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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday said it was proposing a rule to allow the use of salt substitutes in everyday foods including cheese, frozen peas and canned tuna, in a bid to cut Americans' salt consumption. The FDA had in 2021 set a new voluntary goal for manufacturers and chain restaurants to cut salt levels by an average of 12% in packaged foods, because excessive salt consumption has been linked to high blood pressure, a leading cause of heart attack and stroke. (3/24)

Alzheimer’s is a disease of the brain, usually diagnosed through MRI scans and a battery of other tests. Researchers, however, have found that the human eye can show early signals of this common form of dementia long before symptoms become apparent. Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, led the study, which was published in the journal Acta Neuropathologica last month. (Rudy, 3/24)

In 2018, the Scottish government made drinks more expensive if it contained more alcohol. It was an effort to reduce drinking in Scotland, which has the highest rate of death due to alcohol consumption in the United Kingdom. Now in a study published this week, Scottish public health officials reported its minimum unit pricing policy was associated with a 13% reduction in deaths from alcohol consumption since it was implemented. (Rodriguez, 3/25)

Just before Christmas, federal health officials confirmed life expectancy in America had dropped for a nearly unprecedented second year in a row – down to 76 years. While countries all over the world saw life expectancy rebound during the second year of the pandemic after the arrival of vaccines, the U.S. did not. Then, last week, more bad news: Maternal mortality in the U.S. reached a high in 2021. Also, a paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association found rising mortality rates among U.S. children and adolescents. (Simmons-Duffin, 3/25)

Feeling dissatisfied and lonely? You might want to snag tickets to a few of your favorite team’s games. New research connects viewing live sporting events with higher levels of life satisfaction and lower levels of loneliness — and researchers say live sporting events could be used to improve public health. (Blakemore, 3/26)

Smelling other people’s sweat might not seem like a desirable activity, yet a new study from Sweden suggests that exposure to body odor could be an alternative therapy for social anxiety. The study’s findings were presented at the European Congress of Psychiatry, held from Aug. 25-Aug. 28 in Paris. (Rudy, 3/26)

Some of the momentum behind un-grading is in response to growing concerns about student mental health. The number of college students with one or more mental health problems has doubled since 2013, according to a study by researchers at Boston University and elsewhere. Teenagers said that the pressure to get good grades was their biggest cause of stress, a 2019 survey by the Pew Research Center found. (Marcus, 3/26)

It was an ordinary day in an Armenian city three years ago when Latter-day Saint missionary Jaxon Washburn suddenly felt overcome by a kind of existential dread and a terrifying thought: “I don’t want to be here anymore.” And by here, he meant alive. (Fletcher Stack, 3/25)

KHN: When College Athletes Kill Themselves, Healing The Team Becomes The Next Goal

In the weeks after Stanford University soccer goalie Katie Meyer, 22, died by suicide last March, her grieving teammates were inseparable even when not training. Coaches adjusted practices to give the athletes time and space to make sense of losing their friend and team captain. They offered to cancel the spring season, but the players declined, said Melissa Charloe, who started as a Stanford assistant women’s soccer coach the day Meyer died. “It’s hard because there’s no playbook on how to do this,” Charloe said. (Waldman, 3/27)