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The kids are not alright. New data shows a troubling 8% annual increase in the number of American children ages 8 to 12 who died by suicide, with the sharpest increase seen among girls. Suicide has now become the fifth leading cause of death among both male and female preteens, report a team led by Donna Ruch, of Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Ruch works at the hospital’s Center for Suicide Prevention and Research. Her team published its findings July 30 in the journal JAMA Network Open. Rising rates of suicides among children have set off alarm bells for experts in recent years. “In 2021, the National Institute of Mental Health convened a research roundtable series to address the rising rates of suicides in preteens, defined as youths aged 8 to 12 years,” Ruch’s group noted. They said that, until now, there’s been little good data on suicides among preteens. To help remedy that, the Ohio group looked at data for 2001 through 2022 from a major federal online database that lists the underlying cause of death for U.S. preteens. Overall, 2,241 preteens are known to have died by suicide during the more than two decades covered by the database. Initially, there was a encouraging downward trend in these deaths between 2001 and 2007, Ruch’s group noted. However, beginning in 2008, that trend reversed.…  read on >  read on >

Three out of five young people who die by suicide don’t have any prior mental health diagnosis, a new study finds. People are missing the telltale signs that children, teens and young adults are troubled in ways that put them at risk for suicide, researchers said. “Our findings point to the critical need to increase equitable access to mental health screening, diagnosis and treatment for all youth,” said researcher Dr. Jennifer Hoffman, an emergency medicine physician with the Children’s Hospital of Chicago. The results also emphasize the need for safe gun storage, given how impulsive young people can be. There had been no signs of mental troubles in 2 of 3 suicides involving a gun, the most common method among young people in this study, researchers found. An estimated 22.6 million U.S. children live in households with firearms, and 4.5 million live in homes where guns are put away loaded in unlocked drawers and cabinets, researchers said. “To reduce the risk of youth suicide by firearms, counseling is needed to encourage parents to store firearms in the home safely. These messages should be delivered in community and school settings, in addition to doctors’ offices,” Hoffmann said in a hospital news release. “Secure storage laws, also known as child-access prevention laws, have also been demonstrated to reduce firearm suicide rates, and more states need to enact…  read on >  read on >

Smokers with diabetes or obesity who take semaglutide (Ozempic/Wegovy) might reap an added benefit: Help in quitting smoking. A yearlong study found that, compared to people using other diabetes drugs, fewer patients who were taking semaglutide sought out medical help to quit smoking. That suggests the drug might have already been helping them to quit, researchers noted. The finding wasn’t a complete surprise to researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), since “clinical anecdotes that patients treated with semaglutide … [have] reported reduced desire to smoke” have already been widespread, they said. The new study was published July 29 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. How might semaglutide cut down on smoking? The researchers noted these drugs (along with Mounjaro and Zepbound) are glucagon-like peptide receptor agonists (GLP-1s), which work to suppress appetite by targeting specific receptors in the brain. Studies in mice have shown that GLP-1s also reduce “nicotine-induced increases in dopamine release” in a specific brain area, “a common mechanism underlying the rewarding effects of addictive drugs,” the researchers explained. The new study was led by NIDA director Dr. Nora Volkow. Her team analyzed data from seven trials, all involving smokers who also had type 2 diabetes. Almost 223,000 patients were tracked for a year, and they took a variety of diabetes meds, including insulin, metformin and sulfonylureas, among others. A…  read on >  read on >

People taking compounded versions of Ozempic have been overdosing on the drug, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns. These ODs typically are due to miscommunications or miscalculations regarding dosage, the FDA added. “Dosing errors have resulted from patients measuring and self-administering incorrect doses of the drug and health care providers miscalculating doses of the drug,” the FDA alert said. Health problems caused by overdoses of compounded semaglutide — the main ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy — include severe nausea, vomiting and hypoglycemia, the FDA said. Other side effects include fainting, headache, migraine, dehydration, pancreatitis and gallstones. People who have a severe overdose might need to be kept for observation for an extended period, since the half-life of semaglutide is about a week, the FDA said. Drug compounding involves combining, mixing or altering drugs to create a medication tailored to the needs of an individual patient. “FDA is aware of compounded semaglutide products that are being marketed for weight loss,” the agency said. “Compounded drugs pose a higher risk to patients than FDA-approved drugs because compounded drugs do not undergo FDA premarket review for safety, quality or effectiveness.” “Compounded drugs should only be used for patients whose medical needs cannot be met by an available FDA-approved drug,” the agency added. Compounded semaglutide products can come in varying concentrations, and often are provided in multiple-use vials…  read on >  read on >

Doctors might be authority figures, but a new review suggests hospital patients feel more comfortable when their physician comes across as less imposing. Getting to a patient’s eye level while talking about their diagnosis or care makes a huge difference, researchers found. Sitting or crouching next to a patient’s bedside prompted more feelings of trust and satisfaction, and even helped patients recover better, according to results published recently in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. “We hope our work will bring more recognition to the significance of sitting and the general conclusion that patients appreciate it,” said lead researcher Dr. Nathan Houchens, an associate professor of medicine with the University of Michigan School of Medicine. For the review, researchers analyzed results from 14 previous studies on the impact of a doctor’s posture when they’re at a patient’s bedside. One study found that half of patients preferred talking to a sitting physician, while only 17% liked it when their doctor stood during a consultation. Other studies indicated that medical professionals who sit with a patient prompt more positive impressions than those who stand. For example, nurses who sat at bedside for three to five minutes at the start of each shift wound up improving patients’ perceptions of their communications. Likewise, seated doctors had more patients who said the doctor “always” listens carefully to them and explains…  read on >  read on >

Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the United States, particularly among older adults. It’s also a quick way for seniors to hurt themselves, unless they watch their form and warm up properly, experts say. “We are seeing an epidemic of pickleball Achilles tendon injuries,” said Dr. Timothy Charlton, an orthopedic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. “Pickleball is really fun, and I encourage anyone to play it, but it’s important to do so in a healthy way,” Charlton added in a Cedars-Sinai news release. “We’re seeing many injuries because new athletes are returning to the court after a long time away or are starting to play competitively without proper training. This creates an environment where injuries are more likely to occur.” More than 13 million people have picked up pickleball, with a 200% increase in participation in the past three years, Cedars-Sinai experts said. Unfortunately, with that has come an increase in injuries. Pickleball injuries in the United States accounted for more than $350 million in medical costs in 2023, experts said. In particular, doctors are seeing a significant number of Achilles tendon ruptures among people ages 60 to 70, particularly among women, Charlton said. “This increase in injuries is largely due to the rapid rise in the number of people playing pickleball, often without adequate preparation or conditioning,” Charlton said. The Achilles…  read on >  read on >

Added sugar can cause your cells to prematurely age, a new study warns. Each gram of added sugar is associated with an increase in a person’s cellular age, even when they eat healthy otherwise, researchers found. On the other hand, a diet rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and anti-inflammatory nutrients can help a person have a younger biological age on a cellular level, results show. Overall, the better a person eats, the younger their cells look, the study concluded. “We knew that high levels of added sugars are linked to worsened metabolic health and early disease, possibly more than any other dietary factor,” said researcher Elissa Epel, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). “Now we know that accelerated epigenetic aging is underlying this relationship, and this is likely one of many ways that excessive sugar intake limits healthy longevity,” Epel added in a UCSF news release. For the study, researchers analyzed food records for 342 Northern California women with an average age of 39. The research team then compared their diets with their “epigenetic clock,” using a saliva test that can estimate a person’s biological age as compared to their calendar age. On average, women in the study consumed an average 61 grams of added sugar daily, although the range was large between individuals, running from…  read on >  read on >

Losing someone close to you can make you age faster, a new study finds. People who lost a parent, partner, sibling or child showed signs of older biological age compared with those who hadn’t experienced such a loss, researchers reported July 29 in the journal JAMA Network Open. “Our study shows strong links between losing loved ones across the life course from childhood to adulthood and faster biological aging in the U.S.,” said lead researcher Allison Aiello, a professor of health longevity with the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, in New York City. Biological aging involves the gradual decline in how well your cells, tissues and organs function. Scientists measure this type of aging using DNA markers known as epigenetic clocks, and they can compare it against a person’s calendar age to see how much different factors cause premature aging. For this study, researchers analyzed data on nearly 4,500 people who provided blood samples for DNA testing as part of a long-term study on health. The participants were tracked from their teenage years into adulthood. Researchers tracked deaths among people close to the participants, to see how these losses might relate to their biological age. People who had experienced two or more losses during their lifetime had older biological ages, based on epigenetic testing, researcher found. Further, two or more losses in adulthood…  read on >  read on >

Paris officials said Sunday they are confident the Seine will be clean enough for Olympic triathletes to swim in the storied river this week, despite the fact that officials had to cancel a practice run Sunday over worries about water quality. The men’s triathlon is scheduled for Tuesday, while the women are set to compete Wednesday. The triathletes were supposed to have a chance to familiarize themselves with the course on Sunday, but organizers said they nixed the swimming leg after officials met to discuss water quality tests, the Associated Press reported. Water quality in the Seine is closely linked to the weather. The decision to cancel the test swim was made after heavy rain fell during the Olympic opening ceremony on Friday and the stormy weather continued Saturday. Since no more rain is forecast, officials expect athletes will get the experience of racing in the Seine. “We’ve seen what were the dynamics of the Seine over the past few weeks, and that’s what makes us confident,” Paris Deputy Mayor Antoine Guillou said during a news conference on Sunday, the AP reported. After similar recent rains, the river’s water quality has returned to safe levels within 24 to 48 hours, he noted. Olympic organizers echoed that confidence. “We are still very confident with the weather forecast for the next 48 hours, the water quality will improve,” said Paris…  read on >  read on >

A new test gauging levels of key proteins in the blood was far more accurate than doctor assessments in spotting Alzheimer’s disease in people with early-stage illness. The test, called APS2 (the amyloid probability score 2), was 91% accurate in diagnosing Alzheimer’s in people with mild cognitive decline or early dementia, compared to the 61% success rate of primary care doctors who examined the same patients. The test isn’t yet approved for routine use. But Dr Teresa D’Amato, director of geriatric emergency medicine at Northwell Health in Forest Hills, NY, called the new data “very exciting.” “This blood test would be great as a first round of diagnostic testing because it it looks like it’s pretty accurate,” said D’Amato, who wasn’t involved in the new study. The findings were published July 28 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. They were published simultaneously at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Philapdelphia. An accurate, easily administered blood test for Alzheimer’s could be a game-changer, according to a team of dementia experts who wrote an editorial accompanying the research. “Diagnosing Alzheimer’s is challenging, especially in primary care. Having a reliable blood test is essential to help primary care physicians make an early and accurate diagnosis,” the editorialists said. They included Dr. Stephen Salloway, of Brown University, Dr. Christopher Rowe, of the University of Melbourne, Australia, and…  read on >  read on >