Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/EQbSPdBlgm4   The melted plastic your 3D printer lays out emits toxic volatile organic fumes that could damage your lungs or worse.   Georgia Institute of Technology engineers tested the emissions from 3D printer filaments on live cells in tissue culture.   The results showed the most dangerous filaments are the ABS styrene plastic ones in comparison to the PLA lactic a...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/cEdfmTROoPA   If you’ve had a heart attack, living with a dog can lower your risk of dying prematurely by up to 35%.   A Canadian meta-analysis just published in the journal Circulation tabulated the data from more than 3.8 million participants over 10 years.   This large study shows that dog ownership prolongs lives and builds on previous work that credited dogs with r...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/ZPEVhvr-saQ   Only half of pregnant women receive the recommended flu and whooping cough vaccines say the latest CDC statistics.   The flu is a terrible risk for a pregnant woman, and pertussis is the same for her newborn.   Pregnancy makes the flu more severe, and increases the risk for hospitalization by 2.5 times.   Every year, pertussis lands up to 700 babies under...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/WvHoBd12TtE   When you dine socially, you consume 48% more food than when you eat alone.   This conclusion comes from a meta-analysis of some 42 studies of group versus solo food consumption just published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.   On the other hand, eating with a group of strangers did not increase food consumption. The investigators conjecture t...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/3rjuzSjLX9Q   If your baby had an attack of severe RSV, she or he is 2.5 times more likely to develop asthma over the next 5 years.   A Nationwide Children’s Hospital-Ohio State University study analyzed data from nearly 125,500 infants over a 16 year period.   This association between childhood RSV and asthma has been previously described, but this large study credibly...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/fN8mm3K_yz4   Women suffering from morning sickness are 53% more likely to have a child diagnosed later with autism spectrum disorder.   Kaiser Permanente-California reviewed the records of a half million pregnant women delivering over a 23 year period.   The morning sickness-autism connection had the following characteristics: Risk not related to nausea or vomiting sev...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/Ik_83SrJajE   Deadly head and neck melanoma has increased by 51% for children and younger adults over the past 20 years.   St. Louis University oncologists raise this warning after reviewing nearly 12,500   confirmed melanoma cases documented in American and Canadian cancer registries.   Once predominately a cancer of older patients, it is now popping up increasingly of...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/hTSGXFQJmKI   Fathers drinking alcohol during the 3 months before conception or during the first trimester bump their baby’s chances of being born with a congenital heart defect by 44%.   Binge drinking during those times raises that risk to 52%..   The meta-analysis of 55 studies covered nearly 42,000 babies born over a 28 year period.   It is the first study to examin...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/Sncfu9ATiAg   If all UK mothers were to become exclusive breast feeders, the carbon dioxide reduction is equivalent to taking 50-77 thousand automobiles off the road.   A new study British Medical Journal study tallies the savings afforded by nursing mothers.   Cows for dairy and meat production contribute 30% of global greenhouse.   Manufacture, distribution, and prepa...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/21c4w94zp3k   Aspirin and other NSAIDs may help prevent lung damage from particulate air pollution.   Epidemiologists and pulmonologists at Columbia and Harvard draw this conclusion from their analysis of more than 2200 male veterans.   Each participant underwent pulmonary function tests and recorded their use of NSAIDs over the month before testing.   Air quality measu...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/zo64Jd-qW-s   When you clean your bathroom with chlorine products, you may be gassing yourself and your pets.   Chlorine vapors combine with citrus ingredients in household products under fluorescent lighting to form toxic airborne particles.   Studies by University of Toronto chemists show that the sodium hypochlorite in chlorine bleaches emits the strong oxidants hypo...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/cb3EzDHKcOM   Sixteen year old teen girls using oral contraceptives are significantly more likely to show depressive symptoms than non-users at the same age.   This was not true for young women at other ages.   Dutch psychiatrists in association with Harvard psychiatrists and gynecologists report this finding from their study of 1010 teens 16 to 25 years of age.   They...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/sjlLlEP08uA   Young women who suffer preterm birth or preeclampsia during their initial pregnancy have a two-fold greater risk of developing high blood pressure years later.   That hypertension can come on in only 3 years.   OB-GYN researchers at Indiana University studied nearly 4500 women with an average age of 27 at their first pregnancy.   Nearly 1 in every 3 women...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/WmktGi8VmbA   Are you or do you know a person who becomes more jittery when trying to relax.   Psychologists at Penn State studied this so called “relaxation-induced anxiety” in a group of 96 college students.   One-third of subjects had generalized anxiety disorders; one-third had major depression; and one-third were without issues.   All participants did relaxation ex...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/_a1bjl42fik   This plant sugar, naturally found in fruits, real fruit juices, and honey but added to table sugar, highly processed foods, and beverages, harms your liver by preventing its normal processing of fat.   Researchers at Boston’s Joslin Diabetes Center now report this result following their in-depth study of liver cell metabolism.   Their research shows that t...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/coW1hyYs094   The death toll from E-cigarette use has now climbed to 12 in 10 states.   The CDC further reports that 805 mostly young persons in 46 states have fallen victim to severe lung injuries after vaping and 91% required hospitalization.   Those stricken after e-cigarette use have a distinct profile: most were young with a median age of 23 years, males in 69% of...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/TtWHs0_tqLI   Thyroid surgeons performing at least 40 yearly complete thyroid excisions have the fewest complications. Kaiser Permanente California now reports its review of 10,500 such operations over a 7 year period.   The chief complications of vocal cord paralysis and parathyroid hormone deficiency occur since the nerves to the larynx and the parathyroid glands must...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/oaJHcZmrrN8   Most women are counseled to try a vaginal delivery following a previous Caesarian section (VBAC).   The latest evidence from the University of Oxford questions the wisdom of that recommendation.   More than 74,000 Scottish births over a 13 year period show that a VBAC is associated with a 7 fold higher risk of a uterine rupture, a 3 fold   higher risk of s...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/_MoJEEKE4ik   Our cells and bodies work on internal biological clocks which are lubricated for better efficiency by good old fashioned stress.   University of Minnesota biologists now report   this phenomenon in the journal Neuron .   Using a mouse model and tissue cultures of cells, the scientists unraveled the complex blend of signaling proteins that control the clock...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/VHVmpX5vX2E   The Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy and FitBit wearables are credible exercise measuring devices that take clinical testing into the real world.   Pulmonologists from Utah’s Intermountain Medical Center now report that these devices can match a standard 6 minute walk distance test for estimating lung reserve.   The study tested 52 respiratory disease patients...

  https://youtu.be/0_CdQ5xGbdA   To guide your headstrong teen, present your opinions as rational suggestions rather than imperial directives.   Psychologists at Cardiff University studied the responses of 1000 adolescents to pointed suggestions delivered in various tones of voice.   Each teen heard 30 directives voiced by actors in 3 ways: a controlling authoritarian tone, a autonomy-supportive t...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/JVUkY5c6kqw   Overdoing your training for an endurance sport can leave you mentally fatigued.   A French investigation, just published in the journal Current Biology, studied 37 thirty something male athletes during a 9 week training program.   Over-training led to feelings of mental exhaustion but also increased impulsivity with a preference for immediate rather than g...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/XC4XX8lSwtw   Nearly 40% of Americans state that today’s divisive politics are stressing them out.   Even more distressing is that 4% are driven to suicidal thoughts.   Political scientists at The University of Nebraska-Lincoln surveyed some 800 subjects.   The data show that: 32% are unnerved by the relentless controversies on cable news. 29% lose their tempers more ea...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/SmZC939blGs   Choline supplementation may be one important key to preventing the dread dementia of aging.   A mouse model study by the Arizona State University finds that choline blocks formation of amyloid plaques and reduces numbers of microglial scavenger cells that damage normal brain cells.   The researchers fed their experimental animals, genetically prone to deve...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/EgRJcmO3kns   Many studies convince us that healthy eating, consuming more fruits and vegetables while moderating intake of carbs, fat, and meats, reduces cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.   Now an Australian meta-analysis presents proof that such a moderating diet will also keep your kidneys in work order.   The researchers analyzed 18 separate studies following so...