UF Health Podcasts

Remember those “butterflies” you felt in your stomach before giving a big presentation? Or how you might trust your gut when making a decision? Increasingly, science says your brain and gut are in constant communication with each other. Researchers refer to this connection as the gut-brain axis, and it’s one of the most important junctures in your body.

In many ways, your gut and your brain are the best of friends. These organs work with each other to influence a variety of health components including mood, stress, digestion, cognitive function and immunity.

How? Well, your stomach houses trillions of bacteria that make up your gut microbiome. These bacteria are constantly communicating with your brain through your nervous and immune systems. They help produce neurotransmitters, chemical messengers that influence mood, digestion and how your body processes sensory information.

When your gut microbiome wobbles out of balance, the effects ripple throughout your entire body. Research shows that an unhealthy gut has been linked to anxiety, depression and a weakened immune system.

Luckily, supporting your gut health doesn’t require a complete lifestyle overhaul. Start by including more fiber-rich foods in your diet like fruits, vegetables and whole grains. These act as fuel for your good bacteria. To go the extra mile, add fermented foods that are high in probiotics like yogurt, kimchi or sauerkraut.

Beyond diet, prioritize seven to nine hours of sleep each night. Manage your stress as best as you can, and stay hydrated — it’s critical for proper digestion and a diverse microbiome. Lastly, get regular exercise. An active body means an active gut.

Feeling unwell? Your doctor might recommend a “green prescription.”

New research from the Chinese Academy of Sciences is exploring the idea of prescribing time in botanical gardens as a source of mental health support.

While millions already visit these green spaces to admire their beauty, these tranquil environments also offer real benefits, such as stress reduction and a boost in mindfulness.

Though spending time outdoors or taking a walk isn’t necessarily a new idea, researchers believe that botanical gardens might ease eco-anxiety — the stress and worry people feel while witnessing environmental destruction. Intentionally going to these spaces allows people to process their anxiety through tangible experiences in nature.

Similar programs aimed at vulnerable populations like young children and the elderly have shown that even the simple act of caring for a small plant can rebuild a sense of control and emotional connection.

Beyond mental health, botanical gardens quietly benefit us in other ways. They improve air quality, cool neighborhoods affected by urban heat and prevent excessive flooding. Researchers describe them as a “modern-day Swiss Army knife.”

The potential plan is simple. Mental health professionals would work with botanical gardens to officially prescribe therapeutic gardening to patients. From planting seeds to watching things grow, the space would serve as a complement to traditional treatments for conditions like depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The best part? It’s a low-cost alternative with strong results. So next time you’re feeling down, perhaps the remedy isn’t found in the pharmacy, but in a garden.

The first time you’re gazing at something and notice a speck that shouldn’t be there, it can be extremely disorienting. Weird, even.

They are called “floaters.” Tiny dots or squiggles that drift through your field of vision, they are quite common. About three out of every four adults will see them.

For years, doctors didn’t worry too much about them.

But a new study from the Netherlands could help change how primary care doctors evaluate the visual nuisance. Researchers found that floaters are a harbinger for retinal detachment, a serious condition that can cause permanent blindness.

That signal is strongest when a patient suddenly sees many floaters in one burst. Of those patients, about 1 in 5 were later diagnosed with a retinal detachment or tear. And when that burst of floaters was accompanied by a flash of light, the risk was even higher.

In the study, the researchers reviewed data from 1,181 patient visits to primary care doctors, where they reported floaters, flashes of light in their vision, or both.

In 77 cases, patients were diagnosed with a retinal detachment or tear. A tear is a break in tissue at the back of the eye. Detachment is when the tissue pulls away from its normal position.

A few things to know: Floaters are shadows cast by clumps of collagen in the gel-like substance between your eye’s lens and retina. They are most common in those over age 50 and those who are nearsighted.

And fortunately, most times, they really are harmless. But if you experience a spate of floaters, a flash of light or a dark area that clouds your vision, there’s no time to waste. Get to your doctor.

This eye medication is alive.

Anyone with a corneal injury or chronic ocular surface disease knows how annoying medicated eye drops can be. It’s easy to forget that it’s time to squeeze a few drops out of the bottle.

One estimate shows that up to 40% of older patients forget.

University of Pittsburgh researchers, however, are exploring an alternative that requires fewer applications and actually works better: bacteria.

They took a harmless bacterium that lives on mouse eyes. With a little genetic engineering, the scientists were able to get the bacteria to release an anti-inflammatory substance that can repair corneal wounds just like medicated drops.

The bacterium is also superior because it remains on the eye’s surface for 12 weeks or longer. Eye drops, meanwhile, tend to wash away quickly with our tears as we blink.

In tests with mice, the modified bacterium worked better than medicated eye drops in healing the cornea, and the treatment was safe. The little one-cell organisms also had no effect on the eye’s normal immune defenses.

In separate experiments, a different strain of the same engineered bacterium worked similarly well on human corneal cells.

Any medication ready for your local pharmacy is probably still years distant, if further testing and eventual clinical trials are successful. But scientists are encouraged.

Don’t get creeped out by the prospect of having bacteria applied to the cornea. Humans and all living things peacefully coexist with bacteria. Bacteria help us digest food, for example. Good bacteria can also crowd out the bad bugs that can make us sick.

Meanwhile, keep an eye out for this medication in the future.

You may think of Toxocara, or roundworms, as parasites that only affect dogs and cats. But toxocariasis – roundworm infection – can cause serious disease in people, too.

Dogs are the main source of Toxocara. Adult worms in their digestive tract produce eggs that pass in the stool. After they’re ingested from the environment, the eggs hatch in the intestine where they can burrow through the intestinal wall and travel to other organs.

Roundworm eggs are highly resistant to environmental extremes. In disadvantaged communities with high levels of soil contamination, the incidence of Toxocara infections in people — or human toxocariasis — can soar, especially among children and in warm weather.

We can all help by treating our pets with a monthly roundworm preventative. Ask your veterinarian for suggestions.

An American presidential campaign of the 1990s proclaimed, “It’s the economy, stupid” as its guiding slogan. It was a constant reminder that for many voters, the health of their bank account governs their politics.

New research from Germany suggests that those in health care also might want to ponder the phrase.

The study found that when the Asian financial crisis in 1997 sent rice prices soaring in Indonesia, the shock didn’t just strain household budgets, it left lasting changes in children’s bodies.

Children exposed to the food price surge were more likely to experience stunted growth, and years later, higher obesity risk.

During tight times, families often manage by maintaining their typical calorie intake but cutting back on nutrient-rich foods.

The researchers reviewed data from a long-running study that tracks Indonesian households. They looked at rice inflation between 1997 and 2000 and compared the patterns with childhood body measurements and measurements taken in early adulthood.

Among those who were between 3 and 5 years old during the crisis, the data showed clear connections between early exposure to the price shock, body mass index and the likelihood of obesity later. The effects were strongest in cities, where households often relied on purchasing food.

With extreme weather, pandemics and conflict causing more frequent price shocks, Indonesia’s experience offers real-world proof that economic insecurity can become a lifelong health risk.

The researchers say food policies must protect children in the moments they are most vulnerable. If not, the damage can be irreversible.

Our pets love springtime just as much as we do. But even in balmy weather, we need to protect them against potential dangers.

Topping the list are parasites, like fleas, ticks and heartworm. Nowadays, these can cause problems year-round, but the threat is highest in warm weather. Ask your veterinarian about safe preventatives.

Gardens can be attractive to our furry friends, but they’re not all fun and games. Some plants — like tulips, daffodils and lilies — are toxic to pets. Lilies are especially very dangerous to cats.

Chemicals in traditional garden fertilizers and pesticides can also make pets sick, so either keep them off limits or replace them with pet-friendly products.

Finally, contact your veterinarian if your pet starts getting super itchy. It may be a sign of seasonal allergies.

Every time a heat wave is on the way, alerts go out, warning that high temperatures can overtax our hearts.

But a new study shows that cold weather hurts our hearts more often than the heat. A lot more often.

A research team led by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai found that cold temperatures are linked to more than 42,000 cardiac deaths every year, compared to about 2,200 related to heat.

That translates to roughly 19 cold-related cardiac deaths for every one related to heat.

The study noted that most cardiac deaths related to the cold are recorded simply as heart attacks or strokes. Temperature is rarely even a footnote.

Cold temperatures boost blood pressure, strain the heart and make clots more likely. That puts people with existing heart or metabolic conditions, like diabetes or kidney disease, more at risk.

In the study, the researchers pulled Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cardiovascular death records for adults 25 and older from 819 counties, from the year 2000 to 2020.

That data represents about 82% of all adults in the U.S.

They then used weather data to map the relationship between temperature and cardiac death rates, pinpointing seasonal patterns and long-term trends.         One interesting tidbit: The scientists found that the ideal temperature for our hearts, when cardiovascular death risk is lowest, is 73.8 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s key, because for much of the U.S., and for most of the year, average daily temperatures fall below that.

The researchers said health systems should weave temperature forecasts into emergency plans. And high-risk patients need help well before Old Man Winter arrives.

Hanging on to your pet’s old medications can be risky, but what’s the best way to get rid of them?

The safest method is to use take-back programs offered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, or DEA. These include accessing year-round locations — like collection sites at pharmacies, clinics or police stations — or taking part in national take-back events.

If these options aren’t available, the DEA website has a list of flushable medications.

You can also ask your pharmacy about the availability of prepaid drug mail-back envelopes or DisposeRx packets. The latter forms a disposable gel when mixed with water and medications.

If all else fails, you can combine medications with used coffee grounds or cat litter and seal the mixture in a sturdy container before throwing it in your trash.

The human body has been fine-tuned over millions of years of evolution. Like all living things, our species adapted to the environment. Those changes to human physiology usually occurred over what might seem to modern people as an impossibly long timespan.

But human chemistry, it seems, is now changing relatively rapidly, with potentially dangerous consequences for health.

The problem is that increased carbon dioxide in the air is altering human blood. Atmospheric CO2 now sits at about 420 parts per million and rising.

Ice core data shows this is the highest level in the last 800,000 years. Over eons of human evolution, CO2 levels were closer to 280 parts per million.

A new analysis by Australian scientists shows that the hike has raised average blood bicarbonate levels by 7% as we breathe in all the extra carbon dioxide. That is matched by lower levels of calcium and phosphorus.

Researchers obtained their data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, covering about 7,000 participants who underwent lab tests from 1999 to 2020.

These electrolytes help regulate blood acidity. High bicarbonate levels can lead to kidney problems, cardiovascular strain and impaired cellular function. Low calcium can cause abnormal heart rhythms and bone loss, while low phosphorus interferes with energy metabolism.

The levels measured today are still safe. But researchers estimate that they could begin to adversely affect human health by the end of the century unless steps are taken to reduce carbon dioxide levels.

And that, they say, makes the need for more research urgent.

The evidence is in every breath you take.