Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/kfjZ1qVnPy4

I’m Dr. Howard Smith, PENTA Medical Network, reporting from NYC with the Health News Roundup for the 1st week of AUGUST, 2019.  This is Health News You Should Use, the latest medical discoveries and commonsense advice that you can use in a practical way to keep yourself and your family healthy.  

Here are this weeks stories :

We Overfeed Our Infants

Summer Scorchers Create Sidewalk Burns

The Blue Artificial Sweetener May Not Be Safe

See First, Learn Better

Caffeine Damages The Fetal Liver

Red Wine May Fight Stress

Infants Feel For The Bullied And Expect Justice

Clot Removal Helps Even Large Strokes

Softening Kids Middle School Transition Has Big Payoffs

US News Names Top Hospitals For 2019

Smoking Harms Your Leg Circulation Forever

Aluminum Cans May Be Fattening Your Kids

Strength Training Saps Endurance

Are Organic Apples Healthier?

A Too Many CT Scans During Pregnancy

For show notes and references to for the stories, check out my website at: https://www.drhowardsmith.com/aug-2019-1st-week-health-news

#Infants #parenting #obesity #solidfoods #Heat #pavementburns #burns #Aspartame #sweetener #Equal #DietCoke #Education #objectlabel #learningorder #Coffee #caffeine #liverdisease #fattyliver #Wine #redwine #resveratrol #anxiety #depression #Bullying #infants #parenting #socialorder #Stroke #thrombectomy #MiddleSchool #transition #secondaryeducation #Hospitals #USNews #besthospitals #Smoking #peripheralarterialdisease #coronaryarterydisease  #stroke #Aluminumcans #bisphenol #obesity #Strength #endurance #BDNF #muscleatrophy #Apples, microbiome, organic #CT #xrays #pregnancy

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/kfjZ1qVnPy4

I’m Dr. Howard Smith, PENTA Medical Network, reporting from NYC with the Health News Roundup for the 1st week of AUGUST, 2019.  This is Health News You Should Use, the latest medical discoveries and commonsense advice that you can use in a practical way to keep yourself and your family healthy.  

Here are this weeks stories :

We Overfeed Our Infants

Summer Scorchers Create Sidewalk Burns

The Blue Artificial Sweetener May Not Be Safe

See First, Learn Better

Caffeine Damages The Fetal Liver

Red Wine May Fight Stress

Infants Feel For The Bullied And Expect Justice

Clot Removal Helps Even Large Strokes

Softening Kids Middle School Transition Has Big Payoffs

US News Names Top Hospitals For 2019

Smoking Harms Your Leg Circulation Forever

Aluminum Cans May Be Fattening Your Kids

Strength Training Saps Endurance

Are Organic Apples Healthier?

A Too Many CT Scans During Pregnancy

For show notes and references to for the stories, check out my website at: https://www.drhowardsmith.com/aug-2019-1st-week-health-news

#Infants #parenting #obesity #solidfoods #Heat #pavementburns #burns #Aspartame #sweetener #Equal #DietCoke #Education #objectlabel #learningorder #Coffee #caffeine #liverdisease #fattyliver #Wine #redwine #resveratrol #anxiety #depression #Bullying #infants #parenting #socialorder #Stroke #thrombectomy #MiddleSchool #transition #secondaryeducation #Hospitals #USNews #besthospitals #Smoking #peripheralarterialdisease #coronaryarterydisease  #stroke #Aluminumcans #bisphenol #obesity #Strength #endurance #BDNF #muscleatrophy #Apples, microbiome, organic #CT #xrays #pregnancy

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/x6FOnzucxYI

The past two decades has seen a 4-fold rise in the number of pregnant American women undergoing CT scans.  The numbers of Canadian women being scanned during pregnancy has doubled over the same period. Even with modern image intensification, this radiation presents increased risks to an entire generation of children.

The study just published in JAMA Network Open reviewed some 3.5 million pregnancies in the US and Canada.  During the 21 year study period, 5.3% of American women and 3.6% of Canadian women underwent imaging with ionizing radiation.  Rates in the US have been trending down while those in Canada are rising.

Pregnant women should always question their doctors carefully about the absolute medical necessity for any x-rays or scans.  Invasive tests, like medications of any kind, should be avoided during pregnancy if at all possible.

Marilyn L. Kwan, Diana L. Miglioretti, Emily C. Marlow, E. J. Aiello Bowles, Sheila Weinmann, Stephanie Y. Cheng, Kamala A. Deosaransingh, Prachi Chavan, Lisa M. Moy, Wesley E. Bolch, James R. Duncan, Robert T. Greenlee, Lawrence H. Kushi, Jason D. Pole, Alanna K. Rahm, Natasha K. Stout, R. Smith-Bindman. Trends in Medical Imaging During Pregnancy in the United States and Ontario, Canada, 1996 to 2016. JAMA Network Open, 2019; 2 (7): e197249 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.7249

#CT #xrays #pregnancy

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/x6FOnzucxYI

The past two decades has seen a 4-fold rise in the number of pregnant American women undergoing CT scans.  The numbers of Canadian women being scanned during pregnancy has doubled over the same period. Even with modern image intensification, this radiation presents increased risks to an entire generation of children.

The study just published in JAMA Network Open reviewed some 3.5 million pregnancies in the US and Canada.  During the 21 year study period, 5.3% of American women and 3.6% of Canadian women underwent imaging with ionizing radiation.  Rates in the US have been trending down while those in Canada are rising.

Pregnant women should always question their doctors carefully about the absolute medical necessity for any x-rays or scans.  Invasive tests, like medications of any kind, should be avoided during pregnancy if at all possible.

Marilyn L. Kwan, Diana L. Miglioretti, Emily C. Marlow, E. J. Aiello Bowles, Sheila Weinmann, Stephanie Y. Cheng, Kamala A. Deosaransingh, Prachi Chavan, Lisa M. Moy, Wesley E. Bolch, James R. Duncan, Robert T. Greenlee, Lawrence H. Kushi, Jason D. Pole, Alanna K. Rahm, Natasha K. Stout, R. Smith-Bindman. Trends in Medical Imaging During Pregnancy in the United States and Ontario, Canada, 1996 to 2016. JAMA Network Open, 2019; 2 (7): e197249 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.7249

#CT #xrays #pregnancy

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/P-1uQvW4Hew

Studies of our gut’s microbiome, our gastrointestinal tract’s collection of bacteria, show that it has a huge role in our body’s health.  Most of our gut bacteria come from raw fruit and vegetables, since cooking kills the majority of those in other foods we eat.  The most ubiquitous raw fruit is the apple, and it supplies many of the bacteria in our systems.

An Austrian study of apples just published in the journal Frontiers of Microbiology shows that the most beneficial bacteria are found in apples grown organically.  The highest numbers of bacteria are found in the seeds, the stems, and the ends of the apple, and those numbers are consistently higher for the organically-grown fruit.

If you look closely at the data though, the organic advantage is not huge.   Often the price difference is.  The bottom line is eat apples, any apples, and get the best price so that you can buy more.

Birgit Wassermann, Henry Müller, Gabriele Berg. An Apple a Day: Which Bacteria Do We Eat With Organic and Conventional Apples? Frontiers in Microbiology, 2019; 10 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.01629

#Apples, microbiome, organic

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/P-1uQvW4Hew

Studies of our gut’s microbiome, our gastrointestinal tract’s collection of bacteria, show that it has a huge role in our body’s health.  Most of our gut bacteria come from raw fruit and vegetables, since cooking kills the majority of those in other foods we eat.  The most ubiquitous raw fruit is the apple, and it supplies many of the bacteria in our systems.

An Austrian study of apples just published in the journal Frontiers of Microbiology shows that the most beneficial bacteria are found in apples grown organically.  The highest numbers of bacteria are found in the seeds, the stems, and the ends of the apple, and those numbers are consistently higher for the organically-grown fruit.

If you look closely at the data though, the organic advantage is not huge.   Often the price difference is.  The bottom line is eat apples, any apples, and get the best price so that you can buy more.

Birgit Wassermann, Henry Müller, Gabriele Berg. An Apple a Day: Which Bacteria Do We Eat With Organic and Conventional Apples? Frontiers in Microbiology, 2019; 10 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.01629

#Apples, microbiome, organic

Vidcast:  ttps://youtu.be/9BYS4pPwd8M

When you exercise for stronger muscles and increase your numbers of muscle strength fibers, you produce a neurotransmitter called Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor or BDNF.  This messenger then drives atrophy of your endurance muscle fibers.  

This Yin-Yang relationship is newly described in a study from  Switzerland’s University of Basel.  This BDNF chemical is produced by the muscle itself in response to strengthening exercises.  It triggers remodeling of muscle from slow-twitch endurance fibers into fast-twitch strength fibers.

The investigators also showed that lower levels of BDNF in the muscles of seniors was associated with less decline of muscle bulk with aging.  That would suggest strength training is contraindicated for our elders.

Julien Delezie, Martin Weihrauch, Geraldine Maier, Rocío Tejero, Daniel J. Ham, Jonathan F. Gill, Bettina Karrer-Cardel, Markus A. Rüegg, Lucía Tabares, Christoph Handschin. BDNF is a mediator of glycolytic fiber-type specification in mouse skeletal muscle. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2019; 201900544 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1900544116

#Strength #endurance #BDNF #muscleatrophy 

Vidcast:  ttps://youtu.be/9BYS4pPwd8M

When you exercise for stronger muscles and increase your numbers of muscle strength fibers, you produce a neurotransmitter called Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor or BDNF.  This messenger then drives atrophy of your endurance muscle fibers.  

This Yin-Yang relationship is newly described in a study from  Switzerland’s University of Basel.  This BDNF chemical is produced by the muscle itself in response to strengthening exercises.  It triggers remodeling of muscle from slow-twitch endurance fibers into fast-twitch strength fibers.

The investigators also showed that lower levels of BDNF in the muscles of seniors was associated with less decline of muscle bulk with aging.  That would suggest strength training is contraindicated for our elders.

Julien Delezie, Martin Weihrauch, Geraldine Maier, Rocío Tejero, Daniel J. Ham, Jonathan F. Gill, Bettina Karrer-Cardel, Markus A. Rüegg, Lucía Tabares, Christoph Handschin. BDNF is a mediator of glycolytic fiber-type specification in mouse skeletal muscle. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2019; 201900544 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1900544116

#Strength #endurance #BDNF #muscleatrophy 

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/iJwiQp8uBiI

Aluminum cans containing drinks and foods that we all consume may be making us fat.  A study from NYU Medical School reports an association between childhood obesity and the bisphenol plastics used to line food and drink containers and produce thermal paper for cash register receipts.

The investigators compared data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys and with urine levels of the bisphenol plastics in children 6 to 19 yers of age.   The incidence of obesity increased with higher levels of plastic compounds in the urine.

This study merely detects an association, not a causal relationship, between obesity and plastics exposure.  Nonetheless, the smart money is on trying of avoid drinking and eating from aluminum containers.

Melanie H Jacobson, Miriam Woodward, Wei Bao, Buyun Liu, Leonardo Trasande, Urinary bisphenols and obesity prevalence among US children and adolescents, Journal of the Endocrine Society.  https://doi.org/10.1210/js.2019-00201

#Aluminumcans #bisphenol #obesity

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/iJwiQp8uBiI

Aluminum cans containing drinks and foods that we all consume may be making us fat.  A study from NYU Medical School reports an association between childhood obesity and the bisphenol plastics used to line food and drink containers and produce thermal paper for cash register receipts.

The investigators compared data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys and with urine levels of the bisphenol plastics in children 6 to 19 yers of age.   The incidence of obesity increased with higher levels of plastic compounds in the urine.

This study merely detects an association, not a causal relationship, between obesity and plastics exposure.  Nonetheless, the smart money is on trying of avoid drinking and eating from aluminum containers.

Melanie H Jacobson, Miriam Woodward, Wei Bao, Buyun Liu, Leonardo Trasande, Urinary bisphenols and obesity prevalence among US children and adolescents, Journal of the Endocrine Society.  https://doi.org/10.1210/js.2019-00201

#Aluminumcans #bisphenol #obesity