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If you live in an area with more high-heat days, with a heat index above 90°F, you are likely to experience faster biological aging than if you reside in a cooler region. In fact, you are likely to age an extra 14 months over a six-year period.

This study from the University of Southern California just published in Science measured epigenetic changes in 3,686 subjects 56 years old and older. DNA methylation patterns were used to estimate biological aging. The data suggests that extreme heat may speed up aging in older adults at the molecular level.

Older adults are vulnerable to heat-driven body damage because ineffective sweating makes it harder for their bodies to cool down. This latest information suggests that traditional warm weather retirement destinations that now clock many days of extreme heat may be unhealthy.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adr0616

#heat #aging

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So say neurologists at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In a mouse model, they show that a nasal spray containing an anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody significantly reduces brain inflammation and speeds recovery after a traumatic brain injury (TBI).

This antibody, sprayed into the nasal cavities, activates regulatory T cells, Tregs, that then travel to the brain and release IL-10 that in turn reduces microglial-medial inflammation there.

This anti-CD3 nasal spray must still prove its effectiveness in humans. If so, it will become a treatment for the TBI that follows concussions, motor vehicle accidents, and other sports-related head trauma.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-01877-7

#traumaticbraininjury #tbi #sports #cd3 #treg #il10 #mva #nasalspray

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University of South Carolina neurologists just reported to the International Stroke Conference that that regular flossing lowers the risk of certain strokes. Their study followed 6,278 participants for more than 25 years.

Those who flossed at least once weekly had a 21% lower incidence of ischemic stroke and a 44% lower risk of stroke associated with atrial fibrillation. The flossing prevents gum disease and reduces plaque buildup that both increase the level of inflammation in brain blood vessels but also in the heart leading to atrial fibrillation.

There is growing evidence that oral health is closely linked to heart health. Regular flossing as well as brushing are habits that have major health benefits. The study looked at once a week, but we all should be flossing as well as brushing after every meal.

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/regular-flossing-tied-reduced-ischemic-stroke-risk-2025a10002t7?ecd=a2a

#flossing #stroke #periodontitis #plaque #inflammation #atrialfibrillation

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A clinical trial just published in the International Journal of Pediatric Otolaryngology found that children who ate ice cream after surgery had better pain control compared to those who didn’t. The study group included 48 children undergoing this common childhood surgery.

The data showed that, at 6, 12, and 18 hours post-op, children consuming ice cream reported significantly less pain, required less pain medication, and were able to resume oral intake sooner. The ice cream did not trigger an increase in post-operative complications.

Children recovering from a tonsillectomy do need some non-narcotic pain medications. Cold, sweet ice cream does help the medicine go down.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165587625000412

#tonsillectomy #icecream #pain #analgesics

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A shocking 60% of commercial baby foods on the shelves of US grocery stores fail to meet accepted international nutritional guidelines set by the World Health Organization. This wakeup call comes from the researchers at Australias’s George Institute for Global Health and North Carolina’s Gillings Global School of Public Health.

The investigators analyzed 651 products. Not only were the majority of these foods nutritionally deficient, especially the snack-sized packages, but also not one of the products met the standards set for factual promotion. Every product had at least one prohibited claim on its package, and some products displayed as many as 11 bogus claims.

All of these baby foods are sold in the top 10 grocery/supermarket chains across the United States and are widely accessible to parents and other caregivers. This study underscores the urgent need for improved regulations on infant and toddler food labeling and nutritional content.

Given the current political environment, all I can add is “buyer beware!” Better yet, create your own baby foods from wholesome ingredients. If you buy commercial, review those package labels with a fine-tooth comb. Remember too that those ubiquitous baby food pouches are plastic. Do you really want to bombard your baby with microplastic particles. Oh, by the way, these pouches also contain toxic heavy metals.

https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/16/16/2782

#infants #toddlers #foods #nutrition #promotion #foods

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The vaccine against the human papilloma virus, Gardasil, was first recommended for teens and those younger than 45 in 2006. Since then, this vaccine has been instrumental in cutting the incidence of cervical pre-cancerous lesions by 80% according to a just-published CDC analysis.

Since the vaccine’s introduction, vaccination rates have steadily increased resulting in that dramatic 80% decline in the most dangerous pre-cancerous cervical lesions, so-called carcinoma-in-situ or CIS.

This data confirms the effectiveness of Gardasil to curb the tide of the devastating cervical cancer. Though vaccination rates have risen, the latest data shows that only 61% of teens 13-15 years have received the vaccine. Since sexually-active teens can spread the infection, Gardasil is also recommended for teen boys but only 57% of them have been vaccinated.

This lifesaving vaccine should be universally adopted. All teens should receive a 3 shot Gardasil course at 13 years or earlier.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/74/wr/mm7406a4.htm

https://progressreport.cancer.gov/prevention/hpv_immunization

#cervical #cancer #precancerous #carcinomainsitu #vaccine #gardasil

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Nothing worse than a cold sore, a fever blister, blossoming on your lip the day of your big event. Nearly all of us become infected with the herpes virus early in life during almost unnoticeable infections, but what makes the virus bloom.

Now University of Virginia microbiologists have identified the key to herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) reactivation. What awakens this sleeping villain is the viral protein UL12.5. It appears and triggers herpes reanimation just before it also turns on an antiviral immune response. The latter apparently comes too little too late.

Now that UL12.5 is identified as the reactivation trigger, it becomes a target for therapy for preventing those embarrassing outbreaks. This same mechanism that triggers oral herpes may also underlie the reactivation of genital herpes. Since latent herpes infections in both parts of the body are lifelong infections, stopping reactivation could have major implications for millions of people.

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2413965122

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-02-cold-sore-discovery-unknown-trigger.html

#herpesvirus #hsv1 #hsv2 #oral #genital #feverblisters #ul125

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Immunotherapy has been a resounding success for melanoma skin cancer and small cell lung cancer. Not so for ovarian cancer. Cancer immunologists at the University of Virginia have now discovered what underlies this failure.

Their research discovered that flagellin protein from gut bacteria blocks the effectiveness of the checkpoint inhibitors that power most current immunotherapy. This bacterial flagellin inhibits immune cell communication helping tumors flourish rather than die.

Using a mouse model and blocking flagellin action restored immunotherapeutic effectiveness with 80% of treated animals enjoying long-term tumor control.

If this approach is effective for human ovarian cancer patients, coupling flagellin blocking with checkpoint immunotherapy may be a winning therapeutic strategy …..someday soon.

https://newsroom.uvahealth.com/2025/02/11/ovarian-cancer-discovery-could-turn-ailed-treatment-into-lifesaver/

https://aacrjournals.org/cancerimmunolres/article-abstract/doi/10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-24-0513/751676/TLR5-signaling-causes-dendritic-cell-dysfunction?redirectedFrom=fulltext

#immunotherapy #checkpointinhibitor #ovarian #cancer #biome #flagellin