Lifestyle « Weekly Gravy

Need another reason to stay slim? People who are overweight have a greater risk of dying from pancreatic cancer, especially those who are carrying extra pounds before age 50, a new study suggests. “No matter what the age, there was some increase in pancreatic cancer deaths associated with excess weight. But the association was stronger for excess weight measured in people’s 30s and 40s,” said the study’s lead author, Eric Jacobs, senior scientific director of epidemiology research at the American Cancer Society (ACS). “We’re not completely sure why this is. Weight gain later in life may simply have less time to cause cancer,” he said. Between 2000 and 2015, the rate of pancreatic cancer rose about 15 percent, he said. It’s now the third-leading cause of cancer death in the United States. One reason pancreatic cancer is so deadly is that it often isn’t discovered until it has reached an advanced stage. The disease rarely causes noticeable symptoms, and there are no effective screening tests, according to the cancer society. But a few risk factors for pancreatic cancer can be changed. Smoking, weight and exposure to workplace chemicals are the three known risk factors that can be modified. In the new study, researchers looked at data for almost 1 million U.S. adults with no history of cancer. The participants were enrolled in a nationwide study… read on >

(HealthDay News) — If you or someone you know has a mental illness, help is out there. To find treatment services in your area, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). You can also call your doctor to see what services are near. For immediate help, call 1-800-273-8255 or go to the National Suicide Prevention Life’s website. Trained crisis workers are available at all hours. For life-threatening situations, call 911 or go to a hospital.

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 >

Add one more issue to the growing list of harms from opioid abuse: Long-term use may lead to hormone deficiencies that affect a man’s health. Researchers reviewed the latest medical evidence and found that about two-thirds of men using opioids for more than six months develop hypogonadism, which is insufficient testosterone production. The review also found that about one in every five long-term opioid users also winds up suffering from low levels of the hormone cortisol. Cortisol is best known as a stress hormone because of its role in the “fight-or-flight response,” but it also helps regulate the body’s metabolism. Men with hypogonadism might suffer symptoms such as muscle weakness and a lowered sex drive, said lead researcher Amir Zamanipoor Najafabadi. He is a medical student at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. “This information can be used to maybe discourage people who are using opioids to get into a euphoric state, because it happens at the expense of their sexual function,” Najafabadi said. People with low levels of cortisol might experience fatigue, mood swings, muscle loss and weight loss, he added. Misuse of and addiction to opioids — which include prescription painkillers (such as OxyContin), heroin and synthetic opioids (such as fentanyl) — has led to an epidemic in the United States, with 47,000 overdose deaths reported in 2017, according to U.S. government… read on >

It’s surprisingly easy to hold a grudge, but whether it involves a friend, a co-worker or a loved one, it can fill you with bitterness, keep you stuck in the past and even lead to anxiety or depression. That means you’re the one suffering from the situation, and not necessarily the subject of your anger and irritation. Besides the emotional toll, researchers from Glasgow Caledonian University and Edinburgh Napier University, in Scotland, found that holding a grudge can also heighten feelings of physical pain, even if that pain has nothing to do with the incident in question. So, if your lower back is bothering you or you have the achiness of arthritis, your pain can feel worse if you’re stewing over the grudge. Letting go of a grudge starts with forgiveness. That doesn’t mean you’re excusing the behavior the other person exhibited, and you may never forget it, but if you can forgive the person for their mistake, you can break free of the hold he or she has had on your life. The benefits are wide-ranging and immediate. Making a conscious decision to let go of the anger and resentment that keeps you rooted in the past will allow you to focus on your present and what’s important to you today. Letting go of grudges frees you to focus on the positive relationships in… read on >

An older but still common multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment has an unexpected perk: It not only quells symptoms, but patients may also live longer. New research revealed that patients taking a beta interferon drug for more than three years were likely to live longer than those who took one for a shorter time or who didn’t take one at all. “This study was the first and largest of its kind, and we found that a commonly used drug for MS may prolong life,” said the study’s senior author, Helen Tremlett. She’s the Canada Research Chair in Neuroepidemiology and Multiple Sclerosis at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Beta interferon drugs include Avonex, Betaseron, Extavia, Plegridy and Rebif. Beta interferons were the first disease-modifying drugs available to treat MS. They were introduced in the 1990s to treat relapsing MS. Newer medications are now available, but beta interferons are still widely used, the study authors noted. Multiple sclerosis is a chronic disease that affects the central nervous system. The symptoms include muscle weakness, trouble with coordination and balance, visual disturbances and problems with thinking and memory. MS can shorten life span an average of six years or more, the study authors said. Dr. Nicholas LaRocca is vice president of Health Care Delivery and Policy Research for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. He explained that, in… read on >

Having a fussy baby doesn’t just rob a new mother of sleep — it can also increase her risk of depression, a new study finds. That fussiness, combined with premature birth, may significantly affect a new mother’s mood. “We found that maternal depression risk varied by gestational age and infant fussiness,” said senior study author Dr. Prachi Shah. She is a developmental and behavioral pediatrician at University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, in Ann Arbor. For the study, researchers looked at more than 8,200 children and their mothers across the United States. The investigators found that mothers of very preterm, fussy infants (born at 24 to 31 weeks’ gestation) were about twice as likely to have mild depressive symptoms as those of very preterm infants who weren’t difficult to soothe. However, “mothers of fussy infants born late preterm and full-term are more likely to experience more severe levels of maternal depression than mothers of fussy infants who were born more preterm,” Shah said in a university news release. Among mothers of babies born moderate-late preterm (32 to 36 weeks’ gestation) and moms of full-term infants, those with fussy babies were about twice as likely to have moderate to severe depressive symptoms as those with less irritable infants. “These findings reinforce that all mothers caring for babies with more difficult temperaments may need extra help… 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 >