Health
8 top health stories of the week: What you must know about AI advances, rare diseases and more
Fox News Digital publishes an array of health pieces all week long to keep you in the know on key wellness topics: disease prevention, nutrition, medical research, health care and more. Personal stories of people and families overcoming great obstacles are featured as well.
This weekend, check out some of the top stories of the week in Health that you may have missed or have been meaning to check out.
There are many more to see at http://www.foxnews/health.
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1. Conjoined twins lived for just 1 hour after birth
Breana Dell of Atlanta was able to hold her newborn twins, Amelia Jane and Elhora Auri, for just one hour after they were born on Feb. 29 — but every minute was filled with “peace” and “awe,” she said. She shared her journey with Fox News Digital. Click here to get the story.
Amelia Jane Dell and Elhora Auri Dell were born on Feb. 29 at 7:37 a.m. They each weighed 3.5 pounds. (Mandy Daniel Photography)
2. Generational cancer concerns revealed in new poll
Certain types of cancers are more prevalent among Gen X and millennials, according to a new study led by the American Cancer Society. Click to see the 17 cancers that are more prevalent among younger cohorts. Click here to get the story.
Certain types of cancers are more prevalent among Gen X and millennials, according to a new study led by the American Cancer Society. (iStock)
3. Heart attack risk could rise with artificial sweetener consumption
An artificial sweetener, erythritol, which is common in keto diets, has been linked to an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes, according to a Cleveland Clinic study. Click here to get the story.
Erythritol, which is used to sweeten many low-sugar, reduced-calorie drinks and foods, was found to cause a spike in blood platelets and blood clot formation in a new study. (iStock)
4. Emerging tech could be key to early dementia diagnosis
By pairing artificial intelligence and EEG tests, Mayo Clinic researchers were able to identify specific types of dementia sooner than they would have through human analysis. Click here to get the story.
An electroencephalogram (EEG) is a test that measures electrical activity in the brain using small, metal discs (electrodes) attached to the scalp. This activity shows up as wavy lines on an EEG recording. (iStock)
5. Ozempic and surgery don’t mix, doctors say
Patients who are taking GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and others could face complications during surgery, recent research has shown. Here’s what to know. Click here to get the story.
GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide) receptor agonists are commonly prescribed to patients with type 2 diabetes, to stabilize blood glucose levels — or patients with obesity, to assist with weight loss. (iStock)
6. Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky reveals her disease
After nearly a decade of keeping it under wraps, Olympic medalist Katie Ledecky has shared her POTS diagnosis with the world. Here are the symptoms and treatments for the condition. Click here to get the story.
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Katie Ledecky reacts after competing in the swimming 400m Freestyle Women’s Heats during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at La Defense Arena on July 27, 2024. (Getty Images)
7. Poll reveals what teens need from their parents
Most Gen Zers said they want their parents to listen to them when they’re upset — but they don’t necessarily want advice. A new Gallup poll reveals this and more data about how teens cope with their emotions. Click here to get the story.
Conjoined twins, AI advances, teenage anxiety, cancer trends and more are all among the topics covered here. (Mandy Daniel Photography; iStock)
8. Home remedy to trigger pregnancy may not be safe
Many pregnant women on TikTok are claiming they’ve ingested castor oil to help induce delivery, with mixed results. Some experts, however, caution that this may not be safe. Click here to get the story.
A labor and delivery nurse shared a warning on TikTok that the use of castor oil to induce pregnancy is not for everyone. (iStock)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Friday its rejection of MDMA as a treatment for PTSD.
The decision was based on “significant limitations” that “prevent the agency from concluding that the drug is safe and effective for the proposed indication,” the FDA stated, according to The Associated Press.
MDMA, also known as ecstasy or molly, is a psychedelic drug with effects that are similar to methamphetamine, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
FDA PANEL REJECTS MDMA-ASSISTED THERAPIES FOR PTSD DESPITE HIGH HOPES FROM VETERANS
Veteran organizations have long been advocating for approval of psychedelic-assisted therapies to treat mental health challenges.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Friday its rejection of MDMA as a treatment for PTSD. (iStock)
The FDA’s decision comes nearly eight weeks after an FDA advisory committee voted 10-1 against the overall benefits of MDMA in treating PTSD.
The FDA has requested another Phase 3 trial to confirm the drug’s safety and efficacy.
Lykos Therapeutics, the California company that filed the drug application, said it plans to meet with the FDA to appeal the decision, according to reports.
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“The FDA request for another study is deeply disappointing, not just for all those who dedicated their lives to this pioneering effort, but principally for the millions of Americans with PTSD, along with their loved ones, who have not seen any new treatment options in over two decades,” Amy Emerson, the Lykos CEO, said in a statement from the company.
“While conducting another Phase 3 study would take several years, we still maintain that many of the requests that had been previously discussed with the FDA and raised at the Advisory Committee meeting can be addressed with existing data, post-approval requirements or through reference to the scientific literature.”
Veteran organizations have long been advocating for approval of psychedelic-assisted therapies for treating mental health challenges. (iStock)
An FDA spokesperson released a statement regarding the decision.
“As discussed at the Advisory Committee meeting, there are significant limitations to the data contained in the application that prevent the agency from concluding that this drug is safe and effective for the proposed indication.”
“The FDA request for another study is deeply disappointing, not just for all those who dedicated their lives to this pioneering effort, but for the millions of Americans with PTSD.”
Regarding the need for additional treatments for PTSD and other mental health conditions, the agency said it encourages further research and development to “further innovation for psychedelic treatments and other therapies to address these medical needs.”
PharmAla Biotech, a Toronto-based company focused on researching, developing and manufacturing novel derivatives of MDMA, reacted to the decision in a statement sent to Fox News Digital.
“USFDA has an important responsibility to get things right, and we believe that they are acting in good faith. However, there is a vitally important patient need for novel PTSD treatments, which must be balanced with that prudency,” said Nicholas Kadysh, CEO of PharmAla Biotech.
Ecstasy pills (Reuters)
“MDMA is not only supported by a significant evidence base of published clinical trial research, but is also being actively used in patient treatments in two jurisdictions, Canada and Australia, entirely supplied by PharmAla.”
Kadysh added that the company is committed to ongoing research to “convince even the most skeptical regulators that this medicine is both safe and effective.”
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Joe Perekupka, CEO of Freespira, the Washington-based company that makes an FDA-approved digital therapeutic for PTSD and anxiety, also reacted to the decision.
There have not been any new treatment options for PTSD in over two decades, according to a statement from Lykos Therapeutics. (iStock)
“The FDA’s recent decision on MDMA underscores the complex landscape of mental health treatments. At Freespira, we recognize the urgent need for additional effective PTSD treatments, but support the FDA’s commitment to patient safety when reviewing potential new treatments,” he said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
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“We believe in the importance of diverse treatment options and will continue to focus on our mission of democratizing access to advanced mental health care through our patient-centric model.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the FDA and to Lykos Therapeutics requesting comment.
Howie Cohen, an advertising copywriter, often said he was congenitally familiar with indigestion. So perhaps it was only natural that in the 1970s, he, along with an ad agency colleague, would conjure up a catchy slogan that would not only sell more Alka-Seltzer but also become an American pop culture punchline: “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.”
That bedside lament, spoken by the comedian and dialectician Milt Moss — he actually said that thing on camera — vaulted from a 30-second TV commercial to sweatshirts, supermarket windows and even church marquees.
It proved even more popular than “Try it, you’ll like it,” the first catchphrase for Alka-Seltzer that Mr. Cohen coined with his business partner, Bob Pasqualina, an art director at the Manhattan agency Wells Rich Greene.
Mr. Cohen, who helped popularize products and companies like Petco (“Where the pets go”) and the fast-food chain Jack in the Box (exploding its clown mascot in a TV commercial in announcing a new, more sophisticated menu), died on March 2 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 81.
His death, which wasn’t widely reported at the time, was announced on Facebook by his brother, Jerry, who said the cause was cancer.
Alka-Seltzer’s creative advertising had already found success in the 1950s and ’60s. It had introduced its mascot Speedy and its “plop, plop, fizz, fizz” jingle. It had brought “tummies” to television commercials. And it had played on cultural stereotypes (“that’s a spicy meatball”), offending some viewers. But by the early 1970s, sales were lagging.
Mr. Cohen and Mr. Pasqualina, who had recently joined Wells Rich Greene, were tasked with creating an ad campaign that would run until the agency could come up with a long-term strategy to make Alka-Seltzer a household name again.
Mr. Cohen recalled in a 2019 memoir that those two popular ads the partners came up with, both in 1972, were inspired by his upbringing in the Pelham Parkway neighborhood of the East Bronx.
The “try it” tag line had its roots, he wrote, in his mother’s dinnertime plea that he eat the liver and onions that regularly congealed untouched on his plate.
“We only had 30 seconds, so we couldn’t get too complicated,” Mr. Cohen told The New York Times in 1972. “One of us came up with ‘Try it, you’ll like it.’ We said it over and over again, because we couldn’t think of another line, and the repetition became the thing.”
In the ad, Jack Aaron, a stage actor who had appeared in commercials, plays a man sitting in a restaurant recounting a meal he once had — an indigestible one, it turned out — at the encouragement of a waiter, who kept telling him, “Try it, you’ll like it.”
“I used to work part time as a waiter,” Mr. Aaron told The Times in 1972. “Now I eat at Sardi’s, and the waiters all say, ‘Try it, you’ll like it.’”
If “try it” was inspired by Mr. Cohen’s abstinence, the “whole thing” line resulted from his overindulgence. He, Mr. Pasqualina and a production crew were in London gorging on an Italian dinner hosted by the director Milos Forman, who had filmed a commercial that the two admen had created for Diet Rite Cola.
“I’m a nice Jewish kid from the Bronx, so I ate everything until I couldn’t fit one more thing in my body,” Mr. Cohen would often recall. “I leaned back in my chair and said, ‘I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.’ And my wife said, ‘There’s your next Alka-Seltzer commercial.’”
In the commercial, a woman, trying to fall back to sleep, urges her pajama-clad husband, who is sitting groaning on the edge of their bed, to take two Alka-Seltzer tablets to settle his stomach after overindulging. He repeats the “whole thing” line over and over.
Both ads are enshrined in the advertising industry’s Clio Awards Hall of Fame.
A marketing survey found that about 85 percent of Americans could identify Alka-Seltzer through the “whole thing” slogan, which would later be immortalized in the game Trivial Pursuit and on the TV animated series “The Simpsons.”
“They say the best lines come from the heart,” Mr. Cohen wrote in his book, “I Can’t Believe I Lived the Whole Thing: A Memoir From the Golden Age of Advertising.” “‘I can’t believe I ate the whole thing’ came from my stomach.’”
Mary Wells Lawrence, one of the founders of Wells Rich Greene and Mr. Cohen’s mentor, described Mr. Cohen and Mr. Pasqualina as “two of the most talented people we ever had.”
Ms. Wells Lawrence, who died in May, wrote in her own memoir that earlier Alka-Seltzer ads had grabbed attention and entertained, but that “they were not as believable, as earnestly sincere and therefore not as persuasive as Howie and Bob’s sweet, funny commercials — especially ‘I ate the whole thing.’”
Howard Stephen Cohen was born on Sept. 25, 1942, in the Bronx to Samuel and Jeannette Cohen. The elder Mr. Cohen owned a steel fabrication company that he had inherited from his father.
Howie Cohen wrote in his memoir that he grew up in a one-bedroom apartment adjacent to an elevated train. When he was 13, he was given a tape recorder as a bar mitzvah gift and began producing commercials. After graduating from New Rochelle High School in Westchester County, he attended the University of Miami and earned a bachelor’s degree in business from New York University.
Destined to inherit his father’s company but eager not to, he applied to ad agencies and in 1965 landed a job as a copy trainee on the Volkswagen account at Doyle Dane Bernbach.
He joined Wells Rich Greene in 1967; left to start his own firm with Mr. Pasqualina; returned to Wells Rich Greene as a creative director; became the president of its Los Angeles office; and founded another agency with the adman Mark Johnson, which he sold in 1997 to the Phelps Group. He remained as partner and chief creative officer until he retired in 2017. He also wrote a blog called Mad Mensch.
In addition to his brother, his survivors include his wife, Carol (Trifari) Cohen, whom he married in 1972; two children, Jonathan and Johanna; a stepdaughter, Cristina; and a granddaughter.
In 2012, Mr. Cohen was asked by Google to reimagine the “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing” ad for a 21st-century digital version.
“I look at the internet tools and technologies that we have and see exciting new ways to express an idea,” he told The Los Angeles Times. “But emotions will always trump algorithms. Advertising is about connecting in a human way.”
After nearly a decade of keeping it under wraps, Olympic medalist Katie Ledecky has shared her POTS diagnosis with the world.
The athlete, who has won 14 Olympic medals for swimming, the most of any female Olympian, said she has POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome).
In “Just Add Water: My Swimming Life,” Ledecky’s new memoir, which was published by Simon & Schuster in June, she wrote that the disease can cause “dizziness, fainting and exhaustion.”
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Here’s more.
What is POTS?
POTS is a disturbance in the autonomic nervous system, which controls some of the normal regulatory functions of the body, according to Dr. Blair Grubb, a cardiologist and expert on POTS at The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences.
Katie Ledecky competes in the swimming 400m Freestyle Women Heats during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at La Defense Arena on July 27, 2024. After nearly a decade of keeping it under wraps, Ledecky has shared her POTS diagnosis with the world. (Getty Images)
“When the person stands, gravity will try to displace downward roughly 20% to 30% of the body’s blood volume,” he told Fox News Digital.
In response to this displacement, the brain tells the heart to beat faster and more forcibly, and tells the blood vessels in the lower half of the body to tighten, or constrict, to three times the level they were previously, the doctor said.
“This allows for accumulation of much more blood than normal in the lower half of the body,” Grubb said.
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As more blood is displaced downward, the brain gets less and less oxygen.
Ledecky discussed this effect in her book. She wrote, “I pool blood in the vessels below my heart when I stand. My body then releases extra norepinephrine or epinephrine, which adds additional stressors on my heart, making it beat faster.”
What causes the condition?
Individuals with a genetic trait called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (also known as joint hypermobility syndrome) appear to be more susceptible to developing this condition, according to Grubb.
“However, POTS is frequently triggered by a viral infection, such as Epstein-Barr virus or COVID-19,” he told Fox News Digital.
Katie Ledecky reacts after competing in the swimming 400m Freestyle Women Heats during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at La Defense Arena on July 27, 2024. (Getty Images)
One of these infections can trigger an autoimmune response, in which the body’s immune system attacks itself and produces antibodies that interfere with the ability of blood vessels to tighten, the doctor said.
POTS can also occur on its own, without any obvious triggers.
Symptoms of POTS
A POTS patient’s symptoms will depend on how much blood is displaced downward, experts say.
“It can vary from mild cases where your heart races and you get a little dizzy upon standing, all the way to presenting as a disabling condition, disallowing patients from being upright,” Valerie Iovine, PT, a physical therapist at Strive Physical Therapy in Philadelphia, told Fox News Digital.
“It can also change over the course of life, but can also change day to day or week to week.”
“When the person stands, gravity will try to displace downward roughly 20% to 30% of the body’s blood volume.”
The disorder’s name — postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome — literally translates to “when you become more upright, your heart races,” noted Iovine, who treats many patients with POTS and also has the disorder herself.
“The heart will flutter in an attempt to properly oxygenate the brain,” she said.
Symptoms can include “disabling fatigue, exercise intolerance, heat intolerance, palpitations, lightheadedness, dizziness, fainting and brain fog,” a doctor said. (iStock)
“But in addition to the dizziness, headaches, passing out or near passing out, many with this disorder don’t realize that it can account for other issues, like temperature dysregulation, blood pressure dysregulation and GI dysfunction.”
In more extreme cases, patients may have difficulty thinking, concentrating or remembering — sometimes called brain fog, according to Grubb.
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People may also experience blurred vision, black spots in their visual field, tunnel vision and headache.
“Even greater displacement of blood can cause the individual to lose consciousness,” Grubb said.
Treatments and therapies
The primary treatment for POTS is increasing water and salt intake, Grubb said.
“It is also important to recondition the patient through exercise, building the strength in their lower extremities,” he said.
Some medications, such as midodrine and droxidopa — known as vasoconstrictors — can work to tighten blood vessels and increase blood return to the heart, according to Grubb.
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Still other drugs, such as fludrocortisone or desmopressin, work by increasing the volume of fluids available for the heart to pump.
“Medications such as pyridostigmine facilitate nerve transmission and help the nervous system work more effectively to maintain normal vascular function,” Grubb added.
The disease can often cause a flu-like feeling after exercise, something called post-exertional malaise/post-exertional symptom exacerbation (PEM/PESE). (iStock)
Many often use the term “exercise intolerance” when describing symptoms of POTS, but Iovine said that “poorly prescribed and dosed exercise” is the problem.
“Exercise is the best management for POTS,” she said.
“I would argue that for these patients, movement is medicine.”
In her book, Ledecky noted that swimming can be an effective treatment for POTS, writing that “reclined aerobic exercise, such as swimming, and strengthening your core, can provide relief.”
“For these patients, movement is medicine.”
Seeking care from a cardiologist and a physical therapist is essential, according to Iovine.
The cardiologist can help to get vital signs like heart rate and blood pressure under control, she said, while a knowledgeable physical therapist can help to manage symptoms and increase upright tolerance.
“Things like proper hydration, extra electrolytes, and being able to keep cool can also help manage symptoms,” an expert advised. (iStock)
“Things like proper hydration, extra electrolytes, and being able to keep cool can also help manage symptoms,” Iovine advised.
“The heat will make the blood vessels expand, making it harder to get the blood up the head against gravity,” she said.
How POTS impacts athletes
“POTS can be a challenge for anyone — from people with complicated pre-existing conditions, all the way to the top athletes, like Katie Ledecky,” Iovine told Fox News Digital.
The disease can often cause a flu-like feeling after exercise, something called post-exertional malaise/post-exertional symptom exacerbation (PEM/PESE).
“This is when the autonomic nervous system can have a reflexive reaction to stress or exercise, either making existing symptoms worse or creating a new host of issues in people with POTS,” Iovine said.
“This can pose an issue in the sense of rigorous exercise for an Olympic athlete — or in other cases, exertion may be as simple as getting out of bed and walking to the kitchen.”
While there is no cure for POTS, many patients are able to manage their symptoms and return to their daily activities with the help of a care team. (iStock)
POTS causes a “dynamic disability,” Iovine noted.
“One day, it may allow you to swim like an Olympic athlete, and other days, [it will] have you stuck in bed or even in a wheelchair.”
POTS is particularly challenging in athletic activities that involve frequent “start and stop” activities, such as basketball, volleyball, soccer and field hockey, added Grubb.
‘A real illness’
Both experts emphasized that POTS is a “real illness.”
“People who were previously quite healthy develop severe limitations and disabilities,” Grubb said.
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“They can experience disabling fatigue, exercise intolerance, heat intolerance, palpitations, lightheadedness, dizziness, fainting and brain fog.”
Iovine said that due to the “invisibility” of the disease combined with the high heart rate and variability of presentations, it is often dismissed as a function of mental health.
“One day, it may allow you to swim like an Olympic athlete, and other days, have you stuck in bed or even in a wheelchair.”
“Patients are often turned away from proper care, made to believe it is all in their heads,” she said.
“POTS is a very real condition, and the good news is that there are very real management strategies as well,” Iovine went on.
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While there is no cure for POTS, many patients are able to manage their symptoms and return to their daily activities.
Added Iovine, “Build up your care team and your confidence to advocate for your health and keep to your regimented routines for management.”
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