Health/Fitness « Weekly Gravy

Vitamin D supplements might lower the risk of heart attack and other cardiac ills for people over 60 — especially if they’re already taking heart meds, a new study suggests. “Our results suggest that further exploration of the possible benefit of vitamin D on cardiovascular events, particularly in those at higher risk of having an event, might be warranted,” said senior researcher Rachel Neale. Evidence of benefit was strongest for folks taking cholesterol-lowering statins or other heart medications, said Neale, deputy coordinator of the population health program at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Queensland, Australia. The large trial found “some evidence of benefit for people who were taking drugs to treat cardiovascular conditions or high cholesterol at baseline, and vitamin D reduced the rate of heart attack,” she said. Other studies have not found a benefit of vitamin D for major cardiovascular events, “but the results of [our] D-Health Trial suggest that it might be beneficial,” Neale said. Still, the findings aren’t conclusive. “Overall, we found no statistically significant effect of vitamin D on major cardiovascular events, such as stroke, myocardial infarction [heart attack], or treatment of blocked vessels in the heart,” she added. While not whole-heartedly endorsing D supplementation, Neale said older adults might give it some thought. “Taking a modest dose of vitamin D is unlikely to be harmful,” she said.… read on > read on >

Pairing exercise with a 10% weight loss can make a major health improvement in people living with obesity and prediabetes, a new study says. Building in regular exercise more than doubled sensitivity to insulin compared to just weight loss alone. This has the potential to prevent or delay prediabetes from progressing into type 2 diabetes while also decreasing the risk of heart disease, researchers said. “Insulin resistance is a major factor that causes type 2 diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and abnormal blood lipids in people with obesity,” said senior investigator Dr. Samuel Klein, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “We’ve shown that combining exercise with weight loss causes a marked improvement in whole-body insulin sensitivity, thereby lowering the risk of developing diabetes and treating obesity-related metabolic diseases to a much greater degree than is possible with weight loss alone,” he said in a university news release. Obesity makes the body resistant to insulin, leading to an increase in blood sugar concentration, Klein explained. The 16 study volunteers were obese, with a body mass index ranging from 30 (the threshold for obesity) to 49. They also had prediabetes, with medical evidence of insulin resistance. Eight of the volunteers were put in a diet-only group and lost 10% of their body weight. The other eight also… read on > read on >

Enjoy that summer sun, but keep some safety tips in mind, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advises parents. “It’s great to see children enjoying nature and reaping the benefits of outdoor activities,” Atlanta-based pediatrician Dr. Rebecca Philipsborn said in an AAP news release. “As we encounter more intense weather events, including severe heat, there are some layers of protection that families can use to help their kids stay healthy.” Among the issues to consider are air quality and pollution. Sun and heat can worsen local air pollution. You can check your local Air Quality Index, the AAP suggests. This will help you to know when air pollution, wildfires and heat raise the risk of asthma and other health issues. For sun protection, keep babies under 6 months old out of direct sunlight. Instead, they should be shaded by a tree, umbrella or stroller canopy. Dress your baby in lightweight clothing that covers the arms and legs. Use brimmed hats to prevent a sunburn on the neck. Older kids should also cover up, staying in the shade when possible and limiting sun exposure during the peak intensity hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Damaging UV (ultraviolet) rays can bounce back from sand, water, snow or concrete, so be especially careful in these areas. Choose tightly woven or cotton clothing that is cool and protective.… read on > read on >

Autopsy is currently the only way to definitively diagnose chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease often seen in athletes who’ve suffered repeated blows to the head. But there may be a way to predict which athletes are likely to develop CTE, researchers report June 28 in the journal Neurology. They outline criteria for a condition called traumatic encephalopathy syndrome, where CTE is suspected based on cognitive impairment, behavior changes and other factors. “These findings suggest that this new diagnosis of traumatic encephalopathy syndrome may be useful in professional sports such as boxing and mixed martial arts and may be helpful in predicting who may experience cognitive decline,” study co-author Brooke Conway Kleven said in a journal news release. She is with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Public Health. CTE was originally studied in boxers as “punch-drunk syndrome.” The progressive and fatal brain disease is linked to the development of dementia. For the new study, researchers studied 130 active and retired professional fighters in boxing, martial arts and mixed martial arts. They were a part of a brain health study run by the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Participants had brain scans and took cognitive tests when the study began. Researchers found that those who met the criteria for traumatic encephalopathy syndrome had greater declines in brain volume. These participants also had… read on > read on >

Obesity is a known contributor to a host of health risks ranging from diabetes to cancer, but new research suggests it may also delay recovery from a mild traumatic brain injury. Why? The systemic inflammation that being obese can cause in the body may be a driving factor, according to researchers. “This is a very understudied population related to obesity impacting outcomes,” said lead study author Shawn Eagle, a research assistant professor in University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine’s Department of Neurological Surgery. “But knowing that a person with excess body fat may have a worse time can serve as a starting point for finding certain targeted treatments that may be useful to help that individual person get better.” It’s well known that severe obesity impairs thinking abilities, Eagle noted. And Eagle had observed that patients who were carrying excess body fat were having a more difficult time recovering from mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) while he was working in a concussion specialty clinic. “The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. It’s very well known that higher inflammation after a TBI is related to worse outcomes, and obesity is essentially an inflammatory condition,” Eagle said. Though they are called “mild,” these head injuries can cause serious symptoms. Some patients even have functional limitations a full year later. Cognitive behavioral and physical… read on > read on >

Growing up in poverty may harm the structural wiring of a child’s brain, a new study claims. Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found a link between both neighborhood and household poverty and the brain’s white matter tracts. These let the brain communicate between its regions and are important for processing information. “White matter integrity is very important in brain development,” said first study author Zhaolong (Adrian) Li, a neuro-imaging research technician in the university’s department of psychiatry. “For example, weaknesses in white matter are linked to visuospatial and mental health challenges in children. If we can capture how socioeconomic status affects white matter early on in a child’s life, the hope is we can, one day, translate these findings to preventive measures.” Some of these white matter differences can be attributed to childhood obesity and lower thinking function, both of which are higher risks in children who grow up in poverty. The lower thinking function may be due partly to limited access to enriching sensory, social and cognitive (mental) stimulation. “Our finding that obesity and cognitive enrichment may be relevant mediators, if confirmed, would provide strong support for managing healthy weight and encouraging cognitively stimulating activities to support brain health in disadvantaged children,” co-corresponding author Tamara Hershey said in a university news release. She is a professor of cognitive neuroscience,… read on > read on >

An experimental drug appears to outperform the trendy medications Wegovy and Ozempic for both weight loss and diabetes control, a pair of early clinical trials shows. Retatrutide helped people with obesity drop about one-quarter of their starting weight, on average, during 48 weeks taking the drug, according to phase 2 trial results published online June 26 in the New England Journal of Medicine. “What is clear is that 24% weight loss from a single drug has not been seen before,” said co-researcher Dr. Lee Kaplan, an associate professor with Harvard Medical School. “And the subjects in the trial were still losing weight at the end.” The best comparable results come from last year’s clinical trial results for the diabetes drug Mounjaro (tirzepatide), which after 72 weeks had produced an average weight loss of more than 22%, Kaplan said. Retatrutide also helped patients establish better control over their blood sugar levels, according to a second phase 2 trial published online June 26 in The Lancet. Retatrutide works by targeting three different gut hormones that are stimulated by food intake, explained Dr. Ania Jastreboff, director of the Yale Obesity Research Center, in New Haven, Conn. Jastreboff led the obesity trial and was a co-author for the diabetes management trial. The hormones include one targeted by Ozempic and two targeted by Mounjaro, Jastreboff and Kaplan said. “These are… read on > read on >

Gastric bypass surgery is a potential long-term cure for type 2 diabetes, especially if the procedure is performed before the disease progresses, a new study argues. Among a large group of obese people with type 2 diabetes, about half achieved remission for an average seven years after undergoing gastric bypass surgery — the longest follow-up ever for such a group, researchers said. “That’s a very big deal,” said senior researcher Dr. Omar Ghanem, a metabolic surgeon with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. “After a one-time treatment, you’re going to have a 51% chance that you won’t have diabetes and you won’t have to take any medications for seven years.” The chances of diabetes remission were even better if the disease wasn’t advanced, researchers reported Tuesday at the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery’s annual meeting, in Las Vegas. For instance, you stood a better chance of remission if you weren’t taking insulin or multiple diabetes medications, had better blood sugar control, or hadn’t had diabetes for long, researchers found. Also, you didn’t have to lose a lot of weight to stand a good chance of going into remission, researchers said. About 41% of patients who lost the least — less than 18% of their initial weight — following gastric bypass surgery went into remission from their diabetes, results show. By comparison, 56% of… read on > read on >

Athletes using ketone supplements to boost their performance may be kidding themselves, researchers say. The literature on the benefit of ketone supplements is mixed. Some studies have shown the supplements improve performance, but others say they have no effect or even worsen performance. Natural ketones fuel the brain and muscles. A ketogenic diet of very low carbs and high fat causes the body to make more ketone compounds and increase their use for energy. Ketone supplements are thought to speed up that process, without the strict diet, the researchers noted. “One of the main perceived benefits is that ketones may serve as an alternative fuel source during exercise or potentially alter the utilization of other major fuel such as carbohydrates and fats, and in turn enhance endurance capacity,” said researcher Martin Gibala, a professor in the kinesiology department at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. “But our findings suggest that isn’t the case,” he added in a university news release. For the study, Gibala and his team tested 23 well-trained endurance athletes who cycled five or more hours a week, selecting them because their athletic performance is consistent from day to day. Each participant completed two trials that differed only in the drink they were given before they completed a 20-minute cycling time trial that closely predicts 40-km race performance. The drinks contained a ketone supplement… read on > read on >

When a child unintentionally shoots and kills another child in the United States, they’ve likely been playing around with an unlocked, loaded gun, new research reveals. Analyzing a decade’s worth of data, researchers also found that 4 out of 10 such gun deaths involve kids 2 to 4 years old. About two-thirds of the unintentional fatal shootings happen at the victim’s home, and both victim and shooter are usually male. Nearly all cases “involve a gun belonging to a parent or other family member that was stored loaded and unlocked,” said study co-author Nichole Michaels. “Often, the child was playing with the gun or thought the gun was a toy,” noted Michaels, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Ohio State University College of Medicine and the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. The critical message is that “these deaths are preventable, and safe storage of firearms is the key,” Michaels said. Guns have surpassed road crashes as the leading cause of death among American children and teens, according to a recent study using data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the new study, investigators used data from the National Violent Death Report System (NVDRS), looking at 279 unintentional fatal shootings that occurred between 2009 and 2018. All the cases involved kids younger than… read on > read on >