The firefighters who flooded into Ground Zero on 9/11 put their lives on the line to help others. Now, a new study shows they are still paying the price for their selflessness. Those who were first on the scene or worked for months among the ruins of the World Trade Center disaster in 2001 have an increased risk of heart disease, stroke and heart attack that persists to this day, researchers report. Their exposure to the airborne dust and fine particles created by the collapse of New York City’s Twin Towers is wreaking long-term havoc on the health of their blood vessels and heart, experts said. Firefighters first on the scene have a 44% increased risk of heart attack, stroke, heart disease, sudden heart death, cardiac surgery or other life-threatening heart problems, when compared against those who arrived later in the day, researchers found. Further, those who worked at Ground Zero for six months or more have a 30% higher risk of a heart health emergency than those who worked fewer months on the scene. The risk from exposure to the World Trade Center disaster was about the same as that associated with chronic high blood pressure, said Dr. Jacqueline Moline, vice president of occupational medicine, epidemiology and prevention for Northwell Health in Manhasset, N.Y. “The concern is the dust was pro-inflammatory,” said Moline, who…  read on >

Suicide continues to become more common in the United States, with rural areas hit hardest by this ongoing crisis of despair, a new study reports. Deprivation, isolation and lack of access to mental health care all appear to be driving the crisis in rural America, said lead researcher Danielle Steelesmith. She’s a postdoctoral fellow at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. “Rural suicide rates are higher than urban rates and tend to be increasing a little more rapidly,” Steelesmith said. Suicide rates increased 41% between 1999 and 2016, from a median of 15 per 100,000 people to more than 21 per 100,000, county-by-county data show. Median means half had higher rates; half were lower. Rural folks tend to be at higher risk than city dwellers, the researchers found. Suicide rates were 22 per 100,000 in rural counties between 2014 and 2016, compared with about 18 per 100,000 in large metropolitan counties, the nationwide data revealed. To figure out the difference between rural and urban areas, the researchers did a county-by-county analysis of factors that could be driving suicide rates. “Deprivation” — a cluster of factors that includes low employment, poverty and lack of education — was closely related to increased rural suicide rates, the study authors said. Steelesmith said poverty could be more entrenched and economic opportunities more limited in rural areas, leaving…  read on >

U.S. adults with diabetes are no more likely to meet disease control targets than they were in 2005, a new study finds. Typically, diabetes treatment focuses on controlling blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, as well as not smoking. For the study, Massachusetts General Hospital researchers analyzed data on diabetes care in the United States from 2005 through 2016. The investigators found that one in four adults with diabetes was not diagnosed, and nearly one in three was not receiving appropriate care for diabetes. “Fewer than one in four American adults with diagnosed diabetes achieve a controlled level of blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol and do not smoke tobacco,” said study lead author Pooyan Kazemian, of the hospital’s Medical Practice Evaluation Center. “Our results suggest that, despite major advances in diabetes drug discovery and movement to develop innovative care delivery models over the past two decades, achievement of diabetes care targets has not improved in the United States since 2005,” Kazemian said in a hospital news release. More than 30 million Americans have diabetes. Most have type 2, which is linked to lifestyle. Certain groups of patients were less likely to achieve diabetes care targets, according to the study. “Younger age (18-44), female and nonwhite adults with diabetes had lower odds of achieving the composite blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol and nonsmoking target,”…  read on >

Growing up in a poor neighborhood significantly increases kids’ odds of becoming obese adults, and the risk is highest among teens, a new study says. It found that children from poor neighborhoods had 31% higher odds for adult obesity, and the risk was much higher (29%) among 11- to 18-year-olds than for younger children (13%). “Growing up in a disadvantaged neighborhood sticks with you, and can have a negative impact on one’s health through increasing one’s chance of obesity in adulthood,” said lead author Steven Alvarado, a professor of sociology at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. Disadvantaged neighborhoods were defined by seven factors, including median income and home values, and the percentage of residents who were living in poverty, unemployed or had earned bachelor’s degrees. To account for other factors that can influence a child’s obesity risk — such as genes and their parents’ behaviors — Alvarado compared siblings. Siblings largely share the same genes and parenting influences, but may have been exposed to different neighborhood circumstances growing up, because their families moved or their neighborhoods changed between the births of the siblings, Alvarado explained. The study was said to be the first to account for factors such as grandparents’ experiences in segregated schools and neighborhoods, while examining the connection between growing up in poor neighborhoods and adult obesity. “We must continue to consider the…  read on >

Driving while high on marijuana can be as dangerous and illegal as driving drunk, but unlike alcohol, there’s no way to detect pot on your breath. That could change, however, as University of Pittsburgh scientists are working hard to develop a breathalyzer that can measure the psychoactive ingredient in pot. Although the technology may work, many questions must be answered before police start checking drivers. “We envision that this sensor can be produced as a breathalyzer like an alcohol breathalyzer,” said lead researcher Alexander Star, a professor of chemistry and bioengineering. As more states legalize pot, it’s likely more drivers will get behind the wheel stoned. Since Washington state legalized marijuana in 2012, the number of drivers involved in fatal crashes who tested positive for marijuana rose from 8% in 2013 to 17% in 2014, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Since current testing relies on blood, urine or hair samples, it can’t be done in the field when a driver suspected of being high is pulled over. Using carbon nanotubes, however, Star’s team has found a way of detecting tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the ingredient in marijuana that creates a high, in a user’s breath. These hollow nanotubes are 100,000 times thinner than a human hair. The electrical components of molecules in the breath bind to the tubes. Since different molecules bind at different…  read on >

When severe storms or hurricanes like Dorian sweep through communities with high winds and flooding, they can leave more than physical damage in their wake. New research suggests that dealing with the aftermath — which can include a damaged home and property — puts people at high risk for depression, anxiety and other mental health problems. “This study shows that exposure to extreme or even moderate weather events may result in ‘psychological casualties,’ with significant impacts on mental health,” said study author Hilary Graham, a professor in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York in England. “This is reflective of the huge impact storms and flooding have on people’s lives as alongside the physical damage to homes and businesses, there is the emotional damage to the sense of security that many people derive from their home,” Graham explained in a university news release. “With extreme weather events on the rise due to climate change, environmental and health policies need to be brought much more closely together. This means recognizing that flood protection policies are also health protection policies,” Graham said. The level of risk to mental health is similar to that associated with living in a bad neighborhood, and even people whose homes suffer relatively minor damage are at risk for mental health problems, the researchers noted. In the study, they analyzed…  read on >

The overall death rate of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa may have been underestimated, with new research finding survivors could have a five times higher death rate after leaving the hospital than the general population. An outbreak of Ebola is currently raging in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where more than 3,000 cases of the viral disease have occurred over the past year, including more than 2,000 deaths. The new study focuses on 1,130 Guinean survivors of the 2013-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the largest such outbreak ever recorded. These patients were tracked from early December 2015 to the end of September 2016. During that time, 59 died in the first year after hospital discharge. That 5.2% death rate was five times higher than what would be expected in the general Guinean population, according to the study. It was published Sept. 4 in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. “Our findings highlight the need to strengthen Ebola survivor programs, particularly as the number of people surviving the infection are increasing,” study author Dr. Ibrahima Soce Fall said in a journal news release. Fall is the World Health Organization’s assistant director-general for emergency response. Of the 59 deaths, 37 were initially attributed to kidney failure based on symptoms reported by family members. There was a lack of documentation or autopsies available to rule out other…  read on >

For people who are obese and have type 2 diabetes, weight-loss surgery leads to more than a slimmer figure. It also reduces the risk of heart complications and premature death by about 40% compared to standard medical care, new research says. The Cleveland Clinic researchers compared the impact of various types of weight-loss (bariatric) surgery to usual medical care for people with type 2 diabetes treated between 1998 and 2017. Specifically, they looked at a composite of six components, including death from any cause, heart failure, heart disease, stroke, kidney problems and an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation. “When we looked at the components individually, we saw a reduction in all of those six, including the death rate,” said study lead author Dr. Ali Aminian, a bariatric surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Steven Nissen — chief academic officer of the Heart and Vascular Institute at Cleveland Clinic and senior author of the study — called the findings “striking.” “As a cardiologist, these findings tell me that if we can find a way to get people to lose weight, we can save a lot of lives,” Nissen said. Aminian added that primary care doctors, endocrinologists and cardiologists should regard weight-loss surgery as a tool. “Instead of adding more medications, have a conversation with a bariatric surgeon [about whether surgery would be an appropriate treatment option],”…  read on >