Health and Wellness « Weekly Sauce

The goal is to improve public understanding of the FDA decision-making process read on >

Folks who breathe in more air pollution have a higher risk of developing a common non-cancerous brain tumor, a new study says. Several different types of air pollutants, including particle pollution and nitrogen dioxide, appear to increase risk of meningiomas — tumors that form in the layers of tissue that cover the brain and spinal… read on > read on >

Loneliness dramatically increases a person’s risk of depression and poor health, a new study says. Half of folks who say they always feel lonely (50%) have clinical depression, compared with just 10% of those who report never feeling lonely, researchers reported July 9 in the journal PLOS One. They also have many more days when… read on > read on >

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2022, the majority of the 28.8 million U.S. adults who smoked cigarettes wanted to quit; approximately half had tried to quit, but fewer than 10% were successful. Many folks say quitting smoking was the hardest thing they have ever done. This includes people… read on > read on >

Agency says these fees place an additional burden on taxpayers who already fund the underlying research read on >

Barbie’s latest look includes a polka-dot crop top, chunky heels — and an insulin pump. Mattel has released its first-ever Barbie with type 1 diabetes, complete with a glucose monitor, phone app and a purse packed with supplies. The goal? To help kids with diabetes feel seen — and to show that managing a health… read on > read on >

A new malaria treatment has been approved for newborns and infants under 11 pounds, filling a major gap in care for some of the most vulnerable children. The medicine, called Coartem Baby (also known as Riamet Baby), was approved by Switzerland’s health agency, Swissmedic, The Washington Post reported. It was developed by the Geneva-based nonprofit… read on > read on >

A healthy plant-based diet might protect people from inflammatory bowel diseases, a new study says. People noshing healthy plant-based foods had a 14% lower risk of Crohn’s disease and an 8% lower risk of ulcerative colitis, researchers found. On the other hand, an unhealthy diet containing more animal fats and vegetable oils was associated with… read on > read on >

More kids are being hospitalized for broken collarbones, a new study has found. In fact, the hospitalization rate for broken collarbones more than doubled among children between 2014 and 2021, researchers reported. This increase occurred even though the overall rate of childhood clavicle fractures remained relatively stable during the past 10 years, researchers said. “This… read on > read on >

AI programs can exhibit racial bias when evaluating patients for mental health problems, a new study says. Psychiatric recommendations from four large language models (LLMs) changed when a patient’s record noted they were African American, researchers recently reported in the journal NPJ Digital Medicine. “Most of the LLMs exhibited some form of bias when dealing… read on > read on >