‘Sober curious’ lifestyle rises in popularity with younger generations: Where to begin the booze-free landscape
(NEW YORK) — The catalyst for drinking less, or not at all, is unique for each individual but can range from physical health reasons to mental clarity. But whatever the motivation, the ‘sober curious’ movement is becoming more mainstream, especially among young adults.
The topic and trend was recently highlighted on the newest season of Emily in Paris, in which the title character explains that mostly Gen Z and millennials who adopt a wellness approach to their relationship with alcohol, though perhaps not fully sober, have started to explore not drinking.
“You might not be 100% sober, but you are interested in drinking less,” Hilary Sheinbaum, author of the Going Dry workbook and guide to drinking less, told Good Morning America.
A study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2020 found that alcohol abstinence is becoming increasingly common among Gen Z, with 28% of college students reporting in 2018 that they did not drink alcohol, compared to 20% of respondents in 2002.
Alcohol-free alternatives have become even more accessible in recent years, as GMA first reported in 2022 as we emerged from the pandemic and the market was booming with new options, from nonalcoholic spiritless retail shops to more accommodating high-quality booze-free options outside of the traditional sugary mocktails.
“There are nonalcoholic beers, wines, and [non-alcoholic] spirits on restaurant and bar menus, even at hotels and resorts, and now in airplanes and even airline lounges. They are everywhere,” Sheinbaum said.
One Dallas-based content creator, Avon Nguyen, told GMA that cutting back on alcohol has also helped her financially.
“If I’m going to choose between drinking a $22 drink or paying rent, I’m probably gonna pay rent,” she explained.
Fitness influencer Kendall Toole, a former Peloton instructor turned podcast host, told GMA she’s seen positive improvements in her physical and mental health since she departed from drinking.
“The most notable shifts that I’ve seen on my health were one, the ability to get deep, restful sleep – [and two], my anxiety was not as profound and as adamant as it was previous.”
Unlike celebrities or athletes bottling tequilas, whiskey or other booze, Toole – who’s been open about her passion for wellness and mental health – opted to plant her flag in a clean energy and protein beverage, Don’t Quit, that better reflects her own journey and values.
For others looking to switch up what they sip and start dipping their toe into the sober curious journey, Sheinbaum emphasized how easy it is to do at home.
“One household item that is easy to mix with for a mocktail is orange juice,” she said. “You can make non-alcoholic mimosas with orange juice and non-alcoholic sparkling wine. It’s as easy as that.”
Check out these bartender-approved recipes to make more delicious, spirit-free sips for your next night in or sober soiree.
(NEW YORK) — Deaths from dementia have tripled in just 21 years, according to a new study published in The Primary Care Companion for CNS Disorders.
In 1999, about 150,000 Americans died from dementia, according to the study. By 2020, that number had tripled to over 450,000.
The chances of dying from dementia increased among every demographic group studied, according to study author Mohsan Ali, a physician with the King Edward Medical University in Pakistan.
Tripling of dementia deaths
Dementia is defined by the National Institute on Aging as “the loss of cognitive functioning — thinking, remembering, and reasoning — and behavioral abilities to such an extent that it interferes with a person’s daily life and activities.” The reason it is increasingly the cause of death could be because people are living longer or getting diagnosed earlier, according to Ali.
“Age is the most significant risk factor for dementia,” Ali said. However, the increased prevalence of chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity may also be contributing factors, he added.
Women, Black adults, and people living in rural communities showed the greatest increase in dementia deaths, the study found.
“While the increased rates in women may be because women live longer than men, there may be biological and genetic factors that make women more susceptible to dementia,” Ali noted. “Rural areas face a higher burden of dementia-related mortality due to several factors. These include limited access to healthcare services, fewer specialists in dementia care, and reduced availability of support services.”
Black adults had the highest death rate, followed by non-Hispanic white adults, and then Hispanic adults.
Fresh insights on dementia prevention
By 2050, the number of people with dementia will double in the U.S. to over 10.5 million and triple globally to over 150 million, the British medical journal The Lancet forecast in 2022. Yet despite these alarming statistics, experts say the average person has some control over their cognitive health.
“I am most excited about advances in dementia prevention, because we are learning about a number of lifestyle modifications that are both accessible to most of us and effective,” Leah Croll, MD, neurologist at Maimonides Health in New York, told ABC News.
Up to 45% of dementia cases may be preventable by addressing 14 modifiable risk factors, according to the Lancet Commission on Dementia.
Lifestyle factors that increased the chances of a dementia diagnosis include less education, head injury, physical inactivity, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, hearing loss, depression, social isolation, vision loss, and exposure to air pollution in older life.
“Staying up-to-date with your primary care visits, being diligent about your medications pays dividends over and over for your brain health,” Croll emphasized.
Dementia diagnosis and treatment today
Early detection and diagnosis is key to addressing dementia, according to experts.
Dementia is generally diagnosed with a combination of cognitive testing, brain imaging, and sampling the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that surrounds the brain and spinal cord and checking it for levels of dementia-related proteins.
Because some of these tests may not be readily available in some areas and can be expensive, researchers have been working on more accessible screening methods. For example, a recent study found that a blood test for Alzheimer’s disease, which is the most common type of dementia, may be as accurate at detecting Alzheimer disease as CSF sampling. However, the blood test is still in early phases of study.
In addition to ongoing research for diagnostics, there are new FDA-approved treatments for early Alzheimer’s dementia, when the symptoms are still relatively mild.
“Right now, it seems that these drugs modestly slow down the progression of disease, but they do not stop it, so it’s unclear how they will impact morbidity and mortality,” Croll cautions.
Overall, Croll believes that patients and families affected by dementia should feel hopeful about the future: “In many ways, dementia is one of the final frontiers in medicine, and we are finally starting to crack the code,” she said.
Noor Shaik, MD, PhD, is a neurology resident physician and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
(NEW YORK) — A new study of common baby foods sampled from grocery stores in the United States found that roughly two-thirds did not meet standards for healthy baby food set by the World Health Organization.
Researchers who led the study, published Wednesday in the journal Nutrients, said parents should be aware that although more convenient, packaged baby food should be eaten in moderation.
When possible financially and practically, kids’ diets should consist of whole foods, including grains, fruits and vegetables.
For the study, researchers looked at data on more than 600 infant and toddler food products sold in the top 10 grocery store chains in the U.S.
The products analyzed are intended for children ages 6 to 36 months, according to the study.
Of the more than 600 products, 70% did not meet protein requirements set by the WHO, and 25% failed to meet calorie recommendations.
When it came to sugar content, 44% of products exceeded sugar requirements and 74% contained added sugar or sweeteners, according to the study.
In addition, the study found that all of the products had at least one claim on their packaging that did not meet WHO standards.
Products that came in snack-size packaging were found by researchers to have the lowest nutritional compliance.
“These findings highlight that urgent work is needed to improve the nutritional quality of commercially produced infant and toddler foods in the United States,” the researchers wrote.
Emphasis on fresh, whole foods for kids
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that caregivers start to introduce solid foods to infants around 6 months of age.
Infants and toddlers should have no added sugars in their diets, including in drinks, according to the USDA.
As with adults, it’s important that kids eat a variety of foods, with an emphasis on foods that are non-processed.
For grains, the USDA recommends that parents and caregivers look closely at ingredient lists for words like “whole wheat flour” and “whole grain.”
Vegetables are important to vary and can be served to toddlers and infants in a variety of ways, including roasted, steamed or mashed, according to the USDA.
Fruits can be served to infants and toddlers fresh, frozen or canned, but should also include no added sugar, according to the USDA.
USDA guidelines also say foods high in sodium should be limited for infants and toddlers.
(NEW YORK) — As mosquito season continues, public health officials in the U.S. have been tracking several different illnesses caused by the pesky flying insect.
Health officials are reporting at least eighteen deaths from West Nile virus in the U.S. this year, with three recent deaths recorded in Wisconsin and Illinois. There have been six cases of eastern equine encephalitis (EEE), including one person who died after testing positive for the virus, as well as dengue cases recorded in several states. The viruses that cause all three illnesses are transmitted to humans via mosquito bite.
“What we’ve seen is a rapid uptake in certain viruses that haven’t been in the limelight in recent years. Both West Nile virus and ‘triple E,’ which is eastern equine encephalitis, have had an uptick, particularly post-COVID,” Dr. Larry Han, an assistant professor of public health and health sciences at Northeastern University in Boston, told ABC News.
“There’s also been a rise in dengue relative to what we’ve seen in recent years. And so, these ‘triple threats,’ you might say, have led to more attention and more worry among the general populace.”
Experts who spoke with ABC News said some of the uptick is due to the “randomness” regarding which seasons have a greater number of cases than others, coupled with the general rise in mosquito-borne viruses during the summer and early fall months.
Here are some ways to tell the difference between West Nile, EEE, and dengue. However, if you’re concerned you might have contracted any of these viruses, you should contact your doctor immediately.
How common are West Nile, EEE and dengue?
West Nile virus is the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the contiguous United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It was first identified in the Western Hemisphere in August 1999 after people were diagnosed in New York City.
Dengue viruses are spread through bites from infected Aedes species mosquitoes, mostly found in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, according to the CDC. These mosquitoes are also responsible for spreading Zika and chikungunya viruses.
“It would be very rare to see dengue cases unless you lived in more tropical climates, so you might see this in Florida, some Southern states along the East Coast, but, for example, you would nearly never see this in Massachusetts or in the Midwest or West,” Han said.
Comparatively, EEE is quite rare, with only a few cases reported in the U.S. every year. However, similar to dengue, most cases occur in the Eastern or Gulf Coast states, according to the CDC.
What are the symptoms?
The majority of people with West Nile virus do not present with symptoms, but about one in five will experience fever along with headaches, body aches, joint pain, diarrhea, vomiting, or a rash. Symptoms typically disappear in a week or less for most people but weakness and fatigue may last for weeks or months. For some people, however, the disease can progress to something far more concerning.
“About one out of 150 of those people that develop signs and symptoms can actually develop a more severe disease, like West Nile encephalitis, where we have the swelling of the brain that could potentially be fatal,” Dr. Thomas Duszynski, director of epidemiology education at the Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, told ABC News.
Similarly, about one in four people who contract dengue develop symptoms lasting two to seven days, but symptoms are usually mild and may include fever, rash, nausea, vomiting, muscle pain, joint pain and bone pain.
Duszynski explained that most U.S. dengue cases are typically seen among people who contract it while traveling abroad, where dengue is endemic or where cases are more common, and who then bring the virus back to the U.S. Because dengue’s symptoms are not specific to the virus, they’re often confused with other illnesses, according to the CDC.
Most people who are infected with EEE show either mild symptoms or no symptoms at all, according to the CDC. However, severe cases typically present with fever, headache, chills and vomiting.
Like West Nile virus, EEE also can progress to a more severe condition, like encephalitis or meningitis, the latter of which is swelling of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. Many survivors can experience ongoing neurologic problems, including convulsions, paralysis and intellectual disability. About 30% of encephalitis cases caused by EEE result in death.
“I think the mortality risk if one were to contract dengue or West Nile virus would be very low. For EEE, it’s the opposite; it’s very high,” Han said.
Treatments and vaccines
There are no disease-specific treatments for any of the viruses. The CDC recommends rest, fluids, and over-the-counter medications to relieve symptoms. Patients with severe illness often need to be hospitalized and receive additional supportive treatments, such as intravenous fluids.
There also are no vaccines available for West Nile or EEE. However, a dengue vaccine is available in the U.S. and is FDA approved for children between ages 9 and 16 who have a laboratory-confirmed previous dengue virus infection and who live in areas where dengue is endemic.
The vaccine also is available in Puerto Rico and is part of the territory’s routine childhood immunization schedule, the CDC said.
Dengue can be caused by dengue virus strains 1, 2, 3 or 4, with a person being infected multiple times over the course of their life, Duszynski told ABC News, so a vaccine may be able to help prevent infection from a different strain.
“If I got infected with one strain, if I get bit by this mosquito with the same strain, I’m probably going to be okay,’ he said. “But it’s those three other strains that are out there that … I could get infected with even though I had strain 1.”
How to best protect yourself from infection
There are no differences when it comes to protecting yourself from dengue, EEE or West Nile virus, the experts told ABC News. Prevention methods include using effective mosquito repellents, wearing long-sleeve shirts and long pants when outside, and staying in places with air conditioning, when possible. The CDC also recommends emptying containers of still or stagnant water, to eliminate places where mosquitos can breed.
“The single deadliest [animal] to the human species has been the mosquito,” Han said. “So, while we might think of sharks or we might think of lions or tigers, it’s really the mosquito that has led to the devastation of the human population multiple times throughout history.”
“I’m not saying that we should kill off all mosquitoes, because they play an important role in ecology, but there are various new techniques and strategies people are thinking about to combat mosquito-borne viruses and illnesses,” Han continued. “I’m hopeful that we can make mosquito borne viruses less of a threat to humanity.”