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Iron deficiency isn’t being effectively treated in the United States, with low iron levels persisting for years in most patients, a new study finds. Almost 3 of 5 (58%) patients with iron deficiency still had low iron levels three years after their diagnosis, researchers found. Further, it took nearly two years to resolve iron deficiencies in most of the 42% of patients who did recover, results showed. Only 7% of patients had their iron levels return to normal within a year of diagnosis, the study added. “Two years is too long and well beyond the timeframe within which iron deficiency should be able to be sufficiently treated and resolved [with oral or IV treatments],” said lead researcher Dr. Jacob Cogan, an assistant professor of medicine with the University of Minnesota. “The numbers are pretty striking and suggest a need to put systems in place to better identify patients and treat them more efficiently.” Iron deficiency affects nearly 40% of teenagers and young women, but as many as 70% of cases go undiagnosed in these groups, researchers said. Most iron deficiency cases don’t involve full-blown anemia, researchers said. Anemia occurs when the body doesn’t have enough iron to make hemoglobin, the substance in red blood cells that allows them to transport oxygen throughout the body. Cases of non-anemic iron deficiency can cause symptoms like fatigue and… read on > read on >

A child at the dinner table talks about trouble at school or an argument with a friend, but parents aren’t listening: They’re checking their smartphones instead. It’s a scenario that plays out millions of times per day across America, and it could be harming the mental health of children, a new study suggests. Kids ages 9 to 11 who said their parents spent way too much on their smartphones were more prone to anxiety, attention issues and hyperactivity later on compared to the youngsters of parents who weren’t phone-obsessed, Canadian researchers report. “When children’s emotional and physical needs are consistently ignored or inappropriately responded to, they are at risk of developing mental health difficulties,” explained a team led by Sheri Madigan, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Calgary in Alberta. Her team published their findings Aug. 16 in the journal JAMA Network Open. According to background data from the study, one recent study found that parents of infants now spend an average of more than five hours on their smartphones daily, including looking at a smartphone 27% of the time they are engaging with their baby. Another study found 68% of parents admitting they are often distracted by their smartphones as they interact with their kids. Research has shown that this kind of “technoference” while parenting means less attention paid to children,… read on > read on >

A good night’s sleep is crucial for helping people make new memories, a new study says. Neurons that capture new memories during the day reset while you sleep, researchers reported Aug. 15 in the journal Science. “This mechanism could allow the brain to reuse the same resources, the same neurons, for new learning the next day,” said researcher Azahara Oliva, an assistant professor of neurobiology and behavior at Cornell University, in Ithaca, N.Y. The process revolves around the hippocampus, a brain region vital to humans’ ability to create memories. Learning something or engaging in a new experience activate neurons in the hippocampus, storing those events as memories. The same neurons later repeat the same pattern of activity while you sleep, transferring the day’s memories in a larger brain region called the cortex. But what keeps the neurons of the hippocampus from filling up, thus preventing new learning, the researchers wondered. Electrodes implanted into the hippocampi of mice provided a potential explanation. It turns out that those neurons that captured the day’s memories undergo a reset after feeding the latest memories into the cortex, researchers found. Two regions of the hippocampus that capture memories, CA1 and CA3, appear to reset during sleep under the direction of a third region called CA2, researchers said. “We realized there are other hippocampal states that happen during sleep where everything… read on > read on >

There are clues that red and processed meats could be driving the increased risk of colon cancer in young adults, a new study claims. Younger colon cancer patients typically have higher levels of metabolites created by the digestion of an amino acid called arginine, researchers reported recently in the journal NPJ Precision Oncology. They also have higher metabolite levels tied to the urea cycle — the process by which ammonia produced by protein digestion is filtered out of the blood and excreted. Long-term overconsumption of red meat and processed meat could explain these elevated metabolite levels in young people with colon cancer, researchers said. “Our data clearly shows that the main driver is diet,” said researcher Naseer Sangwan, director of the Cleveland Clinic’s Microbial Sequencing & Analytics Resource Core. “We already know the main metabolites associated with young-onset risk, so we can now move our research forward in the correct direction.” For the study, researchers compared blood tests performed on 20 colon cancer patients aged 50 or younger with those of patients 60 and older. The analysis revealed that differences in diet accounted for many of the differences observed between younger and older colon cancer patients. This actually is good news, because researchers had thought that a large-scale alteration of a person’s gut microbiome might be needed to lower their risk of colon cancer. The… read on > read on >

Kids considering suicide after receiving mental health care at a hospital can be helped by automated text messages that help them feel hopeful and supported, a new study finds. Children receiving the texts as part of a program called Caring Contacts said they felt more positive after receiving the messages. “Prior research has shown that patients are around 300 times more at risk of suicide in the first week after hospital discharge, and 200 times more at risk over the first month compared to the general population,” said senior researcher John Ackerman, a child clinical psychologist and suicide prevention clinical manager for the Center for Suicide Prevention and Research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio. “Reaching patients where they are in their day-to-day lives is crucial in supporting them before, during and after a crisis,” Ackerman added in a hospital news release. “That also means ensuring messages of hope and validation are accessible with the technology they use most — their phones.” Caring Contacts include supportive text messages with accompanying images meant to promote hope, inclusivity and connection, researchers said. The messages also include contacts for crisis resources. These texts were sent to more than 1,700 kids after their discharge from Nationwide Children’s following a suicidal crisis, for a four-month period. About 83% of the children said they felt moderately to very hopeful after receiving… read on > read on >

Painting, woodworking, writing: Whatever you turn to creatively, it could equal or exceed work in terms of maintaining mental health, new research shows. “Crafting and other artistic activities showed a meaningful effect in predicting people’s sense that their life is worthwhile,” said study lead author Dr. Helen Keyes, of Anglia Ruskin University in the U.K. “Indeed, the impact of crafting was bigger than the impact of being in employment,” she added. “Not only does crafting give us a sense of achievement, it is also a meaningful route to self-expression. This is not always the case with employment.” The new study was published Aug. 16 in the journal Frontiers in Public Health. It involved almost 7,200 participants in the annual Taking Part survey, conducted by the UK’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Folks were asked about their level of participation in cultural, digital and sporting activities. People were also queried about their levels of loneliness and “sensations of happiness, anxiety and life satisfaction, and to give their impression of whether life is worthwhile,” according to a journal news release. More than a third (37.4%) of respondents said they’d been involved in some kind of arts or crafts activity over the past month. People who engaged in a creative pursuit scored higher in terms of happiness, life satisfaction and the sense that life is worthwhile, compared… read on > read on >

Back-to-school can feel like a rushed jumble, as kids leave behind summer fun for the next step in their education. But there are specific ways parents can help students show up sharper, get young athletes ready to compete, and have anxious kids settled down and ready to learn, experts say. Prioritize sleep Kids will have a good start to the school year if they enter it with sound sleep hygiene, experts say. “We spend a third of our life sleeping, so a regular sleep/wake schedule leads to better sleep and a healthier life,” said Dr. Tara Thomas, an assistant professor of sleep psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine. “Growth hormones are secreted during different stages of sleep, and sleep helps with growth, development and recall and memory storage.” The recommended sleep duration for kids of various ages includes: Ages 3 to 5: 10 to 13 hours Ages 6 to 13: 9 to 11 hours Teenagers: 8 to 10 hours A wind-down routine prior to bedtime can help kids settle down for the evening. This routine can include bathing, brushing teeth and reading a bedtime story, Thomas said. A technology curfew also is essential, as light emitted from smartphones and tablets suppresses the sleep hormone melatonin. Devices can also be an overstimulating distraction that robs kids of sleep. Athletic support Parents should make sure that their… read on > read on >

Emboldened by success in its initial efforts to cut dietary salt intake by Americans, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday announced Phase II of the endeavor. U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend that a person consume no more than 2,300 milligrams (mg) of sodium per day, the equivalent of about one teaspoon of salt. Excess salt intake is a strong risk factor for high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. However, Americans typically take in far higher amounts than recommended, averaging about 3,400 mg/day before 2021, the FDA noted in a news release. Phase 1 of the FDA’s voluntary sodium-reduction targets for the food industry were issued in 2021, and according to the agency “preliminary data from 2022 show about 40% of the initial Phase I targets are very close to or have already been reached, indicating early success of this effort.” That level of success has spurred the agency to begin Phase II. “If finalized, the new set of voluntary targets would support reducing average individual sodium intake to about 2,750 milligrams per day,” the FDA said. The new initiative is expected to coincide with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s efforts to limit sodium in school meals. “Reducing sodium in the food supply has the potential to be one of the most important public health initiatives in a generation,” Jim Jones, FDA Deputy Commissioner… read on > read on >

Chugging coffee, swilling colas or pounding down energy drinks could cause heart damage over time, a new study warns. All of these drinks contain caffeine, and a new study finds that folks who drink more than 400 milligrams of caffeine a day appear more likely to develop heart disease. The research was reported Thursday at the American College of Cardiology’s Asia scientific meeting in Delhi, India. The amount of daily caffeine cited in the study is the equivalent of four cups of coffee, 10 cans of soda or two energy drinks, researchers said. Consuming that much caffeine daily significantly raised heart rate and blood pressure over time, researchers found. Those who drank the highest amounts — 600 milligrams a day — had significantly elevated heart rate and blood pressure even after five minutes of rest following a three-minute step test. “Due to its effect on the autonomic nervous system, regular caffeine consumption could put otherwise healthy individuals at risk of hypertension and other cardiovascular events,” said lead researcher Dr. Nency Kagathara with Zydus Medical College and Hospital in Dahod, India. “Increasing awareness of these risks is vital to improve heart health for all.” For the study, researchers recruited 92 healthy people between the ages of 18 and 45. All participants were quizzed about their caffeine intake and underwent a three-minute step test to check their… read on > read on >

Casey Harrell was losing his ability to speak due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. “Not being able to communicate is so frustrating and demoralizing. It is like you are trapped,” said Harrell, 45. But a new brain-computer interface is allowing Harrell to speak to others once more, with his brain providing the words and a computer giving them voice. Four microelectrode arrays implanted into a brain region responsible for coordinating speech detect the words that Harrell wants to say and sends that information to a computer program. During Harrell’s first session, the system took 30 minutes to achieve more than 90% word accuracy with a 50-word vocabulary, researchers said. The decoded words appear on a screen and are read aloud in a voice that sounds like Harrell’s did before he developed ALS. “The first time we tried the system, he cried with joy as the words he was trying to say correctly appeared on screen. We all did,” said researcher Sergey Stavisky, co-director of the University of California, Davis Neuroprosthetics Lab. ALS affects the nerve cells that control movement throughout the body, researchers said. It causes a gradual loss of the ability to stand, walk, use hands and even speak. By the time Harrell entered the study, he had developed weakness in his arms and legs and his speech… read on > read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Many Cases of Iron Deficiency Go Too Long Without Proper Treatment

Parents’ Excessive Smartphone Use Could Harm Children’s Mental Health

Your Brain Cells ‘Reset’ During Sleep, Readying for Tomorrow’s Memories

Red Meat Could Be Prime Driver of Colon Cancer in the Young

Text Message Program Helps Teens at Risk for Suicide

Creative Hobbies Can Really Benefit Your Mental Health

Tips to Help Your Child Adjust to a New School Year

FDA Moves to Further Reduce Salt Levels in Food

Frequent Coffee Drinkers Could Put Their Hearts at Risk

Brain-Computer Combo Lets Mute Man With ALS ‘Talk’ Again