Air filters might help keep the air in your home fresh, but a new review finds they don’t appear to reduce your risk of catching an airborne virus. Technologies designed to make indoor spaces safer from infection are not effective in the real world, researchers from the University of East Anglia in the UK argue. The team analyzed data from 32 prior studies in which air treatment technologies were tested in real-world setting like schools or nursing facilities. “The kinds of technologies that we considered included filtration, germicidal lights, ionisers and any other way of safely removing viruses or deactivating them in breathable air,” said lead researcher Dr. Julii Brainard, from the University of East Anglia’s Norwich Medical School. The pooled data revealed that the filter systems did nothing to keep people from catching airborne respiratory or GI infections. “In short, we found no strong evidence that air treatment technologies are likely to protect people in real-world settings,” Brainard said in a university news release. “The combined evidence was that these technologies don’t stop or reduce illness. “ “Our findings are disappointing — but it is vital that public health decision makers have a full picture,” Brainard added. The study was published Nov. 16 in the journal Preventive Medicine. The researchers did note that all of the studies in their review dated from prior to the…  read on >  read on >

Shrinkage of one of the brain’s key memory centers appears to herald thinking declines, a new study finds. The region in question is the hippocampus, a two-sided structure located roughly above each ear and embedded deep within the brain’s temporal lobe. It’s long been known to play a crucial role in the storage and transference of short- and long-term memory. The new research was published Nov. 15 in the journal Neurology. It focused on brain scan data collected from 128 people averaging 72 years of age. A team led by Dr. Bernard Hanseeuw, of Harvard Medical School in Boston, used the scans to track changes in brain levels of amyloid plaques or tau tangles. Both are linked to the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. The team also used the scans, which were taken annually, to chart any changes in the size of an individual’s hippocampus over the course of seven years. People who showed the most significant shrinkage in their hippocampus were also most likely to display thinking declines over the study period, Hanseeuw’s group reported. This seemed to occur independently of changes in levels of either amyloid or tau, they noted. They estimated that hippocampus shrinkage might account for 10% of thinking declines. “These results suggest that neurodegenerative diseases other than Alzheimer’s are contributing to this decline, and measuring the hippocampus volume may help us…  read on >  read on >

THURSDAY, Nov, 16, 2023Young adults are now more likely to vape than to smoke cigarettes, with more becoming addicted to nicotine through vaping than traditional smoking, researchers say. Nearly three in five young adults who vape (56%) have never regularly smoked cigarettes, according to data from an ongoing federal study of tobacco use. This is the first time that there are more young people who began to use nicotine through vaping rather than smoking, researchers said in a research letter published Nov. 13 in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. “We now have a shift such that there are more ‘never smokers’ who vape than established smokers,” said researcher Benjamin Toll, director of the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Health Tobacco Treatment Program. “That is a massive shift in the landscape of tobacco.” “These ‘never smokers’ are unlikely to start smoking combustible cigarettes – they’re likely to vape and keep vaping,” Toll added in a university news release. “And it’s this group, ages 18 to 24, who are going to forecast future e-cigarette users.” E-cigarettes could be a less harmful option than smoking, but it’s not harm-free, researchers said. Because of that, it’s disheartening to see young non-smokers begin to vape. “If you currently smoke and you’ve smoked combustible tobacco cigarettes for a few decades — those people are at very high risk of cancer,…  read on >  read on >

For many women with breast cancer, struggles with sexual issues becomes a hidden burden, new research shows. Because most patients don’t feel comfortable talking over these issues with a doctor, many turn to online patient-support forums for advice. The new study found that three-quarters of breast cancer patients admitted to some form of sexual dysfunction, most often vaginal dryness or pain upon penetration. However, instead of going to physicians for advice, “women with breast cancer are taking the initiative to fill the gap in their care for sexual symptoms by seeking, innovating and sharing solutions amongst themselves,” concluded a team led by Christiana von Hippel. She’s a graduate researcher at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in Boston. In the study, von Hippel’s group conducted a survey of 501 adult members of the popular Breastcancer.org online forum community. Seventy percent said they had remained sexually active at the time they completed the survey. About two-thirds identified as heterosexual, and about two-thirds were partnered. Forty-seven percent said they’d been very or extremely satisfied with their sex lives prior to cancer treatment, but 44 percent also said they’d experienced a significant worsening of their sex life post-diagnosis.  Vaginal dryness and/or pain upon penetration were the most common issues cited, and 57% of respondents said they’d never discussed the sexual side effects of…  read on >  read on >

Oral nicotine pouches might be marketed as an alternative to cigarettes, but they do little to curb smokers’ nicotine cravings, a new study finds. The pouches – which contain nicotine powder and other flavorings, but no tobacco leaf – take too long to provide the nicotine “spike” that eases cravings, researchers report in the Nov. 15 issue of journal Addiction. Current smokers still get a much greater nicotine spike and much sharper relief from craving symptoms when they take a puff than when they use either low- or high-dose nicotine pouches, the results showed. The spike of nicotine from smoking occurs within about five minutes, said lead researcher Brittney Keller-Hamilton, of Ohio State University’s Cancer Control Program. By comparison, nicotine pouches take 30 minutes to an hour to hit peak effectiveness, researchers said. It’s reasonable to see how the instant gratification from cigarette smoking would be more appealing than oral nicotine pouches for smokers deep in the need for a nicotine fix, Keller-Hamilton said. At the same time, researchers are concerned that the pouches could appeal to young people, increasing nicotine addiction in a younger population while doing nothing to stem cancer risk among smokers. “Our challenge is to approach regulation of nicotine pouches to limit their appeal among young people while making them more appealing to adult smokers who would see health benefits by…  read on >  read on >

Retatrutide, an experimental weight-loss drug that could compete against blockbusters Wegovy and Zepbound, may work wonders for obese folks with liver disease, new research shows. A wider study, published in June, found that retatrutide helped obese people lose about a quarter of their starting weight over an 11-month period. Now, findings from a subset of participants in that trial showed that retatrutide also culled excessive fat from around the livers of obese people — essentially curing many from a dangerous condition called fatty liver disease. The research was funded by Eli Lilly and Co., which is developing retatrutide. “The implications of this trial are, we could wipe out the fat very early in the course of this disease, before it becomes a real threat to the liver and, potentially, reduce the long-term cardiac, metabolic, renal [kidney] and liver-related harm from obesity,” said sub-study lead Dr. Arun Sanyal, of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond. “We are encouraged by these results and how they can potentially help tackle a disease that is currently without any approved therapies,” added Sanyal, who directs VCU’s Stravitz-Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease and Metabolic Health. The weight-loss results from the larger trial were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in June. The newer data, from a subset of patients with liver disease, was presented Nov. 13 at a meeting…  read on >  read on >

Social media platforms are spouting a steady stream of unsafe skin care trends, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. This is National Healthy Skin Month, and board-certified dermatologists are putting a spotlight on five unsafe practices you might come across while perusing social media. Performing cosmetic treatments at home People are microneedling, injecting fillers and using lasers to remove unwanted hair in videos taken at home. “This is something I find really concerning,” said Dr. Sara Moghaddam, a board-certified dermatologist in Selbyville, Del. “For example, at-home microneedling, also known as derma-rolling, is dangerous due to risk of infections and improper techniques.” Dr. Oyetewa Oyerinde, an assistant professor of dermatology and director of the Skin of Color Clinic at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, warns that an unsafe cosmetic procedure can look perfectly harmless on someone’s social media platform. “My patients will see people who document their entire experience performing a cosmetic procedure on TikTok or on Instagram,” Oyerinde said. “I tell patients, even if their immediate effect looks good to you — and they may be using filters and other things to make it look good — you have no idea if they ended up in the emergency room afterward because of a bad reaction.” Trying nasal tanning spray Self-tanner applied to the skin is a safe way to gain a lovely glow,…  read on >  read on >

MONDAY, Nov. 13, 2023 (Healthday News) — In a finding that could change the landscape of heart disease care, the wildly popular weight-loss drug Wegovy has proved its mettle in protecting the heart after lowering the risk of cardiac problems in patients by 20%. The results from this large, international study had been eagerly awaited by scientists and doctors alike. Why? It is the first to show that Wegovy’s therapeutic powers may extend to the cardiovascular system, helping prevent a heart attack, stroke or a heart-related death in people who already have heart disease but not diabetes. “It moves from a kind of therapy that reduces body weight to a therapy that reduces cardiovascular events,” study author Dr. Michael Lincoff, vice chairman for research in the department of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, told the Associated Press. A high-dose version of the diabetes drug Ozempic, which already has been shown to lower the risk of heart problems in people who have diabetes, Wegovy seems to do the same for heart patients who don’t have the blood sugar disease. Dr. Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, a heart expert at the Mayo Clinic, told the AP that he believes the new findings will alter heart treatment guidelines and “dominate the conversation” for years to come. “This is the population who needs the medicine the most,” said Lopez-Jimenez, who wasn’t…  read on >  read on >

An experimental device that isolates blood flow to the brain has the potential to revolutionize brain research. The device redirects the brain’s blood supply through a pump that maintains or adjusts a range of variables necessary to maintain the organ, including blood pressure, temperature, oxygenation and nutrients, researchers report. When tested on a pig brain, the device maintained brain activity and health over a five-hour period, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center found. The device could lead to new ways to study the human brain without influence from other bodily functions, researchers said. “This novel method enables research that focuses on the brain independent of the body, allowing us to answer physiological questions in a way that has never been done,” Dr. Juan Pascual, a professor of neurology, pediatrics, and physiology at UT Southwestern, said in a medical center news release. The findings were published recently in the journal Scientific Reports. Researchers have already used the system to better understand the effects of low blood sugar in the absence of other factors. Although scientists can induce low blood sugar in lab animals by restricting food intake or dosing them with insulin, the body can compensate by altering metabolism and cloud the results. This new device allows researchers to directly alter the blood sugar pumped into the brain. The device also could lead to improvements to…  read on >  read on >