4 minute read
HEALTHY REPS
from REP June 21
Health news and notes
Chocolate facts & fantasy
Small studies suggest that cocoa, an ingredient in chocolate, may have health benefits. It’s possible that certain nutrients in cocoa could improve heart health and boost brain function, especially in older adults, according to the National Institutes of Health. Researchers think this may be due to compounds called flavanols, which cocoa beans contain in high levels. Flavanols are also found in tea, red wine, apples, and berries. If you eat chocolate as a sweet treat, however, remember that it has a lot of calories, and gaining weight will more than wipe out any benefits you might get from flavanols. Also, avoid white and milk chocolates, which contain little or no cocoa.
Alexa is on Amazon’s Halos
Amazon launched a new feature this spring for its Halo fitness-tracking gadget – Alexa integration, reports The Verge. Halo owners can ask Alexa devices for various health stats, such as their sleep score or activity points obtained during the day. The integration will be off by default and owners will need the latest firmware on their Halo bands and the latest version of the iOS or Android app to enable it. Aside from the standard fitness things of tracking your movement and sleep patterns, the $100 Halo has the ability to police the tone of your voice and tell you when you’re being dismissive or condescending with your words. The companion Halo app also has a feature to 3D scan your body through your phone’s camera and measure your fat composition.
– Dr. Javeed Siddiqui, co-founder and chief medical officer at TeleMed2U.
Take it slow on the energy drinks
A team of researchers, led by a Texas A&M University professor, has found that some energy drinks have adverse effects on the muscle cells of the heart. Researchers at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVMBS), observed that cardiomyocytes – human heart cells grown in a laboratory – exposed to some energy drinks showed an increased beat rate and other factors affecting cardiac function. With global sales of energy drinks estimated at $53 billion in 2018 and rapidly growing, it is important to understand the potential unintended health consequences associated with these beverages, according to the researchers. Consumption of these beverages has been linked to improper beating of the heart, cardiomyopathy (disease of the heart muscle which makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood), increased blood pressure, and other heart conditions.
Extreme preemies show improvement
More than one quarter of babies who were born extremely premature and displayed neurodevelopmental impairments at age 2 may improve significantly by age 10, according to a study reported on by Reuters. An analysis of data from 802 children who were born extremely premature revealed that 63% of 227 classified as having moderate to severe neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI) at age 2, had none to mild NDI at age 10. Among 108 children classified as having profound NDI at 2 years, 36% had none to mild NDI at 10 years. Overall, 67% of the children had no change in NDI classification between 2 and 10 years of age, 27% improved and 5% worsened. “I hope these findings will allow parents and medical professionals to leave room for optimism when they hear a baby has been born extremely premature with profound neurodevelopmental impairments,” said Dr. Genevieve Taylor, an assistant professor in the division of neonatal and perinatal medicine at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. “The brain is an amazing organ with so much capacity to change and to make lots of gains,” said Kimberly Blair, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburg and senior academic director of the UPMC Matilda Theiss Early Childhood Behavioral Health Program. “If kids start off with disadvantages, like being premature, so much goes into growth – nutrition, stimulation, environment. Getting early supports and services is really important.”
Next-gen COVID vaccines
Millions of American adults have been rolling up their sleeves for the rollout of the three COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. There may be some good news for those who are a bit squeamish with needles. According to Healthline, to make the vaccination process simpler and faster, researchers are working to develop the next generation of COVID-19 vaccines, namely in pill and nasal spray forms. “At this time, SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are injectable. Several vaccine manufacturers have started initial development of a nasal vaccine spray,” said Dr. Javeed Siddiqui, cofounder and chief medical officer at TeleMed2U. “Nasal spray vaccine could be available as soon as 2022, however this is highly variable based on clinical efficacy and vaccine effectiveness in clinical trials,” he said. According to FasterCures, a center of the Milken Institute that’s currently tracking the development of COVID-19 vaccines, five companies are developing oral vaccines. Two of these companies have moved on to phase 1 clinical trials.
