ANAHEIM, CALIF. – The rate of mother-to-child transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection is likely higher than the current estimate of 2%-8%, suggests a recent study using cord blood serology to determine incidence. The study was presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference.  

“Cord blood screening is a potential tool to identify SARS-CoV-2 infected and/or exposed neonates who should then be followed for long-term consequences of mother-to-child transmission,” Amy Yeh, MD, an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, told attendees at the meeting.

Dr. Yeh and her colleagues collected cord blood from more than 500 mothers at LAC+USC Medical Center from October 2021 to April 2022 and tested them for IgG antibodies against three SARS-CoV-2 antigens: nucleoprotein (N), receptor-binding domain (RBD), and spike protein (S1). Results with an IgG mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) above 700 were considered positive for IgG antibodies. A positive result for N as well as RBD or S1 indicated a natural infection while a positive result for only RBD or S1 indicated a vaccine response or past infection. 

The researchers also tested a subset of the IgG positive samples for IgM and IgA antibodies against N, S1, and RBD, with an IgM MFI greater than 24 and an IgA MFI greater than 102 used as the thresholds for positive results.

Among 384 cord blood samples analyzed, 85.4% were positive for IgG against RBD, indicating that the mother had SARS-CoV-2 immunity from either a past infection or vaccination. Of these anti-RBD positive samples, 60.7% were anti-N IgG negative, suggesting that N had waned since vaccination or the past infection. 

Since the other 39.3% that were anti-N IgG positive suggest a past maternal infection, the researchers assessed these 129 samples for IgM and IgA antibodies against RBD. They found that 16 of them had high levels of anti-RBD IgA and/or IgM antibodies, pointing to a rate of mother-to-child-transmission of up to 12.4%.

Sallie Permar, MD, PhD, a professor and the chair of pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, who was not involved in the research, said most studies of placental transmission have focused on virologic testing, such as PCR. “Serologic tests for congenital infections are inherently challenged by the transfer of maternal IgG across the placenta and therefore must rely on non-IgG isotype response detection, which have inherently been more susceptible to false-positive results than IgG-based tests,” Dr. Permar said.

Also, “it is unclear if virologic testing was performed in the infants, which, if positive in the same infants for which cord blood IgM/IgA responses were identified, could further validate positive serologic findings,” added Dr. Permar, who is also pediatrician-in-chief at New York-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital.

Given these limitations, Dr. Permar reiterated that diagnostics for congenital SARS-CoV-2 continue to evolve, even if congenital SARS-CoV-2 infection currently appears rare. Dr. Permar said she agreed with Dr. Yeh that following those who do develop this infection is important.  

“There have been initial reports of neurodevelopmental and other outcomes from long-term follow-up cohorts of infants exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection in utero with variable results and it should continue to be pursued using cohorts both enrolled early in the pandemic and those enrolled more recently after population-level immunity to SARS-CoV-2 was achieved,” said Dr. Permar.

Dr. Permar serves as a consultant to Moderna, Pfizer, Merck, Dynavax, and Hoopika on their CMV vaccine programs and has led sponsored research programs with Moderna and Merck. Information on study funding and on disclosures for Dr. Yeh was unavailable.

ANAHEIM, CALIF. – The rate of mother-to-child transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection is likely higher than the current estimate of 2%-8%, suggests a recent study using cord blood serology to determine incidence. The study was presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference.  

“Cord blood screening is a potential tool to identify SARS-CoV-2 infected and/or exposed neonates who should then be followed for long-term consequences of mother-to-child transmission,” Amy Yeh, MD, an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, told attendees at the meeting.

Dr. Yeh and her colleagues collected cord blood from more than 500 mothers at LAC+USC Medical Center from October 2021 to April 2022 and tested them for IgG antibodies against three SARS-CoV-2 antigens: nucleoprotein (N), receptor-binding domain (RBD), and spike protein (S1). Results with an IgG mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) above 700 were considered positive for IgG antibodies. A positive result for N as well as RBD or S1 indicated a natural infection while a positive result for only RBD or S1 indicated a vaccine response or past infection. 

The researchers also tested a subset of the IgG positive samples for IgM and IgA antibodies against N, S1, and RBD, with an IgM MFI greater than 24 and an IgA MFI greater than 102 used as the thresholds for positive results.

Among 384 cord blood samples analyzed, 85.4% were positive for IgG against RBD, indicating that the mother had SARS-CoV-2 immunity from either a past infection or vaccination. Of these anti-RBD positive samples, 60.7% were anti-N IgG negative, suggesting that N had waned since vaccination or the past infection. 

Since the other 39.3% that were anti-N IgG positive suggest a past maternal infection, the researchers assessed these 129 samples for IgM and IgA antibodies against RBD. They found that 16 of them had high levels of anti-RBD IgA and/or IgM antibodies, pointing to a rate of mother-to-child-transmission of up to 12.4%.

Sallie Permar, MD, PhD, a professor and the chair of pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, who was not involved in the research, said most studies of placental transmission have focused on virologic testing, such as PCR. “Serologic tests for congenital infections are inherently challenged by the transfer of maternal IgG across the placenta and therefore must rely on non-IgG isotype response detection, which have inherently been more susceptible to false-positive results than IgG-based tests,” Dr. Permar said.

Also, “it is unclear if virologic testing was performed in the infants, which, if positive in the same infants for which cord blood IgM/IgA responses were identified, could further validate positive serologic findings,” added Dr. Permar, who is also pediatrician-in-chief at New York-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital.

Given these limitations, Dr. Permar reiterated that diagnostics for congenital SARS-CoV-2 continue to evolve, even if congenital SARS-CoV-2 infection currently appears rare. Dr. Permar said she agreed with Dr. Yeh that following those who do develop this infection is important.  

“There have been initial reports of neurodevelopmental and other outcomes from long-term follow-up cohorts of infants exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection in utero with variable results and it should continue to be pursued using cohorts both enrolled early in the pandemic and those enrolled more recently after population-level immunity to SARS-CoV-2 was achieved,” said Dr. Permar.

Dr. Permar serves as a consultant to Moderna, Pfizer, Merck, Dynavax, and Hoopika on their CMV vaccine programs and has led sponsored research programs with Moderna and Merck. Information on study funding and on disclosures for Dr. Yeh was unavailable.

ANAHEIM, CALIF. – The rate of mother-to-child transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection is likely higher than the current estimate of 2%-8%, suggests a recent study using cord blood serology to determine incidence. The study was presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference.  

“Cord blood screening is a potential tool to identify SARS-CoV-2 infected and/or exposed neonates who should then be followed for long-term consequences of mother-to-child transmission,” Amy Yeh, MD, an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, told attendees at the meeting.

Dr. Yeh and her colleagues collected cord blood from more than 500 mothers at LAC+USC Medical Center from October 2021 to April 2022 and tested them for IgG antibodies against three SARS-CoV-2 antigens: nucleoprotein (N), receptor-binding domain (RBD), and spike protein (S1). Results with an IgG mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) above 700 were considered positive for IgG antibodies. A positive result for N as well as RBD or S1 indicated a natural infection while a positive result for only RBD or S1 indicated a vaccine response or past infection. 

The researchers also tested a subset of the IgG positive samples for IgM and IgA antibodies against N, S1, and RBD, with an IgM MFI greater than 24 and an IgA MFI greater than 102 used as the thresholds for positive results.

Among 384 cord blood samples analyzed, 85.4% were positive for IgG against RBD, indicating that the mother had SARS-CoV-2 immunity from either a past infection or vaccination. Of these anti-RBD positive samples, 60.7% were anti-N IgG negative, suggesting that N had waned since vaccination or the past infection. 

Since the other 39.3% that were anti-N IgG positive suggest a past maternal infection, the researchers assessed these 129 samples for IgM and IgA antibodies against RBD. They found that 16 of them had high levels of anti-RBD IgA and/or IgM antibodies, pointing to a rate of mother-to-child-transmission of up to 12.4%.

Sallie Permar, MD, PhD, a professor and the chair of pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, who was not involved in the research, said most studies of placental transmission have focused on virologic testing, such as PCR. “Serologic tests for congenital infections are inherently challenged by the transfer of maternal IgG across the placenta and therefore must rely on non-IgG isotype response detection, which have inherently been more susceptible to false-positive results than IgG-based tests,” Dr. Permar said.

Also, “it is unclear if virologic testing was performed in the infants, which, if positive in the same infants for which cord blood IgM/IgA responses were identified, could further validate positive serologic findings,” added Dr. Permar, who is also pediatrician-in-chief at New York-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital.

Given these limitations, Dr. Permar reiterated that diagnostics for congenital SARS-CoV-2 continue to evolve, even if congenital SARS-CoV-2 infection currently appears rare. Dr. Permar said she agreed with Dr. Yeh that following those who do develop this infection is important.  

“There have been initial reports of neurodevelopmental and other outcomes from long-term follow-up cohorts of infants exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection in utero with variable results and it should continue to be pursued using cohorts both enrolled early in the pandemic and those enrolled more recently after population-level immunity to SARS-CoV-2 was achieved,” said Dr. Permar.

Dr. Permar serves as a consultant to Moderna, Pfizer, Merck, Dynavax, and Hoopika on their CMV vaccine programs and has led sponsored research programs with Moderna and Merck. Information on study funding and on disclosures for Dr. Yeh was unavailable.

Weight loss after bariatric surgery was linked with visceral fat reduction as well as reduced blood pressure, fasting glucose, and left ventricular remodeling, based an imaging study in 213 patients.

“We found that ventricular function measured by strain imaging improved in both the left and right sides of the heart, but function measured in the traditional method using endocardial motion [in other words, ejection fraction] actually worsened,” senior investigator Barry A. Borlaug, MD, said in an interview.

Although previous studies have shown positive effects of weight loss on the heart after bariatric surgery, most have been short term and have not specifically examined the effects of visceral fat reduction, wrote the investigators.

“We are in the middle of an increasing epidemic of obesity worldwide, but particularly in the United States, where it is currently projected that one in two adults will be obese by 2030,” added Dr. Borlaug of Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. “Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is growing in tandem, and numerous recent studies have shown that obesity is one of the strongest risk factors for developing HFpEF, and that the severity of HFpEF is intimately linked to excess body fat. This suggests that therapies to reduce body fat could improve the cardiac abnormalities that cause HFpEF, which was our focus in this study,” he explained.

In the study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the researchers reviewed echocardiography data from 213 obese patients before and more than 180 days after bariatric surgery. They also measured abdominal visceral adipose tissue (VAT) of 52 patients via computed tomography. The average age of the patients was 54 years, the average body mass index was 45 kg/m², and 67% were women. Comorbidities included hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and obstructive sleep apnea.

The primary outcome was changes in cardiac structure and function.

After a median follow-up of 5.3 years, patients overall averaged a 23% reduction in body weight and a 22% reduction in BMI. In the 52 patients with abdominal scans, the VAT area decreased by 30% overall. Changes in left ventricular mass were significantly correlated to changes in the VAT.

Epicardial adipose thickness decreased by 14% overall. Left and right ventricular longitudinal strains improved at follow-up, but left atrial strain deteriorated, the researchers noted.

Although the mechanism of action remains unclear, the results suggest that left ventricular remodeling was associated with visceral adiposity rather than subcutaneous fat, the researchers wrote.

They also found that right ventricular strain was negatively correlated with VAT, but not with body weight or BMI.

“These findings suggest that weight loss, particularly reduction in visceral adiposity, benefits [right ventricular] structure and function in a manner akin to that observed in the [left ventricle],” the researchers noted.

Some surprises and limitations

Dr. Borlaug said he found some, but not all, of the results surprising. “Earlier studies had shown evidence for benefit from weight loss on cardiac structure and function, but had been limited by smaller sample sizes, shorter durations of evaluation, and variable methods used,” he said in an interview.

The findings that strain imaging showed both left and right ventricular function improved while EF declined “shows some of the problems with using EF, as it is affected by chamber size and geometry. We have previously shown that patients with HFpEF display an increase in fat around the heart, and this affects cardiac function and interaction between the left and right sides of the heart, so we expected to see that this fat depot would be reduced, and this was indeed the case,” Dr. Borlaug added.

In the current study, “visceral fat was most strongly tied to the heart remodeling in obesity, and changes in visceral fat were most strongly tied to improvements in cardiac structure following weight loss,” Dr. Borlaug told this news organization. “This further supports this concept that excess visceral fat plays a key role in HFpEF, especially in the abdomen and around the heart,” he said.

However, “The biggest surprise was the discordant effects in the left atrium,” Dr. Borlaug said. “Left atrial remodeling and dysfunction play a crucial role in HFpEF as well, and we expected that this would improve following weight loss, but in fact we observed that left atrial function deteriorated, and other indicators of atrial myopathy worsened, including higher estimates of left atrial pressures and increased prevalence of atrial fibrillation,” he said.

This difference emphasizes that weight loss may not address all abnormalities that lead to HFpEF, although a key limitation of the current study was the lack of a control group of patients with the same degree of obesity and no weight-loss intervention, and the deterioration in left atrial function might have been even greater in the absence of weight loss, Dr. Borlaug added.
 

Larger numbers support effects

Previous research shows that structural heart changes associated with obesity can be reversed through weight loss, but the current study fills a gap by providing long-term data in a larger sample than previously studied, wrote Paul Heidenreich, MD, of Stanford (Calif.) University in an accompanying editorial).

“There has been uncertainty regarding the prolonged effect of weight loss on cardiac function; this study was larger than many prior studies and provided a longer follow-up,” Dr. Heidenreich said in an interview.

“One unusual finding was that, while weight loss led to left ventricle reverse remodeling (reduction in wall thickness), the same effect was not seen for the left atrium; the left atrial size continued to increase,” he said. “I would have expected the left atrial changes to mirror the changes in the left ventricle,” he noted.

The findings support the greater cardiac risk of visceral vs. subcutaneous adipose tissue, and although body mass index will retain prognostic value, measures of central obesity are more likely predictors of cardiac structural changes and events and should be reported in clinical studies, Dr. Heidenreich wrote.

However, “We need a better understanding of the factors that influence left atrial remodeling and reverse remodeling,” Dr. Heidenreich told this news organization. “While left ventricular compliance and pressure play a role, there are other factors that need to be elucidated,” he said.

 

Studies in progress may inform practice

The current data call for further study to test novel treatments to facilitate weight loss in patients with HFpEF and those at risk for HFpEF, and some of these studies with medicines are underway, Dr. Borlaug said in the interview.

“Until such studies are completed, we will not truly understand the effects of weight loss on the heart, but the present data certainly provide strong support that patients who have obesity and HFpEF or are at risk for HFpEF should try to lose weight through lifestyle interventions,” he said. 

Whether the cardiac changes seen in the current study would be different with nonsurgical weight loss remains a key question because many obese patients are reluctant to undergo bariatric surgery, Dr. Borlaug said. “We cannot assess whether the effects would differ with nonsurgical weight loss, and this requires further study,” he added.

As for additional research, “Randomized, controlled trials of weight-loss interventions, with appropriate controls and comprehensive assessments of cardiac structure, function, and hemodynamics will be most informative,” said Dr. Borlaug. “Larger trials powered to evaluate cardiovascular outcomes such as heart failure hospitalization or cardiovascular death also are critically important to better understand the role of weight loss to treat and prevent HFpEF, the ultimate form of obesity-related heart disease,” he emphasized.

The study was supported in part by grants to lead author Dr. Hidemi Sorimachi of the Mayo Clinic from the Uehara Memorial Foundation, Japan, and to corresponding author Dr. Borlaug from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Borlaug also disclosed previous grants from National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, AstraZeneca, Corvia, Medtronic, GlaxoSmithKline, Mesoblast, Novartis, and Tenax Therapeutics; and consulting fees from Actelion, Amgen, Aria, Axon Therapies, Boehringer Ingelheim, Edwards Lifesciences, Eli Lilly, Imbria, Janssen, Merck, Novo Nordisk, and VADovations. Dr. Heidenreich had no financial disclosures.

Weight loss after bariatric surgery was linked with visceral fat reduction as well as reduced blood pressure, fasting glucose, and left ventricular remodeling, based an imaging study in 213 patients.

“We found that ventricular function measured by strain imaging improved in both the left and right sides of the heart, but function measured in the traditional method using endocardial motion [in other words, ejection fraction] actually worsened,” senior investigator Barry A. Borlaug, MD, said in an interview.

Although previous studies have shown positive effects of weight loss on the heart after bariatric surgery, most have been short term and have not specifically examined the effects of visceral fat reduction, wrote the investigators.

“We are in the middle of an increasing epidemic of obesity worldwide, but particularly in the United States, where it is currently projected that one in two adults will be obese by 2030,” added Dr. Borlaug of Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. “Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is growing in tandem, and numerous recent studies have shown that obesity is one of the strongest risk factors for developing HFpEF, and that the severity of HFpEF is intimately linked to excess body fat. This suggests that therapies to reduce body fat could improve the cardiac abnormalities that cause HFpEF, which was our focus in this study,” he explained.

In the study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the researchers reviewed echocardiography data from 213 obese patients before and more than 180 days after bariatric surgery. They also measured abdominal visceral adipose tissue (VAT) of 52 patients via computed tomography. The average age of the patients was 54 years, the average body mass index was 45 kg/m², and 67% were women. Comorbidities included hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and obstructive sleep apnea.

The primary outcome was changes in cardiac structure and function.

After a median follow-up of 5.3 years, patients overall averaged a 23% reduction in body weight and a 22% reduction in BMI. In the 52 patients with abdominal scans, the VAT area decreased by 30% overall. Changes in left ventricular mass were significantly correlated to changes in the VAT.

Epicardial adipose thickness decreased by 14% overall. Left and right ventricular longitudinal strains improved at follow-up, but left atrial strain deteriorated, the researchers noted.

Although the mechanism of action remains unclear, the results suggest that left ventricular remodeling was associated with visceral adiposity rather than subcutaneous fat, the researchers wrote.

They also found that right ventricular strain was negatively correlated with VAT, but not with body weight or BMI.

“These findings suggest that weight loss, particularly reduction in visceral adiposity, benefits [right ventricular] structure and function in a manner akin to that observed in the [left ventricle],” the researchers noted.

Some surprises and limitations

Dr. Borlaug said he found some, but not all, of the results surprising. “Earlier studies had shown evidence for benefit from weight loss on cardiac structure and function, but had been limited by smaller sample sizes, shorter durations of evaluation, and variable methods used,” he said in an interview.

The findings that strain imaging showed both left and right ventricular function improved while EF declined “shows some of the problems with using EF, as it is affected by chamber size and geometry. We have previously shown that patients with HFpEF display an increase in fat around the heart, and this affects cardiac function and interaction between the left and right sides of the heart, so we expected to see that this fat depot would be reduced, and this was indeed the case,” Dr. Borlaug added.

In the current study, “visceral fat was most strongly tied to the heart remodeling in obesity, and changes in visceral fat were most strongly tied to improvements in cardiac structure following weight loss,” Dr. Borlaug told this news organization. “This further supports this concept that excess visceral fat plays a key role in HFpEF, especially in the abdomen and around the heart,” he said.

However, “The biggest surprise was the discordant effects in the left atrium,” Dr. Borlaug said. “Left atrial remodeling and dysfunction play a crucial role in HFpEF as well, and we expected that this would improve following weight loss, but in fact we observed that left atrial function deteriorated, and other indicators of atrial myopathy worsened, including higher estimates of left atrial pressures and increased prevalence of atrial fibrillation,” he said.

This difference emphasizes that weight loss may not address all abnormalities that lead to HFpEF, although a key limitation of the current study was the lack of a control group of patients with the same degree of obesity and no weight-loss intervention, and the deterioration in left atrial function might have been even greater in the absence of weight loss, Dr. Borlaug added.
 

Larger numbers support effects

Previous research shows that structural heart changes associated with obesity can be reversed through weight loss, but the current study fills a gap by providing long-term data in a larger sample than previously studied, wrote Paul Heidenreich, MD, of Stanford (Calif.) University in an accompanying editorial).

“There has been uncertainty regarding the prolonged effect of weight loss on cardiac function; this study was larger than many prior studies and provided a longer follow-up,” Dr. Heidenreich said in an interview.

“One unusual finding was that, while weight loss led to left ventricle reverse remodeling (reduction in wall thickness), the same effect was not seen for the left atrium; the left atrial size continued to increase,” he said. “I would have expected the left atrial changes to mirror the changes in the left ventricle,” he noted.

The findings support the greater cardiac risk of visceral vs. subcutaneous adipose tissue, and although body mass index will retain prognostic value, measures of central obesity are more likely predictors of cardiac structural changes and events and should be reported in clinical studies, Dr. Heidenreich wrote.

However, “We need a better understanding of the factors that influence left atrial remodeling and reverse remodeling,” Dr. Heidenreich told this news organization. “While left ventricular compliance and pressure play a role, there are other factors that need to be elucidated,” he said.

 

Studies in progress may inform practice

The current data call for further study to test novel treatments to facilitate weight loss in patients with HFpEF and those at risk for HFpEF, and some of these studies with medicines are underway, Dr. Borlaug said in the interview.

“Until such studies are completed, we will not truly understand the effects of weight loss on the heart, but the present data certainly provide strong support that patients who have obesity and HFpEF or are at risk for HFpEF should try to lose weight through lifestyle interventions,” he said. 

Whether the cardiac changes seen in the current study would be different with nonsurgical weight loss remains a key question because many obese patients are reluctant to undergo bariatric surgery, Dr. Borlaug said. “We cannot assess whether the effects would differ with nonsurgical weight loss, and this requires further study,” he added.

As for additional research, “Randomized, controlled trials of weight-loss interventions, with appropriate controls and comprehensive assessments of cardiac structure, function, and hemodynamics will be most informative,” said Dr. Borlaug. “Larger trials powered to evaluate cardiovascular outcomes such as heart failure hospitalization or cardiovascular death also are critically important to better understand the role of weight loss to treat and prevent HFpEF, the ultimate form of obesity-related heart disease,” he emphasized.

The study was supported in part by grants to lead author Dr. Hidemi Sorimachi of the Mayo Clinic from the Uehara Memorial Foundation, Japan, and to corresponding author Dr. Borlaug from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Borlaug also disclosed previous grants from National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, AstraZeneca, Corvia, Medtronic, GlaxoSmithKline, Mesoblast, Novartis, and Tenax Therapeutics; and consulting fees from Actelion, Amgen, Aria, Axon Therapies, Boehringer Ingelheim, Edwards Lifesciences, Eli Lilly, Imbria, Janssen, Merck, Novo Nordisk, and VADovations. Dr. Heidenreich had no financial disclosures.

Weight loss after bariatric surgery was linked with visceral fat reduction as well as reduced blood pressure, fasting glucose, and left ventricular remodeling, based an imaging study in 213 patients.

“We found that ventricular function measured by strain imaging improved in both the left and right sides of the heart, but function measured in the traditional method using endocardial motion [in other words, ejection fraction] actually worsened,” senior investigator Barry A. Borlaug, MD, said in an interview.

Although previous studies have shown positive effects of weight loss on the heart after bariatric surgery, most have been short term and have not specifically examined the effects of visceral fat reduction, wrote the investigators.

“We are in the middle of an increasing epidemic of obesity worldwide, but particularly in the United States, where it is currently projected that one in two adults will be obese by 2030,” added Dr. Borlaug of Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. “Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is growing in tandem, and numerous recent studies have shown that obesity is one of the strongest risk factors for developing HFpEF, and that the severity of HFpEF is intimately linked to excess body fat. This suggests that therapies to reduce body fat could improve the cardiac abnormalities that cause HFpEF, which was our focus in this study,” he explained.

In the study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the researchers reviewed echocardiography data from 213 obese patients before and more than 180 days after bariatric surgery. They also measured abdominal visceral adipose tissue (VAT) of 52 patients via computed tomography. The average age of the patients was 54 years, the average body mass index was 45 kg/m², and 67% were women. Comorbidities included hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and obstructive sleep apnea.

The primary outcome was changes in cardiac structure and function.

After a median follow-up of 5.3 years, patients overall averaged a 23% reduction in body weight and a 22% reduction in BMI. In the 52 patients with abdominal scans, the VAT area decreased by 30% overall. Changes in left ventricular mass were significantly correlated to changes in the VAT.

Epicardial adipose thickness decreased by 14% overall. Left and right ventricular longitudinal strains improved at follow-up, but left atrial strain deteriorated, the researchers noted.

Although the mechanism of action remains unclear, the results suggest that left ventricular remodeling was associated with visceral adiposity rather than subcutaneous fat, the researchers wrote.

They also found that right ventricular strain was negatively correlated with VAT, but not with body weight or BMI.

“These findings suggest that weight loss, particularly reduction in visceral adiposity, benefits [right ventricular] structure and function in a manner akin to that observed in the [left ventricle],” the researchers noted.

Some surprises and limitations

Dr. Borlaug said he found some, but not all, of the results surprising. “Earlier studies had shown evidence for benefit from weight loss on cardiac structure and function, but had been limited by smaller sample sizes, shorter durations of evaluation, and variable methods used,” he said in an interview.

The findings that strain imaging showed both left and right ventricular function improved while EF declined “shows some of the problems with using EF, as it is affected by chamber size and geometry. We have previously shown that patients with HFpEF display an increase in fat around the heart, and this affects cardiac function and interaction between the left and right sides of the heart, so we expected to see that this fat depot would be reduced, and this was indeed the case,” Dr. Borlaug added.

In the current study, “visceral fat was most strongly tied to the heart remodeling in obesity, and changes in visceral fat were most strongly tied to improvements in cardiac structure following weight loss,” Dr. Borlaug told this news organization. “This further supports this concept that excess visceral fat plays a key role in HFpEF, especially in the abdomen and around the heart,” he said.

However, “The biggest surprise was the discordant effects in the left atrium,” Dr. Borlaug said. “Left atrial remodeling and dysfunction play a crucial role in HFpEF as well, and we expected that this would improve following weight loss, but in fact we observed that left atrial function deteriorated, and other indicators of atrial myopathy worsened, including higher estimates of left atrial pressures and increased prevalence of atrial fibrillation,” he said.

This difference emphasizes that weight loss may not address all abnormalities that lead to HFpEF, although a key limitation of the current study was the lack of a control group of patients with the same degree of obesity and no weight-loss intervention, and the deterioration in left atrial function might have been even greater in the absence of weight loss, Dr. Borlaug added.
 

Larger numbers support effects

Previous research shows that structural heart changes associated with obesity can be reversed through weight loss, but the current study fills a gap by providing long-term data in a larger sample than previously studied, wrote Paul Heidenreich, MD, of Stanford (Calif.) University in an accompanying editorial).

“There has been uncertainty regarding the prolonged effect of weight loss on cardiac function; this study was larger than many prior studies and provided a longer follow-up,” Dr. Heidenreich said in an interview.

“One unusual finding was that, while weight loss led to left ventricle reverse remodeling (reduction in wall thickness), the same effect was not seen for the left atrium; the left atrial size continued to increase,” he said. “I would have expected the left atrial changes to mirror the changes in the left ventricle,” he noted.

The findings support the greater cardiac risk of visceral vs. subcutaneous adipose tissue, and although body mass index will retain prognostic value, measures of central obesity are more likely predictors of cardiac structural changes and events and should be reported in clinical studies, Dr. Heidenreich wrote.

However, “We need a better understanding of the factors that influence left atrial remodeling and reverse remodeling,” Dr. Heidenreich told this news organization. “While left ventricular compliance and pressure play a role, there are other factors that need to be elucidated,” he said.

 

Studies in progress may inform practice

The current data call for further study to test novel treatments to facilitate weight loss in patients with HFpEF and those at risk for HFpEF, and some of these studies with medicines are underway, Dr. Borlaug said in the interview.

“Until such studies are completed, we will not truly understand the effects of weight loss on the heart, but the present data certainly provide strong support that patients who have obesity and HFpEF or are at risk for HFpEF should try to lose weight through lifestyle interventions,” he said. 

Whether the cardiac changes seen in the current study would be different with nonsurgical weight loss remains a key question because many obese patients are reluctant to undergo bariatric surgery, Dr. Borlaug said. “We cannot assess whether the effects would differ with nonsurgical weight loss, and this requires further study,” he added.

As for additional research, “Randomized, controlled trials of weight-loss interventions, with appropriate controls and comprehensive assessments of cardiac structure, function, and hemodynamics will be most informative,” said Dr. Borlaug. “Larger trials powered to evaluate cardiovascular outcomes such as heart failure hospitalization or cardiovascular death also are critically important to better understand the role of weight loss to treat and prevent HFpEF, the ultimate form of obesity-related heart disease,” he emphasized.

The study was supported in part by grants to lead author Dr. Hidemi Sorimachi of the Mayo Clinic from the Uehara Memorial Foundation, Japan, and to corresponding author Dr. Borlaug from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Borlaug also disclosed previous grants from National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, AstraZeneca, Corvia, Medtronic, GlaxoSmithKline, Mesoblast, Novartis, and Tenax Therapeutics; and consulting fees from Actelion, Amgen, Aria, Axon Therapies, Boehringer Ingelheim, Edwards Lifesciences, Eli Lilly, Imbria, Janssen, Merck, Novo Nordisk, and VADovations. Dr. Heidenreich had no financial disclosures.

THE COMPARISON

A Areas of alopecia with erythema and scale in a young Black boy with tinea capitis. He also had an enlarged posterior cervical lymph node (arrow) from this fungal infection.

B White patches of scale from tinea capitis in a young Black boy with no obvious hair loss; however, a potassium hydroxide preparation from the scale was positive for fungus.

C A subtle area of tinea capitis on the scalp of a Latina girl showed comma hairs.

Photographs courtesy of Richard P. Usatine, MD.

Tinea capitis is a common dermatophyte infection of the scalp in school-aged children. The infection is spread by close contact with infected people or with their personal items, including combs, brushes, pillowcases, and hats, as well as animals. It is uncommon in adults.

Epidemiology

Tinea capitis is the most common fungal infection among school-aged children worldwide.¹ In a US-based study of more than 10,000 school-aged children, the prevalence of tinea capitis ranged from 0% to 19.4%, with Black children having the highest rates of infection at 12.9%.² However, people of all races and ages may develop tinea capitis.³

Tinea capitis most commonly is caused by Trichophyton tonsurans and Microsporum canis. Dermatophyte scalp infections caused by T tonsurans produce fungal spores that may occur within the hair shaft (endothrix) or with fungal elements external to the hair shaft (exothrix) such as M canis. Microsporum canis usually fluoresces an apple green color on Wood lamp examination because of the location of the spores.

Key clinical features

Tinea capitis has a variety of clinical presentations: • broken hairs that appear as black dots on the scalp • diffuse scale mimicking seborrheic dermatitis • well-demarcated annular plaques • exudate and tenderness caused by inflammation • scalp pruritus • occipital scalp lymphadenopathy. Worth noting Tinea capitis impacts all patient groups, not just Black patients. In the United States, Black and Hispanic children are most commonly affected.4 Due to a tendency to have dry hair and hair breakage, those with more tightly coiled, textured hair may routinely apply oil and/or grease to the scalp; however, the application of heavy emollients, oils, and grease to camouflage scale contributes to falsenegative fungal cultures of the scalp if applied within 1 week of the fungal culture, which may delay diagnosis. If tinea capitis is suspected, occipital lymphadenopathy on physical examination should prompt treatment for tinea capitis, even without a fungal culture.5 Health disparity highlight A risk factor for tinea capitis is crowded living environments. Some families may live in crowded environments due to economic and housing disparities. This close contact increases the risk for conditions such as tinea capitis.6 Treatment delays may occur due to some cultural practices of applying oils and grease to the hair and scalp, camouflaging the clinical signs of tinea capitis.

THE COMPARISON

A Areas of alopecia with erythema and scale in a young Black boy with tinea capitis. He also had an enlarged posterior cervical lymph node (arrow) from this fungal infection.

B White patches of scale from tinea capitis in a young Black boy with no obvious hair loss; however, a potassium hydroxide preparation from the scale was positive for fungus.

C A subtle area of tinea capitis on the scalp of a Latina girl showed comma hairs.

Photographs courtesy of Richard P. Usatine, MD.

Tinea capitis is a common dermatophyte infection of the scalp in school-aged children. The infection is spread by close contact with infected people or with their personal items, including combs, brushes, pillowcases, and hats, as well as animals. It is uncommon in adults.

Epidemiology

Tinea capitis is the most common fungal infection among school-aged children worldwide.¹ In a US-based study of more than 10,000 school-aged children, the prevalence of tinea capitis ranged from 0% to 19.4%, with Black children having the highest rates of infection at 12.9%.² However, people of all races and ages may develop tinea capitis.³

Tinea capitis most commonly is caused by Trichophyton tonsurans and Microsporum canis. Dermatophyte scalp infections caused by T tonsurans produce fungal spores that may occur within the hair shaft (endothrix) or with fungal elements external to the hair shaft (exothrix) such as M canis. Microsporum canis usually fluoresces an apple green color on Wood lamp examination because of the location of the spores.

Key clinical features

Tinea capitis has a variety of clinical presentations: • broken hairs that appear as black dots on the scalp • diffuse scale mimicking seborrheic dermatitis • well-demarcated annular plaques • exudate and tenderness caused by inflammation • scalp pruritus • occipital scalp lymphadenopathy. Worth noting Tinea capitis impacts all patient groups, not just Black patients. In the United States, Black and Hispanic children are most commonly affected.4 Due to a tendency to have dry hair and hair breakage, those with more tightly coiled, textured hair may routinely apply oil and/or grease to the scalp; however, the application of heavy emollients, oils, and grease to camouflage scale contributes to falsenegative fungal cultures of the scalp if applied within 1 week of the fungal culture, which may delay diagnosis. If tinea capitis is suspected, occipital lymphadenopathy on physical examination should prompt treatment for tinea capitis, even without a fungal culture.5 Health disparity highlight A risk factor for tinea capitis is crowded living environments. Some families may live in crowded environments due to economic and housing disparities. This close contact increases the risk for conditions such as tinea capitis.6 Treatment delays may occur due to some cultural practices of applying oils and grease to the hair and scalp, camouflaging the clinical signs of tinea capitis.

THE COMPARISON

A Areas of alopecia with erythema and scale in a young Black boy with tinea capitis. He also had an enlarged posterior cervical lymph node (arrow) from this fungal infection.

B White patches of scale from tinea capitis in a young Black boy with no obvious hair loss; however, a potassium hydroxide preparation from the scale was positive for fungus.

C A subtle area of tinea capitis on the scalp of a Latina girl showed comma hairs.

Photographs courtesy of Richard P. Usatine, MD.

Tinea capitis is a common dermatophyte infection of the scalp in school-aged children. The infection is spread by close contact with infected people or with their personal items, including combs, brushes, pillowcases, and hats, as well as animals. It is uncommon in adults.

Epidemiology

Tinea capitis is the most common fungal infection among school-aged children worldwide.¹ In a US-based study of more than 10,000 school-aged children, the prevalence of tinea capitis ranged from 0% to 19.4%, with Black children having the highest rates of infection at 12.9%.² However, people of all races and ages may develop tinea capitis.³

Tinea capitis most commonly is caused by Trichophyton tonsurans and Microsporum canis. Dermatophyte scalp infections caused by T tonsurans produce fungal spores that may occur within the hair shaft (endothrix) or with fungal elements external to the hair shaft (exothrix) such as M canis. Microsporum canis usually fluoresces an apple green color on Wood lamp examination because of the location of the spores.

Key clinical features

Tinea capitis has a variety of clinical presentations: • broken hairs that appear as black dots on the scalp • diffuse scale mimicking seborrheic dermatitis • well-demarcated annular plaques • exudate and tenderness caused by inflammation • scalp pruritus • occipital scalp lymphadenopathy. Worth noting Tinea capitis impacts all patient groups, not just Black patients. In the United States, Black and Hispanic children are most commonly affected.4 Due to a tendency to have dry hair and hair breakage, those with more tightly coiled, textured hair may routinely apply oil and/or grease to the scalp; however, the application of heavy emollients, oils, and grease to camouflage scale contributes to falsenegative fungal cultures of the scalp if applied within 1 week of the fungal culture, which may delay diagnosis. If tinea capitis is suspected, occipital lymphadenopathy on physical examination should prompt treatment for tinea capitis, even without a fungal culture.5 Health disparity highlight A risk factor for tinea capitis is crowded living environments. Some families may live in crowded environments due to economic and housing disparities. This close contact increases the risk for conditions such as tinea capitis.6 Treatment delays may occur due to some cultural practices of applying oils and grease to the hair and scalp, camouflaging the clinical signs of tinea capitis.

SAN DIEGO—Before the pandemic, an estimated one-third of oncologists worldwide suffered a high level of burnout. Cancer physicians face many of the same risk factors as their colleagues—high workloads, lack of autonomy, and no support—along with the added pressure of working in a medical field where patients often die. Then COVID-19 hit, and the burnout crisis got even worse.

This tide can be reversed with a focus on best practices and resilience, a mental health researcher told cancer professionals at the September 2022 annual meeting of the Association of VA Hematology/Oncology. Assessments, long-term interventions, and communication are all key, said Fay J. Hlubocky, PhD, MA, a clinical health psychologist and ethicist at the University of Chicago.

Even simple actions like taking time for “mindful moments” and checking in with a colleague can make a difference, she said. But institutions must act, she said. “Long-term tailored strategies are incredibly important to promote well-being.”

Hlubocky, who led an American Society of Clinical Oncology committee on burnout prior to the pandemic, noted that statistics about burnout in American medicine and oncology specifically, are grim. In 2017, a systematic review and meta-analysis found that significant numbers of oncologists suffered from high burnout (32%), high psychiatric morbidity (27%), depression (at least 12%), and alcohol misuse (as many as 30%).

The pandemic piled on more stressors. In the second half of 2020, researchers interviewed 25 American oncologists in focus groups and found that their “underlying oncologist burnout exacerbated stressors associated with disruptions in care, education, research, financial practice health, and telemedicine. Many feared delays in cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment [and] strongly considered working part-time or taking early retirement.”

As one participant put it, “everyone is seeing a lot of death and heartache and social isolation and anger that they’re not used to encountering and in very new and different ways.”

Major contributors to oncologist burnout, Hlubocky said, include moral distress, moral injury, and compassion fatigue. “Moral distress occurs when that individual believes he or she knows the right thing to do, but institutional constraints make it really difficult to do what is right,” Hlubocky said. “The individual is aware of the moral problem, acknowledges and takes moral responsibility, makes some moral judgments, but yet—as a result of these constraints — participates in perceived moral wrongdoing.”

Moral injury refers to the damage that can be caused by moral distress or by witnessing acts that violate morals, such as during military service. Compassion fatigue, meanwhile, is defined by the American Stress Institute as “a low level, chronic clouding of caring and concern for others in your life.”

What can be done? Hlubocky highlighted multiple interventions, such as adjustment of work patterns, cognitive behavioral therapy, and training in mindfulness, relaxation, and communication. One strategy is to adopt multiple in-person interventions simultaneously.

But first it’s crucial for administrators to understand the problem in a specific workplace: “You have to know what’s going on in your organization to intervene on it,” she said. “There are multiple tools that have been validated in other health care fields and can be used on a regular basis over time to measure burnout, satisfaction, and engagement.”

For individuals, other strategies include daily check-ins with colleagues to catch signs of stress, she said, as Toronto oncologists started doing amid the pandemic. The check-ins can include simple questions like: How are you doing? How are you feeling? Are you sleeping, eating and exercising? Do you need help?

As for resilience, Hlubocky said it must grow at the individual level. “We can't rely so much on the organization. We need to develop our personal resilience in order for professional resilience to flourish again, and we have to do a lot to protect ourselves. It’s about focusing on the strength of the individual—that empowerment to rise above adversity, that vitality, that engagement, that self-efficacy. It supports health and enhances coping, and it is the key element of physician and clinician well-being.”

Research into resilience offers guidance about how to achieve it, she said. A 2013 German study of 200 physicians found that the most resilient physicians change their attitudes and behaviors, take time off, set boundaries, spend time with family and friends, and ask colleagues for help. And they gained resilience, the study found, by getting older and becoming more experienced.

Hlubocky pointed to several useful resources for burned-out medical professionals, including mindfulness, cognitive behavioral therapy and breathing apps: She highlighted Breathe2Relax, Headspace, MoodGYM, Stress Gym, and guided audio files from the University of California at San Diego. And she said ASCO has resources on combatting burnout and promoting well-being.

Hlubocky has no relevant disclosures.

SAN DIEGO—Before the pandemic, an estimated one-third of oncologists worldwide suffered a high level of burnout. Cancer physicians face many of the same risk factors as their colleagues—high workloads, lack of autonomy, and no support—along with the added pressure of working in a medical field where patients often die. Then COVID-19 hit, and the burnout crisis got even worse.

This tide can be reversed with a focus on best practices and resilience, a mental health researcher told cancer professionals at the September 2022 annual meeting of the Association of VA Hematology/Oncology. Assessments, long-term interventions, and communication are all key, said Fay J. Hlubocky, PhD, MA, a clinical health psychologist and ethicist at the University of Chicago.

Even simple actions like taking time for “mindful moments” and checking in with a colleague can make a difference, she said. But institutions must act, she said. “Long-term tailored strategies are incredibly important to promote well-being.”

Hlubocky, who led an American Society of Clinical Oncology committee on burnout prior to the pandemic, noted that statistics about burnout in American medicine and oncology specifically, are grim. In 2017, a systematic review and meta-analysis found that significant numbers of oncologists suffered from high burnout (32%), high psychiatric morbidity (27%), depression (at least 12%), and alcohol misuse (as many as 30%).

The pandemic piled on more stressors. In the second half of 2020, researchers interviewed 25 American oncologists in focus groups and found that their “underlying oncologist burnout exacerbated stressors associated with disruptions in care, education, research, financial practice health, and telemedicine. Many feared delays in cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment [and] strongly considered working part-time or taking early retirement.”

As one participant put it, “everyone is seeing a lot of death and heartache and social isolation and anger that they’re not used to encountering and in very new and different ways.”

Major contributors to oncologist burnout, Hlubocky said, include moral distress, moral injury, and compassion fatigue. “Moral distress occurs when that individual believes he or she knows the right thing to do, but institutional constraints make it really difficult to do what is right,” Hlubocky said. “The individual is aware of the moral problem, acknowledges and takes moral responsibility, makes some moral judgments, but yet—as a result of these constraints — participates in perceived moral wrongdoing.”

Moral injury refers to the damage that can be caused by moral distress or by witnessing acts that violate morals, such as during military service. Compassion fatigue, meanwhile, is defined by the American Stress Institute as “a low level, chronic clouding of caring and concern for others in your life.”

What can be done? Hlubocky highlighted multiple interventions, such as adjustment of work patterns, cognitive behavioral therapy, and training in mindfulness, relaxation, and communication. One strategy is to adopt multiple in-person interventions simultaneously.

But first it’s crucial for administrators to understand the problem in a specific workplace: “You have to know what’s going on in your organization to intervene on it,” she said. “There are multiple tools that have been validated in other health care fields and can be used on a regular basis over time to measure burnout, satisfaction, and engagement.”

For individuals, other strategies include daily check-ins with colleagues to catch signs of stress, she said, as Toronto oncologists started doing amid the pandemic. The check-ins can include simple questions like: How are you doing? How are you feeling? Are you sleeping, eating and exercising? Do you need help?

As for resilience, Hlubocky said it must grow at the individual level. “We can't rely so much on the organization. We need to develop our personal resilience in order for professional resilience to flourish again, and we have to do a lot to protect ourselves. It’s about focusing on the strength of the individual—that empowerment to rise above adversity, that vitality, that engagement, that self-efficacy. It supports health and enhances coping, and it is the key element of physician and clinician well-being.”

Research into resilience offers guidance about how to achieve it, she said. A 2013 German study of 200 physicians found that the most resilient physicians change their attitudes and behaviors, take time off, set boundaries, spend time with family and friends, and ask colleagues for help. And they gained resilience, the study found, by getting older and becoming more experienced.

Hlubocky pointed to several useful resources for burned-out medical professionals, including mindfulness, cognitive behavioral therapy and breathing apps: She highlighted Breathe2Relax, Headspace, MoodGYM, Stress Gym, and guided audio files from the University of California at San Diego. And she said ASCO has resources on combatting burnout and promoting well-being.

Hlubocky has no relevant disclosures.

SAN DIEGO—Before the pandemic, an estimated one-third of oncologists worldwide suffered a high level of burnout. Cancer physicians face many of the same risk factors as their colleagues—high workloads, lack of autonomy, and no support—along with the added pressure of working in a medical field where patients often die. Then COVID-19 hit, and the burnout crisis got even worse.

This tide can be reversed with a focus on best practices and resilience, a mental health researcher told cancer professionals at the September 2022 annual meeting of the Association of VA Hematology/Oncology. Assessments, long-term interventions, and communication are all key, said Fay J. Hlubocky, PhD, MA, a clinical health psychologist and ethicist at the University of Chicago.

Even simple actions like taking time for “mindful moments” and checking in with a colleague can make a difference, she said. But institutions must act, she said. “Long-term tailored strategies are incredibly important to promote well-being.”

Hlubocky, who led an American Society of Clinical Oncology committee on burnout prior to the pandemic, noted that statistics about burnout in American medicine and oncology specifically, are grim. In 2017, a systematic review and meta-analysis found that significant numbers of oncologists suffered from high burnout (32%), high psychiatric morbidity (27%), depression (at least 12%), and alcohol misuse (as many as 30%).

The pandemic piled on more stressors. In the second half of 2020, researchers interviewed 25 American oncologists in focus groups and found that their “underlying oncologist burnout exacerbated stressors associated with disruptions in care, education, research, financial practice health, and telemedicine. Many feared delays in cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment [and] strongly considered working part-time or taking early retirement.”

As one participant put it, “everyone is seeing a lot of death and heartache and social isolation and anger that they’re not used to encountering and in very new and different ways.”

Major contributors to oncologist burnout, Hlubocky said, include moral distress, moral injury, and compassion fatigue. “Moral distress occurs when that individual believes he or she knows the right thing to do, but institutional constraints make it really difficult to do what is right,” Hlubocky said. “The individual is aware of the moral problem, acknowledges and takes moral responsibility, makes some moral judgments, but yet—as a result of these constraints — participates in perceived moral wrongdoing.”

Moral injury refers to the damage that can be caused by moral distress or by witnessing acts that violate morals, such as during military service. Compassion fatigue, meanwhile, is defined by the American Stress Institute as “a low level, chronic clouding of caring and concern for others in your life.”

What can be done? Hlubocky highlighted multiple interventions, such as adjustment of work patterns, cognitive behavioral therapy, and training in mindfulness, relaxation, and communication. One strategy is to adopt multiple in-person interventions simultaneously.

But first it’s crucial for administrators to understand the problem in a specific workplace: “You have to know what’s going on in your organization to intervene on it,” she said. “There are multiple tools that have been validated in other health care fields and can be used on a regular basis over time to measure burnout, satisfaction, and engagement.”

For individuals, other strategies include daily check-ins with colleagues to catch signs of stress, she said, as Toronto oncologists started doing amid the pandemic. The check-ins can include simple questions like: How are you doing? How are you feeling? Are you sleeping, eating and exercising? Do you need help?

As for resilience, Hlubocky said it must grow at the individual level. “We can't rely so much on the organization. We need to develop our personal resilience in order for professional resilience to flourish again, and we have to do a lot to protect ourselves. It’s about focusing on the strength of the individual—that empowerment to rise above adversity, that vitality, that engagement, that self-efficacy. It supports health and enhances coping, and it is the key element of physician and clinician well-being.”

Research into resilience offers guidance about how to achieve it, she said. A 2013 German study of 200 physicians found that the most resilient physicians change their attitudes and behaviors, take time off, set boundaries, spend time with family and friends, and ask colleagues for help. And they gained resilience, the study found, by getting older and becoming more experienced.

Hlubocky pointed to several useful resources for burned-out medical professionals, including mindfulness, cognitive behavioral therapy and breathing apps: She highlighted Breathe2Relax, Headspace, MoodGYM, Stress Gym, and guided audio files from the University of California at San Diego. And she said ASCO has resources on combatting burnout and promoting well-being.

Hlubocky has no relevant disclosures.

It took 609 days, but the US Senate has finally (unanimously) confirmed President Biden’s choice to head the Indian Health Service (IHS: Roselyn Tso.)

President Biden nominated Tso in March 2022, and she was formally sworn in on September 27, 2022. The long-awaited confirmation filled a space that hadn’t had a permanent director since Michael Weahkee, a Pueblo of Zuni citizen, stepped down in 2021. In the interim, Elizabeth Fowler, of the Comanche Nation, served as acting director.

Tso’s resume includes almost 40 years of professional experience working at all levels of the IHS. Before taking over as IHS director, she led the IHS Navajo area, the largest IHS regional area, managing more than 4000 employees and a budget of nearly $1 billion.

She also brings “decades of lived experience as a member of the Navajo Nation,” she said in a 40-minute Senate hearing with the US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in May.

The first Navajo Nation citizen to head the IHS (and only the second woman to do so), Tso introduced herself in Navajo: Deeschii’nii (Start of the Red Streak People) and born for Hashk’aa hadzohi (Yucca Fruit Strung Out). “This is a historic achievement for all of our Navajo people and tribal nations across the country,” Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said. “To have one of our own Navajo members in the highest position with IHS is remarkable.”

Tso spoke of having to “navigate the services provided by the Agency for myself, family, and friends.” Her personal and professional backgrounds, she said, help her understand how patients experience the system and how that can be improved. “The health care provided at IHS is critical for those we serve. I understand this not just because I work there,” she said. “My family relies on IHS. My friends rely on IHS. I rely on the IHS.”

The long lacuna in confirming a permanent IHS director left the Native peoples particularly vulnerable—when the COVID-19 pandemic essentially worsened the existing problems they faced, such as diabetes mellitus and cancer. Life expectancy for Native people fell by more than 6 years between 2019 and 2021, to 65 years, compared with the US average of 76 years.

Without a full-time IHS leader, the National Council of Urban Indian Health said in a statement, tribal nations and other Native health care providers struggled to raise and address the issues they were facing amid the pandemic. “Since the resignation of Rear Admiral Weahkee, there have been countless requests from Indian Country calling on Congress and the Administration to nominate a new IHS director to address the growing health disparities experienced by AI/ANs.”

Tso laid out her priorities in her May testimony: creating a more unified health care system using the latest technology to develop centralized systems; improving accountability, transparency, and patient safety; addressing workforce needs and challenges, improving recruitment and retention.

Meeting her goals, she noted, would take “strong partnerships and communication with our Tribal partners…. Each tribe has unique needs, and those needs cannot be met if you do not understand them.”

Last year, President Joseph R. Biden asked Congress to significantly increase IHS funding, but his proposal was cut to $400 million. “For years, IHS has been funded at a rate that is far below its level of need, and the results of this historical neglect can be seen in the disparities in health outcomes for AI/AN people,” William Smith, Valdez Native Tribe, Chairman of the National Indian Health Board (NIHB), wrote to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, on the topic of the next IHS director. “Perhaps one of the greatest challenges facing the [Indian, tribal and urban] system is the chronic and severe underfunding and budgetary instability for health care and public health services infrastructure and delivery. Since its creation in 1955, IHS has been chronically underfunded, with annual appropriations never exceeding 50% of demonstrated need. This underfunding has contributed to substandard investment in health delivery systems, some of the worst health disparities among any US population and a severe lack of public health infrastructure and services for our people. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic these vulnerabilities were starkly exposed and while Congress moved decisively to invest into Tribal health and public health, the new Director must work to maintain these one-time investments.”

Stacy Bohlen, NIHB chief executive, told The Oklahoman that tribal leaders will look to Tso to press Congress for more money and to secure mandatory full funding for IHS—in contrast with the current annual appropriations, where Congress includes IHS in much larger budget bills. “When those bills stall, so does the money tribal clinics need to pay employees and suppliers,” making it hard to recruit and retain employees. “In the Indian Health System,” Bohlen says, “we simply can’t afford that kind of vulnerability.”

Securing advance appropriations and, ultimately, full mandatory funding for IHS, Smith wrote in his letter to the Senate committee, “fulfills the commitment made to our people generations ago and breaks down the systemic healthcare funding inequities the federal government tolerates for Tribes.”

Tso emphasized her intent to “improve the physical, mental, social, and spiritual health and well-being of all American Indians and Alaskan Natives served by the Agency.” Tso “understands the healthcare needs that many first people of this country deal with,” President Nez said. “Her work ethic, value system and approach to problem solving demonstrates the resilience of Indigenous peoples and the commitment to combat the systemic inequities that impact tribal nations.”

It took 609 days, but the US Senate has finally (unanimously) confirmed President Biden’s choice to head the Indian Health Service (IHS: Roselyn Tso.)

President Biden nominated Tso in March 2022, and she was formally sworn in on September 27, 2022. The long-awaited confirmation filled a space that hadn’t had a permanent director since Michael Weahkee, a Pueblo of Zuni citizen, stepped down in 2021. In the interim, Elizabeth Fowler, of the Comanche Nation, served as acting director.

Tso’s resume includes almost 40 years of professional experience working at all levels of the IHS. Before taking over as IHS director, she led the IHS Navajo area, the largest IHS regional area, managing more than 4000 employees and a budget of nearly $1 billion.

She also brings “decades of lived experience as a member of the Navajo Nation,” she said in a 40-minute Senate hearing with the US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in May.

The first Navajo Nation citizen to head the IHS (and only the second woman to do so), Tso introduced herself in Navajo: Deeschii’nii (Start of the Red Streak People) and born for Hashk’aa hadzohi (Yucca Fruit Strung Out). “This is a historic achievement for all of our Navajo people and tribal nations across the country,” Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said. “To have one of our own Navajo members in the highest position with IHS is remarkable.”

Tso spoke of having to “navigate the services provided by the Agency for myself, family, and friends.” Her personal and professional backgrounds, she said, help her understand how patients experience the system and how that can be improved. “The health care provided at IHS is critical for those we serve. I understand this not just because I work there,” she said. “My family relies on IHS. My friends rely on IHS. I rely on the IHS.”

The long lacuna in confirming a permanent IHS director left the Native peoples particularly vulnerable—when the COVID-19 pandemic essentially worsened the existing problems they faced, such as diabetes mellitus and cancer. Life expectancy for Native people fell by more than 6 years between 2019 and 2021, to 65 years, compared with the US average of 76 years.

Without a full-time IHS leader, the National Council of Urban Indian Health said in a statement, tribal nations and other Native health care providers struggled to raise and address the issues they were facing amid the pandemic. “Since the resignation of Rear Admiral Weahkee, there have been countless requests from Indian Country calling on Congress and the Administration to nominate a new IHS director to address the growing health disparities experienced by AI/ANs.”

Tso laid out her priorities in her May testimony: creating a more unified health care system using the latest technology to develop centralized systems; improving accountability, transparency, and patient safety; addressing workforce needs and challenges, improving recruitment and retention.

Meeting her goals, she noted, would take “strong partnerships and communication with our Tribal partners…. Each tribe has unique needs, and those needs cannot be met if you do not understand them.”

Last year, President Joseph R. Biden asked Congress to significantly increase IHS funding, but his proposal was cut to $400 million. “For years, IHS has been funded at a rate that is far below its level of need, and the results of this historical neglect can be seen in the disparities in health outcomes for AI/AN people,” William Smith, Valdez Native Tribe, Chairman of the National Indian Health Board (NIHB), wrote to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, on the topic of the next IHS director. “Perhaps one of the greatest challenges facing the [Indian, tribal and urban] system is the chronic and severe underfunding and budgetary instability for health care and public health services infrastructure and delivery. Since its creation in 1955, IHS has been chronically underfunded, with annual appropriations never exceeding 50% of demonstrated need. This underfunding has contributed to substandard investment in health delivery systems, some of the worst health disparities among any US population and a severe lack of public health infrastructure and services for our people. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic these vulnerabilities were starkly exposed and while Congress moved decisively to invest into Tribal health and public health, the new Director must work to maintain these one-time investments.”

Stacy Bohlen, NIHB chief executive, told The Oklahoman that tribal leaders will look to Tso to press Congress for more money and to secure mandatory full funding for IHS—in contrast with the current annual appropriations, where Congress includes IHS in much larger budget bills. “When those bills stall, so does the money tribal clinics need to pay employees and suppliers,” making it hard to recruit and retain employees. “In the Indian Health System,” Bohlen says, “we simply can’t afford that kind of vulnerability.”

Securing advance appropriations and, ultimately, full mandatory funding for IHS, Smith wrote in his letter to the Senate committee, “fulfills the commitment made to our people generations ago and breaks down the systemic healthcare funding inequities the federal government tolerates for Tribes.”

Tso emphasized her intent to “improve the physical, mental, social, and spiritual health and well-being of all American Indians and Alaskan Natives served by the Agency.” Tso “understands the healthcare needs that many first people of this country deal with,” President Nez said. “Her work ethic, value system and approach to problem solving demonstrates the resilience of Indigenous peoples and the commitment to combat the systemic inequities that impact tribal nations.”

It took 609 days, but the US Senate has finally (unanimously) confirmed President Biden’s choice to head the Indian Health Service (IHS: Roselyn Tso.)

President Biden nominated Tso in March 2022, and she was formally sworn in on September 27, 2022. The long-awaited confirmation filled a space that hadn’t had a permanent director since Michael Weahkee, a Pueblo of Zuni citizen, stepped down in 2021. In the interim, Elizabeth Fowler, of the Comanche Nation, served as acting director.

Tso’s resume includes almost 40 years of professional experience working at all levels of the IHS. Before taking over as IHS director, she led the IHS Navajo area, the largest IHS regional area, managing more than 4000 employees and a budget of nearly $1 billion.

She also brings “decades of lived experience as a member of the Navajo Nation,” she said in a 40-minute Senate hearing with the US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in May.

The first Navajo Nation citizen to head the IHS (and only the second woman to do so), Tso introduced herself in Navajo: Deeschii’nii (Start of the Red Streak People) and born for Hashk’aa hadzohi (Yucca Fruit Strung Out). “This is a historic achievement for all of our Navajo people and tribal nations across the country,” Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said. “To have one of our own Navajo members in the highest position with IHS is remarkable.”

Tso spoke of having to “navigate the services provided by the Agency for myself, family, and friends.” Her personal and professional backgrounds, she said, help her understand how patients experience the system and how that can be improved. “The health care provided at IHS is critical for those we serve. I understand this not just because I work there,” she said. “My family relies on IHS. My friends rely on IHS. I rely on the IHS.”

The long lacuna in confirming a permanent IHS director left the Native peoples particularly vulnerable—when the COVID-19 pandemic essentially worsened the existing problems they faced, such as diabetes mellitus and cancer. Life expectancy for Native people fell by more than 6 years between 2019 and 2021, to 65 years, compared with the US average of 76 years.

Without a full-time IHS leader, the National Council of Urban Indian Health said in a statement, tribal nations and other Native health care providers struggled to raise and address the issues they were facing amid the pandemic. “Since the resignation of Rear Admiral Weahkee, there have been countless requests from Indian Country calling on Congress and the Administration to nominate a new IHS director to address the growing health disparities experienced by AI/ANs.”

Tso laid out her priorities in her May testimony: creating a more unified health care system using the latest technology to develop centralized systems; improving accountability, transparency, and patient safety; addressing workforce needs and challenges, improving recruitment and retention.

Meeting her goals, she noted, would take “strong partnerships and communication with our Tribal partners…. Each tribe has unique needs, and those needs cannot be met if you do not understand them.”

Last year, President Joseph R. Biden asked Congress to significantly increase IHS funding, but his proposal was cut to $400 million. “For years, IHS has been funded at a rate that is far below its level of need, and the results of this historical neglect can be seen in the disparities in health outcomes for AI/AN people,” William Smith, Valdez Native Tribe, Chairman of the National Indian Health Board (NIHB), wrote to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, on the topic of the next IHS director. “Perhaps one of the greatest challenges facing the [Indian, tribal and urban] system is the chronic and severe underfunding and budgetary instability for health care and public health services infrastructure and delivery. Since its creation in 1955, IHS has been chronically underfunded, with annual appropriations never exceeding 50% of demonstrated need. This underfunding has contributed to substandard investment in health delivery systems, some of the worst health disparities among any US population and a severe lack of public health infrastructure and services for our people. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic these vulnerabilities were starkly exposed and while Congress moved decisively to invest into Tribal health and public health, the new Director must work to maintain these one-time investments.”

Stacy Bohlen, NIHB chief executive, told The Oklahoman that tribal leaders will look to Tso to press Congress for more money and to secure mandatory full funding for IHS—in contrast with the current annual appropriations, where Congress includes IHS in much larger budget bills. “When those bills stall, so does the money tribal clinics need to pay employees and suppliers,” making it hard to recruit and retain employees. “In the Indian Health System,” Bohlen says, “we simply can’t afford that kind of vulnerability.”

Securing advance appropriations and, ultimately, full mandatory funding for IHS, Smith wrote in his letter to the Senate committee, “fulfills the commitment made to our people generations ago and breaks down the systemic healthcare funding inequities the federal government tolerates for Tribes.”

Tso emphasized her intent to “improve the physical, mental, social, and spiritual health and well-being of all American Indians and Alaskan Natives served by the Agency.” Tso “understands the healthcare needs that many first people of this country deal with,” President Nez said. “Her work ethic, value system and approach to problem solving demonstrates the resilience of Indigenous peoples and the commitment to combat the systemic inequities that impact tribal nations.”

Exposure to air pollution not only raises stroke risk, but it is also tied to poor post-stroke outcomes, including death. Results of a UK biobank study show high levels of air pollution were associated with an increased risk of transition from health to a first stroke and subsequent progression to cardiovascular (CV) events and death.

“These results indicate that understanding and reducing the effects of air pollutants on different transition stages in stroke will be beneficial in managing people’s health and preventing the occurrence and progression of stroke,” study investigator Hualiang Lin, PhD, of Sun Yat-sen University School of Public Health, Guangzhou, China, said in a news release.

The study was published online  in the journal Neurology.
 

A way to stop stroke progression?

The researchers assessed air pollution exposure in 318,752 people (mean age, 56) from the UK biobank database. None had a history of stroke or heart disease at the start of the study. Annual concentrations of air pollution near where people lived were estimated through land-use regressions.

During an average follow-up of 12 years, 5,967 people had a stroke, 2,985 developed post-stroke CVD, and 1,020 died.

After adjusting for confounding factors, every 5 µg/m³ increase in exposure to fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) was associated with a 24% increase in transition from healthy to first stroke (hazard ratio, 1.24; 95% confidence interval, 1.10-1.40) and a 30% increase in transition from being healthy to dying (HR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.21-1.40).

PM_2.5 is less than 2.5 microns in diameter and includes fly ash from coal combustion. The World Health Organization recommends that annual PM_2.5 exposure should not exceed 5 µg/m³.

Those who had a stroke during the study had an average exposure of 10.03 µg/m³ of PM_2.5, compared with 9.97 µg/m³ for those who did not have a stroke.

The air pollutants nitrogen oxide and nitrogen dioxide were also associated with an increased risk of stroke and death, but the associations were weaker.

“More research is needed, but it’s possible that decreasing exposure to heavy levels of air pollution could play a role in reducing the progression of stroke,” Dr. Lin said.

“People can reduce their exposure by staying indoors on heavy pollution days, reducing their outdoor exercise, wearing masks to filter out particulate matter, and using air purifiers,” Dr. Lin added.

Public policy implications

Reached for comment, Steffen E. Petersen, MD, MPH, professor of cardiovascular medicine, Barts Health NHS Trust, London, said the study “elegantly confirms the increased risk of stroke due to air pollution in the UK Biobank population study but interestingly suggests that the impact of air pollution may continue to adversely impact cardiovascular health even after the stroke occurred.”

“This is further evidence to inform policymakers to tackle air pollution and get levels below the recommended levels,” Dr. Petersen said.

“On a personal level, everyone, including stroke patients, may wish to consider personal measures to reduce exposure to air pollution, such as avoiding walking along polluted streets and rather take a less polluted route away from the main roads,” Dr. Petersen added.

The study had no targeted funding. Dr. Lin and Dr. Petersen report no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Exposure to air pollution not only raises stroke risk, but it is also tied to poor post-stroke outcomes, including death. Results of a UK biobank study show high levels of air pollution were associated with an increased risk of transition from health to a first stroke and subsequent progression to cardiovascular (CV) events and death.

“These results indicate that understanding and reducing the effects of air pollutants on different transition stages in stroke will be beneficial in managing people’s health and preventing the occurrence and progression of stroke,” study investigator Hualiang Lin, PhD, of Sun Yat-sen University School of Public Health, Guangzhou, China, said in a news release.

The study was published online  in the journal Neurology.
 

A way to stop stroke progression?

The researchers assessed air pollution exposure in 318,752 people (mean age, 56) from the UK biobank database. None had a history of stroke or heart disease at the start of the study. Annual concentrations of air pollution near where people lived were estimated through land-use regressions.

During an average follow-up of 12 years, 5,967 people had a stroke, 2,985 developed post-stroke CVD, and 1,020 died.

After adjusting for confounding factors, every 5 µg/m³ increase in exposure to fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) was associated with a 24% increase in transition from healthy to first stroke (hazard ratio, 1.24; 95% confidence interval, 1.10-1.40) and a 30% increase in transition from being healthy to dying (HR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.21-1.40).

PM_2.5 is less than 2.5 microns in diameter and includes fly ash from coal combustion. The World Health Organization recommends that annual PM_2.5 exposure should not exceed 5 µg/m³.

Those who had a stroke during the study had an average exposure of 10.03 µg/m³ of PM_2.5, compared with 9.97 µg/m³ for those who did not have a stroke.

The air pollutants nitrogen oxide and nitrogen dioxide were also associated with an increased risk of stroke and death, but the associations were weaker.

“More research is needed, but it’s possible that decreasing exposure to heavy levels of air pollution could play a role in reducing the progression of stroke,” Dr. Lin said.

“People can reduce their exposure by staying indoors on heavy pollution days, reducing their outdoor exercise, wearing masks to filter out particulate matter, and using air purifiers,” Dr. Lin added.

Public policy implications

Reached for comment, Steffen E. Petersen, MD, MPH, professor of cardiovascular medicine, Barts Health NHS Trust, London, said the study “elegantly confirms the increased risk of stroke due to air pollution in the UK Biobank population study but interestingly suggests that the impact of air pollution may continue to adversely impact cardiovascular health even after the stroke occurred.”

“This is further evidence to inform policymakers to tackle air pollution and get levels below the recommended levels,” Dr. Petersen said.

“On a personal level, everyone, including stroke patients, may wish to consider personal measures to reduce exposure to air pollution, such as avoiding walking along polluted streets and rather take a less polluted route away from the main roads,” Dr. Petersen added.

The study had no targeted funding. Dr. Lin and Dr. Petersen report no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Exposure to air pollution not only raises stroke risk, but it is also tied to poor post-stroke outcomes, including death. Results of a UK biobank study show high levels of air pollution were associated with an increased risk of transition from health to a first stroke and subsequent progression to cardiovascular (CV) events and death.

“These results indicate that understanding and reducing the effects of air pollutants on different transition stages in stroke will be beneficial in managing people’s health and preventing the occurrence and progression of stroke,” study investigator Hualiang Lin, PhD, of Sun Yat-sen University School of Public Health, Guangzhou, China, said in a news release.

The study was published online  in the journal Neurology.
 

A way to stop stroke progression?

The researchers assessed air pollution exposure in 318,752 people (mean age, 56) from the UK biobank database. None had a history of stroke or heart disease at the start of the study. Annual concentrations of air pollution near where people lived were estimated through land-use regressions.

During an average follow-up of 12 years, 5,967 people had a stroke, 2,985 developed post-stroke CVD, and 1,020 died.

After adjusting for confounding factors, every 5 µg/m³ increase in exposure to fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) was associated with a 24% increase in transition from healthy to first stroke (hazard ratio, 1.24; 95% confidence interval, 1.10-1.40) and a 30% increase in transition from being healthy to dying (HR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.21-1.40).

PM_2.5 is less than 2.5 microns in diameter and includes fly ash from coal combustion. The World Health Organization recommends that annual PM_2.5 exposure should not exceed 5 µg/m³.

Those who had a stroke during the study had an average exposure of 10.03 µg/m³ of PM_2.5, compared with 9.97 µg/m³ for those who did not have a stroke.

The air pollutants nitrogen oxide and nitrogen dioxide were also associated with an increased risk of stroke and death, but the associations were weaker.

“More research is needed, but it’s possible that decreasing exposure to heavy levels of air pollution could play a role in reducing the progression of stroke,” Dr. Lin said.

“People can reduce their exposure by staying indoors on heavy pollution days, reducing their outdoor exercise, wearing masks to filter out particulate matter, and using air purifiers,” Dr. Lin added.

Public policy implications

Reached for comment, Steffen E. Petersen, MD, MPH, professor of cardiovascular medicine, Barts Health NHS Trust, London, said the study “elegantly confirms the increased risk of stroke due to air pollution in the UK Biobank population study but interestingly suggests that the impact of air pollution may continue to adversely impact cardiovascular health even after the stroke occurred.”

“This is further evidence to inform policymakers to tackle air pollution and get levels below the recommended levels,” Dr. Petersen said.

“On a personal level, everyone, including stroke patients, may wish to consider personal measures to reduce exposure to air pollution, such as avoiding walking along polluted streets and rather take a less polluted route away from the main roads,” Dr. Petersen added.

The study had no targeted funding. Dr. Lin and Dr. Petersen report no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

A weighted blanket of approximately 12% body weight used at bedtime prompted the release of higher concentrations of melatonin, as measured in the saliva, compared with a lighter blanket of only about 2.4% of body weight.

This suggests that weighted blankets may help promote sleep in patients suffering from insomnia, according to the results from the small, in-laboratory crossover study.

“Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland and plays an essential role in sleep timing,” lead author Elisa Meth, PhD student, Uppsala University, Sweden, and colleagues observe.

“Using a weighted blanket increased melatonin concentration in saliva by about 30%,” Ms. Meth added in a statement.

“Future studies should investigate whether the stimulatory effect on melatonin secretion remains when using a weighted blanket over more extended periods,” the researchers observe, and caution that “it is also unclear whether the observed increase in melatonin is therapeutically relevant.”

The study was published online in the Journal of Sleep Research.

Weighted blankets are commercially available at least in some countries in Scandinavia and Germany, as examples, and in general, they are sold for therapeutic purposes. And at least one study found that weighted blankets were an effective and safe intervention for insomnia in patients with major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and led to improvements in daytime symptoms and levels of activity.
 

Study done in healthy volunteers

The study involved a total of 26 healthy volunteers, 15 men and 11 women, none of whom had any sleep issues. “The day before the first testing session, the participants visited the laboratory for an adaptation night,” the authors observe. There were two experimental test nights, one in which the weighted blanket was used and the second during which the lighter blanket was used.

On the test nights, lights were dimmed between 9 PM and 11 PM and participants used a weighted blanket covering the extremities, abdomen, and chest 1 hour before and during 8 hours of sleep. As the authors explain, the filling of the weighted blanket consisted of honed glass pearls, combined with polyester wadding, which corresponded to 12.2% of participants’ body weight.

“Saliva was collected every 20 minutes between 22:00 and 23:00,” Ms. Meth and colleagues note. Participants’ subjective sleepiness was also assessed every 20 minutes using the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale both before the hour that lights were turned off and the next morning.

“Sleep duration in each experimental night was recorded with the OURA ring,” investigators explain.

The OURA ring is a commercial multisensor wearable device that measures physiological variables indicative of sleep. Investigators focused on total sleep duration as the primary outcome measure.

On average, salivary melatonin concentrations rose by about 5.8 pg/mL between 10 PM and 11 PM (P < .001), but the average increase in salivary melatonin concentrations was greater under weighted blanket conditions at 6.6 pg/mL, compared with 5.0 pg/mL during the lighter blanket session (P = .011).

Oxytocin in turn rose by about 315 pg/mL initially, but this rise was only transient, and over time, no significant difference in oxytocin levels was observed between the two blanket conditions. There were also no differences in cortisol levels or the activity of the sympathetic nervous system between the weighted and light blanket sessions.

Importantly, as well, no significant differences were seen in the level of sleepiness between participants when either blanket was used nor was there a significant difference in total sleep duration.

“Our study cannot identify the underlying mechanism for the observed stimulatory effects of the weighted blanket on melatonin,” the investigators caution.

However, one explanation could be that the pressure exerted by the weighted blanket activates cutaneous sensory afferent nerves, carrying information to the brain. The region where the sensory information is delivered stimulates oxytocinergic neurons that can promote calm and well-being and decrease fear, stress, and pain. In addition, these neurons also connect to the pineal gland to influence the release of melatonin, the authors explain.
 

Melatonin often viewed in the wrong context

Senior author Christian Benedict, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology, Uppsala University, Sweden, explained that some people think of melatonin in the wrong context.

In point of fact, “it’s not a sleep-promoting hormone. It prepares your body and brain for the biological night ... [and] sleep coincides with the biological night, but it’s not like you take melatonin and you have a very nice uninterrupted slumber – this is not true,” he told this news organization.

He also noted that certain groups respond to melatonin better than others. For example, children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder may have some benefit from melatonin supplements, as may the elderly who can no longer produce sufficient amounts of melatonin and for whom supplements may help promote the timing of sleep.

However, the bottom line is that, even in those who do respond to melatonin supplements, they likely do so through a placebo effect that meta-analyses have shown plays a powerful role in promoting sleep. 

Dr. Benedict also stressed that just because the body makes melatonin, itself, does not mean that melatonin supplements are necessarily “safe.”

“We know melatonin has some impact on puberty – it may delay the onset of puberty – and we know that it can also impair blood glucose, so when people are eating and have a lot of melatonin on board, the melatonin will tell the pancreas to turn off insulin production, which can give rise to hyperglycemia,” he said.

However, Dr. Benedict cautioned that weighted blankets don’t come cheap. A quick Google search brings up examples that cost upwards of $350. “MDs can say try one if you can afford these blankets, but perhaps people can use several less costly blankets,” he said. “But I definitely think if there are cheap options, why not?” he concluded.

Dr. Benedict has reported no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

A weighted blanket of approximately 12% body weight used at bedtime prompted the release of higher concentrations of melatonin, as measured in the saliva, compared with a lighter blanket of only about 2.4% of body weight.

This suggests that weighted blankets may help promote sleep in patients suffering from insomnia, according to the results from the small, in-laboratory crossover study.

“Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland and plays an essential role in sleep timing,” lead author Elisa Meth, PhD student, Uppsala University, Sweden, and colleagues observe.

“Using a weighted blanket increased melatonin concentration in saliva by about 30%,” Ms. Meth added in a statement.

“Future studies should investigate whether the stimulatory effect on melatonin secretion remains when using a weighted blanket over more extended periods,” the researchers observe, and caution that “it is also unclear whether the observed increase in melatonin is therapeutically relevant.”

The study was published online in the Journal of Sleep Research.

Weighted blankets are commercially available at least in some countries in Scandinavia and Germany, as examples, and in general, they are sold for therapeutic purposes. And at least one study found that weighted blankets were an effective and safe intervention for insomnia in patients with major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and led to improvements in daytime symptoms and levels of activity.
 

Study done in healthy volunteers

The study involved a total of 26 healthy volunteers, 15 men and 11 women, none of whom had any sleep issues. “The day before the first testing session, the participants visited the laboratory for an adaptation night,” the authors observe. There were two experimental test nights, one in which the weighted blanket was used and the second during which the lighter blanket was used.

On the test nights, lights were dimmed between 9 PM and 11 PM and participants used a weighted blanket covering the extremities, abdomen, and chest 1 hour before and during 8 hours of sleep. As the authors explain, the filling of the weighted blanket consisted of honed glass pearls, combined with polyester wadding, which corresponded to 12.2% of participants’ body weight.

“Saliva was collected every 20 minutes between 22:00 and 23:00,” Ms. Meth and colleagues note. Participants’ subjective sleepiness was also assessed every 20 minutes using the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale both before the hour that lights were turned off and the next morning.

“Sleep duration in each experimental night was recorded with the OURA ring,” investigators explain.

The OURA ring is a commercial multisensor wearable device that measures physiological variables indicative of sleep. Investigators focused on total sleep duration as the primary outcome measure.

On average, salivary melatonin concentrations rose by about 5.8 pg/mL between 10 PM and 11 PM (P < .001), but the average increase in salivary melatonin concentrations was greater under weighted blanket conditions at 6.6 pg/mL, compared with 5.0 pg/mL during the lighter blanket session (P = .011).

Oxytocin in turn rose by about 315 pg/mL initially, but this rise was only transient, and over time, no significant difference in oxytocin levels was observed between the two blanket conditions. There were also no differences in cortisol levels or the activity of the sympathetic nervous system between the weighted and light blanket sessions.

Importantly, as well, no significant differences were seen in the level of sleepiness between participants when either blanket was used nor was there a significant difference in total sleep duration.

“Our study cannot identify the underlying mechanism for the observed stimulatory effects of the weighted blanket on melatonin,” the investigators caution.

However, one explanation could be that the pressure exerted by the weighted blanket activates cutaneous sensory afferent nerves, carrying information to the brain. The region where the sensory information is delivered stimulates oxytocinergic neurons that can promote calm and well-being and decrease fear, stress, and pain. In addition, these neurons also connect to the pineal gland to influence the release of melatonin, the authors explain.
 

Melatonin often viewed in the wrong context

Senior author Christian Benedict, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology, Uppsala University, Sweden, explained that some people think of melatonin in the wrong context.

In point of fact, “it’s not a sleep-promoting hormone. It prepares your body and brain for the biological night ... [and] sleep coincides with the biological night, but it’s not like you take melatonin and you have a very nice uninterrupted slumber – this is not true,” he told this news organization.

He also noted that certain groups respond to melatonin better than others. For example, children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder may have some benefit from melatonin supplements, as may the elderly who can no longer produce sufficient amounts of melatonin and for whom supplements may help promote the timing of sleep.

However, the bottom line is that, even in those who do respond to melatonin supplements, they likely do so through a placebo effect that meta-analyses have shown plays a powerful role in promoting sleep. 

Dr. Benedict also stressed that just because the body makes melatonin, itself, does not mean that melatonin supplements are necessarily “safe.”

“We know melatonin has some impact on puberty – it may delay the onset of puberty – and we know that it can also impair blood glucose, so when people are eating and have a lot of melatonin on board, the melatonin will tell the pancreas to turn off insulin production, which can give rise to hyperglycemia,” he said.

However, Dr. Benedict cautioned that weighted blankets don’t come cheap. A quick Google search brings up examples that cost upwards of $350. “MDs can say try one if you can afford these blankets, but perhaps people can use several less costly blankets,” he said. “But I definitely think if there are cheap options, why not?” he concluded.

Dr. Benedict has reported no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

A weighted blanket of approximately 12% body weight used at bedtime prompted the release of higher concentrations of melatonin, as measured in the saliva, compared with a lighter blanket of only about 2.4% of body weight.

This suggests that weighted blankets may help promote sleep in patients suffering from insomnia, according to the results from the small, in-laboratory crossover study.

“Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland and plays an essential role in sleep timing,” lead author Elisa Meth, PhD student, Uppsala University, Sweden, and colleagues observe.

“Using a weighted blanket increased melatonin concentration in saliva by about 30%,” Ms. Meth added in a statement.

“Future studies should investigate whether the stimulatory effect on melatonin secretion remains when using a weighted blanket over more extended periods,” the researchers observe, and caution that “it is also unclear whether the observed increase in melatonin is therapeutically relevant.”

The study was published online in the Journal of Sleep Research.

Weighted blankets are commercially available at least in some countries in Scandinavia and Germany, as examples, and in general, they are sold for therapeutic purposes. And at least one study found that weighted blankets were an effective and safe intervention for insomnia in patients with major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and led to improvements in daytime symptoms and levels of activity.
 

Study done in healthy volunteers

The study involved a total of 26 healthy volunteers, 15 men and 11 women, none of whom had any sleep issues. “The day before the first testing session, the participants visited the laboratory for an adaptation night,” the authors observe. There were two experimental test nights, one in which the weighted blanket was used and the second during which the lighter blanket was used.

On the test nights, lights were dimmed between 9 PM and 11 PM and participants used a weighted blanket covering the extremities, abdomen, and chest 1 hour before and during 8 hours of sleep. As the authors explain, the filling of the weighted blanket consisted of honed glass pearls, combined with polyester wadding, which corresponded to 12.2% of participants’ body weight.

“Saliva was collected every 20 minutes between 22:00 and 23:00,” Ms. Meth and colleagues note. Participants’ subjective sleepiness was also assessed every 20 minutes using the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale both before the hour that lights were turned off and the next morning.

“Sleep duration in each experimental night was recorded with the OURA ring,” investigators explain.

The OURA ring is a commercial multisensor wearable device that measures physiological variables indicative of sleep. Investigators focused on total sleep duration as the primary outcome measure.

On average, salivary melatonin concentrations rose by about 5.8 pg/mL between 10 PM and 11 PM (P < .001), but the average increase in salivary melatonin concentrations was greater under weighted blanket conditions at 6.6 pg/mL, compared with 5.0 pg/mL during the lighter blanket session (P = .011).

Oxytocin in turn rose by about 315 pg/mL initially, but this rise was only transient, and over time, no significant difference in oxytocin levels was observed between the two blanket conditions. There were also no differences in cortisol levels or the activity of the sympathetic nervous system between the weighted and light blanket sessions.

Importantly, as well, no significant differences were seen in the level of sleepiness between participants when either blanket was used nor was there a significant difference in total sleep duration.

“Our study cannot identify the underlying mechanism for the observed stimulatory effects of the weighted blanket on melatonin,” the investigators caution.

However, one explanation could be that the pressure exerted by the weighted blanket activates cutaneous sensory afferent nerves, carrying information to the brain. The region where the sensory information is delivered stimulates oxytocinergic neurons that can promote calm and well-being and decrease fear, stress, and pain. In addition, these neurons also connect to the pineal gland to influence the release of melatonin, the authors explain.
 

Melatonin often viewed in the wrong context

Senior author Christian Benedict, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology, Uppsala University, Sweden, explained that some people think of melatonin in the wrong context.

In point of fact, “it’s not a sleep-promoting hormone. It prepares your body and brain for the biological night ... [and] sleep coincides with the biological night, but it’s not like you take melatonin and you have a very nice uninterrupted slumber – this is not true,” he told this news organization.

He also noted that certain groups respond to melatonin better than others. For example, children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder may have some benefit from melatonin supplements, as may the elderly who can no longer produce sufficient amounts of melatonin and for whom supplements may help promote the timing of sleep.

However, the bottom line is that, even in those who do respond to melatonin supplements, they likely do so through a placebo effect that meta-analyses have shown plays a powerful role in promoting sleep. 

Dr. Benedict also stressed that just because the body makes melatonin, itself, does not mean that melatonin supplements are necessarily “safe.”

“We know melatonin has some impact on puberty – it may delay the onset of puberty – and we know that it can also impair blood glucose, so when people are eating and have a lot of melatonin on board, the melatonin will tell the pancreas to turn off insulin production, which can give rise to hyperglycemia,” he said.

However, Dr. Benedict cautioned that weighted blankets don’t come cheap. A quick Google search brings up examples that cost upwards of $350. “MDs can say try one if you can afford these blankets, but perhaps people can use several less costly blankets,” he said. “But I definitely think if there are cheap options, why not?” he concluded.

Dr. Benedict has reported no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

The number of children and teens who die from gun violence in the United States on a given day could fill a typical high school classroom, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Preventing firearm-related injuries and deaths in children and youth “demands a public safety approach like regulation of motor vehicles,” the group said.

The organization on Oct. 8 released an updated policy statement and technical report about gun violence and children at its 2022 annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif. The reports were published in the journal Pediatrics, and the authors plan to discuss them during the conference.

“Each day, 28 U.S. children and teens – the equivalent of a high school classroom – die from gun violence, making it the No. 1 killer of youth through age 24,” the AAP said in a statement about the reports. “The national death rate is significantly higher than all other high-income countries combined, largely due to an alarming increase in suicides and homicides that do not make national headlines.”

Firearms have become the leading cause of death among children in the United States. 

In 2020, guns caused 10,197 deaths of Americans younger than 24, according to the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine.

In 2015, more than 7,200 American youth were killed by firearms. That same year in 28 other high-income countries – which combined would have had a population twice that of the United States – just 685 youth were killed by firearms, according to the AAP.

Separately at the AAP conference, physicians are presenting new research about gun violence and children. And on Oct. 10, a pediatrician who was at Uvalde Memorial Hospital in Texas after the deadly school shooting in May is scheduled to address attendees. The doctor, Roy Guerrero, MD, testified on Capitol Hill to advocate for gun control after the shooting at Robb Elementary School, which killed 19 children and two adults.

“This is not a simple problem, and it cannot be fixed with a simple solution,” Lois K. Lee, MD, MPH, said in the AAP news release. Dr. Lee chairs the AAP Council on Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention that wrote the new reports. “Pediatricians as a start can offer families guidance and education on more safely storing guns. AAP also calls for supporting legislation that, much like the common-sense requirements for obtaining a driver’s license, would improve gun ownership safety.”
 

Many deaths occur at home

The rate of homicide from firearms in U.S. youth, especially those aged 15-24 years, increased by 14% during the past decade, and the rate of suicide from firearms increased by 39%, according to the AAP.  

Homicides account for 58% of youth firearm deaths, whereas suicides account for 37%. Another 2% of youth firearm deaths are unintentional, and 1% result from law enforcement actions, the group said.

Among children 12 years old and younger, about 85% of firearm deaths occur at home. Teen firearm deaths are about as likely to occur at home (39%) as on the street or sidewalk (38%), according to research based on 2014 data.

“School shootings represent a relatively new phenomenon over the last half-century, and the United States has the highest rate of school shootings in the world,” the AAP technical report noted. Between 1966 and 2008, according to the group, 44 such shootings occurred in the United States, or an average of about one per year. Fast forward a few years and the violence became dramatically worse: Between 2013 and 2015, officials counted 154 school shootings – or about one per week.

Still, school shootings are responsible for less than 1% of all firearm deaths among children 17 years or younger in the United States. While school shootings “receive a tremendous amount of attention,” the report stated, other child firearm deaths may be less likely to make national headlines.

“Many firearm tragedies escape public attention because they occur in a home, sometimes in a child’s own home or at a friend’s house, or their neighbor’s or grandparent’s residence,” Eric W. Fleegler, MD, MPH, Boston Children’s Hospital, a co-author of the new reports, said in a statement from AAP. “Research tells us that families tend to underestimate how children will behave when they encounter a gun and miscalculate the risks. Suicide risks are also a huge concern, especially in families where teens are struggling with their mental health.”

AAP-recommended actions include:

• Mental health screenings and safe gun storage education provided by clinicians as part of routine patient visits
• Increased funding for violence intervention programs in hospital and community settings
• Regulation of firearms like other consumer products, with national requirements that address training, licensing, insurance coverage, registration of individuals purchasing firearms, and safe storage
• The use of technology that allows only authorized users to pull the trigger
• Universal background checks that use federal databases and information from local police before all gun purchases
• Extreme risk protection order laws, or “red flag laws,” that prohibit individuals at risk for harming themselves or others from purchasing or owning a firearm
• More funding for firearm injury and prevention research.

A noticeable increase in the ED

Irma Ugalde, MD, associate professor and director of pediatric emergency medicine research at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, noticed that firearm-related injuries in children at her hospital were more common during the COVID-19 pandemic, even as pediatric emergency department visits decreased overall.

She and her colleagues studied the trends and reported their findings at the AAP meeting.

“We saw a drop in pediatric admissions overall,” Dr. Ugalde said in a statement about the study. “But what was really noticeable was that trauma was still very prevalent – in fact probably more so – and we were seeing more firearm injuries.”

The researchers found that firearm injuries in children rose from 88 cases in 2019 to 118 in 2020. The number of incidents remained elevated in 2021, with 115 cases.

In addition, the researchers found an initial increase in injuries occurring at home where the shooter was a known family member or friend, and in cases involving firearms that were not properly stored.

By comparison, pediatric ED visits overall decreased by 34.2% from 2019 to 2020, and by 11.8% from 2019 to 2021.

The increase in firearm injuries coincided with an increase in gun sales in the United States, the researchers noted.

“National and statewide initiatives to mitigate the risk of firearm-related injury and death are necessary,” Dr. Ugalde’s group said. “We recommend that health care workers remain vigilant about screening for potential risk factors and safe storage of firearms.”
 

Accidental injuries

Daniel D. Guzman, MD, with Cook Children’s Health Care Center, Fort Worth, Tex., conducted a study focused on unintentional firearm injuries in children. Dr. Guzman’s group analyzed data from 204 patients younger than age 19 seen at Cook Children’s from January 2015 to June 2021.

Dr. Guzman and his colleagues examined outcomes for injuries caused by powder guns – shotguns, rifles, and handguns – and air-power guns that shoot BBs and pellets.

The researchers found that 29% of the unintentional firearm injuries occurred with powder guns and 71% with air-power weapons, often BB guns.

“It is important that all firearms, powdered and air-powered, be stored safely in a lock box or safe,” Dr. Guzman said in a statement. To that end, Cook Children’s has developed a program called Aim for Safety to teach children and parents about the dangers of unsupervised play with BB guns and pellet guns, as well as the importance of storing all firearms unloaded and in a locked safe.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

The number of children and teens who die from gun violence in the United States on a given day could fill a typical high school classroom, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Preventing firearm-related injuries and deaths in children and youth “demands a public safety approach like regulation of motor vehicles,” the group said.

The organization on Oct. 8 released an updated policy statement and technical report about gun violence and children at its 2022 annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif. The reports were published in the journal Pediatrics, and the authors plan to discuss them during the conference.

“Each day, 28 U.S. children and teens – the equivalent of a high school classroom – die from gun violence, making it the No. 1 killer of youth through age 24,” the AAP said in a statement about the reports. “The national death rate is significantly higher than all other high-income countries combined, largely due to an alarming increase in suicides and homicides that do not make national headlines.”

Firearms have become the leading cause of death among children in the United States. 

In 2020, guns caused 10,197 deaths of Americans younger than 24, according to the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine.

In 2015, more than 7,200 American youth were killed by firearms. That same year in 28 other high-income countries – which combined would have had a population twice that of the United States – just 685 youth were killed by firearms, according to the AAP.

Separately at the AAP conference, physicians are presenting new research about gun violence and children. And on Oct. 10, a pediatrician who was at Uvalde Memorial Hospital in Texas after the deadly school shooting in May is scheduled to address attendees. The doctor, Roy Guerrero, MD, testified on Capitol Hill to advocate for gun control after the shooting at Robb Elementary School, which killed 19 children and two adults.

“This is not a simple problem, and it cannot be fixed with a simple solution,” Lois K. Lee, MD, MPH, said in the AAP news release. Dr. Lee chairs the AAP Council on Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention that wrote the new reports. “Pediatricians as a start can offer families guidance and education on more safely storing guns. AAP also calls for supporting legislation that, much like the common-sense requirements for obtaining a driver’s license, would improve gun ownership safety.”
 

Many deaths occur at home

The rate of homicide from firearms in U.S. youth, especially those aged 15-24 years, increased by 14% during the past decade, and the rate of suicide from firearms increased by 39%, according to the AAP.  

Homicides account for 58% of youth firearm deaths, whereas suicides account for 37%. Another 2% of youth firearm deaths are unintentional, and 1% result from law enforcement actions, the group said.

Among children 12 years old and younger, about 85% of firearm deaths occur at home. Teen firearm deaths are about as likely to occur at home (39%) as on the street or sidewalk (38%), according to research based on 2014 data.

“School shootings represent a relatively new phenomenon over the last half-century, and the United States has the highest rate of school shootings in the world,” the AAP technical report noted. Between 1966 and 2008, according to the group, 44 such shootings occurred in the United States, or an average of about one per year. Fast forward a few years and the violence became dramatically worse: Between 2013 and 2015, officials counted 154 school shootings – or about one per week.

Still, school shootings are responsible for less than 1% of all firearm deaths among children 17 years or younger in the United States. While school shootings “receive a tremendous amount of attention,” the report stated, other child firearm deaths may be less likely to make national headlines.

“Many firearm tragedies escape public attention because they occur in a home, sometimes in a child’s own home or at a friend’s house, or their neighbor’s or grandparent’s residence,” Eric W. Fleegler, MD, MPH, Boston Children’s Hospital, a co-author of the new reports, said in a statement from AAP. “Research tells us that families tend to underestimate how children will behave when they encounter a gun and miscalculate the risks. Suicide risks are also a huge concern, especially in families where teens are struggling with their mental health.”

AAP-recommended actions include:

• Mental health screenings and safe gun storage education provided by clinicians as part of routine patient visits
• Increased funding for violence intervention programs in hospital and community settings
• Regulation of firearms like other consumer products, with national requirements that address training, licensing, insurance coverage, registration of individuals purchasing firearms, and safe storage
• The use of technology that allows only authorized users to pull the trigger
• Universal background checks that use federal databases and information from local police before all gun purchases
• Extreme risk protection order laws, or “red flag laws,” that prohibit individuals at risk for harming themselves or others from purchasing or owning a firearm
• More funding for firearm injury and prevention research.

A noticeable increase in the ED

Irma Ugalde, MD, associate professor and director of pediatric emergency medicine research at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, noticed that firearm-related injuries in children at her hospital were more common during the COVID-19 pandemic, even as pediatric emergency department visits decreased overall.

She and her colleagues studied the trends and reported their findings at the AAP meeting.

“We saw a drop in pediatric admissions overall,” Dr. Ugalde said in a statement about the study. “But what was really noticeable was that trauma was still very prevalent – in fact probably more so – and we were seeing more firearm injuries.”

The researchers found that firearm injuries in children rose from 88 cases in 2019 to 118 in 2020. The number of incidents remained elevated in 2021, with 115 cases.

In addition, the researchers found an initial increase in injuries occurring at home where the shooter was a known family member or friend, and in cases involving firearms that were not properly stored.

By comparison, pediatric ED visits overall decreased by 34.2% from 2019 to 2020, and by 11.8% from 2019 to 2021.

The increase in firearm injuries coincided with an increase in gun sales in the United States, the researchers noted.

“National and statewide initiatives to mitigate the risk of firearm-related injury and death are necessary,” Dr. Ugalde’s group said. “We recommend that health care workers remain vigilant about screening for potential risk factors and safe storage of firearms.”
 

Accidental injuries

Daniel D. Guzman, MD, with Cook Children’s Health Care Center, Fort Worth, Tex., conducted a study focused on unintentional firearm injuries in children. Dr. Guzman’s group analyzed data from 204 patients younger than age 19 seen at Cook Children’s from January 2015 to June 2021.

Dr. Guzman and his colleagues examined outcomes for injuries caused by powder guns – shotguns, rifles, and handguns – and air-power guns that shoot BBs and pellets.

The researchers found that 29% of the unintentional firearm injuries occurred with powder guns and 71% with air-power weapons, often BB guns.

“It is important that all firearms, powdered and air-powered, be stored safely in a lock box or safe,” Dr. Guzman said in a statement. To that end, Cook Children’s has developed a program called Aim for Safety to teach children and parents about the dangers of unsupervised play with BB guns and pellet guns, as well as the importance of storing all firearms unloaded and in a locked safe.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

The number of children and teens who die from gun violence in the United States on a given day could fill a typical high school classroom, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Preventing firearm-related injuries and deaths in children and youth “demands a public safety approach like regulation of motor vehicles,” the group said.

The organization on Oct. 8 released an updated policy statement and technical report about gun violence and children at its 2022 annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif. The reports were published in the journal Pediatrics, and the authors plan to discuss them during the conference.

“Each day, 28 U.S. children and teens – the equivalent of a high school classroom – die from gun violence, making it the No. 1 killer of youth through age 24,” the AAP said in a statement about the reports. “The national death rate is significantly higher than all other high-income countries combined, largely due to an alarming increase in suicides and homicides that do not make national headlines.”

Firearms have become the leading cause of death among children in the United States. 

In 2020, guns caused 10,197 deaths of Americans younger than 24, according to the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine.

In 2015, more than 7,200 American youth were killed by firearms. That same year in 28 other high-income countries – which combined would have had a population twice that of the United States – just 685 youth were killed by firearms, according to the AAP.

Separately at the AAP conference, physicians are presenting new research about gun violence and children. And on Oct. 10, a pediatrician who was at Uvalde Memorial Hospital in Texas after the deadly school shooting in May is scheduled to address attendees. The doctor, Roy Guerrero, MD, testified on Capitol Hill to advocate for gun control after the shooting at Robb Elementary School, which killed 19 children and two adults.

“This is not a simple problem, and it cannot be fixed with a simple solution,” Lois K. Lee, MD, MPH, said in the AAP news release. Dr. Lee chairs the AAP Council on Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention that wrote the new reports. “Pediatricians as a start can offer families guidance and education on more safely storing guns. AAP also calls for supporting legislation that, much like the common-sense requirements for obtaining a driver’s license, would improve gun ownership safety.”
 

Many deaths occur at home

The rate of homicide from firearms in U.S. youth, especially those aged 15-24 years, increased by 14% during the past decade, and the rate of suicide from firearms increased by 39%, according to the AAP.  

Homicides account for 58% of youth firearm deaths, whereas suicides account for 37%. Another 2% of youth firearm deaths are unintentional, and 1% result from law enforcement actions, the group said.

Among children 12 years old and younger, about 85% of firearm deaths occur at home. Teen firearm deaths are about as likely to occur at home (39%) as on the street or sidewalk (38%), according to research based on 2014 data.

“School shootings represent a relatively new phenomenon over the last half-century, and the United States has the highest rate of school shootings in the world,” the AAP technical report noted. Between 1966 and 2008, according to the group, 44 such shootings occurred in the United States, or an average of about one per year. Fast forward a few years and the violence became dramatically worse: Between 2013 and 2015, officials counted 154 school shootings – or about one per week.

Still, school shootings are responsible for less than 1% of all firearm deaths among children 17 years or younger in the United States. While school shootings “receive a tremendous amount of attention,” the report stated, other child firearm deaths may be less likely to make national headlines.

“Many firearm tragedies escape public attention because they occur in a home, sometimes in a child’s own home or at a friend’s house, or their neighbor’s or grandparent’s residence,” Eric W. Fleegler, MD, MPH, Boston Children’s Hospital, a co-author of the new reports, said in a statement from AAP. “Research tells us that families tend to underestimate how children will behave when they encounter a gun and miscalculate the risks. Suicide risks are also a huge concern, especially in families where teens are struggling with their mental health.”

AAP-recommended actions include:

• Mental health screenings and safe gun storage education provided by clinicians as part of routine patient visits
• Increased funding for violence intervention programs in hospital and community settings
• Regulation of firearms like other consumer products, with national requirements that address training, licensing, insurance coverage, registration of individuals purchasing firearms, and safe storage
• The use of technology that allows only authorized users to pull the trigger
• Universal background checks that use federal databases and information from local police before all gun purchases
• Extreme risk protection order laws, or “red flag laws,” that prohibit individuals at risk for harming themselves or others from purchasing or owning a firearm
• More funding for firearm injury and prevention research.

A noticeable increase in the ED

Irma Ugalde, MD, associate professor and director of pediatric emergency medicine research at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, noticed that firearm-related injuries in children at her hospital were more common during the COVID-19 pandemic, even as pediatric emergency department visits decreased overall.

She and her colleagues studied the trends and reported their findings at the AAP meeting.

“We saw a drop in pediatric admissions overall,” Dr. Ugalde said in a statement about the study. “But what was really noticeable was that trauma was still very prevalent – in fact probably more so – and we were seeing more firearm injuries.”

The researchers found that firearm injuries in children rose from 88 cases in 2019 to 118 in 2020. The number of incidents remained elevated in 2021, with 115 cases.

In addition, the researchers found an initial increase in injuries occurring at home where the shooter was a known family member or friend, and in cases involving firearms that were not properly stored.

By comparison, pediatric ED visits overall decreased by 34.2% from 2019 to 2020, and by 11.8% from 2019 to 2021.

The increase in firearm injuries coincided with an increase in gun sales in the United States, the researchers noted.

“National and statewide initiatives to mitigate the risk of firearm-related injury and death are necessary,” Dr. Ugalde’s group said. “We recommend that health care workers remain vigilant about screening for potential risk factors and safe storage of firearms.”
 

Accidental injuries

Daniel D. Guzman, MD, with Cook Children’s Health Care Center, Fort Worth, Tex., conducted a study focused on unintentional firearm injuries in children. Dr. Guzman’s group analyzed data from 204 patients younger than age 19 seen at Cook Children’s from January 2015 to June 2021.

Dr. Guzman and his colleagues examined outcomes for injuries caused by powder guns – shotguns, rifles, and handguns – and air-power guns that shoot BBs and pellets.

The researchers found that 29% of the unintentional firearm injuries occurred with powder guns and 71% with air-power weapons, often BB guns.

“It is important that all firearms, powdered and air-powered, be stored safely in a lock box or safe,” Dr. Guzman said in a statement. To that end, Cook Children’s has developed a program called Aim for Safety to teach children and parents about the dangers of unsupervised play with BB guns and pellet guns, as well as the importance of storing all firearms unloaded and in a locked safe.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

The Diagnosis: Metastatic Carcinoid Tumor

Carcinoid tumors are derived from neuroendocrine cell compartments and generally arise in the gastrointestinal tract, with a quarter of carcinoids arising in the small bowel.¹ Carcinoid tumors have an incidence of approximately 2 to 5 per 100,000 patients.² Metastasis of carcinoids is approximately 31.2% to 46.7%.¹ Metastasis to the skin is uncommon; we present a rare case of a carcinoid tumor of the terminal ileum with metastasis to the scalp.

Unlike our patient, most patients with carcinoid tumors have an indolent clinical course. The most common cutaneous symptom is flushing, which occurs in 75% of patients.³ Secreted vasoactive peptides such as serotonin may cause other symptoms such as tachycardia, diarrhea, and bronchospasm; together, these symptoms comprise carcinoid syndrome. Carcinoid syndrome requires metastasis of the tumor to the liver or a site outside of the gastrointestinal tract because the liver will metabolize the secreted serotonin. However, even in patients with liver metastasis, carcinoid syndrome only occurs in approximately 10% of patients.⁴ Common skin findings of carcinoid syndrome include pellagralike dermatitis, flushing, and sclerodermalike changes.⁵ Our patient experienced several episodes of presyncope with symptoms of dyspnea, lightheadedness, and flushing but did not have bronchospasm or recurrent diarrhea. Intramuscular octreotide improved some symptoms.

The scalp accounts for approximately 15% of cutaneous metastases, the most common being from the lung, renal, and breast cancers.⁶ Cutaneous metastases of carcinoid tumors are rare. A PubMed search of articles indexed for MEDLINE using the terms metastatic AND [carcinoid OR neuroendocrine] tumors AND [skin OR cutaneous] revealed 47 cases.^7-11 Similar to other skin metastases, cutaneous metastases of carcinoid tumors commonly present as firm erythematous nodules of varying sizes that may be asymptomatic, tender, or pruritic (Figure 1). Cases of carcinoid tumors with cutaneous metastasis as the initial and only presenting sign are exceedingly rare.¹²

Histology of carcinoid tumors reveals a dermal neoplasm composed of loosely cohesive, mildly atypical, polygonal cells with salt-and-pepper chromatin and eosinophilic cytoplasm, which are similar findings to the primary tumor. The cells may grow in the typical trabecular or organoid neuroendocrine pattern or exhibit a pseudoglandular growth pattern with prominent vessels (quiz image, top).¹² Positive chromogranin and synaptophysin immunostaining are the most common and reliable markers used for the diagnosis of carcinoid tumors.

An important histopathologic differential diagnosis is the aggressive Merkel cell carcinoma, which also demonstrates homogenous salt-and-pepper chromatin but exhibits a higher mitotic rate and positive cytokeratin 20 staining (Figure 2).¹³ Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) also may display similar features, including a blue tumor at scanning magnification and nodular or infiltrative growth patterns. The cell morphology of BCC is characterized by islands of basaloid cells with minimal cytoplasm and frequent apoptosis, connecting to the epidermis with peripheral palisading, retraction artifact, and a myxoid stroma; BCC lacks the salt-and-pepper chromatin commonly seen in carcinoid tumors (Figure 3). Basal cell carcinoma is characterized by positive BerEP4 (epithelial cell adhesion molecule immunostain), cytokeratin 5/6, and cytokeratin 14 uptake. Cytokeratin 20, often used to diagnose Merkel cell carcinoma, is negative in BCC. Chromogranin and synaptophysin occasionally may be positive in BCC.¹⁴

The superficial Ewing sarcoma family of tumors also may be included in the differential diagnosis of small round cell tumors of the skin, but they are very rare. These tumors possess strong positive membranous staining of cytokeratin 99 and also can stain positively for synaptophysin and chromogranin.¹⁵ Epithelial membrane antigen, which is negative in Ewing sarcomas, is positive in carcinoid tumors.¹⁶ Neuroendocrine tumors of all sites share similar basic morphologic patterns, and multiple primary tumors should be considered, including small cell lung carcinoma (Figure 4).^17,18 Red granulations and true glandular lumina typically are not seen in the lungs but are common in gastrointestinal carcinoids.¹⁸ Regarding immunohistochemistry, TTF-1 is negative and CDX2 is positive in gastroenteropancreatic carcinoids, suggesting that these 2 markers can help distinguish carcinoids of unknown primary origin.¹⁹

Metastases in carcinoid tumors are common, with one study noting that the highest frequency of small intestinal metastases was from the ileal subset.²⁰ At the time of diagnosis, 58% to 64% of patients with small intestine carcinoid tumors already had nonlocalized disease, with frequent sites being the lymph nodes (89.8%), liver (44.1%), lungs (13.6%), and peritoneum (13.6%). Regional and distant metastases are associated with substantially worse prognoses, with survival rates of 71.7% and 38.5%, respectively.¹ Treatment of symptomatic unresectable disease focuses on symptomatic management with somatostatin analogs that also control tumor growth.²¹

We present a rare case of scalp metastasis of a carcinoid tumor of the terminal ileum. Distant metastasis is associated with poorer prognosis and should be considered in patients with a known history of a carcinoid tumor.

Acknowledgment—We would like to acknowledge the Research Histology and Tissue Imaging Core at University of Illinois Chicago Research Resources Center for the immunohistochemistry studies.

The Diagnosis: Metastatic Carcinoid Tumor

Carcinoid tumors are derived from neuroendocrine cell compartments and generally arise in the gastrointestinal tract, with a quarter of carcinoids arising in the small bowel.¹ Carcinoid tumors have an incidence of approximately 2 to 5 per 100,000 patients.² Metastasis of carcinoids is approximately 31.2% to 46.7%.¹ Metastasis to the skin is uncommon; we present a rare case of a carcinoid tumor of the terminal ileum with metastasis to the scalp.

Unlike our patient, most patients with carcinoid tumors have an indolent clinical course. The most common cutaneous symptom is flushing, which occurs in 75% of patients.³ Secreted vasoactive peptides such as serotonin may cause other symptoms such as tachycardia, diarrhea, and bronchospasm; together, these symptoms comprise carcinoid syndrome. Carcinoid syndrome requires metastasis of the tumor to the liver or a site outside of the gastrointestinal tract because the liver will metabolize the secreted serotonin. However, even in patients with liver metastasis, carcinoid syndrome only occurs in approximately 10% of patients.⁴ Common skin findings of carcinoid syndrome include pellagralike dermatitis, flushing, and sclerodermalike changes.⁵ Our patient experienced several episodes of presyncope with symptoms of dyspnea, lightheadedness, and flushing but did not have bronchospasm or recurrent diarrhea. Intramuscular octreotide improved some symptoms.

The scalp accounts for approximately 15% of cutaneous metastases, the most common being from the lung, renal, and breast cancers.⁶ Cutaneous metastases of carcinoid tumors are rare. A PubMed search of articles indexed for MEDLINE using the terms metastatic AND [carcinoid OR neuroendocrine] tumors AND [skin OR cutaneous] revealed 47 cases.^7-11 Similar to other skin metastases, cutaneous metastases of carcinoid tumors commonly present as firm erythematous nodules of varying sizes that may be asymptomatic, tender, or pruritic (Figure 1). Cases of carcinoid tumors with cutaneous metastasis as the initial and only presenting sign are exceedingly rare.¹²

Histology of carcinoid tumors reveals a dermal neoplasm composed of loosely cohesive, mildly atypical, polygonal cells with salt-and-pepper chromatin and eosinophilic cytoplasm, which are similar findings to the primary tumor. The cells may grow in the typical trabecular or organoid neuroendocrine pattern or exhibit a pseudoglandular growth pattern with prominent vessels (quiz image, top).¹² Positive chromogranin and synaptophysin immunostaining are the most common and reliable markers used for the diagnosis of carcinoid tumors.

An important histopathologic differential diagnosis is the aggressive Merkel cell carcinoma, which also demonstrates homogenous salt-and-pepper chromatin but exhibits a higher mitotic rate and positive cytokeratin 20 staining (Figure 2).¹³ Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) also may display similar features, including a blue tumor at scanning magnification and nodular or infiltrative growth patterns. The cell morphology of BCC is characterized by islands of basaloid cells with minimal cytoplasm and frequent apoptosis, connecting to the epidermis with peripheral palisading, retraction artifact, and a myxoid stroma; BCC lacks the salt-and-pepper chromatin commonly seen in carcinoid tumors (Figure 3). Basal cell carcinoma is characterized by positive BerEP4 (epithelial cell adhesion molecule immunostain), cytokeratin 5/6, and cytokeratin 14 uptake. Cytokeratin 20, often used to diagnose Merkel cell carcinoma, is negative in BCC. Chromogranin and synaptophysin occasionally may be positive in BCC.¹⁴

The superficial Ewing sarcoma family of tumors also may be included in the differential diagnosis of small round cell tumors of the skin, but they are very rare. These tumors possess strong positive membranous staining of cytokeratin 99 and also can stain positively for synaptophysin and chromogranin.¹⁵ Epithelial membrane antigen, which is negative in Ewing sarcomas, is positive in carcinoid tumors.¹⁶ Neuroendocrine tumors of all sites share similar basic morphologic patterns, and multiple primary tumors should be considered, including small cell lung carcinoma (Figure 4).^17,18 Red granulations and true glandular lumina typically are not seen in the lungs but are common in gastrointestinal carcinoids.¹⁸ Regarding immunohistochemistry, TTF-1 is negative and CDX2 is positive in gastroenteropancreatic carcinoids, suggesting that these 2 markers can help distinguish carcinoids of unknown primary origin.¹⁹

Metastases in carcinoid tumors are common, with one study noting that the highest frequency of small intestinal metastases was from the ileal subset.²⁰ At the time of diagnosis, 58% to 64% of patients with small intestine carcinoid tumors already had nonlocalized disease, with frequent sites being the lymph nodes (89.8%), liver (44.1%), lungs (13.6%), and peritoneum (13.6%). Regional and distant metastases are associated with substantially worse prognoses, with survival rates of 71.7% and 38.5%, respectively.¹ Treatment of symptomatic unresectable disease focuses on symptomatic management with somatostatin analogs that also control tumor growth.²¹

We present a rare case of scalp metastasis of a carcinoid tumor of the terminal ileum. Distant metastasis is associated with poorer prognosis and should be considered in patients with a known history of a carcinoid tumor.

Acknowledgment—We would like to acknowledge the Research Histology and Tissue Imaging Core at University of Illinois Chicago Research Resources Center for the immunohistochemistry studies.

The Diagnosis: Metastatic Carcinoid Tumor

Carcinoid tumors are derived from neuroendocrine cell compartments and generally arise in the gastrointestinal tract, with a quarter of carcinoids arising in the small bowel.¹ Carcinoid tumors have an incidence of approximately 2 to 5 per 100,000 patients.² Metastasis of carcinoids is approximately 31.2% to 46.7%.¹ Metastasis to the skin is uncommon; we present a rare case of a carcinoid tumor of the terminal ileum with metastasis to the scalp.

Unlike our patient, most patients with carcinoid tumors have an indolent clinical course. The most common cutaneous symptom is flushing, which occurs in 75% of patients.³ Secreted vasoactive peptides such as serotonin may cause other symptoms such as tachycardia, diarrhea, and bronchospasm; together, these symptoms comprise carcinoid syndrome. Carcinoid syndrome requires metastasis of the tumor to the liver or a site outside of the gastrointestinal tract because the liver will metabolize the secreted serotonin. However, even in patients with liver metastasis, carcinoid syndrome only occurs in approximately 10% of patients.⁴ Common skin findings of carcinoid syndrome include pellagralike dermatitis, flushing, and sclerodermalike changes.⁵ Our patient experienced several episodes of presyncope with symptoms of dyspnea, lightheadedness, and flushing but did not have bronchospasm or recurrent diarrhea. Intramuscular octreotide improved some symptoms.

The scalp accounts for approximately 15% of cutaneous metastases, the most common being from the lung, renal, and breast cancers.⁶ Cutaneous metastases of carcinoid tumors are rare. A PubMed search of articles indexed for MEDLINE using the terms metastatic AND [carcinoid OR neuroendocrine] tumors AND [skin OR cutaneous] revealed 47 cases.^7-11 Similar to other skin metastases, cutaneous metastases of carcinoid tumors commonly present as firm erythematous nodules of varying sizes that may be asymptomatic, tender, or pruritic (Figure 1). Cases of carcinoid tumors with cutaneous metastasis as the initial and only presenting sign are exceedingly rare.¹²

Histology of carcinoid tumors reveals a dermal neoplasm composed of loosely cohesive, mildly atypical, polygonal cells with salt-and-pepper chromatin and eosinophilic cytoplasm, which are similar findings to the primary tumor. The cells may grow in the typical trabecular or organoid neuroendocrine pattern or exhibit a pseudoglandular growth pattern with prominent vessels (quiz image, top).¹² Positive chromogranin and synaptophysin immunostaining are the most common and reliable markers used for the diagnosis of carcinoid tumors.

An important histopathologic differential diagnosis is the aggressive Merkel cell carcinoma, which also demonstrates homogenous salt-and-pepper chromatin but exhibits a higher mitotic rate and positive cytokeratin 20 staining (Figure 2).¹³ Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) also may display similar features, including a blue tumor at scanning magnification and nodular or infiltrative growth patterns. The cell morphology of BCC is characterized by islands of basaloid cells with minimal cytoplasm and frequent apoptosis, connecting to the epidermis with peripheral palisading, retraction artifact, and a myxoid stroma; BCC lacks the salt-and-pepper chromatin commonly seen in carcinoid tumors (Figure 3). Basal cell carcinoma is characterized by positive BerEP4 (epithelial cell adhesion molecule immunostain), cytokeratin 5/6, and cytokeratin 14 uptake. Cytokeratin 20, often used to diagnose Merkel cell carcinoma, is negative in BCC. Chromogranin and synaptophysin occasionally may be positive in BCC.¹⁴

The superficial Ewing sarcoma family of tumors also may be included in the differential diagnosis of small round cell tumors of the skin, but they are very rare. These tumors possess strong positive membranous staining of cytokeratin 99 and also can stain positively for synaptophysin and chromogranin.¹⁵ Epithelial membrane antigen, which is negative in Ewing sarcomas, is positive in carcinoid tumors.¹⁶ Neuroendocrine tumors of all sites share similar basic morphologic patterns, and multiple primary tumors should be considered, including small cell lung carcinoma (Figure 4).^17,18 Red granulations and true glandular lumina typically are not seen in the lungs but are common in gastrointestinal carcinoids.¹⁸ Regarding immunohistochemistry, TTF-1 is negative and CDX2 is positive in gastroenteropancreatic carcinoids, suggesting that these 2 markers can help distinguish carcinoids of unknown primary origin.¹⁹

Metastases in carcinoid tumors are common, with one study noting that the highest frequency of small intestinal metastases was from the ileal subset.²⁰ At the time of diagnosis, 58% to 64% of patients with small intestine carcinoid tumors already had nonlocalized disease, with frequent sites being the lymph nodes (89.8%), liver (44.1%), lungs (13.6%), and peritoneum (13.6%). Regional and distant metastases are associated with substantially worse prognoses, with survival rates of 71.7% and 38.5%, respectively.¹ Treatment of symptomatic unresectable disease focuses on symptomatic management with somatostatin analogs that also control tumor growth.²¹

We present a rare case of scalp metastasis of a carcinoid tumor of the terminal ileum. Distant metastasis is associated with poorer prognosis and should be considered in patients with a known history of a carcinoid tumor.

Acknowledgment—We would like to acknowledge the Research Histology and Tissue Imaging Core at University of Illinois Chicago Research Resources Center for the immunohistochemistry studies.

Older adults who take part in regular weight lifting – either with or without moderate to vigorous aerobic activity – show significant reductions in all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, with the strongest effects observed when the two types of exercise are combined, new research shows.

“The novel finding from our study is that weight lifting is independently associated with lower all-cause and CVD-specific mortality, regardless of aerobic activity,” first author Jessica Gorzelitz, PhD, said in an interview.

Wavebreakmedia/Getty Images

“What’s less surprising – but consistent and nonetheless noteworthy – is that weight lifting in combination with aerobic exercise provides the lowest...risk for mortality in older adults,” added Dr. Gorzelitz, an assistant professor of health promotion in the department of health and human physiology at the University of Iowa, Iowa City.

Those who undertook weight lifting and aerobic exercise in combination had around a 40% lower risk of death than those who reported no moderate to vigorous aerobic activity or weight lifting. The findings were recently published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Physical activity guidelines generally recommend regular moderate to vigorous aerobic physical activity, in addition to at least 2 days per week of muscle-strengthening exercise for all major muscle groups for adults to improve health and boost longevity.

However, few observational studies have examined the association between muscle strengthening and mortality, and even fewer have looked specifically at the benefits of weight lifting, Dr. Gorzelitz said.
 

Benefit of weight lifting stronger in women than men

To investigate, Dr. Gorzelitz and coauthors evaluated data on participants in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial, which, initiated in 1993, and involved adults aged 55-74 at 10 U.S. cancer centers.

Thirteen years into the trial, in 2006, participants completed follow-up questionnaires that included an assessment of weight lifting (not included in a baseline survey).

Among 99,713 participants involved in the current analysis, the mean age at the time of the follow-up questionnaire was 71.3 years. Participants had a mean body mass index of 27.8 kg/m² and 52.6% were women.

Only about a quarter of adults (23%) reported any weight lifting activity within the previous 12 months, with fewer, at 16%, reporting regular weight lifting of between one and six times per week.

Participants’ physical aerobic activity was also assessed. Physical activity guidelines (2018) recommend at least 150-300 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity or 75-150 minutes per week of vigorous intensity aerobic activity or an equal combination of the two. Overall, 23.6% of participants reported activity that met the guideline for moderate to vigorous physical activity, and 8% exceeded it.

Over a median follow-up of about 9 years, 28,477 deaths occurred.

Those reporting weight lifting had a 9% lower risk of combined all-cause mortality and CVD mortality, after adjustment for any moderate to vigorous physical activity (each hazard ratio, 0.91).

Adults who met aerobic activity recommendations but did not weight lift had a 32% lower risk of all-cause mortality (HR, 0.68), while those who also reported weight lifting 1-2 times per week in addition to the aerobic activity had as much as a 41% lower risk of death (HR, 0.59), compared with adults reporting no moderate to vigorous aerobic activity or weight lifting.

The benefit of weight lifting in terms of cancer mortality was only observed without adjustment for moderate to vigorous physical activity, and was therefore considered null, which Dr. Gorzelitz said was somewhat surprising. “We will examine this association further because there could still be a signal there,” she said, noting other studies have shown that muscle strengthening activity is associated with lower cancer-specific mortality.

Of note, the benefit of weight lifting appeared stronger in women versus men, Dr. Gorzelitz said.
 

What are the mechanisms?

Underscoring that the results show only associations and not causation, Dr. Gorzelitz speculated that mechanisms behind a mortality benefit could include known favorable physiological changes of weight lifting.

“If people are weight lifting [to a degree] to reap strength benefits, we generally see improvement in body composition, including reductions in fat and improvements in lean tissue, and we know that those changes are associated with mortality, so it could be that the weight lifting is driving the strength or body composition,” she said.

The full body response involved in weight lifting could also play a key role, she noted.

With weight lifting, “the muscles have to redirect more blood flow, the heart is pumping harder, the lungs breathe more and when the muscles are worked in that fashion, there could be other system-wide adaptations,” she said.

Furthermore, social aspects could play a role, Dr. Gorzelitz observed.

“Unlike muscle strengthening [activities] that can be done in the home setting, weight lifting typically has to be done in recreational facilities or other community centers, and considering that this is an older adult population, that social interaction could be very key for preventing isolation.”

Important limitations include that the study did not determine the nature of the weight lifting, including the duration of the weight lifting sessions or type of weight, which could feasibly range from small hand-held weights to heavier weight lifting.

The study also couldn’t show how long participants had engaged in weight lifting in terms of months or years, hence, the duration needed to see a mortality benefit was not established.

Nevertheless, the study’s finding that the group with the lowest benefits was the one reporting no aerobic or weight lifting exercise underscores the benefits of even small amounts of exercise.

“I think it’s really important to promote the importance of adding muscle strengthening, but also of any physical activity,” Dr. Gorzelitz said. “Start small, but something is better than nothing.”

The authors reported no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Older adults who take part in regular weight lifting – either with or without moderate to vigorous aerobic activity – show significant reductions in all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, with the strongest effects observed when the two types of exercise are combined, new research shows.

“The novel finding from our study is that weight lifting is independently associated with lower all-cause and CVD-specific mortality, regardless of aerobic activity,” first author Jessica Gorzelitz, PhD, said in an interview.

Wavebreakmedia/Getty Images

“What’s less surprising – but consistent and nonetheless noteworthy – is that weight lifting in combination with aerobic exercise provides the lowest...risk for mortality in older adults,” added Dr. Gorzelitz, an assistant professor of health promotion in the department of health and human physiology at the University of Iowa, Iowa City.

Those who undertook weight lifting and aerobic exercise in combination had around a 40% lower risk of death than those who reported no moderate to vigorous aerobic activity or weight lifting. The findings were recently published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Physical activity guidelines generally recommend regular moderate to vigorous aerobic physical activity, in addition to at least 2 days per week of muscle-strengthening exercise for all major muscle groups for adults to improve health and boost longevity.

However, few observational studies have examined the association between muscle strengthening and mortality, and even fewer have looked specifically at the benefits of weight lifting, Dr. Gorzelitz said.
 

Benefit of weight lifting stronger in women than men

To investigate, Dr. Gorzelitz and coauthors evaluated data on participants in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial, which, initiated in 1993, and involved adults aged 55-74 at 10 U.S. cancer centers.

Thirteen years into the trial, in 2006, participants completed follow-up questionnaires that included an assessment of weight lifting (not included in a baseline survey).

Among 99,713 participants involved in the current analysis, the mean age at the time of the follow-up questionnaire was 71.3 years. Participants had a mean body mass index of 27.8 kg/m² and 52.6% were women.

Only about a quarter of adults (23%) reported any weight lifting activity within the previous 12 months, with fewer, at 16%, reporting regular weight lifting of between one and six times per week.

Participants’ physical aerobic activity was also assessed. Physical activity guidelines (2018) recommend at least 150-300 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity or 75-150 minutes per week of vigorous intensity aerobic activity or an equal combination of the two. Overall, 23.6% of participants reported activity that met the guideline for moderate to vigorous physical activity, and 8% exceeded it.

Over a median follow-up of about 9 years, 28,477 deaths occurred.

Those reporting weight lifting had a 9% lower risk of combined all-cause mortality and CVD mortality, after adjustment for any moderate to vigorous physical activity (each hazard ratio, 0.91).

Adults who met aerobic activity recommendations but did not weight lift had a 32% lower risk of all-cause mortality (HR, 0.68), while those who also reported weight lifting 1-2 times per week in addition to the aerobic activity had as much as a 41% lower risk of death (HR, 0.59), compared with adults reporting no moderate to vigorous aerobic activity or weight lifting.

The benefit of weight lifting in terms of cancer mortality was only observed without adjustment for moderate to vigorous physical activity, and was therefore considered null, which Dr. Gorzelitz said was somewhat surprising. “We will examine this association further because there could still be a signal there,” she said, noting other studies have shown that muscle strengthening activity is associated with lower cancer-specific mortality.

Of note, the benefit of weight lifting appeared stronger in women versus men, Dr. Gorzelitz said.
 

What are the mechanisms?

Underscoring that the results show only associations and not causation, Dr. Gorzelitz speculated that mechanisms behind a mortality benefit could include known favorable physiological changes of weight lifting.

“If people are weight lifting [to a degree] to reap strength benefits, we generally see improvement in body composition, including reductions in fat and improvements in lean tissue, and we know that those changes are associated with mortality, so it could be that the weight lifting is driving the strength or body composition,” she said.

The full body response involved in weight lifting could also play a key role, she noted.

With weight lifting, “the muscles have to redirect more blood flow, the heart is pumping harder, the lungs breathe more and when the muscles are worked in that fashion, there could be other system-wide adaptations,” she said.

Furthermore, social aspects could play a role, Dr. Gorzelitz observed.

“Unlike muscle strengthening [activities] that can be done in the home setting, weight lifting typically has to be done in recreational facilities or other community centers, and considering that this is an older adult population, that social interaction could be very key for preventing isolation.”

Important limitations include that the study did not determine the nature of the weight lifting, including the duration of the weight lifting sessions or type of weight, which could feasibly range from small hand-held weights to heavier weight lifting.

The study also couldn’t show how long participants had engaged in weight lifting in terms of months or years, hence, the duration needed to see a mortality benefit was not established.

Nevertheless, the study’s finding that the group with the lowest benefits was the one reporting no aerobic or weight lifting exercise underscores the benefits of even small amounts of exercise.

“I think it’s really important to promote the importance of adding muscle strengthening, but also of any physical activity,” Dr. Gorzelitz said. “Start small, but something is better than nothing.”

The authors reported no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Older adults who take part in regular weight lifting – either with or without moderate to vigorous aerobic activity – show significant reductions in all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, with the strongest effects observed when the two types of exercise are combined, new research shows.

“The novel finding from our study is that weight lifting is independently associated with lower all-cause and CVD-specific mortality, regardless of aerobic activity,” first author Jessica Gorzelitz, PhD, said in an interview.

Wavebreakmedia/Getty Images

“What’s less surprising – but consistent and nonetheless noteworthy – is that weight lifting in combination with aerobic exercise provides the lowest...risk for mortality in older adults,” added Dr. Gorzelitz, an assistant professor of health promotion in the department of health and human physiology at the University of Iowa, Iowa City.

Those who undertook weight lifting and aerobic exercise in combination had around a 40% lower risk of death than those who reported no moderate to vigorous aerobic activity or weight lifting. The findings were recently published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Physical activity guidelines generally recommend regular moderate to vigorous aerobic physical activity, in addition to at least 2 days per week of muscle-strengthening exercise for all major muscle groups for adults to improve health and boost longevity.

However, few observational studies have examined the association between muscle strengthening and mortality, and even fewer have looked specifically at the benefits of weight lifting, Dr. Gorzelitz said.
 

Benefit of weight lifting stronger in women than men

To investigate, Dr. Gorzelitz and coauthors evaluated data on participants in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial, which, initiated in 1993, and involved adults aged 55-74 at 10 U.S. cancer centers.

Thirteen years into the trial, in 2006, participants completed follow-up questionnaires that included an assessment of weight lifting (not included in a baseline survey).

Among 99,713 participants involved in the current analysis, the mean age at the time of the follow-up questionnaire was 71.3 years. Participants had a mean body mass index of 27.8 kg/m² and 52.6% were women.

Only about a quarter of adults (23%) reported any weight lifting activity within the previous 12 months, with fewer, at 16%, reporting regular weight lifting of between one and six times per week.

Participants’ physical aerobic activity was also assessed. Physical activity guidelines (2018) recommend at least 150-300 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity or 75-150 minutes per week of vigorous intensity aerobic activity or an equal combination of the two. Overall, 23.6% of participants reported activity that met the guideline for moderate to vigorous physical activity, and 8% exceeded it.

Over a median follow-up of about 9 years, 28,477 deaths occurred.

Those reporting weight lifting had a 9% lower risk of combined all-cause mortality and CVD mortality, after adjustment for any moderate to vigorous physical activity (each hazard ratio, 0.91).

Adults who met aerobic activity recommendations but did not weight lift had a 32% lower risk of all-cause mortality (HR, 0.68), while those who also reported weight lifting 1-2 times per week in addition to the aerobic activity had as much as a 41% lower risk of death (HR, 0.59), compared with adults reporting no moderate to vigorous aerobic activity or weight lifting.

The benefit of weight lifting in terms of cancer mortality was only observed without adjustment for moderate to vigorous physical activity, and was therefore considered null, which Dr. Gorzelitz said was somewhat surprising. “We will examine this association further because there could still be a signal there,” she said, noting other studies have shown that muscle strengthening activity is associated with lower cancer-specific mortality.

Of note, the benefit of weight lifting appeared stronger in women versus men, Dr. Gorzelitz said.
 

What are the mechanisms?

Underscoring that the results show only associations and not causation, Dr. Gorzelitz speculated that mechanisms behind a mortality benefit could include known favorable physiological changes of weight lifting.

“If people are weight lifting [to a degree] to reap strength benefits, we generally see improvement in body composition, including reductions in fat and improvements in lean tissue, and we know that those changes are associated with mortality, so it could be that the weight lifting is driving the strength or body composition,” she said.

The full body response involved in weight lifting could also play a key role, she noted.

With weight lifting, “the muscles have to redirect more blood flow, the heart is pumping harder, the lungs breathe more and when the muscles are worked in that fashion, there could be other system-wide adaptations,” she said.

Furthermore, social aspects could play a role, Dr. Gorzelitz observed.

“Unlike muscle strengthening [activities] that can be done in the home setting, weight lifting typically has to be done in recreational facilities or other community centers, and considering that this is an older adult population, that social interaction could be very key for preventing isolation.”

Important limitations include that the study did not determine the nature of the weight lifting, including the duration of the weight lifting sessions or type of weight, which could feasibly range from small hand-held weights to heavier weight lifting.

The study also couldn’t show how long participants had engaged in weight lifting in terms of months or years, hence, the duration needed to see a mortality benefit was not established.

Nevertheless, the study’s finding that the group with the lowest benefits was the one reporting no aerobic or weight lifting exercise underscores the benefits of even small amounts of exercise.

“I think it’s really important to promote the importance of adding muscle strengthening, but also of any physical activity,” Dr. Gorzelitz said. “Start small, but something is better than nothing.”

The authors reported no relevant financial relationships.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.