Health/Fitness « Weekly Gravy

An ingredient in the hair dye a French woman used caused her to develop a vision-robbing retinopathy, researchers report. When she switched to a dye without these ingredients, called aromatic amines, her vision troubles resolved, according to a team led by Dr. Nicolas Chirpaz, an ophthalmologist at Edouard Herriot Hospital, in Lyon. Such cases could be rare, the researchers said, but spreading awareness of the danger “may allow prompt consideration to remove exposure to such hair dye” so eyes aren’t permanently damaged, Chirpaz and colleagues said. They published their case report Sept. 12 in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology. As the French team noted, this isn’t the first time hair dye has been linked to retinopathy: Three prior cases were reported in 2022 among “middle-aged women following exposure to hair dyes containing aromatic amines.” In the latest case, a 61-year-old woman with no prior history of vision trouble came to doctors with progressively blurry vision in both eyes “a few days after dyeing her hair with hair dye containing aromatic amines,” Chirpaz’ group said. The aromatic amine in the dye used in this case was para-phenylenediamine. Upon examination, the woman was found to have multiple retinal detachments that resembled the damage that can occur in retinopathies that are tied to certain enzymes found in the eye, called MEK1 or MEK2. The woman’s eyes also displayed an… read on > read on >

Prescriptions for amphetamine stimulants to treat ADHD have increased significantly in recent years, particularly during the pandemic. Unfortunately, high doses of stimulants like Adderall can increase the risk of psychosis or mania by more than fivefold, a new study finds. Patients had a nearly 63% increased risk of psychosis or mania if they took any prescription amphetamine within the past month, researchers reported Sept. 12 in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Those on heavy doses of amphetamines were at even greater peril of a psychotic episode, with an 81% increased risk, results show. The highest risk occurred in patients taking 30 milligrams or more of dextroamphetamine, which corresponds to 40 milligrams of Adderall, the study says. “Stimulant medications don’t have an upper dose limit on their labels, and our results show that it is clear that dose is a factor in psychosis risk and should be a chief consideration when prescribing stimulants,” said lead investigator Dr. Lauren Moran, a pharmacoepidemiology researcher at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass. “This is a rare but serious side effect that should be monitored by both patients and their doctors whenever these medications are prescribed,” Moran added. Moran said she pursued this study based on her experiences as an inpatient psychiatrist. She and her Mclean colleagues would regularly see patients experiencing their first episode of psychosis. Medical records would reveal… read on > read on >

The injectable weight-loss drug Zepbound appears to work better in women than in men, according to a new analysis of the clinical trials that led to its approval. All doses of tirzepatide consistently reduced weight in both women and men, researchers found. But women lost up to 25% of their initial body weight when treated with tirzepatide, compared with just 19% in men, results showed. Researchers presented the new analysis Wednesday at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes’ annual meeting in Madrid. Findings presented at medical meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. “This post-hoc analysis underscores the consistent benefits of tirzepatide for women and men. More research is needed to understand the mechanism by which females may experience more weight reduction in these trials,” lead researcher Dr. Luis-Emilio García, an associate vice president at Eli Lilly, said in a meeting news release. Tirzepatide works by mimicking two types of hormones related to hunger and insulin control, GLP-1 and GIP. Its rival drug, Wegovy, only mimics GLP-1. This new study pooled all the data from four trials that tested tirzepatide against a placebo in nearly 3,000 women and 1,700 men. The trials tested the weight-loss drug in obese people with or without type 2 diabetes or other weight-related health problems. Some trials also included a three-month lifestyle intervention intended… read on > read on >

Two monoclonal antibody treatments to slow Alzheimer’s disease, lecanemab (Leqembi) and donanemab (Kisunla), have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over the past two years. It’s thought the drugs curb Alzheimer’s by reducing levels of toxic amyloid protein plaques in the brain. But what if another neurological effect could explain the benefit? Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have discovered that Leqembi and Kisunla boost levels of a healthy form of amyloid beta (Aβ42) protein in the brain, even as they reduce its more toxic form in amyloid plaques. “If the problem with Alzheimer’s is the loss of the normal protein, then increasing it should be beneficial, and this study showed that it is,” explained study lead author Dr. Alberto Espay, a professor of neurology at Cincinnati. “The story makes sense: Increasing Aβ42 levels to within the normal range is desirable,” he said in a university news release. Aβ42 is a complex protein made up of 42 amino acids, giving it its name. Sometimes these proteins can harden and clump together to form the brain tissue plaques that have long been associated with Alzheimer’s disease. However, Aβ42 in its natural state should not do that. It is normally soluble, and when in a soluble state Aβ42 plays a crucial role in maintaining the health of brain cells, the Cincinnati team explained. Espay’s… read on > read on >

Ozempic and Wegovy can prevent heart problems in overweight and obese people, particularly if they also suffer from kidney disease, a new clinical trial shows. The drugs’ active ingredient, semaglutide, reduced heart health risk by 20% in heavyset people who took it for more than three years, researchers reported Wednesday at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes annual meeting in Madrid. The study “found a similar percentage reduction in cardiovascular disease with semaglutide in those with and without poor kidney function,” said lead researcher Helen Colhoun, chair of medical informatics and life course epidemiology with the University of Edinburgh in the U.K. That’s especially good news for people with kidney troubles, Colhoun explained. “Because those with poor kidney function have higher background risk of cardiovascular disease, the absolute benefit is greatest in this group,” Colhoun said in a meeting news release. “People with impaired kidney function have increased risks of cardiovascular disease and the results show that semaglutide is safe and effective in reducing this risk substantially.” Semaglutide mimics the hormone GLP-1, which plays a role in hunger, digestion and insulin control. For the clinical trial, researchers randomly assigned more than 17,600 overweight or obese people around the world to take either semaglutide or a placebo for an average of 40 months. The participants had all previously suffered a heart attack or stroke… read on > read on >

The weight-loss drug liraglutide helped obese children lower their BMI and reach a healthier weight, researchers report. The findings, published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented simultaneously at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes annual meeting in Madrid, are the first to demonstrate the effects of liraglutide (Saxenda) on children ages 6 to 11. “The results of this study offer considerable promise to children living with obesity,” study author Dr. Claudia Fox, co-director of the Center for Pediatric Obesity Medicine at the University of Minnesota, said in a meeting news release. “To date, children have had virtually no options for treating obesity. They have been told to ‘try harder’ with diet and exercise. Now, with the possibility of a medication that addresses the underlying physiology of obesity, there is hope that children living with obesity can live healthier, more productive lives.” Most adults and children 12 and older can take newer weight-loss medicines like the GLP-1 drugs Wegovy and Zepbound, experts say, but younger children must rely on diet, exercise and counseling alone to lose weight. “Obesity is the most common chronic disease of childhood,” Fox noted. “Left untreated, obesity in childhood almost universally persists into adulthood and is associated with significant ill health, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and for some, premature death. Early intervention is therefore critical.” “However,… read on > read on >

An experimental weight-loss pill appears to help people quickly shed pounds, a new study says. People who took the drug amycretin lost up to 13% of their body weight over three months, according to early clinical trial results presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes annual meeting in Madrid. Amycretin mimics the action of two different hunger-related hormones at once, says Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharma company developing the drug. The drug mimics glucagon, which is the hormone also imitated by the cutting-edge GLP-1 diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, which are given via weekly injection. On top of that, amycretin also mimics amylin, another hormone implicated in hunger and insulin control. “A single molecule that targets both amylin and GLP-1 biology in a tablet form could offer a more convenient approach to achieving better outcomes for individuals with overweight or obesity,” Novo Nordisk researchers wrote in a company news release. For the study, researchers tested amycretin on overweight and obese people who didn’t have diabetes. They found that amycretin outperformed placebo in helping people lose weight, and that higher doses of amycretin caused more weight loss. Participants taking a single daily 50-milligram dose of amycretin lost a little more than 10% of their body weight, on average, within 12 weeks, researchers found. Those taking the 50-mg pill twice a day… read on > read on >

Widespread and easy access to guns is the reason behind the shockingly high rate of firearm deaths in the United States, and not any rise in mental health problems suffered by perpetrators, a new study shows. The United States has the same burden of mental health disorders as 40 other countries with comparable populations, researchers reported recently in the journal PLOS One. However, the U.S. rate of death by firearms is 20 times greater than those other countries, results show. “We have the same degree of mental health issues as other countries, but our firearm death rate is far greater and continuing to increase,” said lead investigator Dr. Archie Bleyer, a clinical research professor with Oregon Health & Science University. “In most of the countries, firearms deaths are decreasing.” Polling has shown that most of the public believes that mental health disorders are to blame for the high U.S. firearm death rate, Bleyer said. But the latest findings indicate that firearm availability is the true cause of America’s gun death epidemic, Bleyer said. For the study, researchers compared the United States to 40 other countries with similar demographics between 2000 and 2019 using data drawn from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation Global Health Burden. The research team looked specifically at firearm deaths and the burden of mental health issues in the countries. Since… read on > read on >

New research uncovers a possible reason why teenaged girls struggled so mightily with their mental health during the pandemic: Scans showed their brains aged far faster than expected during that stressful time, even faster than the brains of their male peers. In the study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists measured cortical thinning, a process where redundant brain synapses are pruned and the outer layer of the cortex is thinned. While some experts believe this process is simply the brain rewiring itself for efficiency as it matures, it is known to accelerate in stressful conditions. That speeded thinning is also linked to depression and anxiety. How did the researchers discover that unusual thinning? After pandemic shutdowns started to lift, scans taken in 2021 showed that both boys and girls had experienced rapid cortical thinning during that period. But the thinning was far more pronounced in girls, whose thinning had accelerated, on average, by 4.2 years ahead of what was expected. Meanwhile, the thinning in boys’ brains had accelerated only 1.4 years ahead of what was expected. The greater impact on female brains could have been be due to differences in the importance of social interaction for girls versus boys, said senior study author Patricia Kuhl, director of the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences at the University of Washington. Teenaged girls rely… read on > read on >

Brain changes that signal Alzheimer’s disease even before symptoms appear are linked to an increased vulnerability to financial scams, new research shows. “Assessing financial vulnerability in older adults could help identify those who are in the early stages of mild cognitive impairment or dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease,” said study lead author Duke Han. He’s a professor of psychology and family medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Unscrupulous con artists can reach out to seniors via phone or email with various scams that, in some instances, can wipe out retirement savings. In many cases, early-onset dementia has rendered these seniors more vulnerable, Han’s group said. The USC team conducted two types of tests in a group of 97 people over the age of 50. None had obvious signs of cognitive troubles when they joined the study. In one test, all participants underwent high powered MRIs to look at the thickness of a brain area called the entorhinal cortex. This region helps foster communication between the hippocampus (a center for learning and memory) and the the medial prefrontal cortex, which regulates emotion, motivation and other cognitive functions. Prior research has shown that pre-symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease often manifests as a “thinning out” of the entorhinal cortex, which progresses as the disease becomes more apparent. All of the 97 participants also took a test gauging… read on > read on >