Studies in mice have shown that the fungal toxin zearalenone can mimic estrogen, and it might hamper reproduction. It’s not yet clear if the “mycoestrogen” compound can do the same in women. However, a new study finds that nearly all pregnant women ingest zearalenone as part of their daily diets. Researchers at Rutgers University and the University of Rochester say they detected traces of zearalenone in 97% of urine samples they received from pregnant women. The toxin appears to be more common among folks who eat lots of “ultraprocessed” foods, they added. “For every 1 percent higher ultra-processed food consumption, there was a higher exposure to mycoestrogen,” noted study lead author Carolyn Kinkade, who studied zearalenone for her PhD thesis at Rutgers. Kinkade’s team published its findings recently in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environment Epidemiology. As the researchers explained, mycoestrogens are produced by various fungi that commonly contaminate grains, meats and processed foods. Zearalenone, in particular, can be found on corn, wheat and barley. Animal studies suggest that zearalenone can disrupt reproduction because it acts similarly to estrogen. In fact, it’s so similar to the estrogenic hormone17β-estradiol “that it binds with estrogen receptors” on cells, according to a Rutgers news release. High concentrations of zearalenone have already been linked to smaller numbers of offspring for mammals such as cattle, pigs, mice and rats. On…  read on >  read on >

Did you know that sodium is the bad guy in salt, raising your risks for high blood pressure and other heart ills? Luckily for Americans, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is working to make it easier for you and your family to eat food with less sodium. Because more than 70% of the sodium you eat comes from processed foods and restaurant fare, the FDA is working closely with the food industry to slowly lower sodium levels across a wide range of foods. In the meantime, you and your family can also find ways to lower the amount of sodium you eat. The recommended limit for sodium is 2,300 milligrams (mg) per day for people aged 14 and older. Unfortunately, Americans consume about 3,400 mg of sodium each day, on average. That’s more than 50% above than the recommended limit, the FDA noted in a news release.  Consuming too much salt can trigger high blood pressure, a leading cause of heart disease and stroke, and 90% of Americans are eating more sodium than is recommended. While almost 5 in 10 Americans have high blood pressure, almost 6 in 10 Black adults have the condition. Even children and adolescents eat too much sodium. Evidence shows that children who eat foods higher in sodium can carry those poor eating habits into adulthood, the FDA added. What can…  read on >  read on >

Folks who struggle to reduce their carb intake might be able to blame ancient DNA still lurking in humans, a new study suggests. Humans carry multiple copies of the salivary amylase gene (AMY1), which helps begin breaking down starch in the mouth — the first step in digesting carb-laden foods like bread and pasta, researchers said. The duplication of this gene might have occurred as far back as more than 800,000 years ago, long before the advent of farming, and it helped shape human adaptation to starchy foods, researchers argue. Amylase is an enzyme that breaks down starch into glucose, and it also gives bread its distinctive taste, researchers said. “The idea is that the more amylase genes you have, the more amylase you can produce and the more starch you can digest effectively,” said researcher Omer Gokcumen, a professor of biological sciences with the University of Buffalo. For the study, researchers analyzed the genetics of 68 ancient human bodies, including a person who lived 45,000 years ago in Siberia. They found that pre-agricultural hunter-gatherers carried an average of four to eight AMY1 copies in their genetic makeup, suggesting that people already had adapted to eating starchy foods long before they began growing foods like wheat and potatoes. AMY1 gene duplications also were found in ancient human ancestors like Neanderthals and Denisovans, the researchers added.…  read on >  read on >

Pharmacists may continue making compounded versions of the weight-loss medication tirzepatide while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revisits its Oct. 2 decision to remove the medicine from a national drug shortage list. What prompted the FDA to reconsider its decision? On Oct. 7, a compounding trade group filed a lawsuit challenging the agency’s action, saying there was still a shortage of the wildly popular drug. On Friday, the FDA responded in a court filing that compounding pharmacies could continue making the drug while the agency re-evaluates its finding, NBC News reported. Shortages of tirzepatide, sold as a diabetes drug (Mounjaro) and a weight-loss medication (Zepbound), have fueled demand for compounding pharmacies to make their own versions of the medicine, which patients say are cheaper and easier to get.  During FDA-declared drug shortages, compounding pharmacies can make versions that are copies of the brand-name drugs in shortage. But the agency’s Oct. 2 announcement said pharmacies that produce large batches of medications would no longer be able to accept new orders of tirzepatide and had 60 days to fill their existing orders. The agency’s Friday filing said its latest move was “effectively the relief that Plaintiffs sought in their motion.” In the filing, the agency said it wouldn’t “take action” against the plaintiffs and their members making compounded versions of the drugs as it re-evaluates its decision, NBC News reported. …  read on >  read on >

“Black Box” warnings added to antidepressants might have contributed to an increase in suicide attempts and deaths among young people, a new evidence review claims. The warnings say that antidepressants might be associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviors in children and teens, and were intended to prompt doctors to more closely monitor young people prescribed the drugs, researchers said. Instead, the warnings caused doctors to think twice before prescribing antidepressants to youth, possibly prompting a decline in mental health among kids and teens, results show. “The sudden, simultaneous and sweeping effects of these warnings — the reduction in depression treatment and increase in suicide — are documented across 14 years of strong research,” said lead researcher Stephen Soumerai, a professor of population medicine at Harvard Medical School’s Pilgrim Health Care Institute. Since 2003, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has advised that antidepressants could be linked to suicidal thoughts and behaviors in young people. The FDA required that a Black Box warning be placed on antidepressants in 2005, notifying doctors of this possible effect in kids younger than 18. In 2007, the FDA expanded the warning to include young adults up to age 24. To see how the warning might have affected treatment of depression, researchers analyzed the pooled data from 11 studies between 2003 and 2022. The data show that fewer than 5% of…  read on >  read on >