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Role models are important in health as well as in life, but such inspiration is more likely to come from your mom than a celebrity like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, a new study says. People had greater motivation to reach their health goals if they looked to a person in their everyday life – a friend, relative or health expert – as their role model for good health, rather than a celebrity, researchers found. Women were more likely than men to choose such a personal role model over a celebrity, and their own mother was the person most often named, results show. “We know that parents have a huge influence on shaping people’s health trajectories throughout their life just by teaching them about physical fitness and nutrition,” lead researcher Nicole O’Donnell, a Washington State University doctoral student in communications, said in a news release. “As this research shows, parents’ influence does matter and it’s long lasting, even well into adulthood.” For the study, researchers surveyed more than 400 adults who said they were inspired by health role models. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed (64%) chose a family member, peer or acquaintance as a health role model, and many cited “perceived similarity” as the reason they chose to emulate someone close to them. “If you see a friend get a gym membership, or decide to run… read on > read on >

Acupuncture can help breast cancer patients deal with the hot flashes that often accompany hormone therapy, a new clinical trial says. Nearly 2 in 3 women who got acupuncture during hormone therapy reported fewer and less intense hot flashes, results show. Hormone therapy blocks the effect of estrogen and other hormones that powers some breast cancers. Unfortunately, 4 in 5 patients (80%) experience hot flashes and other side effects associated with hormone deficiencies, researchers said. This causes some patients to drop hormone therapy, increasing their risk of cancer progression and death. “By managing side effects, our approach makes it easier for patients to continue their prescribed medication, which has the potential to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence and improve long-term outcomes for breast cancer survivors,” researcher Weidong Lu, lead oncology acupuncturist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, said in a news release. For the study, researchers recruited 158 women with early to advanced breast cancers who were receiving hormone therapy. Half were randomly assigned to receive acupuncture twice a week for 10 weeks. About 64% of women who got acupuncture reported improvement in the number and severity of their hot flashes, compared to 18% of women not receiving acupuncture, results show. They also reported greater improvements in quality of life. After 10 weeks, the women not initially chosen also were given acupuncture, and… read on > read on >

Many sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise in the United States, and a nationwide poll indicates that ignorance about how they’re transmitted could be fueling their spread. About a third of Americans (34%) falsely believe sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can only be transmitted through sexual intercourse, poll results show. In fact, they can also be transmitted by kissing, sharing needles and during childbirth. It also found that 1 in 5 Americans (20%) think they only need to be tested for STIs if they are experiencing symptoms. “We’re likely still experiencing some of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic when STI prevention services were completely shut down,” researcher Dr. Jose Bazan, a professor of clinical internal medicine with Ohio State University’s Division of Infectious Diseases, said in a news release. Syphilis cases have jumped 80% over a five-year period, researchers said in background notes. Worse, cases of congenital syphilis – in which women pass the bacteria to their babies during pregnancy – increased 180% between 2018 and 2022, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). During the pandemic, “a lot of STIs were undiagnosed and under-reported then, allowing these infections to spread within the population,” Bazan said. “It’s important that pregnant individuals get screened for syphilis as this is a very preventable infection that can easily be treated with antibiotics. Unfortunately,… read on > read on >

The long-standing advice is that everyone should get more fiber in their diet, but a new study suggests some benefit more than others. A person’s gut microbiome appears to have some influence over the benefits a person derives from dietary fiber, researchers report in the journal Gut Microbes. Evidence from the study shows that each person has a unique response to eating a resistant starch, which is a form of dietary fiber found in bread, cereals, green bananas, whole-grain pasta, brown rice and potatoes. Some derive great benefit, while others experience little to no effect – and the difference appears to be tied to the diversity and composition of the microbes in their gut. The upshot is that people might do better if doctors gave personalized advice on what type of fiber to eat, based on their gut microbiome, researchers said. “Precision nutrition definitely has a use in determining what dietary fiber we should tell people to eat,” senior researcher Angela Poole, an assistant professor of molecular nutrition at Cornell University, said in a news release. “This is critical because we’ve had public messaging advising people to eat more dietary fiber for decades.” High-fiber diets can help people remain regular, feel fuller longer, reduce high blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels and stabilize blood sugar levels, prior research has shown. For the study, researchers recruited 59… read on > read on >

A full third of American adults take multivitamins, despite prior studies suggesting they do little to boost health. Now, a study involving almost 400,000 people finds zero benefit from multivitamin use in helping folks live longer. Among people “without a history of major chronic diseases, we did not find evidence to support improved longevity among healthy adults who regularly take multivitamins,” concluded a team led by Erikka Loftfield. She’s with the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI). Her team published its findings June 26 in the journal JAMA Network Open. In the study, Loftfield’s group analyzed data from three prospective studies (meaning people were followed over time) with an average 27 years of follow-up. Over 390,000 healthy adults were enrolled in the studies, and they averaged about 61 years of age upon study entry. Researchers gathered data on the participants’ multivitamin use. Over the nearly three decades of follow-up, almost 165,000 of the participants died. About 50,000 deaths were attributed to cancer, about 35,000 deaths were caused by heart disease and 9,275 deaths were linked to strokes. However, Loftfield’s group detected no association between multivitamin use and a person’s odds of dying within the study period. In fact, “we found that daily multivitamin use vs nonuse was associated with 4% higher mortality [death] risk,” the researchers noted. People’s… read on > read on >

Even though plant-based meat alternatives are ultra-processed, they still may be healthier for your heart than traditional meat is, a new review finds. Risk factors for heart disease, including total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and body weight, all improved when meats were replaced with a plant-based substitute, according to the analysis published Tuesday in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology. In one clinical trial reviewed, people consuming plant-based alternatives saw a 13% reduction in total cholesterol, a 9% reduction in LDL cholesterol, a 53% reduction in triglycerides and an 11% rise in “good” HDL cholesterol. “Plant-based meat is a healthy alternative that is clearly associated with reduced cardiovascular risk factors,” senior study author Dr. Ehud Ur, a professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, told NBC News. Still, the researchers did find a wide variation in the nutritional value of meat substitutes, such as in the amount of sodium and saturated fat they contained. For example, Ur’s team focused on two burger brands: an older one and a newer one that tasted more like beef. The older burger had 6% of the recommended daily allowance for saturated fat, compared to 30% in the newer burger. Meanwhile, the older brand had 0% cholesterol, compared with 27% in the newer brand. Most meat substitutes are highly processed, and such foods tend to be low in fiber and… read on > read on >

A tough-to-treat, drug-resistant fungal infection may be as close as your local garden center, new research shows. Investigators at the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens found high levels of multidrug-resistant fungi in compost, soil and flower bulbs sold at popular retailers. “Gardening is a nice, stress-relieving hobby. But I’m nervous for people who may not be aware that working with compost and flower bulbs could pose a risk to their health,” said study lead author Marin Brewer. She’s a professor in UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. The fungus in question is Aspergillus fumigatus, which lives in soil naturally but can trigger illness if inhaled. People with healthy immune systems can probably fight off the fungus, but folks with compromised immune systems could get very sick and even die if they encounter a variant that’s become resistant to multiple anti-fungal drugs. People who may immunocompromised are those battling chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis, type 2 diabetes, HIV/AIDS and COVID-19. Anyone taking immunosuppressants — for example, cancer patients or people who have undergone an organ transplant — are also at risk. A. fumigatus is already on health experts’ radar: It’s estimated that over 2 million people are infected globally, and the World Health Organization recently named the fungus as a critical threat to health. Even in healthy people, A. fumigatus can trigger… read on > read on >

Anxiety could be an early warning sign of Parkinson’s disease, a new study finds. People with anxiety have at least double the risk of developing Parkinson’s compared to those without the mood disorder, results show. Further, specific Parkinson’s symptoms serve as warning signs of the disorder in people with anxiety, researchers found. “By understanding that anxiety and the mentioned [symptoms] are linked to a higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease over the age of 50, we hope that we may be able to detect the condition earlier and help patients get the treatment they need,” said co-lead researcher Dr. Juan Bazo Avarez, a senior research fellow with University College London Epidemiology & Health. Parkinson’s disease causes problems with movement, including shaking, stiffness and problems with balance and coordination, according to the National Institute on Aging. The disease occurs due to the death of nerve cells in the brain that produce dopamine, a chemical that is important to motor control. Parkinson’s is the world’s fastest growing neurodegenerative disorder, researchers said. It currently affects nearly 10 million people around the world. For the new study, researchers analyzed British health records for nearly 110,000 people who developed anxiety after age 50 between 2008 and 2018. Their medical data was compared to more than 878,000 people without anxiety. Researchers specifically looked for Parkinson’s symptoms — such as sleep problems,… read on > read on >

Low-birth-weight newborns have a higher risk of health complications if they become obese as children, a new study has found. Obese children who were low-birth-weight babies have a higher risk of insulin resistance, fatty liver and other health problems, researchers found. The study “supports the theory that individuals who were born low birth weight, or who are genetically predisposed to low birth weight, may be more vulnerable to health hazards — such as excess visceral fat — throughout the course of life,” said lead researcher Sara Stinson, a postdoctoral research fellow with Oslo University Hospital in Norway. Previous studies already have tied high birth weight to an increased risk of overweight and obesity, and low birth weight to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. To understand these links more, researchers analyzed data on more than 4,000 children. The data included birth weight, BMI, medical records, blood samples and a genetic health risk score associated with birth weight. They found that a low-birth-weight child’s insulin sensitivity suffers if they put on excess pounds. “In children with obesity, we see near normal insulin sensitivity in children born with a high birth weight and drastically decreased insulin sensitivity in children with low birth weight,” researcher Dr. Pauline Kromann Reim, a doctoral student with the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research at the University of Copenhagen… read on > read on >

A new slow-release pill form of ketamine can quell hard-to-treat depression without producing psychedelic side effects normally associated with the drug, early research suggests. Patients on the strongest dose of ketamine tablets saw significant improvement in their depression compared to a placebo, researchers found. On a 30-point depression scale, people taking the ketamine pill improved by 14 points, while the placebo group had an average reduction of 8 points. The tablet could provide an improvement over ketamine injections and nasal sprays, which already are used to treat depression, said researcher Colleen Loo, a clinical psychiatrist with the University of New South Wales in Australia. A derivative of ketamine called esketamine (Spravato) is already approved in the United States for treatment-resistant depression in adults. It comes as a pill, nasal spray or injection, but these all work quickly and produce psychedelic effects. “This is a way of administering ketamine to treat depression that’s much easier to give,” Loo said in a university news release. “Rather than having to come to the clinic and have an injection and have medical monitoring for two hours, once or twice a week, this is much more convenient and allows patients to have their treatment at home, making it as convenient as other antidepressant medications.” Extended-release ketamine also doesn’t cause the hallucinations typically associated with the drug, Loo added. It had… read on > read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Who Do You Look to as Your Health ‘Role Model’?

Acupuncture Can Ease Side Effects of Breast Cancer Treatment

Ignorance Could Be Fueling Rising Spread of STDs, Poll Finds

Do You Need More Dietary Fiber? It May Depend on Your Gut Microbiome

Study Finds Multivitamins Won’t Help You Live Longer

Meat Alternatives Healthier for Heart Than Meat, Review Shows

Drug-Resistant Fungi Found in Commercial Flower Bulbs, Compost, Soil

Anxiety Tied to Doubling of Parkinson’s Risk

Obesity May Be Even Less Healthy If Child Was Born Underweight

Slow-Release Ketamine Pill Eases Depression: Study