Vidcast: https://youtu.be/fM3zWSu7ZAA

Alcohol abuse is rampant in teens and young adults, and hospitals are reporting an epidemic of premature chronic liver disease and failure in millenials.  A new study from the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Center for Alcohol Research in Epigenetics now shows that binge drinking prevents development of normal connections in the developing brain’s amygdala.  That’s the region of the brain responsible for emotion, fever, and anxiety.

The Chicago research group studied the brains of drinkers who began binge drinking before they reached 21 years.  They compared them to drinkers who started after 21 and to non-drinkers.  All subjects died in their mid to late fifties.  

The early onset drinkers had a 30 to 40% deficit of the molecule BDNF in their amygdalas, and without this chemical normal brain connections fail to form leading to increased anxiety and then  likely to more drinking through life.

With each new study, we learn how important health behaviors during our childhood, teen, and young adult years are for the function of our bodies and minds throughout the remainder of our lives.  Like any successful journey, preparation, forethought, and discipline help to guarantee a smooth voyage.

#alcohol #teendrinking #bingedrinking #brain #amygdala, healthnews.

John Peyton Bohnsack, Tara Teppen, Evan J. Kyzar, Svetlana Dzitoyeva, Subhash C. Pandey. The lncRNA BDNF-AS is an epigenetic regulator in the human amygdala in early onset alcohol use disorders. Translational Psychiatry, 2019; 9 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41398-019-0367-z

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/0CezKXdha_o

Electronic cigarette use is on the upswing, and their makers trumpet the latest studies showing that e-cigs help current tobacco smokers kick the habit.  In actuality, as older smokers quit more teens use e-cigs and move on to the nasty and dangerous habit that is tobacco cigarette smoking.

Besides the addicting nicotine, the e-cigs vaporize and spew a raft of of chemicals into the lungs including heavy metals, propylene glycol or anti-freeze, and formaldehyde.  The latest study from Harvard’s School of Public Health focuses on the toxicity of the chemicals used for flavoring the vapors.

Those ingredients are diacetyl and pentandione, and they create a buttery aroma.  You’ve definitely smelled it at the movie theater, and repeatedly inhaling the vapor leads to chronic irreversible lung damage and a disease appropriately named “popcorn lung.”

The Harvard team conclusively showed that these flavoring chemicals interfere with the genes that control development of normally functioning human ciliated respiratory lining cells growing in tissue culture.  This confirms findings in previous animal experiments where exposure to vaporized flavoring chemicals produced significant airway lining cell injuries.

Vaping, like tobacco smoking, is hazardous to your health.  E-cigarettes should not be marketed to children and they should be avoided by people of any age.

#e-cigarette #vaping #flavoredvapors #popcornlung #diacetyl #pentadione #ciliatedlinings #healthnews

Hae-Ryung Park, Michael O’Sullivan, Jose Vallarino, etal.  Transcriptomic response of primary human airway epithelial cells to flavoring chemicals in electronic cigarettes.  Scientific Reports.  Volume 9, Article number: 1400 (2019) 

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/VyMYFtxNodM

First we had tennis elbow, more recently football CTE dementia, and now we have golfer’s wrenched back.  The latest study in the Joural of Neurosurgery:Spine sounds an alarm for golfers to ease up on their swings a bit.

Over the past 40 years, competitive pressure has driven the golf swing to become more and more powerful.  Golfers now seek strength training to turbocharge their swings, but they should also be seeking defensive coaching to prevent their swings from crippling them.

During a powerful downswing, dangerous compressive forces target the spinal discs and verterbal joints.  Since a golfer swings those clubs more than 300 times during an average round, repeated micro trauma to spine structures leads to repetitive traumatic discopathy or RTD, likely the injury suffered by Tiger Woods.

If you golf, do seek a professional analysis of your swing.  With proper training, you can play low handicap golf without breaking your back by developing RTD.

#golf #discopathy #spinal disc #ruptured disc #twist injury #health news #health tips

Walker CT, Uribe JS, Porter RW. Golf: a contact sport. Repetitive traumatic discopathy may be the driver of early lumbar degeneration in modern-era golfers. J Neurosurg Spine, 2019

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/Q0cF8rNJvN0

Those compounded creams and gels you buy to rub on your aching muscles and joints may be worthless to you for relieving pain.  They are worth gold to the hucksters who manufacture and market them to the tune of at least 6 million dollars a day.

Pain specialists at Johns Hopkins and the Walter Reed Hospital studied nearly 400 subjects with 3 types of pain: 1. neurogenic pain such as that due to diabetes or shingles; 2. nociceptive pain due to tissue injuries or burns, or 3. mixed pain.  Half the patients in each pain category received a topical product with active ingredients tailored to the type of pain under treatment including anesthetics, NSAID analgesics, sedatives, antidepressants, anti-seizure meds, and muscle relaxers.  The others were given a mediction-free placebo.  Neither the scientists nor the subjects knew which agent they were rubbing in.

Each subject dutifully rubbed on the products 3 times a day for 6 months.  When the code was broken, the expensive topical pain creams produced no significant relief for any type of pain in any location on the body when compared with the inactive cream.

The bottom line: save your money!  Now I’m not saying that the placebo effect isn’t powerful.  I am saying that, if rubbing on a cream or gel makes you feel better, go for a cheaper one and one that don;t contain medicinal incredients like lidocaine that can induce skin allergy.

#paincreams #paingels #anesthetics #analgesics #NSAID #antiseizure drugs #healthnews #healthtips

Robert E. Brutcher, Connie Kurihara, Mark C. Bicket, Parvaneh Moussavian-Yousefi, David E. Reece, Lisa M. Solomon, Scott R. Griffith, David E. Jamison, Steven P. Cohen. Compounded Topical Pain Creams to Treat Localized Chronic Pain. Annals of Internal Medicine, 2019; DOI: 10.7326/M18-2736

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/anJEys3Soc8

I’ve presented many studies proving that fruits and vegetables in your diet will keep you strong, fit, and physically healthy.  Now, new data from Great Britain’s University of Leeds shows that these key dietary components also boost your mental capacities.

The researchers studied some 40,000 persons and report that those consuming more fruits and vegetables report better mental health and higher life satisfaction than matched controls.  They also lament that the majority of UK citizens still fail to eat at least 5 portions of fruits and veggies a day. 

I’d hasten to say that most Americans don’t hit that target either.  If you do want to feel wonderful in mind as well as in body, fill your meals with fruit and vegetables.

#mind #body #fruits #vegetables #goodfeelings #healthnews #healthtips

Neel Ocean, Peter Howley, Jonathan Ensor. Lettuce be happy: A longitudinal UK study on the relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and well-being. Social Science & Medicine, 2019; DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.12.017

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/CA0GVw_xvUI

No one likes the prospect of surgery.  If you’ve been diagnosed with an ovarian cyst and your doctors have recommended removal, a new study suggests that an operation may not be necessary for every cyst.

Ovarian cysts are little balloon-like bumps that arise on the surface of the ovaries.  They are discovered with ultrasound scans when abdominal pain or bloating occurs.  The ultrasounds can determine if the cysts appear harmless or likely cancerous.

Many doctors recommend that any ovarian cyst be removed due to a risk of cancer developing or the cyst causing an ovary to twist.  A new multi-national study just published in The Lancet Oncology instead recommends watchful waiting and regular ultrasound imaging for those cysts that do appear benign.

Their study of almost 2,000 women with cysts suggests that surgery for every cyst may have more risks than benefits.  Twenty percent of ovarian cysts disappear on their own and cancer or ovarian twisting only occurred in less than one-half of one percent of women. On the other hand, the risk of complications from surgical removal ranged from between 3 to 15%.

Ovarian cysts may be followed without surgery, but you must commit to careful followup with regular ultrasound or scan imaging.  Should there be any question of a suspicious lesion, immediate surgery is then a must.

#Ovariancyst #ultrasound #ovariantorsion #healthnews #healthtip

Imperial College London. "Ovarian cysts should be 'watched' rather than removed, study suggests." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 5 February 2019. .

Howard G. Smith, MD, PENTA Medical Network, reports from NYC with the Health News Roundup for the SECOND week of FEBRUARY, 2019.

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/BMHHclF3DPo

This is Health News You Should Use, the latest medical discoveries that you can use in a practical way to keep yourself and your family healthy. Besides that, there are two stories about Health Crap You Should Scrap: some non-prescription meds that you should avoid. There is no solid evidence that they work, and they can be harmful.

Here are the headlines:
Ovarian Cysts Need Not Be Removed
Fruits and Veggies Buff Your Mind As Well As Your Muscles
HEALTH CRAP: Pain Creams Are a Waste of Money
Your Golf Swing May Kill Your Back
E-Cigarette Flavorings Are Toxic
Teen Boozing Can Drive Brain Damage
Third-Hand Smoke Chemicals Stick To Your Kids
Desserts Can Help You Eat Healthy
Smaller Take Out Boxes Will Right-Size Fast Food Meals
HEALTH CRAP: L-Norvaline May Be Bodybuilders’ Enemy
Tonsils and Adenoids Don’t Shrink With Age
Don’t Clamp That Umbilical Cord Right Away
Exercise Trains Your Fat To Be Healthy
TRY A LITTLE KINDNESS: Our Earth Is Becoming Greener

For more information, you’ll find all the references for the stories and a copy of show notes on Dr. Smith's website at: https://www.drhowardsmith.com/feb-2019-2nd-week-health-news

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/_dGkTXmj3Y0

Good news is good for your soul, and here’s a feel-good saga from my favorite good news website, goodnewsnetwork.org.  

Twelve years ago during cool weather John Sumner, saw a pathetic seagull with an obviously broken leg attempting to land and get food.  He and his dog had come to the beach for a walk, and John offered the seagull some of his pet’s dog biscuits.

When John and his dog returned to the beach for their daily walk, and the seagull that he named Chirpy began to seek them out and continued to enjoy the dog biscuits as his leg healed.

Over the past 12 years, with the onset of cooler weather in September, Chirpy the seagull returns from nesting to visit John on the beach every day.  The bird, thought to be about 20 years old now and easily spotted due to his crooked leg, immediately flies over to John and only to John as soon as the man appears on the beach.  And yes, John continues to feed Chirpy his favorite snack, those dog biscuits.

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/seagull-has-been-visiting-the-man-who-saved-him-almost-every-day-for-the-last-12-years/

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/X6ZxecLbkxI

Medical marijuana is now legal in 33 of 50 states, and most users look to weed as medicine in order to relieve chronic pain.  Investigators from the University of Michigan reviewed data from state registries and found that more than 800,000 persons are licensed medical cannabis users.  This number likely underestimates the actual number of users.

Cannabis is accepted therapy for chronic pain, nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy, and Muscular Sclerosis spasticity.  The available data shows, though, that almost two-thirds of those seeking medical marijuana licenses do so for chronic pain.

Due to federal foot-dragging, cannibis remains classified as a Schedule 1 drug under the Controlled Substances Act.  It continues to be erroneously labeled as as a drug with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.  In theory, but usually not in practice, you could be prosecuted for its possession and use.

If you feel that cannabis might help you and you’re in a state where it’s ben legalized, ask your doctor to refer you to a medical marijuana specialist, usually an expert in pain management, for a consultation.

#medicalmarijuana #marijuana #cannabis #pain #chemotherapy #muscularsclerosis #MS #healthtips #healthnews

Kevin F. Boehnke, Saurav Gangopadhyay, Daniel J. Clauw, Rebecca L. Haffajee. Qualifying Conditions Of Medical Cannabis License Holders In The United States. Health Affairs, 2019; 38 (2): 295 DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2018.05266

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/zOaEiNnJBCY

Driven entrepreneurs and students often steal needed hours of sleep to find extra time.  A collaborative study by business researchers coordinated by Oregon State University shows that, when sleep is limited, mindfulness can come to the rescue and turbocharge your ailing brain.  

Studying more than sleep-deprived 400 entrepreneurs across the US, the researchers report that as little as 10 minutes of mindfulness practice a day on a sustained basis can provide the same mental clarification benefits as an extra 44 minutes of sleep.

If you’re expecting a stretch of intense work, train your body and mind by developing expertise in mindfulness meditation.  Planning ahead to minimize those all-nighters won’t hurt either.

#mindfulness #sleepdeprivation #entrepreneurs #healthnews #healthtips

Charles Y. Murnieks, Jonathan D. Arthurs, Melissa S. Cardon, Nusrat Farah, Jason Stornelli, J. Michael Haynie. Close your eyes or open your mind: Effects of sleep and mindfulness exercises on entrepreneurs' exhaustion. Journal of Business Venturing, 2019; DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusvent.2018.12.004