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Fetal exposure to fluoride from a mom-to-be’s drinking water might raise the odds for physical and mental health issues in toddlers, new research suggests. The study, which was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, wasn’t designed to prove cause-and-effect. However, researchers believe the findings are worth investigating further. “This is the first U.S.-based study to examine this association. Our findings are noteworthy, given that the women in this study were exposed to pretty low levels of fluoride — levels that are typical of those living in fluoridated regions within North America,” said study lead author Ashley Malin, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Florida. She conducted the research in part as a postdoctoral scholar at the Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles. No one is saying fluoridation needs to stop, however. “I don’t think we’re at the point where we are saying that water should not be fluoridated. It’s generally considered one of the biggest public health wins, certainly for the dental community,” study co-author Tracy Bastain told NBC News. “But our results do give me pause. Pregnant individuals should probably be drinking filtered water,” added Bastain, an associate professor of clinical population and public health sciences at the Keck School of Medicine. U.S. municipalities started adding fluoride to water supplies back in the 1940s, due to its proven… 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 >

Heat waves and heat domes are particularly dangerous to kids with asthma, a new study finds. Daytime heat waves are associated with 19% increased odds that a child with asthma will wind up in the hospital, researchers discovered. What’s more, heat waves that stretch for days double a kid’s risk of being hospitalized due to asthma. “We found that both daily high heat events and extreme temperatures that lasted several days increased the risk of asthma hospital visits,” said researcher Morgan Ye, a research data analyst with the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine (UCSF). For the study, the team analyzed data from the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland between 2017 and 2020, using climate data to determine the timing of heat waves for each zip code in the hospital’s service area. “We continue to see global temperatures rise due to human-generated climate change, and we can expect a rise in health-related issues as we observe longer, more frequent and severe heat waves,” Ye said in a UCSF news release. Hot and humid weather is a common asthma trigger, the American Lung Association says. Such weather also increases smog levels. Past studies have linked extreme heat with asthma, but it’s been unclear whether heat waves can lead to asthma attacks so bad that children will need hospitalization, researchers said. This study also is… read on > read on >

Powerful COVID vaccines could be setting people’s immune systems up to successfully fight off not just future COVID variants, but other types of coronaviruses as well, a new study shows. People repeatedly vaccinated for COVID — the initial shots, followed by boosters and updated vaccines — generate antibodies capable of neutralizing not just COVID variants, but even some distantly related coronaviruses, researchers reported May 17 in the journal Nature. It appears that periodic re-vaccination for COVID might cause people to gradually build up a stock of antibodies that protect them from a variety of coronaviruses, researchers concluded. That runs counter to concerns that annual vaccinations against COVID might interfere with immune response in subsequent years, as happens with influenza jabs, researchers said. “The first vaccine an individual receives induces a strong primary immune response that shapes responses to subsequent infection and vaccination, an effect known as imprinting,” explained senior researcher Dr. Michael Diamond, a professor of medicine with the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “In principle, imprinting can be positive, negative or neutral,” Diamond added in a university news release. “In this case, we see strong imprinting that is positive, because it’s coupled to the development of cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies with remarkable breadth of activity.” A first vaccination triggers the development of memory immune cells. A second similar vaccination reactivates those memory… read on > read on >

Some folks like to count their daily steps, while others prefer exercising for a certain amount of time during a day or a week. Luckily, either approach boosts health, a new study finds. Exercise targets based on either step count or minutes are equally associated with lower risks of premature death and heart disease, researchers report in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. Given this, personal preferences probably are key when setting up an exercise plan, researchers said. “For some, especially for younger individuals, exercise may involve activities like tennis, soccer, walking, or jogging, all of which can be easily tracked with steps,” said lead author Dr. Rikuta Hamaya, a researcher with the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Division of Preventive Medicine in Boston. “However, for others, it may consist of bike rides or swimming, where monitoring the duration of exercise is simpler,” Hamaya added in a hospital news release. Current U.S. exercise guidelines focus on minutes – at least 150 minutes weekly of moderate to vigorous physical activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity. But smartwatches have made it easier than ever to track step counts, raising the question of whether steps would be better suited for setting exercise goals, researchers said. “We recognized that existing physical activity guidelines focus primarily on activity duration and intensity but lack step-based recommendations,” Hamaya said. “With more people using… read on > read on >

New, real-world research confirms that the blockbuster weight-loss drugs that millions of Americans have been taking to shed pounds can trigger stomach paralysis in some patients. “Although these drugs do work and should be used for the right reason, we just want to caution everyone that if you do decide to start this, be prepared that you have a 30 percent chance that you may have GI side effects, and then the drug may have to be discontinued,” Dr. Prateek Sharma, a professor of medicine at the University of Kansas School of Medicine who conducted one of the studies, told CNN. His research was one of two reports presented Saturday at the Digestive Disease Week 2024 (DDW) in Washington, D.C. Neither has been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, so the data is considered preliminary. A third study on the complication is to be presented Monday. Known as GLP-1 agonists, drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound have helped people lose at least 10% of their starting weight. How do these medications work, and why might that sometimes prompt stomach paralysis? GLP-1 agonists curb hunger by slowing the movement of food through the stomach. They also help the body release more insulin and send signals to the brain that curb cravings. But in some people, they may also prompt bouts of vomiting that can require medical attention… read on > read on >

Many teens are spending their days buzzed on caffeine, with their parents mostly unaware of the potential risks, a new national poll says. A quarter of parents reported that caffeine is basically part of their teen’s daily life, according to the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health released Monday. Two out of three parents said they know whether their teen’s caffeine intake is appropriate, and which products contain too much caffeine, poll results say. However, a third of parents weren’t able to identify the recommended caffeine limits for teens, researchers found after polling just over 1,000 U.S. parents in February. “Our report suggests parents may not always be aware of how much they should be limiting caffeine consumption for teens,” said poll co-director and Mott pediatrician Dr. Susan Woolford. “Even for parents who know the recommendations, estimating their teen’s caffeine intake can be challenging.” Most teens chose soda as their caffeine source, with tea and coffee coming in second, poll results found. Less than a quarter of parents said their teen consumes energy drinks. Older teens are more often caffeine users. More parents of kids ages 16 to 18 years than parents of those ages 13 to 15 report their teen consumes coffee daily, the poll found. “Caffeine is a drug that stimulates the brain and nervous system,… read on > read on >

Blood pressure medications appear to more than double the risk of life-threatening bone fractures among nursing home residents, a new study warns. The increased risk stems from the drugs’ tendency to impair balance, particularly when patients stand up and temporarily experience low blood pressure that deprives the brain of oxygen, researchers reported recently in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. The risk is compounded by interactions with other drugs and nursing home patients’ existing problems with balance, they added. “Bone fractures often start nursing home patients on a downward spiral,” said lead researcher Chintan Dave, academic director of the Rutgers Center for Health Outcomes, Policy and Economics. “Roughly 40% of those who fracture a hip die within the next year, so it’s truly alarming to find that a class of medications used by 70% of all nursing home residents more than doubles the bone-fracture risk,” Dave added in a Rutgers news release. About 2.5 million Americans live in nursing homes or assisted living facilities, researchers said in background notes. Up to half suffer falls in any given year, and up to 25% of those falls result in serious injury. For the study, researchers analyzed Veterans Health Administration records for nearly 30,000 elderly patients in long-term care facilities between 2006 and 2019. Researchers compared the 30-day risk of hip, pelvis and arm fractures for those taking blood… read on > read on >

If you suddenly find yourself craving food or drink right before you head to bed, one expert suggests you steer clear of big meals and caffeine. “From a sleep standpoint, you shouldn’t eat a big meal at 8 p.m. if you plan to go to bed at 9 p.m. If you are sensitive to caffeine, I would say to stop drinking it around noon,” said Roberta Anding, a registered dietitian and assistant professor in the Joseph Barnhart Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. “Drinking caffeine before bed will impact your sleep. The average person takes about 10 to 20 minutes to fall asleep,” she said in a Baylor news release. “If you have caffeine in your system or are sensitive to it, this amount of time can double.” And watch out for hidden sources of caffeine: “Caffeine is not only found in coffee, tea and some soft drinks but can also be added to the pre-workout drink you take before going to the gym,” Anding said. Similar warnings apply to eating heavy meals late at night. Anding explained that consuming a big meal before bed will impact blood flow and alter sleep/wake cycles. “Having a lot of food in your stomach before bed can redirect blood flow to your gut to digest the food, meaning there is less blood flow… read on > read on >

People with asthma who vape tend to develop the respiratory disease earlier in life than folks who never vaped, new research shows. Overall, asthmatic adults who said they’d vaped over the past month were over three times as likely to have developed asthma relatively early in life (before the age of 27) compared to folks who never vaped, said a team reporting the findings May 17 in the journal JAMA Network Open. According to the researchers, “harmful chemical ingredients found in electronic nicotine delivery systems have been found to affect pulmonary function and may have the potential to affect respiratory health,” perhaps including the triggering of asthma. The study was led by Adriana Pérez, of the department of biostatistics and data science at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. Her team noted that smoking has long been linked to an upped risk for asthma, but studies regarding links between vaping and asthma are lacking. By 2021, more than 11 million U.S. adults said they were vaping regularly, Perez’s team said, and by 2022 over 2.5 million U.S. high school students were doing so. Could all that vaping be speeding the emergence of asthma among Americans? To find out, Pérez’ team used data from a large study focused on tobacco and health outcomes (including asthma) involving almost 25,000 adults and high school-age teens,… read on > read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

For Pregnant Women, Fluoridated Drinking Water Might Raise Risks for Baby: Study

Vaping After Quitting Smoking Keeps Lung Cancer Risk High

More Kids With Asthma Need Hospital Care on Very Hot Days

Repeat COVID Vaccination Could Shield Against Wide Range of Viruses

Tracking Exercise by Steps or Minutes? Study Finds Either Method Boosts Health

Stomach Paralysis Risk May Rise in People Taking Ozempic and Similar Drugs

1 in 4 Parents Say Their Teen Drinks Caffeine Daily

Blood Pressure Meds Raise Fracture Risks for Those in Nursing Homes

Does It Matter What You Eat or Drink Before Bed?

Vaping Linked to Earlier Onset of Asthma