Does aspartame really cause cancer? Plus, kombucha may help those with type 2 diabetes, and more health news
Does aspartame really cause cancer?
Following the recent decision of a World Health Organization (WHO) agency to classify aspartame as “possibly carcinogenic to humans,” many may be left wondering whether it is safe to use the popular artificial sweetener.
What exactly does this mean, and should you be worried? It’s a question nutritionists and oncologists here at the Smilow Cancer Hospital get asked often, and the answer is not as clear as you might hope.
Aspartame is one of several artificial sweeteners approved for use in the United States. It may be found as a standalone sweetener (it accounts for nearly 75% of artificial sweetener sales in the United States) or in many prepared food and beverage products.
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Psilocybin may help some who battle anorexia
One dose of the hallucinogenic ingredient in “magic mushrooms” may help some people with anorexia move past their preoccupation with body image, an early study suggests.
The study, of just 10 women with anorexia, tested the effects of a single dose of psilocybin plus psychological counseling sessions.
Researchers found that the treatment appeared safe, with patients rating the experience as a positive one.
And within three months, four of 10 women had a significant improvement in their eating disorder “pathology.” That meant certain eating-disorder behaviors — including preoccupation with weight and body shape — improved to the degree that they were close to what’s typical of people without an eating disorder.
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One personality type is more prone to be an anti-vaxxer
When studying which personality types were more likely to resist getting vaccines, researchers got a surprise.
It was the extroverts who were more vaccine resistant. Compared to other personality styles, extroverts were 18% more likely to refuse the COVID-19 vaccine, the new study finds.
“We expected that people who were especially high in extroversion would be more likely to get the vaccine,” said lead author Melissa Baker, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at El Paso. “We figured those people would want to get back out in the world and socialize, right? It’s actually the opposite,” she added in a university news release.
The researchers hope their findings may help with future public health messaging and vaccination campaigns.
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Lead exposure in utero or in childhood tied to higher risk for criminal behavior
There is a higher risk for criminal behavior in adulthood when an individual is exposed to lead in utero or in the early years of childhood, according to a review published online Aug. 1 in PLOS Global Public Health.
Maria Jose Talayero, M.D., from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to explore the effect of lead exposure on criminal behavior at the individual level. A total of 17 manuscripts representing 13 studies around the globe were included in the analysis.
The researchers found a wide range of diverse outcomes between exposure to lead at multiple windows of development and later delinquent, criminal, and antisocial behavior. However, more evidence is necessary to evaluate the magnitude of the associations identified in this review because data at the individual level are limited on the effects of prenatal, childhood, and adolescent lead exposure and later criminal behavior.
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Breastfeeding tied to big reduction in infant deaths
Experts have long recommended breastfeeding for its many benefits for infants, but a new study puts a hard number on breast milk’s lifesaving effects.
Breastfeeding is associated with a 33% reduction in infant deaths in the first year, according to the study of nearly 10 million U.S. babies.
The research looked at babies born in 48 states and Washington, D.C. between 2016 and 2018. It expands upon smaller studies that had found a reduction in deaths of between 19% and 26%.
Breastfeeding “is so protective against many acute and chronic illnesses for infants and children,” said lead investigator Dr. Julie Ware, of the Cincinnati Children’s Center for Breastfeeding Medicine.
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Kombucha may help control blood sugar in folks with type 2 diabetes
Kombucha is a fermented tea that many folks believe offers numerous health benefits — and new research suggests they may be right.
Though the study was small — 12 participants — it found that kombucha may help lower blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. Fermented with bacteria and yeasts, the drink has been consumed in China since 200 B.C. but it has been embraced in the United States only since the 1990s, researchers said.
“Apple cider vinegar was really taking off and people were talking about it all the time and kombucha,” said study author Dr. Daniel Merenstein, director of family medicine research at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. “And they have a farmers market at Georgetown where they sell kombucha, so we just thought, this kombucha is more tasty, easier to drink than apple cider vinegar … so that’s really what got us to do this study.”
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Leprosy on the rise in Florida
A wave of leprosy cases in Florida has led public health officials to conclude the disease-causing bacteria may be naturally found in the state.
In the past, most people with leprosy in the United States had been first infected in some other country where it might be more common. But the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a new report this week about a wave of cases in Florida, particularly in the central part of the state. Leprosy also exists in other parts of the United States. For example, one recent report described six cases of leprosy among California residents. All were diagnosed between 2017 and 2022.
Also called Hansen disease, leprosy remains extremely rare in the United States, noted Andrea Maderal, M.D., director of the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital Hansen’s Disease Program.
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