Roundup: Just 28% of Adults Meet Both Aerobic, Muscle-Strengthening Guidelines; CDC Warns Against Using This Brand of OTC Eye Drops; and More News

Less Than One-Third of U.S. Adults Meet Both Aerobic, Muscle-Strengthening Exercise Guidelines

Only 28 percent of Americans met both aerobic and muscle-strengthening guidelines set by U.S. public health officials, and the amount of exercise depended largely on people’s geographic location and whether they lived in a rural or urban area, according to new research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC reported that only 16 percent of people living outside of cities are meeting the exercise guidelines, compared to 28 percent of residents in the largest metropolitan areas. The lowest percentages were found in the South (22 percent of adults), the CDC said. The West was the most active region with 28.5 percent of adults meeting both aerobic and muscle-strengthening benchmarks.

About 47 percent of adults across the U.S. reported meeting either the aerobic exercise guidelines or the muscle-strengthening guidelines -- but not both, said the CDC.

Researchers reviewed data from the most recently available 2020 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) to determine if adults were meeting the guidelines across U.S. regions, and in urban vs. rural areas. The CDC states that the NHIS is a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults “that includes annual multistage, cross-sectional household surveys conducted by CDC.” The CDC cautions that the NHIS data was collected during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, “which has affected health behaviors such as physical activity.”

Regular exercise, or staying physically active, can reduce a person’s risk for most chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. “The healthful effects of physical activity on a multitude of physical and mental health outcomes are well documented,” the CDC states in its findings. “Regardless of rural-urban classification and region, no more than 28% of adults met combined aerobic and muscle-strengthening guidelines.”

Both the CDC and the American Heart Association recommend at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity, or a combination of both, preferably spread throughout the week. They also recommend moderate- to high-intensity muscle-strengthening activity (such as resistance or weights) on at least two days per week.

Moderate exercise includes any activity that gets the heart beating faster, such as brisk walking. Muscle strengthening includes anything that makes muscles work harder than usual.

CDC Urges Clinicians, Consumers to Stop Using This Brand of Over-the-Counter Eye Drops

Healthcare providers and patients should “immediately discontinue” the use of a specific brand of over-the-counter eye drops after an ongoing investigation found that one person has died and at least three others were left with permanent vision loss because of a bacterial infection, states the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Most of those affected reported using preservative-free EzriCare Artificial Tears, the CDC reported in a statement published by the American Academy of Ophthalmology. "Global Pharma Healthcare is voluntarily recalling all lots within expiry of their Artificial Tears Lubricant Eye Drops, distributed by EzriCare, LLC and Delsam Pharma, to the consumer level, due to possible contamination," says a statement published by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Thus far, CDC researchers have identified at least 50 people in 11 states, including Florida, with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a type of bacterium resistant to most antibiotics. Cases have been reported in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Texas, Utah and Washington.

The CDC said findings were based on samples taken from patients in hospitals and outpatient clinics between May 2022 and December 2022. Eleven developed eye infections, with at least three individuals suffering blindness in one eye. Others had respiratory infections or urinary tract infections. One person died when the bacterium entered the patient's bloodstream.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa can cause infections in the blood, lungs (pneumonia), or other parts of the body, said the CDC. These bacteria are “constantly finding new ways to avoid the effects of the antibiotics used to treat the infections they cause,” the CDC states.

EzriCare, the maker of EzriCare Artificial Tears, put out a statement saying that it is cooperating with public health officials and adhering to the CDC’s recommendation. “In an abundance of caution, EzriCare recommends that during this evolving situation you DISCONTINUE USE of any portions of EzriCare Artificial Tears Lubricant Eye Drops you may have until we can discover more details about any potential safety concerns.”

Head Injuries Linked to a Two-Fold Higher Risk of Early Death in the Long-Term, Researchers Find

Research covering a 30-year period found that adults who suffered any head injury during the study period had two times the rate of mortality – or risk of an early death - than those who did not have any head injury, according to a study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania published in JAMA Neurology

Additionally, researchers found that mortality rates among those with “moderate or severe head injuries” were nearly three times higher.

In the U.S., an estimated 23 million adults, age 40 or older, have reported a history of head injury with loss of consciousness. Such injuries can be linked to a range of causes, from motor vehicle crashes, unintentional falls, or sports injuries. Previous research has linked head injuries to a number of long-term health conditions, including disability, late-onset epilepsy, dementia and stroke.

“This longitudinal study evaluated 30 years of data from over 13,000 community-dwelling participants (those not hospitalized or living in nursing home facilities) to determine if head injury has an impact on mortality rates,” states a news release from the Perelman School of Medicine. The findings: 18.4 percent of the participants reported one or more head injuries during the study period, and of those who suffered a head injury, 12.4 percent were recorded as moderate or severe. The median period of time between a head injury and death was 4.7 years.

Researchers found that the mortality rate from all-causes among participants with a head injury was 2.21 times higher than among those with no head injury. The mortality rate among those with more severe head injuries was 2.87 times the mortality rate compared to those with no injury.

“Our data reveals that head injury is associated with increased mortality rates even long-term. This is particularly the case for individuals with multiple or severe head injuries,” explained the study’s lead author, Holly Elser, M.D., a Neurology resident at Penn Medicine, in a statement. “This highlights the importance of safety measures, like wearing helmets and seatbelts, to prevent head injuries.”

Investigators found that nearly two-thirds of neurologic causes of death were attributed to neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

“Study data doesn’t explain why the cause of death in individuals with head injuries is more likely to be from neurodegenerative diseases, which underscores the need for further research into the relationship between these disorders, head injury, and death,” said Andrea L.C. Schneider, M.D., an assistant professor of Neurology at Penn, in a statement.

Study’s data was derived from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study, an ongoing community-based study of 15,792 participants aged 45–65 years, who were recruited from the suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Washington County, Maryland, Forsyth County, North Carolina, and Jackson, Mississippi in 1987–1989.