Hair-care routines might pose health threat


Americans spend billions of dollars on our hair. We shampoo, brush, braid, cut and comb it. Our locks are gelled, moussed, sprayed and blow-dried. Occasionally, our mane coiffed, quiffed and occasionally fluffed. That’s a whole lot of hair care.

But do some of our ’dos endanger our health?

The problem lies in a substance used in many products applied to hair, like gels and sprays. A recent paper from scientists at Purdue and Indiana universities says animal studies show that the substance, siloxane [SI-lok-sayn], accumulates in the body. The compound, which gives hair a shiny, less-frizzy look, has been shown to cause liver, lung and nervous system damage in animals.

Few human studies, however, have examined their long-term health impact.

Scientists worry that products containing siloxanes might be especially dangerous when applied in a confined space. With heated styling tools, the compounds get into the air and the lungs more easily.

The study’s authors recruited volunteers who went through their normal hair-care routine in a lab space. The researchers measured air contamination while participants styled their hair.

Emissions of siloxanes soared in the enclosed space when a styling tool was used at its highest heat setting. They were also present when no heat was applied. Using the bathroom fan dramatically lessened air contamination but did not eliminate it.

The researchers say an investigation of the long-term health impacts of siloxane products is urgently needed.

The study points to the need to do your hair grooming in a well-ventilated area. Open a window. Use a fan.

Don’t make that beehive a buzzkill.

Preop nerves reduced with just a few scents


You’re waiting to have surgery, and you’re a nervous wreck. But what if, instead of hospital antiseptic, you smelled lavender? Or maybe eucalyptus?

A new study from the University of Florida finds that a little aromatherapy before surgery significantly reduces patients’ anxiety while decreasing their blood pressure and pulse rate, too.

The results are so compelling that UF Health Shands Hospital is implementing preoperative aromatherapy treatments for all its surgical units.

In the study, 100 patients were offered aromatherapy as part of their surgical preparation. For 20 minutes, a small pod, loaded with a blend of essential oils, was placed on the patients’ gowns near their chests. The pods contained a base of lavender oil enhanced with ylang ylang [lang lang] and sweet orange oils — each known for their calming properties.

Patients’ blood pressure, pulse, respiratory rates, and self-assessed anxiety levels were measured before and after the aromatherapy session.

Among adult study participants, self-reported anxiety levels dropped an average of 40%. In children ages 12 to 17, anxiety levels declined more than 56%. All vital signs — blood pressure, pulse, and respiratory rates — showed significant reductions.

The study originated from an initiative in which nurses at two UF Health hospitals submitted ideas they hoped to study to improve patient care. The initiative was meant to better integrate nursing practice with academic research and give nurses a bigger role in patient-care innovation.

The nurses also want to conduct a follow-up study on how well aromatherapy patients fare in the long term.

So far, their research passes the smell test.

Seasonal depression? Give yoga a try.


If you’re feeling the post-holiday blues, you might want to consider adding a new form of exercise into your routine. Research suggests that regularly attending a yoga class can help reduce short- and long-term symptoms associated with seasonal depression.

Researchers from universities in Massachusetts and New York studied 30 participants between the ages of 18 and 65 who were diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Participants were split into two groups, a high-dose group and a low-dose group. Each group attended regular Iyengar [ai-uhn-gaar] yoga and coherent breathing classes for 12 weeks.

Iyengar yoga is a type of yoga style that emphasizes alignment and precision when performing specific yoga poses. Coherent breathing involves taking about four long, deep breaths per minute and has been proved to reduce stress.

Each week, the participants in the high-dose group took three 90-minute yoga classes and completed four 30-minute coherent breathing sessions at home. Those in the low-dose group took two 90-minute yoga classes and three 30-minute coherent breathing sessions.

Researchers evaluated the presence of major depressive disorder symptoms in participants at the study’s beginning, middle, and end. Results showed that the yoga practices contributed to significant improvements in the mental health and depression symptoms of both groups.

After just one month, participants in both groups reported better sleep, less physical exhaustion, and higher levels of positivity and tranquility. Their symptoms of depression and anxiety were also reduced.

So, if January’s got you down, consider giving yoga a go.

Study suggests words your doctor should avoid


We navigate our lives with words and learn the proper language etiquette for many situations. It can, admittedly, be a minefield. After all, words have a habit of flying off tongues before our brains calculate their impact.

As the old joke goes, it’s ill-advised to walk into a bar and ask directions to a boxing venue with the words, “I’m looking for a fight.”

Poor word choice, however, is no joke to seriously ill patients and family members who hang on a physician’s every utterance.

Texas A&M University researchers in a recent paper provide a list of what they called “never-words” for doctors. These are statements that might scare patients or make them feel powerless.

Among the never-words or phrases: There is nothing we can do. Circling the drain. I don’t know why you waited so long to come in. He (or she) will not get better.

The paper also includes some phrases not to offer to cancer patients, such as “Let’s not worry about that now” or “You are lucky it’s only Stage 2.”

Researchers also argue the words “battle” and “fight” should be banished

as they imply an illness can be defeated by sheer will. It also might make patients feel that they are not battling hard enough.

Why some of these examples are poor form is obvious. Others are more nuanced. For example, a declarative statement of fact might be replaced with an expression of concern. “He won’t get better,” investigators said, isn’t great, but adding two words lessens the blow and strengthens the human connection: “I’m worried he won’t get better.”

No one suggests doctors are ever being deliberately rude. Far from it. But we can all benefit by recognizing the importance of language.

The red wine headache, explained


For some, drinking red wine brings on a thundering headache. And it’s not the morning-after hangover from a night of Merlot madness. Red-wine headaches can come on strong less than three hours after that first empty glass.

Explanations have proved elusive but now some scientists have a novel theory. A study by University of California — Davis researchers points to the combination of alcohol and a particular antioxidant known as quercetin [kwur-seh-tn].

In its solo form, quercetin is a plant pigment that’s sometimes used as an anti-inflammatory supplement. But when mixed with alcohol, its effect is undesirable. In the bloodstream, quercetin is converted into a slightly different form of itself. That blocks the metabolism of alcohol, leading to the buildup of another chemical that’s known for causing inflammation. That, the researchers believe, is the origin of the “red wine headache.”

Genetics — and a wine drinker’s preferences — also may play a role.

Some people have a modestly functioning enzyme that lets the headache-inducing chemical build up in their bodies. And some varieties of grapes contain much higher levels of quercetin. Grape clusters that are exposed to more sunlight, such as those used in cabernet sauvignon from California’s Napa Valley, can produce copious amounts of the antioxidant. Production methods also play a role.

Next, the researchers will conduct a human clinical trial to compare the effects of wines with varying amounts of the headache-inducing quercetin.

One day, that glass of red wine could be vine and dandy — with no aspirin required.

How much does exercise extend life?


Ask the family doctor if you’ll live longer by exercising and expect a quick answer: Of course. That’s a no-brainer well established by medical science.

Ask exactly how much longer and the physician will probably offer up a blank stare. After all, we don’t have an expiration date stamped on our foreheads like a carton of milk in the fridge.

New research, however, is beginning to offer surprisingly precise estimates to just that question. How about six hours of additional life for each extra hour walked for the most inactive among us?

That is according to a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Scientists used a predictive model to estimate life expectancy based on different activity regimens. The study used data on activity levels from a questionnaire filled out by some Americans as part of a large federal survey. That information was then matched with death records.

Investigators found that if Americans exercised as much as the top 25% of the most physically active folks, they’d add more than five years to life expectancy. That’s 160 minutes walking a day at a speed of 3 miles per hour, or a brisk walk.

If the least active folks over 40 joined the elite ranks of the active, longevity is estimated to increase 11 years. This equals six extra hours of life per hour walked.

It’s like savings in a bank. The more you put in, the more that accumulates in the vault.

The kind of walking you do matters less than the length of time doing it or some equivalent exercise. Walk the dog. Walk around the office every half-hour. Walk on a beach. Take up golf without a cart. It’s all good.

It’s a walk in the park.

To reduce early death risk, aim for 8,000 daily steps


For more than 50 years, the mantra for reducing the risk of premature death was taking 10,000 steps a day. The idea persisted, even though it lacked a lot of scientific support.

Now, there’s a new number, and it’s backed by scientific proof: 8,000 steps a day. University of Grenada researchers made that conclusion, and it’s similar to other recent studies, which showed many health benefits are obtained at fewer than 10,000 steps.

For their study, the researchers set clear step targets that produce optimal results, something that had not been done before. Their work included a meta-analysis of 12 international studies involving more than 110,000 participants.

Their takeaway message is this: Health benefits are possible even with small increases in the number of daily steps. Even people who are mostly inactive had incremental health improvements with every 500 additional steps. Since not everyone can do thousands of steps a day, the researchers say the findings are good news for those looking to set small, reachable goals that can expand over time.

In the study, men and women benefited equally from consistent walking. It also found that faster walking had the strongest effect on reducing mortality, regardless of the number of steps taken.

So how much is too much when it comes to daily walking? The study found that even 16,000 steps a day poses no risk. But the number of daily steps beyond 7,200 brings diminishing returns: Reductions in mortality risk get smaller as the step count rises.

On your journey to a longer life, remember: Every step counts.

Researchers find a boundary between being alone, loneliness


As many of us know, loneliness is different than being alone. But when does solitary time start to correlate with loneliness? It turns out that science has an answer.

People who spend 75% of their time alone find it difficult to avoid feelings of loneliness. That’s what University of Arizona researchers determined after studying the lifestyle habits of more than 400 people over the past 20 years.

To characterize time spent alone, one of the techniques the researchers used was a smartphone app that recorded the sounds participants made every 12 minutes. On the basis of that and other data, the typical study participant spent 66% of their time alone. Those who were alone more than three-fourths of the time reported feeling the loneliest.

Among older adults, being alone and feeling lonely are more closely linked than they are in younger people. For people over age 67, there was about a 25% overlap between aloneness and being alone. That compares with about 3% among all the study’s participants.

For older adults, the increased sense of loneliness may result from demographic and aging issues. People’s social networks tend to shrink as they get older, as does the ability to spend time with others. The researchers also noted that younger people may have a wider range of responses to solitary time and loneliness: They might feel lonely in a crowd or be perfectly at ease by themselves.

No matter the age or situation, loneliness can be a health determinant. In fact, the U.S. Surgeon General noted just that in a 2023 advisory.

So, mind your habits and your social calendar: There’s a definite line between being alone and feeling lonely.

Get some shut-eye to crush your New Year’s goals


If your goal for the year is to eat healthier and exercise more, you might want to focus first on getting some shut-eye.

Research suggests that getting a good night’s rest can make it easier to stick to daily diet and exercise goals.

American Heart Association researchers studied 125 adults who were classified as overweight or having obesity during a yearlong weight-loss program. The program included group sessions and daily calorie-intake goals.

The researchers evaluated participants’ sleep habits at the beginning, middle, and end of the program using a sleep diary, a wrist-worn sleep tracker, and patient questionnaires. Each participant was evaluated on various sleep measures, including regularity, alertness, timing, efficiency, duration, and satisfaction.

They were then assigned a sleep score from zero to six based on their sleep habits, earning one point for each good sleep measure.

Results showed that those with better sleep habits were more likely to follow their daily calorie intake and exercise goals compared with those with who didn’t sleep as well. Participants who slept better also attended more group sessions.

The superior sleepers attended 79% of group sessions in the first six months of the study and 62% in the second half. They met their daily calorie goals 36% of the time in the first half of the study and 21% of the time in the second half.

So, if cramming in gym sessions and dieting has you abandoning your resolutions in the first few weeks of the year, you might first concentrate on getting the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep.

Prioritize your sleep goals, and the healthier lifestyle might just follow.

Don’t let secondhand germs spoil the fun


For a certain subset, little compares to the thrill of a thrift-store find. A pair of Dolce & Gabanna pants marked down to a squeal-worthy price. Or maybe it’s a pair of vintage Levi’s that fit like they were made for you.

It’s a good, clean hobby that helps fight fast fashion and keeps tons of clothing from clogging landfills.

Wait, did we say “clean?” Experts say no matter how excited you might be to wear your latest finds, it’s vital that you wash and disinfect them first.

Clothes can contain germs — bacteria, fungi, viruses, even parasites — that can make you sick.

Everyone’s skin is coated in millions of germs, which means any item of clothing we wear comes in close contact with them. Sometimes your vintage find has been laundered. Sometimes it hasn’t.

If the clothing hasn’t been cleaned, it could be carrying the bacteria behind staph infections or the dreaded antibiotic-resistant MRSA [mer-sah]. It could carry the virus that causes human papillomavirus, which can cause cancers for those who haven’t been vaccinated. The possibilities, unfortunately, are endless.

The temperature you’re looking to kill the bulk of these germs is 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Most home washing machines have a “hot” temperature around 130 degrees, so you might need to select “extra hot” or the “sanitize” setting, if available.

If you can’t wash the item in hot water or bake it in the dryer, a laundry sanitizer added to the wash should do the trick.

Those who are immunocompromised should follow these tips like the law.

If you’re thinking you’ve outsmarted germs because you only buy new clothes, don’t forget: It’s generally been pawed over and tried on, too.