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Children who are exposed to tobacco smoke have a greater chance of having high blood pressure, a new study has found. Researchers found 6% of children who were exposed to tobacco smoke had high blood pressure compared to 4% in children who weren't exposed, according to a study published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open. (Marples, 2/25)

Nearly four years after traces of chemicals believed to cause health problems in children and reproductive issues in adults were found in mass-market macaroni and cheese packets, Annie’s Homegrown has begun working with its suppliers to eliminate the offending material from their food processing equipment. The presence of the chemicals, called ortho-phthalates, rattled consumers who rely on the food staple, especially parents. Phthalates make rigid plastic more flexible material and are commonly used in tubing and conveyor belts found at food manufacturing plants and in food packaging. (Corkery, 2/19)

You can’t turn on the TV, open a paper, surf the Internet or enter the grocery store these days without hearing or reading something about antimicrobial this or antibacterial that. Soaps, sprays, wipes, food containers and fabrics are just some of the items that promise germ-fighting superpowers. Now there is another product to add to the list: paint. ... As promising as these paints sound, there are critics, including those who say that regardless of the paint’s ability to kill bacteria, it could focus people’s energy in the wrong direction. “I don’t think antimicrobial paints are the key to preventing the spread of disease,” says Erica Marie Hartmann, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northwestern University. “Specifically, in the context of covid-19, evidence points to viruses in the air being the main way the disease spreads. Paints won’t help with that.” (Mayhew, 2/24)

A new book makes the case that sperm counts have been falling for decades — and a major reason is chemicals in the environment that disrupt the body's hormonal system. ... What's happening: In 2017, Mt. Sinai Medical School epidemiologist Shanna Swan co-authored a sweeping meta-analysis that came to a startling conclusion: Total sperm count in the Western world had fallen 59% between 1973 and 2011. (Walsh, 2/24)

The serious lower leg injuries Tiger Woods sustained in a car crash on Tuesday typically lead to a long and perilous recovery, calling into question his ability to play professional golf again, according to medical experts who have treated similar injuries. Athletes with severe leg injuries thought to doom their careers have managed to come back — the quarterback Alex Smith returned to playing football last season after a gruesome leg break, and the golfer Ben Hogan returned decades ago after a car accident. (Kolata, 2/24)

An empathy-focused telephone program was associated with reduced loneliness, depression, and anxiety in 120 Meals on Wheels Central Texas clients, according to a study published yesterday in JAMA Psychiatry. From Jul 6 to Sep 24, 2020, the researchers had 120 people receive daily telephone calls for the first 5 days and then, depending on preference, at least twice a week for a total of 4 weeks. After the first 5 days, 58.3% of the intervention group chose to continue the daily calls, followed by 22.5% choosing twice a week. The 120 people in the control group received no calls. (2/24)

The brain is an electrical organ. Everything that goes on in there is a result of millivolts zipping from one neuron to another in particular patterns. This raises the tantalizing possibility that, should we ever decode those patterns, we could electrically adjust them to treat neurological dysfunction — from Alzheimer’s to schizophrenia — or even optimize desirable qualities like intelligence and resilience. Of course, the brain is so complex, and so difficult to access, that this is much easier to imagine than to do. A pair of studies published in January in the journal Nature Medicine, however, demonstrate that electrical stimulation can address obsessive-compulsive urges and symptoms of depression with surprising speed and precision. (Tingley, 2/24)