Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/FUVxNDRAE_c

Advertising that touts electric hookah smoking to be safer than charcoal hookah smoking is a scam. Chemists and engineers at the American University of Beirut studied waterpipe smoking of tobacco heated by these two methods.

The study measured toxin emissions by three commercially available electric hookahs and compared them to emissions from charcoal-heated hookahs.  While electric hookahs reduced the aromatic hydrocarbons by 80% and carbon monoxide by 90%, they significantly increased the levels of the respiratory toxin acrolein.

This study once again underscores the fact that safe smoking of any kind is an oxymoron.  If you must have a hit of addicting nicotine, hopefully with the goal of quitting, is is safer to chew nicotine gum or apply a nicotine patch.

Mario El Hourani, Soha Talih, Rola Salman, Nareg Karaoghlanian, Ebrahim Karam, Rachel El Hage, Najat Aoun Saliba, Alan Shihadeh. Comparison of CO, PAH, Nicotine, and Aldehyde Emissions in Waterpipe Tobacco Smoke Generated Using Electrical and Charcoal Heating Methods. Chemical Research in Toxicology, 2019; DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.9b00045

#Hookah #electricwaterpipe #charcoalwaterpipe #nicotine

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/FUVxNDRAE_c

Advertising that touts electric hookah smoking to be safer than charcoal hookah smoking is a scam. Chemists and engineers at the American University of Beirut studied waterpipe smoking of tobacco heated by these two methods.

The study measured toxin emissions by three commercially available electric hookahs and compared them to emissions from charcoal-heated hookahs.  While electric hookahs reduced the aromatic hydrocarbons by 80% and carbon monoxide by 90%, they significantly increased the levels of the respiratory toxin acrolein.

This study once again underscores the fact that safe smoking of any kind is an oxymoron.  If you must have a hit of addicting nicotine, hopefully with the goal of quitting, is is safer to chew nicotine gum or apply a nicotine patch.

Mario El Hourani, Soha Talih, Rola Salman, Nareg Karaoghlanian, Ebrahim Karam, Rachel El Hage, Najat Aoun Saliba, Alan Shihadeh. Comparison of CO, PAH, Nicotine, and Aldehyde Emissions in Waterpipe Tobacco Smoke Generated Using Electrical and Charcoal Heating Methods. Chemical Research in Toxicology, 2019; DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.9b00045

#Hookah #electricwaterpipe #charcoalwaterpipe #nicotine

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/GV9b0yDqklU

Banking tissue with sperm-producing cells may be an alternative for those boys and even older males too young or too sick to bank sperm prior to medical treatments that threaten their later fertility.  This conclusion comes from an 8 year study recently published in the journal Human Reproduction.

As many as 2,000 boys and young men undergo sterilizing chemotherapy and radiation therapy for cancer eradication.  To preserve the possibility that they may later father children, a pilot study looked at the testicular tissue samples from 189 males undergoing such therapy.  Their ages ranged from 5 months to 34 years with an average of 8 years.

Seventy-five percent of each tissue sample was cryopreserved for the patient’s later use.  The remainder was utilized for research into optimal methods for freezing, thawing, and potentially separating normal stem cells from tumor cells.  

The study did demonstrate that sperm-generating cells may be successfully recovered from such tissue.  It remains to be shown whether these so-called spermatogonia can produce normal, motile sperm capable of fertilizing a human egg.

If your young son is undergoing cancer chemotherapy or radiotherapy, do ask his doctors about testicular tissue banking.

H Valli-Pulaski, K A Peters, K Gassei, etal. Testicular tissue cryopreservation: 8 years of experience from a coordinated network of academic centers. Human Reproduction, 2019; DOI: 10.1093/humrep/dez043

#Sperm #testiculartissue #malefertility #menhealth #urology #cancer

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/GV9b0yDqklU

Banking tissue with sperm-producing cells may be an alternative for those boys and even older males too young or too sick to bank sperm prior to medical treatments that threaten their later fertility.  This conclusion comes from an 8 year study recently published in the journal Human Reproduction.

As many as 2,000 boys and young men undergo sterilizing chemotherapy and radiation therapy for cancer eradication.  To preserve the possibility that they may later father children, a pilot study looked at the testicular tissue samples from 189 males undergoing such therapy.  Their ages ranged from 5 months to 34 years with an average of 8 years.

Seventy-five percent of each tissue sample was cryopreserved for the patient’s later use.  The remainder was utilized for research into optimal methods for freezing, thawing, and potentially separating normal stem cells from tumor cells.  

The study did demonstrate that sperm-generating cells may be successfully recovered from such tissue.  It remains to be shown whether these so-called spermatogonia can produce normal, motile sperm capable of fertilizing a human egg.

If your young son is undergoing cancer chemotherapy or radiotherapy, do ask his doctors about testicular tissue banking.

H Valli-Pulaski, K A Peters, K Gassei, etal. Testicular tissue cryopreservation: 8 years of experience from a coordinated network of academic centers. Human Reproduction, 2019; DOI: 10.1093/humrep/dez043

#Sperm #testiculartissue #malefertility #menhealth #urology #cancer

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/SMdWVe6wd0U

Parental reading to toddlers improves their behaviors and reduces the need for escalating disciplinary measures.  Pediatricians at Rutgers Medical and Public Health Schools studied nearly 2200 parent-child pairs across 20 US metropolitan areas.

The study found that shared reading enhances the child’s communication skills and emotional development, and it enhances parent-child bonding.  This translates into a lower incidence of attention problems, disruptive behavior, and the need for harsh parenting.

This is just the latest in a string of studies that touts the benefits of reading to your kids.  Turn off the TV, shut off the phone, and pick up a book to share.  

Manuel E. Jimenez, Alan L. Mendelsohn, Yong Lin, Patricia Shelton, Nancy Reichman. Early Shared Reading Is Associated with Less Harsh Parenting. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 2019; 1 DOI: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000000687

#Reading #attentiondeficit #discipline #communication #parenting

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/SMdWVe6wd0U

Parental reading to toddlers improves their behaviors and reduces the need for escalating disciplinary measures.  Pediatricians at Rutgers Medical and Public Health Schools studied nearly 2200 parent-child pairs across 20 US metropolitan areas.

The study found that shared reading enhances the child’s communication skills and emotional development, and it enhances parent-child bonding.  This translates into a lower incidence of attention problems, disruptive behavior, and the need for harsh parenting.

This is just the latest in a string of studies that touts the benefits of reading to your kids.  Turn off the TV, shut off the phone, and pick up a book to share.  

Manuel E. Jimenez, Alan L. Mendelsohn, Yong Lin, Patricia Shelton, Nancy Reichman. Early Shared Reading Is Associated with Less Harsh Parenting. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 2019; 1 DOI: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000000687

#Reading #attentiondeficit #discipline #communication #parenting

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/KIZUEQ9_8YY

Children and adolescents with continuing obesity show significant stiffening of their arteries toward the end of their teen years.  This is the frightening finding in a study of more than 3400 Swedish kids just published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal.

Childhood obesity and a high fat mass tends to foster high blood pressures, elevated lipid levels, and abnormal blood sugars.  These parameters are associated with stiffening of key arteries that in turn risks later heart attacks, strokes, and death from cardiovascular disease.

The study has some good news though.  Those children who were able to decrease their fat mass over their teen years did see a normalization of their arterial stiffness.

This study stresses the importance of weight control throughout life beginning during early childhood.  We are now learning that baby fat isn’t cute and must quickly give way to a toned body in order to avoid dire cardiovascular consequences.

Frida Dangardt, Marietta Charakida, Georgios Georgiopoulos,etal. Association between fat mass through adolescence and arterial stiffness: a population-based study from The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 2019; DOI: 10.1016/S2352-4642(19)30105-1

#Obesity #arterialstiffening #hypertension #cholesterol #parenting

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/KIZUEQ9_8YY

Children and adolescents with continuing obesity show significant stiffening of their arteries toward the end of their teen years.  This is the frightening finding in a study of more than 3400 Swedish kids just published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal.

Childhood obesity and a high fat mass tends to foster high blood pressures, elevated lipid levels, and abnormal blood sugars.  These parameters are associated with stiffening of key arteries that in turn risks later heart attacks, strokes, and death from cardiovascular disease.

The study has some good news though.  Those children who were able to decrease their fat mass over their teen years did see a normalization of their arterial stiffness.

This study stresses the importance of weight control throughout life beginning during early childhood.  We are now learning that baby fat isn’t cute and must quickly give way to a toned body in order to avoid dire cardiovascular consequences.

Frida Dangardt, Marietta Charakida, Georgios Georgiopoulos,etal. Association between fat mass through adolescence and arterial stiffness: a population-based study from The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 2019; DOI: 10.1016/S2352-4642(19)30105-1

#Obesity #arterialstiffening #hypertension #cholesterol #parenting

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/JZXcwKbysIw

Babies born weighing less than 1.5 kg or 3.3 pounds are four times more likely than normal birthweight infants to suffer reduced pulmonary capacity when they reach their teen and young adult years.  This conclusion comes from an international meta-analysis of 11 studies and over 1700 subjects by Australian OBGYN researchers.

Those with low birth weights, frequently born before 32 weeks, later underwent pulmonary function testing at 16 to 33 years of age.  Compared to those born with normal weights and at term, they had a high incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.  This was particularly true for those who were diagnosed with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) during infancy.

Premature babies and those with low birth weights should be followed carefully into adulthood and checked for the development of pulmonary disease.  Many will have reduced lung capacities through childhood, and their restrictive lung disease may become handicapping as they mature.

Lex W Doyle, Sture Andersson, Andy Bush, etal. Expiratory airflow in late adolescence and early adulthood in individuals born very preterm or with very low birthweight compared with controls born at term or with normal birthweight: a meta-analysis of individual participant data. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, 2019; DOI: 10.1016/S2213-2600(18)30530-7

#Premies #lowbirthweight #BPD #COPD

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/JZXcwKbysIw

Babies born weighing less than 1.5 kg or 3.3 pounds are four times more likely than normal birthweight infants to suffer reduced pulmonary capacity when they reach their teen and young adult years.  This conclusion comes from an international meta-analysis of 11 studies and over 1700 subjects by Australian OBGYN researchers.

Those with low birth weights, frequently born before 32 weeks, later underwent pulmonary function testing at 16 to 33 years of age.  Compared to those born with normal weights and at term, they had a high incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.  This was particularly true for those who were diagnosed with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) during infancy.

Premature babies and those with low birth weights should be followed carefully into adulthood and checked for the development of pulmonary disease.  Many will have reduced lung capacities through childhood, and their restrictive lung disease may become handicapping as they mature.

Lex W Doyle, Sture Andersson, Andy Bush, etal. Expiratory airflow in late adolescence and early adulthood in individuals born very preterm or with very low birthweight compared with controls born at term or with normal birthweight: a meta-analysis of individual participant data. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, 2019; DOI: 10.1016/S2213-2600(18)30530-7

#Premies #lowbirthweight #BPD #COPD