UF Health Podcasts

For some pet parents, boarding their furry friends may be the only option when they’re away from home. But don’t despair. There are ways to help ease the stress on all of you.

Beforehand — particularly if your pet is medically compromised, elderly or super anxious — ask your veterinarian if boarding is a good idea.

Then, plan ahead by touring the boarding facility to ensure it will meet your pet’s needs. High-octane dogs often thrive on outside access and planned playtime, while cats generally enjoy quieter areas where they don’t have to face each other. If a facility won’t give you a tour or is lax about vaccinations, beware. These could be red flags regarding safety.

Bringing familiar items from home can also help, provided that your pet won’t destroy them and create a safety issue.

At least 32 states have laws that prohibit leaving an animal in a vehicle in dangerous conditions, or they provide civil immunity to folks who break in to save them.

Some laws specify that conditions must be life-threatening, including extremely hot or cold temperatures, poor ventilation or inadequate food or water. Others merely state that conditions must pose a likely threat to the animal’s health and safety.

Good Samaritans are usually required to follow several rules, including noting that forced entry is the only way to save the animal, calling 911 or local law enforcement first and remaining on the scene until they arrive.

Remember, animals are at risk in milder conditions than you might think. In 70-degree weather, it takes only 20 minutes for the inside of a vehicle to reach 100 degrees.

Dieters have long been warned against repeatedly gaining and losing weight, often called yo-yo dieting or weight cycling.

It’s bad for our bodies and potentially worse than staying overweight — or so the thinking goes.

A new study by researchers in Denmark and Germany finds, however, that the dangers of such up-and-down dieting might be overblown.

The researchers examined decades of research involving humans and animals and found no convincing evidence that weight cycling causes long-term harm in those with obesity.

For years, weight cycling has been tied to health concerns like muscle loss, slowed metabolism and higher risk of diabetes and heart disease.

The researchers pored over observational studies, clinical trials and animal studies focused on repeated weight loss and gain. They examined how weight cycling affects weight, body composition, metabolism and blood sugar.

They found no strong evidence that up-and-down dieting is responsible for gradual long-term weight gain, muscle loss or metabolism deceleration.

Regaining weight can unravel many of the benefits of weight loss, including lower blood pressure, cholesterol levels and blood sugar.

But that does not necessarily mean a dieter will be less healthy than they were before losing weight.

The study comes at a time when many are using obesity medications to lose weight but seeing the weight creep back when they stop taking them.

The researchers said that weight gain should not automatically be seen as harmful. Even temporary weight loss can bring important health benefits.

The bottom line? Climbing back on the horse might be better than abandoning it altogether after all.

Technically, you could call it fruit juice.

While tomato juice often shoulders the burden of brunch beverages and soup additives, it’s rarely a drink we reach for without purpose. Now, new research from scientists at Ohio State University points to tomato juice — with a hint of soy — as a potential panacea for inflammation. Specifically, the kind that occurs in overweight adults.

It’s important to note that this wasn’t any ordinary tomato juice.

Scientists were inspired by previous research that showed diets rich in soy and tomato products were linked to a lower chance of prostate cancer. They prepared the study’s beverage using added plant compounds from soy, creating a beverage that was richer in lycopene and other nutrients than a tomato juice without those enhancements. Lycopene is commonly found in red vegetables and is known for its antioxidant properties.

Participants drank six ounces of the juice twice a day for four weeks. Then, after a washout period, they repeated the behavior with a low-lycopene tomato juice. Scientists analyzed blood and urine samples after each beverage trial, finding fewer markers of inflammation after the tomato-soy juice.

Researchers said they wanted to see if they could treat inflammation with a food-based intervention. Next steps will include testing the juice in people with pancreatitis, a condition where the pancreas is inflamed. It can be acute or chronic, but causes discomfort in either iteration. Ideally, this juice would improve their quality of life.

Special or not, tomato juice isn’t for everyone. But for benefits like these? Hopefully science will eventually show it should be bottoms up.

If you want to predict how many birthday candles you’ll be blowing out, consult the body’s crystal ball: the thymus.

This long-overlooked part of the immune system was thought to be less important after childhood. Now, a study from Mass General Brigham suggests it might be more important than we think.

The thymus is a small gland in your lymphatic system, located in your chest and behind your sternum. It spends its time making T cells, a kind of white blood cell that assists your immune system with fighting off bad guys like the common cold.

Using AI, researchers analyzed the CT scans of tens of thousands of adults. Good thymus health — which researchers defined in parameters of organ size, structure and composition — was associated with a lower rate of mortality from any cause. People with healthy thymuses also had a 63% lower risk of death from heart disease, and a 36% lower risk of developing lung cancer.

Scientists think thymuses in poorer shape might be associated with less T cell diversity and a weaker immune system that struggles to quickly identify threats like cancer. In a related study, people with a healthier thymus undergoing treatment for cancer responded better than those whose gland was in worse shape. They were less likely to see their cancer progress and even had a lower risk of death.

Certain lifestyle factors, like higher weight, chronic inflammation and smoking, were linked to a less healthy thymus. However, researchers caution that more research is needed before we understand if, or how, we can improve the organ’s health. Until then, maybe we’ll start paying better attention to other unsung heroes of the body.

A meat-curing agent sold in a highly potent form online is connected to a rising number of suicides around the world.

In a new study from the United Kingdom, postmortem samples from 201 suspected suicides found that 87% involved nitrate or nitrite levels 100 times higher than normally found in the body.

Of those cases, 68% were men. Seventy-one percent were Gen Z or Millennials.

Nitrate and nitrites can be found in soil, air and water, but are often produced in labs for agricultural use and as a stabilizer in consumer products.

In a 2024 report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at least 768 suicides from 2018 to July 2023 in the United States involved antidotes and chelating agents, including sodium nitrite.

While that number represents less than 1% of all suicides here, the CDC’s report said cases were rising.

Last year, a National Institutes of Health study suggested that sodium nitrite’s availability online, combined with guidance on how to use it for self-harm, is a global public health problem.

The type of nitrites and nitrates that concern government officials are far more potent than those used in meat preservation. Ingested in high concentrations, nitrite renders blood unable to carry oxygen, suffocating organs.

The government reports say the issue of easily procured nitrites and nitrates merits immediate attention. First responders, nurses and doctors need to be alert to possible nitrite poisoning. Parents and loved ones need to know what is being ordered online. Forensic pathologists need better testing tools.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 for help.

Some moisturizers purport to address wrinkles and brighten. Others go to war with dryness, promising dewy skin without a single visible pore. But soon there might be a new contender on the shelf — one that aims to confer benefits that are far from skin deep.

Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a topical cream that could block the growth of cutaneous squamous [skwā′məs] cell carcinoma, or skin cancer.

The cream functions by obstructing the path of LSD1, an overexpressed enzyme in skin cancer cases that promotes tumor survival. The team’s hope is that the cream could be applied directly to both cancerous and precancerous areas, thus prompting immune cells to attack tumors.

The substance helps transmit information between the immune system and skin cells to kickstart the body’s own anti-tumor mechanisms. When researchers tested low doses of LSD1 on skin cells, the cream alerted skin cells to call for assistance from the immune system, which halted tumor growth.

Despite roughly 1 million Americans being diagnosed with skin cancer each year, people are spending increased amounts of time in the sun — and cases continue to rise. Though the majority of growths can be surgically removed, more than 5% of tumors ultimately metastasize, leading lead to thousands of deaths in the U.S. each year. Topical creams like the one in question could prove a safer, less painful alternative to surgery, with no risk of scarring or infection. Scientists aim to begin clinical trials in the next two years.

But an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. With summer upon us, the most effective way to thwart skin cancer is still our trusty sunscreen.

Napoleon Bonaparte, Babe Ruth and Lady Gaga were all lefties.

You might call them “southpaws,” the less-flattering “goofy-handeds” or, if you’re Australian, “mollydookers.”

And while there’s no comparable set of nicknames,  throughout the world, roughly nine out of 10 of us have a strong preference for using our right hand for most tasks — whether it’s eating with chopsticks, swinging a baseball bat or texting.

Scientists have long pondered why that is.

Now, a new study from Oxford University suggests that humans overwhelmingly became right-handed thanks to two big changes that happened during our evolution: walking upright and brain growth.

The team analyzed data from 2,025 monkeys and apes representing 41 primate species, using a statistical approach that frames data analysis using probability to represent uncertainty.

They tested several theories about the origins of what is called handedness or, more scientifically, lateralization. They delved into factors like tool use, habitat, body size, social structure, diet, movement and brain size.

Their results found that humans’ early ancestors, such as Australopithecus [Aus·​tra·​lo·​pith·​e·​cus], likely only had mild right-handedness, more like modern great apes. The stronger preference for using the right hand appears to grow significantly with the emergence of later primate species, species including Homo erectus and Neanderthals.

The researchers still have questions. For one: Why does left-handedness persist? Has human culture played a role?

Other animals, like parrots and kangaroos — both strong lefties — might also shed some light on these curious evolutionary patterns. Perhaps, when it comes to handedness, there is no real right way.

Many of us hated them in gym class. The push-up won’t make anyone’s list of the most enjoyable physical activities … unless you’re a Marine Corps drill instructor. Recruits, no doubt, would prefer a nice walk in the park.

Your heart, however, wants you to drop to the deck and give it 40.

Harvard researchers recently published a study showing that men who could complete at least 40 push-ups had a 96% lower risk of adverse cardiovascular events, such as heart failure, over a decade of follow-up.

The study tracked 1,100 male firefighters in Indiana. So, researchers caution that they cannot say with certainty that the benefit applies to women, older adults or those who are sedentary.

Exercises resembling the modern push-up have been around for centuries. Ancient Greek and Roman warriors used them to strengthen themselves for battle. Jack LaLanne, founder of the modern fitness movement, set a world record in 1956 with 1,033 push-ups finished in 23 minutes. He lived to age 96. And even then, it was pneumonia that ended his life, not his ticker.

The average age of the Indiana firefighters was 40.

The more push-ups they did, the better their hearts fared over the next 10 years. Those who could complete just 21 to 30 push-ups, for example, still had a 75% lower risk of cardiovascular events.

Scientists believe the push-up does more than build thick biceps. It also reflects whole-body health and the cardiovascular system’s ability to sustain effort.

The study does not show cause and effect. This is an association, so keep that in mind if you get the urge to show off to friends at a party. And take it easy.

You’re likely no Jack LaLanne.

The virtual meeting ends and you stretch, shuffling over to the snack cabinet. You see fruit snacks, cookies and raisins. The kitchen counter has a bowl of fruit. But you? You’re in the mood for something savory. Something with protein.

A new study published in Science suggests your body notices when you’re low on amino acids — and lets you know when you need protein. You can thank your gut-brain axis for that.

Like most animals, we can’t make our own amino acids in-house. These compounds act as building blocks throughout the body, making them essential for functions like tissue repair and hormone production. When we’re low on protein, our gut calls on two communication pathways: one through the nervous system, and the second through hormones. The first method is rapid, prompting us to seek protein quickly, while the second lasts longer, sustaining the protein-seeking behavior.

Researchers studied this in fruit flies and in mice. Notably, the behavior did not make flies and mice simply eat more — it decreased interest in sugars, like carbohydrates, while increasing attraction to protein-related nutrients. In fruit flies with unbalanced gut microbiomes, the behavior was stronger, meaning the microbiome itself might be responsible for guiding feeding behavior and nutrient availability.

In short, lacking certain nutrients does not result in a blanket feeling of hunger. Rather, animals are drawn toward foods that contain what their bodies need — and might even prioritize them.

That being said, if you find yourself craving ice cream … you probably just want ice cream.