Vitamin D supplements might be a veritable Fountain of Youth, capable of slowing down a person’s biological aging, a new study says. People taking daily vitamin D3 experienced less wear-and-tear on their telomeres, the protective caps of DNA code at the ends of chromosomes, researchers reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Likened to the caps at the ends of shoelaces, telomeres degrade as people get older and are used by researchers as a sign of biological age — the actual amount of aging a person has undergone, as opposed to their age based on their birthday. The study “is the first large-scale and long-term randomized trial to show that vitamin D supplements protect telomeres and preserve telomere length,” researcher Dr. JoAnn Manson, chief of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said in a news release. “This is of particular interest because (the trial) had also shown benefits of vitamin D in reducing inflammation and lowering risks of selected chronic diseases of aging, such as advanced cancer and autoimmune disease,” she added. However, researchers warn not to stock up on vitamin D tablets just yet, as the positive benefits need to be verified in other studies. “We think these findings are promising and warrant further study, but we think that the replication will be important before changing the general guidelines for…  read on >  read on >

Vitamin D supplements might be a veritable Fountain of Youth, capable of slowing down a person’s biological aging, a new study says. People taking daily vitamin D3 experienced less wear-and-tear on their telomeres, the protective caps of DNA code at the ends of chromosomes, researchers reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Likened to the caps at the ends of shoelaces, telomeres degrade as people get older and are used by researchers as a sign of biological age — the actual amount of aging a person has undergone, as opposed to their age based on their birthday. The study “is the first large-scale and long-term randomized trial to show that vitamin D supplements protect telomeres and preserve telomere length,” researcher Dr. JoAnn Manson, chief of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said in a news release. “This is of particular interest because (the trial) had also shown benefits of vitamin D in reducing inflammation and lowering risks of selected chronic diseases of aging, such as advanced cancer and autoimmune disease,” she added. However, researchers warn not to stock up on vitamin D tablets just yet, as the positive benefits need to be verified in other studies. “We think these findings are promising and warrant further study, but we think that the replication will be important before changing the general guidelines for…  read on >  read on >

Approval is for adult patients with COPD with eosinophilic inflammation  read on >

A federal deadline ending sale of off-brand weight-loss and diabetes medications is now in effect, cutting off access to drugs many patients count on. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) already declared that shortages of popular GLP-1 medications have ended, CNN reported. Those medications include semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro and Zepbound).  That means compounded versions of these drugs made by smaller pharmacies and sold without FDA approval can no longer be legally produced or sold. The deadline for stopping production and distribution of compounded tirzepatide passed in March. Thursday was the final day for compounded semaglutide. For thousands of people, these compounded medications were more affordable than brand-name versions. Olympia Pharmaceuticals alone supplied more than 70,000 people each week, according to its chief financial officer, Josh Fritzler. “We had to be transparent. … ‘OK, we’re going to prioritize the shortage need for the next three months to make sure that we can meet as many patients as possible before this transition is over. Because a lot of them are scared that they’re going to run out,’ ” Fritzler told CNN. Michelle Pierce, 25, from Texas, said compounded semaglutide helped her lower her blood sugar and avoid back surgery. But with the end of availability, she told CNN, “I don’t really have any other options. I absolutely cannot afford to completely pay…  read on >  read on >

A federal deadline ending the sale of off-brand weight-loss and diabetes medications is now in effect, cutting off access to drugs many patients count on. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) already declared that shortages of popular GLP-1 medications have ended, CNN reported. Those medications include semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro and Zepbound). That means compounded versions of these drugs made by smaller pharmacies and sold without FDA approval can no longer be legally produced or sold. The deadline for stopping production and distribution of compounded tirzepatide passed in March. Thursday was the final day for compounded semaglutide. For thousands of people, these compounded medications were more affordable than brand-name versions. Olympia Pharmaceuticals alone supplied more than 70,000 people each week, according to its chief financial officer, Josh Fritzler. “We had to be transparent. … ‘OK, we’re going to prioritize the shortage need for the next three months to make sure that we can meet as many patients as possible before this transition is over. Because a lot of them are scared that they’re going to run out,’” Fritzler told CNN. Michelle Pierce, 25, from Texas, said compounded semaglutide helped her lower her blood sugar and avoid back surgery. But with the end of availability, she told CNN, “I don’t really have any other options. I absolutely cannot afford to completely pay…  read on >  read on >

Making vape devices boring could help deter teens and young adults from picking up the e-cigarette habit, a new study says. Vape devices currently come in colorful packaging and all sorts of fun designs, intended to enhance their appeal, researchers said. Offering a standardized white disposable vape made the devices less appealing, compared to colorful options, according to findings published May 20 in the journal Tobacco Control. “For countries interested in discouraging vaping among young people, standardizing the color of vaping devices could be considered alongside standardized packaging as a potential policy option,” concluded the research team led by Harry Tattan-Birch, a senior research fellow at University College London in the U.K. The rise of vaping has coincided with the introduction of disposable devices, and these devices come in many attractive colors and interesting designs, researchers said in background notes. There’s little regulation over the design of vaping devices, they pointed out, a stark contrast to other more heavily regulated tobacco products. To see whether the devices’ design makes a difference, researchers surveyed nearly 15,300 young people 16 to 29 living in England, Canada or the U.S. The participants were randomly shown images of either four branded disposable vapes or four standardized white vape devices, and then asked which they would be interested in trying. More than 67% of those shown the white vapes said…  read on >  read on >

Making vape devices boring could help deter teens and young adults from picking up the e-cigarette habit, a new study says. Vape devices currently come in colorful packaging and all sorts of fun designs, intended to enhance their appeal, researchers said. Offering a standardized white disposable vape made the devices less appealing, compared to colorful options, according to findings published May 20 in the journal Tobacco Control. “For countries interested in discouraging vaping among young people, standardizing the color of vaping devices could be considered alongside standardized packaging as a potential policy option,” concluded the research team led by Harry Tattan-Birch, a senior research fellow at University College London in the U.K. The rise of vaping has coincided with the introduction of disposable devices, and these devices come in many attractive colors and interesting designs, researchers said in background notes. There’s little regulation over the design of vaping devices, they pointed out, a stark contrast to other more heavily regulated tobacco products. To see whether the devices’ design makes a difference, researchers surveyed nearly 15,300 young people 16 to 29 living in England, Canada or the U.S. The participants were randomly shown images of either four branded disposable vapes or four standardized white vape devices, and then asked which they would be interested in trying. More than 67% of those shown the white vapes said…  read on >  read on >

Mouth taping is one of the latest health fads to swamp social media, driven by celebrity endorsements from the likes of Gwenyth Paltrow and Ashley Graham. The practice of taping your mouth shut as you sleep is meant to prevent mouth breathing, in hopes of improving rest by warding off snoring or sleep apnea. But a new review says there’s little evidence the fad actually benefits sleep. In fact, for many it could pose a serious risk of asphyxiation in the night. “The social media phenomenon of mouth taping as a means to stop mouth breathing would seem to be guided by poor evidence and can even lead to risk of detrimental effects in individuals with serious nasal obstruction,” concluded the research team led by senior researcher Dr. Brian Rotenberg, a professor of otolaryngology at Western University in Ontario, Canada. For the review, researchers evaluated 10 previously published studies of sealing the mouth shut during sleep. The studies employed different methods — using tape or other devices, like chin straps — to test the practice on a total 213 patients. The review was prompted by social media posts promoting the practice as a means of sleeping better, fighting aging and even improving dry mouth and bad breath, researchers said. “This is probably the single best wellness tool I have found recently,” Paltrow wrote on Instagram…  read on >  read on >

Mouth taping is one of the latest health fads to swamp social media, driven by celebrity endorsements from the likes of Gwenyth Paltrow and Ashley Graham. The practice of taping your mouth shut as you sleep is meant to prevent mouth breathing, in hopes of improving rest by warding off snoring or sleep apnea. But a new review says there’s little evidence the fad actually benefits sleep. In fact, for many it could pose a serious risk of asphyxiation in the night. “The social media phenomenon of mouth taping as a means to stop mouth breathing would seem to be guided by poor evidence and can even lead to risk of detrimental effects in individuals with serious nasal obstruction,” concluded the research team led by senior researcher Dr. Brian Rotenberg, a professor of otolaryngology at Western University in Ontario, Canada. For the review, researchers evaluated 10 previously published studies of sealing the mouth shut during sleep. The studies employed different methods — using tape or other devices, like chin straps — to test the practice on a total 213 patients. The review was prompted by social media posts promoting the practice as a means of sleeping better, fighting aging and even improving dry mouth and bad breath, researchers said. “This is probably the single best wellness tool I have found recently,” Paltrow wrote on Instagram…  read on >  read on >