Do You Know the ‘Hidden’ Signs of Asthma?

WEDNESDAY, May 11, 2016 (HealthDay News) — While most people know that wheezing is a sign of asthma, far fewer realize that trouble sleeping or a persistent cough may also be symptoms of the airway disease, a new survey shows.

Those findings may help explain why many adults don’t realize they have the disease and don’t seek treatment, the researchers said. But, one in every 200 U.S. adults is diagnosed every year with asthma, a condition called adult-onset asthma, the researchers said.

“A lot of people have asthma and don’t know it. Many adults do not have the traditional asthma symptoms, or they don’t have all of the symptoms,” said Dr. David Beuther. He is a pulmonologist at National Jewish Health in Denver, a hospital that specializes in respiratory diseases.

The hospital commissioned the national survey. It included more than 1,000 people who were aged 18 and older. They were asked about the symptoms of asthma.

Many knew the common signs of asthma, such as shortness of breath (89 percent) and wheezing (85 percent), the survey found.

But, when it came to more unusual symptoms, fewer people knew there was a connection between these problems and possible asthma. Just 65 percent knew that a persistent cough could be a sign of asthma. And only about half knew that chest pain and trouble sleeping could also be symptoms of asthma, the survey revealed.

“It’s not rare that your asthma doesn’t present like the textbook. It’s actually more common than most people realize. To the patient or perhaps the primary care provider, things that seem like a very unusual set of symptoms for asthma are actually quite common. That is why you often need a specialist to diagnose and treat it,” Beuther said in a hospital news release.

More information

The American Lung Association has more about asthma in adults

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What a Change in DEA’s Pot Rules Might Mean for Medical Research

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, May 10, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Most doctors approach medical marijuana with a great deal of uncertainty, because drug laws have hindered researchers’ ability to figure out what pot can and can’t do for sick patients.

That could soon change.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is weighing whether to loosen its classification of marijuana, which would remove many restrictions on its use in medical research.

If that occurs, doctors could start getting answers to the questions they regularly receive from patients regarding marijuana’s clinical benefits.

“I am asked as a practicing doctor even in a rural area about medical marijuana use, and I want to make sure I can give patients advice that’s evidence-based,” said Dr. Robert Wergin, board chair of the American Academy of Family Physicians. “We need those kinds of studies to help us give informed advice to our patients who ask about it now,” he explained.

The DEA has said it will decide this summer whether marijuana should be lowered from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule II drug, according to an April memo from the agency to Congress.

Schedule I drugs are considered drugs “with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse,” the DEA says on its website. Heroin, LSD and ecstasy stand alongside marijuana on the DEA’s Schedule I list.

On the other hand, Schedule II drugs have a high potential for abuse, but “there is the recognition that they have some medical value as well,” said Dr. J. Michael Bostwick, a professor of psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minn.

“This could be an important softening of regulations that make it difficult to do marijuana or cannabis research in this country,” Bostwick said.

Morphine, methamphetamine, cocaine and oxycodone are all Schedule II drugs, “because they have medical applications,” Bostwick said. “So, it’s not as if we don’t have precedent for substances that are dangerous from an addictive point of view being useful in certain medical situations.”

Studies have shown that marijuana might help decrease chronic pain and nausea, ease seizures, improve the appetite or be useful in psychiatric treatment, Wergin and Bostwick said.

But none of those studies has been large-scale and a definitive clinical trial. The reason: because marijuana’s DEA drug status prevents scientists from using large quantities of the plant in medical research, Wergin and Bostwick said.

All marijuana available for research purposes in the United States is grown at the University of Mississippi, which has an exclusive contract with the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to provide the nation’s entire research supply, according to the DEA’s memo to lawmakers.

In any given year, NIDA sends shipments of marijuana to a small handful of researchers, usually eight or nine, but sometimes as many as 12, the memo states. Researchers must go through a detailed registration process to gain access to the pot.

The American Medical Association (AMA) has come out in favor of loosening drug laws to “develop a special schedule for marijuana to facilitate study of its potential medical utility in prescription drug products,” according to a statement its officials provided ABC News.

“While studies related to a limited number of medical conditions have shown promise for new cannabinoid-based prescription products, the scope of rigorous research needs to be expanded to a broader range of medical conditions for such products,” the AMA added.

Back in December 2014, the American Academy of Neurology lamented the lack of solid marijuana research in a position paper.

Due to strict drug laws, researchers have not been able to determine whether medical marijuana could help treat neurological disorders such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease, the academy said.

The academy’s paper concluded with a call to deschedule marijuana and open it up to more research.

Expanded research wouldn’t necessarily lead to more people smoking pot for medical purposes, Wergin and Bostwick said.

Instead, it’s more likely that researchers would focus on how the components of marijuana, such as THC or cannabidiol, interact with the body in ways that might help ease symptoms or illness.

An entire system of receptors has been discovered throughout the body that responds to different components of cannabis, Bostwick said.

“Almost any system you name in the body has a potential cannabinoid receptor that could be manipulated in a way that could be useful,” he said. “When the drug was outlawed in 1970, we knew almost nothing about it. In the intervening 45 years, science has shown this endocannabinoid system actually exists. None of that was known when the drug was made illegal.”

Such research could result in medications derived from marijuana that would treat conditions without a “high,” Wergin said.

Wergin sees two main potential benefits from the descheduling of marijuana and any resulting boom in research.

First, he’d know what to tell patients about pot’s particular benefits. And second, he’d feel confident issuing a prescription for a marijuana-based medication, knowing that it’s a drug regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“This would result in higher-quality standardized product that’s FDA-approved,” Wergin said. “If I prescribe you an antibiotic, I’m very confident of what’s in it because of the FDA regulations on it. I don’t know how to prescribe marijuana to you, or what’s even in it.”

Paul Armentano, deputy director of the marijuana legalization group NORML, said that at this point a reclassification by the DEA would fall “well short of the sort of federal reform necessary to reflect America’s emerging reefer reality.”

Armentano added that even with descheduling, federal law still would require researchers to buy pot from NIDA’s University of Mississippi marijuana cultivation program.

“Simply rescheduling cannabis from I to II does not necessarily change these regulations, at least in the short-term,” Armentano said.

More information

For more on drug scheduling, visit the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

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What a Change in DEA’s Pot Rules Might Mean for Medical Research

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, May 10, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Most doctors approach medical marijuana with a great deal of uncertainty, because drug laws have hindered researchers’ ability to figure out what pot can and can’t do for sick patients.

That could soon change.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is weighing whether to loosen its classification of marijuana, which would remove many restrictions on its use in medical research.

If that occurs, doctors could start getting answers to the questions they regularly receive from patients regarding marijuana’s clinical benefits.

“I am asked as a practicing doctor even in a rural area about medical marijuana use, and I want to make sure I can give patients advice that’s evidence-based,” said Dr. Robert Wergin, board chair of the American Academy of Family Physicians. “We need those kinds of studies to help us give informed advice to our patients who ask about it now,” he explained.

The DEA has said it will decide this summer whether marijuana should be lowered from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule II drug, according to an April memo from the agency to Congress.

Schedule I drugs are considered drugs “with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse,” the DEA says on its website. Heroin, LSD and ecstasy stand alongside marijuana on the DEA’s Schedule I list.

On the other hand, Schedule II drugs have a high potential for abuse, but “there is the recognition that they have some medical value as well,” said Dr. J. Michael Bostwick, a professor of psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minn.

“This could be an important softening of regulations that make it difficult to do marijuana or cannabis research in this country,” Bostwick said.

Morphine, methamphetamine, cocaine and oxycodone are all Schedule II drugs, “because they have medical applications,” Bostwick said. “So, it’s not as if we don’t have precedent for substances that are dangerous from an addictive point of view being useful in certain medical situations.”

Studies have shown that marijuana might help decrease chronic pain and nausea, ease seizures, improve the appetite or be useful in psychiatric treatment, Wergin and Bostwick said.

But none of those studies has been large-scale and a definitive clinical trial. The reason: because marijuana’s DEA drug status prevents scientists from using large quantities of the plant in medical research, Wergin and Bostwick said.

All marijuana available for research purposes in the United States is grown at the University of Mississippi, which has an exclusive contract with the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to provide the nation’s entire research supply, according to the DEA’s memo to lawmakers.

In any given year, NIDA sends shipments of marijuana to a small handful of researchers, usually eight or nine, but sometimes as many as 12, the memo states. Researchers must go through a detailed registration process to gain access to the pot.

The American Medical Association (AMA) has come out in favor of loosening drug laws to “develop a special schedule for marijuana to facilitate study of its potential medical utility in prescription drug products,” according to a statement its officials provided ABC News.

“While studies related to a limited number of medical conditions have shown promise for new cannabinoid-based prescription products, the scope of rigorous research needs to be expanded to a broader range of medical conditions for such products,” the AMA added.

Back in December 2014, the American Academy of Neurology lamented the lack of solid marijuana research in a position paper.

Due to strict drug laws, researchers have not been able to determine whether medical marijuana could help treat neurological disorders such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease, the academy said.

The academy’s paper concluded with a call to deschedule marijuana and open it up to more research.

Expanded research wouldn’t necessarily lead to more people smoking pot for medical purposes, Wergin and Bostwick said.

Instead, it’s more likely that researchers would focus on how the components of marijuana, such as THC or cannabidiol, interact with the body in ways that might help ease symptoms or illness.

An entire system of receptors has been discovered throughout the body that responds to different components of cannabis, Bostwick said.

“Almost any system you name in the body has a potential cannabinoid receptor that could be manipulated in a way that could be useful,” he said. “When the drug was outlawed in 1970, we knew almost nothing about it. In the intervening 45 years, science has shown this endocannabinoid system actually exists. None of that was known when the drug was made illegal.”

Such research could result in medications derived from marijuana that would treat conditions without a “high,” Wergin said.

Wergin sees two main potential benefits from the descheduling of marijuana and any resulting boom in research.

First, he’d know what to tell patients about pot’s particular benefits. And second, he’d feel confident issuing a prescription for a marijuana-based medication, knowing that it’s a drug regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“This would result in higher-quality standardized product that’s FDA-approved,” Wergin said. “If I prescribe you an antibiotic, I’m very confident of what’s in it because of the FDA regulations on it. I don’t know how to prescribe marijuana to you, or what’s even in it.”

Paul Armentano, deputy director of the marijuana legalization group NORML, said that at this point a reclassification by the DEA would fall “well short of the sort of federal reform necessary to reflect America’s emerging reefer reality.”

Armentano added that even with descheduling, federal law still would require researchers to buy pot from NIDA’s University of Mississippi marijuana cultivation program.

“Simply rescheduling cannabis from I to II does not necessarily change these regulations, at least in the short-term,” Armentano said.

More information

For more on drug scheduling, visit the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

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Pumping Iron? Try Longer Breaks Between Sets for Max Muscles

TUESDAY, May 10, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Taking longer rests during weight training workouts could maximize muscle growth, a small study suggests.

Many experts recommend shorter periods of rest, but that may actually impair muscle growth, according to the researchers at the University of Birmingham in England.

Their study included 16 men who did weight training with either one or five minutes of rest between sets. Muscle samples were collected at zero, four, 24 and 28 hours after exercise and analyzed for what’s known as myofibrillar protein synthesis (MPS).

In the early part of exercise recovery, MPS levels increased 152 percent in the men who took longer rests between sets, compared with 76 percent in those who took shorter breaks.

“With short rests of one minute, though the hormonal response is superior, the actual muscle response is blunted. If you’re looking for maximized muscle growth with your training program, a slightly longer interval between sets may provide a better chance of having the muscle response you’re looking for,” study author Leigh Breen said in a university news release.

People starting weight training programs should rest at least two to three minutes between sets, the researchers suggested.

“Over time, they may need to find ways to push beyond the plateau of muscle building that commonly occurs, and so may gradually decrease their rest periods,” Breen said. “For experienced lifters, it’s possible that they may not experience the same blunted muscle building response to short rest intervals, particularly if they have trained this way for a prolonged period and adapted to this unique metabolic stress. Nonetheless, similar recommendations of two to three minutes between sets should help to ensure maximal muscle growth in well-trained individuals.”

The study was published recently in the journal Experimental Physiology.

More information

The American College of Sports Medicine offers strength training advice.

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This Is How to Get The 1-Minute Workout Right

Photo: Getty Images

Got one minute? Then you have enough time to squeeze in an effective work out. No really. According to a small new study, folks who did 3 sets of 20-second all-out bike sprints reaped the same benefits after 12 weeks—increased endurance and fat percentage loss—as those who cycled at a moderate pace for 45 minutes. (Before you ask, yes there was a warm up and cool down period.)

The key words, though, are “all out.” What exactly does that mean? “The level required to do an all-out effort is hard; people don’t find it pleasant,” says study author Martin Gibala, PhD, professor of kinesiology at McMaster University in Ontario. “We typically characterize ‘all out’ as ‘sprint from danger pace’ or the intensity you would exert to save your child from an oncoming car.”

Yeah, that’s pretty intense. Are you willing to put up with a temporary level of extreme discomfort for less exercise? If so, we’ve got a couple of moves from Faheem Mujahid, owner and master trainer at InFluence in Miami, that will help you really make those 60 seconds count. Choose one and give it your all. And remember, “the more of these mighty minutes you add into your day, the more you will gain,” says Mujahid.

Alternating Jump Lunge

Start with your feet hip-width apart, extend your right foot forward about two feet and lower into a lunge. Drive your body off of the ground and switch the position of your legs in the air. You should land in a lunge with your left foot forward. Keep alternating sides.

Dumbbell or Kettlebell Swing

Place a 15- to- 20-pound kettlebell or dumbbell (or lighter if need be) on the ground in front of you. Plant feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, and lower body down halfway into a squat; your butt should stick out behind you. Pick up the kettlebell or dumbbell; as you straighten your legs, push through your heels and explode hips upward to swing kettle bell or dumbbell up to chest height. Return to your half squat as you swing the kettlebell or dumbbell back through your legs. Continuing swinging kettlebell or dumbbell back and forth.

Atomic Push-Up

Illustration: Jess Levinson

Get into a straight-arm plank with hands a few inches outside of shoulders and feet on a stability ball (or in the loops of TRX suspension training bands). Bend arms and lower chest to the floor; push back up. Bring knees in toward chest, then kick them back out; repeat entire sequence.

Burpee

Stand with feet hip-width apart; squat down and plant hands on the ground. Jump feet back so that body comes into a straight-arm plank, and then do one pushup. Hop feet back in towards hands, stand up, and then jump.

Squat Overhead Press

Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding 15- to 20-pound dumbbell (or lighter if need be) at shoulders. Lower into a squat, until thighs are parallel to floor. Push through heels to rise back to standing as you press the weights overhead.

Lunge With Dumbbell Curl

Photo: Getty Images

Stand with knees slightly bent, holding a 15- to 20-pound dumbbell (or lighter if need be) in each hand, palms forward. Step forward with right leg, and lower into lunge position (don’t let front knee go past toes). At the same time, tighten left bicep and curl left hand toward chest (as shown). Return to starting position, then repeat on the other side.

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Can the Anesthetic Ketamine Ease Suicidal Thoughts?

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, May 10, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Low doses of the anesthetic ketamine may quickly reduce suicidal thoughts in people with long-standing depression, a small study suggests.

By the end of three weeks of therapy, most of the 14 study volunteers had a decrease in suicidal thoughts and seven ended up not having any such thoughts, the researchers found.

To get into the study, patients had to have had suicidal thoughts for at least three months, plus persistent depression. “So, the fact that they experienced any reduction in suicidal thinking, let alone remission, is very exciting,” said lead researcher Dr. Dawn Ionescu, an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Despite these results, many mysteries still remain about the drug, Ionescu said. For example, “we don’t know yet how the drug works,” she said. “In addition, we do not know if the doses of ketamine being used for depression and suicide will lead to addiction — more research is needed in this area.”

The study used only intravenous ketamine, but oral and intranasal doses may also work, she added.

Whether ketamine might ever become a standard therapy for depression and suicidal thoughts is also up in the air. “That is something we need to investigate,” Ionescu said.

All of the study volunteers were being treated for major depressive disorder on an outpatient basis. They had all been experiencing suicidal thoughts for three months or more, and were resistant to other treatments, the researchers said. Eleven of the 14 volunteers were female, and their mean age was 50 years.

Ketamine, which is primarily an anesthetic, had been shown in other studies to quickly relieve symptoms of depression, Ionescu said.

For the study, two weekly intravenous infusions of ketamine were given over three weeks. The first three doses of ketamine were five times lower than typically given when the drug is used as an anesthetic. After initial treatment, the dose was increased.

Patients were checked before, during and after treatment, and every other week during three months of follow-up. Assessments included measurement of suicidal thinking, in which patients were asked how frequent and how intense their suicidal thoughts were, the study authors said.

Of the seven patients who stopped having suicidal thoughts, two continued to be free of both thoughts of suicide and symptoms of depression during the three-month follow-up, the findings showed.

No serious side effects from the drug were seen, the researchers said.

“The most common side effects are an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, and changes in the way people perceive their environment. For example, some people will dissociate and feel like their environment looks different or that parts of their body look different. Generally, the side effects are mild and only last for one to two hours,” Ionescu said.

Two patients dropped out of the study. One dropped out because of the drug’s side effects, and the other had a scheduling conflict, the researchers said.

All of the patients knew they were getting ketamine. The researchers are now finishing up a study in which some patients received the drug and others got a placebo.

Drugs currently used to treat suicidal thinking include lithium and clozapine, but these drugs can have serious side effects requiring careful monitoring of blood levels. Electroconvulsive therapy can also reduce suicidal thoughts, but its availability is limited and it can have serious side effects, such as memory loss, the researchers explained.

Cognitive behavioral therapy, a type of “talk” therapy, can also be an effective treatment for suicidal thinking, but may take weeks to months to be effective, the study authors pointed out.

Dr. Ami Baxi is director of adult inpatient services in the department of psychiatry at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. She said, “Ketamine, often used as an anesthetic in medicine, has been recently shown to cause a rapid antidepressant effect and reduce suicidal thoughts in patients with treatment-resistant depression.”

However, this study has many limitations, she added. First, it was a very small study and “only two of the 14 patients were able to maintain this reduction three months after the infusion,” Baxi said.

Second, patients knew they were receiving ketamine, “leaving them exposed to a possible placebo effect,” she explained.

Baxi agreed this is a promising study, but it’s too early to know the effects of ketamine on suicidal thinking. “Additional studies remain essential to enhance our knowledge on the psychiatric benefits of ketamine,” she said.

The report was published in the May 10 online edition of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

More information

For more on depression, visit the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health.

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Clues to How Popular Heartburn Drug Might Harm Arteries

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, May 10, 2016 (HealthDay News) — A popular over-the-counter heartburn medication accelerated aging of blood vessel cells in lab tests, raising red flags about its long-term effect on heart health, researchers say.

Faster aging of blood vessel cells exposed to the antacid Nexium (esomeprazole) might potentially hinder the tasks these cells perform to prevent heart attack and stroke, the new study suggests.

These lab results could explain why other studies have shown increased risk of heart disease in people who use proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) — the class of heartburn medication that includes Nexium, said study senior author Dr. John Cooke.

“Our finding that the lining of blood vessels is impaired by proton pump inhibitors is a unifying mechanism for the reports that PPI users are at increased risk for heart attack, stroke and renal failure,” said Cooke, chair of cardiovascular sciences at the Houston Methodist Research Institute.

AstraZeneca, the maker of Nexium, responded with a statement noting that the study was conducted in a laboratory setting, “not in humans within a controlled clinical trial. Therefore, conclusions around cause and effect cannot be made.

“Patient safety is an important priority for AstraZeneca and we believe all of our PPI medicines are generally safe and effective when used in accordance with the label,” the drug maker said.

However, many people aren’t using PPIs in accordance with FDA guidelines, which in Nexium’s case would limit them to a four-week course of treatment three times a year, Cooke said.

“They are being used ubiquitously, for long periods of time. They aren’t being used as originally approved,” Cooke said.

Dr. P.K. Shah, director of the Oppenheimer Atherosclerosis Research Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said these study results provide a reasonable explanation for how PPIs might affect the heart health of long-term users.

“We have clinical data that raises a suspicion that they might be bad if used long-term, and we have now experimental data that suggests a potential mechanism,” Shah said. “But we still have unanswered questions.”

For this study, Cooke and his colleagues cultured the cells that line the walls of blood vessels, which are called endothelial cells.

These cell cultures were exposed every day to doses of Nexium “similar to what a patient would receive” for an extended period of time, Cooke said.

Protective endothelial cells produce substances that relax the blood vessel, and create a slick “Teflon” coating inside the vessel that prevents plaques or blood clots from sticking, Cooke said.

PPIs treat heartburn by blocking acid-producing cells in the lining of the stomach, Cooke said. But researchers now suspect PPIs might also interfere with acid-producing cells elsewhere in the body.

In the case of blood vessel cells, researchers found that long-term PPI exposure impaired acid production by the lysosomes in the cells. Lysosomes typically clear waste products, but exposed to PPIs they didn’t produce enough acid to clear waste.

The waste buildup caused endothelial cells to age rapidly, Cooke said, which could hamper their ability to protect blood vessels.

“They start to convert from Teflon to something more like Velcro,” he said. “Things begin to stick.”

Another prominent class of heartburn medications, H2 blockers, did not have the same aging effect on blood vessel cells, the study found. H2 blockers include Tagamet (cimetidine), Pepcid (famotidine) and Zantac (ranitidine).

Dr. Mark Creager, president of the American Heart Association, added that a lab study like this cannot prove a direct link between PPI use and increased risk of heart attack or stroke.

“It certainly raises the question. But now the question, once raised, needs to be answered in a well-designed clinical trial, which hasn’t taken place yet,” said Creager, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “I would not advise clinicians to jump from this important basic science study to recommendations they would provide to their patients.”

Another expert said PPIs should be used with caution due to possible harms “that have nothing to do with the digestive system.”

“Much more work needs to be done before we can draw a line with confidence from this class of drugs to some of these potential side effects, but these researchers are taking an important first step,” said Dr. David Robbins, interim chief of gastroenterology at Lenox Hill Hospital, in New York City.

“Bottom line: If you take a daily PPI, which can save lives in the right scenario, check with your doctor and see if you really need it,” Robbins said.

Lifestyle adjustments — such as exercising, cutting down on alcohol or caffeine, and avoiding heavy meals just before bedtime — might also ease heartburn, Cooke added.

The findings were published May 10 in the journal Circulation Research.

More information

For more on heartburn medications, visit the American Academy of Family Physicians.

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How Junk Food Wrecks Your Body

Getty Images

It’s no surprise that junk food is low in healthy nutrients and high in ingredients like sugar and salt. But new animal research suggests that a diet high in junk food might harm the kidneys in a similar way to type-2 diabetes.

In the study, published in the journal Experimental Physiology, rats were fed a junk food diet of chocolate bars, marshmallows, biscuits, and cheese for eight weeks. Other rats were fed chow that contained 60% fat for five weeks. By analyzing the rats’ blood sugar levels and the function of blood sugar transporters in the rats’ kidneys, the researchers were able to see what happened to the kidneys of rats that ate junk food and fatty foods, compared to the kidneys of rats with diabetes.

All of the groups experienced “very similar” negative effects and increases in blood sugar levels, says lead study author Havovi Chichger, a senior lecturer in Biomedical Science at the Anglia Ruskin University in the U.K.

The study was small and used rats rather than people, so the results can’t be extrapolated to humans. “Animal studies provide insights about potential effects in people, but they rarely provide definitive answers,” says Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center, who was not involved in the study. “Animal research is most meaningful when interpreted in the overall context of established evidence. In this case, we certainly already knew that junk food is not good for us. so this is not a great surprise.” In humans, eating a diet high in sugar has been shown to interfere with a person’s blood sugar levels and increase their risk for type 2 diabetes.

This is not the first study to suggest that junk food does more to your insides than simply add fat around the middle; it can also disrupt hormones, change a person’s sense of taste and even raise the risk for mental health problems. A 2015 study published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings found that a calorie from sugar is much more dangerous to the body than a calorie from other carbohydrates, like starch. Added sugars were linked to poor insulin levels and blood sugar, as well as harmful fat storage around the belly, which promotes problems like inflammation and high blood pressure. Another study published in theAmerican Journal of Clinical Nutrition looked at questionnaires from around 70,000 women and found that diets higher in added sugar and refined grains, like white bread, were associated with a higher risk for depression a few years later. Sugar had an especially strong link, and healthier foods, like fiber, fruits and vegetables appeared to have a protective effect. The study only found a correlation, but overeating sugars and refined starches can increase inflammation and risk for heart disease, both of which have been linked to depression, the study authors said. Eating junk food and can increase the risk for insulin resistance, which has been associated with cognitive problems also found among people with depression.

This article originally appeared on Time.com.

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If 1 in 10 U.S. Smokers Quits, $63 Billion Saved

TUESDAY, May 10, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Kicking the smoking habit boosts more than just your health — it also saves money.

That’s because health care costs plummet just one year after stopping, new research shows.

A 10 percent decline in smoking would reduce U.S. health care costs by $63 billion the following year, a study from University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) estimated.

“Our study shows that significant changes in health care expenditures begin to appear quickly after changes in smoking behavior,” study first author James Lightwood, an associate professor in the UCSF School of Pharmacy, said in a university news release.

The researchers reviewed health care costs linked with smoking in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. They looked at the time period between 1992 and 2009.

In addition to the direct effects that cigarettes have on smokers, the study also included the indirect effects of passive smoking on nonsmokers.

Smoking causes a wide range of serious health issues. These include heart and lung disease, as well as pregnancy complications, the researchers explained.

The researchers found clear evidence that reducing the number of people who smoke, and getting smokers to have fewer cigarettes, was quickly followed by a rapid decline in health care costs.

A major reason is that the risks for smoke-related diseases also change quickly once smokers quit, the study reported. For example, once smokers quit, their risk of heart attack and stroke drop by roughly 50 percent within one year. The risk of having a low birth weight baby virtually disappeared when a pregnant woman stopped smoking during her first trimester, the researchers said.

“These findings show that state and national policies that reduce smoking not only will improve health, but can be a key part of health care cost containment even in the short run,” said study co-author, Stanton Glantz, director of the UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education.

The study authors estimated that California spent $15 billion less on medical costs in 2009 because smoking in that state is well below the national average. On the flip side, Kentucky’s higher-than-average smoking rate cost the state nearly $2 billion more in health care expenditures, the study authors said.

“Regions that have implemented public policies to reduce smoking have substantially lower medical costs,” the study authors wrote. “Likewise, those that have failed to implement tobacco control policies have higher medical costs.”

The study was published May 10 in PLOS Medicine.

More information

The American Cancer Society provides more information on the benefits of quitting smoking.

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Meditation May Sharpen Memory

By Amy Norton
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, May 10, 2016 (HealthDay News) — A regular meditation practice might benefit older adults beginning to notice memory problems, a small pilot study finds.

The study focused on 25 older adults deemed to have mild cognitive impairment — problems with memory and thinking that may, in some cases, progress to dementia.

Researchers randomly assigned them to either 12 weeks of meditation and other yoga practices, or 12 weeks of memory enhancement training — which taught strategies for improving forgetfulness.

In the end, the study found, both groups did a little better on tests of verbal memory — the kind involved in remembering names or lists of words, for example. But the meditation group showed a bigger change, on average, in tests of visual-spatial memory — which is needed for navigating while walking or driving, or trying to recall a location.

The meditators also showed fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety.

To Dr. Helen Lavretsky, the senior researcher on the study, that is a key finding.

“The benefits of yoga and meditation are diverse,” said Lavretsky, a professor-in-residence in the psychiatry department at the University of California, Los Angeles.

There are several reasons the practices might help seniors with memory issues, Lavretsky said.

One way is by easing their anxiety about those problems. But, there may also be more-direct effects on “brain fitness,” she explained.

Her team found evidence of that in specialized MRI scans that charted study participants’ brain activity. In both groups, changes were seen in the “connectivity” of certain brain networks involved in memory.

The findings, published May 10 in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, are based on this small group of older adults followed for a limited time.

So it’s hard to draw firm conclusions, said Mary Sano, director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine, in New York City.

For one, she said, older adults with mild cognitive impairment are an “amorphous group.” It can include people with temporary memory issues, or anxiety over memory lapses that are not pathological.

“The study participants’ scores were pretty high, so that raises the question, are they really impaired or just nervous [about memory issues]?” said Sano, who was not involved in the study.

That said, many other studies have pointed to “neural effects” from meditation, Sano noted. So it’s not surprising, she said, that people who practiced it would show changes on memory tests.

For the study, all the adults recruited by Lavretsky’s team were ages 55 and older who had memory complaints — forgetting names and appointments, or misplacing things, for example.

Eleven went through 12 weekly sessions in memory enhancement training, which has proven helpful in past studies of people with mild impairments. It involves learning techniques for managing memory issues, and performing mental exercises at home — ranging from crossword puzzles to computer-based programs.

The yoga/meditation group also had a weekly class. It involved breathing practices, “kriyas” — which combine some movement, stretching and breathing exercises — and meditation. Their homework was to perform the 12-minute meditation every day on their own.

The study tested a specific form of meditation called kirtan kriya, which involves hand movements, chanting mantras and visualizations.

That combination, said Lavretsky, may be particularly engaging for the mind.

Since the study couldn’t prove cause-and-effect, what’s not clear, Sano said, is whether the study results reflect a specific effect of meditation. Learning a new activity stimulates the mind — as does the social engagement of group classes, she explained.

Lavretsky agreed, and noted that many different activities — physical, mental and social — could help keep the brain fit.

“People like different things,” Lavretsky said. “Personally, I don’t like crossword puzzles. Mind-body practices, like yoga and meditation, offer another option.”

The study tested a specific form of meditation, so it’s not known whether other types would show the same results, Sano said.

On the other hand, she said, giving meditation a try is unlikely to be risky.

Older people who want to try a class should be aware that some “yoga” classes may involve a vigorous physical practice and little or no meditation, Lavretsky said.

She suggested that older adults with physical limitations look for gentler forms of yoga, such as restorative yoga and yin yoga. They can also try classes that focus on meditation alone.

More information

The Alzheimer’s Association has more on mild cognitive impairment.

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