Health/Fitness « Weekly Gravy

A single hardwired brain circuit might be responsible for male sexual drive, a new mouse study reports. Researchers have singled out in lab mice a brain region that controls sexual interest, libido, mating behavior and pleasure, said senior researcher Dr. Nirao Shah, a professor of psychiatry and neurobiology at Stanford University School of Medicine, in California. This region uses sensory input from the environment to recognize the sex of another mouse — “Aha, this is a female, maybe I can mate if she’s willing,” Shah said. “That recognition is then transformed into the desire to mate and the act of mating by this circuit,” he added. “Also, the circuit enables the behavior to be pleasurable so animals will seek to do it again, which is very important, because for a species to survive, animals need to reproduce.” While this study was in mice, Shah said similar brain structures have been found in other mammals — and perhaps even humans. “There are analogous anatomical counterparts we think in the human brain, but of course their function in the human brain remains to be determined,” he noted. For their experiments, Shah’s team used adult virgin male mice that had not seen a female mouse after being weaned at about 3 weeks of age. That way, the brain activity and behavior they observed would not have been shaped… read on > read on >

FRIDAY, Aug. 11, 2023 (HealthDay News) – As demand for the wildly popular weight-loss drug Wegovy continues to climb, drug maker Novo Nordisk said Thursday that it will continue restrictions on starter doses of the medication into 2024. The new plan extends by months existing restrictions and means patients who are not already taking the medication will have to wait to start. “We are going to continue to supply the market, but it’s just going to be on a limited form so we can have that continuity of care,” Doug Langa, executive vice president of North America Operations for Novo Nordisk, told CNN. “We’re still producing all strengths and we’re still supplying all strengths to the market,” Langa said. The company had previously expected the restriction to last through September. Eli Lilly is also struggling with supply and demand issues for its type 2 diabetes medication Mounjaro. That medication does not yet have U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval as a weight-loss drug. “Supply will likely remain tight in the coming months and quarters due to significant demand,” Eli Lilly Chief Financial Officer Anat Ashkenazi told CNN. Mounjaro targets a hormone known as GLP-1 and another called GIP, while Wegovy is a GLP-1 agonist, using semaglutide as its key ingredient. Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Ozempic also uses semaglutide, but in a smaller dose. Prescriptions for… read on > read on >

It may not get the publicity of some better-known vitamins like D, but vitamin K — found in leafy green vegetables — may boost lung health. A new, large study — published Aug. 10 in ERJ Open Research — suggests that people who have low levels of this vitamin also have less healthy lungs. They are more likely to report having asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and wheezing. “Our results suggest that vitamin K could play a part in keeping our lungs healthy,” said researcher Dr. Torkil Jespersen of Copenhagen University Hospital and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. “On their own, our findings do not alter current recommendations for vitamin K intake, but they do suggest that we need more research on whether some people, such as those with lung disease, could benefit from vitamin K supplementation,” Jespersen said in a journal news release. In addition to leafy greens, vitamin K is found in vegetable oils and cereal grains. It has a role in blood clotting, helping the body heal wounds, but researchers know very little about its role in lung health. To study this, the Danish researchers recruited more than 4,000 Copenhagen residents, ages 24 to 77. Study participants underwent lung function testing, called spirometry, which measures the amount of air a person can breathe out in one second (forced expiratory volume… read on > read on >

It seems obvious that texting and walking can be a dangerous duo, but now a new Australian study offers solid evidence of the dangers. Emergency room doctors Dr. Michael Levine and Dr. Matthew Harris, who were not involved in the study, weren’t surprised by the findings. “I think we’ve had, this summer, several people who either have been distracted while walking and have been hit by a car or been hit by a bicycle,” said Harris, from Northwell Health in New Hyde Park, N.Y. “I’ve definitely seen people stepping off curbs when they were not supposed to, not seeing cars come… because they were too busy looking at their phone when they should have realized where the sidewalk ended,” added Levine, from UCLA Health. “So, I’ve seen all different permutations of people getting injured from texting and walking across the street.” For the study, Australian researchers recruited 50 students from the University of New South Wales and had them go through four exercises. One was to text while sitting, another was to walk without texting, another was to have them walk and text, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog,” and the last one was to have students walk and text the same message while going through a walkway specifically designed by one of the scientists to have tiles slip out of place.… read on > read on >

It’s already known that the “healthy glow” of a tan actually represents damage to skin cells. But a new study of people on vacation has found that sunbathing also can disrupt the skin’s microbiome, altering the populations of bacteria that live on the skin in ways that could be harmful to health. The microbiome recovers within a month, but during that time a person will be more vulnerable to skin problems, said senior researcher Abigail Langton. She is a lecturer with the University of Manchester’s Center for Dermatology Research, in England. “During this 28-day post-holiday period of recovery skin may have reduced health, making it more susceptible to infection or irritation due to the loss of Proteobacteria [a type of bacteria that lives on the skin] and the overall change in skin microbiota balance,” Langton said. For this study, researchers analyzed the skin of 21 healthy volunteers prior to scheduled vacations in sunny locales. The team noted the makeup of the skin’s microbiota, specifically the three main bacterial communities found there. The research team then analyzed participants’ skin the day they got back, and at 28 and 84 days post-vacation. The investigators sorted the vacationers into groups based on sun exposure — eight “seekers” who picked up a tan while away, seven “tanners” who already had a tan before they left, and six “avoiders” who… read on > read on >

Patients with a type of multiple sclerosis (MS) known as relapsing-remitting MS could have less fatigue if they got more active and were in better physical shape, according to new research. The study also found that a lower disability rate was also associated with less fatigue. “The findings are interesting and support previous studies very well,” said corresponding author Marko Luostarinen, a doctoral researcher at the University of Eastern Finland, in Kuopio. “Patients with MS should find a suitable form of exercise, taking into account their disability, which maintains their functional capacity and reduces fatigue.” In relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), patients experience periods of new symptoms or relapses that are followed by quiet periods of remission that can last months or even years. Fatigue is a common MS symptom. The aim of the study was to investigate the connection between fatigue and disability in patients with RRMS. The study used several methods to gauge this, including measures of fatigue, disability and physical activity. Patients whose level of disability, as assessed by a measure called the expanded disability status scale (EDSS), was moderately low (0 to 2.5) had a higher level of fatigue than healthy participants with whom they were compared, the study found. At the same time, they had less fatigue than patients whose disability was higher (EDSS of 3 to 5.5). The researchers found a… read on > read on >

A large clinical trial weighing the medical merits of the obesity drug Wegovy has unearthed a significant positive side effect. Taking the medication cut the risk of serious heart problems by 20%, drug maker Novo Nordisk announced Tuesday. “People living with obesity have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease but, to date, there are no approved weight-management medications proven to deliver effective weight management while also reducing the risk of heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular death,” Martin Holst Lange, executive vice president for development at Novo Nordisk, said in a company news release. According to Dr. Howard Weintraub, clinical director of the Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease at NYU Langone Heart, in New York City, “There is now a drug that is well-tolerated and safe from a cardiovascular perspective, that also lowers body weight in an effective manner. On top of all of this, there is significant reduction in the cumulative outcome of nonfatal MI [heart attacks], cardiac death and stroke.” “This is a very important study,” he added, “as no other weight loss medication has been shown to reduce cardiovascular events. It is likely that the beneficial impacts of this drug go above and beyond just weight loss. We were part of this important trial, and I think we all agree that this was a very important study.” However, Novo Nordisk did… read on > read on >

A new brain-zapping technology may help ease the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children without some of the side effects stimulant medications can cause, a small, preliminary study suggests. Marked by trouble concentrating, sitting still and/or controlling impulsive behaviors, ADHD affects about 5.3 million children, according to Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD). The new technology, called transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS), involves placing two electrodes on the brain where they emit a mild, painless electrical current. The study was funded by Tech Innosphere Engineering Ltd., the device manufacturer. “A novel form of noninvasive, safe and painless brain stimulation led to a significant effect on ADHD symptoms reduction that persisted three weeks after the end of the intervention,” said study author Roi Cohen Kadosh, head of the School of Psychology at the University of Surrey in England. Still, the new technology is not ready for prime time yet, he added. “The results are promising, but we need to extend it to a larger population of patients, which we are planning to start this year,” Cohen Kadosh said. Exactly how the technology works to reduce ADHD symptoms isn’t fully understood yet, added study author Mor Nahum, head of the Computerized Neurotherapy Lab at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. “In ADHD kids, we know that some of the frontal brain areas may be less… read on > read on >

In the midst of a childhood obesity epidemic, a new study is pointing to a way to help school kids maintain a healthier weight: clean, accessible drinking water. The decidedly low-tech solution emerged in a study of 18 California elementary schools that serve largely low-income minority families. Researchers found that when they kicked off a “Water First” program — which included putting tap water stations in the schools — it made a difference in kids’ weight gain. At the nine schools where the program launched, the percentage of kids who fell into the overweight category held fairly steady over 15 months. In contrast, that figure rose by almost 4 percentage points at schools without the water program. Experts said the impact was striking, given that encouraging kids to drink water is just one simple step. “I think the fact that they were able to find this difference is pretty remarkable,” said Marlene Schwartz, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at the University of Connecticut. It’s generally tough to move the needle when it comes to kids’ weight, because it is influenced by so many factors, noted Schwartz, who was not involved in the study. Dr. Anisha Patel, who led the research, pointed to the relative simplicity of the tactic — which could have multiple benefits, including cavity prevention and keeping kids… read on > read on >

Whether you got a tattoo on a whim or after much thought, that ink on your body is fairly permanent. Tattoo removal is possible, but it comes with risks, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which regulates tattoo ink and pigment, as well as the laser devices used to remove them. State and local authorities typically oversee tattooing practices. The FDA has cleared several types of lasers for tattoo lightening or removal. They are to be used by or under the supervision of a health care professional. The process requires using the correct type of laser, understanding how tissue will react and knowing how to treat the area after the procedure. One challenge with removal is that tattoos are more than skin deep. The needle injects ink into the skin, penetrating the epidermis, or outer layer. And it also deposits a drop of ink into the dermis, the layer underneath. The cells of the dermis are more stable than those of the epidermis, which, the FDA said, means the ink will mostly stay in place for a person’s lifetime. Lasering is the most common method for removing or lightening tattoos, according to the FDA. Laser light energy shatters the tattoo ink into small particles, and the immune system clears these particles over time. Different types of lasers may be used depending on the… read on > read on >