A dad’s eating habits can have a profound effect on their kid’s diets, even when those children are nothing but a twinkle in his eye, a new study says. Men who established a healthy diet as teens were more likely to model healthy eating for their kids, and to keep a sharp eye on what their kids eat, researchers reported Saturday at a meeting of the American Society for Nutrition in Orlando, Fl. “Our study found that fathers who ate healthier as teenagers were more likely to encourage positive food habits in their children,” lead author Mariane De Oliveira, a postdoctoral research fellow at Boston College, said in a news release. “These fathers were better at modeling healthy eating — actively demonstrating good dietary habits — and monitoring their child’s intake of unhealthy foods, such as certain sweets and snack foods,” she  added. For the study, researchers analyzed data from 669 men who answered questionnaires about their teenage eating habits, and years later answered questions about their kids’ diet. The men, who themselves were the children of nurses, entered the study in the 1990s and 2000s and completed at least two diet questionnaires during their teen years. They were grown up and had kids ages 1 to 6 when researchers contacted them in 2021 and 2022 to participate in a follow-up study specifically for fathers.…  read on >  read on >

A dad’s eating habits can have a profound effect on their kid’s diets, even when those children are nothing but a twinkle in his eye, a new study says. Men who established a healthy diet as teens were more likely to model healthy eating for their kids, and to keep a sharp eye on what their kids eat, researchers reported Saturday at a meeting of the American Society for Nutrition in Orlando, Fl. “Our study found that fathers who ate healthier as teenagers were more likely to encourage positive food habits in their children,” lead author Mariane De Oliveira, a postdoctoral research fellow at Boston College, said in a news release. “These fathers were better at modeling healthy eating — actively demonstrating good dietary habits — and monitoring their child’s intake of unhealthy foods, such as certain sweets and snack foods,” she  added. For the study, researchers analyzed data from 669 men who answered questionnaires about their teenage eating habits, and years later answered questions about their kids’ diet. The men, who themselves were the children of nurses, entered the study in the 1990s and 2000s and completed at least two diet questionnaires during their teen years. They were grown up and had kids ages 1 to 6 when researchers contacted them in 2021 and 2022 to participate in a follow-up study specifically for fathers.…  read on >  read on >

Your morning cup of coffee might help you power through the day — but could it be keeping your brain too alert at night, even while you sleep? A new study suggests that caffeine doesn’t just affect your energy levels. It may also change how your brain functions during sleep, especially in 20-somethings. Researchers in Canada found that drinking caffeine before bed may keep the brain in a more active state overnight, a news release shows.  Published in the journal Nature Communications Biology, the study used electroencephalography (EEG) and artificial intelligence to examine how caffeine changes the brain’s behavior during rest. “We used advanced statistical analysis and artificial intelligence to identify subtle changes in neuronal activity,” said lead author Philipp Thölke, a research trainee at the University of Montreal. “The results showed that caffeine increased the complexity of brain signals, reflecting more dynamic and less predictable neuronal activity, especially during the non-rapid eye movement (NREM) phase of sleep that’s crucial for memory consolidation and cognitive recovery,” he said in a news release. Researchers found that caffeine increased the complexity of brain signals. It also boosted something known as “criticality.” “Criticality describes a state of the brain that is balanced between order and chaos,” said study co-author Karim Jerbi, a University of Montreal psychology professor and director of its Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Lab.  “In this…  read on >  read on >

Your morning cup of coffee might help you power through the day — but could it be keeping your brain too alert at night, even while you sleep? A new study suggests that caffeine doesn’t just affect your energy levels. It may also change how your brain functions during sleep, especially in 20-somethings. Researchers in Canada found that drinking caffeine before bed may keep the brain in a more active state overnight, a news release shows.  Published in the journal Nature Communications Biology, the study used electroencephalography (EEG) and artificial intelligence to examine how caffeine changes the brain’s behavior during rest. “We used advanced statistical analysis and artificial intelligence to identify subtle changes in neuronal activity,” said lead author Philipp Thölke, a research trainee at the University of Montreal. “The results showed that caffeine increased the complexity of brain signals, reflecting more dynamic and less predictable neuronal activity, especially during the non-rapid eye movement (NREM) phase of sleep that’s crucial for memory consolidation and cognitive recovery,” he said in a news release. Researchers found that caffeine increased the complexity of brain signals. It also boosted something known as “criticality.” “Criticality describes a state of the brain that is balanced between order and chaos,” said study co-author Karim Jerbi, a University of Montreal psychology professor and director of its Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Lab.  “In this…  read on >  read on >

Federal health officials have pulled back a key recommendation that pregnant women get the COVID-19 vaccine — causing sharp criticism from doctors and other experts. The announcement came Tuesday from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who said the government will no longer recommend COVID shots for healthy children or pregnant women. Dr. Marty Makary, head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said Wednesday that the decision should be made between a pregnant woman and her doctor. “The data on the COVID vaccine booster in pregnant women is a mixed set of data,” Makary said in an interview. “Now, I think the decision should be between a doctor and a pregnant woman.” The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) usually relies on a panel of vaccine experts to review studies and make public health recommendations. This process was skipped in making the COVID recommendation. The CDC, which currently has no director, still hasn’t updated its website to reflect the change. Its advice plays a major role in insurance coverage. If the CDC no longer recommends a vaccine, many patients may be unable to get it for free. The CDC has said pregnant women are more likely to become seriously sick from COVID than people who aren’t pregnant. Dr. Beverly Gray, an OB-GYN at Duke Health in Durham, N.C.,…  read on >  read on >

Federal health officials have pulled back a key recommendation that pregnant women get the COVID-19 vaccine — causing sharp criticism from doctors and other experts. The announcement came Tuesday from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who said the government will no longer recommend COVID shots for healthy children or pregnant women. Dr. Marty Makary, head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said Wednesday that the decision should be made between a pregnant woman and her doctor. “The data on the COVID vaccine booster in pregnant women is a mixed set of data,” Makary said in an interview. “Now, I think the decision should be between a doctor and a pregnant woman.” The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) usually relies on a panel of vaccine experts to review studies and make public health recommendations. This process was skipped in making the COVID recommendation. The CDC, which currently has no director, still hasn’t updated its website to reflect the change. Its advice plays a major role in insurance coverage. If the CDC no longer recommends a vaccine, many patients may be unable to get it for free. The CDC has said pregnant women are more likely to become seriously sick from COVID than people who aren’t pregnant. Dr. Beverly Gray, an OB-GYN at Duke Health in Durham, N.C.,…  read on >  read on >

Skies choked with wildfire smoke can affect people’s heart and lung health for up to three months afterwards, a new study says. The particle pollution created by wildfires continues to increase people’s risk of hospitalization for months after the smoke clears, researchers reported May 28 in the journal Epidemiology. “Even brief exposures from smaller fires that last only a few days can lead to long-lasting health effects,” lead researcher Yaguang Wei said in a news release. Wei is an assistant professor of environmental medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. Results also showed that risk increases as the amount of smoke pollution rises. For the study, researchers analyzed hospitalization records for the residents of 15 states between 2006 and 2016 — Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin. In all, the data included more than 13.7 million hospitalizations for heart diseases and nearly 8 million for respiratory conditions, researchers found. Researchers found that people’s risk of these hospitalizations increased within three months of exposure to wildfire smoke. High blood pressure was the health condition most significantly impacted by wildfire smoke, researchers found. Others included heart disease, stroke, irregular heart rhythms, pneumonia, COPD and asthma. These results show that preventing wildfires also will protect the health…  read on >  read on >

Skies choked with wildfire smoke can affect people’s heart and lung health for up to three months afterwards, a new study says. The particle pollution created by wildfires continues to increase people’s risk of hospitalization for months after the smoke clears, researchers reported May 28 in the journal Epidemiology. “Even brief exposures from smaller fires that last only a few days can lead to long-lasting health effects,” lead researcher Yaguang Wei said in a news release. Wei is an assistant professor of environmental medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. Results also showed that risk increases as the amount of smoke pollution rises. For the study, researchers analyzed hospitalization records for the residents of 15 states between 2006 and 2016 — Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin. In all, the data included more than 13.7 million hospitalizations for heart diseases and nearly 8 million for respiratory conditions, researchers found. Researchers found that people’s risk of these hospitalizations increased within three months of exposure to wildfire smoke. High blood pressure was the health condition most significantly impacted by wildfire smoke, researchers found. Others included heart disease, stroke, irregular heart rhythms, pneumonia, COPD and asthma. These results show that preventing wildfires also will protect the health…  read on >  read on >

Twice as many Americans now face the increased risk of death that comes from having both high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, a new study reports. About 12% of the U.S. population had high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes at the same time in 2018, up from 6% in 1999, researchers reported recently in the journal Diabetes Care. Having both conditions more than doubled the risk of dying from any cause and tripled the risk of death from heart disease, compared to those without either condition, researchers found. “Even having co-existing prediabetes and elevated blood pressure was associated with up to 19% higher mortality risk, compared to having neither or either of these risk states,” said senior researcher Nour Makarem, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. “This suggests that the increase in risk of dying commences before levels of blood glucose and blood pressure progress to Type 2 diabetes and hypertension,” she said in a news release. For the study, researchers analyzed data for nearly 49,000 adults who participated in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2018. Conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, the survey includes health exams and lab tests to check the health of participants. “A striking finding is that the burden of co-existing hypertension and type…  read on >  read on >

Twice as many Americans now face the increased risk of death that comes from having both high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, a new study reports. About 12% of the U.S. population had high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes at the same time in 2018, up from 6% in 1999, researchers reported recently in the journal Diabetes Care. Having both conditions more than doubled the risk of dying from any cause and tripled the risk of death from heart disease, compared to those without either condition, researchers found. “Even having co-existing prediabetes and elevated blood pressure was associated with up to 19% higher mortality risk, compared to having neither or either of these risk states,” said senior researcher Nour Makarem, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. “This suggests that the increase in risk of dying commences before levels of blood glucose and blood pressure progress to Type 2 diabetes and hypertension,” she said in a news release. For the study, researchers analyzed data for nearly 49,000 adults who participated in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2018. Conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, the survey includes health exams and lab tests to check the health of participants. “A striking finding is that the burden of co-existing hypertension and type…  read on >  read on >