More omega-3 fatty acids in your diet might prevent hearing loss as you age, researchers report. Low levels of the omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are linked to hearing loss in middle and old age, according to findings slated for presentation Monday at a meeting of the American Society for Nutrition, in Boston. Middle-aged and older adults with higher DHA levels, however, were 8% to 20% less likely to have age-related hearing issues than those with lower DHA levels, researchers said. “Animal models suggest maternal omega-3 fatty acid deficiency alters offspring hearing development, and long-term omega-3 supplementation may be protective for cochlear metabolism and reduce progression of hearing loss,” said study leader Michael McBurney, a senior scientist at the South Dakota-based Fatty Acid Research Institute and adjunct professor of human health and nutritional sciences at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. “Now we find blood DHA concentrations are inversely associated with hearing loss,” he said. This study, however, can’t prove that high levels of DHA prevent hearing loss, only that there appears to be an association, McBurney said. The findings add evidence of the importance of omega-3 fatty acids, including DHA to protect against aging-related declines in a variety of body functions, he noted. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in fish, nuts and seeds and in dietary supplements such as fish oil. “Our…  read on >  read on >

Tornado damage to a Pfizer drug-making plant in North Carolina is unlikely to trigger drug shortages across the country, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says. “We do not expect there to be any immediate significant impacts on supply, given the products are currently at hospitals and in the distribution system,” FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said in an agency news release posted Friday. “Our initial analysis has identified less than 10 drugs for which Pfizer’s North Carolina plant is the sole source for the U.S. market, however, a number of these are specific formulations for which there should be substitutes or for which many weeks’ worth of stock should be available in Pfizer’s other warehouses,” Califf explained. “Notably, while Pfizer has one third of the total sterile injectable drug market for hospitals in the U.S., this facility only makes 25% of Pfizer’s total product for this market – not the entire market,” Califf added. “This means 8% of U.S. consumption is supplied by this site.” Meanwhile, Pfizer officials said the company is working to repair the damage and mitigate any shortage of drugs made at the facility. “Clearly nature is strong. So, too, is ingenuity and the human spirit. A great deal of work needs to be done, but I assure everyone, most importantly the people of the Rocky Mount community, that we will put…  read on >  read on >

Women who have survived breast cancer age faster than women who have never had to survive the disease. The treatment they received impacted their aging rates, according to a new study from Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. “Breast cancer survivors have higher rates of various age-related diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, and experience faster physical and cognitive decline than women without a history of breast cancer. In this study, we wanted to explore the biology behind this and examine whether certain cancer therapies had a greater long-term impact on survivors,” said study author Jacob Kresovich, an assistant professor at Moffitt. His team used data from the Sister Study, which identified environmental and biological factors that contribute to breast cancer risk and survival. More than 50,000 women aged 34 to 74 in the study had a sister diagnosed with breast cancer but had not been diagnosed themselves. The women were enrolled in the study between 2003 and 2009, and then contacted annually to provide health updates. The United States has nearly 4 million breast cancer survivors. Participants provided a blood sample at enrollment. Some provided another sample five or 10 years later. Among the 417 patients included in the study, 190 were selected because they were diagnosed and treated for breast cancer between their first and second blood draws. The researchers analyzed each blood sample…  read on >  read on >

Scientists have reported a link between air pollution and dementia risk, but they haven’t had a good understanding of the mechanisms behind this association. Now, a new study provides some answers. “In this study, we found that two types of vitamin B-related amino acids played a role in increasing or decreasing the risk of dementia caused by air pollution,” said Dr. Giulia Grande, co-author of the report recently published in the journal Neurology. She is a postdoctoral researcher at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. The study found that higher levels of these vitamin B-related amino acids may be linked to the risk of dementia associated with air pollutants called fine particulate matter, or PM2.5. Researchers looked at this fine particulate matter and two amino acids, methionine and homocysteine. Methionine is an essential amino acid involved in normal brain functions. It is found in foods such as meat, fish, dairy, beans and eggs. Homocysteine is an amino acid produced in the cells that can be transformed to methionine through a reaction that requires vitamin B12 and folate. It is important for red blood cell formation and for healthy cell growth and function. The study included more than 2,500 adults, average age 73, living in central Stockholm. Researchers followed them for up to 12 years using interviews, questionnaires and blood tests. A total of 376 people…  read on >  read on >

It’s not only a mother’s mental health that is tied to the risk for preterm birth — the father’s matters, too. New research found that the risk of premature birth was higher for infants whose mothers or fathers had a psychiatric diagnosis than for those whose parents did not. Researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden analyzed data on all live births to Nordic parents in Sweden between 1997 and 2016. The study findings were published July 20 in PLOS Medicine. Of 1.5 million babies, 15% were born to parents with a mental health diagnosis. For parents without a diagnosis, 5.8% of babies were born preterm. Paternal diagnosis increased the risk to 6.3% of births, and maternal diagnosis increased the risk to 7.3%. If both parents had a mental health diagnosis, the risk of preterm birth was greatest — affecting 8.3% of births. The researchers also found that the risk grew even more for parents with several co-existing psychiatric disorders. “Children of parents with mental illness are at increased risk of being born too early — both the mothers’ and fathers’ are important,” study author Weiyao Yin, a postdoctoral researcher, said in a journal news release. Preterm birth is associated with negative health consequences for babies, including anemia, jaundice, immune system problems and cerebral palsy, as well as a higher risk for sudden infant death…  read on >  read on >

Many retirees opt to volunteer as a way to help others, but new research suggests this act can also benefit volunteers’ brain health. Volunteering later in life may provide protection for the brain from both cognitive (mental) decline and dementia, according to researchers. Their findings were presented this week at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. Older adults who volunteered had better memory and executive function than their peers who did not engage in these acts of service. “Volunteers are cornerstones of all communities and imperative to the success and impact of many organizations, including the Alzheimer’s Association,” said Donna McCullough, Alzheimer’s Association chief mission and field operations officer. “We hope these new data encourage individuals of all ages and backgrounds to engage in local volunteering — not only to benefit their communities, but potentially their own cognitive and brain health,” she said in an association news release. Supporting educational, religious, health-related and other charities offers people a variety of benefits. These include a chance to be more physically active, increased opportunities for social interaction and mental stimulation. For the study, researchers looked at volunteering habits among more than 2,400 ethnic and racially diverse older U.S. adults who were part of the Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experiences Study (KHANDLE) or the Study of Healthy Aging in African Americans (STAR).…  read on >  read on >

Whether your child attends a year-round school or one on a traditional calendar, parents can take steps to make classroom reentry healthier for kids with asthma. Asthma causes an estimated 13.8 million missed school days each year, according to the Respiratory Health Association. That’s more than any other chronic illness. Having an inhaler on hand at school is one important step for kids with asthma. If your child experiences frequent asthma symptoms, visit a doctor as soon as possible, the Respiratory Health Association recommends. Make sure your child has a written Asthma Action Plan that you can share with the school nurse. Help your child practice taking asthma medication. Make sure your child understands how important it is to keep the medicine close by at all times. Call or visit the school or district to fill out any needed consent forms so your child can carry an inhaler at school. Save the prescription label from your child’s asthma medication to provide with the form. Keep an extra quick-relief inhaler where needed, whether in the home or at school. Talk with teachers to make sure they understand your child’s asthma “triggers,” recognize asthma symptoms and know what to do if symptoms happen, the association recommends. Hand-washing and covering the mouth while coughing is important to prevent common cold and flu viruses that can make asthma symptoms…  read on >  read on >

Dr. Dan Iosifescu’s patient had a history of depression and had done well for a number of years. But the illness returned with a vengeance. “They truly tried to get better with a series of different medications, and none of them did anything. If anything, they were experiencing a lot of side effects,” Iosifescu said, rendering them “unable to take part in their normal life routines, becoming more estranged from their family, unable to do even their daily routines.” Then the patient was given ketamine, and everything changed. “The treatment with ketamine over a span of just a few weeks was dramatic, essentially 180-degree resolution of all these symptoms where the person, as if by miracle, essentially returned to their previous level of functioning and previous level of relatively good mood,” said Iosifescu, a psychiatry professor at NYU School of Medicine in New York City. Ketamine has been examined for several years as a way to treat depression, a major cause of disability worldwide. The drug is a “dissociative” anesthetic. A new study conducted in Australia and New Zealand found that a low-cost version of ketamine helped 20% of participants with severe depression achieve total remission from their symptoms, while a third had symptoms improve by at least 50%. By comparison, only 2% of the control group achieved total remission from their symptoms. The trial…  read on >  read on >

In areas where Black Americans have been historically affected by discriminatory housing practices, there is higher heart failure risk, according to new research. Researchers studying more than 2.3 million U.S. adults between 2014 and 2019 found that heart failure today was linked to “redlining,” which began in the 1930s. Heart failure risk for Black people who lived in these redlined ZIP codes was higher than for those who did not. “Although discriminatory housing policies were effectively outlawed nearly a half-century ago, the relationship between historic redlining practices and people’s health today gives us unique insight into how historical policies may still be exerting their effects on the health of many communities,” study co-author Dr. Shreya Rao said in an American Heart Association news release. Rao is a cardiologist and assistant professor in the department of internal medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. For the study, the researchers used data from the Medicare Beneficiary Summary Files. Study participants were age 71, on average. More than 801,000 participants were Black. The investigators mapped historical redlining maps onto modern day maps of 1,044 ZIP codes in the United States. They sorted them into four groups ranging from least to most exposed to redlining. “Ultimately, we were most interested in assessing the difference in risk of heart failure between individuals from communities with…  read on >  read on >

While nursing home residents are at high risk for bad outcomes if they get COVID-19, use of antiviral treatments, such as monoclonal antibodies, was low through most of 2021 and 2022. The authors of a new study, led by Brian McGarry, a health services researcher at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, called that fact alarming. Using data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Healthcare Safety Network for May 2021 to December 2002, McGarry and collaborators at Harvard University found that just 18% of COVID-19 cases in nursing homes were treated with antiviral medicine. Even after easier-to-administer and widely available oral treatments were authorized, only 1 in 4 nursing home residents received these life-saving medications, the investigators found. The study considered more than 763,000 COVID-19 cases in more than 15,000 U.S. nursing homes. Everyone in a nursing home meets current clinical guidelines to be considered for antiviral treatment. By the end of last year, however, 40% of nursing homes reported that they had never used any of the antiviral treatments. And for-profit and lower-quality facilities, as well as those with higher shares of Medicaid and non-white residents, were less likely to use antivirals, the study authors noted. This likely contributed to disparities in COVID hospitalizations and deaths, the researchers suggested in a university news release. The report was…  read on >  read on >