A mom or dad who vapes at home might be setting their child up for eczema, new research suggests. In a study involving data from over 35,000 U.S. households, children with a parent who used e-cigarettes had a 24% higher odds for eczema (also known as atopic dermatitis) than kids with two non-vaping parents did. “Our results suggest that parental e-cigarette use was associated with pediatric atopic dermatitis,” concluded a team led by Dr. Golara Honari, a clinical associate professor of dermatology at Stanford University, in California. Her team published its findings May 22 in the journal JAMA Dermatology. According to the researchers, there is science backing up the notion that exposure to the toxins emitted in e-cigarette vapor could trigger changes in children’s skin. Prior lab studies have “demonstrated increased oxidative stress in human keratinocytes and 3-dimensional skin models exposed to e-cigarette fluids and aerosol residues,” they noted. Keratinocytes are cells that make up about 90% of the skin’s outer epidermal layer. “We hypothesize that secondhand exposure to e-cigarettes is associated with a similar response among children, elevating atopic dermatitis risk,” the Stanford team wrote. The new study drew on 2014-2018 data from the National Health Interview Survey, involving about 35,000 households. It’s a face-to-face survey of families conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Parents were asked about any cases…  read on >  read on >

Specific nutrients could play a pivotal role in the healthy aging of your brain, a new study finds. What’s more, those nutrients correlate closely with those found in the Mediterranean diet, an eating pattern already associated with healthy brain aging, researchers report. The identified nutrients “align with the extensive body of research in the field demonstrating the positive health effects of the Mediterranean Diet, which emphasizes foods rich in these beneficial nutrients,” said senior researcher Aron Barbey, director of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior. For the study, researchers took blood samples and performed brain function tests and MRI scans on 100 cognitively healthy people ages 65 to 75. Analysis revealed two different types of brain aging among the participants, accelerated and slower than expected. Those with slower brain aging had a distinct nutrient profile in their blood samples, results show. The beneficial nutrient blood biomarkers included a combination of: Fatty acids (vaccenic, gondoic, alpha linolenic, elcosapentaenoic, eicosadienoic and lignoceric acids). Antioxidants and carotenoids including cis-lutein, trans-lutein and zeaxanthin Two forms of vitamin E. Choline, an essential nutrient. This profile correlates closely with that of the Mediterranean diet, researchers noted. These nutrient patterns “are promising and have favorable associations with measures of cognitive performance and brain health,” Barbey said in a university news release. Previous research on nutrition and brain aging…  read on >  read on >

Matcha green tea has the potential to keep gum disease at bay, a new study finds. Lab experiments show that matcha can inhibit the growth of Porphyromonas gingivalis, one of the main bacterial culprits behind gum disease. Among a small group of 45 people with gum disease, those who used matcha mouthwash wound up with significantly lower levels of P. gingivalis, results show. “Matcha may have clinical applicability for prevention and treatment of periodontitis [gum disease],” researchers from the Nihon University School of Dentistry at Matsudo in Japan noted in their paper published May 21 in the journal Microbiology Spectrum. Matcha is a highly concentrated and vibrantly green tea that is also available in a powdered form. It’s used in traditional tea ceremonies, and for flavoring in beverages and sweets, researchers said. The green tea plant has long been studied for its potential to fight bacteria, fungi and viruses, researchers noted. To test matcha’s potential, researchers applied a matcha solution to 16 mouth bacteria species in the lab, including three strains of P. gingivalis. Within two hours, nearly all the P. gingivalis cells had been killed by the matcha extract, and after four hours all the cells were dead, researchers found.  Researchers then proceeded to a small human trial, randomly assigning patients with gum disease into one of three groups. One group received matcha mouthwash,…  read on >  read on >

Fetal exposure to fluoride from a mom-to-be’s drinking water might raise the odds for physical and mental health issues in toddlers, new research suggests. The study, which was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, wasn’t designed to prove cause-and-effect. However, researchers believe the findings are worth investigating further. “This is the first U.S.-based study to examine this association. Our findings are noteworthy, given that the women in this study were exposed to pretty low levels of fluoride — levels that are typical of those living in fluoridated regions within North America,” said study lead author Ashley Malin, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Florida. She conducted the research in part as a postdoctoral scholar at the Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles. No one is saying fluoridation needs to stop, however. “I don’t think we’re at the point where we are saying that water should not be fluoridated. It’s generally considered one of the biggest public health wins, certainly for the dental community,” study co-author Tracy Bastain told NBC News. “But our results do give me pause. Pregnant individuals should probably be drinking filtered water,” added Bastain, an associate professor of clinical population and public health sciences at the Keck School of Medicine. U.S. municipalities started adding fluoride to water supplies back in the 1940s, due to its proven…  read on >  read on >

Powerful COVID vaccines could be setting people’s immune systems up to successfully fight off not just future COVID variants, but other types of coronaviruses as well, a new study shows. People repeatedly vaccinated for COVID — the initial shots, followed by boosters and updated vaccines — generate antibodies capable of neutralizing not just COVID variants, but even some distantly related coronaviruses, researchers reported May 17 in the journal Nature. It appears that periodic re-vaccination for COVID might cause people to gradually build up a stock of antibodies that protect them from a variety of coronaviruses, researchers concluded. That runs counter to concerns that annual vaccinations against COVID might interfere with immune response in subsequent years, as happens with influenza jabs, researchers said. “The first vaccine an individual receives induces a strong primary immune response that shapes responses to subsequent infection and vaccination, an effect known as imprinting,” explained senior researcher Dr. Michael Diamond, a professor of medicine with the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “In principle, imprinting can be positive, negative or neutral,” Diamond added in a university news release. “In this case, we see strong imprinting that is positive, because it’s coupled to the development of cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies with remarkable breadth of activity.” A first vaccination triggers the development of memory immune cells. A second similar vaccination reactivates those memory…  read on >  read on >

New, real-world research confirms that the blockbuster weight-loss drugs that millions of Americans have been taking to shed pounds can trigger stomach paralysis in some patients. “Although these drugs do work and should be used for the right reason, we just want to caution everyone that if you do decide to start this, be prepared that you have a 30 percent chance that you may have GI side effects, and then the drug may have to be discontinued,” Dr. Prateek Sharma, a professor of medicine at the University of Kansas School of Medicine who conducted one of the studies, told CNN. His research was one of two reports presented Saturday at the Digestive Disease Week 2024 (DDW) in Washington, D.C. Neither has been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, so the data is considered preliminary. A third study on the complication is to be presented Monday. Known as GLP-1 agonists, drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound have helped people lose at least 10% of their starting weight. How do these medications work, and why might that sometimes prompt stomach paralysis? GLP-1 agonists curb hunger by slowing the movement of food through the stomach. They also help the body release more insulin and send signals to the brain that curb cravings. But in some people, they may also prompt bouts of vomiting that can require medical attention…  read on >  read on >