Lifestyle « Weekly Gravy

The healthiest community in the United States is Douglas County in Colorado, according to the 2019 rankings just released by U.S. News & World Report. The others in the top five healthiest communities are Los Alamos County in New Mexico; the city of Falls Church and Loudoun County, both in Virginia; and Broomfield County in Colorado, according to the magazine. For the rankings in the second annual report, nearly 3,000 communities across the United States were evaluated on 81 health-related measures in 10 categories, including education, environment, population health and infrastructure. Douglas County, a suburb of Denver, was among the top in at least four of the 81 measures, including physical activity, educational attainment and median household income. Six other communities in Colorado were in the top 20: Broomfield County (ranked number 5), Chaffee County (11), Routt County (14), San Miguel County (17), Pitkin County (19) and Boulder County (20). In all seven Colorado counties, nearly all adults exercise and only about a quarter missed their annual wellness checkup. Across all of its counties, Colorado also has the highest average score in the country in the environment category, which includes measures of natural amenities and air and water quality. Iowa has the strongest presence in the rankings overall, with 62 counties among the top 500. Average community scores put Iowa among the top 10 states… read on >

She thought red yeast supplements would be a natural way to lower her cholesterol. What could be easier? Instead, the 64-year-old woman landed in the hospital with acute liver damage that her doctors say was likely caused by taking the over-the-counter product. “Many people are cautious to use [prescription] medications because of potential side effects, and rightly so,” but natural supplements are not necessarily safer, explained lead researcher Lize Loubser, from Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. “Make sure you do your research before using them, and realize that often taking a supplement means taking an unknown dose of the active component,” Loubser said. Red yeast rice supplements are made by mixing fermented steamed rice with food fungus. It’s commonly used as an alternative to statins to lower high cholesterol. “Statins and red yeast rice contain the exact same chemical [monacolin k], which is responsible for reducing cholesterol,” Loubser said. But this chemical can also potentially cause liver damage, she added. “Whether monacolin k is derived synthetically, in the case of statins, or naturally, in the case of red yeast rice, does not matter,” Loubser said. “The difference is that statins come in known doses of monacolin k, whereas in red yeast rice, monacolin k concentration is not measured or regulated, and can vary widely.” In this case, the woman was hospitalized with symptoms of… read on >

More American women had health insurance and access to care after the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was fully in place in 2014, and poorest women benefited most, according to a new report. For the study, researchers examined U.S. National Health Interview Survey data on insurance affordability, access to care and the use of preventive services — such as flu vaccination, mammograms, and blood pressure and cholesterol screening — among women aged 19 to 64. Forty percent of low-income women were uninsured prior to the ACA (often called “Obamacare”), the study found, versus 17 percent in 2014 and 11 percent in 2016. The review found that more than 4 percent of the poorest women were more likely to have seen a doctor within a year in 2014-2017. Among all women, there were increases of between 3 percent and 7 percent for preventive screenings and vaccinations. After ACA, women in all income groups had more blood pressure checks, cholesterol screenings and flu shots, according to the study published March 21 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Before ACA, about one-third had no access to affordable insurance and care, the findings showed. “Given current debates around the ACA and women’s historical challenges obtaining health care, this research is important to highlight how women’s access and affordability of care have improved as a result of the ACA,” said… read on >

To take calcium or not to take calcium, that is still the question. In a new study that contradicts earlier research, investigators found that adding calcium to your diet will not raise your risk of a common age-related eye disease. That disease, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), is a leading cause of vision loss and blindness among Americans aged 65 and older. In the new research, a team from the U.S. National Eye Institute analyzed data from more than 4,700 people in the United States who were followed for an average of 10 years as part of a study on age-related eye disease. None of the participants had AMD at the start of the study. As participants got older, those with the highest intake of calcium from their diet or supplements actually had a lower risk of developing late-stage AMD than those with the lowest calcium intake, the findings showed. The study was published March 21 in JAMA Ophthalmology. “Although the findings suggest that high calcium intake may be protective, the jury is still out on whether people should alter their calcium intake to prevent the onset or progression of AMD,” said lead investigator Dr. Emily Chew. She is director of the division of epidemiology and clinical applications, and deputy clinical director at the eye institute. Chew noted that the apparent protective effect of calcium could… read on >

Fathers-to-be who expose their pregnant partners to secondhand smoke put their babies at risk of heart defects, researchers warn. For the new study, investigators in China reviewed 125 studies that included a total of nearly 9 million prospective parents and more than 137,000 babies with congenital heart defects. All types of parental smoking were linked to an increased risk of these birth defects, the analysis found. Compared to no smoking exposure, the increased risk was 124 percent for women exposed to secondhand smoke while pregnant, 74 percent for men smoking, and 25 percent for women smoking. “Fathers are a large source of secondhand smoke for pregnant women, which appears to be even more harmful to unborn children than women smoking themselves,” said study author Jiabi Qin of Central South University in Changsha, China. “Fathers-to-be should quit smoking,” Qin said in a news release from the European Society of Cardiology. The overall risk with all types of parental smoking was greater when the analysis was restricted to Asian groups, the study authors noted. Women’s exposure to secondhand smoke was dangerous throughout pregnancy — and even before, according to the report. While those who smoked before getting pregnant had no added risk, those who smoked during pregnancy were more apt to give birth to a child with a heart defect. Specifically, smoking while pregnant was associated with… read on >

Two medical groups have declared war on sodas and energy drinks by calling for taxes on what has become the leading source of sugar in the diets of children and teens. In a new joint policy statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Heart Association (AHA) also recommended a host of other public policies, all aimed at cutting consumption of the unhealthy drinks. This is the first time the AAP has advocated for such a tax. “Sugary drinks make up more than half the sugar intake in kids’ diets and have no redeeming nutritional value. They are basically sugar water,” said pediatrician Dr. Natalie Muth, lead author of the policy statement. Excess sugar in kids’ diets has contributed to an epidemic of childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes, said Avigdor Arad, director of the Mount Sinai PhysioLab, in New York City. It also increases the risk for tooth decay, heart disease, fatty liver disease and death among children and teens, according to the statement. “The average kid is getting about 30 pounds of sugar from sugary drinks per year, which is enough to fill a small bathtub,” said Muth, a California pediatrician and communications chair of the AAP Section on Obesity. “We’re not talking about a small problem here, or a small amount of intake from drinks. It’s a huge amount.” Evidence… read on >

When couples experience recurrent pregnancy loss, it’s natural for them to want to know why. Now, a new study suggests that sperm DNA damage could be a factor. Recurrent pregnancy loss is defined as the consecutive loss of three or more pregnancies before 20 weeks’ gestation. It affects up to 2 percent of couples and, in many cases, it is difficult to identify the cause. While women in these couples typically undergo tests to pinpoint a cause, the same is not true of men, according to the study authors. “However, we know that sperm play an important role in the formation of the placenta, which is critical for survival of an unborn baby,” said lead researcher Dr. Channa Jayasena. He is a clinical senior lecturer in endocrinology at Imperial College London, in the United Kingdom. In the new study, Jayasena’s team compared 50 men in couples that had not suffered miscarriages with 63 men in couples that had recurrent pregnancy loss. The men were checked for their levels of sex hormones, such as testosterone, and the number and behavior of their sperm. Their level of sperm DNA damage was also assessed, along with levels of a chemical called reactive oxygen species, which can damage sperm. Compared with the men in the miscarriage-free couples, men in couples with recurrent pregnancy loss had twice as much sperm… read on >

Maybe you rush around with work and activities during the day, then settle in for a large, relaxing meal in the evening. But new research says the later in the day you eat, the more weight you’re likely to pack on. That’s the takeaway from a week-long study involving 31 overweight and obese patients, mostly women. “We evaluated meal and sleep timing in patients with overweight/obesity at the beginning of a weight loss trial, before participants started the intervention,” said lead author Dr. Adnin Zaman, an endocrinology fellow at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Her team found that “eating later into the day was associated with a higher body mass index (BMI) and greater body fat.” BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight. For the study, participants were enrolled in a weight-loss trial comparing daily calorie limits to time-restricted feeding. In other words, once the trial launched, they could only eat during certain hours of the day. Ninety percent of the participants were women. Their average age was 36. A week before the study, they were outfitted with electronic devices to monitor their activity and sleep. They also were asked to snap cellphone photos of everything they ate. The photos were time-stamped using an app called MealLogger. Zaman and colleagues did not define which hours would amount to… read on >

For people who carry too much weight and suffer from migraines, dropping some pounds might help ease their pain, new research shows. “When people lose weight, the number of days per month with migraine decreases, as does pain severity and headache attack duration,” said lead researcher Dr. Claudio Pagano. He is associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Padova in Italy. Pagano’s team looked at data from 10 different studies that included 473 migraine patients in total. The analysis showed that weight loss was associated with large declines in migraine frequency, duration, pain and disability. The benefits were similar whether reductions in weight were achieved through weight-loss surgery or changes in diet and exercise, and were similar in kids and adults. How overweight you were to begin with didn’t seem to matter, however. Improvements in migraine were not tied to either the original level of obesity or the overall amount of weight loss, Pagano’s group reported. The findings were to be presented Saturday at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting, in New Orleans. The bottom line is that “if you suffer from migraine headaches and are obese, losing weight will ameliorate the quality of your family and social life, as well as your work and school productivity. Your overall quality of life will greatly improve,” Pagano said. “Weight loss in adults and children with… read on >