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The rate of self-reported mental distress and depression among American adults who identify as transgender or gender-diverse (TGD) has more than doubled between 2014 and 2022, an analysis of federal health data reveals. During that time, “a record number of enacted laws has threatened the rights and protections of TGD people, including restricting access to gender-affirming care and permitting discrimination in public accommodations,” noted a team of researchers led by health care policy investigator Michael Liu, of Harvard Medical School. The findings are published June 24 in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. Liu’s team tracked survey data from the federal government’s ongoing Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which follows the self-reported physical and mental health of U.S. adults over time. The analysis started in 2014, the first year in which gender identity was added to the survey, and tracked data through 2022. Liu’s team found that the “prevalence of frequent mental distress increased from 18.8% in 2014 to 38.9% in 2022” among transgender or gender-diverse people. In contrast, the rise in mental distress was less steep among cisgender people — from 11.2% to 15.5%. Depression rates among transgender and gender-diverse adults also rose sharply between 2014 and 2022 — more than doubling from 19.7% to 51.3%, Liu’s group found. Over the same time period, depression rates among cisgender adults rose only slightly, from 18.6% to… read on > read on >

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s decision to authorize the first menthol-flavored e-cigarettes has drawn the the ire of health advocates who say the decision undermines efforts to end the youth vaping epidemic in America. In its approval of four flavored vaping products made by Njoy, the agency defended its decision. “Based upon our rigorous scientific review, in this instance, the strength of evidence of benefits to adult smokers from completely switching to a less harmful product was sufficient to outweigh the risks to youth,” Matthew Farrelly, director of the Office of Science in the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said in an agency news release announcing the authorization. But that argument did not convince anti-tobacco groups and health advocates. “The FDA’s decision today to authorize the sale of four menthol-flavored e-cigarettes made by Njoy — the first time the agency has authorized the sale of any flavored e-cigarettes — is deeply troubling given the extensive scientific evidence that menthol is a flavor that appeals to kids and the FDA’s repeated conclusions that flavored e-cigarettes, including menthol-flavored products, have driven youth e-cigarette use,” Yolonda Richardson, president and CEO of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said in a statement. “The scientific evidence demonstrates that menthol is a flavor that appeals to kids, and the tobacco industry has a long history of using menthol flavoring to attract… read on > read on >

Specific steps can be taken to reduce the risk of potentially fatal reactions to anti-seizure medications, researchers report in a new review. Performing blood tests, asking patients about risk factors and modifying dosages all can reduce reaction risk for drugs that millions of Americans take for epilepsy and other conditions, researchers said. However, rashes and skin reactions in newly medicated patients still require prompt medical attention, results show. Rashes are common with anti-seizure meds, occurring in 2% to 16% of patients, depending on the drug, researchers said in background notes. Roughly 5% of these rashes indicate a life-threatening condition, researchers added. The FDA recently issued a warning about serious reactions to two anti-seizure drugs, levetiracetam and clobazam, the researchers noted. “Dangerous reactions are rare, but patients and caregivers should understand the risk and how to respond if side effects occur,” said lead researcher Dr. Ram Mani, chief of the adult epilepsy division at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey. For the new report, published recently in the journal Current Treatment Options in Neurology, researchers analyzed and combined published data on individual anti-seizure drugs, distinguishing the different rashes and their triggers. Genetics can increase a person’s risk of a severe rash, as can interactions between the anti-seizure meds and other drugs, researchers found. Users also are at higher risk if they use aromatic… read on > read on >

When a couple can’t get pregnant, the focus is often on the prospective mom, but that needs to change, a Houston urologist says. “Both partners need evaluation,” said Dr. Larry Lipschultz, a professor of urology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. “With fertility, you can’t finger point. It’s not a male or female problem as much as it needs to be considered a couple’s problem.” Men who are infertile have no way to know unless they’ve had specific surgeries or an accident involving their testicles. The only sign is being unable to get a woman pregnant. A fertility test can confirm this. Once a man hits his 50s, his fertility drops. It’s not as dramatic a decline as that which a woman experiences during menopause — rather, it happens little by little. Guys who are obese or who put on weight may also have trouble producing enough sperm. A doctor might recommend losing weight, to boost production of male hormones. A diet rich in foods containing antioxidants may also be suggested. “The issue with obesity is that fat metabolizes testosterone to estrogen, which is bad for sperm production,” Lipschultz said in a Baylor news release. “Generally, trying to maintain a good bodyweight through exercise and proper diet is going to be helpful.” Keep in mind that the testosterone should not come from an outside… read on > read on >

The pandemic highlighted the risk that air travel carries for the spread of infectious diseases, and that risk remains even though the health emergency has passed. “Airplanes have many touch points that are perfect for the transfer of bacteria or viruses,” said Dr. Mike Ren, an assistant professor of family and community medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. “You don’t want to get sick while on vacation and prevent your chance for relaxation or come back with a cold or something worse.” The risk of catching a cold or flu starts even before a person boards their flight, Ren said. Ride-sharing services transport hundreds of strangers each day, and thousands pass through airports on their way to and from their terminal. But a few common practices can help protect you from catching something, Ren said: Use sanitizing wipes to clean the most-touched places on a plane — seats, tray tables, seat back pockets, arm rests, flight attendant call buttons, air vents and lavatory door handles Apply hand sanitizer or wash your hands regularly, particularly prior to eating a snack or after touching check-in kiosks, handling boarding passes or using the airplane or airport bathroom Keep boarding passes and other documents on your smartphone, to reduce the number of times you touch surfaces in the airport and on the plane Wear a mask through… read on > read on >

A medication used to manage type 2 diabetes has been found effective in treating sleep apnea. The worldwide clinical trial demonstrates that tirzepatide significantly lowers breathing interruptions during sleep, a key indicator of the severity of a patient’s obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Tirzepatide is one of the class of blockbuster GLP-1 medicines, sold as Mounjaro to fight diabetes and as Zepbound to help with weight loss. “This study marks a significant milestone in the treatment of OSA, offering a promising new therapeutic option that addresses both respiratory and metabolic complications,” said study leader Dr. Atul Malhotra, director of sleep medicine at UC San Diego Health. OSA is characterized by repeated episodes of irregular breathing during sleep due to total or partial blockage of the upper airway. It can result in reduced oxygen levels in the blood and has been linked to an increased risk for high blood pressure, heart disease and other heart-related complications. More than 900 million people worldwide are believed to have OSA, and the 469 participants in this study were recruited from the United States and eight other countries. All were clinically obese and had moderate-to-severe sleep apnea. Some used continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment, in which a machine maintains an open airway during sleep. All were given 10 or 15 milligrams (mg) of tirzepatide or a placebo. Over the course… read on > read on >

Both the World Health Organization and Eli Lilly Co. warned Thursday that consumers should avoid fake versions of weight-loss drugs that are circulating in numerous countries. The WHO warning said that the international health agency has fielded several reports of fake semaglutide — the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Ozempic — in all geographic regions of the world since 2022. “WHO advises healthcare professionals, regulatory authorities and the public be aware of these falsified batches of medicines,” Dr. Yukiko Nakatani, WHO Assistant Director-General for Access to Medicines and Health Products, said in the warning. “We call on stakeholders to stop any usage of suspicious medicines and report to relevant authorities.” Meanwhile, Lilly said in an open letter that it was “deeply concerned” about phony or compounded versions of tirzepatide, the active ingredient in the Lilly weight-loss drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound. “These [fake] products are often advertised and sold online, through social media or at certain med-spas,” Lilly said in its letter. “They may contain no medicine, the wrong medicine, incorrect dosages or multiple medicines mixed together, which could result in serious harm. They are never safe to use.” Novo Nordisk has issued similar warnings in the past about its medications. The WHO said patients can protect themselves by using prescriptions from licensed physicians to buy the medications. Consumers should also avoid buying the drugs from unfamiliar sources, the… read on > read on >

Can you trust your gut? UCLA researchers have shown that people who rank high in resilience — meaning they accept change positively and follow their instincts — have the bacteria living in their bellies in part to thank for it. Their new study looked at the brains and gut microbiomes of people who cope effectively with different types of stress, including social isolation and discrimination. Finding ways to prevent stress can help prevent heart disease, stroke, obesity and diabetes, researchers explained. “If we can identify what a healthy resilient brain and microbiome look like, then we can develop targeted interventions to those areas to reduce stress,” said senior study author Arpana Gupta, co-director of the UCLA Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center. For the study, Gupta’s team surveyed 116 people about their resiliency and divided them into two groups — one ranked high in resilience, the other ranked low. Participants gave stool samples and underwent MRI brain scans. The study found that folks who were highly resilient had brain activity in regions associated with emotional regulation and better thinking skills than the group with low resilience. “When a stressor happens, often we go to this aroused fight-or-flight response, and this impairs the breaks in your brain,” Gupta said in a UCLA news release. “The highly resilient individuals in the study were found to be better at regulating their… read on > read on >

They aren’t exactly ready to open a jungle clinic, but new research suggests wild chimpanzees are practicing a kind of medicine. Fifty-one chimps living in two communities in Uganda appear to select edible plants specifically for their medicinal qualities, reports a team led by Elodie Freymann of the University of Oxford in the UK. The chimpanzees appeared to add certain plants to their diet when battling a sickness that they didn’t normally consume when healthy. Freymann’s team suspected this might be a kind of self-medication, so they tested the pharmacologic properties of these plants in the lab. Reporting June 20 in the journal PLOS One, they found that 88% of the 13 trees and herbs the chimps sought out when ill contained anti-bacterial properties, while 33% were anti-inflammatory. For example, “dead wood from a tree in the Dogbane family (Alstonia boonei) showed the strongest antibacterial activity and also had anti-inflammatory properties, suggesting that it could be used to treat wounds,” according to an Oxford news release on the study. The bark and resin of the mahogany tree and leaves from a species of fern (Christella parasitica) also had strong anti-inflammatory properties, Freymann’s group found. In fact, one male chimpanzee with an injured hand gathered the fern leaves, perhaps to ease pain, the team noted. In another incident, a chimp who was battling a parasitic infection… read on > read on >

Transgender and bisexual adults have rates of loneliness that are much higher than that of cisgender and heterosexual people, new data shows. Federal health data on U.S. adults from 2022 finds the highest rates of self-reported loneliness among people who identify as bisexual (56.7%) or transgender (rates ranging from 56.4% to 63.9%), according to researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s compared to the 30.3% of straight people who said they often felt lonely, and the 32.1% of cisgender people who said they were lonely. Cisgender people have a gender identity that corresponds with the one they were assigned at birth. “Addressing the threat to mental health among sexual and gender minority groups should include consideration of loneliness and lack of social and emotional support,” concluded the team led by Katherine Bruss. She’s with the CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. As Bruss’ team noted, feeling connected to others socially brings “significant health benefits,” including “a sense of belonging, and of being cared for, valued and supported.” On the other hand, loneliness has long been tied to ailments such as depression, anxiety, heart disease and diabetes. Bruss’ group say there’s been a lack of data on loneliness rates among LBGTQ+ populations. In the federal government’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, adults were asked questions like, “How often… read on > read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Rates of Distress, Depression Have Doubled Among Transgender Americans Since 2014

FDA’s Move to OK First Menthol Vapes Is Big Mistake, Health Advocates Say

Anti- Seizure Meds Are Crucial, But Can Trigger Severe Reactions

Dad Facts: What Men Need to Know About Their Fertility

Plane Hygiene: Staying Healthy at 35,000 Feet

GLP-1 Medicine Mounjaro May Be First Drug to Ease Sleep Apnea

WHO, Lilly Issue Warnings About Fake Weight-Loss Drugs

What Makes for Resilient People? The Brain & the Gut Hold Clues

Wild Chimpanzees May Practice Natural Medicine

High Rates of Loneliness Seen Among Bisexual and Transgender People