Hello Yahoo Life readers! My name is Caitlin and I'm here to catch up on the latest health news you may have missed.
Here's what the team wrote this week:
Here are three other news stories you need to know this week.
COVID-19 vaccine coming soon
Americans will be able to get improved versions of COVID-19 vaccines sooner than expected. The new vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are now available in doctors' offices and pharmacies and are based on one of the widely spreading FLiRT variants, KP.2. The FDA approved the vaccines sooner than expected to combat severe illness from the summer surge in infections, the largest in two years.
Why it's important: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says anyone over 6 months of age should get a booster shot, especially if they haven't had one in a while. It's especially important for people over 65 and those with underlying health conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes or cancer, who are at higher risk for severe illness.
While the CDC says you can get vaccinated right away, some experts recommend that if you're young and healthy, you wait three months after your last infection because antibodies from a recent infection may make the vaccine less effective.
The booster shot helps reduce the risk of severe illness from COVID. According to CDC data, as of May 11, only 22.5% of adults had received the updated COVID vaccine last year, and only 14.4% of children between 6 months and 17 years old had been vaccinated.
This new vaccine does not create immunity to COVID, which is still on the rise in the country. If you've been infected or have symptoms, you can help stop the spread by getting tested. (You'll soon be able to order four tests per household for free at COVIDTests.gov.) As always, if you test positive, stay home and avoid contact with others until you're no longer contagious.
Our brains have more plastic than ever before
Plastic… in our brains? It's happening: A new preprint study from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, which has not been peer-reviewed, collected autopsy samples from 2024 and found that the brains contained roughly 50% more plastic than samples collected in 2016. The brains also contained 7% to 30% more tiny plastic fragments than the kidney and liver samples from the cadavers, according to the preprint.
Microplastics are plastic pieces larger than 0.2 inches (5 millimeters), while nanoplastics are particles smaller than 0.00004 inches (1 nanometer). Researchers believe that plastics especially build up in the brain because the brain has a lot of fat, which attracts the tiny plastic particles. Because nanoplastics are so small, they can get into the brain from the blood, and the brain's fat content appears to attract these particles more than other organs, resulting in higher concentrations of plastic in brain tissue.
Why it matters: We know from research so far that micro- and nanoplastics can find their way into the brain and other organs, but the full extent of their health impacts aren't yet known. What's unclear is whether the plastic itself is the problem, or whether it's the chemicals it introduces into the body. Some research suggests that exposure to micro- and nanoplastics may increase the risk of neurological diseases like dementia and contribute to chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity.
Unfortunately, it's not possible to avoid plastic completely, and the risks of exposure to plastic are still unclear. But if you want to limit your exposure to micro- and nanoplastics, avoid using plastic food containers, drink tap water instead of bottled water, and don't heat food in plastic. Additionally, you can further reduce your risk by choosing fresh foods over packaged foods, limiting your consumption of seafood (fish are exposed to marine plastic pollution), and opting for plastic-free beauty products.
Baby food does not meet nutritional standards
A new study published in the journal Nutrients finds that the majority of the foods we feed our young children fall short. Researchers found that nearly 60 percent of baby foods on American grocery store shelves don't meet the World Health Organization's nutritional guidelines. Only 30 percent of products met the organization's protein recommendations. Meanwhile, 56 percent of products met sugar guidelines, 25 percent of foods didn't meet calorie requirements, and 20 percent had too much salt.
Why it matters: Baby foods are a convenient way for time-pressed parents to feed their children, and many parents don't realize that these foods don't meet nutritional standards. Early childhood is a time when taste preferences and good eating habits are formed that may lead to “the development of chronic diseases later in life, such as obesity, diabetes, and some cancers,” says Elizabeth Dunford, PhD, a professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina and co-author of the study.
Because many parents choose these convenient foods and assume they are healthy, they may not realize that their children are lacking certain nutrients, which could prevent them from maintaining optimal health as they age.
