Health/Fitness « Weekly Gravy

Life in lockdown has led many to overeat and gain weight, a phenomenon referred to as the “COVID-15.” But some small changes can get you back into shape, a weight management specialist suggests. “COVID-19 changed how we eat, what we eat and how we spend our day,” said Dr. Peter Jian, an assistant professor of family and community medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. “Unfortunately, for some of us that meant less healthy choices,” Jian added in a Baylor news release. Jian offered these tips for working off the excess pounds and returning to a healthy lifestyle: Learn how to cook. Or start other new hobbies to keep active. “Use this time as an opportunity to focus on the things that we can do in order to improve our health,” Jian said. Stay physically active. If you’re afraid to go to the gym, try biking, hiking and walking outside. You can also join an online fitness program. Eat a healthy diet. Buy nutritious foods with curbside pickup or delivery. If you shop in person, choose foods placed at the front and side aisles, where the fresh and organic produce is available. Avoid prepackaged and processed foods. To lose weight, start small. Gradually introduce new eating and exercise habits. This makes changes easier to adjust to. Stay clear of fad diets. Many of… read on >

Want to make smoking less attractive to young people? Try taking menthol cigarettes off the market, a new analysis suggests. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned flavors in cigarettes in 2009 because flavors appeal to youth and young adults, and the agency recently announced that it also intends to ban menthol in cigarettes. To assess what effect a ban on menthol cigarettes would have, Georgetown University researchers reviewed 24 studies on the impacts of restrictions on flavors in cigarettes. Six of the studies examined menthol bans implemented across Canada, 12 assessed the potential effects of hypothetical menthol bans in Canada, the United States and Europe, and six looked at prior bans of non-menthol flavors in cigarettes in Canada and the United States. Based on their review, the researchers concluded that 11%-45% of current U.S. menthol smokers might quit smoking in response to a menthol cigarette ban, while 15%-30% of menthol smokers might switch to e-cigarettes. Menthol smokers quitting or switching to e-cigarettes are more likely to be young adults, and a menthol cigarette ban may reduce the number of youth who start smoking by 6%, according to the researchers. They also found that while overall compliance with the menthol ban in Canada was high, studies into non-menthol flavor bans in the United States found that some retailers continued to sell banned products. The review… read on >

If you plan to celebrate Independence Day, you might want to reconsider setting off fireworks, Prevent Blindness suggests. There are other, safer ways to mark the United States of America’s birthday, according to the nonprofit eye health and safety group. It noted that thousands of Americans are injured by fireworks each year, especially around July 4th. “There are so many ways for families to celebrate Independence Day safely without using fireworks,” said Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness. “We urge everyone to avoid fireworks and spend the 4th of July with family and friends, instead of in the emergency room,” he added in a news release from the group. Over 19 years, there were more than 34,000 firework-related eye injuries seen in U.S. emergency departments, according to a recent study published in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology. Burns were the most frequent type of eye injury from fireworks. And bottle rockets were a common type of firework that disproportionately caused serious eye injuries. Children aged 10 to 19 had the highest rates of fireworks-related injuries treated at emergency departments, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Here are some suggestions on safe ways to celebrate the holiday: Decorate 4th of July treats using white frosting, blueberries and raspberries or strawberries. Decorate bicycles, scooters and wagons in red, white and blue and have a… read on >

With communities across the United States canceling Fourth of July celebrations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, backyard fireworks are likely to be more popular than ever. And that has many health experts worried. They fear injuries will soar among amateurs who don’t know how to use fireworks safely. Even before the holiday, explosives are being set off in America’s backyards and on city blocks at unprecedented levels this year. “It’s certainly a risky endeavor to try to use explosives like this without any proper training,” said Maureen Vogel, director of communications at the National Safety Council. But a new nationwide survey suggests that’s a risk many Americans are willing to accept in celebration of the nation’s independence. The online national survey of more than 2,000 adults by Orlando Health in Florida projects that more than two in five Americans will buy fireworks this year and 16% said their purchases were a direct result of COVID-19 cancellations. But despite their ability to dazzle onlookers, fireworks pose significant health risks, doctors warn. “Heading into the holiday weekend every year, I anticipate that we will see some of the injuries that people sustain from fireworks,” said Dr. Eric Adkins, an emergency medicine doctor at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. With 80 times as many firework complaints filed in New York City this summer compared… read on >

Despite the existence of conventional medications to manage multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms, a majority of patients also rely on alternative therapies, including vitamins, exercise and marijuana, a new survey suggests. For the study, researchers at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland asked MS patients if they used “complementary and alternative therapies” — medicines and practices outside of standard medical care. A majority of just over 1,000 respondents said they used some type of alternative therapy, including marijuana, vitamins, herbs and minerals, plus mind-body therapies like exercise, mindfulness, massage and various diets. An earlier survey, conducted in 2001, found some people regularly used these therapies — and many found them helpful — but only 7% were talking to their doctors about them. “It was a little bit of a wake-up call to physicians that they need to be more educated about complementary or alternative therapies, and then consider these therapies as part of the overall treatment plan for their patients,” said lead author Dr. Elizabeth Silbermann, a neurology fellow. MS is a potentially disabling disease that results from the immune system attacking the nervous system and damaging nerves. Symptoms vary, and while some patients eventually lose their ability to walk, others may experience only mild symptoms. MS has no known cure, but treatments can slow the disease’s progression and help patients manage symptoms. “We have… read on >

West Virginia loosened fireworks sales rules in 2016. And since then, the state has seen a 40% boom in fireworks-related injuries, researchers say. The regulation change made it easier for people to buy Class C fireworks such as Roman candles, bottle rockets and fountains. “Since there has been a trend among states to liberalize these laws, I think it is wise for states who may be looking to follow suit to consider the ramifications,” said study leader Toni Marie Rudisill. “If these products are more available, it increases people’s exposure and their likelihood of injuries — not just to children but to adults as well,” said Rudisill, a research assistant professor at West Virginia University School of Public Health. For the study, the researchers analyzed the medical records of patients treated by the WVU Medicine system over two years, including before and after the new law (June 1, 2015 to May 31, 2016 and June 1, 2016 to May 31, 2017). During the study period, 56 people were treated for fireworks-related injuries. Almost two-thirds of patients were older than 25, and 77% were male. The injury rate per 100,000 patients was about 40% higher after it became easier to buy fireworks, according to the study. While fireworks-related injuries increased, there were no changes in injury severity. The most common injuries were burns and cuts, mainly… read on >

Kids as young as age 8 can show signs of being at increased risk for diabetes in adulthood, a British study finds. Researchers analyzed blood samples collected from more than 4,000 participants at ages 8, 16, 18 and 25, looking for patterns specific to early stages of type 2 diabetes development. “We knew that diabetes doesn’t develop overnight. What we didn’t know is how early in life the first signs of disease activity become visible and what these early signs look like,” said study co-author Joshua Bell, an epidemiologist at the University of Bristol. While diabetes is most common in older age, signs that one is prone to it can be seen about 50 years before it’s typically diagnosed, the researchers said. “Knowing what these early signs look like widens our window of opportunity to intervene much earlier and stop diabetes before it becomes harmful,” Bell said in a university news release. He and his colleagues found that in susceptible children, certain types of “good” HDL cholesterol were lower at age 8 before other types of cholesterol, including “bad” LDL, increased. By ages 16 and 18, inflammation and amino acids were also elevated, the study showed. These differences widened over time. “We’re talking about the effects of susceptibility rather than of clinical disease itself,” Bell said. “This does not mean that young people ‘already have… read on >

Patients with severe COVID-19 may be at risk for a variety of brain complications — from stroke to psychosis, new research suggests. “There have been growing reports of an association between COVID-19 infection and possible neurological or psychiatric complications, but until now these have typically been limited to studies of 10 patients or fewer,” said lead study author Benedict Michael. He is a fellow in the Institute of Infection and Global Health at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom. The study, described as the first nationwide look at neurological complications of infection with the new coronavirus, looked at 125 COVID-19 patients treated in U.K. hospitals during April. Michael emphasized that it focused only on cases that were serious enough to require hospitalization. The most common brain complication was stroke, which occurred in 77 patients. Of those strokes, 57 were caused by a blood clot in the brain, nine by bleeding in the brain and one by inflammation in the blood vessels of the brain. Most of the patients who had a stroke were older than 60 years of age. Thirty-nine patients experienced confusion or behavior changes that suggested they had an altered mental state, the study found. Of those, nine had unspecified brain dysfunction (encephalopathy), seven had inflammation of the brain (encephalitis), and 23 were diagnosed with psychiatric conditions, the researchers said. Ninety-two… read on >

There’s new evidence that a 2,000-year-old medicine might offer hope against a modern scourge: COVID-19. The medication, called colchicine, is an anti-inflammatory taken as a pill. It’s long been prescribed for gout, a form of arthritis, and its history goes back centuries. The drug was first sourced from the autumn crocus flower. Doctors also sometimes use colchicine to treat pericarditis, where the sac around the heart becomes inflamed. Now, a team of Greek researchers reporting Wednesday in JAMA Network Open said their small trial suggests colchicine may indeed help curb severe COVID-19. The trial involved 105 Greek patients hospitalized in April with COVID-19. Besides receiving standard antibiotics and antivirals (but not remdesivir), half of the participants got daily doses of colchicine for up to three weeks, while the other half did not. The results “suggest a significant clinical benefit from colchicine in patients hospitalized with COVID-19,” according to the team led by Dr. Spyridon Deftereos, a cardiologist at Attikon Hospital in Attiki, Greece. Specifically, while the condition of seven of 50 patients who didn’t get colchicine “clinically deteriorated” to a severe stage (for example, requiring mechanical ventilation to survive), this was true for just one of the 55 patients who did receive colchicine, the researchers said. Writing in a journal editorial, a group of U.S. physicians agreed that the study has limits, but applauded the… read on >

In findings that could pave the way to a new treatment for Parkinson’s disease, scientists have figured out how to spur the production of new brain cells in mice. The advance centers on a protein found in various cells in mice and humans. Researchers found that blocking it in the mouse brain caused certain “support cells” there to transform into specialized neurons that produce the chemical dopamine. In Parkinson’s disease, dopamine-producing brain cells gradually die off, leading to movement symptoms like tremors, stiff limbs and coordination problems. In the new study, lab mice that grew new neurons also showed improvements in Parkinson-like movement problems. Experts stressed that mice, of course, are not humans. And much more research is needed to see whether the approach could be safe and effective for people with Parkinson’s, or other degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s. “But the prospect of using this general approach is exciting,” said James Beck, chief scientific officer for the Parkinson’s Foundation. Beck, who was not involved in the research, said the work fits into a broader concept called “transdifferentiation” — where one type of cell in the body is coaxed to convert into a different type. In theory, the approach could be used to replace damaged tissue in a host of conditions, from heart disease to diabetes to spinal cord injuries. “It’s exciting to think… read on >