Lifestyle « Weekly Gravy

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 >

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 >

People transitioning female to male face issues around future fertility. But new research suggests children in the future are a real possibility for these transgender men. Now, research shows that transgender men can remain fertile after even one year of testosterone treatment. It’s common for transgender men — those who were born female but who identify as male — to undergo testosterone therapy as a gender-affirming treatment. But some may later want children through their own pregnancy or via surrogate, the Israeli researchers explained. “Because the long-term effects of testosterone therapy on fertility are unknown, the current recommendation is to stop testosterone at least three months before fertility treatments,” said lead investigator Dr. Yona Greenman. She heads the Transgender Health Center at Tel Aviv-Sourasky Medical Center. The study included 52 transgender men, aged 17 to 40, who received testosterone therapy over 12 months. They had the expected increase in testosterone blood levels and decrease in estrogen, but their levels of anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) remained in the normal range for fertility. AMH levels are used to appraise remaining eggs in the ovaries. Average levels in study participants decreased only slightly, suggesting their ovarian function was well-preserved, according to Greenman. Participants also showed no changes in the thickness of their uterine lining. A thick lining is crucial for embryo implantation and a successful pregnancy. The findings are… 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 >