Health/Fitness « Weekly Gravy

Nicotine pouches might be helping tobacco users quit smoking and vaping, a new study says. The pouches — sold under brand names like Velo and Zyn — can’t be marketed as smoking cessation aids like nicotine patches, gums or lozenges, researchers said. But it appears that some are using the pouches to get their nicotine fix without resorting to smoking, researchers recently reported in JAMA Network Open. People were nearly four times more likely to use nicotine pouches daily if they’d recently quit smoking, researchers found. “Our results suggest that adults may be using nicotine pouches for harm reduction given that use is highest among those that have recently quit another tobacco product or e-cigarettes,” lead researcher Cristine Delnevo said in a news release. She’s director of the Rutgers University Institute for Nicotine and Tobacco Studies in New Brunswick, N.J. Nicotine pouches contain a powder made of nicotine, flavorings and other ingredients, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). People typically place the pouches between their lip and gum, where the nicotine is absorbed. For the study, researchers analyzed data from more than 110,000 Americans surveyed by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2022 and 2023 about their tobacco use. Few had ever used nicotine pouches, with about 2.6% saying they’d given them a try. Use among people who’d never tried any… read on > read on >

Everyone gets headaches, but not all headaches are the same. For some, they’re a quick inconvenience. For others, they can be intense, long-lasting and even disabling, disrupting daily life for days or weeks. Experts say finding the right treatment depends on identifying the type of headache and understanding what triggers it. “We define chronic headache as having more than 15 headache days per month. So, more days with headache than not,” Michael Oshinsky, a pain expert at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), told its monthly newsletter News In Health. The most common kind is a tension-type headache, often linked to stress, lack of sleep, dehydration or poor posture. Pain usually feels mild to moderate and affects both sides of the head. Migraines are another frequent cause of disabling pain. Unlike tension headaches, migraines are a complex brain condition that can cause: Severe pain on one or both sides of the head Nausea or vomiting Sensitivity to light, noise and smells Fatigue and mood changes “Migraine is a disorder where the ‘volume knob’ of the nervous system has been turned up,” said Dr. K.C. Brennan, a migraine researcher at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Other headache types include: Cluster headaches: Sudden, severe pain that often occurs in cycles Post-traumatic headaches: Common after concussions or head injuries Secondary headaches: Caused by underlying issues… read on > read on >

A new type of noninvasive brain stimulation may help people with moderate to severe depression feel better faster than standard treatments, researchers in a new report say. The method, called high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS), uses small electrodes on the scalp to deliver mild electrical currents to specific parts of the brain involved in mood regulation. In the trial conducted by UCLA researchers, 71 adults with major depression were randomly assigned to receive either active HD-tDCS or a sham treatment for 20 minutes a day over 12 working days. The group receiving real treatment showed a greater drop in their depression scores than the control group, according to findings published Sept. 11 in JAMA Network Open. On average, depression scores fell by nearly eight points in the active group compared to about six points in the sham group. Patients who received HD-tDCS were also more likely to reach remission, with 39.5% reporting very low symptoms versus 13.3% in the sham group, the study noted. “By honing in on the precise brain regions affected by depression, we’ve shown that stimulation can significantly improve mood and daily functioning,” lead author Mayank Jog, an assistant professor of neurology at UCLA, said in a news release. The therapy was safe and well-tolerated, with only mild side effects such as skin redness or a burning sensation. Importantly, mood improvements… read on > read on >

Most men agree that exercise provides a boost to their mental health, confidence and sex drive. However, that doesn’t mean they’re going to make it a regular habit, a new Cleveland Clinic survey says. About 30% of men do not engage in regular physical activity, according to a nationwide survey of 1,000 men 18 and older. Those who do exercise say it helps so much that they really feel it when they skip a workout, results show: 81% have lower energy or fatigue. 47% report more stress or irritability. 33% have decreased mental well-being. In addition, 61% of men said their physical fitness directly impacts their sex drive or sexual performance. “Men sometimes focus on their physical health, but mental and sexual health are just as important, and they’re all connected. When one area is off, it can affect the rest,” Dr. Petar Bajic, director of the Men’s Health Section at Cleveland Clinic’s Glickman Urological Institute, said in a news release. “Health challenges rarely happen in isolation and understanding that connection is key,” Bajic said. “The more we break down the stigma around discussing issues like sexual performance or stress, the better equipped men are to take control of their health and get the support they need.” The survey also delved into sexual health complaints, finding that about 18% had low sexual desire in the… read on > read on >

Just like their human counterparts, cats may act cranky or confused and have trouble sleeping as they age. They may even yowl more than usual at night. These, researchers say, are dementia-like behaviors that may owe to an accumulation of plaques in their brain, just like those in people with Alzheimer’s disease. And this similarity might mean that cats could offer scientists an important new model of human Alzheimer’s and how to treat the irreversible disease. “It’s exciting to have a naturally occurring model,” Roberta Marongiu, a neuroscientist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, said in a news release. She was reacting to findings of a study published recently in the European Journal of Neuroscience. In their work, researchers studying Alzheimer’s generally use mice that have been genetically modified to develop the disease. But cats develop dementia naturally, just like people, which could make them a valuable resource. As with people, amyloid-beta plaques build up in their brains. Researchers suspect that this buildup could be causing a cascade of problems within cats’ brain — for example, activating immune cells that attack links between nerve cells. These links are called synapses. Earlier research had found amyloid beta in cats’ brains, but scientists didn’t know how much it was affecting the animals’ brain function. Dr. Robert McGeachan, a veterinarian at the University of Edinburgh in… read on > read on >