Dr. Roizon’s Health Roundup 3-25-2022

This week, it’s National Common Courtesy Day on the 21st; National Puppy Day on the 23rd and National Spinach Day on the 26th. Of course, you’ll benefit from being kind, petting a puppy and eating spinach. But the information in these three studies is going to do even more to improve your well-being.

Gun violence: Firearm-related deaths have overtaken car crashes as the leading cause of death by trauma in the U.S., according to a study in Trauma Surgery and Acute Care Open. In 2021, there were 20,835 non-suicide, gun-related deaths and over 24,000 gun-related suicides. If you own a gun, lock it up separately from the ammo. Easy access to firearms makes impulsive behaviors irreversible.

Vaccine update — the latest guidelines explained: As always, people with weakened immune systems, age 65-plus or needing fast protection due to risk of severe disease should get a second Pfizer or Moderna vaccine three to four weeks after the first one. Everyone else? Wait eight weeks between shot one and shot two — immunity becomes longer-lasting and young men may reduce their risk of vaccine-related myocarditis. Stay tuned for booster info.

Meaty mistakes: As I always say: “Skip meat. Enjoy a plant-based diet with fish like salmon and ocean trout.” Looking at more than half a million folks over 11 years old, Oxford University researchers found that low meat-eaters had a lower risk of colorectal cancer, vegetarian women had a lower risk of postmenopausal breast cancer, and men who were vegetarians or fish-eaters had a lower risk of prostate cancer.