ALL ABOUT HEALTH -

01Feb 2023 by Janice Holland

American Diabetes Association Recommends More Aggressive Weight Loss, Blood Pressure, and Cholesterol Goals

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The American Diabetes Association (ADA) has released the 2023 Standards of Care in Diabetes, a set of guidelines that are updated annually after a thorough review of new research.This year’s updates are focused on how to more aggressively treat diabetes and reduce diabetes complications, with changes to recommendations on weight loss, high blood pressure, cholesterol, and more.“The world of diabetes is moving quite quickly. There are lots of new studies, and we want to make sure clinicians have the most up-to-date information to guide them in how to care for people with diabetes,” says Robert A. Gabbay, MD, PhD, who serves as the chief scientific and medical officer of the ADA.This document, released on December 12, is considered the gold standard of care, and it’s one that providers consult daily or…

01Feb 2023 by Janice Holland

Face Masks Are Back for the Holidays Thanks to ‘Tripledemic’

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Masks are making a comeback this winter, and the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t the only reason. Blame a “tripledemic” of three highly contagious respiratory illnesses: COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and seasonal flu.“Beyond the high-risk persons, everyone is encouraged to wear a mask at present, because the three viruses are so prevalent at this time,” says William Schaffner, MD, a professor of infectious disease at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.Roughly 1 in 7 Americans now live in communities with high levels of COVID-19 transmission, according to a report released December 8 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). And their ranks are rising fast.On top of this, we’re on track to have the worst flu season in more than a decade, with an estimated 8.7 million cases, 78,000…

01Feb 2023 by Janice Holland

Can Erectile Dysfunction Drugs Help Prevent Alzheimer’s?

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Over the last year, several research studies showed that men who took drugs for erectile dysfunction were less likely to eventually develop dementia. The studies excited both the medical community and the public at large, as there is currently no approved medication to prevent forms of dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease.A study published in December 2021 supported by the National Institute of Aging found that men who took sildenafil (Viagra) were significantly less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease. Separate research published at the beginning of 2022 revealed that tadalafil (Cialis) may have the potential to increase blood flow in the white matter of the brain, which is related to vascular dementia.Researchers currently believe that the onset of Alzheimer’s and other kinds of dementia is tied to a chronic lack of blood…

01Feb 2023 by Janice Holland

Study Finds High Levels of Heavy Metals in Dark Chocolate

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Dark chocolate, long considered a heart-healthy indulgence, may contain potentially harmful amounts of heavy metals, according to new research from Consumer Reports.Researchers at Consumer Reports measured the amounts of various heavy metals in 28 dark chocolate bars, including some made by larger brands like Hershey’s, Trader Joe’s, Dove, and Ghirardelli, as well as some smaller brands like Mast and Alter Eco.Every single chocolate bar contained cadmium and lead, the researchers found. And 23 of the bars had enough of these metals that eating just an ounce a day might expose an adult to potentially harmful levels of at least one of these two toxic metals. Five bars had potentially dangerous levels of both lead and cadmium.However, the fact that five of the tested dark chocolate bars had low levels of these…

31Jan 2023 by Janice Holland

Is the Tripledemic to Blame for the Rise in Serious Strep Throat Infections?

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A potential rise in invasive group A strep (streptococcus) infections, which has caused the death of 16 children under age 18 in the United Kingdom, now has U.S. health experts concerned.In the Denver metro area alone, there have been 11 reported cases of invasive group A strep (sometimes shortened to iGAS) in children between 10 months and 6 years old, according to a press release from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.Although these infections are still rare, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently investigating a possible increase.What is invasive group A strep and what symptoms signal a dangerous infection? Here’s what you need to know to keep your family safe.What Is Group A Strep?“Group A streptococcus is a bacteria; it’s notorious for causing sore throat,”…

31Jan 2023 by Janice Holland

Number of Cancer Cells in the Bloodstream Offers Treatment Clues for Women With Metastatic Breast Cancer

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Counting the number of tumor cells that have broken away from a tumor and are circulating in the blood can help doctors choose between chemotherapy and endocrine therapy for patients with metastatic breast cancer, according to a study presented at the recent San Antonio Breast Cancer SymposiumCurrently, doctors tend to use all available endocrine therapies, such as the drug tamoxifen, before switching to chemotherapy to treat metastatic breast cancer, said study author François-Clément Bidard, MD, PhD, a professor of medical oncology at Institut Curie and Versailles Saint-Quentin University in Paris, at a press conference.Circulating tumor cell count, or CTC as it’s also known, has been extensively studied for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer in the past two decades to see whether it can help fine-tune treatment, Dr. Bidard said.In study presented at…

31Jan 2023 by Janice Holland

Millions See Poignant Portrait of Alzheimer’s in One Family’s Viral Videos

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Seeing a loved one progress through the stages of a degenerative disease can have its heartbreaking moments, but one family is showing the world how much joy there’s still to be had when caring for a person with Alzheimer’s.Joshua Pettit’s loving TikTok videos of his mom struggling to identify her own reflection in a mirror are putting a very public face on Alzheimer’s disease, drawing millions of viewers and an outpouring of support from thousands of complete strangers all over the world.The Highs and Lows of Being a CaregiverIt’s easy to see why so many people are captivated. The videos Joshua Pettit makes of his mother, Betty Pettit, put a very human face on Alzheimer’s disease and the roller coaster of good and bad moments life with this condition entails.In…

31Jan 2023 by Janice Holland

There’s More Than One Way to Eat for a Longer Life

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There are many different healthy eating patterns that may help you live longer, a new study suggests — as long as these dietary habits focus on whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes, that is.For the study, researchers at Harvard University examined data on more than 75,000 women and more than 44,000 men who completed a series of dietary questionnaires over 36 years starting when they were in their early fifties. None of the participants had a history of cancer or heart disease.Scientists scored their diets on the basis of how closely they followed one of four different eating patterns, including a plant-based diet and the Mediterranean diet. The two other diets were the Healthy Eating Index, which aligns with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and the Harvard-developed Alternative…

31Jan 2023 by Janice Holland

U.S. Cancer Deaths Decline but Racial Disparities Remain

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While cancer death rates continue to decline in the United States, research suggests that many long-standing racial disparities in survival odds aren’t going away.First, the good news. Cancer mortality rates have dropped 33 percent since 1991, according to a new study from the American Cancer Society, published in January 2023 in CA: Cancer Journal for Clinicians. This year, an estimated 1.96 million new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in the United States, and about 610,000 people will die. That’s about 3.8 million fewer deaths than the country would have seen without the sharp decline in fatalities over the years.“The downturn has occurred for 29 years now, but was especially exciting in 2020 because most other leading causes of death increased in 2020 because of the pandemic,” says Rebecca Siegel,…

31Jan 2023 by Janice Holland

VEXAS Syndrome May Be More Common Than Previously Known

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A rare, recently discovered inflammatory disease may strike more people than previously thought, a new study suggests.Scientists first reported the discovery of a disease they dubbed VEXAS syndrome in a paper published in 2020 in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). At the time, they only identified 25 men in the United States with the condition — and no women. All had similar mutations in a gene called UBA1.Now, a new paper published in JAMA on January 24, suggests that VEXAS, while still rare, is much more common than scientists initially believed, impacting roughly 1 in 13,600 people. The researchers also found that VEXAS is even more common in older individuals and affects both men and women: Among those 50 and older, researchers estimate a VEXAS prevalence of about 1…