Researchers are teaming up to study osteoarthritic pain in horses — and better understand how pain manifests in both humans and animals.
Osteoarthritis is a debilitating condition traditionally defined by the breakdown of cartilage — though nowadays, science recognizes it as a disease that can affect the joint in its entirety.
But when it comes to studying arthritis-related pain, some roadblocks appear: Namely, the extent of joint degeneration does not always correspond with the level of pain patients experience. This mismatch complicates the development of effective solutions for pain.
But similar to people, horses with osteoarthritis experience a progression of the disease over several years — and also mirror the variety of ways pain associated with the condition can manifest in human patients.
By studying pain in horses, a team of University of Florida researchers hope to revolutionize the understanding and treatment of osteoarthritis pain by leveraging equine patients to model pain reports.
In short, the project aims to create well-validated ways to measure pain that will help researchers develop non-opioid painkilling therapies, addressing a critical technological gap in pain assessment and management.
A National Institutes of Health grant supporting the study relies on the multifaceted expertise of its researchers, who come from veterinary science, engineering, dentistry and agricultural sciences.
At the end of the day, humans have relied on horses for hundreds of years — maybe it’s only natural we’d both be experiencing knee pain. Perhaps it’s also fitting that animals’ creaky knees might help us learn how to live with our own.

Here’s a nutritional treat you don’t have to go to the supermarket to buy. Just stroll through your yard.
It’s got six legs, hops, and it’s more challenging to catch than a hamburger.
We are talking, of course, about grasshoppers.
A study recently published in the journal Food Science of Animal Products suggests that the common insect could improve sleep quality, hair health, and even lead to an improved love life.
This isn’t avant-garde scientific experimentation. With an ever-increasing world population, food shortages are a significant concern for the future. Grasshoppers are already a food source in some regions, including Africa and South America. At times, the price of grasshoppers has exceeded beef. Some consider the insect a delicacy.
In countries like Uganda and Kenya, grasshopper farming is a lucrative business.
The scientists in this study put rats on a grasshopper diet and compared them to control groups who were not fed the insects. The insect-munching rats saw improvement in several measures of health.
Their sleep patterns changed, with the rats getting an extra 12 hours a week of shut-eye. They maintained a healthier body weight. Researchers also recorded an astonishing improvement in hair quality. Nearly 95% of the rats had excellent hair health.
Just 5% of rats on a fishmeal diet and less than 1% on a no-protein diet boasted identical outstanding bobs.
And the hopper rats had sex more often.
What makes insect food attractive is its small environmental footprint. It’s a sustainable food in a world threatened by climate change and crop loss.
And many people love their flavor, especially with a chili powder dip.

From Friday night lights to Sunday afternoons and everywhere in between, football is on televisions across the country once again this fall.
But this season in the National Football League, you might notice a difference in the helmets some players sport during games.
For the first time in the NFL regular season, players can wear a soft-shell covering on helmets. Called a Guardian Cap, the protective covering slips over a player’s hard helmet.
After years of testing, the NFL recommended Guardian Caps in 2020 to team physicians, head athletic trainers, and equipment managers. Since 2022, the NFL has mandated that players wear Guardian Caps in practices with contact during the preseason, regular season, and playoffs.
At the high school and college levels, football produces more head injuries than any other sport. The covering’s maker says its product reduces injuries on the field. According to NFL research, the cap absorbs at least 10% of the force of a hit.
Other independent researchers remain skeptical about whether the covering reduces the force a player experiences. Seven players from the NFL have sported the new helmets this season and they are in use in some college football programs in the U.S.
For parents trying to prepare their kids for youth football, experts recommend choosing a good helmet before thinking about a Guardian Cap.
While there is no harm in adding the soft-shelled covering, there is a cost. Guardian Caps cost about $70. The models the NFL uses are $125.
So, wherever your field or game, make sure you study your options about head protection. Then you can get your head in the game.

Fantasy football players, it might be time to face a hard truth: Your relationship with the game may have the potential to significantly damage your mental health.
A new study has found that increased investment in this seemingly harmless hobby leads to more intense emotional highs and more extreme emotional lows.
In fantasy football, participants act as owners and managers of virtual teams. Competitors draft their teams and points are awarded in weekly matchups based on the outcomes of real-world competition. It is often played for money.
Researchers from Australia and the U.K. recruited 635 fantasy football players from social media and fantasy sport websites. Participants were quizzed about things like their financial investments in the game, how long they had played, and the number of leagues they played in.
Researchers assessed participants’ mental health using scales that measure depression, anxiety, stress, mood, functional impairment, and problematic behavior.
They found that those who were more engaged, played for higher money amounts, and were more invested in rankings reported higher positive moods — but also higher levels of anxiety, stress, bad moods, and problematic behavior.
Participants in multiple leagues had more positive moods but more problematic behavior compared with less-active fantasy players. Overall, players more caught up in results and rankings experienced worse mental health outcomes across all measures. The opposite was true for less-engaged players.
Bottom line: Like any pleasurable activity, it’s probably a good idea to enjoy fantasy football in moderation.

Exercise. We all know it’s important. We all know it offers benefits for both physical and mental health.
In fact, the Department of Health and Human Services recommends that American adults should get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week.
Still, many of us still struggle to find time for exercise in the hustle and bustle of our daily grind. And conventional knowledge has held that for exercise to really be effective, it should be done on a regular schedule, multiple times through the week.
A recent study is bucking the idea that one needs to exercise four to five times per week — or more — to see real benefits.
The study, which analyzed data from nearly 90,000 participants, showed that those who only exercise on weekends reaped similar health benefits as those who exercise more regularly.
Those who only exercised on weekends and those who exercised through the week both were at a lower risk for over 200 diseases compared with their more sedentary peers.
Whether the weekend exercisers packed it all into one day or spread it over two days, if they reached the suggested 150 minutes in total, they got the benefits.
Among exercise’s benefits are lowered risk for cardiometabolic conditions, such as heart attack, stroke and diabetes. Not to mention a lower risk of cancer, depression and high-blood pressure.
So don’t let the idea of a regular exercise routine become a hurdle to achieving good health. No matter how you hit the 150-minute mark of moderate intensity physical activity each week, you’ll be doing your best to stave off 200 diseases.
Weekend warriors, we salute you.

Those suffering from dry eye disease might want to consider adding a stand-up comedy show to their calendar. A new study suggests laughter could be just as effective as artificial tears in treating dry eyes.
Chinese researchers studied 299 participants ages 18 to 45 with dry eye disease, assigning half of them to a laughter exercise intervention and half to an artificial tear regimen.
Those in the laughter group were asked to repeat specific phrases like “hee, hee, hee” and “hah, hah, hah” aloud 30 times during five-minute sessions to simulate laughter. Participants were also told to exaggerate their facial expressions and squint their eyes to contract the muscles used when laughing.
Participants in the artificial tear group served as the control. Both groups performed the exercise or took the eye drops four times a day for eight weeks.
Researchers found that the laughter-exercise group saw a decrease in eye discomfort that rivaled the artificial tears group. The laughers experienced a 10.5-point drop on the ocular surface disease index, a zero-to-100 scale that measures eye discomfort.
The artificial tears group experienced an 8.83-point drop, suggesting the laughter exercise was just as effective.
And, the benefits of laughter appeared to last longer. Participants in the laughter group improved up to four weeks after the study ended, while the artificial tears group saw declining improvement.
Researchers think laughter works because it activates eye muscles, stimulates the nervous system, and helps prevent tear evaporation.
In short: The cure to dry-eye discomfort may be as simple as a joke book or some funny friends.

While beautiful flowers and plants can add vibrancy and interest to a garden, many of these can also cause harm to your pets if ingested. Because animals explore the world with their mouths, it’s important to ensure your garden and your yard are free of plants that could cause gastrointestinal upset or even death. For example, sago palms are common household and landscaping plants that be lethal if ingested, even in small quantities as all parts of the plants are toxic. On this show, Dr. Chris Martyniuk, a toxicologist, will discuss what plants to be wary of or eliminate if your animals spend any time outdoors.

Watching a family member grow older and begin to decline physically or mentally can be heartbreaking. It can also be extremely frustrating for the person in decline.
One fall can be devastating and life-changing. As we age, our bodies don’t bounce back as quickly as they once did.
A recent study shows that fall injuries can also be an early indicator of cognitive decline.
Boston-area researchers looked at Medicare data for more than 2.4 million adults 66 years and older who experienced a traumatic injury between 2014 and 2015. The adults who had a fall were notably more likely to receive a dementia diagnosis within a year of the fall. Those with other types of injuries were not as likely to receive a dementia diagnosis.
After accounting for age, injury severity, and preexisting health conditions, those who fell were 21% more likely to be diagnosed with dementia.
The researchers suggested the link may be due to the person having undiagnosed dementia that is only discovered after the fall. They may also have mild cognitive impairment, which can be a precursor to dementia, which increases their risk of falling.
While dementia is not a curable condition, an early diagnosis can open doors to treatment and resources for the person affected as well as their friends and family members.
The scientists recommend a more widespread approach to preventing falls and post-fall care for older adults, as well as more clinicians who can provide comprehensive care.
Ultimately, having as much information as possible as early as possible is key to helping the elderly stay safe and comfortable as they age.

As the days shorten and our yearning for caffeine increases, you might find yourself hoping some study or other will give you a hearty congratulations on your ability to cut your coffee consumption off at about three cups.

Today, you’re in luck — researchers from the Endocrine Society have good news for coffee lovers.

Their team found that moderate intake of coffee or caffeine was linked to a lower risk of new-onset cardiometabolic multimorbidity, or the simultaneous existence of at least two preventable, often chronic types of disease.

Known for short as CM, the condition is becoming more prevalent around the world as populations age, and can include diseases like Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Think of them as the illnesses that can be circumvented through lifestyle, diet, and exercise.

Using data from a detailed, longitudinal dietary study with over 500,000 participants ages 37 to 73, researchers found that folks who drank a moderate amount of coffee — defined as three drinks per day — had a 48.1% lower risk for new-onset CM compared with those who didn’t drink coffee. They found similar results when they examined caffeine.

In fact, moderate intake of caffeine or coffee was inversely associated with any developmental stage of the condition.

Researchers said more study is warranted to better understand the path from coffee, tea, and caffeine intake to the metabolites connected to them and then to disease.

No one is suggesting you blow your budget — or your nerves — on too much joe. But for those of you who look forward to second and third coffee refills, your habit’s not likely to hurt your health.

Questions about how aware brain-injured patients might be have always been wrenching for loved ones.

A new study, while shedding light on the unconscious, unfortunately won’t make those questions any easier to handle.

An international research team found that about 1 in 4 patients who appear completely unresponsive might, in fact, be conscious but unable to physically show that awareness.

The phenomenon is called cognitive motor dissociation.

The researchers used two techniques to study more than 350 patients with brain injuries of varying degree.

In the first, called functional magnetic resonance imaging, they measured brain activity by tracking changes in blood flow.  Patients were asked to imagine doing tasks, such as walking inside their home or playing tennis. If the appropriate brain areas activated in response to the commands, it meant the patient could understand the instructions, despite no outward response.

In the second test, called electroencephalography [ee-leck-tro en-ceff-ah-log-ruh-fee], electrodes were placed on a patient’s scalp. The electrodes measured brain wave patterns for signs of intentional response to similar commands.

Twenty-five percent of patients tested showed brain activity consistent with being able to understand and follow commands.

In a curious plot twist, among patients who could follow commands, more than 60% showed no signs of it on the brain activity tests.

The researchers say the techniques are not yet widely used.

For now, we’re left to question what we thought we knew about consciousness and end-of-life decisions. And the troubling reminder that we can’t always trust our own eyes.

If the kombucha you bought three months ago is still sitting in your fridge, this could be good news.

A new study suggests an apple-based fermented drink rivals kombucha in health benefits but also boasts a more appealing taste.

Brazilian researchers created two new versions of kombucha, replacing its traditional green tea base in one case with passion fruit juice and apple juice in another. They added sugar and a culture of bacteria and yeast, the same mix used to make traditional kombucha.

The researchers let the mixtures ferment for 10 days at room temperature, then analyzed them for acidity, sugar, and alcohol levels, as well as beneficial compounds like flavonoids and phenolics. A small focus group tested the beverage for taste.

They found the apple-based drink had the same number of total flavonoids and phenolics [fen-ALL-ick] as traditional kombucha. These compounds have antioxidant properties that prevent cell damage.

The apple drink also had increased antioxidant activity compared with the kombucha, and it tasted better. The focus group found it to have a pleasant, cider-like taste. The passion fruit-based drink was not as tasty, with the tasters finding it too bitter.

A key difference in the fruit-based drinks is that both had higher alcohol levels than traditional kombucha, which typically has less than half of 1%. The apple drink had 1.65%, while the passion fruit drink had 6.2%.

Still, the study offers a promising alternative to traditional kombucha that could turn what is an unappetizing drink for some into a healthy treat.

If the usual kombucha isn’t to your liking, be on the lookout for apple-based beverages in the future.