Folks regularly taking fish oil supplements might not be helping their health as much as they might think, a new study suggests. Regular use of fish oil supplements could increase the risk of first-time heart disease and stroke among those with good heart health, new research suggests. However, the long-term study also found that fish oil can help those whose hearts are already in trouble, potentially slowing the progression of heart problems and lowering the risk of death. Healthy people taking fish oil supplements had a 13% increased risk of developing atrial fibrillation, a heart rhythm problem that increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, researchers found. They also had a 5% increased risk of stroke, results show. “Our findings suggest caution in the use of fish oil supplements for primary prevention because of the uncertain cardiovascular benefits and adverse effects,” wrote the research team led by Dr. Hualiang Lin, an epidemiologist with Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, China. But in those with existing heart disease, regular use of fish oil lowered risk of a heart attack due to atrial fibrillation by 15%, and the risk of heart failure leading to death by 9%. “Regular use of fish oil supplements might have different roles in the progression of cardiovascular disease,” based on whether someone already has heart problems, the researchers suggested. “Overall, I would…  read on >  read on >

Doctors have long known that excessive marijuana use can trigger psychosis, especially in the young. But new research suggests the link is stronger that ever imagined before. Teens who use cannabis face 11 times the odds for a psychotic episode compared to teens who abstain from the drug, new Canadian research contends. The teen years may be an especially vulnerable time in this regard, the researchers noted. “We found a very strong association between cannabis use and risk of psychotic disorder in adolescence. Surprisingly, we didn’t find evidence of association in young adulthood,” said lead author André McDonald, who led the study as part of his PhD work at the University of Toronto. The findings were published May 22 in the journal Psychological Medicine. McDonald finished the research while at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). Psychotic episodes involve a dangerous psychiatric state in which people lose their connection with reality. These episodes can get so out of control that people may need hospitalization. It’s long been known that marijuana use can help trigger psychosis, and the potency of cannabis is much stronger now than in decades past, the Toronto investigators noted. They estimate that the average THC potency of cannabis in Canada rose from roughly 1% in 1980 to 20% in 2018.  So how is all that super-strong weed affecting the developing brains…  read on >  read on >

Improved inhalers are now available to help control asthma and treat sudden attacks, but a new study shows that hardly anyone’s using them. The new inhalers combine inflammation-fighting corticosteroids with a long-acting drug called formoterol that opens up the airways, researchers report. These combo inhalers are used twice a day to treat moderate to severe asthma, and they can also be used as a rescue inhaler during an asthma attack. Guidelines from both the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program and the Global Initiative for Asthma now recommend the use of what are called “SMART” inhalers. But fewer than 1 in 6 adults with moderate or severe asthma have been prescribed a SMART inhaler, and more than 2 of 5 lung and allergy specialists haven’t adopted the combo therapy, researchers found. “Our findings suggest current asthma management guidelines are not being routinely implemented or adopted by clinicians,” said senior study author Dr. Sandra Zaeh, a pulmonary and critical care medicine physician at Yale University School of Medicine. Previous guidelines have recommended the use of maintenance inhalers twice a day, in addition to a short-acting rescue inhaler containing a drug like albuterol that opens airways, researchers said. By 2021, U.S. guidelines had been updated to recommend Single combination corticosteroid and formoterol inhaler for both Maintenance And Relief Therapy (SMART). SMART inhalers available in the United States…  read on >  read on >

If you’ve quit smoking and have switched to vaping instead, your odds for lung cancer won’t fall as steeply as if you quit nicotine altogether, new research suggests. “This is the first large population-based study to demonstrate the increased risk of lung cancer in e-cigarette users after smoking cessation,” said study lead author Dr. YeonWook Kim. He’s an assistant professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, in Seongnam, South Korea. Kim’s team presented its findings Monday at the annual meeting of the American Thoracic Society in San Diego. Many smokers are turning to nicotine-laden vapes in what they may believe is a “safe” switch from traditional cigarettes. But does their risk for lung cancer drop to levels that equal those of quitting nicotine completely? To find out, Kim’s team tracked outcomes for over 4.3 million South Koreans who enrolled in the country’s National Health Screening Program in either 2012-2014 or 2018. Follow-up was conducted in 2021. Participants were divided into categories by smoking/vaping habits. Over the follow-up period, over 53,000 developed lung cancer and 6,351 died from the disease. Folks who’d quit smoking for five years or more but were vaping still faced higher odds for fatal lung cancer than those who’d quit smoking for the same length of time but hadn’t taken up e-cigarettes, Kim’s team found. And…  read on >  read on >