When (and Why) to Toss Your Eyelash Curler, Sponges, and More

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Have you had the exact same eyelash curler since oh, maybe high school? We hate to break it to you, but it is time for an upgrade. Thing is, like your mascara and other go-to products, the beauty gadgets you use also collect a lot of gunk and bacteria over time. This is not only kind of gross, but it can also mean that your tools are not working as well as they could be.

The good news: you don’t necessarily need to toss ’em out; many things in your makeup bag (including your makeup bag, actually) just need a good scrub or even new parts. Here’s how to get each one of your beauty tools back in tip-top shape.

Eyelash curler

Okay, so back to that eyelash curler you’ve had forever: you can return it to its former glory by replacing the lash pads, explains Mally Roncal, celebrity makeup artist and founder of Mally Beauty. This should be done every six months to keep the pads flexible enough to provide the optimal curl.

But don’t stop there. Adds cosmetic chemist Nikita Wilson, “You still have to clean the actual tool every two weeks.” Her trick: Wipe it down with an eye makeup remover-soaked cotton ball to lift off any mascara residue. Baby oil works, too—just don’t use anything that could irritate your eyes such as rubbing alcohol.

RELATED: 29 Expert Beauty Tips Every Woman Should Kno

Makeup sponges

Wilson suggests washing them weekly or as needed (if not performing the same). “Sponges are a petri dish for bacteria, so use a mild detergent and warm water when rinsing,” she says. Squish the blender into the solution until all of the makeup pigment comes out; air-dry out in the open (don’t throw back in your bag). Replace your makeup sponges every few months, sooner if you use them daily.

Pencil sharpener

These last until they are no longer are functional, Roncal says. Also nice? They’re super easy to clean: Simply dip a Q-tip into rubbing alcohol and rub it around the sharpener until all excess shavings are gone. The more often you do so, the sharper your pencils will be.

Facial cleansing brush

Once a week, use warm soapy water to rid the brush of any residue. You can run it under the faucet and rub some soap onto the bristles with the device turned on. To dry the brush after use, let it run while holding it to a towel or simply let it sit with the cap off to air dry. It is important to replace the brush head every three months because it gets worn down with each use.

RELATED: 17 Best Beauty Products for Your Face

Makeup bag

A bi-weekly cleanse is recommended, especially if you tend to toss your pencils, brushes and sponges into the bag without covering them. “The hodgepodge of makeup stuck on the inside and constant exposure to heat and darkness creates the ideal environment for microbes to grow,” Wilson explains. Remove all of the products from your bag and turn it inside out before wiping it down with a makeup removing cloth or baby wipe. Voila! All clean.

Makeup brushes

In general, you should be washing these at least once a month. Products like liquid foundation and concealer tend to build up quicker, so those brushes may need to be cleaned more frequently. Swirl the brush in baby shampoo and hold it under the faucet until the water runs clean. Dry overnight. They can last forever depending on the quality and how often they’re used, but if the bristles lose their shape or become permanently etched with gunk, it’s time for a trip to Sephora.

RELATED: 10 Surprising Beauty Uses for Coconut Oil

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2 Experimental Drugs Offer Hope Against Psoriasis: Studies

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Two experimental drugs show promise in treating psoriasis and a related condition, psoriatic arthritis, new studies report.

The drugs, brodalumab and secukinumab (Cosentyx), represent a new approach to treatment, said Michael Siegel, director of research programs at the National Psoriasis Foundation.

“These studies show how targeting parts of the immune system can have great effects, and that’s really exciting for our patients,” said Siegel, who wasn’t involved in the research.

Psoriasis, a chronic autoimmune condition, causes raised red patches of skin topped with silvery scales. These patches usually appear on the scalp, elbows, knees, face, lower back, hands and feet. Psoriatic arthritis is a form of the disease that includes joint pain, stiffness and swelling.

The study findings appear in the Oct. 1 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

In one study, brodalumab reduced psoriasis symptoms 100 percent in more than 40 percent of patients. In the other report, Cosentyx slowed progression of psoriatic arthritis.

“Brodalumab was dramatically able to clear psoriasis,” said the lead researcher of that study, Dr. Mark Lebwohl, chairman of dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

Brodalumab is a so-called monoclonal antibody designed to block the function of a protein called interleukin 17 (IL-17), which contributes to psoriasis, Lebwohl explained.

For the phase 3 brodalumab trials — the final phase needed for U.S. drug approval — researchers randomly selected more than 3,000 patients with moderate to severe psoriasis to receive either brodalumab, ustekinumab (Stelara) or placebo. According to Lebwohl, Stelara is currently the best psoriasis drug available.

Forty-four percent of patients using brodalumab had 100 percent of their psoriasis cleared, compared with 22 percent of those receiving Stelara, Lebwohl said.

Moreover, more than 68 percent of patients receiving brodalumab saw 90 percent of their psoriasis clear, compared with 47 percent of patients receiving Stelara, he added.

The study was funded by drug maker Amgen, which co-developed brodalumab with AstraZeneca.

Brodalumab is injected every two weeks. Because psoriasis is a chronic disease, treatment lasts a lifetime, Lebwohl said.

Dr. Katy Burris, a dermatologist at North Shore-LIJ Health System in Manhasset, N.Y., found the results impressive.

“Not only was the clearance rate better with brodalumab, but the time it took until clearance was achieved was less when compared to ustekinumab [Stelara],” said Burris.

Burris cautioned, however, that “the long-term safety of this new medication will be determined upon further study and will hopefully be as safe as it is efficacious.”

Side effects from brodalumab included mild to moderate yeast infections, Lebwohl said. These infections were easy to treat and no one stopped the drug because of an infection, he said.

However, two patients committed suicide. “I don’t know of any mechanism why the drug would result in depression or suicide,” he said. “Psoriasis itself increases depression and suicides.”

Assuming the drug is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Lebwohl said it will likely be expensive. For comparison purposes, Stelara would cost from $30,000 to $70,000 a year without insurance, according to the National Psoriasis Foundation.

The other study, funded by drug maker Novartis, involved more than 600 patients with psoriatic arthritis.

Participants received either Cosentyx or a placebo drug. About 50 percent of the patients responded to treatment with Cosentyx, compared with a little more than 17 percent of patients receiving placebo, researchers found.

“We have a valuable new asset to treat psoriatic arthritis,” said lead researcher Dr. Philip Mease, a clinical professor of rheumatology at the University of Washington. He said about 30 percent of people with psoriasis will develop psoriatic arthritis.

More information

For more on psoriasis, visit the National Psoriasis Foundation.

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Severely Obese Kids at Higher Risk for Heart Disease, Diabetes

By Kathleen Doheny
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Children who are severely obese, especially boys, have risk factors that increase their odds of getting heart disease and diabetes, new research finds.

“As the severity of obesity in kids gets worse, their risks for heart disease and diabetes goes up,” said study author Asheley Skinner, an associate professor of pediatrics and health policy management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Children who are the most obese, she said, are twice as likely to have some of the risk factors for heart disease and diabetes as the mildly obese.

The fact that the doubling of risk came from a comparison to mildly obese children, not normal-weight kids, is especially concerning, she said.

The study is published Oct. 1 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Severe obesity is on the rise among U.S. children and young adults, according to background information in the study. Four percent of children were severely obese in 1999-2004. By 2011-2012, 6 percent were severely obese, the study said.

Skinner and her colleagues reviewed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). They looked at statistics from more than 8,500 children, ages 3 to 19, who were overweight or obese. About 47 percent were overweight. Thirty-six percent were considered class 1 obese, 12 percent were class 2 and about 5 percent were class 3, the study said. (The higher the class, the more obese the child.)

For reference, a 10-year-old boy who is 4 feet 6 inches tall would be considered class 1 obese if he weighed 95 pounds, class 2 at 115 pounds and class 3 at 130 pounds, Skinner said.

Researchers looked at such risk factors as cholesterol levels, blood pressure and blood sugar levels. Using the children in class 1 as the reference or comparison group, the researchers found that those with class 2 or 3 obesity were about 1.6 to nearly two times as likely to have low levels of the so-called good (HDL) cholesterol. Looking at boys separately, those who were most obese were more than twice as likely to have low HDL cholesterol compared to those who were mildly obese.

When the researchers looked at blood sugar levels, kids with class 2 or 3 obesity were 1.5 to 2.6 times more likely to have blood sugar problems. And again, the findings were worse in boys.

Blood pressures were worse in those who were class 2 or 3 obese, too. Boys who were severely obese were more than seven times more likely to have high blood pressure than those who were mildly obese.

Skinner said the researchers can’t explain why the boys seemed to be at higher risk from severe obesity.

The findings are a wake-up call that should trigger more effort at prevention and intervention, the researchers said.

Dr. William Muinos agreed. He is the associate director of pediatric gastroenterology and directs the weight management program at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami. He reviewed the study’s findings.

Muinos said this study’s results ring true in his patient population. He sees children with high blood pressure, some as young as 8 years old. He said he also sees unhealthy cholesterol and blood sugar levels in young patients.

Muinos tells patients and their parents that children can get severely obese more easily than adults can, partly due to such factors as growth hormones. “In the growing years, if you eat the wrong stuff, you become a better candidate to make body fat,” he said.

His advice for parents? Load up your children’s plates with vegetables at lunch and dinner. Muinos says aim for three to five vegetables at each meal. He also advises sticking to healthy protein sources such as fish, chicken or turkey, and to limit carbohydrates.

Exercise is a must, he also tells parents. “Five days a week, an hour a day,” he said. “It can be a simple as walking your dog.”

More information

To learn more about how to help children control weight, see National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

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‘Low-Nicotine’ Cigarettes May Help Smokers Quit

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Smokers are more likely to cut back or quit if they switch to cigarettes made from tobacco containing very low levels of nicotine, new research shows.

In the study, the participants smoked nearly one-third fewer cigarettes a day and were twice as likely to try to quit, compared with smokers of regular cigarettes, the investigators found.

The best results came with cigarettes containing 0.4 milligrams of nicotine per gram of tobacco.

“That’s about 97 percent less than what you’d find in a traditional cigarette,” explained senior study author Dorothy Hatsukami, associate director of cancer prevention and control for the University of Minnesota’s Masonic Cancer Center.

Nicotine is the addictive agent in tobacco products, and for two decades some researchers have argued that drastically cutting nicotine content could render cigarettes non-addictive, the study authors said in background notes.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration could use the results of the clinical trial to justify ordering an across-the-board reduction in nicotine content for all U.S. tobacco products, said study author Eric Donny, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh.

“The FDA has the authority to set product standards for tobacco products,” Donny said. “They can require tobacco companies to reduce nicotine levels.”

Very-low-nicotine cigarettes are not the same as “light” cigarettes, which Congress removed from the market under the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, Donny said.

The tobacco in “light” cigarettes contained the same amount of nicotine as regular cigarettes, but tried to reduce the amount of nicotine that smokers received through product design tricks such as ventilated filters or different types of paper, Hatsukami said.

“Light” cigarettes failed to help because smokers would just puff harder and inhale more deeply, and wound up getting the same dose of nicotine as they would have in a normal cigarette, Donny and Hatsukami said.

With very-low-nicotine cigarettes, smokers cannot change the way they smoke to get more nicotine because most of the nicotine has been flushed from the tobacco. “People can’t really adjust their behavior to receive the same amount of nicotine anymore,” Donny said.

Dr. Norman Edelman, senior scientific advisor for the American Lung Association, explained it this way: “The only way they could do that would be to smoke more, and in this study they did not do that.”

In this study, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, 840 smokers at 10 different sites were asked to smoke either their usual brand or one of six other types of cigarettes containing various doses of nicotine. All of the smokers involved said they had no interest in quitting smoking anytime soon.

Normal cigarettes contain about 15.8 mg of nicotine per gram of tobacco (mg/g), Hatsukami said. Participants were given cigarettes containing that dose, as well as 5.2 mg/g, 2.4 mg/g, 1.3 mg/g and 0.4 mg/g. As a final alternative, people were given 0.4 mg/g cigarettes that also contained high tar.

After six weeks, researchers found that people provided cigarettes with a nicotine dose of 2.4 mg/g or less smoked 30 percent fewer cigarettes per day, on average, compared with people smoking regular cigarettes.

Smokers using lower-nicotine cigarettes also had less nicotine dependence, and experienced fewer cravings when they quit smoking for a spell, Donny said.

People smoking cigarettes with 5.2 mg/g or more smoked an average of 21 cigarettes per day, which was about the same as people who kept smoking their own brand, the findings showed.

But smokers with 0.4 mg/g cigarettes only smoked about 15 cigarettes a day, the researchers found.

About 35 percent of people with 0.4 mg/g cigarettes reported an attempt to quit during the follow-up period, compared with 17 percent of people smoking normal-strength cigarettes, according to the report.

The findings were published Oct. 1 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Amy Lukowski, clinical director of health initiatives at National Jewish Health in Columbus, Ohio, said the results are “really promising” but need to be verified.

“My approach is wait and see, since it was such a short-term study, but I think there’s lots of promise in it,” Lukowski said.

Tobacco companies already have the technology to mass-produce very low-nicotine cigarettes, Donny said, comparing it to the process that creates decaffeinated coffee.

But Lukowski and Edelman see one potential downside if the FDA orders tobacco companies to lower nicotine levels in their products.

Such a move might signal to the public that cigarettes are now safer, and it’s OK to light up, Edelman said. Even though low-nicotine cigarettes are less addictive, they still contain the same carcinogens that make regular cigarettes a threat to human health.

“Some people will be less afraid to smoke,” he said. “They’ll think that cigarettes have been made safe.”

More information

For more on tobacco and nicotine, visit the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse.

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Calcium Supplements Aren’t Doing Your Bones Any Good, Studies Say

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Two new studies published Tuesday in the journal The BMJ add to growing skepticism over whether older adults should increase calcium via supplements in order to prevent osteoporosis and risk for bone fractures.

For older adults, a daily intake of 1,000 to 1,200 mg of calcium has long been recommended. But the two papers, written by the same team of New Zealand researchers, find little evidence to support the recommendations. Recent concerns over calcium intake have emerged, suggesting that “small reductions in total fractures seem outweighed by the moderate risk of minor side effects,” the study authors write. Those side effects can include constipation as well as more severe complications, like cardiovascular issues.

“Collectively these results suggest that clinicians, advocacy organizations and health policymakers should not recommend increasing calcium intake for fracture prevention either with calcium supplements or through dietary sources,” the authors write.

In one study, the researchers conducted a review of randomized controlled trials looking at how extra calcium intake in women and men over age 50 affected bone mineral density. The researchers found increases in bone mineral density of about 1-2% over up to five years, but the authors say these increases are “unlikely to translate into clinically meaningful reductions in fractures.” Post-menopausal women lose an average of about 1% in bone mineral density a year.

“Increasing calcium intake from dietary sources or by taking calcium supplements produces small non-progressive increases in BMD, which are unlikely to lead to a clinically significant reduction in risk of fracture,” the study authors conclude.

In their other study, the researchers looked at studies on the link between calcium intake and lower risk of fractures. The studies varied in quality, but the researchers found a lack of evidence to support the relationship. “Dietary calcium intake is not associated with risk of fracture, and there is no clinical trial evidence that increasing calcium intake from dietary sources prevents fractures,” the study authors write. “Evidence that calcium supplements prevent fractures is weak and inconsistent.”

The researchers only found one study that supported increased calcium intake for lower fracture risk, but noted that the study, published in 1992, was in a frail population with notable vitamin D deficiency (vitamin D is also often recommended to prevent fracture in older adults). The researchers say this one study is often referenced in other research on the topic, and that studies should not rely on it given its unique population.

The new results also fall in line with the guidance provided by the United States Preventative Services Task Force in 2013. The task force reviewed studies on the use of vitamin D and calcium to prevent fractures, and ultimately concluded that, based on the evidence available, post-menopausal women should not take daily supplements.

In a corresponding editorial, Karl Michaëlsson, a professor at Uppsala University in Sweden, writes that given the lack of evidence to support increasing calcium and vitamin D intake for better bone health, the continued emphasis is “puzzling.”

“The profitability of the global supplements industry probably plays its part,” he argues. “Manufacturers have deep pockets, and there is a tendency for research efforts to follow the money (with accompanying academic prestige), rather than a path defined only by the needs of patients and the public.”

Given growing skepticism, it’s worth talking with your physician if you’re currently loading up on calcium for stronger bones.

This article originally appeared on Time.com.

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Colds, Flu Up Odds for Stroke in Kids, Though Risk Is Low: Study

By Maureen Salamon
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Having a cold or the flu may sometimes trigger a stroke in children — particularly those with underlying health conditions — though the overall risk remains low, a new study indicates.

Comparing two groups of more than 350 children — one set had suffered “ischemic” clot-based strokes and the other had not — researchers found that those with stroke were six times more likely to have had a minor infection the previous week than those who didn’t have a stroke.

Also, children who had most or all of their routine vaccinations were significantly less likely to suffer a stroke than children who received only some or no vaccinations, according to the study, published online Sept. 30 in the journal Neurology.

“The findings are definitely revelatory in terms of expanding our understanding of childhood stroke compared to a decade ago,” said study author Dr. Heather Fullerton, a professor of child neurology and pediatric stroke neurologist at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Benioff Children’s Hospital in San Francisco.

“It basically offers some explanation why a stroke may happen on a particular day in a child’s life, and offers an opportunity for stroke prevention,” Fullerton added. “You can’t change a child’s underlying condition, but you can potentially do something about that stroke trigger.”

However, the study merely showed an association between minor infections and children’s stroke risk, but didn’t prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

Stroke in children is exceedingly rare, occurring in two to 13 out of every 100,000 children annually. Most of those children cope with underlying health conditions such as congenital heart disease, sickle cell anemia or a blood-clotting disorder. Only about one in 100,000 otherwise healthy children suffer a stroke each year, Fullerton said.

Stroke symptoms in children are typically similar to those in adults, including slurred speech, facial drooping and arm weakness. But adults’ risk factors for stroke are much different than children’s, arising mainly from factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes and smoking.

In the study, Fullerton and her team reviewed medical charts and conducted parent interviews of 355 children up to age 18 (average age 7) diagnosed with a stroke and 354 stroke-free children of similar ages. The groups hailed from nine countries. Researchers analyzed the children’s exposure to infection and their vaccine history.

Of all participants, 18 percent of those with stroke had an infection — including flu, colds, or to a lesser extent, urinary tract or gastrointestinal infections — in the prior week. Only 3 percent of the children who didn’t have a stroke had had an infection the week before. The association between infection and stroke was short-lived, lasting no longer than a week, experts noted.

Meanwhile, children who had received some, few or none of their routine vaccinations were seven times more likely to have a stroke than those who received most or all of their vaccinations.

“Vaccines are clearly protective,” Fullerton said. “No matter how we cut the data . . . vaccines always appear to protect against childhood strokes.”

How a minor infection might trigger a stroke is not entirely clear, neurologists said. But it’s possible that an infection may set off an inflammatory process throughout the body that contributes to stroke, revving up clot formation. Dehydration during an illness could also play a role, they said.

Fullerton, also director of the Pediatric Brain Center at UCSF, said that even otherwise healthy children can suffer a stroke, “but when lightning strikes, and that previously healthy kid has a stroke, we’re still trying to better understand why.”

“This is definitely not something for parents to worry about,” she added. “If your child is otherwise healthy, your child’s risk of having a stroke is very low. It’s not zero.”

Dr. Stephen Eppes, vice chair of the department of pediatrics and director of pediatric infectious diseases at Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington, Del., said he was “a little bit struck by the results” of the study.

“Obviously the burden of stroke in the pediatric population is much lower than the adult population,” said Eppes. “But the study authors . . . have hit on something.”

But, Eppes added, “I would try to put things in perspective for parents and tell them that illnesses with fever are much more likely to represent something bad from an infection point of view than from a stroke point of view. Minor infections . . . are usually not associated with stroke to an extent anyone should worry about.”

Dr. Jose Biller, chair of neurology at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, wrote an editorial accompanying the new research that said the findings will be pivotal in defining further stroke prevention strategies in children.

“I think further studies will be needed, but this was a very well-conducted study, particularly in a population that has been less well-studied [than] adults with stroke,” said Biller.

In addition to making sure children receive all routine vaccinations, including for flu, parents and teachers can remind children of easy ways to avoid passing along colds and other infections, Fullerton said.

“Common infection-control measures like hand-washing and covering their mouths are going to be helpful in these kids,” she said. “Even teaching kids to cough into their elbow rather than their hand . . . can actually make a big difference to protect kids we know to be at increased risk.”

More information

The American Stroke Association has more about stroke symptoms.

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Could Your Cellphone Be Harming Your Love Life?

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Spending too much time on your cellphone can take a toll on your love life, a new study finds.

Baylor University researchers surveyed more than 450 American adults to define and gauge the impact of what they called “phubbing” (partner phone snubbing). That’s when people use or get distracted by cellphones while in their partner’s company.

“What we discovered was that when someone perceived that their partner phubbed them, this created conflict and led to lower levels of reported relationship satisfaction,” study co-author and marketing professor James Roberts said in a university news release.

“These lower levels of relationship satisfaction, in turn, led to lower levels of life satisfaction and, ultimately, higher levels of depression,” he added.

More than 46 percent of survey respondents said they had been phubbed by their romantic partner; nearly 23 percent said phubbing triggered conflict in their relationships; and nearly 37 percent said they felt depressed at least some of the time. Only 32 percent of respondents said they were very satisfied with their relationship.

The study will be published in the January 2016 issue of the journal Computers in Human Behavior.

People often assume that brief cellphone distractions are no big deal, but the survey indicates that’s not so, study co-author Meredith David, an assistant professor of marketing, said in the news release.

“Our findings suggest that the more often a couple’s time spent together is interrupted by one individual attending to his/her cellphone, the less likely it is that the other individual is satisfied in the overall relationship,” David said.

“When spending time with one’s significant other, we encourage individuals to be cognizant of the interruptions caused by their cellphones, as these may well be harmful to their relationship,” David added.

The findings are important given that cellphone use is so common, the researchers added.

“When you think about the results, they are astounding. Something as common as cellphone use can undermine the bedrock of our happiness — our relationships with our romantic partners,” Roberts said.

More information

Mental Health America explains the importance of connecting with others.

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Gut Bacteria Tied to Asthma Risk in Kids

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — The presence of four types of gut bacteria in infancy may reduce a child’s risk for asthma, Canadian researchers report.

Most infants get these bacteria naturally from the environment. But some babies are given antibiotics that kill these bacteria, and some are not exposed to them for various reasons, the researchers said.

“We now have particular markers that seem to predict asthma later in life,” lead researcher Brett Finlay, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, said during a news conference Tuesday.

“These findings indicate that bacteria that live in and on us may have a role in asthma,” he said. This seems to happen by 3 months of age in ways that still aren’t clear.

Coming into contact with environmental bacteria, such as by living on a farm or having pets, appears to decrease asthma risk, Finlay said.

Asthma, which has increased dramatically since the 1950s, affects up to 20 percent of children in western countries, according to the researchers. “Ironically, it has not increased in developing countries,” Finlay said.

It’s possible that people in these less-developed countries are exposed to more helpful bacteria and other microbes, he said. This is the so-called “hygiene hypothesis,” which says environments that are too clean may actually impede development of the immune system.

The new report was published Sept. 30 online in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

For the study, Finlay and colleagues looked for four types of bacteria in stool samples of 319 infants at 3 months of age. The bacteria are called FLVR (Faecalibacterium, Lachnospira, Veillonella and Rothia).

The researchers found that 22 children with low levels of these bacteria at age 3 months also had low levels at age 1 year.

These 22 children are at the highest risk of developing asthma, and eight have been diagnosed with the respiratory disease so far, the researchers said.

Study co-author Dr. Stuart Turvey, professor of pediatric immunology at the University of British Columbia, said at the news conference that it’s “not surprising how important early life is.”

In the first 100 days of life, gut makeup influences the immune response that causes or protects kids from asthma, he said.

Testing for these bacteria in infants might help identify children who have a high risk of developing asthma, Turvey said. “These children could be followed and treated more quickly if they end up with asthma,” he said.

While the study found a connection between gut bacteria and asthma risk in children, it did not prove cause and effect.

Whether giving kids probiotics — good bacteria — might reduce asthma risk isn’t known, the researchers said. Turvey said the probiotics available in over-the-counter forms do not include the four bacteria identified in this study.

“Studies like ours are identifying specific bacteria combinations that seem to be missing in the children at the highest risk of asthma,” he said. “The long-term goal is to see if we could offer these bacteria back, not the general nonspecific probiotics.”

Finlay said these findings need to be replicated in larger groups and in different populations. He said the researchers also want to know if all four bacteria are protective, or just one or two.

“There could be other microbes that have a similar function, but we don’t know that yet,” Finlay said.

Turvey cautioned that treatment with bacteria is a long way off. “We are not ready for that yet,” he said. “We know very little about these bacteria, but we are working to see if that might be a safe option to prevent this disease.”

Dr. Maria Franco, a pediatric pulmonologist at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, had this to say: “The finding shows how our immune system in the first three months actually changes things in life for the long term.”

It’s still not known how these bacteria get into the gut, Franco said. “But it shows how something so natural can make a big difference in a child’s life,” she said.

More information

For more on children and asthma, visit the American Lung Association.

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Hayden Panettiere Talks About Her Postpartum Depression

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Hayden Panettiere is speaking up about a serious health issue, one that affected both her character on the hit ABC show Nashville and her real life.

During an interview on Live! With Kelly and Michael on Monday, the 26-year-old actress shared her experience with postpartum depression after welcoming her daughter, Kaya Evdokia, with fiancé Wladimir Klitschko in December 2014.

“[It’s] something that I can very much relate to, and it’s something that I know a lot of women experience,” she told the hosts. “When they tell you about postpartum depression, you think about, ‘Okay, I feel negative feelings towards my child, I want to injure my child, I want to hurt my child’—I’ve never ever had those feelings, and some women do.”

Postpartum depression is a mood disorder new mothers (and dads) may experience after the birth of a child. Symptoms often include intense feelings of sadness or anxiety, crying for no reason, or questioning whether they can handle parenthood. It can last for days, weeks, or even months. Panettiere explained that postpartum depression isn’t something we should sweep under the rug.

“You don’t realize how broad of a spectrum you can really experience that on,” she continued. “It’s something I think needs to be talked about, and women need to know they’re not alone, and that it does heal.”

RELATED: 10 Celebrities Who Battled Postpartum Depression

Panettiere also touched upon the negative stigma associated with the disorder, which is more severe than the baby blues, saying that “there’s a lot of misunderstanding.”

Postpartum depression affects roughly one in seven women who give birth, according to the American Psychological Association. Unlike the baby blues, it often doesn’t go away with time.

She explained, “I think there’s a lot of people out there who think that it’s not real, that it’s not true, that it’s something that’s made up in their minds. [They think] ‘Oh, it’s hormones,’ and they kind of brush it off. And it’s not true—it’s something that’s completely uncontrollable. It’s really painful and it’s really scary, and women need a lot of support.”

She hopes that more people will be more understanding in the future. Why? Because “women are amazing,” the new mom added. “We do something that no man can do on this planet. I mean, we grow a human being in our bodies!”

Check out her full interview below.

RELATED: Why You Cannot Wait to Treat Postpartum Depression

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Injury Toll in U.S. in 2013: $671 Billion

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Injuries from accidents and violence cost the United States $671 billion in 2013, with men accounting for far more of those costs than women, federal health officials reported Wednesday.

Fatal injuries cost $214 billion and nonfatal injuries cost $457 billion. The amounts include lifetime health and work loss costs for fatal and nonfatal injuries treated in hospitals and emergency departments, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Injuries cost Americans far too much money, suffering and preventable death,” CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said in an agency news release. “The doubling of deaths by drug poisoning, including prescription drug overdose and heroin, is particularly alarming.”

Men accounted for 78 percent ($166.7 billion) of fatal injuries and 63 percent ($287.5 billion) of nonfatal injury costs in 2013. More than half of the medical and work loss costs of fatal injuries were from accidents ($129.7 billion), followed by suicide ($50.8 billion) and murder ($26.4 billion).

Prescription drug overdoses and other drug poisonings accounted for the most fatal injury costs (27 percent), followed by transportation-related deaths (23 percent) and gun-related deaths (22 percent).

The cost of injury-related hospitalizations was $289.7 billion, and the cost of injured patients who were treated and released was $167.1 billion. Falls (37 percent) and transportation-related injuries (21 percent) accounted for most of the costs of nonfatal injuries treated in emergency departments, according to the report.

The findings appear in two studies published Oct. 2 in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports.

Each year in the United States, injuries from accidents and violence result in 27 million emergency department visits, 3 million hospitalizations and more than 192,000 deaths, the report found.

Dr. Deb Houry, director of the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, said, “The magnitude of costs associated with injury underscores the need for effective prevention. Communities and states must increase efforts to implement evidence-based programs and policies to prevent injuries and violence to reduce not only the pain and suffering of people, but the considerable costs to society.”

More information

The American College of Emergency Physicians offers injury prevention tips.

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More Children, Teens Enticed to Smoke With Flavored Tobacco: CDC

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Bubblegum, cotton candy, chocolate: Just a few of the tempting flavors often added to tobacco being consumed by American children and teens.

Now, an analysis of the 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey finds that seven in 10 middle and high school students who used tobacco in the previous month have used at least one flavored tobacco product.

“Flavored tobacco products are enticing a new generation of America’s youth into nicotine addiction, condemning many of them to tobacco-related disease and early death,” Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a CDC news release.

One expert agreed that more should be done to curb uptake of these products.

“Although flavorings in cigarettes, except for menthol, have been banned by the U.S. Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act for the last several years, over 7,000 flavors that entice adolescents remain in many other tobacco products,” said Pat Folan, director of the Center for Tobacco Control at North Shore-LIJ Health System in Great Neck, N.Y.

Folan said that while most kids understand that smoking is a deadly habit, “the attractive flavors in products, such as e-cigarettes, hookah, cigars and smokeless tobacco, have led young people to perceive them as less harmful.”

The new study was led by Linda Neff of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health. Her team looked at the survey data and found that about 63 percent of the students who used tobacco products — nearly 1.6 million children and teens — had used a flavored electronic cigarette.

In addition, among the students who used tobacco, nearly 61 percent (about one million) had used flavored water pipe tobacco, about 63 percent (910,000) had smoked a flavored cigar, nearly 59 percent (690,000) had used flavored smokeless tobacco, nearly 54 percent (900,000) had puffed on menthol cigarettes, and about 42 percent (120,000) had used flavored tobacco in pipes, the findings showed.

High school students were more likely than middle school students to use flavored tobacco, the study found. About 18 percent of all high school students said they used at least one flavored tobacco product in the previous 30 days, compared with just under 6 percent who said they used only non-flavored tobacco products.

Rates were similar for boys and girls, according to the report.

“Given the popularity of flavored tobacco products among youth, it’s critical to address flavorings in all tobacco products,” Brian King, deputy director for research translation in CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, said in the news release. “Efforts to curb the availability and use of flavored tobacco products could help reduce overall rates of tobacco use among our nation’s youth,” he added.

For example, some cities have restricted or limited the sales of flavored tobacco products, the CDC news release pointed out.

Folan agrees with such measures.

“The CDC study demonstrates the need for more regulation of not only traditional cigarettes, but all tobacco products,” she said. “Prohibiting flavors in tobacco products will decrease the probability that they will be used by young people.”

Another expert said the very young are especially vulnerable to picking up and sticking with the smoking habit.

“A previous study showed that adolescents who smoke from age 13 to 17 are the least likely group to quit smoking,” said Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

“The fact that flavoring nicotine entices this group to enjoy nicotine — for flavor and for the drug effect — is worrisome evidence that a group of lifelong smokers is being created,” he said. “E-cigarettes are a transition to smoking for too many as it is, and adding flavor may ‘seal the deal.'”

The study was published in the Oct. 2 issue of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

More information

The American Cancer Society has more about child and teen tobacco use.

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Burger King Unleashes Black Halloween Whopper—and It’s Frighteningly Good

Photo: Courtesy of TODAY.com/Alessandra Bulow

I’m a burger purist. You know, one of those annoying people who hasn’t had a fast food burger in 10 years, won’t order a burger unless I know the name of the butcher who created the meat blend, and skips the toppings except for a tiny smear of Heinz ketchup (I’m a ketchup purist too). All that changed today when I taste-tested Burger King’s Halloween Whopper for TODAY Food.

From September 28 through Halloween Day, the burger giant is offering its popular patty sandwich inside a pitch-black bun that’s flavored with A.1. sauce and sprinkled with white sesame seeds. The burger comes loaded with the usual Whopper fixings (melted American cheese, pickles, white onion, tomato and mayonnaise) but this one also has a dash of A.1. sauce—something I don’t think I’ve tried in over 20 years.

The verdict: it’s kinda, sorta…well…okay, really good.

Read the rest of this story on TODAY.com.

NBC’s TODAY is the news program that informs, entertains, inspires and sets the agenda each morning for Americans. Airing live from 7 am to 11 am ET, TODAY reaches more than 5 million people every day through its broadcast, and millions more through TODAY.com, the TODAY app, and social media platforms. Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker, Natalie Morales, Willie Geist, Tamron Hall, Carson Daly, Hoda Kotb, and Kathie Lee Gifford are the anchors and hosts, Jamie Horowitz is the SVP and general manager and Don Nash is the executive producer.

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3 Ways to Make a Grown-Up PB&J

Photo: Travis Rathbone

Did you love peanut butter and jelly as a kid? Just because you’re all grown up now doesn’t mean you’ve outgrown craving this childhood classic. It’s still as delicious (and easy to put together) as ever. That said, we don’t blame you for wanting a more, ahem, sophisticated sandwich. For tips on making a grown-up PB&J, read on.

Jam on it

Though they contain some of the goodness of whole fruits, jams and jellies can be sugar bombs. Here are some alternative ways to get the flavor without all the excess sweet stuff.

Use fruit

A la the recipe pictured above, another idea is to skip the jelly altogether and just use whole fruit. Sliced apples, strawberries or bananas work great, or you can fold a few whole raspberries into nut butter before spreading.

Make your own

Sugar is actually a very important ingredient in making a fruit preserve; it acts as a gel that holds the jam or jelly together. However, you can make a far healthier version that’s lower in sugar with a secret weapon: chia seeds. With the nutrient-packed seeds as a binding agent, you only need to add sweetener for flavor (so taste the fruit before adding), and it can be a less refined sweetener, like raw honey or maple syrup. Here are easy instructions for making chia jam.

RELATED: 10 Delicious and Healthy Ways to Use Chia Seeds

Spread on an alternative nut butter

The easiest thing to do to punch-up your PB&J is replace the peanut butter with something even more delicious. Almond butter is an obvious choice because it too is protein- and fiber-rich, and a great source of healthy fats, vitamin E, and magnesium. Barney Butter Smooth Almond Butter ($11 for 10 oz, amazon.com) is the smoothest kind we’ve tried, with luscious almond flavor.

Looking for something sweeter? Look to a chocolate-hazelnut butter.  This is a sometimes treat because it is higher in sugar than other nut butters, but that’s why we like Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter ($10.20 for 10 1.15-oz. squeeze packs, amazon.com).  Compared to most chocolate hazelnut spreads, which have a whopping 21 grams of sugar per serving, Justin’s only has 8 grams.

RELATED: 18 Ways to Cook With Peanut Butter

Lastly, the coconut craze comes for your PB&J! Raw coconut butter gets you all the goodness of coconut in a super-convenient spread. Fantastic on sandwiches (especially with raspberry jam), or licked right off a spoon. Not that we’d ever do that. Try Artisana 100% Organic Raw Coconut Butter ($16.80 for 16 oz., amazon.com).

Think beyond sandwich

When we say “PB&J,” no doubt the first thing you think is “sandwich.” But bread slices aren’t the only way to get your fix. Try these options instead:

Smoothie

Enjoy your nut butter and fruit for breakfast with a Cherry-Almond Smoothie, Peanut Butter, Banana and Flax Smoothie, or a Banana-Nut Smoothie Bowl

 

Quesadilla

This idea is just crazy enough to work! Blogger Sarah Schaap of A Whisk and Two Wands dreamt up a way to make a PBJ quesadilla.

Overnight oats

Combine trendy overnight oats with classic PB&J, and you’ll be flying out of bed to enjoy this bowlful from Fit Foodie Finds.

RELATED: 8 Vegetarian Sandwiches You’ll Love

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U.S. Combat Deaths Declined Under ‘Golden Hour Policy’: Study

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Faster helicopter transport times helped reduce deaths among U.S. soldiers who suffered serious combat injuries in Afghanistan, researchers say.

In 2009, the Pentagon introduced what’s known as the Golden Hour Policy, directing that soldiers with critical injuries be transported by helicopter from the battlefield to a treatment center within an hour. The previous standard was two hours.

Researchers analyzed data from more than 21,000 U.S. military casualties that occurred in Afghanistan between September 2001 and March 2014.

Over that time, the killed-in-action rate fell from 16 percent to about 10 percent; the case fatality rate dropped from 13.7 percent to 7.6 percent; and the rate of death from wounds remained unchanged at just over 4 percent.

The reduction in case fatalities was associated with an increase in the number of wounded soldiers being transported to a treatment center within an hour, saving nearly 360 lives, according to the study published online Sept. 30 in the journal JAMA Surgery.

Data from more than 4,500 wounded soldiers showed that median helicopter transport time fell from 90 minutes to 43 minutes over the period. The number of casualties who arrived at a treatment facility within an hour rose from about 25 percent to 75 percent.

The researchers also found that the percentage of critically injured troops killed in action was lower among those who received a blood transfusion and were transported in an hour or less, and the percentage who died of wounds was lower among those initially treated by combat support hospitals.

“Decreasing the time from injury to arrival at the treatment facility challenged the full measure of the trauma system with more critically injured casualties who then benefited from the care they received,” wrote study author Dr. Russ Kotwal and colleagues at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.

In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Todd Rasmussen of the U.S. Combat Casualty Care Research Program at Fort Detrick, Md., wrote: “Reduction in the percentage killed in action following the 2009 policy change provides evidence of the effect of an enhanced capability during the ‘golden hour’ after injury.”

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about military and veterans’ health.

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