UF Health Podcasts

When treating lung and skin cancers, doctors frequently attempt to trigger the body’s immune system with drugs to help it recognize and attack cancer cells.

But in advanced stages of those diseases, patients often don’t respond well. Many have exhausted treatment options like radiation, surgery and chemotherapy.

A new study published in Nature offers hope for future patients in that dire situation.

Researchers from the University of Florida and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found that advanced lung and skin cancer patients who received a COVID-19 mRNA [m-R-N-A] vaccine within 100 days of immunotherapy drugs lived significantly longer than those who didn’t.

The vaccine appears to pump up the body’s immune system in a powerful way.

If the results are confirmed in future human trials, the discovery could eventually lead to a universal cancer vaccine.

The scientists have spent years studying how messenger RNA, which is present in all cells and delivers the instructions for making proteins, could be used to “wake” the body’s natural defenses.

Their new study found that receiving a COVID vaccine while undergoing immunotherapy was associated with a near doubling of median survival in the lung cancer patients, from more than 20 months to 37 months.

For the melanoma patients who received the vaccine, median survival increased from 26.7 months to a range of 30 to 40 months.

When a patient is told their cancer has advanced and other treatments have failed, the potential for more time to spend with loved ones and friends is a gift. It’s reason for hope, and that can make a difficult situation more bearable.

It turns out the popular phrase “rise and shine” isn’t just a saying — it’s also science. New research suggests catching some morning sunshine might be the key to improving your sleep, mood and overall health.

A 2024 study in Brazil observed 1,700 adults’ sunlight exposure and sleeping habits. The researchers found those who received greater amounts of morning sunlight had better sleep efficiency and overall sleep quality.

This is because morning light helps regulate your circadian rhythm, which acts as your body’s internal clock.

The process is simple: When bright light enters your eyes, it signals your brain to decrease melatonin and sleep hormone while increasing cortisol, which promotes alertness and energy. This natural wake-up call sets a biological timer, helping the body know when to feel tired again later in the evening.

Morning sunlight also triggers the release of serotonin, a feel-good neurotransmitter that boosts your mood and helps you stay calm and focused.

As we transition from winter to spring, this can be especially beneficial, helping shake off any lingering winter blues.

There’s another perk, too: More than 90% of our vitamin D comes from sunlight. So, when you’re outside, you’re increasing your production of vitamin D, which plays an important role in helping your immune system fight illnesses, increasing bone strength and reducing inflammation in the body.

For best results, experts recommend getting outside within the first hour of waking up, when your body is most receptive to light. Just 10 to 15 minutes each day can make a huge difference. The key is consistency.

Even on cloudy days, outdoor light can still deliver powerful benefits.

What is the secret to a longer life?

Well, we know the fountain of youth is probably not going to work. You could always eat an apple a day, or even exercise regularly. Most of us believe we’re in control of how long and well we live based on the choices we make. And that’s still true — but new research suggests that your genes have a significant impact.

Experts say 55% of your lifespan is already determined by your genes, which is consistent with what we know about other species.

Think about it: Traits like cholesterol levels and osteoporosis risk are shaped by our DNA and how it tells our cells to function. And, as much as we know about biology, there’s plenty we don’t — and some unknown elements interact to determine our life expectancy.

Life choices and luck play a role. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that life expectancy in the United States reached a record high of 79 years old in 2024, and studies say how you approach exercise, diet and social connection will influence your age by about five years. This means if the life expectancy established by your genes is 85 years old, you could live anywhere from 80 to 90 years depending on individual decision-making.

Genetic screening for conditions like bipolar disorder and kidney disease will reveal inherited risks, but no test will tell you how long you’ll live. In some cases, looking to your family’s longevity might give you some of an idea.

But even if your parents and grandparents have passed down the winning numbers to the genetic lottery, don’t rip up your ticket with smoking, excessive alcohol and unhealthy eating habits. You could still risk shaving years off your life.

A fish whose life is the precise inverse of Benjamin Button’s might be the key to understanding how our kidneys age.

The African turquoise killifish is a brightly colored fish whose color is almost as startling as the speed of its lifespan. It grows to a very forgettable length of 2.6 inches but, at 14 weeks, has one of the most immediate instances of sexual maturity among creatures with a spine.

For a creature whose life starts and ends in as little as four months, this makes sense — and explains why a team of international researchers turned to this rapidly aging specimen to learn how our kidneys change over time, and how drugs might be able to preserve their function.

Fish kidneys contain some similarities to ours, particularly when it comes to the way they become less effective over time. They lose tiny blood vessels and display damage to the barrier kidneys rely on for filtration. This leads to inflammation and other issues.

Researchers tested a drug typically used to treat heart disease related to diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Known for its protective qualities, researchers wanted to see how the drug impacted the kidneys over an entire, tiny lifespan.

Fish treated with the medicine maintained healthier kidneys over time, with strong filtration barriers and plenty of blood vessels. This suggests the drugs’ benefits surpass just glucose control. There were other benefits, too — the fish showed gene activity that looked like that of younger animals.

Next, scientists hope to explore if the drug can help to repair already-damaged kidneys.

Until then, just keep swimming.

Welcome to National Poison Prevention Week, an event created by Congress and used to publicize household dangers for a good 64 years now.

It serves as a good reminder to post the number the Poison Help Line, 1-800-222-1222, in a visible spot. When seconds matter, you want it handy.

It’s also a chance to let folks know that pediatric poisoning deaths have been on the uptick nationwide since 2019. The death rate of children per million, from newborns to age 4, was 5.29 in 2022.

The rate had not been that high since 1977, when disco was nearing its peak.

Those poisonings come about because little ones explore the world — initially, at least — by finding out how things taste.

In 2025, the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued warnings about button batteries, the teensy round discs that power gizmos from remote controls to hearing aids. They are incredibly dangerous, even deadly, when children swallow them, causing a current that produces sodium hydroxide, a harsh corrosive.

The Food and Drug Administration also issued urgent warnings about nicotine pouches, highlighting a surge in accidental and severe poisonings among children under age 5. The pouches typically contain high doses of nicotine.

And in June 2025, the FDA warned seven companies about illegally distributing products containing 7-OH [7-O-H], a souped-up version of a compound found in the kratom plant.

Some quick reminders: Keep medications locked up or well out of children’s reach. Never carry them in a handbag. And use this week to take stock of any potential dangers in your home, because that’s where 7 out of 10 accidental poisonings happen.

How you react to a life partner’s cognitive decline may depend a great deal on whether you are male or female.

A recent study from the universities of Wisconsin and Chicago found that when husbands develop cognitive impairment or dementia, wives feel more criticized and burdened.

But when wives are in decline, husbands report less strain, not more.

Before we file this one under “women are from Venus, men are from Mars,” the researchers offer some explanation for their findings from the study, which tracked 620 married couples over five years.

Traditional roles may be at play: Wives lose emotional connection while adding caregiving work, a real double whammy, while husbands often delegate care to a relative or paid helper while being less monitored about their health habits.

Cultural expectations also may be in the mix. Women often bear more of the emotional work in a marriage, the maintenance of communication and harmony. When husbands’ cognitive problems erode that connection, wives can lose what makes their marriage meaningful.

For men, a wife’s decline may bring them … well, freedom. The researchers submit that many husbands are less likely to take on the burden of intensive caregiving, instead relying on relatives or outside help.

And when women are in decline, they become less capable of “health-related social control” about things like eating a better diet, limiting alcohol and seeing a doctor. Men may enjoy that.

Diagnostic laboratories are a key part of the veterinary care team, but one most people don’t commonly interact with. Dr. Michael Dark, clinical associate professor and director of UF’s veterinary diagnostic labs, joins Animal Airwaves Live to discuss the importance of diagnostic laboratories to veterinary care, their role in the veterinary hospital system, and how UF’s recent accreditation by the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians – only the second accredited laboratory in the state – emphasizes UF’s commitment to quality and opens opportunities for collaboration. 

The new year is speeding up. Somehow, it’s March already. Many of us might be toying with the idea of augmenting our formerly rigorous — maybe overly ambitious — New Year’s resolutions to something a little gentler. Perhaps hitting the gym five days a week is seeming hasty. You’re not an Olympian, after all. And doesn’t that pint of ice cream look good?

But before you slide on your slippers and glide over to the recliner, let’s talk about where your body stores fat … and what that means for your brain.

A new study from researchers in China looked at health data from almost 26,000 people, paying close attention to links between brain health outcomes and different kinds of fat distributions. Two stood out: Fat in the pancreas, and what we colloquially know as “skinny fat.”

People with a significant percentage of fat in their pancreas also tended to have a high BMI and overall body fat load, authors said.

By contrast, those in the skinny fat category were characterized by a high weight-to-muscle ratio, and an even distribution of fat over the body.

These categories were associated with cognitive decline, a higher risk of brain disease and rapid aging of the mind.

Though the study focused on fat storage and its impact on brain health, researchers plan to tackle the relationship between these results and other important health outcomes, like metabolic diseases and those of the heart. One day, understand more about fat distributions might be able to help providers offer more personalized health advice.

In some ways, the takeaway of this study on fat comes down to the same thing a good realtor prioritizes: Location, location, location.

Despite the prevalence of TV characters brooding over a glass filled with amber liquid, or the number of dish towels available with “wine mom” graphics, drinking regularly does impact your health.

And when you drink heavily for years, those impacts become very negative, very quickly.

A study that followed close to 90,000 adults for 20 years linked long-term, prolific alcohol consumption with increases in colorectal cancers, particularly rectal cancer. Though evidence has linked long-term alcohol use with cancer in the past, newer evidence suggests the “total” amount of alcohol consumed over a lifetime matters too.

For the purposes of the study, researchers defined heavy drinking as at least 14 drinks a week or more. These folks had a 25% higher risk of colorectal cancer compared with those who had about one drink per week.

The heavy drinkers were also more likely to develop rectal cancer … a 95% higher risk, to be precise.

The study suggests that discontinuing alcohol consumption might be enough to reduce this elevated cancer risk. Those who stopped drinking entirely appeared to have fewer precancerous tumors than even those who only drank about once a week. Though researchers hope to gather even more data on how risk plays out for former drinkers, they were heartened by the study’s results.

It’s never easy to consider changing a routine that is deeply ingrained — even one that is widely known to have negative impacts on our health. But, like study authors emphasize, making the decision to stop drinking even years later can lower your risk of rectal cancer.

For many, our days in art class are long behind us. Those macaroni necklaces, finger paintings and paper collages are now distant memories from childhood. As we grow older, responsibilities pile up and creative pursuits often fall by the wayside. But it might be time to rekindle your creative spark.

There’s growing evidence that picking up those scissors and crayons again could be surprisingly good for your mental health.

A 2024 study published in Frontiers found that adults who did at least one arts and crafts activity in the past year had higher levels of life satisfaction and happiness compared with those who did none.

The National Library of Medicine had similar findings, showing that arts and crafts can boost your mood, improve your well-being and raise your self-esteem.

Think of crafting as a workout for your brain. Instead of lifting dumbbells, you’re picking up paintbrushes. When you’re focused on creating, your mind gets a break from the constant stream of worries and to-do lists that fill our days, all while flexing your cognitive muscles.

Creative activities, like crafting, also release dopamine and serotonin, the feel-good chemicals, while simultaneously lowering cortisol, your stress hormone.

Plus, the opportunities to craft are endless: painting, knitting, scrapbooking, sculpting, sewing, coloring … the list goes on and on. If you’re unsure where to start, try a few different activities to see what clicks.

You also don’t need to be the next Picasso. Whether you’re knitting a slightly lopsided scarf or drawing a sunset that looks more like a blob, the act of creating is what counts.