General Health

Can eating pasta make you healthier and make you eat less saturated fat? According to a study presented at the Obesity Society’s annual meeting in November of 2016, the answer is “yes.” [1]

We know (or think we know) that high blood glucose, or hyperglycemia, is linked to diabetes and obesity. But now scientists have also recently discovered a link between excess blood sugar and Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers have established a “tipping point” link between excess blood glucose and the disease, meaning that people who eat a lot of sugar could be more likely to go on to develop Alzheimer’s. [1]
Omar Kassaar, a biologist at the University of Bath in the U.K., said in a press release:

A study made headlines after stating that there is no way of knowing just how much sugar consumption is too much, and the methods used to create dietary sugar intake limits are flawed.

More Americans claim to have food allergies than ever before, but a report published in 2016 from the National Academy of Sciences says that it’s hard to know how many people in the U.S. actually have food allergies. Although many healthcare professionals involved in patient care agree that an increase has occurred, specifying its actual extent is complicated by factors such as inconsistent data or studies that use variable methods.

The yellow fever outbreak currently sweeping the jungles of Brazil could be the next Zika virus in the United States, health officials say. The Latin American country has seen an increase in the disease over the past few weeks in some of its rural areas. [1]
Health officials with the Pan American Health Organization have confirmed 371 cases of yellow fever, including 241 deaths. The group is investigating hundreds of other potential cases.

A type of superbug has increased upwards of 700% in U.S. children since 2007, and it is associated with longer hospital stays and a trend toward a greater risk of death, a recent study in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society reveals. [1]

Between 30-40% of American adults have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a condition with no visible signs that rarely causes symptoms. Despite its near-invisibility, NAFLD raises the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. What’s more, a recent study suggests that people with a high-risk variant of the PNPLA3 gene are much more likely to have NAFLD if they’re obese than if they’re thin. [1]

The potentially deadly, drug-resistant “superbug,” carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), is more widespread in U.S. hospitals than previously thought, an earlier-released study has found. [1]
Researchers looked for cases of infections caused by CRE in a sample of 4 U.S. hospitals – 3 in the Boston area and 1 in California – and identified numerous varieties of the bacterium. [2]

Are you eating a gluten-free diet, but you don’t have celiac disease? A new study suggests that you may not want to make that move. Not only does a gluten-free diet not prevent heart disease, but researchers say avoiding gluten when you don’t have celiac disease could lead to cardiovascular disease and more.

There are few medical conditions marijuana can’t help, including nausea. But reports of a new marijuana-related illness are on the rise, characterized by cyclic episodes of nausea and vomiting. [1]