Health/Fitness « Weekly Gravy

A highly infectious strain of avian influenza is tearing through commercial and backyard poultry flocks, causing egg prices to rise as sick chickens are culled across the United States. Now, some experts are worried that the H5N1 avian flu might become humankind’s next pandemic-causing pathogen, if the raging virus makes the leap from birds to humans. That’s because other mammals have started to pick up the avian flu, and mammal-to-mammal outbreaks of the H5N1 virus are also occurring in rare instances. “We’re always concerned when it’s in mammals, just because they’re closely related to humans,” explained Dr. Ryan Miller, an infectious disease doctor at the Cleveland Clinic, in Ohio. The red flag officially unfurled last week in a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which noted the spread of avian flu into certain mink and seal populations, and assessed the threat of spread into humans. “During the past 20 years, fewer than 900 confirmed human cases of H5N1 have been reported to the WHO [World Health Organization],” the report stated. “The historic case-fatality rate for human H5N1 infection has been high — more than 50%. But some experts say that’s likely an overestimation because many mild or asymptomatic infections may go unreported.” “Lots of flu viruses circulate in birds but never pose major threats to humans,” Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior… read on > read on >

Children who were exposed to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications their moms took during pregnancy are not more prone to neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD or autism, researchers report. The news may be welcome to women who’ve needed to take ADHD medication throughout their pregnancy. “We can see that the number of women of childbearing age who are medicated for ADHD is rapidly increasing, and therefore it is very important to garner more knowledge to be able to counsel these women,” said study co-author Dr. Veerle Bergink, director of the Women’s Mental Health Program at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. “We know that there is an increased risk of accidents or losing a job when women do not take ADHD medication, when it is indicated,” Bergink said in a Mount Sinai news release. “There are still unknowns, but these results may contribute to women making informed decisions about using ADHD medication during pregnancy.” Researchers at Icahn and the National Centre for Register-Based Research at Aarhus University in Denmark examined more than 1 million children born between 1998 and 2015 in Denmark and followed through 2018. The data included nearly 900 children whose mothers either continued using ADHD medication throughout pregnancy or started on ADHD medication during pregnancy. It also included 1,270 children whose mothers stopped taking ADHD medication… read on > read on >

Type 1 diabetes has long been considered a thin person’s disease, but a new study challenges that notion. About 62% of adults with type 1 diabetes were overweight or obese, the researchers found. That compared to 64% of those without diabetes and 86% of those with type 2 diabetes. For the study, the researchers used data on more than 128,000 people from the U.S. National Health Interview Survey. The investigators found that 34% of adults with type 1 diabetes were overweight. About 28% had obesity. Despite these high numbers, only slightly more than half of adults with type 1 diabetes who were overweight or had obesity received lifestyle recommendations from health care providers, such as to increase physical activity or cut calories, the findings showed. The study authors said this is likely because the insulin required to treat type 1 diabetes carries the risk of dangerously low blood sugar levels (hypoglycemia) if combined with intense exercise or severely reduced calorie intake. “The lack of evidence for safe, effective methods of diet- and exercise-based weight control in people with type 1 diabetes may be keeping doctors from recommending such methods,” said study first author Michael Fang, an assistant professor in Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health, in Baltimore. “Large clinical trials have been done in type 2 diabetes patients to establish guidelines for diet- and… read on > read on >

In 2021, U.S. emergency rooms treated more than 193,000 burn injuries caused by an array of products, ranging from cooking devices to fireworks and space heaters. Most of these burns were preventable, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Children under age 10 are especially vulnerable, accounting for 26% of all burn injuries in 2021, according to a commission news release. Here, the CPSC offers some tips for staying safe from burns: Keep children away from the cooking area. Keep flammable items, such as potholders and bags, away from the stove and oven. Keep clothing away from flames or ignition sources. Loose clothing can catch fire easily. Leave at least 3 feet between a space heater and a person. Keep hands and fingers away from it. Don’t leave loose flammable items near it. Don’t smoke while drowsy, and use flashlights instead of candles. If you do use candles, don’t burn them near anything that can catch fire and never leave them unattended. Always extinguish candles before leaving the room or going to sleep. If your clothing does catch fire, immediately stop. Don’t run. Drop to the ground and roll. Cover your face. Roll until the fire is out, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Fire Prevention Association advised. If you’re not able to drop, use something like a blanket to… read on > read on >

For the first time, COVID-19 vaccines have been added to the list of routine immunizations recommended for adults — a further sign the virus is here to stay. The addition is being made to the 2023 Recommended Adult Immunization Schedule, released Thursday by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP), an expert panel that advises the U.S. federal government on vaccination recommendations for all Americans. COVID vaccination has, of course, been recommended ever since the vaccines became available. But its inclusion on the recommended vaccine schedule underscores the fact that COVID-19 is not going away, said Dr. Sandra Adamson Fryhofer, an Atlanta-based physician who serves as an ACIP liaison. “This reiterates that COVID has gone from pandemic to endemic,” Fryhofer said. “For now, it looks like it’s here to stay.” “Endemic” means that a disease is spreading at a more stable frequency, versus the exponential growth seen during a pandemic. At this point, most Americans have received the primary series of vaccines against COVID. However, few have gotten the updated “bivalent” boosters that target both the original strain of the virus that causes COVID and two Omicron subvariants. It has been available since September, but only about 16% of Americans have gotten it, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That rate is higher among people age 65 and older, who are… read on > read on >

Many football fans fondly remember Rick Arrington as the Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback from 1970 to 1973, but his daughter’s memories are tainted by years spent watching her dad suffer from late-stage chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). A degenerative brain disease found in athletes, military veterans and others with a history of repetitive brain trauma, CTE causes depression, suicidal thoughts, aggression and mood swings. Eventually, folks have problems with thinking and memory, and may ultimately develop dementia. Repeated blows to the head — even if they don’t cause concussions — are considered the main risk factor for CTE. Speaking about her father’s illness for the first time at a recent benefit for the Concussion Legacy Foundation, sportscaster Jill Arrington said she no longer enjoys watching football. “When I see players’ heads collide on the field, I see my dad’s face begging me through tears to end his misery. I see the strongest man I have ever known struggle to sleep for months on end … and unable to make a simple cellphone call,” she told the crowd. Though he had no history of concussions, Arrington said her dad suffered with CTE for more than 35 years. “His life was cut short by the sport he loved,” she lamented. Researchers at the Boston University CTE Center recently announced that they have now diagnosed CTE in the brains of… read on > read on >

Add high blood pressure to the list of problems associated with concussions among former pro football players. Researchers at Harvard University’s Football Players Health Study linked a history of concussions to elevated risk for high blood pressure among ex-NFL players. The results suggest that treating former athletes who have both high blood pressure and a history of concussions could help protect them against heart, blood vessel and mental (cognitive) decline. “If players, families, and physicians are aware of the cardiovascular effects of head injury, we have a better chance of protecting both their cardiovascular health and long-term cognitive health,” study author Rachel Grashow said in a Harvard news release. She is director of epidemiological research initiatives for the Football Players Health Study. Grashow headed up the new study with Dr. Aaron Baggish, professor of medicine at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland and senior faculty member at the Football Players Health Study. The findings are based on a survey of more than 4,000 former National Football League players looking at various aspects of players’ health across their life span. Most research on mental decline in former pro football players has focused on neurodegeneration caused directly by repeated concussions, Grashow said. But heart disease is the leading cause of death and disability among former football players and Americans in general. And high blood pressure is the… read on > read on >

The U.S. flu season is expected to extend into spring, and experts say it’s not too late to get a flu shot. Last year’s flu season was mild, but this season has already seen triple the number of flu-related deaths in the United States. “Even a minor respiratory virus can be hard on someone with lung disease, and the flu is especially challenging,” said Dr. Albert Rizzo, chief medical officer for the American Lung Association. “We want to reiterate that not only should people with any chronic illness get a flu shot, but their loved ones and friends should also protect them by getting the flu vaccine. It’s imperative that we slow the spread of the flu this year as much as possible to continue to decrease the number of cases and hospitalizations, and to protect our most vulnerable loved ones,” Rizzo said in a news release from the American Heart Association, American Lung Association and American Diabetes Association. The flu can cause serious complications for people who have chronic health conditions, leading to hospitalization and potentially death. About 90% of people hospitalized for flu have at least one underlying medical condition, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These can include heart disease, history of stroke, type 1 or type 2 diabetes, obesity and chronic lung disease, such as asthma, cystic… read on > read on >

People who get COVID-19 are at risk for long-term health consequences, but a healthy lifestyle may protect against long COVID, a new study suggests. Women who maintained six healthy habits — a healthy weight, didn’t smoke, exercised regularly, slept and ate well, and drank alcohol in moderation — cut their risk of long COVID by about 50%, compared with women without those healthy habits, researchers found. “If all people adhere to all six healthy lifestyle factors in our cohort, 36% of long COVID could have been avoided,” said lead author Dr. Siwen Wang, a research fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Also, those with a healthier pre-infection lifestyle had a 30% lower risk of having symptoms that interfere with their daily life,” she added. One possible explanation, Wang said, is that an unhealthy lifestyle increases the odds of chronic inflammation and immune system problems. Both have been tied to an increased risk of long COVID. This study, however, can’t prove that a healthy lifestyle actually lowers the odds of developing long COVID, only that there is an association between the two. “There is also evidence that people with an unhealthy lifestyle sometimes develop autoantibodies and blood clotting issues that have been associated with increased risk of long COVID,” Wang said. “But more studies are definitely needed to understand how a healthy… read on > read on >

Vitamin D supplements are typically used to guard against bone loss and fractures, but new research offers up another possibility: For folks with pre-diabetes, they may help lower the chances of a full diabetes diagnosis. Across three clinical trials, investigators found that vitamin D supplements were modestly effective in curbing the risk of pre-diabetes progressing to type 2 diabetes. Over three years, just under 23% of study patients using vitamin D developed diabetes, versus 25% of those given placebo pills. On average, the study found, supplements lowered the risk of progressing to type 2 diabetes by 15%. “It’s pretty clear vitamin D has a moderate effect on reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes, if you’re at high risk,” said lead researcher Dr. Anastassios Pittas, of Tufts Medical Center, in Boston. The findings do not apply to people at average risk of the disease, he stressed, and it’s still unclear what the optimal dose of vitamin D is for people with pre-diabetes. Plus, Pittas said, no supplement would be a replacement for lifestyle changes, including a healthy diet and regular exercise. “We don’t want the message to be, take a pill and you won’t need to do the hard work of changing your diet and exercising,” Pittas said. Type 2 diabetes arises when the body’s cells no longer properly respond to the hormone insulin, which… read on > read on >