health briefs
Household Cleaning Products Affect Babies’
Guts and Weight The heavy use of household clean- ing disinfectants may contribute to changes in infant gut bacteria and weight gain, reports a new study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. University of Alberta researchers collected fecal samples and studied the gut health of 757 babies be- tween the ages of 3 and 4 months; then restudied the children at 1 and 3 years old. They found that children in households that used disinfectants at least once a week had higher body mass index (BMI) scores and elevated levels of Lach- nospiraceae, gut microbes linked in other studies to insulin resistance and metabolic disorders. Babies in households that used vinegar or other eco-friendly cleaners had lower BMI scores and much lower levels of a family of bacteria that includes E. coli.
Gut Susceptible to Food Additives
By mixing food additives with human gut microbes in petri dishes, scientists at the Czech Republic’s Institute of Microbiology found that gut microbes with anti- inflammatory properties were highly susceptible to being harmed by additives, while microbes with pro-inflammatory properties were mostly resis- tant. “We speculate that permanent exposure of human gut microbiota to even low levels of additives may modify the composition and function of gut microbiota, and thus influence the host’s immune system,” wrote the authors.
Smoking Bans Lower
Blood Pressure Non-smokers that live in areas that have banned smoking in public spaces such as restaurants, bars and workplaces have lower systolic blood pressure. In a
Northwestern University study reported
by the American Heart Association, blood pressure readings of 5,115 adults ages 18 to 30 in Birmingham, Chicago, Minneapolis and Oakland were taken over a 30-year period and correlated with changes in local laws that banned public smoking. A meaningful decrease in systolic blood pressure readings was found in non-smokers when no-smoking laws were enacted, indicating a reduction in heart disease risk.
Curcumin Boosts Fertility in Men
Sperm counts have plunged by half in the last 40 years among American and European men, according to a recent review of scientific studies. In a new double- blind study of 56 infertile men, researchers at Iran’s Qazvin University of Medical Sciences found that curcumin, an active ingredient in turmeric, can boost sperm counts. Each day for 10 weeks, half of the men took 80 milligrams of curcumin nanomicelle, in which curcumin is better absorbed; the other 28 were given a placebo. The researchers found that the curcumin significantly boosted sperm count and motility.
10 Greater Oklahoma/OKC Edition
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