ALL ABOUT HEALTH -

25Feb 2023 by Janice Holland

Fentanyl Pills Are Driving a Drug Overdose Spike Among U.S. High Schoolers

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Teen drug overdose deaths are increasing exponentially despite a significant decline in drug use among high schoolers in recent years.Drug overdoses among teenagers are still rare, but research published in JAMA found that the rate of U.S. overdose deaths among people ages 14 to 18 nearly doubled in 2020, and rose another 20 percent in the first half of 2021 compared with the previous decade.According to researchers, the rise in the past two years has not been driven by increased drug use during the COVID-19 pandemic or by addiction, but by an increasingly dangerous supply of opioid pills laced with fentanyl.Fentanyl — which is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine — has been packaged in powder form and fraudulently sold as heroin for years. Teenagers are less likely to…

25Feb 2023 by Janice Holland

First FDA-Approved Birth Control Wearable Tech Hits the Market

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If your method of birth control involves abstaining from sex on the days when you’re most fertile, you might be monitoring changes in your body — such as subtle temperature fluctuations — to help determine exactly where you are in your menstrual cycle.One of the tricky things about this approach is that you need to remember to take your temperature first thing every morning.Now there’s a contraception app that can make this easier by syncing with a device on your finger that records your temperature while you sleep.What Is This Technology?Natural Cycles was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2018 as the first direct-to-consumer contraception app. It helps prevent pregnancy by calculating the days each month when people are most likely to be fertile according to slight…

25Feb 2023 by Janice Holland

White Mulberry Leaf Blamed in Death of CA Congressman’s Wife — What Are the Risks?

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Autopsy results for Lori McClintock, who died last year, are raising questions about herbal supplements after findings implicated white mulberry leaf in her death. Lori McClintock was the wife of U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock.According to the March 10 report from the Sacramento County coroner, which was recently obtained by Kaiser Health News (KNH) and released this week, the cause of death was gastroenteritis caused by “adverse effects of white mulberry leaf ingestion.”The report noted that a “partially intact” white mulberry leaf was found in McClintock’s stomach, but it wasn’t clear from the autopsy report whether she drank a tea with white mulberry leaves, ate fresh or dried leaves, or took a dietary supplement containing white mulberry leaf, KHN reported. The death was ruled accidental in the autopsy, according to KHN.Several toxicologists and doctors…

24Feb 2023 by Janice Holland

People Who Earn Low Wages May Be at Risk for Faster Memory Decline in Later Life

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A lack of access to healthcare, nutritious food, and safe places to exercise all contribute to healthcare inequities. In the United States, people living in lower-income households have an increased risk for developing many chronic health conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. But can earning less money, year after year, take a different kind of toll, and negatively affect our brains and memory? Unfortunately, that answer may be yes, according to new research presented at the Alzheimer’s Association 2022 Addressing Health Disparities conference.Researchers from Columbia University found a link between a below-average paycheck and cognitive function down the road. “Our research provides new evidence that sustained exposure to low wages during peak earning years is associated with accelerated memory decline later in life,” said first author Katrina Kezios, PhD,…

24Feb 2023 by Janice Holland

Most People Infected With the Omicron COVID-19 Variant Don’t Know It, Study Suggests

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More than half of people infected with the omicron variant had no idea they had contracted the virus, according to a new study from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The research, published August 17 in JAMA Network Open, highlights a major hurdle in the effort to stop the spread of COVID-19.These findings add to a growing body of evidence that undiagnosed infections are increasing virus transmission. “A low level of infection awareness has likely contributed to the fast spread of omicron,” said Sandy Y. Joung, an investigator at Cedars-Sinai and the first author of the study, in a news release.Antibody Tests Found Evidence of Omicron InfectionThe study included more than 2,000 Cedars-Sinai healthcare workers and patients. All took two or more blood tests to look for evidence of COVID-fighting antibodies. The first…

24Feb 2023 by Janice Holland

The Link Between Red Meat and Your Heart May Be in Your Gut

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Experts have warned for years that a diet high in red meat raises the risk of heart disease, but exactly why has remained a topic of debate.Research has pinpointed a potential culprit that could make some people more susceptible to the cardiovascular effects of red meat — and it’s located in the gut.A study published August 1 in the American Heart Association (AHA) journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology zeroed in on a metabolite called trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), and the discovery may one day debunk what researchers have believed for decades about how red meat increases the risk of heart disease.According to the study’s lead coauthor, Meng Wang, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Somerville, Massachusetts, TMAO has been…

24Feb 2023 by Janice Holland

Frequent Naps Can Be an Indicator of High Blood Pressure, New Study Suggests

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Although naps confer proven health benefits, napping regularly is associated with a higher risk of developing high blood pressure and stroke, according to a study published in Hypertension (PDF), and American Heart Association (AHA) journal.For the study, researchers looked at data from more than 500,000 adults ages 40 to 60 from the U.K. Biobank, a large biomedical database and research resource of anonymized genetic, lifestyle, and health information. Study participants regularly provided blood, urine, and saliva samples, and detailed information about their lifestyle, including how often they partook in daytime napping. The study took place from 2006 to 2019.Participants were divided into groups based on self-reported napping frequency: never/rarely, sometimes, or usually.Compared with people who never napped, usual daytime napping was associated with a 12 percent higher risk of developing…

24Feb 2023 by Janice Holland

Hallucinogen Use Rises Significantly Since 2015, Research Finds

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More Americans than ever appear to be taking psychedelic drugs. According to a new estimate from researchers at Columbia University in New York City, more than 5.5 million U.S. adults are using hallucinogens.In a study published this month in the journal Addiction, scientists calculated that hallucinogen use climbed from 2002 to 2019, from 1.7 percent to 2.2 percent in the population who are ages 12 and older, based on data from the U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health.Since 2015, the overall prevalence of hallucinogen use during the following four years rose by 44 percent.“Our results highlight such use as a growing public health concern and suggest that the increasing risk of potentially unsupervised hallucinogen use warrants preventive strategies,” wrote senior study author Deborah Hasin, PhD, professor of epidemiology…

24Feb 2023 by Janice Holland

FDA Approves Auvelity, a New Medication for Clinical Depression

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on August 19 approved dextromethorphan-bupropion, or Auvelity, a drug used to treat major depressive disorder, also known as clinical depression, in adults.It is the first drug to treat major depressive disorder that works within a week of taking it and is the first new pill to treat depression using a new mechanism of action in more than 60 years, according to the manufacturer, Axsome Therapeutics.What’s Different About This Depression DrugThere has long been a need for better and more effective drugs to treat depression, as nearly two-thirds of all people diagnosed with depression do not find relief from them, according to Axsome Therapeutics.In a double-blind phase 3 clinical trial, 163 patients taking Auvelity said their feelings of depression were significantly improved within a week of…

24Feb 2023 by Janice Holland

Nearly Half of Multiracial LGBTQ+ Youth Seriously Considered Suicide in the Past Year

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Nearly half of multiracial LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered suicide in the past year.Those are the new findings in a report published this month by the LGBTQ+ youth mental health organization the Trevor Project.It’s been well established that LGBTQ+ youth are at increased risk for suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts compared with their straight and cisgender counterparts. But according to the Trevor Project, this research is among the first to consider how the intersectionality of identifying with more than one ethnic or racial identity affects suicide risk.“To our knowledge, this new report is the first of its kind to exclusively explore the mental health and well-being of multiracial youth who are LGBTQ, highlighting their unique mental health experiences, risk factors, and protective factors,” says Myeshia Price, PhD, the director of research…