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Do your liver a favor and steer clear of fast food, new research urges. People with obesity or diabetes who consumed 20% or more of their daily calories from fast food had severely elevated levels of fat in their liver compared to those who ate less fast food or none. Even the general U.S. population had moderate increases in liver fat when fast food made up one-fifth or more of their diet, the study found. “Healthy livers contain a small amount of fat, usually less than 5%, and even a moderate increase in fat can lead to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease,” said lead study author Dr. Ani Kardashian. She is a hepatologist with University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, in Los Angeles. “The severe rise in liver fat in those with obesity or diabetes is especially striking, and probably due to the fact that these conditions cause a greater susceptibility for fat to build up in the liver,” Kardashian said in a university news release. Kardashian said this is one of the first studies to demonstrate the negative impact of fast food on liver health. Even a relatively modest amount can be harmful, she warned. “If people eat one meal a day at a fast-food restaurant, they may think they aren’t doing harm,” Kardashian said. “However, if that one meal equals at least… read on > read on >

Adults with asthma now have a new rescue medication to turn to after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Airsupra on Wednesday. The drug is the first approved to combine albuterol (a beta-2 adrenergic agonist) and budesonide (a corticosteroid). It’s meant for the as-needed treatment or prevention of bronchoconstriction (narrowed airways) and to reduce the risk of asthma attacks in patients with asthma aged 18 and older. This medication is also the first approved in the United States to contain an inhaled corticosteroid approved as a reliever rather than as a controller of asthma symptoms. Asthma affects 24 million Americans, with symptoms that vary by person and can change over time. A long-term condition, it causes the airways to become inflamed and narrow. Someone having an asthma attack might cough, wheeze, feel chest tightness and be short of breath. Prior to the approval, the FDA evaluated the drug’s effectiveness in reducing severe asthma attacks in a randomized, double-blind, controlled study with patients who had moderate to severe asthma. The patients in the study were randomly assigned to use either Airsupra or just albuterol on its own. Patients received treatment for at least 24 weeks. The researchers looked at the time a patient had to the first severe asthma attack that required systemic corticosteroids for at least three days or an emergency room visit that… read on > read on >

So, after a month of holiday eating, your pants are too tight and you’re desperate to lose the extra weight as quickly as possible, but how much can you lose in a month? Experts say there is no speedy way to shed pounds. How long does it take to lose weight? According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people who succeed do it gradually at about 1 to 2 pounds per week, which translates into 4 to 8 pounds a month. Because safely losing weight is such a gradual process, it can take six months or more to lose 30 pounds. But it’s well worth it as you change your lifestyle and look and feel better, experts say. Losing weight permanently is really a matter of changing your lifestyle and diet. The best way is to set safe, achievable goals that you can meet. That all starts with understanding that fad diets or highly restrictive eating plans may prompt fast weight loss, but not permanent weight loss. “Fad diets, by today’s standards, do not work. By work, I mean a sustainable lifestyle that promotes a healthy weight and meets the nutrient needs of the individual,” said Samantha Heller, a nutritionist at NYU Langone Health in New York City. “We need to buckle down and face the fact that a constant diet of… read on > read on >

When teenagers feel good about themselves and their lives, it may also do their hearts good in the long run, a new study suggests. Researchers found that teenagers who generally felt happy, optimistic and loved went on to show better cardiovascular health in their 20s and 30s, versus kids who lacked that level of mental well-being. Overall, they were more likely to maintain a healthy weight, as well as normal blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels. And having such positive feelings appeared particularly important for Black teenagers’ future health. The idea that kids’ well-being can affect their health well into adulthood is not new. Studies have shown that childhood obesity, for example, is tied to increased risks of various health conditions — including type 2 diabetes and heart disease — later in life. And the links go beyond physical factors: Adults who went through childhood hardships like abuse and neglect are at heightened risk of heart disease and other ills, as well. Experts said the new study asked a different question: Are there positive psychological “assets” that might help protect kids’ physical health in the long run? “One thing I’m struck by is, we really don’t have a handle on the ‘good things’ that kids need to support their cardiometabolic health,” said lead researcher Farah Qureshi, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg… read on > read on >

Anyone who has ever gardened knows what a labor of love it can be as you dig deep in the dirt to plant seeds and then take pride in your first crop, but new research shows it also translates into better health. It turns out that community gardens in urban areas can have folks eating more fresh food and getting exercise, while it can also ease stress and anxiety. “These kind of interventions that have a strong social organization, that have access to nature and contact with nature, where there’s active participation, these are the ingredients that we need to think about to have successful interventions to address a whole variety of health outcomes,” said senior study author Jill Litt. She is a professor in the department of environmental studies at University of Colorado, Boulder, and a senior scientist at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health. For this study, researchers wanted to do a randomized, controlled trial on community gardens, to add to information from previous gardening studies. Litt said she was approached by Denver Urban Gardens to study the benefits when there were only 40 gardens in the city. Now, there are 180. “It hooked me. It was the most fascinating system where we could actually see how behavior change happens,” Litt said. “People were connecting to the landscape. They had social relationships, they… read on > read on >

When it comes to losing weight, certain foods have a reputation for being all-stars, providing for a body’s nutritional needs while helping keep a person fuller for longer. “You’re looking at plant foods,” said Connie Diekman, a nationally known food and nutrition consultant and former president of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “You’re looking at whole grains, vegetables, fruit, beans, nuts, seeds.” Though certain diets or special eating plans may limit some of these foods, a healthy diet can include all of them, with an eye toward portion size. Here are some foods to eat to lose weight: Whole grains Whole grains haven’t been stripped of nutrients in processing, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in Boston. Whole grains can also provide a nice balance between protein and carbohydrates, Diekman said. From a weight-loss perspective, these foods contain fiber. “Fiber fills us up and so therefore that blood sugar curve doesn’t drop as rapidly, so you don’t feel the need to eat as often,” Diekman explained. Choices in this category can range quite a bit. There are lesser-known grains like quinoa, millet or bulgur, along with well-known whole wheat breads and pastas, brown rice and oatmeal. Oatmeal got a shout-out recently from the American Heart Association. “It has many, many good qualities,” said Candida Rebello, director of the nutrition and… read on > read on >

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a second Alzheimer’s drug, lecanemab, despite reports of rare brain bleeds linked to use of the drug in some patients. However, the FDA pointed to the drug’s benefits, as well. “Alzheimer’s disease immeasurably incapacitates the lives of those who suffer from it and has devastating effects on their loved ones,” Dr. Billy Dunn, director of the Office of Neuroscience in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in an agency news release. “This treatment option is the latest therapy to target and affect the underlying disease process of Alzheimer’s, instead of only treating the symptoms of the disease.” Lecanemab, made by Eisai and marketed by Biogen as Leqembi, will be only the second Alzheimer’s drug to receive the FDA’s blessing in the past 18 months; the agency’s speedy approval of the drug Aduhelm in June 2021 generated controversy in the medical community over its lack of effectiveness, brain bleed concerns and hefty price tag. But Alzheimer’s experts said the story is somewhat different with Leqembi. “Unlike Aduhelm, which had an incomplete data set and where clinical trial data failed to demonstrate a definitive slowing in cognitive decline, lecanemab showed statistically significant slowing in cognitive and functional decline, as well as reduction of brain amyloid levels, and downstream beneficial effects on other markers of neurodegeneration,”… read on > read on >

Lecanemab: It’s an experimental medication that’s been shown in trials to slow cognitive decline in people with Alzheimer’s disease. It’s also up for accelerated approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, with a decision expected by Jan. 6. However, the drug has also been linked to two deaths from brain bleeds among people who’ve used it in trials, so safety concerns could threaten any approval. If approved, the drug — made by Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai — would follow the controversial drug Aduhelm to become only the second medication ever approved to slow Alzheimer’s disease. Not every patient would stand to benefit from lecanemab, stressed the Cleveland Clinic’s Dr. Babak Tousi. He led the portion of the clinical trial that was conducted at the Cleveland Clinic, in Ohio. “The trial was designed for patients in the earlier stage of Alzheimer’s disease, people with mild cognitive impairment or early stage of dementia,” Tousi noted. “If this medication gets approval, it will probably be for people who have early stage of disease, with no to minimal assistance needed for activities of daily living.” The results of the 18-month trial, which involved about 1,800 patients, gained wide attention when they were published Dec. 1 in the New England Journal of Medicine, Tousi noted. In the trial, early-stage Alzheimer’s patients who took lecanemab showed a 27% reduction in… read on > read on >

Losing weight is one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions — possibly to give yourself an excuse for some New Year’s Eve overindulgence. “I’m going to cram it all in tonight, so tomorrow I start afresh,” jokes registered dietitian Connie Diekman, a nationally known food and nutrition consultant. But those waking up bleary-eyed on New Year’s Day will find themselves facing a bewildering array of fad diets and quick weight-loss schemes. Which would be best for you? In large part, it’s going to be the diet that you can incorporate into your everyday life to improve your health rather than lose weight, Diekman said. “Making changes to our eating habits is a process. It takes time. Give yourself a break,” Diekman said. “Set one goal at a time. Work through it. When you’re successful, now you feel more empowered to do the next goal, and the next goal, and the next goal. “Yes, it takes time. But remember, this is about your health. It’s not about the weight. It’s a healthy you,” Diekman continued. “Because if you lose 10 pounds, 20 pounds, 30 pounds, but it was muscle mass and not body fat, it didn’t do you any good.” Also remember that weight loss requires that you take in fewer calories than you burn in a day, regardless of the diet you adopt, said… read on > read on >

Children and adults with a rare type of soft tissue cancer will now have a new treatment option that could have a big impact. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the immunotherapy drug atezolizumab (Tecentriq) for use in patients with advanced alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) that has spread to other parts of the body or cannot be removed by surgery. “This approval will make a huge impact in terms of a rare disease that has been particularly challenging to treat,” said Dr. Alice Chen, of the Developmental Therapeutics Clinic in the U.S. National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (DCTD). This cancer begins in the soft tissue that connects and surrounds the organs and other tissues. It spreads slowly, but is typically deadly once it spreads. Chemotherapy doesn’t work against it and new targeted treatments, including drugs called tyrosine kinase inhibitors, do not have lasting effectiveness. About 80 people in the United States receive an ASPS diagnosis each year. About 50% of patients with metastatic disease are still alive after five years. The cancer mostly affects adolescents and young adults. The approval was granted following the results of a non-randomized phase 2 trial led by the NCI, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). The drug is approved for people aged 2 and up. About 40% of… read on > read on >