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Three anti-smoking groups announced Tuesday that they have sued the U.S. government yet again after it missed its latest deadline for enacting a ban on menthol cigarettes. This is the second lawsuit that the plaintiffs — the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council, Action on Smoking and Health and the National Medical Association — have filed against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over delays in banning menthol cigarettes. The first lawsuit, filed in 2020, demanded that the FDA add menthol to its list of prohibited flavors for public health reasons. Once the agency began to take action on the issue, that lawsuit was dismissed. In the latest lawsuit, the groups claim the agency missed a March deadline for issuing a final rule on a menthol ban. Menthol cigarettes are particularly popular in the Black community. “Because of defendants’ inaction, tobacco companies have continued to use menthol cigarettes to target youth, women and the Black community — all to the detriment of public health,” the lawsuit stated. “As African American physicians, we are deeply disturbed at the continuing delays in FDA’s finalizing of the ban on menthol cigarettes,” Dr. Yolanda Lawson, president of the National Medical Association, said in a news release announcing the lawsuit. “Our patients, more than any other group, become disabled and die prematurely due to the continued use of these cigarettes.”… read on > read on >

Research into germs that travel through the human digestive tract shows that some may promote obesity while others might help prevent it. Not only that, but those microbes may act differently in men versus women, the same study found. “Our findings reveal how an imbalance in distinct bacterial groups are likely to play an important role in the onset and development of obesity, with considerable differences between the sexes,” said study lead author Dr Paula Aranaz, from the Centre for Nutrition Research at the University of Navarra in Spain. Her team is slated to present the findings in May at the European Congress on Obesity in Venice. The researchers focused on an end product of human digestion: poop. They carefully analyzed the “metabolome” of stool samples from 251 female and 110 male adult volunteers, averaging 44 years of age. The metabolome is the variety of metabolite molecules that form as gut bacteria break down food, the researchers explained in a meeting news release. Aranaz’ team also used genetic profiling to identify the various types of bacteria in the stool samples. The participants ran the gamut in terms of weight — 65 were normal weight, 110 were overweight and 186 were deemed obese. Certain microbial patterns emerged when it came to correlations between gut microbes and weight. For example, folks who were obese tended to have… read on > read on >

Massive racial disparities exist in the treatment of pregnancy-related mood disorders in the United States, a new study shows. White women suffering from depression or anxiety during or after pregnancy are nearly twice as likely receive treatment as women of color are, researchers report April 1 in the journal Health Affairs. About two-thirds of white women (67%) said they received mental health treatment for their diagnosed depression or anxiety during pregnancy or in their first year of motherhood, researchers found. Comparatively, fewer than two out of five (37%) Black and Hispanic received treatment for their pregnancy-related mood disorders, results show. That number dipped to one in five (20%) for other ethnicities, including Asian, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern and North African. “Our study in concert with existing work shows that Asian, Black and Latine birthing people, who may be at the greatest risk of postpartum depression, are the least likely to receive any form of postpartum mental health care — illustrating stark racial inequities in how postpartum depression is identified and managed in the U.S.,” said lead researcher Sarah Haight, a doctoral candidate in epidemiology with the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City. Nearly one in eight people who give birth wind up suffering postpartum depression, researchers said in background notes. For the study, they surveyed more than 4,500… read on > read on >

People who gamble on sports are more likely to be binge drinkers as well, a new report finds. Both women and men who bet on sports were at least twice as likely to binge drink compared to non-gamblers, results showed. Further, the odds of binge drinking increased with the frequency of gambling. “With past research showing that sports gamblers are more likely to report symptoms of alcohol use disorder, our results suggest that individuals who wager on sports use alcohol in particularly risky ways,” the research team said in an American Psychiatric Association news release. The study was led by Joshua Grubbs, an associate professor of clinical psychology with the University of New Mexico. For the study, Grubbs’ team analyzed survey data from nearly 4,400 adults about their gambling and drinking habits. Overall, three out of four said they’d used alcohol during the previous year, and more than 1,800 were sports gamblers. Researchers found that women and men who bet on sports once or twice during the previous year were 2.4 times and 1.9 times more likely to report binge drinking, respectively. Binge drinking involves consuming five or more drinks on a single occasion for men, and four or more drinks for women, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The odds also increased as either sex gambled more often: Monthly: 3.8… read on > read on >

When a soldier is rushed to medical care following a blast or other injury to the head, time is crucial in deciding just how extensive that injury is. Now, the U.S. Army has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared a bedside whole blood test that can answer that question in about 15 minutes. Prior tests relied on blood plasma or serum, and that meant sending samples to a lab for analysis. The new test, made by Abbott and called the i-STAT TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) cartridge, sidesteps that issue. It could be an advance for the care of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) on the battlefield, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Edward Bailey said in an Army news release. “TBIs are a major concern for Warfighter health, readiness and resiliency,” said Bailey, who is commanding general of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC). “This milestone accomplishment demonstrates how Army medical developers can partner with industry to deliver solutions for frontline medical personnel caring for our injured service members.” According to background data supplied by the Army, about half a million U.S. troops have experienced some form of TBI during their training, deployment or even sporting events, between 2000 and 2023. That’s why the Army teamed up with Abbott to develop a quicker test when TBIs occur. Here’s how the i-STAT test… read on > read on >

Cutting back on sodium is crucial to treating heart disease, but most heart patients aren’t able to limit their salt intake, a new study finds. On average, people with heart disease consume more than double the daily recommended amount of salt, researchers report. Sodium is essential for human health, but taking in too much can raise blood pressure, which damages blood vessels and forces the heart to work harder, researchers noted. Too much salt also causes the body to retain fluid, which can exacerbate conditions like heart failure. The U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend that heart disease patients limit sodium to 1,500 miilligrams (mg) per day, and that even healthy people keep their salt intake at less than 2,300 mg/day. But among a sample of more than 3,100 heart patients, nine out of 10 (89%) reported consuming more than the recommended daily maximum of 1,500 mg/day, researchers said. In fact, heart patients consumed an average 3,096 mg/day of salt, only slightly lower than the national average of 3,400 mg/day previously reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the researchers noted. “The relatively small difference in sodium intake suggests that people with cardiovascular disease are not limiting their intake very much compared with the general population and are also consuming more than double what is recommended,” said lead researcher Dr. Elsie Kodjoe, an internal… read on > read on >

A total eclipse of the sun is coming up next week, and many folks don’t know that watching it unprotected can cause permanent eye damage, a new survey finds. Nearly 30% of Americans don’t know that looking directly into a solar eclipse without proper eye protection can cause permanent distortions or blind spots in their vision, the researchers found. “The survey results highlight the need for more community education about the true dangers associated with a total eclipse,” said study author Dr. Nicholas Kman, a clinical professor of emergency medicine at the Ohio State University’s College of Medicine. “We can’t stress enough the importance of proper eye protection.” About 32 million Americans live in areas along the path of the total solar eclipse set to occur on April 8, researchers said. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun and blocks people’s view of the sun. When that happens, people in the “path of totality” will only be able to see the outer atmosphere of the sun, also known as the corona. Next week’s eclipse will start in southwest Texas and pass along the United States in a northeasterly line through parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Looking at an eclipse is the same as staring directly… read on > read on >

Patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder tend to see their conditions ease after four months on the ketogenic (“keto”) diet, a small pilot study finds. While no one is saying the diet should replace standard medications, the researchers believe it could provide additional help for some. “It’s very promising and very encouraging that you can take back control of your illness in some way, aside from the usual standard of care,” said study first author Dr. Shebani Sethi. She’s an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University. The findings were published March 27 in the journal Psychiatric Research. Sethi said she first noticed there might be a connection between the keto diet and psychiatric health when she was working as a student in a clinic focused on obesity and weight loss. Many people with psychiatric conditions gain excess weight due to medication side effects. Sethi was helping to treat one such patient, who had schizophrenia. The patient’s auditory hallucinations (“hearing voices” can be a common symptom of schizophrenia) quieted down after being on the keto diet, she said. A search of the literature turned up little regarding using the diet to counter schizophrenia, but there was evidence it could ease epileptic seizures. Apparently the diet did so “by reducing the excitability of neurons in the brain,” Sethi explained in a Stanford news… read on > read on >

Expecting or new mothers are much more likely these days to be diagnosed with anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, new research shows. However, more women are also getting treated for these problems rather than roughing it out, researchers report in April 1 issue of the journal Health Affairs. “Taken together, these studies show a lot of movement in maternal mental health,” said researcher Stephanie Hall, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan Medical School. “The landscape is different, at least as far as our health care system’s ability to pick up on conditions and help people get treatment for them.” For the research, investigators analyzed claims data for people with private insurance between 2008 and 2020. They specifically looked for depressive and anxiety disorders occurring during pregnancy or in the first year of motherhood. By 2020, more than one in four (28%) women received a diagnosis of a mood disorder during either pregnancy or the first year of parenthood – a rate nearly double that seen in 2008. Further, the rate of PTSD diagnosis among expecting or new moms quadrupled, rising to nearly 2% of all those pregnant or postpartum in 2020. Fortunately, treatment also appeared to increase alongside diagnoses, researchers said. The rate at which new or expecting moms received talk therapy more than doubled, rising 16% for women diagnosed with anxiety,… read on > read on >

The seeds of high blood pressure in adulthood might be sown in youth, a new study suggests. Children and teenagers with excess weight were more likely to have high blood pressure in middle age, researchers report. In fact, there’s a linear relationship between adult high blood pressure and childhood overweight and obesity, researchers found. The heavier a child is, or the more pounds they put on during puberty, the more likely they are to have high blood pressure as an adult, results show. “Our results suggest that preventing overweight and obesity beginning in childhood matters when it comes to achieving a healthy blood pressure in later life,” said lead researcher Lina Lilja, a doctoral student with the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 1.3 billion adults 30 to 79 have high blood pressure, increasing their risk of strokes, heart attacks and kidney disease. High body-mass index in adults is strongly tied to elevated blood pressure, but it’s not clear whether excess weight in childhood contributes to this risk. To learn more, researcher analyzed data on nearly 1,700 Swedish people born between 1948 and 1968. For these people, BMI readings were taken at age 7 to 8 and again at 18 to 20. Researchers compared this to blood pressure readings, systolic and diastolic, taken among the group at ages 50… read on > read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Anti-smoking Groups Sue FDA Again Over Menthol Ban Delays

Germs in Your Gut Could Sway Your Odds for Obesity

Too Often, Postpartum Depression Goes Untreated in Black, Hispanic Women

Sports Gambling, Binge Drinking a Dangerous Duo for Health

FDA Clears 15-Minute Bedside Test to Gauge Soldiers’ Brain Injury

Most Folks With Heart Disease Consume Too Much Salt

One-Third of Americans Don’t Know Vision Risks From Solar Eclipse, Survey Finds

Could the Keto Diet Help Ease Psychiatric Conditions?

Big Improvements Seen in Spotting, Treating Mental Health Issues Around Pregnancy

Adult High Blood Pressure Could Begin in Childhood