Lifestyle « Weekly Gravy

With the arrival of winter, it’s time for skiing, sledding and ice skating, but it’s also when snow blindness can strike. Snow blindness is like a sunburn in the eyes. It’s caused by the same UV rays that give you that summer tan. In the case of snow blindness, the rays are reflected off the snow and into your eyes, explained experts from Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center. The cornea is the outer dome of the eye. It is covered by a thin layer of cells called the epithelial layer. UV light can burn this layer just as it burns your skin. UV burns to the cornea are called photokeratitis. Inflammation of the epithelial layer can result in blurred vision. When this happens after being outside on a bright snowy day, it is commonly referred to as snow blindness. Snow blindness can cause your eyes to feel burning, itching, stinging or intense pain. The same condition can result from being on the water or a beach as UV rays are reflected off the water or sand. Photokeratitis can also occur at high elevations where less UV light is absorbed by the atmosphere, the experts noted in a medical center news release. The best way to protect yourself is to use UV-light protective eyewear, the Ohio State team said. This can be either sunglasses or… read on >

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday gave expanded approval to a prescription form of fish oil called Vascepa, to help prevent heart trouble in people at high risk who are already taking statins. Vascepa (icosapent ethyl) was already FDA-approved for a small percentage of patients with exceptionally high blood levels of triglycerides, a type of blood fat. The new approval greatly expands the potential pool of patients, because it now includes people with simply high levels of triglycerides — at or above 150 milligrams per deciliter — and multiple risk factors for heart disease and diabetes. “Today’s approval will give patients with elevated triglycerides and other important risk factors, including heart disease, stroke and diabetes, an adjunctive treatment option that can help decrease their risk of cardiovascular events,” Dr. John Sharretts said in an FDA news release. He’s acting deputy director of the Division of Metabolism and Endocrinology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Vascepa is a drug derived from fish that contains pure EPA, a key nutrient in fish oil. A month’s supply of Vascepa costs roughly $300. Friday’s approval follows on the positive results of a study on Vascepa presented in November at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association (AHA). Early findings from the clinical trial found that the drug slowed the development of artery-clogging… read on >

As if the news on vaping wasn’t bad enough, a new study suggests that e-cigarette users are also at significantly higher risk of chronic lung diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, emphysema and COPD. Those risks rose even higher if vapers also smoked tobacco, researchers said. “What we found is that for e-cigarette users, the odds of developing lung disease increased by about a third, even after controlling for their tobacco use and their clinical and demographic information,” said study senior author Stanton Glantz. He directs the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco. In the new study, Glantz’s team tracked data on the cigarette and e-cigarette use of more than 32,000 U.S. adults, none of whom had lung disease at the start of the study. The researchers then recorded new lung disease diagnoses over the years 2013 to 2016. Those diagnoses included such common and debilitating illnesses as asthma, bronchitis, emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD). “We concluded that e-cigarettes are harmful on their own, and the effects are independent of smoking conventional tobacco,” Glantz said in a UCSF news release. Current and former e-cigarette users were 30% more likely to develop chronic lung disease, while tobacco smokers had more than 2.6-times increased risk. For people who vaped and smoked, risks of developing a lung disease more… read on >

A small, preliminary study suggests that a brain area called the hypothalamus appears to be about 6% smaller in women who use birth control pills. But exactly what that means isn’t yet clear. In this study, women on the pill had statistically significant increases in anger. Researchers also found a possible link with depression symptoms. The good news: They didn’t see any difference in women’s mental performance. And women who use the Pill shouldn’t search for other forms of birth control based on these findings, researchers said. “There isn’t enough data here for anyone to worry,” said study author Dr. Michael Lipton. “There’s more than a 50-year history of birth control pills. We’re not advising any changes (in your contraception) based on this preliminary finding.” Still, he added, there may be clinical consequences that this study was too small to find. Lipton is associate director of the Gruss Magnetic Resonance Research Center at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in New York City. Located at the base of the brain, the hypothalamus produces hormones. It also helps regulate essential body functions like temperature, sleep and heart rate, the researchers said. “There’s a lot of stuff packed in there,” Lipton said. “The hypothalamus covers a lot of basic body functions, like sleep regulation, reproductive regulation, ovulation, the menstrual cycle, sex drive, appetite, mood, reward-related behavior and water… read on >

(HealthDay News) — Breathing exercises can help you relax and manage stress, says the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine. The center suggests using the 4-7-8 breath exercise: Exhale completely through your mouth. Close your mouth and inhale through your nose to a mental count of 4. Hold your breath for a count of 7. Exhale through your mouth to a count of 8. Repeat the cycle three more times for a total of four breaths.

When people are breathing cleaner air, their health generally improves — rapidly, in some cases, a new review shows. The report, from the Environmental Committee of the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS), details some of the evidence on air quality and human health. Overall, it concludes, people can reap a range of benefits when air pollution is cut — from fewer asthma attacks, to lower risks of heart attack and stroke, to a longer life expectancy. Some of the effects are “quite striking,” said Dr. Dean Schraufnagel, the report’s lead author and executive director of FIRS. He pointed to the example of changes made in cities hosting the Olympics — which, for a time, resulted in cleaner air and healthier residents. For the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, officials bumped up public transportation and closed downtown streets to private vehicles. As a result, peak daily ozone levels dropped by 28%, and over the next four weeks, the number of city children needing medical care for asthma attacks fell by more than 40%. Similarly, when Beijing hosted the 2008 Olympics, the Chinese national government put three-month restrictions on traffic, as well as factory emissions. Air pollution plummeted, and within two months, there were declines in doctor visits for asthma and in deaths from heart disease and stroke. “If you stop the pollution at its source,… read on >

(HealthDay News) — Arguing with a partner or feeling anxious about meeting the in-laws can induce stress. When these strains are intense or prolonged, your heart can suffer, says Johns Hopkins Medicine. The school mentions these healthier ways to deal with relationship stress: Discuss life stresses with your doctor. Check if your coping strategies are healthy. Find stress outlets that make you feel better quickly, and in the long term. Make taking care of yourself a top priority. Pay attention to newer symptoms, such as pain or nausea.

The holiday season can give you real headaches, but you can take action to prevent them, an expert says. To reduce stress, make plans well in advance and know your limits, advised Dr. Bing Liao, a neurologist at Houston Methodist. “The nature of the holiday season already increases stress levels, so finding small ways to reduce schedule stress can help ward off a headache,” Liao said in a hospital news release. “This can mean planning well in advance to avoid the hassle of making last minute travel plans, or deciding not to attend a party at the end of a long day.” Be sure you have an adequate supply or a refill of your prescription medications before the holidays, she advised. Missing doses or cutting back could trigger a headache or even serious side effects. “Don’t binge anything during the holidays — food, alcohol, or television,” Liao said. “We all know how a hangover can affect the brain, but most don’t realize that overeating can also trigger a headache. And having the next day off from work doesn’t mean you should stay up late watching holiday movies. The brain needs the same amount of sleep during the holidays as it does the rest of the year, so stick with your usual bedtime.” Running holiday errands can lead to skipped meals and dehydration, which can trigger… read on >

Romance was absolutely the last thing Gloria Duncan and Al Cappiello had on their minds when they became nursing home residents. “When I got here, I felt almost like my life was over. I was a very active, social person. I was almost devastated,” Gloria said. But then she met Al, who asked Gloria to be his date at the “Seniors’ Senior Prom.” Al said he had noticed Gloria in an exercise class, but was a bit too nervous to ask her out then. He said his nerves don’t usually get the best of him. “It only happens when someone is very nice and very pretty,” he said. Al finally worked up the nerve to ask Gloria to the prom. “She gave me a little hard way to go, but then said yes, and we had a pretty good time,” he said. “This was the last thing I expected. I didn’t expect to meet anyone. I came here figuring, ‘It’s the last stop.’ But I feel so lucky now. Gloria is beautiful inside and out,” Al said. Gloria added, “We found out we had a lot in common. Now we see each other every day. It gives us something to look forward to.” Fortunately for the couple, they were staying in a nursing home that pioneered a sexual expression policy for seniors. The Hebrew Home… read on >

Obese teenagers can have certain brain differences from their thinner peers — changes that might signal damage from inflammation, a new, preliminary study suggests. Using advanced MRI techniques, researchers found that obese teenagers tended to have signs of decreased “integrity” in the brain’s white matter. White matter contains the fibers that connect different areas of the brain. In this case, lower white-matter integrity was seen in a brain region related to emotional control and “reward” seeking. The findings, based on 120 teenagers, are considered preliminary. Experts said it’s not clear what they might mean. But the findings add to evidence linking obesity to certain brain structure differences. Recent studies of middle-aged adults, for example, have found evidence of brain tissue “shrinkage” among those with high levels of body fat — particularly around the belly. One possibility is that excess amounts of body fat directly harm the brain through inflammation, the researchers suggested. In the new study, there was a correlation between decreases in white matter integrity and higher levels of certain inflammatory substances in the blood. Teens with those brain changes also tended to have higher levels of the hormones leptin and insulin. Leptin is involved in appetite control, while insulin regulates blood sugar levels. Dr. Harold Bays is a fellow of the Obesity Medicine Association and medical director of the Louisville Metabolic and Atherosclerosis… read on >