Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/xvR4VNV6-sc   The S5 DNA methylation test is able to predict which women with pre-cancerous cervical tissue disease will go on to develop frank cervical cancer.   A study from London’s Queen Mary University is the latest in a string of investigations to underscore the predictive value of this assay.   The S5 pyrosequencing methylation test, papilloma virus genetic testi...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/iPUfYdQswxA   Ten percent of Americans on the verge of qualifying for Medicare and Social Security drink themselves to oblivion on a regular basis.   A new NYU study reports this frightening statistic and adds that the tendency toward binge drinking is higher for men as well as tobacco or weed users.   The investigators studied nearly data from nearly 11,000 adults age...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/HAp735CbcYk   Packing up and moving to a new home during your first 3 months of pregnancy can harm your developing baby.   Epidemiologists at the University of Washington report an association of such a transition with a heightened risk of pre-term birth and a low birth weight.   Their study of more than 28,000 women revealed a 42% higher risk of birthing a premie and a...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/7-_1W4qDOjM   Cheating is not driven by necessity.   Behavioral scientists from Texas A&M and economists from   New York’s Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute report this conclusion after studying the population of a remote Guatemalan village.   The investigators observed the propensity of participants to cheat on a game of chance with a monetary prize during both periods...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/JMuULiMuzA0   If you come from a family where overweight or obese members are the rule, a new Chinese study pinpoints the best exercise routines for keeping yourself trim.   Regular jogging is the best overall activity for keeping your Body Mass Index (BMI), body fat percentage, and waist-to-hip ratios in the healthy range.   Walking, power or otherwise, dancing, extend...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/OhjYx7MntcA   Professional baseball players enjoy a 24% lower mortality rate from any cause compared with the average American man.   This observation stems from a Harvard study of more than 10,600 MLB players donning the uniform over the past century.   Compared with men the same age, the players’ were 20% less likely to die from cardiovascular causes and cancer, some...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/3U6IEG03FJA   Cmon’ get happy by biting off a few squares of bittersweet chocolate.   A British study just published in the journal Depression and Anxiety makes that delicious suggestion.   The study looked at more than 13,600 Americans and analyzed their chocolate consumption and their likelihood of reporting depressive feelings.   Individuals who reported eating any dar...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/PUVfy3CCAVY   Frequent contact with friends helps 50 and 60 somethings avoid the scourge of later dementia. A team from University College London draws that conclusion after tracking more than 10,000 subjects over a 32 year period.   The participants documented the number and frequency of their social contacts via interviews.   Their mental status was captured via cogni...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/J9_peIVpHWo   Providing genetic testing and counseling to those with a family history of melanoma drove them to reduce their UV exposure by a whopping 50%.   This result comes from   a collaborative university study just published in the journal Nature .   The investigators provided genetic counseling to all of the 128 participants who had one or more relatives treated...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/jWU87b8D9No   The short answers is a resounding NO.   This conclusion comes from a study at Harvard”s Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary.   Ophthalmology researchers there tested 22 normally sighted drivers with and without yellow lenses for their ability to detect a dark-shirted pedestrian at night.   The yellow lenses did not improve the drivers response time to the pedestri...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/7lh6PGR-tnY   Maybe those Hell’s Angels streaking down the road on their “hogs” aren’t guilty of unhealthy activity after all.   A new study from the Medical College of Georgia and Ohio State University shows that body vibration leads to more, beneficial anti-inflammatory macrophages in the gastrointestinal system leading to a healthier bacterial content.   We know that...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/kfjZ1qVnPy4 I’m Dr. Howard Smith, PENTA Medical Network, reporting from NYC with the Health News Roundup for the 1st week of AUGUST, 2019.   This is Health News You Should Use, the latest medical discoveries and commonsense advice that you can use in a practical way to keep yourself and your family healthy.   Here are this weeks stories : We Overfeed Our Infants Summer Sc...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/x6FOnzucxYI   The past two decades has seen a 4-fold rise in the number of pregnant American women undergoing CT scans.   The numbers of Canadian women being scanned during pregnancy has doubled over the same period. Even with modern image intensification, this radiation presents increased risks to an entire generation of children.   The study just published in JAMA Net...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/P-1uQvW4Hew   Studies of our gut’s microbiome, our gastrointestinal tract’s collection of bacteria, show that it has a huge role in our body’s health.   Most of our gut bacteria come from raw fruit and vegetables, since cooking kills the majority of those in other foods we eat.   The most ubiquitous raw fruit is the apple, and it supplies many of the bacteria in our sys...

Vidcast:   ttps://youtu.be/9BYS4pPwd8M   When you exercise for stronger muscles and increase your numbers of muscle strength fibers, you produce a neurotransmitter called Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor or BDNF.   This messenger then drives atrophy of your endurance muscle fibers.     This Yin-Yang relationship is newly described in a study from   Switzerland’s University of Basel.   This BDNF c...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/iJwiQp8uBiI   Aluminum cans containing drinks and foods that we all consume may be making us fat.   A study from NYU Medical School reports an association between childhood obesity and the bisphenol plastics used to line food and drink containers and produce thermal paper for cash register receipts.   The investigators compared data from the US National Health and Nutri...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/afcH5ANj4AU   Let’s say that you smoked heavily in your younger years but then quit. That’s good news for your health, but a new study just published from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health shows that your risk of circulatory problems in your legs goes on for up to 30 years after you quit.   The study looked at 13,355 subjects at Hopkins, the University of North...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/kx_55ON9oB4   The annual hospital academy awards are out!   The magazine US News & World Report has just released its picks for best overall hospitals.   They base their selections by analyzing public data from almost 5,000 US hospitals that covers treatment success rates, breadth of specialized services available, patient safety, patient and family satisfaction scores,...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/YfP0WefTOZs   Proactively reassuring students leaving the secure nest of elementary school for what seems to them insurmountable challenges of middle school improves their performance, attendance, and cooperation.   A just published study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison measured the effects of interventions crafted to convince fearful, anxious students that the...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/UR3ucjqx6hM   A new preliminary study from the University of Texas shows that endoscopic removal of clots from the arteries of stroke victims with large areas of affected brain tissue can assure better recovery.   This so-called Endovascular Thrombectomy is currently established treatment but only for those strokes with smaller areas of tissue damage.   The study includ...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/lYbltmFJsVg   Babies under the age of two show empathy for those who are victimized and expect that parents and teachers will intervene to put a stop to the bullying.   These related conclusions come from separate studies at the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign and Israel’s Ben Gurion University.   The Israeli study shows that infants as young as 6 months can rec...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/Nsoul9Pe0ds   A new study from The University of Buffalo’s pharmacology department suggests that a glass of red wine may contain not one but two calming ingredients that control sress.   We all know about the alcohol, but adding to its effect is the plant compound resveratrol that’s found in the skin and seeds of the grape.   The resveratrol works to relieve stress and...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/-4wzkOFZ-Z4   Moms-to-be better tamp down their coffee consumption during pregnancy.   A study using a rat model bully just published in the Journal of Endocrinology showed that pregnant animals consuming the equivalent of 2-3 cups of coffee a day gave birth to babies with impaired liver development as well as low birth weights and abnormal stress hormone levels.   The...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/eqmQvZlTNFc   Dartmouth and UC-Irvine mathematicians report that you learn faster if you picture it before you hear about it.   This universal principle of so-called object before label learning applies to everything from teaching kids their colors to learning foreign languages.   The researchers used formal testing to demonstrate that object before label learning is su...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/xEQ36KcDWw4   If you put the blue sweetener in your coffee or regularly chug cans of Diet Coke, listen up!   A British study just published in the Archives of Public Health raises new questions about the safety of aspartame.   A meta-analysis of the 154 studies that the European Food Safety Authority used to certify aspartame as safe in 2013 questions the validity of th...