- FDA: Nicotine gummies are a "public health crisis just waiting to happen"
- Are we close to the end of the pandemic?
- US public health task force recommends adults be screened for anxiety
- Study finds potential link between daily multivitamin and improved cognition in older adults
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FDA: Nicotine gummies are a "public health crisis just waiting to happen" |
First, there were flavored cigarettes that tasted like chocolate or grape. Then came e-cigarettes in flavors like cotton candy or gummy bear. Now, there are flavored nicotine gummies – and public health experts are concerned. The US Food and Drug Administration is warning parents about these gummies. FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf said they "are a public health crisis just waiting to happen among our nation's youth, particularly as we head into a new school year." Nicotine is highly addictive. Manufacturers say that tobacco-free nicotine products can help adults stop smoking, but experts worry that the gummies' bright colors and fruit flavors could also appeal to kids. The FDA sent a warning letter last month to VPR Brands that says the company did not seek premarket authorization to sell its gummies. They contained 1 milligram of nicotine each. One to 4 milligrams of nicotine could be severely toxic to children under 6 as well as to older children, depending on their weight. Studies have also shown that nicotine can harm the developing brain, affecting areas that control attention, learning, mood and impulse control. Nicotine can even change the way brain cells communicate and encode new information.
There's no clear data on how pervasive the gummies or any other candy-like nicotine products have become. But a recent study of Southern California ninth- and 10th-graders who used nicotine found that they were more likely to use flavored non-tobacco oral nicotine products like gummies, tablets, lozenges and gums than many more traditional products like cigarettes. These oral products were second only to the ever-popular e-cigarettes.
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Sponsor Content by CompareCards |
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Are we close to the end of the pandemic? |
There's been a lot of talk recently about the end of the Covid-19 pandemic. Last week, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "We have never been in a better position to end the pandemic. We're not there yet, but the end is in sight." Over the weekend on CBS' "60 Minutes," President Joe Biden said, "The pandemic is over. We still have a problem with Covid. We're still doing a lot of work on it ... but the pandemic is over." The White House says the President's statements are a continuation of officials' evolving stance over the past few months. An administration official told CNN on Monday that Biden's comments do not mark a change in policy toward the administration's handling of the virus, and there are no plans to lift the public health emergency declaration, which has been in place since January 2020 and now runs through at least October 13. Things are moving in a positive direction: Daily Covid-19 cases have been trending down for the past two months, and about 4,000 people are hospitalized daily – a 10% drop from just a week earlier. But there are still an average of 400 people dying a day from Covid. We've seen this virus outsmart us many times before, and we don't want to be complacent and let it get us again. The most vital thing we can all do is to get vaccinated. Only 68% of the country's population has had both shots in the primary series, and only 50% of those 12 and older who are eligible for a booster have gotten one. Updated boosters targeting both the original coronavirus and the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants are now available to anyone 12 and older, as long as it's been at least two months since their last shot or three months since an infection. As the WHO director-general also said, "A marathon runner does not stop when the finish line comes into view; she runs harder with all the energy she has left. So must we. We can see the finish line, we are in a winning position, but now is the worst time to stop running. Now is the time to run harder and make sure we cross the line and reap the rewards of all our hard work." There is still a risk of more variants, deaths, disruption and uncertainty, he said, "so let's seize this opportunity." |
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For the first time, US public health task force recommends adults be screened for anxiety |
For the first time, the US Preventive Services Task Force is recommending that all adults under the age of 65 be screened for anxiety. The anxiety recommendations apply to adults 19-64 years old, including those who are pregnant and postpartum, who do not have a diagnosed mental health disorder. In 2016, the group recommended that adults 18 and older be screened for depression, including those who do not have a diagnosed mental health disorder and are not showing any recognized signs or symptoms of depression or suicide risk. "We make decisions based on public health importance, on 'is this something that's going to be helpful for health care professionals in caring for the patients in their practices?' " Lori Pbert, a task force member, told CNN. "For this particular one, it was nominated and prioritized because of its public health importance, especially with the increased focus on mental health in this country that we've been having for the past few years." Reporting of mental health issues has been increasing. A survey from the CDC this month found that adults 18 to 44 were the least likely to get treatment for their mental health in 2019 but became the most likely to do so in 2021. Nearly 1 in 4 adults (more than 23%) in this age group received treatment for mental health in 2021 – a jump of nearly 5 percentage points from 2019. |
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Study finds potential link between daily multivitamin and improved cognition in older adults |
A new study finds that a daily multivitamin might be associated with improved brain function in older adults, particularly for those with a history of cardiovascular disease. The researchers followed about 2,200 people 65 and older who were assigned to take either a cocoa extract supplement containing flavonoids, a multivitamin or a placebo every day for three years. The participants completed tests over the phone annually to evaluate their cognitive function. They were scored on things like recalling stories, showing verbal fluency and ordering digits. No one, not even the researchers, knew who was assigned to which daily routine until the results were revealed. "We really believed that the cocoa extract was going to have some benefits for cognition based on prior reports of cardiovascular benefit. So we're waiting for that big reveal in our data analysis, and it was not cocoa extract that benefited cognition but rather the multivitamin," said Laura Baker, an author of the study and professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. The researchers found that three years of taking the multivitamin appeared to have slowed cognitive aging by 1.8 years – or 60% – compared with the placebo. Daily cocoa extract supplementation for three years did not affect cognitive function. But Baker said the findings are not definitive and cannot be generalized to the public. More research is needed to confirm them, and they don't mean people should necessarily add multivitamins to their daily routine without talking to their doctor. |
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| 4-7-8: This set of numbers could be the magic formula to help you sleep better. |
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I recently had a chance to visit Dr. Doris Taylor's lab in Manchester, New Hampshire. I met her a few months ago, when she spoke at the Life Itself conference about how she was creating personalized hearts. It's something that really left an impression on me. Consider that last year alone, there were 3,817 heart transplants performed in the US and about 3,500 people on the waiting list. These personalized hearts could essentially eliminate that wait. At her labs, Doris is able to take a pig heart and get rid of all the native pig cells to leave just a scaffolding of the heart. She calls it a "ghost heart" because it's translucent and lacking and stripped of its biology. She then takes the cells from a patient's blood or skin and grows them into billions of personalized cells that will be used to re-seed the ghost heart, essentially customizing the organ. She trains those cells to pump and act like a muscle. It's remarkable and could be game-changing, not only because of the potential to create a supply of organs but because this technology could eliminate the cascade of effects that follows a transplant. Many people who have transplants end up on a lifetime of anti-rejection drugs that cost thousands of dollars a month. Some recipients develop anxiety and depression over fear that their bodies will reject the donated organ. These individualized hearts could alleviate many of those concerns. So often, the stories we journalists tell are difficult, frustrating and at times heartbreaking. But there are also stories like Doris' that are inspiring and give us hope about a brighter future – people who are working to change the status quo. I'm excited to tell you more about Doris and other changemakers this Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on CNN's sixth "Champions for Change" special. It's a moment when I and my fellow CNN reporters and anchors get to share the stories that encourage us to look beyond today. |
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| Did you know that some people can taste color? Or that others can't recognize faces? Why do animals perceive differently than humans? We'll explore how sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell make sense of these questions and more in the upcoming season of Chasing Life. |
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