Wildfires that have been spreading throughout Canada in recent weeks are now spewing tons of smoke southward into the United States. The smoke was so thick on Tuesday that New York City’s skyline could not be seen clearly and air quality alerts were issued to residents from parts of the Northeast to the southern Mid-Atlantic region. New York officials issued an air quality alert for much of the state on Wednesday. “Exposure can cause short-term health effects such as irritation to the eyes, nose and throat, coughing, sneezing, runny nose, and shortness of breath,” the alert warned. “Exposure to elevated levels of fine particulate matter [PM 2.5] can also worsen medical conditions such as asthma and heart disease. People with heart or breathing problems, and children and the elderly may be particularly sensitive to PM 2.5.” “While conditions are anticipated to temporarily improve later tonight through tomorrow morning, they are expected to deteriorate further tomorrow afternoon and evening,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement on Tuesday. “We recommend all New Yorkers limit outdoor activity to the greatest extent possible. Those with preexisting respiratory problems, like heart or breathing problems, as well as children and older adults may be especially sensitive and should stay indoors at this time,” Adams noted. “While all students should still go to school tomorrow, New York City…  read on >  read on >

Folks who are loaded down with medical debt are less likely to survive a bout of cancer, a new study reports. Researchers found that U.S. counties where more residents have medical debt in collections also had more cancer deaths, compared to counties with less medical debt. “This association was seen for all cancers combined, and the five major cancer types: lung, colorectal, pancreas, prostate for men, and breast for women,” said senior researcher Xuesong Han, scientific director of health services research for the American Cancer Society. Han presented this research Tuesday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting, in Chicago. Findings presented at medical meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. For this study, Han and her colleagues compared 2018 county-level medical debt data from the Urban Institute against cancer death data from the National Centers for Health Statistics between 2015 and 2019. The investigators found that about 20% of the entire U.S. population carries some medical debt. The county-level percentage of population with medical debt varied from 0% to nearly 54%. “Counties in the South had the highest medical debt. For example, among the top 10 counties with the highest share of the population with medical debt in collections, eight of them were in Texas, two were in North Carolina, and one was in Georgia,” Han said. “The…  read on >  read on >

One of the signature symptoms of COVID-19 infection in the early months of the pandemic was a loss of the sense of smell. Now, new research finds that is no longer the case, thanks to the new variants that have been circulating more recently. The risk of losing sense of taste or smell is now only about 6% to 7% of what it was during the pandemic’s early stages, according to researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine in Richmond, Va. “At the beginning of the pandemic, smell and taste loss were considered common symptoms of COVID-19. Before viral tests were readily accessible, we relied a lot more on such symptoms to diagnose those infected. However, as different variants of the COVID-19 virus have emerged, the types of symptoms most commonly experienced changed as well,” said study author Dr. Evan Reiter, who is the medical director of VCU Health’s Smell and Taste Disorders Center. For the study, the researchers used a national database of more than 7 million patients who tested positive for COVID-19, calculating the prevalence of smell and taste loss as a symptom of the virus during peak periods of infection for each variant wave. The team found that the risks of smell loss from a COVID-19 infection for Alpha and Delta, both pervasive variants in 2021, were only 74% and…  read on >  read on >

Millions of stray cats roam the world over, and surgical sterilization has long been the primary method of population control. But a small new study shows promising results for a one-and-done contraceptive injection. Researchers say this first-of-its-kind approach appears safe and effective. “A non-surgical contraceptive that could result in lifetime sterility following a single injection would present many advantages over the current standard of care of surgical sterilization,” said study co-author Dr. William Swanson. Swanson is director of animal research at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. Currently, the male stray cat population is controlled via “the surgical removal of the gonads under general anesthesia,” he noted. “In the female, the procedure is either an ovariectomy or an ovariohysterectomy,” Swanson said, referring to removal of the ovaries and removal of the ovaries plus uterus, respectively. But there are downsides to surgical sterilization, commonly called neutering and spaying. For one, said Swanson, “the whole procedure requires specialized instruments, medical supplies, veterinary expertise, anesthetic and analgesic drugs, and postoperative care.” And while surgery can be an effective control tool when dealing with small, contained feline populations, he stressed that the approach is “not sufficient to control the reproduction of hundreds of millions of unowned free-roaming cats worldwide.” Of the estimated 600 million domestic cats worldwide, only 20% are owned pets; 8 in 10 live in the street,…  read on >  read on >

As obesity rises among U.S. kids and teens, the number of weight-loss surgeries is growing, too. Metabolic and bariatric surgeries among 10- to 19-year-olds rose by nearly 20% between 2020 and 2021, after climbing since 2016, a new study finds. The jump is especially notable among those from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, who are packing on pounds more readily than white kids, the researchers said. “This analysis shows that families are making the decision to pursue bariatric surgery more frequently year-over-year, and among those from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds in particular,” said Sarah Messiah, study co-author and a professor of epidemiology at the University of Texas Health Houston School of Public Health. “This is an important finding given the disparities in cardiometabolic disease risk factors that disproportionately impact these groups,” she said in a UT Health news release. The rise in bariatric surgeries is in line with the American Academy of Pediatrics’ new guidelines. The children’s health organization recommends lifestyle changes, surgery and medication for the treatment of obesity in adolescents. “We were particularly interested in utilization trends after the American Academy of Pediatrics released a statement in late 2019 endorsing more access to surgery for adolescents for the first time. Our analysis suggests that these access channels are being utilized, and more frequently, even during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Messiah said. About 20%…  read on >  read on >

MONDAY, June 5, 2023Understanding circumcision can help you speed your baby boy’s healing process and be aware of any complications that may arise. Here, professionals offer advice on what circumcision is, the pros and cons of the procedure, and what happens during a circumcision. Plus, they’ll talk about how long the healing process is and what to expect afterwards. What is circumcision? Circumcision is the removal of the foreskin that covers the head of the penis, known as the glans. It’s usually performed on newborn boys when they’re a day or two old, although older boys and men can also be circumcised, according to the Cleveland Clinic. “There are cultural and religious considerations that are the reasons why some families feel it’s the right choice for them,” Cedars-Sinai pediatric urologist Dr. Paul Kokorowski explained in a recent Cedars-Sinai blog post. The Cleveland Clinic notes that the practice of circumcision began as a religious rite. Today, Jewish and Muslim people still do the procedure for religious reasons. In the Jewish faith, specially trained professionals known as mohels perform the circumcision, known as a bris. In addition to religious practices, there are also medical and cultural reasons for having a baby boy circumcised. Many of these procedures are done by a doctor in a hospital setting. In fact, it’s estimated that about 60% of boys in the…  read on >  read on >

There’s a “loneliness epidemic” in the United States, and feelings of isolation have been linked to heart disease, stroke and other health conditions. Now, new research suggests that cancer survivors who feel lonely may be more likely to die than survivors who have more social support. “Loneliness may be linked to worse survival following a cancer diagnosis through multiple mechanisms, such as the increased risk of experiencing negative emotions such as hostility, stress and anxiety, increased unhealthy behaviors including smoking, alcohol abuse and less physical activity, or through physiological pathways such as immune system disorders,” explained study author Jingxuan Zhao. She is a senior associate scientist at the American Cancer Society. “It is also possible that cancer survivors who feel lonelier might not receive the practical and emotional support they need for their symptoms,” Zhao added. For the study, Zhao and her colleagues looked at data on nearly 3,450 cancer survivors aged 50 and older who were part of the 2008-2018 Health and Retirement Study. These folks were followed through the end of 2020. The researchers assessed loneliness every four years and grouped folks into four categories: low/no loneliness; mild loneliness; moderate loneliness; and high loneliness. Cancer survivors who reported any loneliness were more like to die during the follow-up period than their counterparts who were not lonely. The more lonely a person was, the…  read on >  read on >