It’s time to get your flu and Covid-19 shots

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10.04.24

Happy birthday to former President Jimmy Carter, who turned 100 this week! He joins an elite but growing club of centenarians. What are their longevity secrets? I'll get to that below, but first, this week's headlines ...

— Sanjay

It's time to get your flu and Covid-19 shots

Respiratory virus season has arrived in the United States — and health officials say that October is a prime time to get vaccinated.

Vaccines for Covid-19, flu and RSV are available now. While the respiratory virus season tends to peak between December and March, getting vaccinated in the fall can help provide protection throughout the season.

It takes about two weeks for the body to build up a complete immune response after vaccination, but the protective benefits can last for months, said Janet Hamilton, executive director of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists.

Forecasts from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest that this respiratory disease season will be similar to last year's — which brought more than 20 hospitalizations for every 100,000 people in one week at its peak — and far worse than in pre-pandemic years. At least 200 children died from flu during the 2023-24 season, according to the CDC, more than any other year on record — and most were unvaccinated.

There's a chance that the burden of disease could be lower, however — and vaccination rates will be a key factor in that trajectory.

Fluoride in water prevents some cavities, but concern about health risks raises questions about the tradeoffs

The public health practice of adding fluoride to water supplies faces new scrutiny as a few recent reports raise concerns about potential health risks and suggest the benefits may not be as significant as they once were.

A new report from the Cochrane Collaboration, an independent group that systematically analyzes scientific research, found just a slight benefit in adding fluoride to tap water, leading to slightly fewer cavities in children's baby teeth.

Research from before 1975 showed large benefits; children living in areas with fluoride added to their water had an average of about one fewer primary tooth affected by decay than those living in areas without water fluoridation.

But those findings don't apply to more current populations that have broader access to other sources of fluoride and lower levels of dental disease at baseline, the authors said. In particular, toothpaste that includes fluoride has become widely available and more commonly used since the 1970s.

 
In more recent studies, fluoride in water was linked to a difference of decay in only about a quarter of a tooth, on average, according to the report published this week.

The new analysis from Cochrane, which tempers the scale of the positive effects of adding fluoride to public water, comes on the tail of other reports that elevate concerns about the risks between fluoride and neurobehavioral development.

Breast cancer deaths falling, but young cases up

Despite a continuous decline in the rate of breast cancer deaths in the United States, the incidence of the disease has increased, especially among younger ages, and significant racial disparities remain, according to a new American Cancer Society report.

The report found that the overall breast cancer death rate in the US dropped about 44% between 1989 and 2022, which translates to almost 518,000 fewer breast cancer deaths during that time. This is largely thanks to advances in cancer treatments and in detecting illness early through screening, which is recommended for women at average risk starting at age 40.

But there was also some concerning news: The incidence of the disease itself climbed 1% each year from 2012 to 2021.

"If we look at the last decade or so, we've seen breast cancer incidence rise at about a 1% year-over-year increase, and the steepness of that increase does not affect all women in this case equally," said Karen Knudsen, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

"There is a slightly higher increase in the rate of breast cancer diagnosis for women who are under age 50 versus those that are above age 50."

The trend follows a pattern seen recently with other cancer types, such as colorectal cancer, in that more people are being diagnosed at younger ages than has traditionally been seen.

Black-colored plastic used for kitchen utensils and toys linked to banned toxic flame retardants

Black-colored plastic used in children's toys, takeout containers, kitchen utensils and grocery meat and produce trays may contain alarming levels of toxic flame retardants that may be leaching from electronic products during recycling, a new study found.

The study only looked at black plastics, and therefore could not determine if other colors of plastics could also be routes of exposure.

Researchers examined 203 consumer products for bromine, a key indicator of the use of flame retardants, and then more closely examined 20 products with the highest levels.

Brominated flame retardants are particularly concerning due to their toxicity and tendency to bioaccumulate, or remain within the body for years, said Dr. Leonardo Trasande, a professor of pediatrics and population health at NYU Langone Health in New York City.

"I'm not aware of any safe level of brominated flame retardants," said Trasande, who was not involved with the new study. Trasande was the lead author of a paper which found that flame retardants cost the US health care system $159 billion in 2018 alone.

The most hazardous flame retardants the study found in consumer products are the same used in electronic enclosures on televisions and other electronics and made their way into the consumer products because of mistakes in the recycling of electronic waste.

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But wait, there's more!

• Required vaccine coverage among US kindergartners dips again, new CDC data shows

  A new Louisiana law requires abortion meds to be locked in a cabinet, even if needed for emergency care

• Two California farmworkers test positive for bird flu
•  "I've never experienced pain like that": Consumers pay the price for untested food ingredients
• Think allergy season is over? Not so fast, a doctor says

Sanjay's parents at the gym 💪 💪

Chasing Life

From Dr. Sanjay Gupta —

Turning 100 is a milestone just a handful of people are able to achieve — but this elite club is growing. The number of people in the US joining the Century Club is projected to more than quadruple over the next 30 years, making up 0.1% of the population by 2054.

Genetics do play some role for those who live this long, but not as much as some people may think. According to experts, genetics is a factor in about 20% of longevity — and those genes become most influential in our later decades.

Up until our 70s and 80s, experts say lifestyle is much more influential. And while many of us think of aging as another year around the sun, our bodies actually don't age in a linear fashion.

Rather, scientists have zeroed in on two points when our bodies have accelerated bursts of aging at a cellular level: ages 44 and 60. It's at these points in our lives that our bodies undergo more significant changes even at the cellular level, which likely helps explain the changes in our muscles and cardiovascular system we then experience.

By those times, we need to give even more focus on our lifestyle habits like eating well, drinking less alcohol and exercising, including strength training. Incorporating and establishing good healthy habits will go a long way in improving our lifespan, as well as our healthspan.

And while we're talking about longevity: Happy 80^th birthday, Dad! 🎉

What's it really like behind the scenes in the operating room, and how do neurosurgeons view the brain's deepest mysteries? Join my conversation with Dr. Theodore Schwartz, a leading neurosurgeon and author of "Gray Matters," as we delve into the personal experiences that have shaped our careers and push the boundaries of what we know about the human mind.

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