An asthma attack can literally leave you gasping for breath, so having treatments that relax your airways is critical. Asthma strikes nearly 8% of Americans, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, so if you have asthma, you are not alone. A chronic condition, asthma occurs when the airways become inflamed and narrow, which hinders airflow. “The prevention of asthma as a condition is quite difficult. What you can prevent is the frequency and severity of attacks by the use of regular treatment,” Dr. John Costello, a pulmonologist at Mayo Clinic Healthcare in London, said in a recent article. Here, experts discuss the most common asthma treatments that physicians use when creating an individualized treatment plan. Non-medication treatments for asthma Your physician will work with you to develop an individualized treatment plan. It is important to follow this plan diligently and check in with your physician regularly. Avoid triggers: Because asthma is triggered by many things in the environment, one of the most important treatments for asthma does not involve medication, but rather awareness of what those triggers are. It is important for you to keep a journal in which you record when you have an attack and what triggered it. By noticing what your individual triggers are, you are more prepared to avoid them in the future. According to the Allergy…  read on >  read on >

There’s a glimmer of good news when it comes to the mental health of America’s adolescents: Visits to U.S. emergency departments for psychiatric troubles declined among kids aged 12 to 17 by the fall of 2022, compared to a year prior. Overall, mean weekly adolescent emergency department (ED) visits for mental health conditions fell by 11% last fall, compared to higher levels in the fall of 2021, when the pandemic was still keeping many kids out of school and in lockdown at home. According to data compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, similar year-on-year declines were also seen for adolescent ED visits linked to thoughts of suicide (down 12%) and drug overdoses (down 10%). Why the improvement in teens’ mental health? “Many adolescents have returned to prepandemic-like school and community environments, which might have improved social engagement, reduced isolation and supported mental and behavioral health,” wrote a team led by CDC investigator Kayla Anderson. The researchers also believe that “familial stressors” might also have ebbed as kids were released from lockdowns and remote schooling. The report wasn’t all good news, however. Boys seem to be benefiting more than girls, the researchers noted, and ED visits for mental health conditions “remain similar to or higher than already concerningly high prepandemic baselines among females into 2022,” the team reported. There was also one…  read on >  read on >

People who use a Peloton exercise bike at home should check their model number immediately. A recall of 2 million bikes with the model number PL01 was issued Thursday. People should stop using them immediately because of fall and injury hazards, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said. The new recall follows reports of seat posts that break and detach from the bike during use. Peloton has received 35 reports of this problem, including 13 involving injuries. The reported injuries include a fractured wrist, cuts and bruises from falling off the bike. Customers who have the recalled bike can contact Peloton for a free seat post and instructions on installing it. The PL01 model number is displayed on the bike’s inside front fork, near the flywheel. The recalled bikes were sold at Dick’s Sporting Goods stores nationwide and online at Onepeloton.com, Amazon.com and Dickssportinggoods.com from January 2018 through May 2023. They retailed for about $1,400. For recall information, contact Peloton toll-free at 866-679-9129 from 6 a.m. to 12 a.m. ET, seven days a week or online. For information on how to request the free seat post and installation instructions, visit onepeloton.com and click “Product Recalls” at the bottom of the page. More information The U.S. National Library of Medicine has tips for avoiding exercise injuries. SOURCE: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, May 11, 2023  read on >

Poor sleep brought on by sleep apnea may ultimately undermine the brain health of older men and women, new research suggests. The concern stems from a new brain scan investigation that involved 140 sleep apnea patients. “Sleep apnea is a medical condition in which patients … stop breathing during sleep, which can affect their sleep quality by causing multiple arousals and dropping oxygen levels,” said lead study author Dr. Diego Carvalho. He is an assistant professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic Center for Sleep Medicine in Rochester, Minn. Sleep apnea “has been associated with increased risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, stroke, cognitive impairment and dementia,” Carvalho said. And, he noted, it is known to “cause a range of harmful effects in the brain,” as blood pressure and heart rate rise, oxygen levels drop and sleep is disrupted. Importantly, sleep apnea can limit a person’s ability to get and maintain “deep sleep.” Deep sleep, which begins about an hour after falling asleep, is essential to the body’s ability to repair and regenerate tissue, bolster the immune system, and build bone and muscle, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Getting enough of it is, therefore, considered a key indicator of good quality shut-eye. With that in mind, Carvalho and his team set out to see whether the impact of sleep apnea on deep sleep…  read on >  read on >

Understanding what causes asthma can help you better manage its causes and triggers. Whether you, your child or another loved one has asthma, you can feel more in control by knowing your options for reducing asthma symptoms and managing its underlying causes. What is asthma? Asthma is a chronic condition that causes swelling and inflammation in the airway tissues. This leads to a narrowing of your airways, making it more difficult to breathe, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA). About 1 in 13 people in the United States have asthma. It affects people who are seniors, low-income, Hispanic, Black and Native Americans more than other groups, and can start either in childhood or adulthood. The symptoms of asthma include wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath and chest tightening. Different people have different triggers for these symptoms. What are the causes of asthma? Figuring out what causes asthma can be tricky because there are several reasons why it develops. According to the American Lung Association (ALA) and the AAFA, the main causes of asthma include: Allergies Obesity Smoking Air pollution Health conditions Family history of asthma Here, you can learn about each cause, plus some ways to manage them so that asthma isn’t triggered as easily. Allergies Certain substances can cause you to develop allergic asthma. The AAFA says the most common include:…  read on >  read on >

Finding out that you or a loved one has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can be alarming and may leave you with a lot of questions. Though COPD has no cure, it’s a condition that can be managed with the right treatments and medications, according to the American Lung Association (ALA). Here’s what you need to know about COPD, including what it is, its causes, symptoms, stages and risk factors, plus the many treatment options available to those living with the condition. What is COPD? COPD is a group of progressive, chronic diseases that constrict airflow in and out of the lungs so that less oxygen moves through the body. “It’s three different illnesses, all of which create the same fundamental problem, which is you can’t blow out as fast as you should,” explained Dr. Scott Eisman, a pulmonary disease and critical care medicine specialist at Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas in California. “And those three illnesses are asthma and chronic bronchitis and emphysema — and they’re all different,” he noted. Causes and risk factors According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the cause of most cases of COPD is smoking. However, as many as 25% of people in the United States with the disease have never smoked cigarettes. “If you talk about chronic bronchitis and emphysema, the most common cause is cigarette…  read on >  read on >

Men who were overweight as boys may have infertility issues in adulthood, according to new research. Researchers studying the issue of male infertility, often a mystery, looked at health data from 268 young people between 2 and 18 years of age. They had been referred to the University of Catania in Sicily for weight control. “Although the prevalence of childhood obesity is increasing worldwide, the impact of obesity and associated metabolic disorders on testicular growth is not well known,” said study co-author Dr. Rossella Cannarella, a research fellow at the Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute in Cleveland. For the study, published May 10 in the European Journal of Endocrinology, the researchers collected data on testicular volume, body mass index and insulin resistance. They found that boys with normal weight had testicular volume that was 1.5 times higher than those who were overweight or obese before puberty. Young people in the study with normal insulin levels had 1.5 to 2 times higher testicular volume compared to those with hyperinsulinemia, which is often associated with type 2 diabetes. Lower testicular volume is a predictor of poorer sperm production in adulthood, the researchers said. About 48 million couples struggled with infertility in 2010, according to the World Health Organization. Male infertility is a contributor in about half of all infertility cases, researchers said, but its cause is often…  read on >  read on >