Now more than ever, a message worth heeding: “Gratitude is powerful: powerful for happiness, powerful for addressing at least more minor depressive symptoms, powerful for improving health, powerful for protecting against premature death — and it is something that anyone can do.” Dr. Tyler VanderWeele, senior study author, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

“We’ve shown that an unhealthy diet, even in the short term, especially when it’s consumed so close to a surgery, which in and of itself will cause an inflammatory response, can have damaging results,” said senior author Ruth Barrientos, an investigator in OSU’s Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research and associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral health and neuroscience in the College of Medicine.

“There are no known benefits to the fetus from ingesting fluoride. And yet now we have several studies conducted in North America suggesting that there may be a pretty significant risk to the developing brain during that time.” That’s the findings of researchers at the Keck School of Medicine at USC.

Carli Pierson writing in USA Today with some thoughtful advice to parents: “Phones and kids should be an ongoing conversation in our homes. We should be talking about the dangers of addiction. We need to teach them that obsessing over other people’s lives, or comparing themselves with another person they may or may not know,

CNN: “Eating ultraprocessed foods raises the risk of developing or dying from dozens of adverse health conditions, according to a new review of 45 meta-analyses on almost 10 million people.”

CBS News: “Cannabis use — whether smoked, eaten or vaporized — is associated with a higher number of adverse cardiovascular outcomes, according to a new study.”

Study Finds: “Medical professionals are raising the alarm over a ‘silent killer’ that has infiltrated American society — ultra-processed foods. In a new study, physicians from Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine are shining a light on the perils of these foods and the urgent need for a dietary shift.

“Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in plastics pose a serious threat to public health and cost the U.S. an estimated $250 billion in increased health care costs in 2018, according to new research published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society. The paper is titled ‘Chemicals Used in Plastic Materials: An Estimate of the Attributable Disease Burden and Costs in the US.'”

NBC News: “The average liter of bottled water has nearly a quarter million invisible pieces of ever so tiny nanoplastics, detected and categorized for the first time by a microscope using dual lasers.”

Study Finds: “Allowing children to consistently watch TV for extended periods can lead to heart-related issues years later, a new study warns. Researchers discovered that being inactive from childhood through young adulthood displays a link to heart damage, independent of factors like weight and blood pressure.”

NBC News: Some paper and bamboo straws contain so-called “forever chemicals” that could make them a less-than-ideal alternative to plastic, researchers have found.

“Every parent wants their baby to be safe, but once the market is flooded with an unsafe product, it’s hard to bring it back. They’re in thrift stores. They’re in daycares. They’re being handed down from sister to brother. They’re everywhere. The impetus should not be on brand-new parents. The impetus should be on the company to make sure that the product is safe in the first place.”