Couples Share More Than We Realize

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The latest study, published in Nature Human Behaviour today, used data from more than 14.8 million people in Taiwan, Denmark and Sweden. It examined the proportion of people in those couples who had one of nine psychiatric disorders: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), substance-use disorder and anorexia nervosa…

The team found that when one partner was diagnosed with one of the nine conditions, the other was significantly more likely to be diagnosed with the same or another psychiatric condition. Spouses were more likely to have the same conditions than to have different ones, says co-author Chun Chieh Fan, a population and genetics researcher at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Spouses tend to share psychiatric disorders – https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02772-8

Yikes.

Alpha-gal Syndrome – Update 09.08.25

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If one of these tiny creatures bites you…

Congrats on going vegan.

Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) is an emerging, tick bite–associated allergic condition characterized by a potentially life-threatening immunoglobulin E (IgE)–mediated hypersensitivity to galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose (alpha-gal), an oligosaccharide found in most nonprimate mammalian meat and products derived from these mammals. Specific symptoms and severity of AGS vary among persons, and no treatment or cure is currently available. During 2010–2018, more than 34,000 suspected cases of AGS were identified in the United States, but current knowledge of where cases occur is limited.

Citation: Thompson JM, Carpenter A, Kersh GJ, Wachs T, Commins SP, Salzer JS. Geographic Distribution of Suspected Alpha-gal Syndrome Cases — United States, January 2017–December 2022. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2023;72:815–820. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7230a2.

At least these things are mostly in the eastern portion of Oklahoma.

Fact sheet – https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/alpha-gal/resources/alpha-gal-syndrome-factsheet.html

Update

In 2020, two people tested positive for alpha-gal at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, hospital spokesperson Gregory Mathis said. In 2024, that number rose to 523. Results for this year aren’t available yet. Why more people on Martha’s Vineyard are turning vegan – https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/healthcare/2025/09/04/ticks-marthas-vineyard-ma-vegan-alpha-gal-lone-star-red-meat-allergy/85944313007/

Yikes.

Not Just For Allergic Rhinitis Anymore

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A common hay fever nasal spray was found to cut COVID-19 infections by two-thirds in a clinical trial, while also reducing rhinovirus cases. Researchers believe it could serve as an easy, low-cost preventive measure, pending further studies. Saarland University. “Common allergy spray slashes COVID-19 risk in surprising trial.” ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/09/250907024535.htm (accessed September 7, 2025).

For Robert Bals, the results suggest practical applications: ‘Azelastine nasal spray could provide an additional easily accessible prophylactic to complement existing protective measures, especially for vulnerable groups, during periods of high infection rates, or before travelling.’ But Professor Bals also stressed the importance of further research: ‘Our results highlight the need for larger, multicentre trials to continue exploring the use of azelastine nasal sprays as an on-demand preventive treatment, and to examine its potential effectiveness against other respiratory pathogens.’

Link to the Jama article – https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2838335 Azelastine Nasal Spray for Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 Infections

Work Until You Die – Scary Charts 09.07.25

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It is a common misconception that prices come down when inflation cools, when in reality a period of high inflation leaves a legacy of high prices. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. consumer prices have increased 22.7 percent since January 2021, with some categories seeing even steeper price increases than that. Food prices have are up 25 percent, rents have increased almost 27 percent and transportation prices are up 28 percent. And yet, nominal wages have only grown 21.8 percent since January 2021, leaving many people worse off than they were almost five years ago. Cost of Living Is the Biggest Challenge Americans Face https://www.statista.com/chart/35054/biggest-challenges-faced-by-americans/

Retirement Savings Survey: 50% of people don’t think it’s realistic for the average American to expect to retire comfortably – https://wallethub.com/blog/retirement-savings-survey/133047

The second survey is small with just over 200 respondents. The methodology statement is vague so it’s hard to tell if the findings are truly representative of a larger population.

Maybe the survey got an overwhelming number of pessimists.

Then again, maybe not.

Yikes.

Would You Pay $700.00 a Month to Live in One of These?

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Brownstone, by virtue of renting cheaply in a city with sky-high prices and a dearth of new housing, has received thousands of applications for its $700-a-month pods over the past few years, Stallworth said. He thinks there’s at least “10,000 people probably interested in being in San Francisco at any time” and pointed to the tens of thousands of applications that Y Combinator, a local startup incubator, has received in recent years.(Startup founders make up a sizable share of the Mint Plaza building’s residents, Stallworth said.) Startup behind $700-a-month bed ‘pods’ wants to put 10,000 more in San Francisco – https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/startup-bed-pods-san-francisco-21029460.php

I keep telling The Boss all I’m trying to do is to make our retirement income last as long as we last.

Rejected. Again.

Sunday Musings – 08.31.25

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“Page by page, chapter by chapter, the story unfolds. Day by day, year by year, your own story unfolds, your life’s story. Things happen. People come and go. The scene shifts. Time runs by, runs out. Maybe it is all utterly meaningless. Maybe it is all unutterably meaningful. If you want to know which, pay attention. What it means to be truly human in a world that half the time we are in love with and half the time scares the hell out of us—any fiction that helps us pay attention to that is as far as I am concerned religious fiction. The unexpected sound of your name on somebody’s lips. The good dream. The odd coincidence. The moment that brings tears to your eyes. The person who brings life to your life. Maybe even the smallest events hold the greatest clues.”

Frederick Buechner https://www.frederickbuechner.com/our-shared-story

How To Reduce Your Risk of Developing Diabetes

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The researchers, from 23 universities in Spain and Harvard Chan School, split 4,746 PREDIMED-Plus participants into an intervention group and a control group and followed their health outcomes for six years. The intervention group adhered to a Mediterranean diet; reduced their caloric intake by about 600 calories per day; engaged in moderate physical activity, such as brisk walking and strength and balance exercises; and received professional support for weight loss control. The control group adhered to a Mediterranean diet without calorie restriction, exercise guidance, or professional support. Participants ranged from age 55 to 75, were overweight or obese, and had metabolic syndrome, but were free of T2D at baseline.

The study found that those in the intervention group had a 31% lower risk of developing T2D compared to those in the control group. Additionally, the intervention group lost an average of 3.3 kilograms and reduced their waist circumference by 3.6 centimeters, compared to 0.6 kilograms and 0.3 centimeters in the control group. Scientists found 3 simple tweaks that cut diabetes risk by 31% – https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/08/250829022835.htm Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/08/250829022835.htm (accessed August 29, 2025).

Guess I’ll cut out beer.

Prozac is Better Than Viagra (for clams)

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Fluoxetine, the drug commonly known as Prozac, isn’t known to increase sexual prowess in humans. In fact, it often does the very opposite. But when these clams were exposed to the same drug, they instantly jumped to sexual activity. Now, this wasn’t a complete surprise. Research conducted in the 1980s found that if serotonin is injected into the muscles or gonad of clams, they may begin to spawn after just 15 minutes.

How Prozac Might Give Clams a Boost https://undark.org/2025/08/14/excerpt-prozac-clams/