All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Hospitalization for a heart-related emergency can have profound effects on a person’s mental health, a new study finds. People hospitalized for heart attack, stroke or other heart-related illnesses were 83% more likely to be diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder within the following year, according to results published July 31 in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Not only that, but this effect lingered: Up to nearly eight years later, those hospitalized were 24% more likely to be diagnosed with a psychiatric issue, researchers found. “If you or a loved one has been hospitalized for heart disease, be aware that mental health issues may arise during recovery,” said senior researcher Dr. Huan Song, a professor of epidemiology with the West China Biomedical Big Data Center at Sichuan University in Chengdu, China. “It’s important to monitor for signs of anxiety, depression or suicidal thoughts. These mental health challenges are common and treatable,” Song added in a journal news release. For the study, researchers analyzed the mental health history of nearly 64,000 British adults who’d been hospitalized with heart problems or stroke between 1997 and 2020. They were compared against another 128,000 people matched for age, gender and the presence of other serious but non-heart-related illness. Within the first year of hospitalization, the rate of mental health diagnoses among heart patients was nearly twice that of people…  read on >  read on >

It’s long been known that a daily dose of low-dose aspirin helps keep colon cancer at bay. But new research suggests that those who benefit most are folks whose lifestyles up their odds for the disease in the first place. “Our results show that aspirin can proportionally lower the markedly elevated risk in those with multiple risk factors for colorectal cancer,” said study lead author Dr. Daniel Sikavi. He’s a gastroenterologist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston. Aspirin is thought to prevent colon cancer by lowering the production of pro-inflammatory proteins, known as prostaglandins, that can spur tumor development. But there may be other factors at play, and “aspirin likely prevents colorectal cancer through multiple mechanisms,” according to study co-senior author Dr. Andrew Chan, director of epidemiology for the Mass General Cancer Center. However, the story of daily aspirin’s role in colon cancer prevention has been a rocky one. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an influential and independent panel of experts, at first recommended low-dose (81 milligrams) aspirin on a daily basis as a means of preventing both heart disease and colon cancer, based on a wide array of data. However, the task force rescinded that guidance in 2016, saying that the risk of bleeding from long-term aspirin use negated any other health benefit. But might daily aspirin benefit some users more than…  read on >  read on >

New research has added two conditions to the list of 12 risk factors that boost the chances of a dementia diagnosis. The good news? You can guard against the development of both and researchers offer advice on exactly how to do that. In a study published Wednesday in The Lancet, scientists reported that new evidence now supports adding vision loss and high cholesterol to the list of modifiable risk factors for the memory-robbing illness. “Our new report reveals that there is much more that can and should be done to reduce the risk of dementia. It’s never too early or too late to take action, with opportunities to make an impact at any stage of life,” lead study author Gill Livingston, from University College London, said in a journal news release. “We now have stronger evidence that longer exposure to risk has a greater effect and that risks act more strongly in people who are vulnerable,” Livingston added. “That’s why it is vital that we redouble preventive efforts towards those who need them most.” The new risk factors for dementia join a list that includes: Less education Head injury Physical inactivity Smoking Excessive alcohol consumption High blood pressure  Obesity Diabetes Hearing loss Depression Infrequent social contact Air pollution Luckily, years of research have suggested that eating healthy, exercising and avoiding both smoking and excessive alcohol use should improve…  read on >  read on >

Don’t use a chemical peel to help rejuvenate your skin unless it’s done under the supervision of a trained professional, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has advised. “FDA is warning consumers not to purchase or use certain chemical peel skin products without appropriate professional supervision due to risk of serious skin injuries,” the agency said in a news release issued this week. A dermatologist or licensed and trained practitioner should always be on hand when a peel — which is designed to remove layers of skin — is being applied. The FDA reminded consumers that it has never approved a chemical peel, and some contains levels of acid so high that they can cause chemical burns. Nevertheless, many of these products “are sold in beauty product stores and online and marketed for purposes such as acne, discoloration, wrinkles and collagen production,” the agency noted. “They contain ingredients such as trichloroacetic acid (TCA), glycolic acid, salicylic acid and lactic acid in varying concentrations that are too high to be used safely at home without supervision.” Just how dangerous an unsupervised chemical peel might be depends on how concentrated an acid is used and the number of applications and length of time each is applied. “These products remove layers of skin to varying depths and may cause severe chemical burns, pain, swelling, infection, skin color changes…  read on >  read on >

High blood pressure might increase a woman’s odds of suffering migraines, a new study finds. Specifically, high diastolic blood pressure is linked to a slightly higher risk of women ever having a migraine, researchers reported July 31 in the journal Neurology. Diastolic pressure is the second number in a blood pressure reading, and occurs when the heart is resting between beats. The study found that no other heart health risk factors appear to increase risk of a migraine, even though migraines have been linked to higher odds of having a stroke, heart attack or heart disease. “Our study looked at well-known risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as diabetes, smoking, obesity and high cholesterol and found an increased odds of having migraine only in female participants with higher diastolic blood pressure,” said researcher Antoinette Maassen van den Brink, a professor with Erasmus MC University Medical Center in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. For the study, researchers analyzed health data for more than 7,200 people with an average age of 67. About 15% had suffered a migraine at some point in their lives. Women with higher diastolic pressure had 16% higher odds of having a migraine, and those odds further increased as their diastolic pressure ticked up, results show. The finding adds weight to the theory that migraines are linked to problems with small blood vessels rather than…  read on >  read on >

Celebrity suicides seem to be contagious, prompting everyday folks to consider the same, a new study suggests. The 2014 suicide death of comedian Robin Williams caused a thousand-fold increase in the risk of suicidal thoughts, reflected in a spike in calls to what was then the equivalent of the current 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, researchers found. A similar but less intense response occurred in 2018 following the suicide deaths days apart of fashion designer Kate Spade and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, results showed. A spike in calls to crisis lines that was roughly half of that following Williams’ death occurred after Spade and Bourdain died, researchers found. “The model we developed shows how suicide contagion, including both suicidal ideation and deaths, spreads quickly following the suicide deaths of celebrities whose lives and work are known and likely meaningful to large portions of the population,” said researcher Jeffrey Shaman, a professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City. No single factor causes suicidal thoughts or actions, but researchers have long thought that social processes can cause suicide to be “contagious.” People close to or familiar with people who have considered or attempted suicide can become more suicidal themselves, the theory goes. Suicide rates in the United States increased 37% between 2000 and 2018, declined 5% between…  read on >  read on >

The wildfires thats are increasing with climate change could harm the future brain health of humanity, a new study suggests. Wildfire smoke appears to increase people’s risk of a dementia diagnosis even more than other types of air pollution, researchers reported this week at the Alzheimer’s Association annual meeting in Philadelphia. The risk of dementia with wildfire smoke was notably stronger, even with less exposure, than that associated with other sources of air pollution, researchers found. “With the rising global incidence of wildfires, including in California and the western U.S., exposure to this type of air pollution is an increasing threat to brain health,” said Claire Sexton, senior director of scientific programs and outreach at the Alzheimer’s Association. “These findings underscore the importance of enacting policies to prevent wildfires and investigating better methods to address them.” Researchers found a 21% increase in the odds of dementia diagnosis for every increase of 1 microgram per cubic meter in levels of particle pollution caused by wildfire smoke, researchers found. By comparison, other forms of air pollution caused a 3% increased risk in dementia diagnosis for every 3 microgram per cubic meter increase in airborne particulates. Wildfires, motor vehicles and factories all spew a type of air pollution called fine particulate matter. These solid and liquid particles are 30 times smaller than the width of an average human…  read on >  read on >

People who’ve had a history of smoking can get a lung cancer spotted early — when it’s most treatable — through annual CT screening. Unfortunately, most Americans polled in a new survey didn’t know this potentially lifesaving screen exists. “The survey shows that we have a significant amount of work to do in increasing awareness about lung cancer screening,” said Harold Wimmer. He’s president and CEO of the American Lung Association (ALA), which conducted the 2024 Lung Health Barometer survey. Getting a tumor detected via an annual CT lung scan raises the odds of five-year survival from stage 1 to 4 lung cancer by 63%, according to the ALA. Under current American Cancer Society guidelines, yearly lung cancer screening with a low-dose CT scan is currently recommended for all people aged 50 to 80 who smoke or used to smoke, and who have at least a 20 pack-year history of smoking (meaning a pack of cigarettes smoked per day for 20 years). The new ALA survey canvassed 4,000 people across the United States about their knowledge of lung health and lung cancer. Only 38% of respondents knew that CT scans were now an available screening option for folks at high risk for lung cancer. Still, even that number is an increase from prior years, Wimmer noted. “Compared to our 2022 Lung Health Barometer, we saw a…  read on >  read on >

Skip the bacon and those holiday hot dogs: A new study finds eating processed red meats raises your odds for dementia. Overall, just two servings per week of processed red meat was linked to a 14% rise in dementia risk, compared to folks who ate less than three servings per month. The finding made sense to Heather Snyder, vice president of medical and scientific relations the Alzheimer’s Association, given what experts know about diet and the brain. “Prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and all other dementia is a major focus, and the Alzheimer’s Association has long encouraged eating a healthier diet — including foods that are less processed — because they’ve been associated with [a lowered] risk of cognitive decline,” Snyder said in an association news release. “This large, long-term study provides a specific example of one way to eat healthier.” The findings were presented Wednesday at the Alzheimer’s Association  International Conference in Philadelphia. The study was led by Yuhan Li, now a research assistant in the Channing Division of Network Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She conducted the study while a graduate student at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Li’s team pored over 43 years’ worth of data from 130,000 people in the long-running Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. The researchers specifically looked at associations between…  read on >  read on >

In findings that suggest more young Americans struggling with mental health issues are getting the help they need, a new poll shows that nearly a third of American adolescents and teens received some sort of mental health treatment in 2023. That translates to over 8 million young people between the ages of 12 and 17 getting counseling, medication or another treatment, the survey from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) found. “We’re pleased to see that more people received mental health treatment in 2023 than the previous year,” SAMHSA Adminstrator Miriam Delphin-Rittmon said in an agency news release announcing the survey. Among adolescents, the biggest increase from 2022 was in the number of those getting mental health medications: Nearly 14% of those age 12 to 17 received such a prescription in 2023, up from 12.8% the year before. SAMHSA officials said they saw the increase shows that mental health treatment is finally being destigmatized. Rates of adolescents getting mental health treatment has increased virtually every year since 2009, though the agency noted that changes in how the survey was done were introduced in 2021. In 2022, the survey estimated that 7.7 million youths ages 12 to 17 had received mental health treatment of some kind. The increase in 2023 amounts to more than 500,000 more young people getting treatment, SAMHSA noted. Meanwhile, the rate of adolescents…  read on >  read on >