Health and Wellness « Weekly Sauce

Radon, an invisible, naturally occurring radioactive gas, appears to raise a person’s risk of stroke, a new study suggests. Already known as the second leading cause of lung cancer, these new findings suggest exposure to radon can increase risk of stroke by as much as 14%, according to a report published Jan. 31 in the… read on > read on >

A new and worrisome antibiotic-resistant form of E. coli has been identified at a children’s hospital in China. Already, so-called ST410 strains of the E. coli bacterium — resistant to last-resort antibiotics called carbapenems — have become the most common drug-resistant strains seen in Chinese hospitals, according to British researchers. But a new, more virulent… read on > read on >

Black American women have much higher rates of high blood pressure than white women, and it’s especially deadly if hypertension sets in before the age of 35, new research shows. Black women diagnosed with high blood pressure before the age of 35 had triple the odds of suffering a stroke, compared to Black women without… read on > read on >

A walk in the woods appears to sharpen the mind better than an urban asphalt amble, a new brain scan study finds. People strolling through an arboretum at the University of Utah performed better on brain function tests than those who walked around an asphalt-laden medical campus, according to findings published recently in the journal… read on > read on >

Biogen, maker of the Alzheimer’s medicine Aduhelm, announced Wednesday that it would “discontinue the development and commercialization” of the controversial drug. Biogen will return the rights to Aduhelm to Neurimmune, the private firm that invented it, the company said in a statement. It’s a sobering new chapter for the drug, which first gained U.S. Food… read on > read on >

Even small increases in a man’s cardio fitness can significantly reduce his risk of developing prostate cancer, researchers report. An annual increase in aerobic fitness of 3% or more is linked to a 35% lower risk of prostate cancer, according to a report published Jan. 30 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. “Improvements in… read on > read on >

Elon Musk, co-founder of Neuralink, said this week that the company placed the first brain implant in a human over the weekend. In a statement posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter that is now owned by Musk, the billionaire said the patient was “recovering well.” He added that “initial results show promising neuron… read on > read on >

Toddlers are famously picky eaters, but parents may be doing their young child’s future gut a huge favor if they insist on a healthy diet. New research shows that toddlers who eat plenty of fish and vegetables, and precious few sugary drinks, are less likely to develop inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) by the time they… read on > read on >

For people with schizophrenia hospitalized after a psychotic episode, getting a long-acting antipsychotic injection works far better than pills to keep them from returning to hospital care. That’s the finding of a new study from researchers at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. They found that injected antipsychotic meds — which provide continuous treatment from… read on > read on >