Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/cEdfmTROoPA

If you’ve had a heart attack, living with a dog can lower your risk of dying prematurely by up to 35%.  A Canadian meta-analysis just published in the journal Circulation tabulated the data from more than 3.8 million participants over 10 years.

This large study shows that dog ownership prolongs lives and builds on previous work that credited dogs with reducing cardiovascular disease risk by lowering blood pressure, improving lipid profiles, and reducing stress.  

Dogs work their magic by making you work your body.  The physical activity associated with walking them, running after them, and yes, cleaning up after them provides enough beneficial exercise to keep your body’s systems working longer and stronger.

Caroline K. Kramer, MD, PhD Sadia Mehmood, BSc Renée S. Suen.  Dog Ownership and Survival: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.  Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. 2019;12:e005554.  https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.119.005554

#Dogs #cardiovasculardisease #mortality

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/cEdfmTROoPA

If you’ve had a heart attack, living with a dog can lower your risk of dying prematurely by up to 35%.  A Canadian meta-analysis just published in the journal Circulation tabulated the data from more than 3.8 million participants over 10 years.

This large study shows that dog ownership prolongs lives and builds on previous work that credited dogs with reducing cardiovascular disease risk by lowering blood pressure, improving lipid profiles, and reducing stress.  

Dogs work their magic by making you work your body.  The physical activity associated with walking them, running after them, and yes, cleaning up after them provides enough beneficial exercise to keep your body’s systems working longer and stronger.

Caroline K. Kramer, MD, PhD Sadia Mehmood, BSc Renée S. Suen.  Dog Ownership and Survival: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.  Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. 2019;12:e005554.  https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.119.005554

#Dogs #cardiovasculardisease #mortality

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/ZPEVhvr-saQ

Only half of pregnant women receive the recommended flu and whooping cough vaccines say the latest CDC statistics.  The flu is a terrible risk for a pregnant woman, and pertussis is the same for her newborn.

Pregnancy makes the flu more severe, and increases the risk for hospitalization by 2.5 times.  Every year, pertussis lands up to 700 babies under the age of 2 months in the hospital struggling for their lives.

Each pregnant woman should receive the flu and the DTaP vaccines during each pregnancy.  The immunity conferred by both vaccines is passed to the developing fetus, and it is the greatest gift any mother can give to her developing child.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/pdfs/mm6840e1-h.pdf?deliveryName=USCDC_921-DM10321

#Influenza #pertussis #pregnancy #infants

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/ZPEVhvr-saQ

Only half of pregnant women receive the recommended flu and whooping cough vaccines say the latest CDC statistics.  The flu is a terrible risk for a pregnant woman, and pertussis is the same for her newborn.

Pregnancy makes the flu more severe, and increases the risk for hospitalization by 2.5 times.  Every year, pertussis lands up to 700 babies under the age of 2 months in the hospital struggling for their lives.

Each pregnant woman should receive the flu and the DTaP vaccines during each pregnancy.  The immunity conferred by both vaccines is passed to the developing fetus, and it is the greatest gift any mother can give to her developing child.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/pdfs/mm6840e1-h.pdf?deliveryName=USCDC_921-DM10321

#Influenza #pertussis #pregnancy #infants

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/WvHoBd12TtE

When you dine socially, you consume 48% more food than when you eat alone.  This conclusion comes from a meta-analysis of some 42 studies of group versus solo food consumption just published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

On the other hand, eating with a group of strangers did not increase food consumption. The investigators conjecture that many of us feel we must eat modestly when doing so with those we don’t know or wish to impress.

With the food fests of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas/Chanukah on the horizon, be aware of what you’re putting in your mouth.  Maybe it’s best to have more coming out of your mouth in the form of stimulating conversation than going into your gut.

Helen K Ruddock, Jeffrey M Brunstrom, Lenny R Vartanian, Suzanne Higgs. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the social facilitation of eating. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2019; 110 (4): 842 DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/nqz155

#Socialeating #overeating

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/WvHoBd12TtE

When you dine socially, you consume 48% more food than when you eat alone.  This conclusion comes from a meta-analysis of some 42 studies of group versus solo food consumption just published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

On the other hand, eating with a group of strangers did not increase food consumption. The investigators conjecture that many of us feel we must eat modestly when doing so with those we don’t know or wish to impress.

With the food fests of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas/Chanukah on the horizon, be aware of what you’re putting in your mouth.  Maybe it’s best to have more coming out of your mouth in the form of stimulating conversation than going into your gut.

Helen K Ruddock, Jeffrey M Brunstrom, Lenny R Vartanian, Suzanne Higgs. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the social facilitation of eating. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2019; 110 (4): 842 DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/nqz155

#Socialeating #overeating

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/3rjuzSjLX9Q

If your baby had an attack of severe RSV, she or he is 2.5 times more likely to develop asthma over the next 5 years.  A Nationwide Children’s Hospital-Ohio State University study analyzed data from nearly 125,500 infants over a 16 year period.

This association between childhood RSV and asthma has been previously described, but this large study credibly confirms it.  There is a controversy about the nature of the association.  Does  more severe RSV lead to a longstanding reactive airway that is asthma or is an infant with a reactive airway tendency more likely to contract RSV.  The old chicken and egg dilemma.

Whichever is true, an infant having had RSV should be watched carefully for asthma.

Asuncion Mejias, etal. Risk of Childhood Wheeze and Asthma after Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection in Full‐Term Infants.  Pediatric Allergy and Immunology. 

https://doi.org/10.1111/pai.13131

https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/relationship-between-rsv-and-asthma-in-children-unclear/

#RSV #asthma #infants

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/3rjuzSjLX9Q

If your baby had an attack of severe RSV, she or he is 2.5 times more likely to develop asthma over the next 5 years.  A Nationwide Children’s Hospital-Ohio State University study analyzed data from nearly 125,500 infants over a 16 year period.

This association between childhood RSV and asthma has been previously described, but this large study credibly confirms it.  There is a controversy about the nature of the association.  Does  more severe RSV lead to a longstanding reactive airway that is asthma or is an infant with a reactive airway tendency more likely to contract RSV.  The old chicken and egg dilemma.

Whichever is true, an infant having had RSV should be watched carefully for asthma.

Asuncion Mejias, etal. Risk of Childhood Wheeze and Asthma after Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection in Full‐Term Infants.  Pediatric Allergy and Immunology. 

https://doi.org/10.1111/pai.13131

https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/relationship-between-rsv-and-asthma-in-children-unclear/

#RSV #asthma #infants

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/fN8mm3K_yz4

Women suffering from morning sickness are 53% more likely to have a child diagnosed later with autism spectrum disorder.  Kaiser Permanente-California reviewed the records of a half million pregnant women delivering over a 23 year period.

The morning sickness-autism connection had the following characteristics:

• Risk not related to nausea or vomiting severity; 
• Risk occurred for morning sickness in first and second trimesters but not the third;
• Risk greater for girls, white, and Hispanic children;
• Risk not associated with medications.

If morning sickness occurred during your child’s gestation, carefully monitor for autism symptoms.  Look for avoidance of eye contact, delayed communication skills, dependence on routines, and over-reaction to sudden changes.

Darios Getahun, Michael J. Fassett, Steven J. Jacobsen, Anny H. Xiang, Harpreet S. Takhar, Deborah A. Wing, Morgan R. Peltier. Autism Spectrum Disorders in Children Exposed in Utero to Hyperemesis Gravidarum. American Journal of Perinatology, 2019; DOI: 10.1055/s-0039-1696670

https://ada.com/signs-of-autism/

#Morningsickness #autism

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/fN8mm3K_yz4

Women suffering from morning sickness are 53% more likely to have a child diagnosed later with autism spectrum disorder.  Kaiser Permanente-California reviewed the records of a half million pregnant women delivering over a 23 year period.

The morning sickness-autism connection had the following characteristics:

• Risk not related to nausea or vomiting severity; 
• Risk occurred for morning sickness in first and second trimesters but not the third;
• Risk greater for girls, white, and Hispanic children;
• Risk not associated with medications.

If morning sickness occurred during your child’s gestation, carefully monitor for autism symptoms.  Look for avoidance of eye contact, delayed communication skills, dependence on routines, and over-reaction to sudden changes.

Darios Getahun, Michael J. Fassett, Steven J. Jacobsen, Anny H. Xiang, Harpreet S. Takhar, Deborah A. Wing, Morgan R. Peltier. Autism Spectrum Disorders in Children Exposed in Utero to Hyperemesis Gravidarum. American Journal of Perinatology, 2019; DOI: 10.1055/s-0039-1696670

https://ada.com/signs-of-autism/

#Morningsickness #autism