Elizabeth Millard

Addicted to cookies? Can’t stand broccoli? You may be able to blame Mom and Dad.

That’s because our taste preferences are influenced by our genes. And this may play an important role in determining our food choices and, in turn, our health, according to early study findings presented at this year’s annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition.

“Our genetic predispositions to perceive certain tastes might be one of many reasons why some of us struggle to make healthy food choices,” says the study’s lead researcher, Julie Gervis, a doctoral degree candidate at the Tufts Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging.

As the field of personalized nutrition – a branch of science that uses technology to help people figure out what to eat for good health – advances, the findings could bring us closer to more effective personalized nutrition advice, better diets, and less risk for things like obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.
 

What’s your ‘polygenic taste score’?

We know genes influence our taste, but little is known about how taste-related genes impact diet quality and health. To investigate this, the researchers used data from “genome-wide association studies,” which scientists use to find gene variations associated with a trait, to create something called a polygenic taste score.

Your polygenic taste score shows how your genes impact your unique perception of taste – be it bitter, salty, sweet, sour, or savory (umami). If you have a high score for, say, sweet, that means you may be more sensitive to sweetness than someone with a moderate or low sweet score.

In the study sample of more than 6,000 adults, those with a high “bitter” score tended to eat fewer whole grains (two fewer servings a week), while those scoring high for savory ate fewer vegetables, especially orange and red types like carrots and bell peppers. That matters because whole grains have been shown to reduce heart disease risk, while a higher veggie intake is linked to lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

Meanwhile, genes related to sweet seemed key for health related to your heart and metabolism, as a higher sweet score was linked with lower triglycerides, a type of fat found in the blood.
 

From lab to shopping list

While we have a long way to go before dietitians and consumers can use polygenic taste scores, the tool could one day help us use – or minimize – the influence our genes has on our food choices, Ms. Gervis says. That may help us improve personalized nutrition advice aimed at reducing disease risk.

But first, other research needs to repeat the findings, Ms. Gervis says. And more large-scale, genome-wide studies on taste perception should be done.

“I hope these preliminary data convey the potential benefit of incorporating taste-related genes, and taste perception, into personalized nutrition,” she says. “After all, while we don’t always choose what foods are good for us, we do always choose what foods taste good to us.”

A version of this article first appeared on WebMD.com.

Addicted to cookies? Can’t stand broccoli? You may be able to blame Mom and Dad.

That’s because our taste preferences are influenced by our genes. And this may play an important role in determining our food choices and, in turn, our health, according to early study findings presented at this year’s annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition.

“Our genetic predispositions to perceive certain tastes might be one of many reasons why some of us struggle to make healthy food choices,” says the study’s lead researcher, Julie Gervis, a doctoral degree candidate at the Tufts Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging.

As the field of personalized nutrition – a branch of science that uses technology to help people figure out what to eat for good health – advances, the findings could bring us closer to more effective personalized nutrition advice, better diets, and less risk for things like obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.
 

What’s your ‘polygenic taste score’?

We know genes influence our taste, but little is known about how taste-related genes impact diet quality and health. To investigate this, the researchers used data from “genome-wide association studies,” which scientists use to find gene variations associated with a trait, to create something called a polygenic taste score.

Your polygenic taste score shows how your genes impact your unique perception of taste – be it bitter, salty, sweet, sour, or savory (umami). If you have a high score for, say, sweet, that means you may be more sensitive to sweetness than someone with a moderate or low sweet score.

In the study sample of more than 6,000 adults, those with a high “bitter” score tended to eat fewer whole grains (two fewer servings a week), while those scoring high for savory ate fewer vegetables, especially orange and red types like carrots and bell peppers. That matters because whole grains have been shown to reduce heart disease risk, while a higher veggie intake is linked to lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

Meanwhile, genes related to sweet seemed key for health related to your heart and metabolism, as a higher sweet score was linked with lower triglycerides, a type of fat found in the blood.
 

From lab to shopping list

While we have a long way to go before dietitians and consumers can use polygenic taste scores, the tool could one day help us use – or minimize – the influence our genes has on our food choices, Ms. Gervis says. That may help us improve personalized nutrition advice aimed at reducing disease risk.

But first, other research needs to repeat the findings, Ms. Gervis says. And more large-scale, genome-wide studies on taste perception should be done.

“I hope these preliminary data convey the potential benefit of incorporating taste-related genes, and taste perception, into personalized nutrition,” she says. “After all, while we don’t always choose what foods are good for us, we do always choose what foods taste good to us.”

A version of this article first appeared on WebMD.com.

Addicted to cookies? Can’t stand broccoli? You may be able to blame Mom and Dad.

That’s because our taste preferences are influenced by our genes. And this may play an important role in determining our food choices and, in turn, our health, according to early study findings presented at this year’s annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition.

“Our genetic predispositions to perceive certain tastes might be one of many reasons why some of us struggle to make healthy food choices,” says the study’s lead researcher, Julie Gervis, a doctoral degree candidate at the Tufts Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging.

As the field of personalized nutrition – a branch of science that uses technology to help people figure out what to eat for good health – advances, the findings could bring us closer to more effective personalized nutrition advice, better diets, and less risk for things like obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.
 

What’s your ‘polygenic taste score’?

We know genes influence our taste, but little is known about how taste-related genes impact diet quality and health. To investigate this, the researchers used data from “genome-wide association studies,” which scientists use to find gene variations associated with a trait, to create something called a polygenic taste score.

Your polygenic taste score shows how your genes impact your unique perception of taste – be it bitter, salty, sweet, sour, or savory (umami). If you have a high score for, say, sweet, that means you may be more sensitive to sweetness than someone with a moderate or low sweet score.

In the study sample of more than 6,000 adults, those with a high “bitter” score tended to eat fewer whole grains (two fewer servings a week), while those scoring high for savory ate fewer vegetables, especially orange and red types like carrots and bell peppers. That matters because whole grains have been shown to reduce heart disease risk, while a higher veggie intake is linked to lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

Meanwhile, genes related to sweet seemed key for health related to your heart and metabolism, as a higher sweet score was linked with lower triglycerides, a type of fat found in the blood.
 

From lab to shopping list

While we have a long way to go before dietitians and consumers can use polygenic taste scores, the tool could one day help us use – or minimize – the influence our genes has on our food choices, Ms. Gervis says. That may help us improve personalized nutrition advice aimed at reducing disease risk.

But first, other research needs to repeat the findings, Ms. Gervis says. And more large-scale, genome-wide studies on taste perception should be done.

“I hope these preliminary data convey the potential benefit of incorporating taste-related genes, and taste perception, into personalized nutrition,” she says. “After all, while we don’t always choose what foods are good for us, we do always choose what foods taste good to us.”

A version of this article first appeared on WebMD.com.

What would you do if you believed you had a serious health issue, but the best way to find out for sure might kill you?

That’s the reality for patients who wish to confirm or rule out a food allergy, says Sindy Tang, PhD, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford (Calif.) University.

And it’s the reason Dr. Tang and her colleagues are developing a food allergy test that’s not only safer, but also more reliable than today’s tests. In a paper in the journal Lab on a Chip, Dr. Tang and her colleagues outline the basis for this future test, which isolates a food allergy marker from the blood using a magnetic field.
 

How today’s food allergy tests fall short

The gold standard for food allergy diagnosis is something called the oral food challenge. That’s when the patient eats gradually increasing amounts of a problem food – say, peanuts – every 15 to 30 minutes to see if symptoms occur. This means highly allergic patients may risk anaphylaxis, an allergic reaction that causes inflammation so severe that breathing becomes restricted and blood pressure drops. Because of that, a clinical team must be at the ready with treatments like oxygen, epinephrine, or albuterol.

“The test is very accurate, but it’s also potentially unsafe and even fatal in rare cases,” Dr. Tang says. “That’s led to many sham tests advertised online that claim to use hair samples for food tests, but those are inaccurate and potentially dangerous, since they may give someone a false sense of confidence about a food they should avoid.”

Less risky tests are available, such as skin-prick tests – those involve scratching a small amount of the food into a patient’s arm – as well as blood tests that measure allergen-specific antibodies.

“Unfortunately, both of those are not that accurate and have high false-positive rates,” Dr. Tang says. “The best method is the oral food challenge, which many patients are afraid to do, not surprisingly.”
 

The future of food allergy testing: faster, safer, more reliable

In their study, the Stanford researchers focused on a type of white blood cell known as basophils, which release histamine when triggered by allergens. By using magnetic nanoparticles that bind to some blood cells but not basophils, they were able to separate basophils from the blood with a magnetic field in just 10 minutes.

Once isolated, the basophils are exposed to potential allergens. If they react, that’s a sign of an allergy.

Basophils have been isolated in labs before but not nearly this quickly and efficiently, Dr. Tang says.

“For true basophil activation, you need the blood to be fresh, which is challenging when you have to send it to a lab,” Dr. Tang says. “Being able to do this kind of test within a clinic or an in-house lab would be a big step forward.”
 

Next steps

While this represents a breakthrough in basophil activation testing, more research is needed to fully develop the system for clinical use. It must be standardized, automated, and miniaturized, the researchers say.

That said, the results give hope to those with food allergies that tomorrow’s gold-standard test will require only a blood sample without an emergency team standing by.

A version of this article first appeared on WebMD.com.

What would you do if you believed you had a serious health issue, but the best way to find out for sure might kill you?

That’s the reality for patients who wish to confirm or rule out a food allergy, says Sindy Tang, PhD, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford (Calif.) University.

And it’s the reason Dr. Tang and her colleagues are developing a food allergy test that’s not only safer, but also more reliable than today’s tests. In a paper in the journal Lab on a Chip, Dr. Tang and her colleagues outline the basis for this future test, which isolates a food allergy marker from the blood using a magnetic field.
 

How today’s food allergy tests fall short

The gold standard for food allergy diagnosis is something called the oral food challenge. That’s when the patient eats gradually increasing amounts of a problem food – say, peanuts – every 15 to 30 minutes to see if symptoms occur. This means highly allergic patients may risk anaphylaxis, an allergic reaction that causes inflammation so severe that breathing becomes restricted and blood pressure drops. Because of that, a clinical team must be at the ready with treatments like oxygen, epinephrine, or albuterol.

“The test is very accurate, but it’s also potentially unsafe and even fatal in rare cases,” Dr. Tang says. “That’s led to many sham tests advertised online that claim to use hair samples for food tests, but those are inaccurate and potentially dangerous, since they may give someone a false sense of confidence about a food they should avoid.”

Less risky tests are available, such as skin-prick tests – those involve scratching a small amount of the food into a patient’s arm – as well as blood tests that measure allergen-specific antibodies.

“Unfortunately, both of those are not that accurate and have high false-positive rates,” Dr. Tang says. “The best method is the oral food challenge, which many patients are afraid to do, not surprisingly.”
 

The future of food allergy testing: faster, safer, more reliable

In their study, the Stanford researchers focused on a type of white blood cell known as basophils, which release histamine when triggered by allergens. By using magnetic nanoparticles that bind to some blood cells but not basophils, they were able to separate basophils from the blood with a magnetic field in just 10 minutes.

Once isolated, the basophils are exposed to potential allergens. If they react, that’s a sign of an allergy.

Basophils have been isolated in labs before but not nearly this quickly and efficiently, Dr. Tang says.

“For true basophil activation, you need the blood to be fresh, which is challenging when you have to send it to a lab,” Dr. Tang says. “Being able to do this kind of test within a clinic or an in-house lab would be a big step forward.”
 

Next steps

While this represents a breakthrough in basophil activation testing, more research is needed to fully develop the system for clinical use. It must be standardized, automated, and miniaturized, the researchers say.

That said, the results give hope to those with food allergies that tomorrow’s gold-standard test will require only a blood sample without an emergency team standing by.

A version of this article first appeared on WebMD.com.

What would you do if you believed you had a serious health issue, but the best way to find out for sure might kill you?

That’s the reality for patients who wish to confirm or rule out a food allergy, says Sindy Tang, PhD, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford (Calif.) University.

And it’s the reason Dr. Tang and her colleagues are developing a food allergy test that’s not only safer, but also more reliable than today’s tests. In a paper in the journal Lab on a Chip, Dr. Tang and her colleagues outline the basis for this future test, which isolates a food allergy marker from the blood using a magnetic field.
 

How today’s food allergy tests fall short

The gold standard for food allergy diagnosis is something called the oral food challenge. That’s when the patient eats gradually increasing amounts of a problem food – say, peanuts – every 15 to 30 minutes to see if symptoms occur. This means highly allergic patients may risk anaphylaxis, an allergic reaction that causes inflammation so severe that breathing becomes restricted and blood pressure drops. Because of that, a clinical team must be at the ready with treatments like oxygen, epinephrine, or albuterol.

“The test is very accurate, but it’s also potentially unsafe and even fatal in rare cases,” Dr. Tang says. “That’s led to many sham tests advertised online that claim to use hair samples for food tests, but those are inaccurate and potentially dangerous, since they may give someone a false sense of confidence about a food they should avoid.”

Less risky tests are available, such as skin-prick tests – those involve scratching a small amount of the food into a patient’s arm – as well as blood tests that measure allergen-specific antibodies.

“Unfortunately, both of those are not that accurate and have high false-positive rates,” Dr. Tang says. “The best method is the oral food challenge, which many patients are afraid to do, not surprisingly.”
 

The future of food allergy testing: faster, safer, more reliable

In their study, the Stanford researchers focused on a type of white blood cell known as basophils, which release histamine when triggered by allergens. By using magnetic nanoparticles that bind to some blood cells but not basophils, they were able to separate basophils from the blood with a magnetic field in just 10 minutes.

Once isolated, the basophils are exposed to potential allergens. If they react, that’s a sign of an allergy.

Basophils have been isolated in labs before but not nearly this quickly and efficiently, Dr. Tang says.

“For true basophil activation, you need the blood to be fresh, which is challenging when you have to send it to a lab,” Dr. Tang says. “Being able to do this kind of test within a clinic or an in-house lab would be a big step forward.”
 

Next steps

While this represents a breakthrough in basophil activation testing, more research is needed to fully develop the system for clinical use. It must be standardized, automated, and miniaturized, the researchers say.

That said, the results give hope to those with food allergies that tomorrow’s gold-standard test will require only a blood sample without an emergency team standing by.

A version of this article first appeared on WebMD.com.

A simple, two-ingredient gel may boost the fighting power of a groundbreaking cancer treatment, say Stanford University engineers.

The gel – made from water and a plant-based polymer – delivers targeted T cells adjacent to a cancer growth, taking aim at solid tumors.

It’s the latest development in CAR T-cell therapy, a type of immunotherapy that involves collecting the patient’s T cells, reengineering them to be stronger, and returning them to the patient’s body.

Results have been promising in blood cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma, but less so in solid tumors, such as brain, breast, or kidney cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.

The gel “is a really exciting step forward,” says Abigail Grosskopf, a PhD candidate at Stanford (Calif.) University, who is the lead study author, “because it can change the delivery of these cells and expand this kind of treatment to other cancers.”
 

CAR T-cell therapy: Limits in solid tumors

Currently available CAR T-cell therapies are administered by intravenous infusion. But that doesn’t do much against tumors in specific locations because the cells enter the bloodstream and flow throughout the body. The cancer-fighting effort exhausts the T cells, weakening their ability to infiltrate dense tumors.

CAR T cells need cytokines to tell them when to attack, Ms. Grosskopf explains. If delivered through an IV drip, the number of cytokines required to destroy a solid tumor would be toxic to other, healthy parts of the body.

So Ms. Grosskopf and her colleagues created a hydrogel that can temporarily hold the T cells and cytokines and that can be injected near a tumor, bombarding the cancerous growth.

In their study, which was published in Science Advances, the injections wiped out mouse tumors in 12 days. The gel degraded harmlessly a few weeks later.
 

A “leaky pen” that fights cancer

The reason a gel works better than a liquid is because of its staying power, says Ms. Grosskopf, who compares the method to a leaky pen.

The gel acts as the “pen,” releasing activated CAR T cells at regular intervals to attack the cancerous growth. Whereas liquid dissipates quickly, the gel’s structure is strong enough to stay in place for weeks, Ms. Grosskopf says. Plus, it’s biocompatible and harmless within the body, she adds.

More preclinical studies are needed before human clinical trials can occur, Ms. Grosskopf says.

“Not only could this be a way to deliver T cells and cytokines,” Ms. Grosskopf says, “but it may be used for other targeted therapy cancer drugs that are in development. So we see this as running parallel to those efforts.”

Taking an even broader view, the gel could have applications across medical specialties, such as slow-release delivery of vaccines.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

A simple, two-ingredient gel may boost the fighting power of a groundbreaking cancer treatment, say Stanford University engineers.

The gel – made from water and a plant-based polymer – delivers targeted T cells adjacent to a cancer growth, taking aim at solid tumors.

It’s the latest development in CAR T-cell therapy, a type of immunotherapy that involves collecting the patient’s T cells, reengineering them to be stronger, and returning them to the patient’s body.

Results have been promising in blood cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma, but less so in solid tumors, such as brain, breast, or kidney cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.

The gel “is a really exciting step forward,” says Abigail Grosskopf, a PhD candidate at Stanford (Calif.) University, who is the lead study author, “because it can change the delivery of these cells and expand this kind of treatment to other cancers.”
 

CAR T-cell therapy: Limits in solid tumors

Currently available CAR T-cell therapies are administered by intravenous infusion. But that doesn’t do much against tumors in specific locations because the cells enter the bloodstream and flow throughout the body. The cancer-fighting effort exhausts the T cells, weakening their ability to infiltrate dense tumors.

CAR T cells need cytokines to tell them when to attack, Ms. Grosskopf explains. If delivered through an IV drip, the number of cytokines required to destroy a solid tumor would be toxic to other, healthy parts of the body.

So Ms. Grosskopf and her colleagues created a hydrogel that can temporarily hold the T cells and cytokines and that can be injected near a tumor, bombarding the cancerous growth.

In their study, which was published in Science Advances, the injections wiped out mouse tumors in 12 days. The gel degraded harmlessly a few weeks later.
 

A “leaky pen” that fights cancer

The reason a gel works better than a liquid is because of its staying power, says Ms. Grosskopf, who compares the method to a leaky pen.

The gel acts as the “pen,” releasing activated CAR T cells at regular intervals to attack the cancerous growth. Whereas liquid dissipates quickly, the gel’s structure is strong enough to stay in place for weeks, Ms. Grosskopf says. Plus, it’s biocompatible and harmless within the body, she adds.

More preclinical studies are needed before human clinical trials can occur, Ms. Grosskopf says.

“Not only could this be a way to deliver T cells and cytokines,” Ms. Grosskopf says, “but it may be used for other targeted therapy cancer drugs that are in development. So we see this as running parallel to those efforts.”

Taking an even broader view, the gel could have applications across medical specialties, such as slow-release delivery of vaccines.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

A simple, two-ingredient gel may boost the fighting power of a groundbreaking cancer treatment, say Stanford University engineers.

The gel – made from water and a plant-based polymer – delivers targeted T cells adjacent to a cancer growth, taking aim at solid tumors.

It’s the latest development in CAR T-cell therapy, a type of immunotherapy that involves collecting the patient’s T cells, reengineering them to be stronger, and returning them to the patient’s body.

Results have been promising in blood cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma, but less so in solid tumors, such as brain, breast, or kidney cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.

The gel “is a really exciting step forward,” says Abigail Grosskopf, a PhD candidate at Stanford (Calif.) University, who is the lead study author, “because it can change the delivery of these cells and expand this kind of treatment to other cancers.”
 

CAR T-cell therapy: Limits in solid tumors

Currently available CAR T-cell therapies are administered by intravenous infusion. But that doesn’t do much against tumors in specific locations because the cells enter the bloodstream and flow throughout the body. The cancer-fighting effort exhausts the T cells, weakening their ability to infiltrate dense tumors.

CAR T cells need cytokines to tell them when to attack, Ms. Grosskopf explains. If delivered through an IV drip, the number of cytokines required to destroy a solid tumor would be toxic to other, healthy parts of the body.

So Ms. Grosskopf and her colleagues created a hydrogel that can temporarily hold the T cells and cytokines and that can be injected near a tumor, bombarding the cancerous growth.

In their study, which was published in Science Advances, the injections wiped out mouse tumors in 12 days. The gel degraded harmlessly a few weeks later.
 

A “leaky pen” that fights cancer

The reason a gel works better than a liquid is because of its staying power, says Ms. Grosskopf, who compares the method to a leaky pen.

The gel acts as the “pen,” releasing activated CAR T cells at regular intervals to attack the cancerous growth. Whereas liquid dissipates quickly, the gel’s structure is strong enough to stay in place for weeks, Ms. Grosskopf says. Plus, it’s biocompatible and harmless within the body, she adds.

More preclinical studies are needed before human clinical trials can occur, Ms. Grosskopf says.

“Not only could this be a way to deliver T cells and cytokines,” Ms. Grosskopf says, “but it may be used for other targeted therapy cancer drugs that are in development. So we see this as running parallel to those efforts.”

Taking an even broader view, the gel could have applications across medical specialties, such as slow-release delivery of vaccines.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

A small, and likely decreasing, number of health care providers in the United States perform abortions, and there is a risk that the count will be shrinking in the face of legislative attacks on the service, researchers have found.

Until now, producing an accurate count of abortion service providers in the United States has been difficult, leaving researchers to rely on indirect assessments of abortion clinics rather than counts of physicians who perform the procedure.

But the authors of a research letter published in JAMA Internal Medicine have come up with a number: Roughly 3,550 clinicians provide procedural and medication abortions, while 22,001 manage pregnancy loss with the same procedures and medications. More than half of all abortions in the United States now are achieved by medication.

The small number of providers is a cause for concern as a growing number of states move to restrict access to abortions, experts say.

“Abortions are only available if clinicians provide them,” said Julia Strasser, DrPH, MPH, senior research scientist at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, Washington, D.C., who led the research. “This study finds that a variety of clinician types provide abortion care. But the number of abortion providers is low, and increasing restrictions will only make this worse.”

For their census, Dr. Strasser and her colleagues evaluated medical claims covering a full year from a private data company. They focused on two sets of services: medications (misoprostol and mifepristone) used in abortion care and pregnancy loss and procedures such as dilation and curettage and dilation and evacuation. Services were categorized as induced abortion or management by pregnancy loss on the basis of medical coding.

The researchers found that there were 3,550 abortion providers and 22,001 clinicians who managed pregnancy loss. Of those who induced abortions, 88% were physicians and 12% were advanced practice clinicians.

The clinicians who most frequently provided induced abortions were ob/gyns (72%), followed by family physicians (9%), advanced practice registered nurses (8%), and nurse midwives (3%). Several other specialists performed about 1% of abortions each.

Dr. Strasser said that 3,550 is an undercount because many providers do offer abortions but cannot or do not bill for them. Even so, the number likely will fall because fewer medical students are being trained for abortion procedures, according to Kaiser Health News.

Despite recommendations from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists for standardized training on abortion care during medical residency, the number of programs that prohibit that training has surged in recent years, the report notes.
 

Restrictions looming

Compounding the problem, the researchers say, is the recent spate of state-level legislation regarding access to abortion. The U.S. Supreme Court is due to rule soon on a Mississippi law banning all abortions over 15 weeks’ gestational age, except in medical emergencies and in the case of severe fetal abnormalities.

Last May, Texas passed a law outlawing termination of pregnancy after 6 weeks of gestation – before many women know they’re pregnant. The law created a bounty system that permits essentially anyone in the United States to sue a woman in the state who seeks an abortion outside the law or anyone who assists her – including health care professionals. The Supreme Court in December refused to overturn the law – which reportedly has triggered a surge in women seeking abortion services in neighboring Oklahoma.

The legal environment is greatly increasing the risk that more clinicians will drop out of the workforce, Dr. Strasser told this news organization.

“As this happens, abortion care will undoubtedly become harder to access, especially for vulnerable populations,” she said. “Patients will have to travel farther, pay more money, or forgo necessary care.”

Another major variable is insurance coverage, the researchers found. Abortion coverage is highly restricted under private insurance and Medicaid, they note. Beyond increasingly restrictive payment issues, policies seen as punitive toward clinicians may cause many to stop offering medication and procedural services, Dr. Strasser said.

“The national political climate will likely see more barriers and less access to care in the coming months and years,” she told this news organization. “However, some states are taking concrete steps to protect abortion access for their residents and for others out of state. In supportive environments like these, enhanced training, expanded scope of practice, and improved reimbursement policies can increase access.”

If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, Kaiser Health News reported, 26 states would likely ban abortion, triggering a flood of patients to states where the procedure remains more widely available.

According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, states that have expanded access are Washington, Oregon, California, New York, Vermont, Connecticut, and New Jersey. Another 12 states offer protected access, in which abortion is likely to remain legal even if Roe v. Wade is overturned, since in many of them, abortion is protected under their state constitutions.
 

Pivot to telehealth?

Another study, published in the same issue of JAMA Internal Medicine, evaluated health outcomes for 3,779 women. That study found that eligibility screening for medical abortions by history alone, without pelvic examination or ultrasonography, was safe and effective. That study found that medications were either dispensed in person or through the mail.

Taken together, the two studies suggest that more abortion services may shift toward telehealth, which could expand the number of health care professionals performing such services. Providers could include nurse practitioners, midwives, and physician assistants, said Melissa Grant, chief operating officer of carafem, a reproductive health and abortion service provider.

The service, which has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Nashville, and Washington, D.C., has found that many patients prefer online appointments, especially if they live in rural areas, Ms. Grant said. The pandemic created a push toward online services.

“Even before the current breadth of restrictive legislation, we were seeing in increase because of COVID,” she said. “Most likely, abortion providers will continue to be pushed out of the profession, so having an option that’s widely available no matter where you live is essential. The United States is moving toward a system where the ZIP code you live in will foretell what care you get. That’s chilling.”

Those who currently provide abortion care have two advantages over what was available previously, Ms. Grant said. First, medical abortion is much more common, and data show that it is safe and effective for most pregnant people, as long as they undergo a health screening. Second, the boom in telehealth during the pandemic means providers are much more experienced in this type of service than before.

As more services such as carafem crop up, costs will drop, since a telehealth clinic – even one that uses health care professionals – has fewer expenses, such as for rent and equipment, than a physical facility.

“Because of the stigma around abortion, this is not likely to prompt a big rush of start-ups, but I do think we’re going to see a shake-up in the way services are being offered, and both patients and providers will likely turn toward technology,” Ms. Grant said. “An environment like this will require flexibility, innovation, and some real grit. We may take some time to get there, but it’s possible this moment is a pivot point in how abortion care is provided.”

Some of the researchers received grants from the Susan T. Buffett Foundation.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

A small, and likely decreasing, number of health care providers in the United States perform abortions, and there is a risk that the count will be shrinking in the face of legislative attacks on the service, researchers have found.

Until now, producing an accurate count of abortion service providers in the United States has been difficult, leaving researchers to rely on indirect assessments of abortion clinics rather than counts of physicians who perform the procedure.

But the authors of a research letter published in JAMA Internal Medicine have come up with a number: Roughly 3,550 clinicians provide procedural and medication abortions, while 22,001 manage pregnancy loss with the same procedures and medications. More than half of all abortions in the United States now are achieved by medication.

The small number of providers is a cause for concern as a growing number of states move to restrict access to abortions, experts say.

“Abortions are only available if clinicians provide them,” said Julia Strasser, DrPH, MPH, senior research scientist at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, Washington, D.C., who led the research. “This study finds that a variety of clinician types provide abortion care. But the number of abortion providers is low, and increasing restrictions will only make this worse.”

For their census, Dr. Strasser and her colleagues evaluated medical claims covering a full year from a private data company. They focused on two sets of services: medications (misoprostol and mifepristone) used in abortion care and pregnancy loss and procedures such as dilation and curettage and dilation and evacuation. Services were categorized as induced abortion or management by pregnancy loss on the basis of medical coding.

The researchers found that there were 3,550 abortion providers and 22,001 clinicians who managed pregnancy loss. Of those who induced abortions, 88% were physicians and 12% were advanced practice clinicians.

The clinicians who most frequently provided induced abortions were ob/gyns (72%), followed by family physicians (9%), advanced practice registered nurses (8%), and nurse midwives (3%). Several other specialists performed about 1% of abortions each.

Dr. Strasser said that 3,550 is an undercount because many providers do offer abortions but cannot or do not bill for them. Even so, the number likely will fall because fewer medical students are being trained for abortion procedures, according to Kaiser Health News.

Despite recommendations from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists for standardized training on abortion care during medical residency, the number of programs that prohibit that training has surged in recent years, the report notes.
 

Restrictions looming

Compounding the problem, the researchers say, is the recent spate of state-level legislation regarding access to abortion. The U.S. Supreme Court is due to rule soon on a Mississippi law banning all abortions over 15 weeks’ gestational age, except in medical emergencies and in the case of severe fetal abnormalities.

Last May, Texas passed a law outlawing termination of pregnancy after 6 weeks of gestation – before many women know they’re pregnant. The law created a bounty system that permits essentially anyone in the United States to sue a woman in the state who seeks an abortion outside the law or anyone who assists her – including health care professionals. The Supreme Court in December refused to overturn the law – which reportedly has triggered a surge in women seeking abortion services in neighboring Oklahoma.

The legal environment is greatly increasing the risk that more clinicians will drop out of the workforce, Dr. Strasser told this news organization.

“As this happens, abortion care will undoubtedly become harder to access, especially for vulnerable populations,” she said. “Patients will have to travel farther, pay more money, or forgo necessary care.”

Another major variable is insurance coverage, the researchers found. Abortion coverage is highly restricted under private insurance and Medicaid, they note. Beyond increasingly restrictive payment issues, policies seen as punitive toward clinicians may cause many to stop offering medication and procedural services, Dr. Strasser said.

“The national political climate will likely see more barriers and less access to care in the coming months and years,” she told this news organization. “However, some states are taking concrete steps to protect abortion access for their residents and for others out of state. In supportive environments like these, enhanced training, expanded scope of practice, and improved reimbursement policies can increase access.”

If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, Kaiser Health News reported, 26 states would likely ban abortion, triggering a flood of patients to states where the procedure remains more widely available.

According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, states that have expanded access are Washington, Oregon, California, New York, Vermont, Connecticut, and New Jersey. Another 12 states offer protected access, in which abortion is likely to remain legal even if Roe v. Wade is overturned, since in many of them, abortion is protected under their state constitutions.
 

Pivot to telehealth?

Another study, published in the same issue of JAMA Internal Medicine, evaluated health outcomes for 3,779 women. That study found that eligibility screening for medical abortions by history alone, without pelvic examination or ultrasonography, was safe and effective. That study found that medications were either dispensed in person or through the mail.

Taken together, the two studies suggest that more abortion services may shift toward telehealth, which could expand the number of health care professionals performing such services. Providers could include nurse practitioners, midwives, and physician assistants, said Melissa Grant, chief operating officer of carafem, a reproductive health and abortion service provider.

The service, which has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Nashville, and Washington, D.C., has found that many patients prefer online appointments, especially if they live in rural areas, Ms. Grant said. The pandemic created a push toward online services.

“Even before the current breadth of restrictive legislation, we were seeing in increase because of COVID,” she said. “Most likely, abortion providers will continue to be pushed out of the profession, so having an option that’s widely available no matter where you live is essential. The United States is moving toward a system where the ZIP code you live in will foretell what care you get. That’s chilling.”

Those who currently provide abortion care have two advantages over what was available previously, Ms. Grant said. First, medical abortion is much more common, and data show that it is safe and effective for most pregnant people, as long as they undergo a health screening. Second, the boom in telehealth during the pandemic means providers are much more experienced in this type of service than before.

As more services such as carafem crop up, costs will drop, since a telehealth clinic – even one that uses health care professionals – has fewer expenses, such as for rent and equipment, than a physical facility.

“Because of the stigma around abortion, this is not likely to prompt a big rush of start-ups, but I do think we’re going to see a shake-up in the way services are being offered, and both patients and providers will likely turn toward technology,” Ms. Grant said. “An environment like this will require flexibility, innovation, and some real grit. We may take some time to get there, but it’s possible this moment is a pivot point in how abortion care is provided.”

Some of the researchers received grants from the Susan T. Buffett Foundation.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

A small, and likely decreasing, number of health care providers in the United States perform abortions, and there is a risk that the count will be shrinking in the face of legislative attacks on the service, researchers have found.

Until now, producing an accurate count of abortion service providers in the United States has been difficult, leaving researchers to rely on indirect assessments of abortion clinics rather than counts of physicians who perform the procedure.

But the authors of a research letter published in JAMA Internal Medicine have come up with a number: Roughly 3,550 clinicians provide procedural and medication abortions, while 22,001 manage pregnancy loss with the same procedures and medications. More than half of all abortions in the United States now are achieved by medication.

The small number of providers is a cause for concern as a growing number of states move to restrict access to abortions, experts say.

“Abortions are only available if clinicians provide them,” said Julia Strasser, DrPH, MPH, senior research scientist at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, Washington, D.C., who led the research. “This study finds that a variety of clinician types provide abortion care. But the number of abortion providers is low, and increasing restrictions will only make this worse.”

For their census, Dr. Strasser and her colleagues evaluated medical claims covering a full year from a private data company. They focused on two sets of services: medications (misoprostol and mifepristone) used in abortion care and pregnancy loss and procedures such as dilation and curettage and dilation and evacuation. Services were categorized as induced abortion or management by pregnancy loss on the basis of medical coding.

The researchers found that there were 3,550 abortion providers and 22,001 clinicians who managed pregnancy loss. Of those who induced abortions, 88% were physicians and 12% were advanced practice clinicians.

The clinicians who most frequently provided induced abortions were ob/gyns (72%), followed by family physicians (9%), advanced practice registered nurses (8%), and nurse midwives (3%). Several other specialists performed about 1% of abortions each.

Dr. Strasser said that 3,550 is an undercount because many providers do offer abortions but cannot or do not bill for them. Even so, the number likely will fall because fewer medical students are being trained for abortion procedures, according to Kaiser Health News.

Despite recommendations from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists for standardized training on abortion care during medical residency, the number of programs that prohibit that training has surged in recent years, the report notes.
 

Restrictions looming

Compounding the problem, the researchers say, is the recent spate of state-level legislation regarding access to abortion. The U.S. Supreme Court is due to rule soon on a Mississippi law banning all abortions over 15 weeks’ gestational age, except in medical emergencies and in the case of severe fetal abnormalities.

Last May, Texas passed a law outlawing termination of pregnancy after 6 weeks of gestation – before many women know they’re pregnant. The law created a bounty system that permits essentially anyone in the United States to sue a woman in the state who seeks an abortion outside the law or anyone who assists her – including health care professionals. The Supreme Court in December refused to overturn the law – which reportedly has triggered a surge in women seeking abortion services in neighboring Oklahoma.

The legal environment is greatly increasing the risk that more clinicians will drop out of the workforce, Dr. Strasser told this news organization.

“As this happens, abortion care will undoubtedly become harder to access, especially for vulnerable populations,” she said. “Patients will have to travel farther, pay more money, or forgo necessary care.”

Another major variable is insurance coverage, the researchers found. Abortion coverage is highly restricted under private insurance and Medicaid, they note. Beyond increasingly restrictive payment issues, policies seen as punitive toward clinicians may cause many to stop offering medication and procedural services, Dr. Strasser said.

“The national political climate will likely see more barriers and less access to care in the coming months and years,” she told this news organization. “However, some states are taking concrete steps to protect abortion access for their residents and for others out of state. In supportive environments like these, enhanced training, expanded scope of practice, and improved reimbursement policies can increase access.”

If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, Kaiser Health News reported, 26 states would likely ban abortion, triggering a flood of patients to states where the procedure remains more widely available.

According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, states that have expanded access are Washington, Oregon, California, New York, Vermont, Connecticut, and New Jersey. Another 12 states offer protected access, in which abortion is likely to remain legal even if Roe v. Wade is overturned, since in many of them, abortion is protected under their state constitutions.
 

Pivot to telehealth?

Another study, published in the same issue of JAMA Internal Medicine, evaluated health outcomes for 3,779 women. That study found that eligibility screening for medical abortions by history alone, without pelvic examination or ultrasonography, was safe and effective. That study found that medications were either dispensed in person or through the mail.

Taken together, the two studies suggest that more abortion services may shift toward telehealth, which could expand the number of health care professionals performing such services. Providers could include nurse practitioners, midwives, and physician assistants, said Melissa Grant, chief operating officer of carafem, a reproductive health and abortion service provider.

The service, which has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Nashville, and Washington, D.C., has found that many patients prefer online appointments, especially if they live in rural areas, Ms. Grant said. The pandemic created a push toward online services.

“Even before the current breadth of restrictive legislation, we were seeing in increase because of COVID,” she said. “Most likely, abortion providers will continue to be pushed out of the profession, so having an option that’s widely available no matter where you live is essential. The United States is moving toward a system where the ZIP code you live in will foretell what care you get. That’s chilling.”

Those who currently provide abortion care have two advantages over what was available previously, Ms. Grant said. First, medical abortion is much more common, and data show that it is safe and effective for most pregnant people, as long as they undergo a health screening. Second, the boom in telehealth during the pandemic means providers are much more experienced in this type of service than before.

As more services such as carafem crop up, costs will drop, since a telehealth clinic – even one that uses health care professionals – has fewer expenses, such as for rent and equipment, than a physical facility.

“Because of the stigma around abortion, this is not likely to prompt a big rush of start-ups, but I do think we’re going to see a shake-up in the way services are being offered, and both patients and providers will likely turn toward technology,” Ms. Grant said. “An environment like this will require flexibility, innovation, and some real grit. We may take some time to get there, but it’s possible this moment is a pivot point in how abortion care is provided.”

Some of the researchers received grants from the Susan T. Buffett Foundation.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

What you experience in your dreams might feel random and disjointed, but that chaos during sleep might serve a function, according to Erin Wamsley, PhD, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at Furman University in Greenville, S.C. In fact, evidence uncovered by Dr. Wamsley and associates suggests that dreams can prepare the mind for future situations it will encounter.

Previous research and anecdotal evidence have shown that dreams use fragments of past experiences, Dr. Wamsley explained. While studying dreams, her team found that the mind is using select fragments of past experiences to prepare for a known upcoming event.

“This is new evidence that dreams reflect a memory-processing function,” said Dr. Wamsley, who presented the work at the virtual annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

Some high performers already use past experiences to excel in future events. For instance, Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympic swimmer, with 28 medals, would “mentally rehearse” his swims for up to 2 hours per day, according to his coach, Bob Bowman.

Using sleep to strengthen this process is an exciting prospect that scientists have been eager to figure out, said Allison Brager, PhD, director of human performance at the U.S. Army Warrior Fitness Training Center. Deep REM sleep can lead to improved learning and memory, she said. “So, hypothetically, better dreams mean better sleep, and that equals better performance.”

For their research, Dr. Wamsley’s team hooked 48 students up to a polysomnography machine to measure sleep cycles and how often they were in a deep REM sleep. The students who took part in the study spent the night in a sleep lab.

The students were woken up multiple times during the night and asked to report what they were dreaming about.

In the morning, they were given their reports and asked to identify familiar features or potential sources for particular dreams. More than half the dreams were tied to a memory the students recalled. One-quarter of the dreams were related to specific upcoming events the students reported. And about 40% of the dreams with a future event in them also included memories of past experiences. This was more common the longer the students dreamed, the scientists explained.

And this was also more common later in the night, possibly because the dreamer is closer to waking and the anticipated event is approaching, Dr. Wamsley said.

Studying dreams is a tricky, subjective business and not always taken as seriously as other aspects of sleep and neuroscience because it involves questions of human consciousness itself, said Erik Hoel, PhD, a research assistant professor of neuroscience at Tufts University in Medford, Mass.

In a recent report published in Patterns, he suggested that our weirdest dreams help our brains process our day-to-day experiences in a way that enables deeper learning.

“This type of research is challenged by the method,” Dr. Hoel said.

In the Wamsley study, “waking people up from a deep sleep and asking them to recollect their dream content will only get you part of the experience because it fades so quickly.” That said, the value of connecting what happens as a result could be meaningful, he noted. For example, study participants could be asked whether their future event went as planned and whether they think the outcome was related to how well they “prepared” in their dreams.

Even then, it would still be a subjective analysis. But going in those directions might lead to meaningful new training, Dr. Hoel said.

And training yourself to recall only specific memories right before sleep might prepare your mind in a focused way for certain events, from giving a presentation to having a difficult conversation with someone, or maybe even winning at the Olympics.

A version of this article first appeared on WebMD.com.

What you experience in your dreams might feel random and disjointed, but that chaos during sleep might serve a function, according to Erin Wamsley, PhD, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at Furman University in Greenville, S.C. In fact, evidence uncovered by Dr. Wamsley and associates suggests that dreams can prepare the mind for future situations it will encounter.

Previous research and anecdotal evidence have shown that dreams use fragments of past experiences, Dr. Wamsley explained. While studying dreams, her team found that the mind is using select fragments of past experiences to prepare for a known upcoming event.

“This is new evidence that dreams reflect a memory-processing function,” said Dr. Wamsley, who presented the work at the virtual annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

Some high performers already use past experiences to excel in future events. For instance, Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympic swimmer, with 28 medals, would “mentally rehearse” his swims for up to 2 hours per day, according to his coach, Bob Bowman.

Using sleep to strengthen this process is an exciting prospect that scientists have been eager to figure out, said Allison Brager, PhD, director of human performance at the U.S. Army Warrior Fitness Training Center. Deep REM sleep can lead to improved learning and memory, she said. “So, hypothetically, better dreams mean better sleep, and that equals better performance.”

For their research, Dr. Wamsley’s team hooked 48 students up to a polysomnography machine to measure sleep cycles and how often they were in a deep REM sleep. The students who took part in the study spent the night in a sleep lab.

The students were woken up multiple times during the night and asked to report what they were dreaming about.

In the morning, they were given their reports and asked to identify familiar features or potential sources for particular dreams. More than half the dreams were tied to a memory the students recalled. One-quarter of the dreams were related to specific upcoming events the students reported. And about 40% of the dreams with a future event in them also included memories of past experiences. This was more common the longer the students dreamed, the scientists explained.

And this was also more common later in the night, possibly because the dreamer is closer to waking and the anticipated event is approaching, Dr. Wamsley said.

Studying dreams is a tricky, subjective business and not always taken as seriously as other aspects of sleep and neuroscience because it involves questions of human consciousness itself, said Erik Hoel, PhD, a research assistant professor of neuroscience at Tufts University in Medford, Mass.

In a recent report published in Patterns, he suggested that our weirdest dreams help our brains process our day-to-day experiences in a way that enables deeper learning.

“This type of research is challenged by the method,” Dr. Hoel said.

In the Wamsley study, “waking people up from a deep sleep and asking them to recollect their dream content will only get you part of the experience because it fades so quickly.” That said, the value of connecting what happens as a result could be meaningful, he noted. For example, study participants could be asked whether their future event went as planned and whether they think the outcome was related to how well they “prepared” in their dreams.

Even then, it would still be a subjective analysis. But going in those directions might lead to meaningful new training, Dr. Hoel said.

And training yourself to recall only specific memories right before sleep might prepare your mind in a focused way for certain events, from giving a presentation to having a difficult conversation with someone, or maybe even winning at the Olympics.

A version of this article first appeared on WebMD.com.

What you experience in your dreams might feel random and disjointed, but that chaos during sleep might serve a function, according to Erin Wamsley, PhD, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at Furman University in Greenville, S.C. In fact, evidence uncovered by Dr. Wamsley and associates suggests that dreams can prepare the mind for future situations it will encounter.

Previous research and anecdotal evidence have shown that dreams use fragments of past experiences, Dr. Wamsley explained. While studying dreams, her team found that the mind is using select fragments of past experiences to prepare for a known upcoming event.

“This is new evidence that dreams reflect a memory-processing function,” said Dr. Wamsley, who presented the work at the virtual annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

Some high performers already use past experiences to excel in future events. For instance, Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympic swimmer, with 28 medals, would “mentally rehearse” his swims for up to 2 hours per day, according to his coach, Bob Bowman.

Using sleep to strengthen this process is an exciting prospect that scientists have been eager to figure out, said Allison Brager, PhD, director of human performance at the U.S. Army Warrior Fitness Training Center. Deep REM sleep can lead to improved learning and memory, she said. “So, hypothetically, better dreams mean better sleep, and that equals better performance.”

For their research, Dr. Wamsley’s team hooked 48 students up to a polysomnography machine to measure sleep cycles and how often they were in a deep REM sleep. The students who took part in the study spent the night in a sleep lab.

The students were woken up multiple times during the night and asked to report what they were dreaming about.

In the morning, they were given their reports and asked to identify familiar features or potential sources for particular dreams. More than half the dreams were tied to a memory the students recalled. One-quarter of the dreams were related to specific upcoming events the students reported. And about 40% of the dreams with a future event in them also included memories of past experiences. This was more common the longer the students dreamed, the scientists explained.

And this was also more common later in the night, possibly because the dreamer is closer to waking and the anticipated event is approaching, Dr. Wamsley said.

Studying dreams is a tricky, subjective business and not always taken as seriously as other aspects of sleep and neuroscience because it involves questions of human consciousness itself, said Erik Hoel, PhD, a research assistant professor of neuroscience at Tufts University in Medford, Mass.

In a recent report published in Patterns, he suggested that our weirdest dreams help our brains process our day-to-day experiences in a way that enables deeper learning.

“This type of research is challenged by the method,” Dr. Hoel said.

In the Wamsley study, “waking people up from a deep sleep and asking them to recollect their dream content will only get you part of the experience because it fades so quickly.” That said, the value of connecting what happens as a result could be meaningful, he noted. For example, study participants could be asked whether their future event went as planned and whether they think the outcome was related to how well they “prepared” in their dreams.

Even then, it would still be a subjective analysis. But going in those directions might lead to meaningful new training, Dr. Hoel said.

And training yourself to recall only specific memories right before sleep might prepare your mind in a focused way for certain events, from giving a presentation to having a difficult conversation with someone, or maybe even winning at the Olympics.

A version of this article first appeared on WebMD.com.

Older adults, particularly postmenopausal women, are often advised to pursue low-impact, low-intensity exercise as a way to preserve joint health, but that approach might actually contribute to a decline in bone mineral density, researchers report.

Concerns about falls and fracture risk have led many clinicians to advise against higher-impact activities, like jumping, but that is exactly the type of activity that improves bone density and physical function, said Belinda Beck, PhD, professor at the Griffith University School of Allied Health Sciences in Southport, Australia.

“There has always been a quandary in terms of pursuing research on this,” she said in an interview. “We know from animal studies that bone only responds to high-intensity activity, but we worry about advising that for people with low bone mass, so instead we give them medications.”

“But not everyone likes to go on meds, they’re not 100% effective, and they’re not free of side effects,” said Beck, who is also the owner and director of The Bone Clinic in Brisbane, Australia.

In 2014, to assess whether high-intensity resistance and impact training (HiRIT) was a safe and effective way to improve bone mass, Beck and her colleagues conducted the LIFTMOR study of 101 postmenopausal women. The researchers showed that bone mineral density in the lumbar spine and femoral neck regions and functional performance measures were significantly better in the 49 participants randomized to HiRIT for 8 months than in the 52 randomized to low-intensity training.

Three years after the completion of LIFTMOR, the researchers looked at bone mineral density in 23 women from the HiRIT group in their retrospective observational study, the results of which were presented at the virtual American College of Sports Medicine 2020 Annual Meeting.

Ongoing gains were significantly better for the seven participants who continued with HiRIT (at least 25% compliance) than for the 16 who did not when looking at both bone mineral density of the lumbar spine (8.63% vs. 2.18%; P = .042) and femoral neck (3.67% vs. 2.85%; P = 0.14).

However, the women who discontinued HiRIT after 8 months maintained the gains in bone mineral density that they had achieved 3 years earlier.

Functional outcomes in the women who continued HiRIT were better than those in the women who did not, but the differences were not significant.

“The takeaway here is that this type of exercise appears to be a highly effective therapy to reduce risk of osteoporotic fracture, since it improves bone mass,” Beck said.

Jump more, lose less bone density

Given the widespread reluctance to suggest HiRIT-type activity to those with low bone mass, this research is significant, said Vanessa Yingling, PhD, from the Department of Kinesiology at California State University, East Bay.

“Once women hit 60, they’re somehow regarded as frail, but that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when we take this kinder, gentler approach to exercise,” Yingling said in an interview. “Building bone density in older adults is important, but maintaining current bone density is just as crucial. Without high-impact activity, we are likely to see decelerating density at a faster rate.”

The other key to the recent research is the functional testing, Yingling added. In addition to bone density measures, high-intensity activity can improve mobility and muscle strength, as the study noted.

This type of activity can be done in shorter bursts, making these workouts more efficient, she explained. For example, a Tabata high-intensity interval training session usually takes about 10 minutes, warm-up and cool-down included.

“A HiRIT workout even once or twice a week would likely improve function, strength, and bone density maintenance,” Beck said. “The result of that would be better fall prevention and potentially less medication usage for BMD issues.”

Both men and women can benefit from a HiRIT workout, Beck and Yingling said. Initially, supervision by a knowledgeable trainer or physical therapist is ideal, they added.

This article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Older adults, particularly postmenopausal women, are often advised to pursue low-impact, low-intensity exercise as a way to preserve joint health, but that approach might actually contribute to a decline in bone mineral density, researchers report.

Concerns about falls and fracture risk have led many clinicians to advise against higher-impact activities, like jumping, but that is exactly the type of activity that improves bone density and physical function, said Belinda Beck, PhD, professor at the Griffith University School of Allied Health Sciences in Southport, Australia.

“There has always been a quandary in terms of pursuing research on this,” she said in an interview. “We know from animal studies that bone only responds to high-intensity activity, but we worry about advising that for people with low bone mass, so instead we give them medications.”

“But not everyone likes to go on meds, they’re not 100% effective, and they’re not free of side effects,” said Beck, who is also the owner and director of The Bone Clinic in Brisbane, Australia.

In 2014, to assess whether high-intensity resistance and impact training (HiRIT) was a safe and effective way to improve bone mass, Beck and her colleagues conducted the LIFTMOR study of 101 postmenopausal women. The researchers showed that bone mineral density in the lumbar spine and femoral neck regions and functional performance measures were significantly better in the 49 participants randomized to HiRIT for 8 months than in the 52 randomized to low-intensity training.

Three years after the completion of LIFTMOR, the researchers looked at bone mineral density in 23 women from the HiRIT group in their retrospective observational study, the results of which were presented at the virtual American College of Sports Medicine 2020 Annual Meeting.

Ongoing gains were significantly better for the seven participants who continued with HiRIT (at least 25% compliance) than for the 16 who did not when looking at both bone mineral density of the lumbar spine (8.63% vs. 2.18%; P = .042) and femoral neck (3.67% vs. 2.85%; P = 0.14).

However, the women who discontinued HiRIT after 8 months maintained the gains in bone mineral density that they had achieved 3 years earlier.

Functional outcomes in the women who continued HiRIT were better than those in the women who did not, but the differences were not significant.

“The takeaway here is that this type of exercise appears to be a highly effective therapy to reduce risk of osteoporotic fracture, since it improves bone mass,” Beck said.

Jump more, lose less bone density

Given the widespread reluctance to suggest HiRIT-type activity to those with low bone mass, this research is significant, said Vanessa Yingling, PhD, from the Department of Kinesiology at California State University, East Bay.

“Once women hit 60, they’re somehow regarded as frail, but that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when we take this kinder, gentler approach to exercise,” Yingling said in an interview. “Building bone density in older adults is important, but maintaining current bone density is just as crucial. Without high-impact activity, we are likely to see decelerating density at a faster rate.”

The other key to the recent research is the functional testing, Yingling added. In addition to bone density measures, high-intensity activity can improve mobility and muscle strength, as the study noted.

This type of activity can be done in shorter bursts, making these workouts more efficient, she explained. For example, a Tabata high-intensity interval training session usually takes about 10 minutes, warm-up and cool-down included.

“A HiRIT workout even once or twice a week would likely improve function, strength, and bone density maintenance,” Beck said. “The result of that would be better fall prevention and potentially less medication usage for BMD issues.”

Both men and women can benefit from a HiRIT workout, Beck and Yingling said. Initially, supervision by a knowledgeable trainer or physical therapist is ideal, they added.

This article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Older adults, particularly postmenopausal women, are often advised to pursue low-impact, low-intensity exercise as a way to preserve joint health, but that approach might actually contribute to a decline in bone mineral density, researchers report.

Concerns about falls and fracture risk have led many clinicians to advise against higher-impact activities, like jumping, but that is exactly the type of activity that improves bone density and physical function, said Belinda Beck, PhD, professor at the Griffith University School of Allied Health Sciences in Southport, Australia.

“There has always been a quandary in terms of pursuing research on this,” she said in an interview. “We know from animal studies that bone only responds to high-intensity activity, but we worry about advising that for people with low bone mass, so instead we give them medications.”

“But not everyone likes to go on meds, they’re not 100% effective, and they’re not free of side effects,” said Beck, who is also the owner and director of The Bone Clinic in Brisbane, Australia.

In 2014, to assess whether high-intensity resistance and impact training (HiRIT) was a safe and effective way to improve bone mass, Beck and her colleagues conducted the LIFTMOR study of 101 postmenopausal women. The researchers showed that bone mineral density in the lumbar spine and femoral neck regions and functional performance measures were significantly better in the 49 participants randomized to HiRIT for 8 months than in the 52 randomized to low-intensity training.

Three years after the completion of LIFTMOR, the researchers looked at bone mineral density in 23 women from the HiRIT group in their retrospective observational study, the results of which were presented at the virtual American College of Sports Medicine 2020 Annual Meeting.

Ongoing gains were significantly better for the seven participants who continued with HiRIT (at least 25% compliance) than for the 16 who did not when looking at both bone mineral density of the lumbar spine (8.63% vs. 2.18%; P = .042) and femoral neck (3.67% vs. 2.85%; P = 0.14).

However, the women who discontinued HiRIT after 8 months maintained the gains in bone mineral density that they had achieved 3 years earlier.

Functional outcomes in the women who continued HiRIT were better than those in the women who did not, but the differences were not significant.

“The takeaway here is that this type of exercise appears to be a highly effective therapy to reduce risk of osteoporotic fracture, since it improves bone mass,” Beck said.

Jump more, lose less bone density

Given the widespread reluctance to suggest HiRIT-type activity to those with low bone mass, this research is significant, said Vanessa Yingling, PhD, from the Department of Kinesiology at California State University, East Bay.

“Once women hit 60, they’re somehow regarded as frail, but that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when we take this kinder, gentler approach to exercise,” Yingling said in an interview. “Building bone density in older adults is important, but maintaining current bone density is just as crucial. Without high-impact activity, we are likely to see decelerating density at a faster rate.”

The other key to the recent research is the functional testing, Yingling added. In addition to bone density measures, high-intensity activity can improve mobility and muscle strength, as the study noted.

This type of activity can be done in shorter bursts, making these workouts more efficient, she explained. For example, a Tabata high-intensity interval training session usually takes about 10 minutes, warm-up and cool-down included.

“A HiRIT workout even once or twice a week would likely improve function, strength, and bone density maintenance,” Beck said. “The result of that would be better fall prevention and potentially less medication usage for BMD issues.”

Both men and women can benefit from a HiRIT workout, Beck and Yingling said. Initially, supervision by a knowledgeable trainer or physical therapist is ideal, they added.

This article first appeared on Medscape.com.