An amino acid found in meat, fish and energy drinks might be a key regulator of aging in animals, a new study suggests. However, experts warn that no one should start seeing Red Bull as a fountain of youth. Researchers found that deficiencies in the amino acid, called taurine, seemed to be a prime driver of aging in lab mice: Their taurine levels naturally declined with age, but giving middle-aged mice a daily taurine supplement for one year essentially slowed the aging process. Compared with lab mice fed a placebo supplement, the taurine-consuming mice survived 10% to 12% longer. These mice were also more likely to be living their best lab-mouse lives — staying leaner, maintaining stronger bones and muscles, showing fewer depression- and anxiety-like behaviors, and holding on to a “younger-looking” immune system. “Whatever we checked, taurine-supplemented mice were healthier and appeared younger than the control mice,” said study leader Vijay Yadav, an assistant professor of genetics and development at Columbia University, in New York City. When the scientists repeated the supplement experiment in middle-aged monkeys, they observed similar effects. One major caution, the researchers and other experts said, is that mice and monkeys, studied in a controlled lab setting, are not people living their complicated lives out in the world. And the research offers no proof that taurine supplements can help humans live…  read on >  read on >

After many nights of tossing and turning, you might have more to worry about than just feeling exhausted and less sharp at work. Insomnia symptoms — trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep, or waking up too early — are also associated with higher risk of stroke, according to new research from Virginia Commonwealth University. And the risk is greater if you’re younger than 50, researchers found. As a biological function, sleep is key for processing memories, repairing cells and releasing toxins accumulated during the day, said study co-author Dr. Wendemi Sawadogo, a doctoral candidate at the time of the study. “It is a really huge important part of the body function,” Sawadogo said. “So, when it’s happened that there’s a disruption in the system, for sleep disturbance, trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, this can lead to some adverse health outcomes.” Insomnia is common, affecting more than one-third of the U.S. population, the authors noted in background notes. Researchers aren’t exactly sure how it affects stroke risk, but prior research suggests it may trigger harmful inflammation. The study used data from the Health and Retirement Study of Americans over 50 and their spouses. It included more than 31,000 people, average age 61, and no history of stroke before the research began. Researchers asked four questions about how often people had trouble falling asleep, awakened…  read on >  read on >

Have you seen more hair in the shower or on the bathroom floor than usual? Grab a mirror and take a look at your head. If it looks like you’re “going bald,” you may have androgenic alopecia (male pattern baldness). According to the Cleveland Clinic, male pattern baldness is very common. If you want to do something about this condition, you do have options. Here, experts break down what male pattern baldness is, its causes and symptoms, and what medications and treatments may help. What is male pattern baldness? Male pattern baldness is a type of hair loss — specifically the loss of hair above your ears. This type develops slowly, notes the American Academy of Dermatology. Most men experience hair loss at some point in their lives. How old were you when you first noticed your hair loss? Most likely you were in your 30s, the Cleveland Clinic notes, but you may have been as young as a teenager. The older you get, the more likely you are to see the symptoms of male pattern baldness. What causes male pattern baldness? You may have heard about male pattern baldness genetics. Yes, male pattern baldness is usually influenced by the genes you’re born with. There may be a history of it in your family. Interestingly, the genes passed down on your mother’s side of the…  read on >  read on >

Wildfires that have been spreading throughout Canada in recent weeks are now spewing tons of smoke southward into the United States. The smoke was so thick on Tuesday that New York City’s skyline could not be seen clearly and air quality alerts were issued to residents from parts of the Northeast to the southern Mid-Atlantic region. New York officials issued an air quality alert for much of the state on Wednesday. “Exposure can cause short-term health effects such as irritation to the eyes, nose and throat, coughing, sneezing, runny nose, and shortness of breath,” the alert warned. “Exposure to elevated levels of fine particulate matter [PM 2.5] can also worsen medical conditions such as asthma and heart disease. People with heart or breathing problems, and children and the elderly may be particularly sensitive to PM 2.5.” “While conditions are anticipated to temporarily improve later tonight through tomorrow morning, they are expected to deteriorate further tomorrow afternoon and evening,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement on Tuesday. “We recommend all New Yorkers limit outdoor activity to the greatest extent possible. Those with preexisting respiratory problems, like heart or breathing problems, as well as children and older adults may be especially sensitive and should stay indoors at this time,” Adams noted. “While all students should still go to school tomorrow, New York City…  read on >  read on >

Folks who are loaded down with medical debt are less likely to survive a bout of cancer, a new study reports. Researchers found that U.S. counties where more residents have medical debt in collections also had more cancer deaths, compared to counties with less medical debt. “This association was seen for all cancers combined, and the five major cancer types: lung, colorectal, pancreas, prostate for men, and breast for women,” said senior researcher Xuesong Han, scientific director of health services research for the American Cancer Society. Han presented this research Tuesday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting, in Chicago. Findings presented at medical meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. For this study, Han and her colleagues compared 2018 county-level medical debt data from the Urban Institute against cancer death data from the National Centers for Health Statistics between 2015 and 2019. The investigators found that about 20% of the entire U.S. population carries some medical debt. The county-level percentage of population with medical debt varied from 0% to nearly 54%. “Counties in the South had the highest medical debt. For example, among the top 10 counties with the highest share of the population with medical debt in collections, eight of them were in Texas, two were in North Carolina, and one was in Georgia,” Han said. “The…  read on >  read on >

One of the signature symptoms of COVID-19 infection in the early months of the pandemic was a loss of the sense of smell. Now, new research finds that is no longer the case, thanks to the new variants that have been circulating more recently. The risk of losing sense of taste or smell is now only about 6% to 7% of what it was during the pandemic’s early stages, according to researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine in Richmond, Va. “At the beginning of the pandemic, smell and taste loss were considered common symptoms of COVID-19. Before viral tests were readily accessible, we relied a lot more on such symptoms to diagnose those infected. However, as different variants of the COVID-19 virus have emerged, the types of symptoms most commonly experienced changed as well,” said study author Dr. Evan Reiter, who is the medical director of VCU Health’s Smell and Taste Disorders Center. For the study, the researchers used a national database of more than 7 million patients who tested positive for COVID-19, calculating the prevalence of smell and taste loss as a symptom of the virus during peak periods of infection for each variant wave. The team found that the risks of smell loss from a COVID-19 infection for Alpha and Delta, both pervasive variants in 2021, were only 74% and…  read on >  read on >

Millions of stray cats roam the world over, and surgical sterilization has long been the primary method of population control. But a small new study shows promising results for a one-and-done contraceptive injection. Researchers say this first-of-its-kind approach appears safe and effective. “A non-surgical contraceptive that could result in lifetime sterility following a single injection would present many advantages over the current standard of care of surgical sterilization,” said study co-author Dr. William Swanson. Swanson is director of animal research at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. Currently, the male stray cat population is controlled via “the surgical removal of the gonads under general anesthesia,” he noted. “In the female, the procedure is either an ovariectomy or an ovariohysterectomy,” Swanson said, referring to removal of the ovaries and removal of the ovaries plus uterus, respectively. But there are downsides to surgical sterilization, commonly called neutering and spaying. For one, said Swanson, “the whole procedure requires specialized instruments, medical supplies, veterinary expertise, anesthetic and analgesic drugs, and postoperative care.” And while surgery can be an effective control tool when dealing with small, contained feline populations, he stressed that the approach is “not sufficient to control the reproduction of hundreds of millions of unowned free-roaming cats worldwide.” Of the estimated 600 million domestic cats worldwide, only 20% are owned pets; 8 in 10 live in the street,…  read on >  read on >

As obesity rises among U.S. kids and teens, the number of weight-loss surgeries is growing, too. Metabolic and bariatric surgeries among 10- to 19-year-olds rose by nearly 20% between 2020 and 2021, after climbing since 2016, a new study finds. The jump is especially notable among those from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, who are packing on pounds more readily than white kids, the researchers said. “This analysis shows that families are making the decision to pursue bariatric surgery more frequently year-over-year, and among those from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds in particular,” said Sarah Messiah, study co-author and a professor of epidemiology at the University of Texas Health Houston School of Public Health. “This is an important finding given the disparities in cardiometabolic disease risk factors that disproportionately impact these groups,” she said in a UT Health news release. The rise in bariatric surgeries is in line with the American Academy of Pediatrics’ new guidelines. The children’s health organization recommends lifestyle changes, surgery and medication for the treatment of obesity in adolescents. “We were particularly interested in utilization trends after the American Academy of Pediatrics released a statement in late 2019 endorsing more access to surgery for adolescents for the first time. Our analysis suggests that these access channels are being utilized, and more frequently, even during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Messiah said. About 20%…  read on >  read on >