Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/hO0nhRo7HYE   With the coming of ever warmer weather, the news here is bad news.   At least 1000 children perish due to preventable drownings every year, and accidental drowning is the single leading cause of injury-related death for kids 1 to 4 years of age.   These tragedies occur because naturally-curious kids gain unexpected access to water.   Those children also at...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/4R0XogusZx0   I’m Dr. Howard Smith, PENTA Medical Network, reporting from NYC with the Health News Roundup for the 3rd week of JULY, 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 : To Prevent Dementia Bank Your B...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/k1bHDtP93Zw   Our friends and neighbors sadly dependent on heroin call themselves “addicts,” but they would prefer we call them “people who use drugs.”   This finding comes from a first-of-its-kind study by psychiatrists and health law experts at UMass and Boston University.   The study polled participants embarking on an inpatient heroin withdrawal program.   While 70%...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/Xk6ebT6Hchw   Women looking for a cheaper alternative to tampons need look no further than the Menstrual Cup.   Now this is not a new invention and it’s been around since the 1930’s, but a new meta-analysis just published in The Lancet reviewed the experiences of some 3300 women using the cup to determine its utility and safety.   The majority of menstrual cups are plac...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/tLIrv6XIfMg   Players who tackle their opponents by leading with the shoulders rugby-style rather than with the head football-style sustain fewer and less forceful impacts.   This is the conclusion of a sports medicine study at West Virginia’s Marshall University to be presented next week to the American Academy of Neurology’s Sports Concussion conference.   The study f...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/tjCw6J7GYZk   A new cannabis-based drug can effectively treat those addicted to marijuana.   An Australian study just published in JAMA Internal Medicine shows that nabiximols, a CBD-THC combo medication marketed as Sativex™, can not only help weed users quit by reducing withdrawal symptoms, but also diminish their chances of relapse.   The University of Sydney’s Drug &...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/0rJe-bmI3OA   Every week there is more news that the bacteria in your gastrointestinal tract affect not only your body’s metabolism and immune system but also the health of distant organs such as your brain.   A new study from the Baylor College of Medicine shows that you need a healthy diet to spawn healthy bacteria in your gut’s microbiome.   The investigators studied...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/TLtTka9aWa4   Just 10 minutes petting a friendly dog or cat can significantly diminish the stress on a college student stemming from academic demands, social pressures, and student loans.   The data gathered from 249 students at the Washington State University by scientists there quantitated stress levels by measurement of steroids in the students’ saliva.   The student...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/ooe4-3n-D-0   If you have problems hearing and reject wearing a hearing aid due to pride, you are increasing your chances of losing your mind later in life.   British investigators at the University of Exeter recently presented the data behind this warning to the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Los Angeles.   The study looked at 25,000 hearing impair...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/YiI9buLkoCg   When women of child-bearing age undergo surgery, their postoperative pain medications often addict them to narcotics.   These dependencies then create a drug problem for their babies even years later.     A study of 2.2 million Canadian births over the past 27 years concludes that neonates born to mothers who had heart, thoracic, urologic, or neurologic su...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/joU9-5CEU4s   Extreme training drills inflicted on high school and college football players by over-zealous coaches produce more non-traumatic fatalities than game play.   This conclusion comes from a study of 187 such deaths occurring over the past 20 years and just presented to the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine’s Annual Meeting.   Football remains th...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/Ij4Np7YmIlc   A British meta-analysis of 21 studies and 4.4 million persons warns that adults who had been born prematurely are less likely than their full term peers to form romantic relationships, enjoy sex, or pursue parenthood.   These results were just published online in the journal JAMA Network Open .   Those born at 37 weeks or earlier or with low birth weights we...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/S9oKOm2pkOw   To kill your craving for booze, butts, and beer, convene with Mother Nature in the open green space of a park on a regular basis.   This is the bottom line from British study just published in the journal Health & Place.   The investigators surveyed nearly 150 subjects to determine their exposure to green spaces either in and around their residence or duri...

Vidcast: : https://youtu.be/j2dzIsHcqJs   Exposure to the dirty air that accompanies excessive automobile traffic leads to blockage of the coronary arteries escalating the risk of heart attack and sudden death.   University of Buffalo environmental health specialists studied nearly 8900 Chinese adults of all ages.   Because of China’s problematic air contamination, subjects were exposed to signifi...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/aSqAIaL7lFo   Before you can come to someone’s rescue in a true altruistic spirit, you must first imagine your plan of attack.   Psychologists at Boston College employed MRI scanning to study the brain activity of 18 young, healthy adults before and while they remembered and imagined helping others in distress.   Those participants whose scans indicate more powerful ima...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/oD9WB_S7kZc   Even if you’re at a normal weight or maybe a few pounds over, cutting an extra 300 calories out of your daily tally has significant health benefits.   A Duke University study of 218 young and middle aged healthy and non-obese subjects now shows that reducing your calorie intake by about 12% over a 2 year period will significantly improve your cardiovascula...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/mBkTDPeg6lI   Throughout life, we accumulate brainpower, known technically as Cognitive Reserve (CR), by participating in formal education, reading, writing, gaming, and having social interactions.   A new study from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute’s Neurobiology Department and Chicago’s Rush University Alzheimer’s Research Center tells us that this extra Cognitive Reserv...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/mLKKARFLkTM   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 : Warmer Screens At Night May Curb Your Appetite Odd Eating Indicates Autism Exercise Fuels Better Thinking For the Overweight Lassie May Prevent Childhood Allerg...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/F2wbdM4T7EA There is an epidemic of lies on the internet, and we are all confronted daily with so-called news that is, in fact propaganda.   Just as your brain can be conned, it is possible to train it to withstand these attacks with an electronic from of BS repellent. The UK’s University of Cambridge and its Social Decision-Making Lab have developed a browser game call...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/Mmr5bCArcSU Cannabis in its various forms does curb pain.   This is the conclusion of study from New York’s Einstein College of Medicine and the University of Miami just published in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. The investigators studied 1000 user-customers of a Colorado dispensary with most being under the age of 50.   Nearly two-thirds of the group reported usin...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/pKHclU_qRSA Summer is a prime time for baby-making.   Before you take that plunge, you prospective moms, make sure your weight is under control.   A just released, frightening study from the University of Pittsburgh shows that children of women obese at the time of pregnancy were 57% more likely to develop leukemia before the age of 5.   The Pitt epidemiologists analyze...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/IfhsrH3V-X4 Toddlers nearing their second birthday learn new word associations better when they spend time with other toddlers rather than only adults.   A study published in the September edition of the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology comes from Canada’s University of Waterloo. The investigators studied 88 toddlers in two groups: those who spend their days wit...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/TDcZ0q1apbs It’s all over the news.   Sugar-sweetened drinks increase your risk of cancer.   Well let’s take a closer look at the data. The study comes from Sorbonne Paris’ Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center, and it reviewed health and dietary records from over 100,000 participants with a mean age of 42 years and followed over an 8 year period.   The investigat...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/tmSkorpdkQ8 If you’re a woman with bone density problems, you’d better watch the ingredients in your toothpaste, mouthwash, and soap.   A study just published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism shows that the common antibacterial triclosan, added to many consumer products, is associated with bone issues in women. The study reviewed data from more than...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/F6xnFH4gA-w Those who exercise with moderate to vigorous physical activity the same time each day more often successfully maintain their weight loss.   A study from Brown University was just published in the journal Obesity . Nutritional researchers there studied 375 adult subjects who had successfully maintained a weight loss of more than 30 lbs for more than one year....