Photo by Gül Işık.

With the tsunami of political news we are exposed to every day, sometimes recent healthcare scoops evade our awareness. Here are a few nuggets of info that may be relevant to you and yours. Focusing on our personal health may make us more resilient in the face of current events.

Tech-aided fitness for kids.

It’s well documented that children are moving less and less in the modern world as they are spending more and more time engaging with screens. Fitness, metabolic health, vision, and social health all suffer. As many as 20% of US kids aged 2-19 are obese. Type 2 diabetes is expected to rise by 70% in US children by 2060. According to the World Health Organization, the incidence of myopia (nearsightedness) could rise to 50% of the world’s population in the next 50 years. These bleak projections have led to a perhaps ironic solution involving technology and games that motivate kids to move and exercise, as well as engaging their peers in cooperative and socially healthy competition via the devices we’ve come to associate with declining health. Nowadays, concerned parents can find a number of console-based and fitness tracker-type devices that will pull kids in via their affinity for electronics. Dance and sports skills, step tracking, hydration reminders, sleep habits, and ways to connect with their friends doing the same activities could all go a long way toward getting your kids to be active for the recommended 60 minutes a day.

Testosterone therapy for women.

Women doing testosterone therapy report improved mood and energy levels, lessened brain fog, and improved strength.

Recent studies have shown that testosterone therapy for women is effective for returning libido levels to normal in at least 60% of post-menopausal women. Many women who have experienced hypo-active sexual desire disorder (HSDD) post-menopause have long been told by their doctors that loss of libido is an expected and normal part of aging. Yet topical application of carefully dosed cream applied daily to the skin, performed better than placebo in all studies, regardless of size. So far, in the US, there are no testosterone preparations made specifically for women, but working with a knowledgeable provider could lead to a modification of a dose normally prescribed to men that would be effective for a woman. It’s important that a detailed analysis of a woman’s testosterone levels be carried out. Additionally, other causes of sexual issues such as stress, depression, relationship issues, medications, and other health concerns may play as big or bigger a part in a woman’s HSDD. Anecdotally, women doing testosterone therapy report improved mood and energy levels, lessened brain fog, and improved strength. Researchers are calling for more studies to investigate these claims. One study, due out next year, is looking into the association of testosterone therapy with increased bone mineral density in women.

30 plants per week.

Having a healthy gut microbiome has been in the news for a while. Our gut houses a variety of microbes that aid in digestion and nutrient absorption, destroy dangerous microorganisms, and promote a healthy immune system. A 2018 study for which participants sent in a stool sample and log of foods eaten showed that the more diverse your gut microbiome is, the more helpful it is to your overall health. A recent trend suggests that incorporating 30 different plants into your diet each week will go a long way toward establishing that diversity. People who have increased their intake of plants experience relief from symptoms like bloating and constipation. A healthy gut helps with weight management and issues of inflammation, and can lower your risk for metabolic disease and cancer. Many people find it useful to track their plants consumed with a point system. One banana counts as one point and two bananas is still just one point; it’s the diversity that adds up to 30. You can count all of the plant foods you usually think of such as fruits and veggies, but you may also count grains, seeds, nuts, legumes, and even herbs and spices.

Bird flu is still around.

There has been no mutation of the virus that has been spreadable from human to human.

A case of bird flu known as H5N5 has been contracted by a human, raising eyebrows of concern among scientists, but not yet sounding the pandemic alarm. A Washington State resident has been diagnosed with the first case of Avian Influenza in the US in the past nine months. Bird flu has been around in wild bird populations for decades, but concerns arose in 2022 when the disease was found in more mammals than ever before. So far, there has been no mutation of the virus that has been spreadable from human to human. Scientists are vigilantly watching for that development which could set off a pandemic-like event. There’s no way to predict how or when that might occur; nor is it predictable how deadly such a pandemic might turn out to be. Meanwhile, the public is advised to be very careful around farm animals, taking precautions to avoid contact with feces and dead or diseased animals by wearing protective gear. Do not handle dead or sick wild animals or birds and sanitize bird feeders with a 10-1 water to bleach solution. For the virus to become capable of transmitting from human to human does not appear to be an easy step for the virus to make. So far the bird or mammal to human transmission has resulted in a fairly mild illness with only one death recorded, but as we saw with Covid 19, the evolution of a virus can be capricious.

Ann Constantino, submitted on behalf of the SoHum Health’s Outreach department.