A colon cancer breakthrough, a major deli meat recall and the link between dementia and wildfire smoke: Catch up on the week's health news
Hey, everyone. Rebecca here filling in for Kaitlin Reilly this week. It’s Saturday (yahoo!) and our health team had a busy week covering everything from the Olympics to Ozempic. Here are some of the highlights:
Natalie Rahhal breaks down a new study on how semaglutide — the active ingredient in diabetes and weight loss drugs such as Ozempic — could also help curb cigarette cravings.
Is the way we talk about Olympic successes healthy? Kerry Justich reflects on our obsession with taking home gold.
The holy trinity of health editors — Rachel Grumman Bender, Lauren Tuck and Erin Donnelly — share ideas for how to work out like an Olympian.
Kaitlin Reilly keeps us on trend by explaining magnesium foot sprays.
Korin Miller shares some unexpected symptoms of tongue cancer that were red flags for a Top Chef contestant.
And here’s what else the health world was buzzing about this week:
A new blood test can screen for colon cancer
The Food and Drug Administration approved a blood test on Monday called Shield, which can screen for colon cancer. NBC News reports that the test had been available to doctors at $895, but the FDA approval means Medicare and private insurance companies are more likely to cover the high out-of-pocket cost.
The test works by detecting the DNA that cancerous tumors release in the bloodstream. Research showed it was 83% effective, but worked best at finding later-stage colorectal cancers.
What it means: Doctors caution that the test isn’t intended to replace colonoscopies. A colonoscopy would still be required to confirm whether the Shield test was accurate, where any tumors are and how far they’ve progressed. But it’s a promising development given that colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death in the U.S. for both men and women, and on the rise in young people.
Boar’s Head pulls more meat from shelves amid listeria outbreak
On Tuesday, Boar’s Head recalled another 7 million pounds of deli meats — including liverwurst, ham, beef salami, bologna and other products made at the meat company’s Jarratt, Va., plant between May 10 and July 29. This new recall is in addition to a Boar’s Head recall made the previous week as the deli giant contends with an ongoing listeria outbreak. So far two people have died and nearly three dozen people in 13 states have become ill, the Associated Press reports.
What it means: As Yahoo Life’s Kaitlin Reilly previously reported, about 48 million people get sick from foodborne diseases every year, and listeria is a bacteria that can grow even under refrigeration temperatures — making it especially tricky to eliminate. Symptoms of listeriosis (the disease people can develop after eating food contaminated with listeria) include fever, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Wildfire smoke linked to higher dementia risk
Wildfire smoke exposure increases the odds of developing dementia more than other forms of air pollution, according to a study presented on Monday at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.
The study looked at the full electronic health records of 1.2 million Californians ages 60 and older, and determined that those who lived in areas with more exposure to wildfire-derived PM2.5 (a microscopic air pollutant) were more likely to go on to be diagnosed with dementia than people exposed to PM2.5 from other sources, the Los Angeles Times reports.
What it means: “I was expecting for us to see an association between wildfire smoke exposure and dementia,” said study author Dr. Holly Elser. “But the fact we see so much stronger of an association for wildfire as compared to non-wildfire smoke exposure was kind of surprising.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, the fact that wildfire particles are so much smaller, are produced at higher temperatures and “contain a greater concentration of toxic chemicals” than other air pollutants are possible explanations.
