Many studies have suggested that light drinking can do the heart some good, and now researchers think they have found one reason why: It helps the brain relax. It’s no secret that many people pour a drink as a way to unwind and shed the stressors of the day. And research suggests that is not just a placebo effect. In the short term, alcohol has a quieting effect on the amygdala — a brain area that processes potential threats in our surroundings. Now the new study shows that amygdala activity is habitually dialed-down in moderate drinkers, relative to non-drinkers. And that appeared to partially account for their lower risks of cardiovascular ills, including heart attack and stroke. The findings, published in the June 2023 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, add to a large body of evidence connecting moderate drinking to a lower heart disease risk. “Moderate” is generally defined as no more than one alcoholic drink per day for women, and no more than two per day for men. No one, however, is suggesting that people drink for the sake of their heart health, experts stressed. For one, alcohol can clearly have harms. There’s the potential for abuse and dependency, and heavy drinking is known to be detrimental — including to the brain. Even moderate drinking can carry health risks,…  read on >  read on >

Humans are inhaling microplastics from the degradation of plastic products in the environment, and these tiny plastic particles are sticking in human airways, according to researchers. People inhale about 16.2 bits of these microplastics every hour — the equivalent of a whole credit card each week — according to a study published June 13 in Physics of Fluids. These microplastics usually contain toxic chemicals. “This study emphasizes the need for greater awareness of the presence and potential health impacts of microplastics in the air we breathe,” study co-author YuanTong Gu said in a journal news release. He’s a professor at Queensland University of Technology in Australia. Millions of tons of these microplastic particles have been found in water, air and soil, the researchers noted. Global microplastic production is surging, and in 2022 studies found microplastics deep in human airways, raising the concern of serious respiratory health hazards, they pointed out. The international team of researchers developed a computational fluid dynamics model to analyze microplastic transport and deposits in the upper airway. These microplastics tended to collect in hot spots in the nasal cavity and the back of the throat, the study showed. They were 1.6, 2.56 and 5.56 microns in size and spherical, tetrahedral and cylindrical in shape. The team also looked at movement during slow and fast breathing conditions. The complicated and highly asymmetric…  read on >  read on >

About one in every seven American kids aged 5 to 17 underwent some form of mental health treatment in 2021, the latest year for which statistics are available. So finds a new report from researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which pegs the percentage of kids who got mental health care in 2021 at 14.9%. Rates of mental health care were higher among older kids (aged 12 to 17), nearly 19% of whom received treatment over the prior year, than they were for children aged 5 to 11 (just over 11%). The new statistics don’t necessarily mean that more American children are suffering from mental illness, but it could mean that more are receiving the care they need, one expert said. “I have a report from 2015 that suggests that 49% of U.S. children have a mental health disorder of some kind, may it be ADHD [attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder], anxiety, depression, autism spectrum,” said Mary Karapetian Alvord, a psychologist who practices in Chevy Chase, Md. “But at that time, the stat was that only 7.4% [of these children] actually received one treatment within the year. So there’s definitely, I think, more access now, more availability.” However, another expert said the new numbers could reflect an increase in mental health troubles among kids. “Following the pandemic, we have seen substantial increases in mental…  read on >  read on >

Men with erectile dysfunction will now have the option of using a topical gel to treat the condition. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved over-the-counter marketing for the product, called Eroxon, as a first-of-its-kind medical product. The British pharmaceutical firm Futura Medical makes the gel. “FDA set a very high standard in evaluating the effectiveness and safety of De Novo Medical Devices. I am delighted that we met this standard,” Futura CEO James Barder said in a news release on Monday. About 30 million American men are affected by erectile dysfunction, where they’re not able to get or keep an erection for sexual activity. This new gel will be sold in a single-dose tube, CNN reported. It should be applied to the head of the penis before sex. Users may be able to become erect within 10 minutes and maintain that for long enough to have sex in about 65% of those who use it, according to the company. The product is already sold in Belgium and the United Kingdom, where it costs the equivalent of $31.22 in U.S. dollars for a four-pack, CNN reported. “We don’t have specific pricing details yet, as the pricing will ultimately be determined by the partner who launches Eroxon in the U.S.,” a company spokesman told CNN. The timeline for when the product will be in the…  read on >  read on >

COVID caused more than 20 million Americans to lose their ability to smell and taste, and at least 25% haven’t regained those vital senses, a new study says. Survey responses from nearly 29,700 adults also show a correlation between more severe COVID infection and taste and smell loss, researchers reported recently in the journal The Laryngoscope. “The value of this study is that we are highlighting a group of people who have been a bit neglected,” said study co-author Dr. Neil Bhattacharyya, a professor of otolaryngology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear. “Losing your sense of smell or taste isn’t as benign as you may think. It can lead to decreased eating for pleasure and, in more extreme cases, it can lead to depression and weight loss,” he added in a journal news release. One motivation for the study was a patient who lost 50 pounds due to his loss of smell, Bhattacharyya said. “The patient wasn’t eating and became very sick and very depressed because of the loss of smell,” Bhattacharyya said. “When you hear about COVID-related smell loss, you think most people get it back and are fine. But there is a substantial number of people who don’t recover it.” Using data from the 2021 National Health Interview Survey, the researchers found that about 60% of participants infected with COVID had a loss of…  read on >  read on >

Sometimes women who survive breast cancer will die from a second cancer, and now new research suggests the risk of that happening is higher for Black and Hispanic survivors than white women. “We believe this to be one of the first studies to comprehensively examine the racial and ethnic disparities in survival outcomes after a second cancer,” said study author Dr. Kala Visvanathan, director of the Cancer Genetics and Prevention Service at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, in Baltimore. “The findings are extremely concerning, given the increasing prevalence of second cancer at a young age among women diagnosed with breast cancers,” she added in a Hopkins news release. For the study, the researchers looked at nearly 40,000 adult survivors, discovering the risk of death from a second cancer was 12% higher in Black women and 8% higher in Hispanic women than it was in white women. Women in these racial and ethnic minority groups were also diagnosed with second cancers up to six years younger than white survivors, and within a shorter time from their first cancer. Black survivors also had a 44% higher risk of cardiovascular disease-related death after a second cancer diagnosis than white survivors did, the investigators found. It’s important to determine risk factors associated with these second cancers, to either prevent them or to diagnose and manage them early, the…  read on >  read on >

Obesity seems to alter the normal way the brain responds to sugar and fat — a problem that may not be corrected by weight loss, a new study suggests. “It could help explain why weight loss and weight-loss maintenance are so hard,” said senior researcher Dr. Mireille Serlie, a professor at Yale School of Medicine. She and her colleagues found that compared with lean adults, those with obesity did not have the same brain responses to infusions of dietary fat or sugar into the stomach. Their brain activity was blunted, and they did not have the normal release of dopamine — a chemical involved in feelings of “reward” from food. “Our interpretation is, there’s a generally reduced nutrient-sensing in people with obesity,” said Serlie. In essence, she said, the brain “was not aligned with what was happening in the gut.” And unfortunately, the study found, that disconnect was not restored when study participants went on a reduced-calorie diet for three months and shed 10% of their starting weight. That does not necessarily mean the brain differences are permanent, according to Serlie. It’s possible that with more time and sustained weight loss, people would regain their nutrient sensing. But even if an improvement is merely delayed, that’s still significant. Research in lab animals has shown that the brain not only responds to the taste and smell…  read on >  read on >

Men typically don’t want to discuss mental health issues, much less get treatment for one. That’s a problem, given how many males struggle with mental health problems: Six million American men suffer from depression every year, while 3 million struggle with anxiety disorder, according to Mental Health America. Beyond that, 90% of those diagnosed with schizophrenia by age 30 are men, and 25% of those with binge eating disorder are males. Unfortunately, men are less likely to seek professional help for their problems. When it comes to suicide, the picture is also troubling. While women are more likely to attempt suicide, it is the 7th leading cause of death among males, and white men over the age of 85 are the most likely to die by suicide. Here, experts describe the most common mental health conditions men experience, the symptoms that may differ in men versus women, and what resources are available for those seeking help and treatment options. Common mental health conditions in men According to Mental Health America, the most common men’s mental health conditions are: Depression Suicide Anxiety Bipolar disorder Eating disorders Schizophrenia Substance abuse “It’s a sign of strength to talk about these issues with your health care provider, counselor or a supportive family member or friend,” Piedmont Healthcare family medicine physician Dr. Siraj Abdullah said in a recent article. “As…  read on >  read on >

For patients battling late-stage lung cancer, prospects for survival have improved significantly since the advent of medications known as immune checkpoint inhibitors. But exactly how long patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) need to be on immunotherapy has not been known. Until now. According to new research involving more than 1,000 patients, those with stable disease can stop the treatment after two years without jeopardizing their survival odds. (“Stable” means their lung cancer shows no sign of progression.) Investigators found that those who stopped at 24 months fared just as well as patients who continued to take the medication indefinitely. Moreover, discontinuing immunotherapy at two years might diminish the risk for downsides that can accompany open-ended inhibitor treatment, the researchers said. “Long-term treatment with immunotherapy carries significant risk for toxicity,” explained study lead author Dr. Lova Sun, an assistant professor of hematology-oncology with the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, in Philadelphia. Sun pointed out that immunotherapy is also quite expensive, so the longer patients stay on the treatment, the higher their potential out-of-pocket cost, depending on insurance. According to the U.S. National Cancer Institute, immune checkpoint inhibitors also pose a risk for a wide array of side effects, including rashes, diarrhea and fatigue. In rare cases, the treatment may also trigger widespread inflammation, which can interfere with proper organ function. Targeted immunotherapy…  read on >  read on >