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JAMA
From its initial discovery in Ugandan forests nearly 70 years ago, Zika virus has emerged as a worldwide public health crisis, with active transmission in more than 40 countries in the Americas and Caribbean. On February 1, 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), concerned about clusters of microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). A week later, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) triggered the highest “level 1” activation of its emergency operations center, and President Obama requested $1.86 billion in emergency funding.1 On April 7, the WHO reported there is scientific consensus that Zika is a cause of microcephaly and GBS.
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JAMA
Opioid Prescribing After Surgical Extraction of Teeth in Medicaid Patients, 2000-2010
Opioid abuse has reached epidemic proportions in the United States1,2 and often begins with a prescription for a pain medication. Dentists are among the leading prescribers of opioid analgesics,3 and surgical tooth extraction is one of the most frequently performed dental procedures. Surveys suggest that dental practitioners commonly prescribe opioids following this procedure,4 despite evidence that a combination of nonsteroidal medications and acetaminophen may provide more effective analgesia for postextraction pain.5 Little information is available on nationwide patterns of opioid prescribing following tooth extraction.
The biggest challenge in staying hydrated these days—whether you’re a distance runner or a desk jockey—is information overload. Don’t believe the hydration hype and keep it simple.
Nutrition rules are great for taking the guesswork out of eating and drinking right. But they also often lead to gross miscalculations and, in many cases, perpetuatesome of the biggest myths. Proper hydration is no exception, whether it’s the old eight-glasses-a-day chestnut or that you should down a sports drink every time you work out. Yet nothing influences your overall well-being more than healthy H2O habits. Here are some of the biggest hydration myths, as well as the truth behind them.
You do all the right things—train hard, eat clean, and get plenty of sleep…or do you? The post-workout snacks you are indulging in late at night could be sabotaging your fat-loss and muscle-gain efforts by ruining your rest. For a better night of rest, skip these five foods after 8 p.m.
Get Smarter—find out which foods pack the most vitamin B12, an essential nutrient that boosts brainpower.
Shrinkage can take place inside your skull, especially when your brain lacks sufficient vitamin B12. The RDA is 900 mcg for men. A deficiency of this essential nutrient can cause significant drops in gray matter volume, which has been linked to memory loss. And even your doctor may not be able to tell that it’s happening. According to a new Rush University Medical Center study, low B12 levels often go undetected in blood tests. In fact, even when blood levels of the vitamin appeared normal, between 15 percent and 17 percent of people they studied weren’t absorbing enough of the vitamin and had serious deficiencies. But don’t worry your possibly-shrinking head too much—just include any of our top-five B12-packed foods listed here and never get accused of being small-minded again.
Vitamin B12 deficiency can cause depression, cognitive decline, and, possibly autism and schizophrenia, according to a new study.
If you’re in your twenties or thirties, odds are you aren’t worried about your daily vitamin intake. And nutrient deficiencies? Eh, if you don’t feel any negative side effects, it’s probably nothing to concern yourself with. Sound like you?
JAMA
May 3, 2016
In 1993, James L. Mills, MD, MS, a senior investigator at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, attended a series of US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) subcommittee meetings. The subcommittee was considering whether to recommend fortifying cereal grain products with the B vitamin folic acid as a public health strategy to reduce the risk of infant neural tube defects. A year earlier, the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Public Health Service (PHS) had recommended that all women of childbearing age consume 400 μg of folic acid daily to reduce the risk of having a child with spina bifida, anencephaly, or another neural tube defect (MMWR Recomm Rep. 1992;41[RR-14]:107). The PHS’ recommendation was based, in part, on a landmark UK Medical Research Council clinical trial, which demonstrated that among women who had previously given birth to babies with neural tube defects, those who took 4 mg of folic acid supplements daily had a 72% reduced risk of having another baby with neural tube defects relative to those who did not take supplements (Wald N et al. Lancet. 1991;338[8760]:131-137). Despite the PHS’ recommendation, committee members were cautious about moving forward with fortification, Mills recalled (http://1.usa.gov/1Rq9jDz).
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
JAMA
The number of older adults with Alzheimer disease or other dementia will increase worldwide over the coming decades. Notably, in China and other Asian countries where a large population is living longer, Alzheimer disease and dementia have become a major public health concern.1 There is a pressing need to identify preventive strategies for Alzheimer disease and dementia,1 such as the potential role of dietary intake. For instance, the Mediterranean-style diet (rich in fruit, vegetables, legumes, cereals, and olive oil and including some poultry, little red meat, and regular fish intake) has been associated with better cognitive health and a decreased risk of Alzheimer disease or dementia in observational studies.2,3Consumption of fatty fish and fish oils has been associated with cognitive benefits—particularly for neurocognitive development among infants and children.4 Intakes of fish or n-3 fatty acids have also been consistently associated with the slowing of cognitive decline and decreased risk of Alzheimer disease and dementia in older adults.5,6
JAMA
June 01, 2016
Although sodium reduction has been proposed as a public health strategy in the United States for more than 4 decades, there has been no progress reducing consumption. One reason for this lack of progress is the continued ubiquity of dietary sodium in the US food supply. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released draft proposed voluntary guidelines1 to encourage companies to steadily reduce sodium in processed and restaurant foods, a change that would increase consumers’ control over their sodium intake. The proposed guidelines set targets for the gradual reduction in sodium across a range of food categories for both manufactured and restaurant products and would lead to a sustained reduction in the amount of sodium added to the food supply before foods reach consumers’ hands. This Viewpoint provides answers, based on the best available science, to important questions about why this action is needed.