics led to about 6 pounds of weight loss and more than an inch off the waists of overweight and obese people, researchers reported in the journal BMJ Open. “Specifically, water aerobics interventions lasting over 10 weeks significantly reduced body weight and waist circumference, with a more pronounced effect observed in females,” concluded the research team led by senior investigator Jong-Chul Park with Pukyong National University in Busan, South Korea. For the evidence review, researchers pooled data from 10 previous clinical trials involving 286 participants. Water aerobics is particularly good for people with excess weight, as the buoyancy of water helps reduce joint injuries that might occur during land-based exercise, researchers said in background notes. The water exercises in these trials included aerobics, Zumba dance, yoga and jogging, six to 12 weeks. People exercised mostly two to three times a week, with most sessions lasting an hour. While water aerobics did help people drop pounds and cut waist size, it wasn’t associated with a reduction in Body Mass Index (BMI) or percentage of body fat, researchers noted. (BMI is an estimate of body fat based on height and weight.) The studies included few men, making it hard to judge water aerobics’ effectiveness among…  read on >  read on >

Knee or hip replacement is a major surgery, and many people must lean hard on their spouses to care for them during weeks to months of recuperation. But all that hassle is absolutely worthwhile for the one providing care for their temporarily disabled partner, a new study suggests. Spouses experience significant improvements in their quality of life following their partner’s knee or hip replacement procedure, researchers reported at a meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons this week in San Diego. “It is well studied that the patient’s quality of life improves following surgery, but now we know it will also improve for spouses,” lead researcher Dr. Nicolas Jozefowski, a recent graduate of Loyola University School of Medicine in Chicago, said in a news release. “Most spouses assume a caregiving role when their partner has joint replacement surgery and they are sacrificing a bit in terms of their quality of life, but we can show it will improve with these data,” Jozefowski added. “Patients can have less pain, and couples can do more things together.” Joint replacement surgery has become more common as the U.S. population grows and ages, researchers said in background notes.  About 544,000 total hip replacements and 790,000 total knee replacements take place each year. In fact, the surgery has become so rote that it’s now performed mostly on an outpatient…  read on >  read on >

Love pickleball, but facing a knee or hip replacement? Odds are you’ll return to the court in no time, a new study suggests. More than 7 of 10 regular pickleball players pick up their paddle promptly following joint replacement surgery. What’s more, three-quarters say they’re playing as well as before — or even better. “The majority of players returned to play at a similar skill level, duration and frequency, with the majority returning to play by 6 months postoperatively,” the research team led by Dr. Adam Taylor, an assistant professor of clinical orthopedic surgery at the University of California-Davis, concluded. Racquet sports are very popular in the U.S., with pickleball alone seeing a 159% increase in participation since 2019, researchers said in background notes. But some seniors facing a knee or hip replacement have concerns that their new artificial joint might affect their play or keep them off the court altogether. For the new study, researchers surveyed nearly 1,300 patients who’d received at least one joint replacement between 2014 and 2023. The average age of study participants was 67. About 13% had played a racquet sport recently, within two years of their surgery, and another 25% had last picked up a paddle or racquet more than two years before their joint replacement. Results showed that: About 72% of recent players got back on the court…  read on >  read on >