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Medscape
08-07-2025
- Health
- Medscape
Survey Shows Patients Interested in Integrative Dermatology
TOPLINE: A survey reported that nearly two thirds of patients expressed interest in integrative dermatology, a model that blends evidence-based conventional care with root-cause approaches, including nutrition, herbal protocols, and mind-body therapies. METHODOLOGY: Researchers conducted a 21-question survey at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Dermatology clinic, Pittsburgh, to assess patient perspectives on integrative dermatology, and patients were provided with a brief review on integrative medicine. The analysis included 205 completed surveys with a 90.71% response rate. Participants comprised 67.32% women. Their average age was 45 years, 76.10% were White, 9.25% were Black, 7.80% were Asian/Pacific Islander, and 1.95% were Hispanic individuals. TAKEAWAY: Nearly two thirds of patients (64.39%) expressed willingness to visit an integrative dermatologist, particularly for acne (60.49%), atopic dermatitis (56.01%), and skin cancer (48.78%). Individuals who believed that stress (odds ratio [OR], 6.06; P = .01), social environment/interactions (OR, 2.33; P = .04), or chronic health conditions (OR, 2.28; P = .035) had a strong impact on skin health showed a higher likelihood of seeking care from an integrative dermatologist. The likelihood of visiting an integrative dermatologist was higher among patients who believed that dermatologists should consider broader health aspects such as activity levels (OR, 3.63; P = .003), social support (OR, 3.33; P = .010), and spiritual health (OR, 4.56; P = .007). Cost emerged as a potential barrier for 30.24% of patients considering integrative dermatological care. IN PRACTICE: 'Overall, the findings of this survey highlight potential key drivers of patient preferences for integrative dermatology and reinforce its potential as a preferred approach for individuals seeking holistic skin health management,' the study authors wrote. 'Addressing financial concerns and increasing awareness of integrative therapies may further support its integration into dermatologic practice,' they added. SOURCE: The study was led by Alana Sadur, Department of Dermatology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was published online on July 2 in Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. LIMITATIONS: The study was limited by single-site enrollment and a predominantly White respondent population, which could affect the generalizability of findings across diverse demographic groups. DISCLOSURES: The study did not receive any funding. One author disclosed serving as a speaker for Regeneron and Sanofi. This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
CNN
01-07-2025
- Health
- CNN
These women dedicated almost 50 years to science. Their efforts may soon be trashed
For decades, researchers have been collecting samples from hundreds of thousands of women and tracking their health. The work has deepened our basic understanding of human health, but now the entire project is in danger. When nurses Patricia Chubb, 70, and her mother, Charlotte Mae Rohrbaugh, 98, joined the fledgling Harvard University-led Nurses' Health Study in 1976, they had no idea it would last for nearly 50 years. 'It's probably the longest, if not one of the longest, prospective health care studies for women that's ever been done,' said Chubb, who lives in Pennsylvania. 'They picked nurses to do the study because they know how to answer health questions correctly and can draw their own blood and the like — it's very cost-effective.' Study data gathered through the years from some 280,000 nurses in the United States has contributed enormously to improving how we live. The work has informed dietary recommendations, including national dietary guidelines; led to hormonal therapies for breast cancer prevention and treatment; and contributed to research about how nutrients, inflammatory markers and heavy metals influence disease development. Yet all of that priceless data may soon be discarded due to President Donald Trump's ongoing feud with Harvard over what Trump claims is a failure to protect Jewish students during campus protests. On Monday, an investigation by the Trump administration claimed that Harvard was in 'violent violation' of the Civil Rights Act by being 'deliberately indifferent' or a 'willful participant in anti-Semitic harassment of Jewish students, faculty, and staff.' Harvard strongly disagreed with the administration's claims. Interestingly, Trump had posted on Truth Social on June 20 that Harvard had 'acted extremely appropriately' during negotiations and that he was close to a 'Deal' with the university that would 'be 'mindbogglingly' HISTORIC, and very good for our Country.' But then, in the letter sent to Harvard on Monday, Trump officials made it clear Harvard would continue to lose 'all federal financial resources,' including millions for research, if the university did not comply with the administration's wishes. Funding for the Nurses' Health Study and its companion study for men, the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, had already been abruptly withdrawn in mid-May, said Harvard nutritionist Dr. Walter Willett, who has led the studies since 1980. Willett and his team were left scrambling to find the funds needed to protect freezers stocked with stool, urine and DNA specimens gathered from thousand of nurses for nearly five decades. Just the liquid nitrogen needed to keep the specimens frozen costs thousands of dollars a month. 'Of course, we would all love to have an agreement that lets us get on with research, education, and working to improve the health and well-being of everyone.' said Willett, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, who has published over 2,000 papers on nutrition. 'But this can't happen if we turn over admissions, faculty hiring and curriculum to governmental control.' Twenty-one-year-old Jackie Desmond joined the Harvard-based study when she graduated from nursing school in 1978. She considered the research so valuable that she later enrolled her 9-year-old son Kyle in a spin-off study investigating family nutrition. At 41, he still participates. 'They send us questionnaires once or twice a year about lifestyle and nutrition, what medications you're on, your lifestyle habits, when you sleep, when you eat, everything,' Desmond said. 'I've sent them samples of blood, urine, feces, whatever they need.' The study even has solicited toenails, which carry markers of heavy metals. One reason the study was so special is it was only focused on women, said Desmond, who is now 68 and lives in Connecticut. 'Before that, most studies were done only on men. So, it was about time to focus on studying women and they came up with some amazing information that's been very helpful to many of us,' Desmond said. 'You know for that reason alone, these samples are irreplaceable — losing them might put women's health research back many years,' she added. For Desmond and Chubb, the cuts in research funding make no sense. 'There's no connection in my mind between antisemitism and medical research. Why are you getting rid of decades of research? It's infuriating,' Desmond said. 'And it's very personal — I guess they'll just toss my DNA into the dump.' The threats to cuts also arrive as the Trump administration pushes its 'Make American Healthy Again' initiative, which Chubb finds ironic. 'You know what? There's lots of research going on to get us healthier and keep us healthier, and those are cuts that should not be made,' Chubb said. 'It's so shortsighted to shoot first and aim later.' Data from the Nurses' Health Study has vastly improved how all Americans live and eat while also impacting the health of people around the world, Willett said. 'From the efforts of these dedicated nurses we learned trans fats were terrible for health, and now those are basically gone from our food supply,' he said. 'We also found one of the earliest links between cigarette smoking and heart disease.' Data from the nurses' studies found red meat and alcohol can lead to breast cancer in women. Other key findings also proved lifestyle choices can improve health — the research identified diets that may reduce risk of cognitive decline. A list of scientific advances produced from the Nurses' Health Study data appears on its website. Dorothy Dodds, who died at 83, joined the original study in 1976. When her daughter Martha became a nurse in 1982, she joined the second wave of research, called the Nurses' Health Study II. A third generation of the study is still enrolling participants — the Nurses' Health Study 3. For Martha Dodds, now 68, her family's years of dedication to the study is priceless. 'You know, nurses don't get paid a lot,' Dodds said. 'We do our work because we want to help others. We took the study seriously and were careful and honest with our answers. 'My one little part may have helped women cut down on alcohol consumption, or maybe it'll help both men and women exercise more and cut back on trans fats,' Dodds added. All of the nurses CNN spoke with consider their years of dedication to the Nurses' Health Study a lifetime accomplishment. 'I'm so proud to be a participant, I'll put it in my obituary,' Chubb said. 'And my 98-year-old mom — who's still got all her faculties, and some of other people's, too — has chosen the Nurses' Health Study for donations in lieu of flowers in her funeral plans.' Chubb and her mother are in good company. Families of nurses across the country have proudly listed their Nurses' Health Study participation in their obituaries: Karen Ann Mudgett from Michigan, Donna Palmer from Georgia, Jeanette Thomas from Pennsylvania, Mary Ellen Natale from New Jersey, Patricia Anne Cobb from California, Marion Jones from Florida, Irene Rees from Virginia and many more. 'And now these hundreds of thousands of hours of work by nearly 300,000 nurses will just be discarded?' Dodds said. 'We're going to take 50 years of research and all this biodata and just destroy it, make it useless? 'It's like burning the Library of Congress — you just can't get that back.' Get inspired by a weekly roundup on living well, made simple. Sign up for CNN's Life, But Better newsletter for information and tools designed to improve your well-being.
The Independent
30-06-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Hoping to lose weight? Intermittent fasting might be worth trying
Want to lose weight? Researchers report that intermittent fasting appears to be comparable to traditional restrictive diets — and one form is better than the rest. Intermittent fasting refers to a diet in which people reduce the number of hours they eat in a day. Benefits to this strategy have previously been identified by physicians. After hours without food, the body exhausts its sugar stores and starts burning fat, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. In the U.S., two in five adults are living with obesity, and the condition costs America's healthcare system nearly $173 billion a year. People who are obese have a higher risk of serious chronic conditions, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Now, doctors and researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and other international institutions are adding to prior analysis, finding in a new study that alternate-day fasting also demonstrates greater benefits compared with just curbing calories and other intermittent fasting strategies. Alternate-day fasting means a day-long fast on alternate days. 'Of all forms of intermittent fasting, alternate day fasting — in which a person fasts for a full day, every other day — was most effective,' Harvard said in a statement announcing the findings. The research was published recently in the journal in The BMJ. To reach the conclusions, the authors analyzed the health of more than 6,500 adults in 99 clinical trials. Nearly 90 percent were obese and had existing health conditions. The trials ranged in length from between three weeks and just around a year. All intermittent fasting strategies and may lead to small reductions in body weight compared with a calorie deficit. However, alternate-day fasting demonstrated superior results, resulting in 2.8 pounds greater weight loss compared to traditional calorie-restricted diets in addition to improvements in several other body measurements related to cardiometabolic risk. Those include waist circumference, cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and c-reactive protein- an indicator of inflammation. Alternate-day fasting was tied to lower levels of total and 'bad' cholesterol. Bad cholesterol increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. 'However, these differences did not reach the minimally important clinical threshold of at least [4.4 pounds] of weight loss for individuals with obesity, as defined by the study authors,' they noted in a release. They said that longer duration trials are needed to further substantiate their findings, and that intermittent fasting is not the right dietary choice for everyone, despite its potential effectiveness. 'As with any dietary change, it is important to consult with health care providers and to consider one's medical history, dietary preferences, social environment, and realistic long-term compliance,' Zhila Semnani-Azad, postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Nutrition and the study's lead author, noted.
The Independent
23-06-2025
- Health
- The Independent
The fasting strategy that scientists suggest rivals the most effective methods
A new study indicates alternate-day fasting is more effective at boosting metabolism compared to both calorie restriction and intermittent fasting. An analysis of 99 clinical trials found alternate-day fasting was the only dietary strategy to provide a modest benefit in reducing body weight compared to continuous calorie restriction. This form of fasting was also associated with lower levels of total and LDL, or 'bad' cholesterol when compared to time-restricted eating. Researchers noted that alternate-day fasting did not meet the clinically significant threshold of at least 2kg of weight loss for individuals with obesity. The study concluded that longer-duration trials are needed to further substantiate these findings and understand the long-term effects of various dietary strategies.
Irish Times
19-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Health takes a back seat when working and raising young children. We just get on with it
When you are working and raising young children, you have little time to think about your own health or your physical and mental needs. It is an oversight that is reinforced by social and cultural messages that encourage women to subsume their needs for others. We just get on with it. Does this have an impact on our careers and our long-term health and happiness? Possibly. Research from the McKinsey Health Institute shows that working-age women are not in the prime of their lives and may actually be in the prime of their health decline. Women live longer but spend 25 per cent more time in poor health than men, the study found, an average of nine years more. And it is not towards the end of their lives that this 'health gap' manifests itself but predominantly during women's main working and childbearing years. READ MORE Addressing the women's health gap could add €1 trillion to the global economy by 2040, according to the report Closing the Women's Health Gap. 'This estimate is probably conservative, given the historical underreporting and data gaps on women's health conditions, which undercounts the prevalence of and undervalues the health burden of many conditions for women,' it said. In Ireland, for example, the number of women in employment has more than doubled in the past 26 years to more than 1.3 million The difference between health outcomes for men and women results from the structural and systematic barriers women face in terms of access to appropriate healthcare, lack of data and low investment in women's health. Women were largely invisible to the medical and scientific communities until three decades ago. They were considered 'small men', and the impact of their hormones and physical differences were not taken into account when trials were conducted to research disease, when teaching about symptoms, treatment and even medication dosages and their possible side effects. When the scientific community woke up to the fact that women's bodies were actually different from those of small men in 1993, women had already entered the workforce in large numbers. And the number has grown exponentially since then. In Ireland, for example, the number of women in employment has more than doubled in the past 26 years to more than 1.3 million. Irish doctor Hazel Wallace, author of Not Just a Period, says women's health is still not taken as seriously as men's by the medical profession. Women are frequently misdiagnosed, their ailments dismissed and are patronised or laughed at. This medical gaslighting, a failure to acknowledge their illness, and shame often prevent women from taking paid sick leave off. It's not just frustrating, it's harmful, as they're not getting access to appropriate healthcare, says Wallace. Women can lose years of their life to disability. The average length of time it takes to diagnose endometriosis is 10-35 years even though it affects 10 per cent of the 190 million women of childbearing age globally. Endometriosis is a chronic disease that causes severe, life-impacting pain during periods, sex, bowel movements and/or urination, plus chronic pelvic pain, fatigue and sometimes depression, anxiety and infertility. It can start from a woman's first period and last until menopause. There is no known cure but treatment can help control symptoms and pain. Yet many women are told it's all in their head or that they're being overly emotional. So they suffer decades of pain unnecessarily. [ Can you afford to get sick in Ireland? Opens in new window ] The types of medical care women receive also differ. Cardiovascular disease is the biggest killer of women globally yet heart attacks in women present differently. Women have a general feeling of discomfort, nausea or just feel something is off. Medical professionals are taught to look for a pain in the chest or arm, symptoms that are typical for men. As such, women are seven times more likely to die in an A&E due to heart attack because their symptoms are minimised or ignored. How much stress, burnout, sick days and poor health might be prevented by doctors simply taking women's health complaints seriously instead of gaslighting them ? Women's poor health affects their partners' and children's lives too. If one of the main earners and carers in a family is regularly debilitated by pain, inevitably their partner needs to take sick days to care for them, their children or elderly relatives. They may even have to quit their jobs and depend on State supports. Two-income families are a necessity for most people in modern Ireland. The Government, employers and doctors need to help ensure that women (and their partners) can keep earning and caring for loved ones throughout their lives. Early detection and treatment of chronic conditions would increase productivity and the longevity of women's careers and reduce the number of sick days each year, a financial and economic benefit for families, employers and the economy. [ 'Menstrual health affects everything - our work, our relationships, our mental health. Yet it's still whispered about' Opens in new window ] Society needs to focus on the root causes of the women's health gap and help support them to live healthier, happier and more productive lives. One way to help improve things is to start collecting relevant data to inform policy. Dr Sara Burke , director of the Centre for Health Policy and Management at Trinity College Dublin, says we are just at the beginning of trying to understand women's health, or experience of health, and what the public policy response should be to improve it. Previously, medical tests and trials were only conducted on healthy white men of working age, so our understanding of gender-based health differences and outcomes is limited. 'Good data or information helps us understand what the problem is, and when it's broken down by gender, age, disadvantage, ethnicity, that's very helpful. It's only when you have that data that you can you really understand what's going on and begin doing something about it.' Medical educators are also waking up to the issue. The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland's School of Population Health recently launched a Women's Health Research Network to promote and advance research dedicated to women's health in Ireland. Dr Angela Flynn, cofounder of the network, said: 'Women's health has been underrepresented in Ireland's research agenda for far too long. A long-term investment strategy is needed to secure dedicated funding from national agencies.' Companies that address women's health issues stand to make significant profits in the coming years Women experience unique health challenges, yet many conditions remain poorly understood or lack tailored prevention, diagnosis and management strategies, according to the network. 'One in five women of reproductive age lives with obesity in Ireland , impacting reproductive health, pregnancy outcomes and intergenerational health. One in six couples in Ireland experiences infertility . Endometriosis affects an estimated 155,000 women. 'Heart disease and stroke account for a quarter of all female deaths in Ireland. Menopause increases the risk of osteoporosis and heart disease. Each year almost 3,600 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in Ireland – 30 per cent of all cancer diagnoses.' According to the 2016 Healthy Ireland survey, young women – those aged 15-24 – have the highest levels of negative mental health. Despite these figures global investment in research focusing on women's health is less than 5 per cent of total research and development spending and it is mainly cancer-related, according to McKinsey. Companies that address women's health issues stand to make significant profits in the coming years. For too long, the beauty and fashion industries have been the only ones to gain from products and services targeting women. Venture capital firms and investors have largely failed to invest in women and in businesses that address women's health, ignoring a potentially lucrative and powerful market. Women are the biggest spenders in households and, despite the health gap, they are gaining in economic power too. Watch this space. Margaret E Ward is chief executive of Clear Eye leadership consultancy. margaret@
