Weekly Updates

An analysis of data concerning more than 5 million emergency room (ER) visits found that if delays in admission exceed five hours, an individual’s risk of death in the next 30 days increases by 8%. Emergency Medicine Journal, January 2022 Diet: Vitamin D May Help Reduce Autoimmune Disease Risk. A study involving 26,000 adults found…

  According to a study that followed stroke survivors for nearly eight years, 40% will experience at least one episode of depression with half of such individuals reporting recurrent depression. Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases, March 2022 Diet: Soft Drink Consumption During Pregnancy Linked to ADHD in Offspring. Based on data from the Norwegian…

A lab analysis of commonly used plastic products revealed that a third contained chemicals known to interfere with human metabolism and contribute to fat cell development. Study co-author Dr. Martin Wagner adds, “Our experiments show that ordinary plastic products contain a mix of substances that can be a relevant and underestimated factor behind overweight and…

Pregnancy Complications Can Lead to Problems Later in Life. Using data from the Swedish Medical Birth Register, researchers estimate that pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia, eclampsia, gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes, and preterm birth may elevate a woman’s risk for cardiovascular disease later in life, even after adjusting for obesity, smoking, and comorbidities. Journal of the…

Prediabetes is a term used to describe elevated blood sugar levels that have not yet reached the threshold for diabetes diagnosis. An umbrella review of 95 meta-analyses found evidence that prediabetes is associated with an increased incidence of coronary heart disease, stroke, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, chronic kidney disease, liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, breast cancer,…

Following a review of data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service-National Health Screening Cohort concerning nearly 53,000 hypertensive patients, researchers report that participants who developed five or more dental caries during an eleven-year time frame were 37% more likely to have a stroke or heart attack. On the other hand, those who brushed at…

Experts project that the number of dementia patients worldwide will increase to 152 million by 2050, up from 57 million in 2019, largely due to the aging populace in richer countries. Lancet Public Health, January 2022 Diet: Benefits of Intermittent Fasting Go Beyond Weight Loss. A review of data from 11 studies found that intermittent…

Scientists conducted an experiment in which older adults with an overactive bladder were asked to walk under normal conditions, while performing a distracting mental task, and while needing to urinate. The investigators observed that both the need to urinate and mental distraction resulted in similar changes in gait that can increase the risk for a…

Health Alert: Air Pollution Increases Gestational Diabetes Risk. Using data from the Born in Guangzhou Cohort Study, researchers report that increased exposure to air pollutants in the six months before pregnancy and during the first trimester elevate the risk for gestational diabetes mellitus by as much as 30%. Environmental Research, March 2022 Diet: Magnesium Is…

Health Alert: Marijuana May Interrupt Sleep. An analysis of data from the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found that marijuana users are 34% more likely to experience insufficient sleep and 56% more likely to report sleeping too much. Senior study author Dr. Karim Ladha writes, “I think [the results] were somewhat surprising…