Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/m3yHMVTJ3zw

Hookah smoking is considered safe and fun.  It attracts teens and young adults by the droves.   This cavalier attitude is drawing alarm from the American Heart Association, and it is time to set the record straight.

Water pipe smoking is industrial strength tobacco smoking.  A one hour hookah session exposes the smoker to the nicotine and tar equivalent of 100 cigarettes.

Then consider the additional dangers.  The flavoring chemicals added to the tobacco mix themselves have toxicity.  Then we have the charcoal that is used to burn the flavored tobacco that adds its own carcinogens and carbon monoxide.   Beyond that, you can contract a nasty infection from the shared mouthpiece.

Here’s the hooker: the water through which the smoke bubbles cools the smoke but does not filter the toxic chemicals.

Hookah smoking is popular because it is a social activity and seems cool.  Pass on this information to your teens so that they understand the risks to the heart and lungs from hookah as well as e-cigarette vaping and tobacco smoking.

#Hookah #tobacco #nicotine #charcoal #carbonmonoxide #carcinogens

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000671

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/m3yHMVTJ3zw

Hookah smoking is considered safe and fun.  It attracts teens and young adults by the droves.   This cavalier attitude is drawing alarm from the American Heart Association, and it is time to set the record straight.

Water pipe smoking is industrial strength tobacco smoking.  A one hour hookah session exposes the smoker to the nicotine and tar equivalent of 100 cigarettes.

Then consider the additional dangers.  The flavoring chemicals added to the tobacco mix themselves have toxicity.  Then we have the charcoal that is used to burn the flavored tobacco that adds its own carcinogens and carbon monoxide.   Beyond that, you can contract a nasty infection from the shared mouthpiece.

Here’s the hooker: the water through which the smoke bubbles cools the smoke but does not filter the toxic chemicals.

Hookah smoking is popular because it is a social activity and seems cool.  Pass on this information to your teens so that they understand the risks to the heart and lungs from hookah as well as e-cigarette vaping and tobacco smoking.

#Hookah #tobacco #nicotine #charcoal #carbonmonoxide #carcinogens

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000671

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/ujmnLUq7wdk

Young infants use the quality of laughter they hear to help them separate family and friend from stranger danger.  A joint study by communication psychologists at New York University and UCLA concludes that babies as young as 5 months of age can detect social relationships by decoding the sounds of laughter.

Using both audio and video experiments, the investigators showed that these infants could distinguish between the laughter of friends and strangers with visual or with only audio cues.  The babies definitely preferred listening to the laughter of friends.

When the sounds did not match the video as would be case when the the infants heard friend laughter but saw strangers, the babies acted somewhat puzzled and continued listening to decode the situation.

This research once again shows just how perceptive young infants can be.  As parents, we need to be sensitive to their skills and needs by populating their world with consistent happiness and security.

#Laughter #friends #strangers #colaughter #infants

Athena Vouloumanos, Gregory A. Bryant. Five-month-old infants detect affiliation in colaughter. Scientific Reports, 2019; 9 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-38954-4

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/ujmnLUq7wdk

Young infants use the quality of laughter they hear to help them separate family and friend from stranger danger.  A joint study by communication psychologists at New York University and UCLA concludes that babies as young as 5 months of age can detect social relationships by decoding the sounds of laughter.

Using both audio and video experiments, the investigators showed that these infants could distinguish between the laughter of friends and strangers with visual or with only audio cues.  The babies definitely preferred listening to the laughter of friends.

When the sounds did not match the video as would be case when the the infants heard friend laughter but saw strangers, the babies acted somewhat puzzled and continued listening to decode the situation.

This research once again shows just how perceptive young infants can be.  As parents, we need to be sensitive to their skills and needs by populating their world with consistent happiness and security.

#Laughter #friends #strangers #colaughter #infants

Athena Vouloumanos, Gregory A. Bryant. Five-month-old infants detect affiliation in colaughter. Scientific Reports, 2019; 9 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-38954-4

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/08vDhmJzUMc

A one-hour midday nap can help you control your blood pressure as well as taking medications or changing your diet.  Greek cardiologists will be presenting their data demonstrating this effect next week at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Sessions.

The researchers studied more than 200 middle aged subjects comparing the blood pressures of those who napped with those who did not.  The napping group enjoyed an average of 5 mmHg lower systolic pressure and an average of 3 mmHg lower diastolic pressure.  These numbers don’t sound impressive but they are.

A midday napping “reset” relaxes both the cardiovascular system and the brain.  A regular nap certainly beat popping blood pressure pills or disgusting, restrictive diets.

#Napping #hypertension #diet #stress

American College of Cardiology. "A nap a day keeps high blood pressure at bay: Catching some midday shut-eye linked to similar drops in blood pressure seen with other lifestyle changes, some medications." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 March 2019. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190307081029.htm.

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/08vDhmJzUMc

A one-hour midday nap can help you control your blood pressure as well as taking medications or changing your diet.  Greek cardiologists will be presenting their data demonstrating this effect next week at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Sessions.

The researchers studied more than 200 middle aged subjects comparing the blood pressures of those who napped with those who did not.  The napping group enjoyed an average of 5 mmHg lower systolic pressure and an average of 3 mmHg lower diastolic pressure.  These numbers don’t sound impressive but they are.

A midday napping “reset” relaxes both the cardiovascular system and the brain.  A regular nap certainly beat popping blood pressure pills or disgusting, restrictive diets.

#Napping #hypertension #diet #stress

American College of Cardiology. "A nap a day keeps high blood pressure at bay: Catching some midday shut-eye linked to similar drops in blood pressure seen with other lifestyle changes, some medications." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 March 2019. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190307081029.htm.

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/U077ZmTUQiE

Stocky, young athletes often experience disordered sleep snd breathing patterns that could predispose them to heart attack and sudden death.  Exercise scientists from Japan’s Showa University explored this situation by studying 42 male rugby players 18-19 years of age.

After formal sleep studies were completed, 43% of the players experienced significant sleep disordered breathing with snoring, dangerous pauses in their breathing, higher than normal heart rates, and lower than normal oxygen levels.  Further studies of these athletes’ hearts revealed rhythm abnormalities suggesting they had potentially lethal cardiac damage already.

If you have a teen or a spouse, male or female,  “sawing wood at night,” don’t ignore it.  Push for a formal sleep study to determine if the noisy breathing is accompanied by dangerous oxygen level dips and heart rate abnormalities.

#Snoring #apnea #hypoxia #sleepdisorderedbreathing #teens #athletes

Yoshitaka Iso, Hitomi Kitai, Etsushi Kyuno, Fumiyoshi Tsunoda, Naoya Nishinaka, Masahiko Funato, Eiichi Nishimura, Shuichi Akihiro, Hiroyuki Tanuma, Toru Yonechi, Eiichi Geshi, Takeyuki Sambe, Hiroshi Suzuki. Prevalence and significance of sleep disordered breathing in adolescent athletes. ERJ Open Research, 2019; 5 (1): 00029-2019 DOI: 10.1183/23120541.00029-2019

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/U077ZmTUQiE

Stocky, young athletes often experience disordered sleep snd breathing patterns that could predispose them to heart attack and sudden death.  Exercise scientists from Japan’s Showa University explored this situation by studying 42 male rugby players 18-19 years of age.

After formal sleep studies were completed, 43% of the players experienced significant sleep disordered breathing with snoring, dangerous pauses in their breathing, higher than normal heart rates, and lower than normal oxygen levels.  Further studies of these athletes’ hearts revealed rhythm abnormalities suggesting they had potentially lethal cardiac damage already.

If you have a teen or a spouse, male or female,  “sawing wood at night,” don’t ignore it.  Push for a formal sleep study to determine if the noisy breathing is accompanied by dangerous oxygen level dips and heart rate abnormalities.

#Snoring #apnea #hypoxia #sleepdisorderedbreathing #teens #athletes

Yoshitaka Iso, Hitomi Kitai, Etsushi Kyuno, Fumiyoshi Tsunoda, Naoya Nishinaka, Masahiko Funato, Eiichi Nishimura, Shuichi Akihiro, Hiroyuki Tanuma, Toru Yonechi, Eiichi Geshi, Takeyuki Sambe, Hiroshi Suzuki. Prevalence and significance of sleep disordered breathing in adolescent athletes. ERJ Open Research, 2019; 5 (1): 00029-2019 DOI: 10.1183/23120541.00029-2019

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/eN_3h-Beq0E

The FDA now announces approval of a new immunotherapy agent for treatment of so-called triple negative breast cancer that is either locally advanced or has already spread to other body organs.  Triple negative breast cancer, notoriously difficult to treat, has cells that lack any of the three cell receptors which facilitate the effectiveness of traditional hormonal- and chemo- therapy.  

The drug is the checkpoint inhibitor atezolizmumab, branded as Tecentriq by Genentech.  It received an accelerated thumbs up by the FDA on a compassionate basis.  It must be used in conjunction with the chemotherapeutic agent paclitaxel.

Preliminary studies of this combo therapy demonstrated that breast cancer patients whose tumors lack estrogen, progesterone, and growth factor receptors but do have the PD-L1 receptor and therefore were eligible for immunotherapy plus chemotherapy lived 60% longer than those treated with chemotherapy alone.

As these results are only preliminary but very promising.  If you or someone you know has advanced breast cancer, suggest that they ask their oncologist about Tecentriq.

#BreastCA #triplenegative #immunotherapy #atezolizmumab #Tecentriq #PD-L1

https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/InformationOnDrugs/ApprovedDrugs/ucm633065.htm

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/eN_3h-Beq0E

The FDA now announces approval of a new immunotherapy agent for treatment of so-called triple negative breast cancer that is either locally advanced or has already spread to other body organs.  Triple negative breast cancer, notoriously difficult to treat, has cells that lack any of the three cell receptors which facilitate the effectiveness of traditional hormonal- and chemo- therapy.  

The drug is the checkpoint inhibitor atezolizmumab, branded as Tecentriq by Genentech.  It received an accelerated thumbs up by the FDA on a compassionate basis.  It must be used in conjunction with the chemotherapeutic agent paclitaxel.

Preliminary studies of this combo therapy demonstrated that breast cancer patients whose tumors lack estrogen, progesterone, and growth factor receptors but do have the PD-L1 receptor and therefore were eligible for immunotherapy plus chemotherapy lived 60% longer than those treated with chemotherapy alone.

As these results are only preliminary but very promising.  If you or someone you know has advanced breast cancer, suggest that they ask their oncologist about Tecentriq.

#BreastCA #triplenegative #immunotherapy #atezolizmumab #Tecentriq #PD-L1

https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/InformationOnDrugs/ApprovedDrugs/ucm633065.htm