Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/SCayESaafFI   Regularly eating breakfasts versus skipping them lifts a teen’s grade average from a C to an A.   The UK’s University of Leeds investigators tabulated the breakfasting habits of 294 16-18 year olds with their scores on standardized tests.   The test scores were converted to letter grades.   Of the participant group, 53% ate breakfasts regularly but 29% nev...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/YYp0nHFGiSo   Omega-3 fatty acid fish oil supplements can significantly improve attention deficit symptoms for children who have deficiencies of this essential contributor to brain development.   This the conclusion of a collaborative British-Chinese double-blind, controlled study of 92 children and adolescents with ADHD.   The children given the EPA fatty acid suppleme...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/mr_Zu297u7g   Forty-one weeks of gestation appears to be the safe upper limit for pregnancies.   This the conclusion of a Swedish multisite study of more than 2700 women with post-mature babies.   Half the group were randomized to be induced at 41 weeks,   The remainder were followed for up to another 7 days with mandatory induction at 42 weeks.   The study was abruptly...

Vidcast:   ttps://youtu.be/r3cfXswib-I   Yoga instruction or individual physical therapy, PT, over a 12 week period leads to better sleep for those plagued by low back pain.   Boston University investigators report this conclusion following their study of   320 adults with back pain.   Those using yoga enjoyed a 12% improvement in sleep while those having physical therapy noted   9% better sleep....

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/lSGFWPkOSJY   American men in a hetero relationship experience the lowest level of stress and anxiety when their female partners contribute 40% to the couple’s combined income.   British psychologists report this finding from their study of just over 6,000 US households.   Male stress peaks when he is the sole income earner, it dips as his partner contributes up to 40%,...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/kwJ05jen3Wc   Eating fruits and veggies and foregoing fatty, sugary foods will reduce chances of hearing loss by up to 30%.   Harvard investigators managing the Nurses’ Health Study looked more than 3100 womens’ hearing as a function of diet over a 20 year period.   Women closely following healthy diets including the DASH, the Mediterranean, and the Alternate Healthy Ea...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/YH4G3xa8_sM   Patients receiving chemotherapy, radiation, immunotherapy, and surgery face stresses similar to astronauts blasted into deep space.  Exercise physiologists at New York’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Center now propose NASA-like physical counter measure programs (CMPs).   Cancer patients and astronauts both suffer decreases in muscle mass, cardiac functional ch...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/yIqurbhKfAw   That’s the bottom line of the ISCHEMIA study, an international effort coordinated by cardiologists at Stanford and New York Universities.   Presented last week at the American Heart Association’s meetings, the study had nearly 5200 participants in 37 countries.   Patients with stable coronary blockages do no better with invasive surgery, either angiographi...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/sKbA3LbiCVg   Parents tightly managing their kids’ academic and social paths produce offspring with faulty academic and social skills, poor self-control, and emotional problems.   Family studies researchers at West Virginia University draw these conclusions from surveys of 302 young adults.   The investigators add that the parents who herd their children into the right...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/h0lSb9JaTLA   Cleaning products and disinfectants can increase your risk of developing handicapping chronic obstructive lung disease, COPD, by up to 38%.   Harvard and NIH researchers followed more than 73,000 US nurses occupationally exposed to such toxic chemicals over a 6 year period.   The nurses were using chemicals including bleach, hydrogen peroxide, alcohol, amm...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/aaIi2jdCaVU   The high fat, low carb diet that is keto triggers activation of special lung T lymphocytes that make mucus webs which sideline   influenza viruses.   This finding is now reported by Yale immunobiologists using a mouse model.   The keto diet facilitates influenza virus death and better experimental animal survival compared with a high carb diet.   A line of...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/jTrtQsWO7y4   Next week’s bingeing on that pie with ice cream and whipped cream piled high could trigger inflammatory bowel disease or worsen the disease you already have.   A mouse study from Canada’s University of Alberta reports that sugar in the gut feeds renegade bacteria like E. coli that trigger inflammation and destructive immune responses.   It only took two...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/zq8SI0miOgg   Manipulating your facial expression to show serious, focused determination, a game face, will actually improve your performance on intellectual challenges.   A University of Tennessee psychology study looked at 62 participants as they solved Mandala puzzles.   Putting on the game face that so many athletic coaches demand of their players did actually spe...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/DSErGGTJmQI   Instrumental music insulates your body’s nervous system from pressures of traffic jams, nasty other drivers, and sudden stops.   This the result of a small Brazilian study just published in Complementary Therapies in Medicine.   The investigators measured the effects of driving an unfamiliar car during a nerve-racking urban rush hour on the hearts of you...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/5JaCIuYeWaw   Taking extra testosterone can double a man’s risk of dangerous leg blood clots, and that risk is tripled if he is younger than 65.   A study just published in JAMA Internal Medicine studied use of the supplement in nearly 40,000 men over a 7 year period.   Leg blood clots can travel up into the lungs and trigger a pulmonary embolism.   This blockage of b...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/n287C8md9t0   It’s generally thought that background music stirs creativity.   Not so says a study from several universities in the UK and Sweden just published in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology.   A total of 84 university students and staff were presented with tests of creative ability, so-called Compound Remote Associate Tasks or CRAT for short.   Subjects w...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/9_LxyguWH5U   Deep sleep, the slow wave, non-REM variety, is the best sleep for literally cleansing your brain according to a new study from the University of Rochester.   The scientists studied the effects of deep sleep in a mouse model inducing that state with the unique combination of general anesthetics ketamine and xylazine.   The combination of deep slow wave slee...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/md9yTWb2Jos   You and I have talked many times about the fact that exercise, almost any exercise other than reaching for a donut, will help you live longer.   Now a study from Denmark published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings pinpoints just which forms of exercise will add extra years to your life.   The investigators reviewed data from more than 8500 participants in the...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/Esf1lZ987dg   Microplastics from yoga outfits, sweat-wicking suits, and fleece vests are turning up in Pacific Ocean oysters and clams.   Marine biologists from Portland State University surveyed some 300 oysters and clams from 15 sites along the Oregon coast.   Plastic material was found in nearly all of the sampled marine organisms with an average of 11 microplastics...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/qw5OQrPXXHE   Sleep problems affect as many as 70 million Americans.   The problem is worsening over the past 4 years as 5 million more of us generally considered to be healthy sleepers have a problem falling asleep and nearly 8 million more of us cannot remain asleep.   Investigators at Iowa State University studied sleep pattern data from about 165,000 subjects.   Tho...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/B03-WxqRrVA   Competitive esport players face the same intense psychological pressure as professional athletes in other sports. Psychologists at Britain’s University of Chichester studied a group of elite gamers and uncovered some 51 stress factors that impact them.   The two most onerous are strategic communications with teammates and performances before a live audienc...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/ijN1YN_akxg   Your parents, siblings, and others hanging on your family tree may be more important to your health than your spouse or significant other.   With Thanksgiving just around the corner, think ahead!   UT Southwestern family medicine researchers studied some 2800 middle-aged adults over a 20 year period.   They tabulated the incidence of illness as a function of...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/MgE9ZDdOkJk   Just 20 minutes of open monitoring meditation can improve your ability to quickly catch errors while you can do something about them.   That’s true, even if you never meditated before.   Michigan State University psychologists report this finding after testing some 200 volunteers.   Half were taught an open meditation technique while the controls just rest...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/zqb0k0Jk2HY   You know vegetables are healthy, but you avoid their bitter tastes like the plague.   A freshly minted study from the University of Kentucky explains that your extreme aversion may be due to you having two copies of the bitter taste gene.   The researchers studied the food preferences and genetics of 175 participants.   Those with two copies of the bitter...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/n1nANeZkIcg   From the “use it or lose it department,” a University of Buffalo study credits physical activity with lowering the incidence of nasty hip and extremity fractures.   The investigators focused their interest on more than 77,000 post-menopausal women followed over a 14 year period.   Clocking at least 35 minutes a day of recreational and ordinary household mo...