Health
STD rates skyrocket among Americans 55 and older: CDC
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Amid public health funding cuts and clinic closures, the three most common sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise as U.S. infections increase
Sexually transmitted disease rates have risen sharply in a certain age group – and which group it is may surprise you.
The CDC’s latest statistics on STDs in the U.S. show that chlamydia, Hepatitis C, and syphilis were among the diseases that have been infecting Americans aged 55 and older at an alarming rate. The statistics, which are as recent as 2022, show how STD rates have skyrocketed since 2000.
In 2022, there were 5,160 reported cases of primary and secondary syphilis in adults aged 55 and older – a sharp increase from 3,092 in 2020. In 2012, there were only 712 cases.
Chlamydia cases among Americans aged 55 and older in 2022 were reported to be 19,766 in total – thousands more than the 13,774 cases in 2020.
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There were 5,160 reported cases of primary and secondary syphilis in adults aged 55 and older in 2022, making it one of the STDs that impact older Americans. (iStock)
Hepatitis C outbreaks among people aged 55 and older have also skyrocketed since 2012. There were only 125 cases in 2012, while 1,041 cases were reported in 2022 – only a slight decrease from 1,092 in 2021.
Gonorrhea cases among the age group were as high as 18,804 in 2022 – in 2012, there were only 3,874 cases.
According to charts published on the CDC’s website, the state with the highest 2021 HIV diagnoses among adults 55 and older is Florida, with 585 cases. California followed with 453 cases, and then Texas ranked third with 358.
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Some experts believe STD cases among older Americans may be higher because of the sex education, or lack thereof, they received as adolescents. (iStock)
New York, Georgia, New Jersey and Illinois were also ranked among the highest HIV diagnoses in 2021 for the same age group. Alaska, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota and Vermont had a combined total of 12 cases among the 55+ crowd, and Wyoming had zero.
In an interview with NBC News, Texas A&M professor Matthew Lee Smith claimed that STD cases in elderly people may be influenced by how they were taught about sex education in school.
Gonorrhea cases among the 55+ age group were as high as 18,804 in 2022, according to the CDC. (iStock)
“Back in the ’30s, the ’40s, the ’50s, traditional school wasn’t really doing sexual education very formally,” he explained.
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Health
Health experts react as Andrew Huberman backs Trump admin’s new food pyramid
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The Trump administration has taken a new approach to the food pyramid.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced new guidelines on Wednesday with an updated, inverted pyramid. The top of the pyramid, which is now the wider part of the structure, is built on meat, fats, fruits and vegetables, while whole grains are at the narrow bottom.
This follows HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s mission to “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA), aimed at addressing chronic disease, childhood illnesses and ultraprocessed foods.
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“The new guidelines recognize that whole, nutrient-dense food is the most effective path to better health and lower health care costs,” Kennedy said during a press briefing in Washington, D.C.
“Protein and healthy fats are essential, and were wrongly discouraged in prior dietary guidelines. We are ending the war on saturated fats.”
The Trump administration announces the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, putting “real food” back at the center of health. (realfood.gov)
The HHS secretary rallied against refined carbohydrates, food additives and added sugar, highlighting the health risks associated with sugar-sweetened beverages.
Kennedy’s main message to Americans was to “eat real food.”
TRUMP ADMIN’S NEW NUTRITION GUIDELINES TARGET ULTRA-PROCESSED FOODS, EASE UP ON RED MEAT AND SATURATED FATS
The announcement triggered reactions from top health and wellness voices, including Stanford neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman, host of the “Huberman Lab” podcast.
In a post on X, Huberman shared the White House’s graphic of the new pyramid, praising the decisions that were made.
“Oatmeal (and I think that’s rice and sourdough) made the cut!” he commented. “In all seriousness, assuming overall calories are kept in check and people exercise & get sun(day)light, this looks spot on.”
He added, “Maybe up the veggies a bit, add low-sugar fermented foods like sauerkraut & this is great.”
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Huberman said in a thread on the same post that Americans “don’t have to eat all the foods” shown in the diagram.
“You won’t see me drinking milk or eating shrimp,” he said. “Nothing against shrimp, I just don’t like the taste. Aversion to crustaceans.”
“Maybe up the veggies a bit, add low-sugar fermented foods like sauerkraut & this is great,” Huberman commented on X. (Chance Yeh/Getty Images for HubSpot; iStock)
The new guidelines received praise from other major health figures, including former FDA commissioner Dr. David Kessler.
“There should be broad agreement that eating more whole foods and reducing highly processed carbohydrates is a major advance in how we approach diet and health,” Kessler told The Associated Press.
“Protein and healthy fats are essential, and were wrongly discouraged in prior dietary guidelines.”
Dr. Bobby Mukkamala, president of the American Medical Association, shared in a statement that these guidelines “affirm that food is medicine and offer clear direction patients and physicians can use to improve health.”
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“The American Medical Association applauds the Administration’s new Dietary Guidelines for spotlighting the highly processed foods, sugar-sweetened beverages and excess sodium that fuel heart disease, diabetes, obesity and other chronic illnesses,” Mukkamala wrote.
The American Medical Association applauded the HHS for its updated nutrition guidelines. (iStock)
But not all feedback was positive.
Some people expressed concern about prioritizing red meat and dairy, while calling for the limitation of saturated fat.
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Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, shared in a reaction to STAT that while the guidelines “do have one or two good points, emphasizing fruits and vegetables and limiting alcohol,” the guidelines are “for the most part a strong reflection of industry influence.”
Christopher Gardner, a nutrition expert at Stanford University, also spoke out against the new guidelines, as reported by NPR.
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“I’m very disappointed in the new pyramid that features red meat and saturated fat sources at the very top, as if that’s something to prioritize. It does go against decades and decades of evidence and research,” said Gardner, who was a member of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee.
Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf, as well as Alexandria Hoff of Fox News, contributed reporting.
Health
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Health
Deadly cancer risk could drop with single 10-minute workout, study suggests
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A single 10-minute workout may trigger blood changes that help fight colon cancer.
That’s according to new research from scientists at Newcastle University, who found that exercise quickly changes the blood in ways that affect colon cancer cells in the lab.
In the study, the U.K. researchers exposed colon cancer cells to human blood serum collected immediately after exercise, finding that the cells repaired DNA damage faster and showed gene activity patterns linked to slower growth.
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The blood samples came from 30 adults who had just completed a short, high-intensity cycling workout that lasted about 10 to 12 minutes, according to a press release.
Even a 10-minute burst of intense exercise may send protective signals through the blood that affect colon cancer cells, researchers say. (iStock)
Samuel T. Orange, an associate professor at Newcastle University and one of the study’s authors, spoke with Fox News Digital about the findings.
“Our findings show that exercise rapidly triggers molecular changes in the bloodstream that can act directly on colon cancer cells, reshaping gene activity and supporting DNA damage repair,” he said.
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The results suggest that even brief activity can make a difference. “Every movement matters. Exercise doesn’t need to last hours or happen in a gym,” Orange added.
The research suggests that exercise quickly triggers changes in the blood that affect colon cancer cells and helps support DNA repair. (iStock)
One of the most surprising findings, according to the researcher, was how strong the biological response was after even a single workout.
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“Exercise altered the activity of more than 1,000 genes in colon cancer cells,” he shared.
Even brief bouts of activity can make a difference, the researcher said. (iStock)
The study findings suggest that the effect is driven by exercise-triggered molecules released into the bloodstream, sometimes referred to as “exerkines,” which act like chemical messengers and send signals throughout the body.
“Each time you exercise, you trigger biological signals that support health and resilience to diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease,” Orange said.
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The researchers cautioned that the study was conducted using cancer cells grown in the laboratory, not in patients.
The findings are based on experiments using colon cancer cells grown in the lab, not studies conducted in people, the researchers noted. (iStock)
The study involved 30 healthy male and female volunteers between the ages of 50 and 78. Their blood samples were used to carry exercise-triggered signals to cancer cells grown in the lab.
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“These findings now need to be replicated in people with cancer,” Orange said. “We also need to better understand the longer-term effects of repeated exercise signals over time.”
Despite the limitations, the researcher said the findings strengthen the case for exercise as an important part of colon cancer prevention.
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“Each time you move your body and get a little breathless, you’re contributing to better health and may help influence biological processes linked to bowel cancer,” he added.
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