UF Health Podcasts

You probably don’t think twice when grabbing your receipt after a grocery run, but research shows that slip of paper just might come with some hidden consequences.

Most receipts aren’t printed with ink. That’s because they’re coated with chemicals called bisphenols (bi·sfuh·naals), and one in particular, called BPA. When heat touches the paper, the chemicals react, bringing the black letters on the paper to life. But it comes with a catch: The same chemicals that make the words appear can also rub off and soak into your skin.

For years, BPA was the go-to chemical for printing receipts. But once inside the body, BPA acts like estrogen, throwing your hormones off balance. The result? Higher risks of hormone problems, fertility issues and even some cancers.

When BPA’s effects became public, many retailers switched to its cousin, BPS, or bisphenol S, positioning it as a safer option. However, new studies suggest this might not be the case.

A 2019 study found that some pregnant women with higher levels of BPS were 68% more likely to develop gestational diabetes. Another study found children with more BPS in their urine had higher risks of insulin resistance and blood vessel issues.

Ultimately, experts say there’s enough evidence to avoid BPA and BPS as best you can — and to give other products containing those chemicals a wide berth.

You don’t need to stop shopping to stay safe. To limit exposure, experts advise holding receipts by the edges, discarding them quickly and washing your hands with soap afterward. Avoid hand sanitizer, which increases absorption.

And, when in doubt, go paperless. It cuts down on extra trash, too.

Whether before a workout or after you rack the dumbbells, consuming protein is an integral part of staying active and building muscle mass. A new study, however, suggests the harm from protein powders and shakes could outweigh the benefits when it comes to protein shakes.

Recent Consumer Reports research found that many protein powders and shakes contain high levels of lead. More than two-thirds of tested products passed the safety threshold of .5 micrograms per serving.

The highest levels of lead were in plant-based protein products.

Lead has no useful function in our bodies. Neurological damage, kidney issues and cardiovascular problems are all linked to lead exposure. Experts say occasional use of lead-contaminated protein is unlikely to do any harm, but habitual use of these products poses significant risks for children and the reproductive health of women.

You can minimize your risk by turning to whey powder, a protein found in milk. Researchers say lead levels in plant-based products were, on average, nine times the amount found in those made with dairy proteins. Dairy-based protein powders and shakes generally had the lowest amounts of lead, but half of those tested still had levels of contamination high enough to advise against daily use. Remember, products such as mass gainers with a larger serving size will have higher amounts of heavy metals than a regular protein supplement as well.

When considering a protein supplement, experts say reading the nutrition label is essential. And it never hurts to evaluate your dietary needs. After all, the best way to reach your protein goals is to turn to food, rather than supplements.

The holidays bring cheer, color, food and so much more to many, but if you’re not careful, they can also bring headaches – or worse – when it comes to your pets. Elements of holiday decorating, like ornaments, ribbons, greenery and wreaths, can be tempting for pets to play with and eat, posing as potential choking and intestinal blockage hazards. Other potential safety hazards include electric lights, candles and certain types of plants. On this archived episode of Animal Airwaves Live, Dr. Jake Wolf, an emergency and critical care specialist, addresses some of the most common issues seen by veterinarians this time of year and ways pet owners can keep fur babies off the naughty list and safely to deck the halls – and not the vet – this holiday season.

It’s a real pickle. New research shows that pickleball players are increasingly injuring their eyes, often seriously.

Pickleball is called America’s fastest-growing sport. All ages can play and have fun. A player need not be a sculpted athlete to compete. Perhaps unrelatedly, it is particularly popular among older adults.

The sport combines elements of tennis, table tennis and badminton. A pickleball court is about a quarter of the size of a regulation tennis court.

A study by Rutgers medical school researchers shows that from 2014 to 2021, an estimated 200 pickleball players visited an emergency room for treatment of an eye injury. The numbers, however, soon skyrocketed as the sport gained popularity.

The study says the number of eye injuries reported grew by more than 400 annually from 2021 to 2024.

The numbers are seemingly small, with just 3,100 eye injuries from 2014 to 2024. But 40% of those eye injuries occurred in 2024 alone.

Unfortunately, many recreational players don’t wear goggles.

One key to these injuries? The demographics of most players. The sport attracts anyone regardless of physical fitness or athleticism. Scientists note that less fit and inexperienced players are more prone to injury.

The plastic ball used in pickleball is deceptively fast, its speed all the more dangerous on the small court where players might be just 14 feet apart.

The hollow, perforated balls, akin to wiffle balls, can reach speeds of 60 miles per hour with newer paddles.

The study urges players and the sport’s governing body to adopt eye protection. An injury, after all, can occur in the blink of an eye.

Thirty is the new 20. Forty is the new 30. Fifty is the new 40. And now, new research finds, many of us hit our mental and emotional peak around age 60.

The study, by a pair of psychologists in Poland and Australia, was published in the journal Intelligence.

Some traits, such as physical strength and mental processing speed, hit their peak in one’s mid-20s and slowly decline thereafter.

But if you stitch together other relevant psychological traits, like intelligence, personality, emotional intelligence and decision-making, overall functioning continues to improve until the late 50s to early 60s.

The researchers pulled data from many personality tests taken by thousands of users and created two models to look at how we function as we age.

They created a conventional model that emphasized traditional cognitive abilities and core personality traits. And they created a second model that added a broader range of traits, such as financial reasoning, cognitive empathy and resistance to decision-making biases.

Under both models, people were firing on all cylinders from around age 40 through 65. And the study suggests that age range is when people are best-suited for high-stakes decision-making roles.

With any upside, a downside often lurks, and the study found that most people’s capabilities begin to wane markedly from their late 60s and beyond.

At the end of the day, however, everyone is different — and aging, like bangs or buzz cuts, looks different on everyone.

You’re checking your inbox and ping! You’ve just been invited to a holiday party you have no interest in attending. Do you pretend to be sick? Fake an emergency? Or do you slog through several hours of small talk in questionable sweaters?

Fortunately, you might have an out, and it’s backed by science. Research suggests that declining an invitation to something you don’t want to go to is good for your mental health.

Researchers from West Virginia University and the New York Institute of Technology conducted five studies involving more than 2,000 people in which they gave participants real and hypothetical scenarios to ponder.

In one, participants imagined they had turned down a friend’s invite to attend a museum exhibit and were asked to identify the negative ramifications, from the friend’s perspective.

The imagined fallout included possible relationship harm, fewer future invitations, disappointment and anger.

Other participants imagined a friend had turned down their museum exhibit visit invitation and were asked to identify consequences.

Results showed that the participants being invited overestimated the negative impacts that followed their choice to opt out. Inviters did not feel as strongly about the decline as invitees expected.

The findings could help ease holiday-activity burnout because knowing that inviters don’t mind as much as we think they do could lessen our fears.

So, the next time you get invited to a cookie-decorating party or a white elephant exchange and you really don’t want to go, rest assured that a quiet night on the couch likely won’t cost you a friend.

Are you one of those people who can’t sleep if even a tiny sliver of light slips under the door? Or do you doze best with the glow of the TV in the background? Or a nightlight?

While there’s no shame in needing some twinkling comfort, in the case of sleep, darkness might be more important than most of us realize. A recent study revealed that even low levels of light while you sleep could be silently raising your heart attack risk. Specifically, researchers tracked nearly 90,000 adults over the course of nine years and discovered that those with the brightest bedrooms were at a 42% higher risk of a heart attack than those in dark rooms.

This striking difference held true even after accounting for genetics, lifestyle factors like diet, exercise, smoking and other daily habits that affect heart health.

Experts suggest that light at night might disrupt circadian rhythms — our internal body clocks — which regulate sleep, blood pressure and heart health. Even subtle interference can put extra stress on the cardiovascular system, slowly raising the risk of serious cardiovascular events over time.

Fortunately, small adjustments can make a real difference. Dimming bedroom lights, turning off electronic devices, covering screens or installing blackout curtains can all help protect your circadian rhythm and give your heart a better chance to stay healthy.

Reducing nighttime light exposure might be a simple, low-cost and highly effective way to support both long-term heart health and deeper, more restorative sleep.

So to sleep tight, sleep dark. Your heart is happiest when the lights are out.

Envy the naked mole-rat. It isn’t immortal, but not for lack of trying.

To start, the species is remarkably resistant to cancer, with no documented case of the disease among naked mole-rats in the wild.

They would be the scourge of insurance actuaries. A mole-rat’s risk of dying does not increase with age, unlike other mammals, including humans. One of these specimens at the ripe age of 35 has the same annual odds of dying as its 2-year-old offspring.

Other rodents might live a couple of years. Naked mole-rats can approach nearly 40 — an age that is 10 times the typical lifespan of animals their size.

Now, Chinese scientists have uncovered what they say is the molecular mechanism allowing these critters to earn the title of Methuselahs of the Mammal World. The mole-rat’s genetics are closer to humans than mice. That makes them an excellent candidate in the search for ways to prolong human life.

The mole-rat’s genome is very stable, which is one reason why they are so long-lived. How they managed that stability has been a mystery.

The researchers discovered small evolutionary mutations in an enzyme that is key in the mole-rat repairing damaged DNA and fighting infections. It comes down to changes in just four amino acids.

In humans and mice, the enzyme works to hinder DNA repair.

Scientists engineered fruit flies with the same amino acid mutations. The flies lived longer lives.

Researchers will study whether the mole-rat’s biology holds the key to increasing human longevity. Much work needs to be done before that question is answered.

By the way — while the naked mole-rat does appear relatively hairless, it is the proud owner of a few well-placed sensory whiskers … and some hairs between its toes.

Trying to predict the future is risky but — apparently — an irresistible urge. To that end, here are health trends that could come to fruition as we look ahead to 2026.

If health care had one overriding headline for 2025, it would have been GLP-1 drugs. Glucose-lowering drugs, originally used for diabetes, have been welcomed by some who have not only been able to finally shed pounds but also improve their overall health. They are not cheap, however, and they don’t work for everyone. Some health experts suggest insurers may offer GLP-1 coverage in conjunction with lifestyle changes.

The GLP-1 trend will last beyond 2026, as numerous clinical studies are expected to bring more glucose-lowering drug options to the market.

Technology will change health care in the coming year. Expect to see virtual visits with clinicians become more commonplace, as well as interactions with chatbots and other artificial intelligence tools.

Remember during the pandemic when there was talk about social isolation causing people to delay health screenings? Well, those chickens are coming home to roost.

After years of delayed care, patients are reentering the health care system, often with more advanced conditions. It’s adding more patients to clinicians’ rosters. It is viewed as a good thing for public health, however, and might lead to more preventive programs being offered.

One of the most fun predictions for 2026 is that of the rise of wellness tourism. That could mean individually tailored retreats designed to help the user achieve near-perfect sleep, meaningful time in nature or just a digital detox.

How’s that for a crystal ball?

The list of things you’d expect to sneak past the brain’s tightly guarded borders is short: oxygen, glucose and, with great effort, certain medications. But antibodies? Not a chance — until now.

Researchers are turning to an unlikely source for inspiration: camels and llamas.

A new study published from researchers in France suggests that miniature antibodies from these animals, called nanobodies, could change how we treat brain disorders like Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia. These tiny proteins, found naturally in camelids such as camels, llamas and alpacas, are about one-tenth the size of conventional antibodies. That small stature gives them a major edge: They can slip through the brain’s formidable blood-brain barrier with ease, reaching neurons that most drugs can’t touch.

First discovered in the early 1990s by Belgian scientists, nanobodies are made of a single type of antibody chain, a biological simplicity that makes them easier to produce, purify and engineer. They’re also highly soluble, stable and less likely to cause side effects than traditional antibody drugs. In mouse studies, nanobodies have been shown to help against models of schizophrenia and other similar conditions.

Researchers say these molecular lightweights could form a new class of brain medicines — somewhere between bulky antibodies and traditional small-molecule drugs. Before clinical trials begin, however, scientists must run toxicology tests, assess long-term safety and perfect stable formulations.

If all goes well, the next big leap in brain medicine might just come from some very small antibodies — and a few very cooperative llamas.