Surge of ticks in US Northeast sets off health concerns
They're dragging cloth through the terrain to collect the critters and hey're finding more arachnids than usual.
Dr. Tom Daniels is the director of Fordham University's Louis Calder Center.
'It's been a really hot year for ticks. We're seeing numbers that are generally about 30 to 40% higher than we saw last year, for example.'
The bulk of the students findings are blacklegged ticks, responsible for spreading Lyme disease.
Other species included the American dog tick, which is linked to Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and the invasive Asian longhorned tick.
'There's speculation, of course, that one of the reasons we're seeing more ticks, not just a number, but even a higher diversity, has to do with global warming. And that certainly is a factor. We're seeing ticks in areas that we hadn't seen them before. But the black legged tick numbers go up and down from one year to the next. And we don't always know why it is that that happens.'
Scientists also point to a soaring deer population and people moving to more wooded areas.
'The wildlife is here, the ticks are here, and now we're here. And that raises our risk.'
His lab also operates the Fordham Tick Index - tracking tick activity across the region.
This summer it's consistently showing high risk for tick bites in the tri-state area: the region around southern New York, Connecticut and northern New Jersey.
More tick bites means a greater risk for tick-borne illnesss like Lyme disease, which affects nearly half a million Americans annually, according to the CDC.
Dr. Bruce Faber is an infectious disease physician.
'Only about three or 4% of ticks carry Lyme. Nevertheless, there's so many ticks and so many tick bites in certain areas. If you go hiking in the woods in the Northeast right now and you don't do anything to protect yourself, it would not be unusual to see that individual come back with five or ten ticks all over their body.'
Experts are urging precautions like using tick repellents, wearing long sleeves and checking yourself and pets after activities outside.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNN
14 minutes ago
- CNN
Making these lifestyle changes reduce chronic disease, even if you have a genetic risk
Better health for your whole body can be broken down into just seven factors, according to a new study. Life's Simple 7 is the American Heart Association's guidelines for achieving and maintaining ideal cardiovascular health. The factors include not smoking, a nutritious diet, regular exercise, a healthy weight, optimal blood pressure, controlled blood sugar and well-managed cholesterol. Researchers reviewed 483 studies on the impacts of maximizing Life's Simple 7 on the health of many different body systems over the course of people's lives in a meta-analysis published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Maintaining ideal levels of at least three of Life's Simple 7 metrics was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, even if someone had a genetic predisposition, according to the data. And better scores across all of the factors showed benefits in many body systems beyond cardiovascular health. 'A few years ago, we learned that heart health and brain health are very closely tied. Through this review, we found that almost every organ system and bodily function also benefits from maintaining the healthy lifestyle behaviors of Life's Simple 7,' said lead study author Dr. Liliana Aguayo, a research assistant professor at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and the Global Diabetes Research Center at Emory University in Atlanta, in a statement. 'We were pleasantly surprised to find that Life's Simple 7 at optimal levels touched every aspect of health, from head to toe. It goes well beyond just cardiovascular health to encompass whole-body health,' she added. The researchers conducted a systemic review of studies that followed a gold standard approach, said Dr. Nour Makarem, assistant professor of epidemiology and co-leader of the Chronic Disease Unit at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City. Makarem was not involved in the research. One of the most significant findings of the research is that a little change makes a big difference when it comes to lifestyle and health, Aguayo said. The study assessed adherence to Life's Simple 7 using a scale from 0 to 14 points. Each improvement by 1 point was associated with an 11% decrease in dementia risk, a 6% decreased risk of eye disease, a 23% decreased risk of fatty liver disease, and an 11% decreased risk of chronic kidney disease, Aguayo said. 'This means that small changes, for example, moving from obesity to overweight, adding any physical activity even if below recommended levels counted as progress,' she said. Many of the studies showed an adherence to Life's Simple 7 was associated with maintaining brain and lung function, vision and hearing, and teeth and muscle strength over the course of aging, according to the data. The studies included in the meta-analysis used Life's Simple 7 to evaluate lifestyle behaviors, but the AHA has since updated the metrics to Life's Essential 8. The new guidelines are more comprehensive, such as including avoiding secondhand smoke, vaping and nicotine products in the not smoking factor and pointing people to the Mediterranean diet or DASH diet under the healthy eating metric, Makarem said. DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension; high blood pressure is a major contributor to heart disease and stroke. Importantly, the update added an eighth metric that recognizes the role of sleep in long-term health, he added. Good sleep means seven to nine hours a night for most adults, 10 to 16 hours for children ages 5 and younger, 9 to 12 hours for kids ages 6 to 12, and 8 to 10 hours for adolescents ages 13 to 18, according to the AHA. The study confirms that adopting a healthy lifestyle is important to achieve optimal health as well as managing the conventional risk factors for cardiovascular disease –– weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar, Aguayo said. Everyday lifestyle choices have a big impact on overall health, and it's worth it to take steps toward better cardiovascular health, Aguayo said. 'The key message is that it is never too early or too late to make small, feasible changes,' she said in an email. 'Small improvements in diet, physical activity, smoking, or managing risk factors (weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and sugar) can have meaningful benefits, not just for heart health, but for all the body, from head to toe.' For a heart-healthy diet, Makarem recommends focusing on plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains and consuming lean proteins such as fish. She also recommended limiting processed foods, sodium and sugar-sweetened beverages. Adults should engage in 150 minutes of moderate physical activity — like walking, dancing or gardening — or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity a week, Makarem added. Even considering how impactful small changes can be, ideal cardiovascular health is very rare –– with less than 4% of people worldwide meeting the criteria, Aguayo said. 'We must do more to support young people, especially women, by making it easier, more affordable, and achievable for all to improve their cardiovascular health,' she added. 'Cardiovascular disease is still the number one killer of women. Supporting the heart health of young people and women is both cost-effective and the right thing to do.' Sign up for CNN's Fitness, But Better newsletter series. Our seven-part guide will help you ease into a healthy routine, backed by experts.
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Why are so many men color-blind?
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. An estimated 300 million people worldwide are color-blind. This typically means they can't distinguish certain shades of color, they struggle to tell how bright colors are or, more rarely, they can't see any colors at all. Color blindness doesn't affect males and females equally, though. According to Cleveland Clinic, the condition affects about 1 in 12 males, compared with 1 in 200 females. So why are so many more males color-blind than females? The answer comes down to the genetics governing the function of the human eye. People see colors using specialized cells in the backs of their eyeballs called cones. There are three types of cone cells, and each is tuned to be most sensitive to certain wavelengths of light. "There are three types of cones that see color: red, green and blue," Dr. Usiwoma Abugo, a clinical spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology, told Live Science in an email. "When one or more of these color cone cells are absent or not working properly, color blindness happens." The most common form of color blindness is red-green color blindness. This happens when people are born without the type of cones that are attuned to red and/or green light, or when those cones are in short supply or are inadvertently tuned to the wrong wavelength of light. If a person has problems with the blue-sensitive cones in their eyes, they will be blue-yellow color-blind, although this form of color blindness is less common than red-green. And if every type of cone is missing or substantially impaired, it can cause total color blindness, also called "complete color vision deficiency." But this form of color blindness is extremely rare, affecting fewer than 1 in 30,000 individuals. Related: New cells discovered in eye could help restore vision, scientists say Color blindness affects males more often than females because it's typically caused by a recessive genetic trait linked to the X chromosome. Recessive traits typically aren't expressed unless a person inherits two dysfunctional copies of a gene, meaning one copy from each parent. As such, a person with one functional copy of a cone-cell gene will usually have normal color vision. Most males carry one X and one Y chromosome in each cell; they inherit their single X chromosome from their mother and their Y from their father. The genes responsible for the light-sensitive proteins that constitute cone cells are located solely on the X chromosome, though, so that means males get one only copy of each gene — and just one chance for each to work properly. Thus, if that lone copy has a mutation, they'll likely be color-blind. Females, on the other hand, typically have two X chromosomes in each cell — one from each parent. So even if one X chromosome carries a faulty version of a cone-cell gene, the other often carries a working copy that can compensate. As a result, females are much less likely to develop color blindness, although they can still carry and pass on the faulty genes that underpin the condition. RELATED STORIES —Scientists hijacked the human eye to get it to see a brand-new color. It's called 'olo.' —'Super-vision' contact lenses let wearers see in the dark — even with their eyes closed —What animal has the best eyesight? "Women can experience color blindness, but it's quite rare and is usually caused by something other than genetics," Abugo said. Conditions such as inflammation of the optic nerve, cataracts and glaucoma can cause color blindness later in life, for example. For now, there aren't any widely available cures for color blindness, but some researchers are investigating experimental gene therapies that could give people with visual deficits tied to their genetics the chance to see the world in full color. In these animal experiments and early trials with humans, scientists use a harmless virus to deliver functional cone genes into the eyes. These therapies have so far been used to restore full color vision in animal models with the same genetic mutations that color-blind people have, and now, they're now being investigated in humans. This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to offer medical advice.
Medscape
37 minutes ago
- Medscape
Long-Term Rimegepant Use Safe for Migraine Prevention
TOPLINE: The use of the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) antagonist rimegepant 75 mg for 52 weeks showed a favorable safety profile and sustained benefits for migraine prevention in a new open-label extension (OLE) study. The treatment was associated with a reduction in monthly migraine days (MMDs), as well as a low frequency of adverse events (AEs) and no significant hepatic safety concerns. METHODOLOGY: The original phase 2/3 multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial included adult participants who had 4-18 moderate-to-severe migraine attacks per month. As reported previously, participants who received one tablet of rimegepant 75 mg every other calendar day for 12 weeks had significantly fewer MMDs than those who received matching placebo, meeting the primary endpoint. The treatment phase was then followed by a 52-week OLE period, where safety and tolerability were assessed through AE monitoring, vital signs assessments, physical examinations, ECGs, and laboratory tests, with special attention to hepatic-related AEs. All OLE participants received the active anti-CGRP. Exploratory outcomes during the extension period included the mean reduction in the number of MMDs and the proportion of participants achieving ≥ 50% and 100% reductions in the number of MMDs. TAKEAWAY: Among 603 participants who entered the OLE period, 71% of the participants completed the study; 52% experienced at least one AE, with most deemed to be mild. Only 2% of participants reported serious AEs, none of which were related to the liver or related to the study drug. Treatment-related AEs occurred in 15% of participants, leading to drug discontinuation in 3%. The most common AEs reported were constipation, upper respiratory tract infection, nausea, migraine, increased liver enzymes, and weight gain, although each occurred in ≤ 1% of participants. The hepatic safety profile was favorable, and liver-related AEs were rare. The mean number of MMDs decreased by 6.2 d/mo over the OLE period, with sustained and increasing treatment benefits being observed without a decrease in the effect. The proportion of participants achieving ≥ 50% and 100% reductions in the number of MMDs increased during the extension period. IN PRACTICE: 'This trial found that participants who took rimegepant every other day and as needed (up to one 75 mg tablet a day) experienced a reduction in migraine days and experienced few side effects. Moreover, the treatment benefits of rimegepant increased over a 1-year period without losing effectiveness,' the investigators wrote. SOURCE: This study was led by David Kudrow, MD, California Medical Clinic for Headache, Santa Monica, California. It was published online on June 30 in Headache. LIMITATIONS: Key limitations included the exclusion of participants with extremely frequent headaches (> 18 headache days per month), which limited the generalizability of the findings. The requirement for a consistent ≥ 50% monthly reduction may have underestimated sustained efficacy, post-randomization dropouts may have skewed the OLE sample, the lack of an active comparator may have introduced bias, and participants' awareness of receiving the drug may have affected reporting. Efficacy endpoints were also exploratory, so definitive conclusions on long-term effectiveness could not be drawn. DISCLOSURES: This study was funded by Biohaven Pharmaceuticals. Several investigators reported having financial or employment ties with the funder or other pharmaceutical companies. One investigator also reported being on the editorial board of journals, including Headache. Full details are provided in the original article. This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
