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UPI
23-07-2025
- Health
- UPI
'Weekend warrior' workouts may reduce risk of death in diabetics
A "weekend warrior" exercise schedule can lower diabetics' risk of early death, a new study says. Photo by Adobe Stock/HealthDay News A "weekend warrior" exercise schedule can lower diabetics' risk of early death, a new study says. People with diabetes who get all their recommended weekly exercise in one or two sessions -- the "weekend warrior" approach -- were 21% less likely to die early from any cause than their counterparts who don't work out, researchers reported Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine. They also were 33% less likely to die from heart disease, results show. "These findings reinforce the importance of flexible physical activity patterns for people with diabetes as they can improve insulin sensitivity and glycemic control -- especially for those who face barriers to maintaining regularly routine exercise," concluded the research team led by Zhiyuan Wu, a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. Exercise guidelines recommend that people get at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity every week to maintain their health, researchers said in background notes. Moderate activity can include brisk walking, slow bicycling, active yoga, ballroom dancing and general yard work. However, it's not always easy to find time to work out, researchers said. "Many people struggle to engage in regular physical activity throughout the week due to time constraints," researchers said. "To overcome this, some condense their recommended (physical activity) into one or two weekly sessions -- a pattern known as the 'weekend warrior' approach." For this study, researchers analyzed data gathered from nearly 52,000 people with diabetes between 1997 and 2018 as part of the National Health Interview Survey conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The survey included questions on people's exercise patterns. Researchers compared that to 2019 death certificate data, to see whether physical activity made a difference. Not only did "weekend warrior" workouts reduce risk of premature death, they actually appeared to be more effective than regular exercise spaced out three or more times across a week, the team found. Folks with diabetes who met exercise guidelines with three or more shorter workouts weekly had a 17% lower risk of death from any cause and 19% lower risk of heart-related death, compared with those who don't work out, results show. However, researchers noted that the observational study couldn't draw a direct cause-and-effect link between exercise and lower risk of death. Future studies should more comprehensively track people's daily physical activity, including the exercise they might get as a part of their work or commute, researchers said. More information Harvard Medical School has more on the importance of exercise for diabetics. Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
UPI
23-07-2025
- Health
- UPI
Study: Urgent care often prescribes inappropriate medications
Urgent care clinics are handing out fistfuls of antibiotics, steroids and opioids for conditions these drugs won't help, a new study says. Photo by Adobe Stock/HealthDay News Urgent care clinics are handing out fistfuls of antibiotics, steroids and opioids for conditions these drugs won't help, a new study says. "Previous studies had shown that patients continue to receive antibiotics for diagnoses where they may not be indicated, such as for a viral respiratory infection, especially in urgent care settings," said co-lead researcher Dr. Shirley Cohen-Mekelburg, an assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School. "Our findings reveal that this trend of inappropriate prescribing includes other classes of drugs -- including glucocorticoids -- and a variety of conditions," Cohen-Mekelburg added in a news release. For the study, published Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers analyzed health care data for more than 22.4 million urgent care visits that occurred between 2018 and 2022. More than 12% of those visits resulted in a prescription for antibiotics, 9% in a steroid prescription and 1% in a scrip for opioids. The research team then looked to see how many prescriptions were handed out for health conditions the drugs aren't meant to treat. Among the inappropriate prescriptions, researchers found: Antibiotics prescribed for more than 30% of patients with ear infections, nearly 46% of patients with urinary symptoms and 15% of patients with bronchitis. Steroids prescribed for nearly 24% of patients with a sinus infection, 41% of patients with bronchitis and 12% of patients with upper respiratory infections. Opioids prescribed for nearly 5% of patients with muscle pain, more than 6% of patients with abdominal pain or GI symptoms and 4% of patients with sprains or strains. These results jibe with recent studies showing that urgent care is the most common type of health care visit to result in inappropriate prescriptions for antibiotics to treat viral respiratory infections, researchers said. The drugs are likely being handed out because the urgent care staff doesn't know better, patients are demanding specific meds and no one is providing back-up support for decisions about prescribing, researchers said. The consequences may be far-reaching: Antibiotic-resistant bacteria like MRSA have become a growing threat to health, due to the overuse of antibiotics. Likewise, America's opioid crisis has been fueled by too many painkiller prescriptions doled out for dicey reasons. Researchers concluded that drug stewardship programs are needed to make sure urgent care clinics are handing out the right drugs for the right conditions. "Reducing inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics, glucocorticoids and opioids will require a multifaceted approach," Cohen-Mekelburg said. "Providers at urgent centers would benefit from greater support and feedback in making these decisions." More information The Mayo Clinic has more on urgent care. Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
UPI
27-06-2025
- Health
- UPI
Most kids don't need overnight care after allergic reactions
Researchers said most children with allergic reactions can be safely treated with an epinephrine injection and discharged. Photo by Adobe Stock/HealthDay News Many kids are spending a lot of unnecessary time under observation in a hospital following a sudden allergic emergency, a new study concludes. About 17% of kids are admitted for overnight observation following a scary allergic reaction to food, medicine or insect bites, researchers reported. But 95% of children treated for allergic reactions can be safely discharged within two hours after receiving a dose of epinephrine, according to results published in The Lancet: Child and Adolescent Health. That number rises to 98% if doctors err on the side of caution and keep kids under observation for four hours, researchers found. "For most patients, we are probably observing them too long," said researcher Dr. Kenneth Michelson, a pediatric emergency specialist at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. "This might sound minor, but if you brought your toddler in for a scary allergic reaction, it's the difference between going home at 11 p.m. versus going home at 1 a.m. or 3 a.m.," he said in a news release. "Our finding gives us more confidence that after a couple of hours, if symptoms are improving in specific ways, we can probably send the child home." Most kids who'd had an allergic reaction can be routinely treated with an epinephrine jab and sent home, researchers said in background notes. However, about 5% experience a "biphasic reaction," meaning their symptoms can return despite that first dose of epinephrine, researchers said. For this study, researchers gathered data from more than 5,600 ER visits at 31 hospitals in the U.S. and Canada where allergic reactions were treated with an epinephrine injection. About 90% of the kids had experienced an allergic reaction to foods like peanuts, eggs, milk, shellfish, sesame, gluten or soy, researchers said. Another 6% reacted to medication and 3% to insect stings. Only about 5% of the kids needed a second dose of epinephrine within two hours of their initial injection, researchers found. Likewise, only 2% needed the second jab after four hours. Most kids admitted to hospital beds never needed a second epinephrine shot or intensive care, the study concluded. This means these kids and their parents are undergoing additional hassle for no real benefit, researchers said. "We have seen patients and their families avoid or delay going to the emergency department because they didn't want to sit there for hours of observation," researcher Dr. Hugh Sampson, an allergist at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, said in a news release. "Such delays can prove dangerous. This study's findings support discharging patients more expeditiously, which will likely reduce patient reluctance to seek necessary help." Holding kids needlessly also ties up crucial hospital resources, the team added. "Pediatric emergency departments can get crowded quite quickly, especially during winter infection season. We need to ensure efficient throughput to allow us to provide access to as many patients as we can," senior researcher Dr. David Schnadower, director of emergency medicine at Cincinnati Children's, said in a news release. "An important value of this study is that it was large enough that the results can give clinicians confidence that discharging patients showing no concerning symptoms in less than two hours is going to be safe for most children," he added. More information Johns Hopkins Medicine has more on allergic reactions in children. Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
UPI
27-06-2025
- Health
- UPI
Gun suicide crisis grows in U.S., hitting record levels
About 27,300 gun-related deaths -- 58% of all gun deaths -- were suicides in 2023. Photo by Adobe Stock/HealthDay News Gun-related suicides in the U.S. reached record highs for the third straight year in 2023, a new report on gun violence says. About 27,300 gun-related deaths -- 58% of all gun deaths -- were suicides in 2023, according to research from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. That means an American used a gun to kill themselves every 19 minutes, researchers said. The increase in gun-related suicides has occurred even as firearm homicides have declined, researchers noted in their report, Gun Violence in the United States 2023: Examining the Gun Suicide Epidemic. "Suicide is a growing crisis in the U.S. and guns are driving that crisis," lead author Rose Kim said in a news release. She's an assistant policy advisor at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions. Overall, guns were involved in 46,728 deaths in the U.S. in 2023. That's one death every 11 minutes. Regarding firearms-related suicides, the report says that: Rates were higher in rural regions (63%) than in large metropolitan areas (50%). The state with the highest gun suicide rate, Wyoming, had about 10 times the gun suicide rate of Massachusetts, which had the lowest. Men were 7 times more likely than women to kill themselves with a gun. The gun suicide rate among men 70 and older was by far the highest. The firearm suicide rate among Black youth 10 to 19 more than tripled and among Hispanic youth more than doubled during the past decade. "Unfortunately, guns are much more deadly than other suicide attempt methods," co-author Dr. Paul Nestadt, medical director of the Bloomberg School's Center for Suicide Prevention, said in a news release. To combat this, researchers recommended the adoption of policies to prevent children's access to guns, restrict the ability to purchase guns quickly, and make it easier to take firearms away from people at a higher risk for violence. "Strategies that put time and space between guns and those at high risk of suicide are proven to save lives," Nestadt said. Total gun homicides fell nearly 9% from the year before, from 19,651 to 17,927 between 2022 and 2023, researchers found. Despite this, 2023 gun homicides represented the fifth-highest total on record, they noted. For the fourth year in a row, guns were the leading cause of death among young people ages 1 to 17, with 2,566 total deaths in 2023, researchers found. If you or a loved one is experiencing a suicidal crisis or emotional distress call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. More information The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on firearm injuries and deaths. Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
UPI
25-06-2025
- Health
- UPI
Study: 1 in 5 U.S. food, drink products contain synthetic dyes
Synthetic food dyes are added to 1 in 5 packaged foods and drinks sold by top U.S. food manufacturers, a new study says. Photo by Adobe Stock/Zilong Zhang/HealthDay News Synthetic food dyes are added to 1 in 5 packaged foods and drinks sold by top U.S. food manufacturers, a new study says. The most common dye was Red 40, which was present in 1 out of 7 (14%) products, according to the paper published Wednesday in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. "Products containing synthetic dyes also had a much higher average total sugar content compared to products without synthetic dyes, suggesting that companies are using synthetic food dyes to market sweet foods and beverages," lead researcher Elizabeth Dunford said in a journal news release. She's a nutrition consultant with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Gillings Global School of Public Health. Red 40 is among eight synthetic dyes that U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has vowed to remove from the American food supply. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in April it was moving to revoke authorization for the dyes Citrus Red 2 and Orange B, and would work with industry to eliminate Red 40, Green 3, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1 and Blue 2 from the food supply by the end of 2026. "These poisonous compounds offer no nutritional benefit and pose real, measurable dangers to our children's health and development," Kennedy said in an April news release. "That era is coming to an end." The new study shows how widespread these dyes have become at the supermarket, researchers said. For the study, researchers evaluated the ingredients in nearly 39,800 grocery store products produced by the top 25 U.S. food manufacturers, using a database that represents more than 80% of products sold in America. Children are more likely to be exposed to these dyes, results show. About 28% of products in the top five food categories marketed to children contained synthetic dyes, compared with 11% in the remaining categories. Those categories included confections, sugary beverages, ready-to-eat meals, breakfast cereals and baked goods. Sports drinks (79%), beverages made from concentrates (71%) and confections (54%) were the products most likely to contain synthetic dyes, researchers found. Carbonated beverages (30%), confections (26%) and sports drinks (14%) represented the lion's share of products containing synthetic dyes purchased by Americans. "We included sales data in our analysis of synthetic dye exposure, which may help to inform regulatory policies in this area," Dunford said. "Although certain food categories may contain more products with synthetic dyes, it is also important to consider what foods consumers are buying, as even food categories with smaller proportions of synthetic dyes may be purchased and consumed in significant amounts and thus contribute more to overall dietary intake of dyes," she added. On average, products with synthetic dyes also contained 141% more total sugar compared to offerings without the dyes, researchers said. But products with synthetic dyes had lower levels of sodium and saturated fat. "There are a number of policy options to limit dye exposure, including bans and warning labels," researcher Thomas Galligan said in a news release. He's principal scientist for food additives and supplements at the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, D.C. "Companies can also voluntarily reduce the use of synthetic dyes in their products," he added. "Our results showing a range in companies' proportional use of dyes in many food categories suggests that reduction in use is readily feasible." More information The Center for Science in the Public Interest has more on the history of synthetic food dyes in the United States. Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
