Health

Colin Powell dies of COVID-19 complications despite vaccine: Medical experts weigh in

Gen. Colin Powell, former secretary of state, died Monday at 84 from COVID-related complications, though he was fully vaccinated, his family announced. His death, medical experts say, underscores the need for COVID-19 vaccine booster shots among older adults and high-risk populations to shore up protection.

Powell was afflicted with other diseases, including Parkinson’s and the blood cancer multiple myeloma, which could hamper recovery from COVID-19 infection, according to reports. His family didn’t specify when Powell received vaccine, or whether he had taken a booster shot.

COLIN POWELL, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE, DEAD AT 84 FROM COVID-19 COMPLICATIONS

“The vaccines that we have, and he [Powell] evidently was fully vaccinated, are extraordinarily good against preventing death, hospitalization and severe disease but they are not perfect,” Dr. Greg Poland, infectious diseases expert at the Mayo Clinic, told Fox News, adding that depending on patients’ age, gender and underlying medical conditions, up to 5% will not be fully protected.

“That is the very reason that we are engaging now in a national dialogue about booster doses,” Poland said. Regulators last month authorized a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for adults ages 65 and older, and people ages 18-64 at high risk of exposure and severe COVID-19 disease. An FDA advisory committee endorsed a similar authorization for Moderna’s half-dose booster shot, and also recommended all adults ages 18 and older who received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least two months ago receive a second shot.

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“The shot works. This is not evidence that the shot doesn’t work,” said Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News medical contributor and professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health. “This is an outlier but it’s a wake up call for boosters.”

Several medical experts, including Dr. Aaron Glatt, chair of the department of medicine at Mount Sinai South Nassau, told Fox News that older adults and high-risk populations should receive booster vaccines to increase their protection.

“If any good could come out of this, it’s a warning to all that booster doses have their place, particularly in the more elderly, or frail or people with underlying medical conditions,” Poland said. “As soon as they can get their booster, they should.”

Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Woman battling stage 4 breast cancer after delayed screenings amid pandemic

Woobie Rust went for a massage last June, when she noticed pain in her breast while lying on the massage table.

Rust, 39 of New York, did a self-exam and told Fox News she immediately met with a doctor and underwent a series of imaging studies. Within two weeks, she was met with a stage 4 breast cancer diagnosis.

“It spread to the hips and bones,” Rust, chief compliance officer of a startup company, told Fox News, adding that she’s drawing support from her family and faith in coping with the diagnosis.

BREAST CANCER RISK: WHAT IS THE PALB2 GENE MUTATION? EXPERT WEIGHS IN

From left, Dr. Sarah Cate, director of the special surveillance and breast program at Mount Sinai Beth Israel; patient Woobie Rust and Dr. Theresa Shao, hematology and oncology specialist, stand in front of the Chelsea Medical Center at Mount Sinai where Rust receives her cancer care. (Mount Sinai Health System)

Prior to her diagnosis, Rust said she was “perfectly fine” but added that her mother is a breast cancer survivor. Rust had undergone annual physical exams but delayed appointments amid the COVID-19 pandemic and a move from Texas to New York, she told Fox News.

During the pandemic, experts have worried that delayed cancer screenings may result in more patients presenting with advanced forms of the disease.

According to a study published in Preventive Magazine, the number of breast and cervical cancer screening tests funded through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection program declined by 87% in April 2020. Cervical cancer screenings were down by 84%, compared with averages for the previous five years assessing the same time period.

“There will definitely be adverse effects on breast cancer from COVID,” Dr. Sarah Cate, director of the special surveillance and breast program at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in New York City, told Fox News.

EXERCISE LOWERS THE RISK OF BREAST CANCER, STUDIES SHOW

According to Cate, who is also an assistant professor of surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, “some models are predicting an excess of 10,000 deaths from breast and colorectal cancers combined.”

“It is still too early to see this effect, but certainly, anecdotally, I am seeing lots of locally advanced breast cancers which need chemotherapy prior to surgery, and some cancers where they have spread outside the breasts and lymph nodes. This is not curable,” Cate said, urging patients not to delay screenings.

“Early detection is the best way to prevent death from cancer,” she continued. “Don’t ignore a breast lump. Men can get breast cancer, too … Women can get breast cancer while pregnant or breastfeeding so see a breast doctor if you have a lump or any changes to the skin of the breast.”

Genetic testing is also key in screening those at-risk for certain types of cancer.

“If you have a genetic mutation for breast cancer, you would need to start screening earlier in life. For example, for BRCA carriers, we start annual mammography at age 30,” or 10 years earlier than the recommended start of mammography for the average patient, Cate told Fox News.

Patients should also discuss family history with a physician to determine when to begin screening. According to Cate, women with a strong family history of breast cancer, even without a genetic mutation, begin mammography 10 years before the first relative was diagnosed with breast cancer.

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Rust, the patient, told Fox News that it was only after her cancer diagnosis that she went for genetic testing. Rust said she was negative for the BRCA gene, which is typically associated with a significant breast cancer risk, although she did have the CHEK2 gene which is another genetic marker for risks of cancers including breast and colorectal cancers.

Rust hopes her story will inspire others to go for screenings such as mammograms and MRI’s, as well as genetic testing.

“My hope is that people do these tests early,” she said.

How to maintain lower sodium intake

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week issued final guidance to the food industry for voluntarily reducing sodium in processed, packaged and prepared foods.

The agency’s aim is to cut the average sodium intake by 12% – from 3,400 to 3,000 milligrams a day – over the next 2 ½ years.

Research shows that Americans consume 50% more sodium than recommended.

FDA RELEASES NEW SALT GUIDANCE AIMED AT REDUCING LEVELS

“Your body needs a small amount of sodium to work properly, but too much sodium can be bad for your health. Diets higher in sodium are associated with an increased risk of developing high blood pressure, which is a major cause of stroke and heart disease,” the FDA wrote on its website.

More than 70% of dietary sodium comes from eating packaged and prepared foods, and the FDA says that the agency is aiming to incrementally make more reductions in the future.

Kosher salt spilled from a spoon (iStock)

So, how can you reduce your salt intake?

The nation’s food supply contains too much sodium, and Americans who strive to consume less sodium can have a difficult time doing so.

Reading the “Nutrition Facts” label on packaging can help consumers make an informed decision, and Americans should get less than 100% of the daily value for sodium, or 2,300 milligrams, per day.

Twenty percent of the daily value or more of sodium per serving is considered high.

Food choices also matter, with about 40% of the sodium consumed by Americans coming from deli meat sandwiches, pizza, burritos and tacos, soups, savory snacks, poultry, pasta mixed dishes, burgers and egg dishes like omelets.

ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER IN SODA, OTHER DRINKS MAY INCREASE FOOD CRAVINGS, APPETITE IN WOMEN AND OBESE PEOPLE

Sodium in condiments can also add up.

Some common food additives, like monosodium glutamate (MSG), baking soda, sodium nitrate and sodium benzoate, also contain sodium.

Sodium has multiple uses, including as a preservative, to control microbial growth and for flavor.

The FDA advises that individuals prepare their own food when possible, add flavor without sodium and buy fresh foods rather than processed varieties.

“Also, check the package on fresh meat and poultry to see if salt water or saline has been added,” it warned.

People are advised to wash their vegetables and rinse off sodium-containing canned foods before eating.

Reduced portion sizes also mean less sodium, and those who are eating out can split meals with friends, take part of their meals home or choose smaller meals.

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Asking for a meal to be prepared without table salt, that sauces and dressings be served “on the side” and if nutrition information is available when dining at a restaurant can also help.

The FDA said it hoped its guidance could have a “profound impact” on the health of millions of people.

FDA panel endorses Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine booster with 2-month gap for ages 18 and up

A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee on Friday endorsed an emergency authorization for the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine booster when administered at least two months after the initial dose among people ages 18 years and older.

The vote was 19-0. The recommendation is not final and will go before the FDA to issue an official decision.

The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) was charged with weighing whether safety and effectiveness data supported an emergency authorization for a booster shot at two months following the initial dose, stemming from a trial involving 30,000 participants.

FDA PANEL ENDORSES MODERNA’S COVID-19 BOOSTER VACCINE FOR CERTAIN HIGH RISK GROUPS

The panel’s vote Friday applied to all individuals ages 18 and older, while the panel previously endorsed authorizations for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna booster shots across certain high-risk groups, like adults over age 65 and people ages 18-64 at high risk of exposure and severe COVID-19 disease.

Company findings presented during the meeting Friday indicated the initial dose was 74% effective against severe disease and 70% protective against symptomatic disease, however a booster shot administered at two months increased protection to 94%, according to Dr. Penny Heaton, global therapeutic area head at Janssen. However, studies indicated ranging efficacies, and surveillance data found the initial shot was 68% effective against hospitalization among adults without immunocompromising conditions.

TIME TO GET FLU SHOT IS NOW, DOCTORS URGE: OR ‘ROLL THE DICE’

Protection from the initial dose was durable over time, Heaton said, which contrasts to the fading protection seen with the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. However, the J&J vaccine offers less protection compared to the mRNA shots, even with their waning, Cohn noted.

“The reality is that your vaccine does seem to be holding up actually quite well in terms of durability, so the immediate need for a booster is not apparent,” panel member Dr. Michael Kurilla told J&J officials, but he noted some potential benefit against emerging variants.

Of note, panel members noted concern that the FDA hadn’t yet conducted full independent analyses or verification of the company-submitted data including thousands of patients, which would have taken months to review, according to Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

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Uptake of the one-shot J&J vaccine has lagged far behind vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, at 15.2 million doses administered, versus 236 million and 153 million shots in arms, respectively, per CDC data. In April, federal health officials lifted an 11-day pause on use of the J&J COVID-19 vaccine following a review and the recommendation of a panel of experts who determined it met safety standards despite rare instances of severe blood clots.

In an updated safety analysis Friday, J&J officials noted not a single case of the rare clotting syndrome, thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), was detected in the booster shot trials.

Finally, Dr. Paul Offit, voting member and attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, noted that most people who received the initial J&J one-shot vaccine received it more than two months ago, and the panel on Friday declined to recommend the booster when administered after six months due to insufficient data and a small sample size of 17 participants. What’s more, panel members suggested the J&J vaccine is better fit as a two-dose series with an amended emergency use authorization, instead of a single dose and a follow-up booster shot.

Bill Clinton hospitalized with urological infection: Medical experts weigh in

Former President Bill Clinton was hospitalized Tuesday for a urological infection, a source close to the situation told Fox News.

By Thursday evening, the former president, 75, remained hospitalized for monitoring at the University of California Irvine Medical Center in Orange, California, according to spokesperson Angel Urena.

“After two days of treatment, his white blood cell count is trending down and he is responding to antibiotics well,” reads a statement in part from the former president’s physicians, Dr. Alpesh Amin and Dr. Lisa Bardack. “The California –based medical team has been in constant communication with the President’s New York-based medical team, including his cardiologist. We hope to have him go home soon.”

News vans park outside the University of California Irvine (UC Irvine) Medical Center, where former President Bill Clinton is hospitalized, in Orange, California. (ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)

FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON RECOVERING IN CALIFORNIA HOSPITAL AFTER NON-COVID INFECTION WORSENS

A source close to the situation told Fox News the former president was “diagnosed as a urological infection which morphed into a broader infection. As you can see in his statement from his doctors, the prognosis is good and they hope to have him home soon. He’s up and about, joking and charming the hospital staff.”

According to Dr. Marc Siegel, professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health and a Fox News medical contributor, “Urinary infections are more common in men at older ages, sometimes involving prostate, sometimes not. They can spread rapidly because of a lot of blood flow to the bladder and kidneys and enter the blood stream causing urosepsis.”

Siegel added that most cases are caused by so-called gram negative bacteria, including most commonly E coli.

“They tend to respond rapidly to intravenous antibiotics, and in the case of President Clinton, he is reportedly responding well as evidenced by his decreasing white blood cell count back towards the normal range,” Siegel continued, noting that Clinton does have an underlying heart condition but speculated it’s unlikely to be a major factor in his recovery.

Siegel suggested “intravenous antibiotics will likely be given for at least several days as his temperature, clinical status, blood cultures and urine are monitored.”

Dr. Ashutosh Tewari, a urologist and prostate cancer specialist at Mount Sinai in New York City, also told Fox News that urological infections are often seen in men. He isn’t involved in Clinton’s case but said: “Urine is like a river. When it flows like a river it is OK. But when it sits like a pond, it breeds bacteria.”

Tewari, who is the chair of the Milton and Carroll Petrie Department of Urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, told Fox News that when a blockage of urine occurs in a male patient, such as from a stone or inflamed prostate, the patient can become predisposed to urological infections.

“When a bacterial infection occurs in the urological region, lethargy, fever and sometimes white blood counts can go up,” Tewari said.

In this screenshot from the DNCC’s livestream of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, former President Bill Clinton addresses the virtual convention in August 2020. (Handout/DNCC via Getty Images)

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To avoid urological infections, according to Tewari, it is important for men to go for routine prostate screenings, including getting prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels checked, a test that detects prostate problems or possible cancer. He also suggested men monitor how frequently they empty their bladder. He said the frequency of urination slowly increases over time and sometimes goes unnoticed.

“Sometimes they think over time this is normal – but they should see a doctor,” Tewari said. He also noted a fever, pain or aches in the genital area could be early symptoms of an infection and need to be evaluated by a physician.

Fox News’ Andrew Murray contributed to this report.

CDC: Record high drug overdose deaths in US at over 96,000 in 12-month period

United States drug overdose deaths exceeded 96,000 in the 12 months leading to March 2021, amid a national decline of opioid prescriptions over the past 10 years, according to provisional figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Drug-related mortality increased almost 30% from March 2020, according to recent CDC figures. In the 12-month period ending March 2021, the reported number of deaths was 96,779, but the predicted number was higher at 99,106.

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Despite a national effort to increase state prescription drug monitoring programs in every state for the past five years, there has been a 44.4 % reduction in opioid prescriptions, according to a 2021 Overdose Epidemic Report released by the American Medical Association.

Prescriptions for buprenorphine and naloxone, two common medications for opiate dependence, have only slightly increased in the past three years, with 26% fewer patients filling a naloxone prescription during the pandemic, according to the report.

In response to the worsening overdose epidemic, the AMA launched the AMA Substance Use and Pain Care Task Force.

“Policymakers and other stakeholders have a choice of whether to pursue evidence-based strategies to support patients’ access to lifesaving and life affirming care,” Dr. Bobby Mukkamala, chair of the AMA Substance Use and Pain Care Task Force, wrote in the report. “Every effort must be made to remove health inequities and other barriers for patients with substance use disorders, mental illness and patients with pain. More of our loved ones will suffer and die if these barriers remain.”

ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION CAN BE REDUCED THROUGH BRIEF MEDICAL INTERVENTIONS: STUDY

The report urged states to adopt more telehealth options to allow for the induction of buprenorphine at home, called for decriminalizing drug-checking supplies and urged the CDC to reconsider its 2016 opioid prescribing guideline, which provides recommendations on chronic pain management, to make it easier to “restore compassionate care for patients with pain.”

In a recent AMA press release urging the CDC to overhaul the 2016 guidelines, Mukkamala wrote, “CDC’s threshold recommendations continue to be used against patients with pain to deny care. We know that this has harmed patients with cancer, sickle cell disease and those in hospice. The restrictive policies also fail patients who are stable on long-term opioid therapy.”

Dr. Elie G. Aoun, an addiction forensic psychiatrist at Columbia University and a member of the American Psychiatric Association board of trustees, told Fox News that a serious intention to alter the course of the opioid epidemic would require looking beyond increasing access to treatment.

“Most people who would benefit from treatment for substance use disorder are either not interested in receiving treatment, or believe that they do not need treatment,” Aoun said. “The reasons for that are complex, having to do with stigma and the fact that addiction is more than simply a disease of using, instead, it’s a disease of thinking, affecting people’s sense of agency.”

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Aoun noted that formerly incarcerated individuals face a 40-fold increased risk of a drug overdose death compared to the general population. However, the vast majority of the country isn’t offering justice-involved populations evidence-based treatment interventions and psychosocial support programs, he said.

“Addressing stigma, giving people hope, a reason to live, giving them hope that they can be productive members of society is going to be very important in reversing the course of the opioid epidemic,” Aoun added in part.

Alcohol consumption can be reduced through brief medical interventions: study

Short one-on-one discussions about alcohol consumption in a doctor’s office may reduce patients’ drinking levels, according to a study.

Findings published in the Addiction journal indicated that brief interventions, described as conversations lasting under an hour and targeted to motivate changes in a patient’s risky drinking behavior, resulted in a reduction of one drinking day per month.

“A reduction of one drinking day per month may not sound like much, but small individual reductions can add up to a substantial reduction in population level harms,” Emily Tanner-Smith, lead author and associate professor at the University of Oregon, said in a news release posted to EurekAlert on Thursday.

AMERICANS DRANK MORE TO RELIEVE STRESS AMID PANDEMIC, ESPECIALLY WOMEN

Study authors noted that the findings were inconclusive for brief interventions delivered in emergency department and trauma centers, but did take effect when conducted in general medical settings, like a primary care clinic.

“Brief interventions have been shown to help with lots of health issues,” Dr. D.J. Moran, director of psychological services at Long Island University (LIU) Post in New York, and who was not involved in the study, told Fox News. “Alcohol abuse can be influenced in primary care settings if the general practitioner takes the time to do this kind of intervention.”

Short one-on-one discussions about alcohol consumption in a doctor’s office may reduce patients’ drinking levels, according to a new study.

According to the study, general medical settings may be ideal because they present significant opportunity to screen for alcohol and drug use across non-treatment seeking patients of varying ages receiving services at the clinic for a wide array of other medical conditions.

The study involved a systematic review and meta-analysis of data from 116 trials and 64,439 total participants. It investigated the efficacy of brief interventions for alcohol and other drug use delivered in various types of medical settings.

According to the authors, the process behind the brief interventions involves screening patients to identify unhealthy use, followed by a discussion targeted to the identified level of substance abuse before a referral for treatment or other substance-related services.

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“If effective, these interventions offer a potentially cost-efficient method for addressing unhealthy substance use, particularly among non-treatment-seeking patients,” study authors wrote.

The report did note however, there was limited evidence regarding the effects of drug-targeted brief interventions on drug use.

“Given their brevity, low cost, and minimal clinician effort, brief interventions may be a promising way to reduce alcohol use, one patient at a time,” Tanner-Smith wrote in the release.

We may not need 10,000 daily steps for long life, studies suggest

Adults likely need at least 7,000 steps daily or should play sports for more than 2.5 hours every week to maximize longevity, according to two large-scale studies.

The first study, published in JAMA Network Open last month, followed over 2,000 middle-aged men and women for over 10 years. When the participants first joined the study, they wore a monitor that tracked their steps consecutively over one week. Researchers found that those who took more than 7,000 steps daily cut their mortality risk by 50-70% compared to those who took fewer steps.

RUNNING IN THE SNOW: IS IT WORTH THE RISK?

Dr. Linda Pescatello, board of trustees distinguished professor of kinesiology at the University of Connecticut and a member of the American College of Sport Medicine, told Fox News: “The … study is an important advancement in a growing body of literature since the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Advisory Committee Scientific Report that 7,000 daily steps or about 30 to 45 min. of exercise on most days appears to be the benchmark to achieve to experience numerous health benefits including reduced mortality.”

The second study, published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings in August, analyzed data from the Copenhagen City Heart Study, which was started in 1976 to follow the cardiovascular health of thousands of Danish patients, expanding years later to research many other medical issues, including exercise and sports.

The researchers tracked how many hours each week thousands of Danes exercised and played in a variety of sports, including cycling, soccer, swimming, weightlifting, handball, badminton and tennis.

THE EXERCISE ROUTINE THAT’S 3 TIMES MORE BENEFICIAL THAN WALKING, ACCORDING TO RESEARCHERS

Although more than half died since the study began 25 years ago, researchers found those who reported some form of exercise between 2.6-4.5 hours weekly dropped their mortality risk by 40% compared to those who were not as active.

They extrapolated 2.6 hours weekly to approximately 7,000 and 8,000 daily steps, while 4.5 hours weekly amounted to some 10,000 steps on most days.

The group completing more than 10 hours of exercise every week actually lost one-third of the mortality benefit, so they noted exercise benefits were not linear, but plateaued. The main limitations of both studies are associational in nature, which means physical exercise is linked to living longer, but doesn’t mean exercise causes a longer life span.

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“A step goal can be helpful for many people looking to improve their physical activity behaviors,” Orangetheory Fitness research scientist Brittany Masteller told Fox News. “The intensity of steps is crucial in determining health outcomes related to physical activity. Any movement is great; however, the Physical Activity Guidelines are established from moderate to vigorous intensity. For most people achieving 7,000-10,000 steps per day, it is more likely they’re getting at least some dose of moderate or higher intensity steps.”

Masteller shared the Physical Activity Guidelines (PAG) for Americans, which recommend adults participate in at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic physical activity each week or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity physical activity per week – or a combination of the two and at least two days of strength training on all major muscle groups.

FDA panel endorses Moderna’s COVID-19 booster vaccine for certain high risk groups

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel on Thursday endorsed emergency authorization for Moderna’s half-dose COVID-19 vaccine booster shot when administered at least six months following the two-dose series among people ages 65 and older and those ages 18-64 at high risk of occupational exposure and severe COVID-19.

The vote was 19-0. The recommendation is not final and will go before the FDA to issue an official decision.

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September 8, 2021: A nurse prepares the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine booster dose during a mass vaccination campaign in Dhaka, Bangladesh. (Sazzad Hossain / Eyepix Group/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, (VRBPAC) was charged with voting whether available data supported the safety and effectiveness of a 50 microgram booster dose among three high risk groups:

Individuals 65 years of age and older,
Individuals 18-64 years of age at high risk of severe COVID-19, and
Individuals 18 through 64 years of age whose frequent institutional or occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2 puts them at high risk of serious complications of COVID-19 including severe COVID-19.

Dr. Jacqueline Miller, infectious diseases therapeutic area head at Moderna, presented company findings among some 344 participants indicating the booster shot failed to meet FDA criteria by a narrow margin; the shot didn’t result in a four-fold increased immune response, likely due to high protection afforded from the primary series, though recipients still benefited from the shot. More specifically, Moderna officials explained that participants’ immune systems were likely impacted by the presence of pre-existing antibodies.

The booster did result in a 42-fold increase in antibody levels against the highly transmissible delta variant, with mostly mild-to-moderate side effects. The most common side effects included injection site pain, headache, fatigue and myalgia. Miller concluded the 50 microgram booster dose could address waning antibody levels and reduce breakthrough infections tied to the delta variant.

Following the panel’s decision, voting member Dr. Patrick Moore weighed in, adding in part: “I’ve got some real issues with this vote … The data itself is not strong but it is certainly going in a direction that is supportive of this vote.”

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Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, noted that the vaccines still offer strong protection against serious outcomes, however vaccine effectiveness against mild-to-moderate disease appears to wane over time, and complications from mild-to-moderate COVID-19 disease may include blood clots and long COVID-19.

Data from Israel’s rollout of the Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot were also presented during the meeting, with findings indicating improved protection against severe disease among individuals ages 40 and older, and enhanced protection against confirmed infection among people ages 16 and older. Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, public health services director at Israel’s Health Ministry, said the country is experiencing a break in the pandemic curve, and she cited the Pfizer booster shot in helping the country overcome a fourth COVID-19 wave by easing hospital burden and severe disease.

However, some FDA advisers cautioned over extrapolating data from other countries.

Americans drank, smoked more in pandemic: study

Americans drank and smoked more during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers say.

In a new study published in the peer-reviewed journal Nutrients, a national team led by the University of California, Los Angeles found that U.S. residents also spent less time exercising and more time in front of a screen.

“We found that regulations to restrict non-essential activities and stay-at-home orders during the pandemic have had profoundly negative impacts on multiple lifestyle behaviors in American adults,” Dr. Liwei Chen, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health associate professor of epidemiology and lead author of the study, said in a UCLA release. “As bad as these changes have been for all Americans, they disproportionately impact racial and ethnic minorities in the U.S., who already bear a higher disease burden from COVID-19.”

DEPRESSION, ANXIETY FELL AS US COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS ENDED IN 2021: CDC DATA

In order to reach these conclusions, the authors conducted a survey called the Health, Ethnicity, and Pandemic (HEAP) Study in October 2020 among adults.

The HEAP Study was funded by the Center for Reducing Health Disparities at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, The Chinese Economists Society and the Calvin J. Li Memorial Foundation. The study was designed by investigators from several universities and carried out by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago.

Participants of the study were selected using 48 sampling criteria, including age, race, ethnicity, education and gender.

Those selected – more than 2,700 – were asked to report five lifestyle behaviors before and during the pandemic, including exercise time, screen time, fast-food meal consumption, alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking.

A man smokes a cigarette outdoors (iStock)

The relation of social and demographic factors with each lifestyle change was estimated using “weighted multivariable logistic regression models.”

Across those surveyed, the time spent on exercise decreased by more than 31%, screen time increased by more than 60%, alcohol consumption increased by more than 23% and smoking increased by 9%.

That said, the average consumption of fast food dropped from 1.41 times per week to 0.96 times per week during the pandemic.

“The observed decrease in fast food consumption is likely due to the stay-at-home order and the closure of fast-food restaurants during the pandemic,” Chen said. “Although the majority of our study’s participants, about 77%, reduced or did not see a change in their fast-food meal consumption, there were still almost 23% that increased how much fast food they ate in the same period.”

PEOPLE ARE TURNING TO HORSE THERAPY TO IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH DURING THE PANDEMIC

The authors also identified subgroups that were more vulnerable to adverse influences from the pandemic,

Compared to Non-Hispanic Whites, Non-Hispanic Blacks and Hispanics were more likely to have undesired changes in multiple lifestyle behaviors, including exercise, screen time, fast food intake and alcohol consumption.

American Indians and those in the “other” racial category were more likely to decrease their exercise time and increase consumption of fast-food meals and Asian Americans were less likely to increase alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking.

The findings, the authors said, were consistent with those from previous studies that documented the disproportionate exposure to and suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic by these groups.

In addition, younger-aged adults were also more likely to have undesired changes in exercise time, consumption of fast-food meals, alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking, compared with old adults.

Women had higher odds to increase screen time during the pandemic and married individuals were not more likely to decrease exercise time than those who were married or lived with partners.

Lower odds of smoking during the pandemic were associated with higher household income and individuals with higher education levels had higher odds of having more undesired lifestyle changes including less exercise time, more screen time and more alcohol drinking.

Notably, the study has several limitations including that survey data was only collected at the one-time point during the pandemic and that limited information was collected for each lifestyle behavior due to the concerns regarding participant time and burden.

For dietary intake, the researchers solely focused on the consumption of fast-food meals.

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Nevertheless, the authors say that mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 requires effective interventions.

“We found a marked increase in sedentary behaviors, alcohol consumption, and cigarette smoking, and a decline in exercise,” Dr. Jian Li, Fielding School professor of environmental health sciences and a co-author, said in the release. “Whether these persisted as the pandemic continued, and whether individual’s quality of life and health well-being are subsequently affected, has to be studied, but it is clear that resources and support that can help people maintain healthy lifestyles, during the pandemic and afterwards, are urgently needed.”

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