A new study suggests that participating in religious activities, from church services to private prayer, and holding deep spiritual beliefs is linked to better cardiovascular health among Black Americans, who as a group tend to have poorer heart health than non-Hispanic white people, including higher rates of death and disease.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, found that participants who reported more religious activity or deeper levels of spiritual beliefs were more likely to meet key measures for cardiovascular health including physical activity, diet, smoking, weight, blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

Give It a Rest

Researchers report that three-quarters of volunteers in a study were less likely to help others after being deprived of sleep in a lab compared to when they were well-rested.

Functional MRIs focused on brain regions involved in social cognition revealed lower task-related activity levels that tracked with sleep loss. At home, the volunteers were less willing to help other people after they reported nights when their sleep was worse, reported STAT. And the week after daylight saving time ended, stealing an hour of sleep, donations to charitable organizations fell 10% in the U.S. from 2001 to 2016, compared to the months before and after.

Body of Knowledge

A newborn can grow to almost be a toddler in the time it takes for a toenail to completely regrow. On average, it can take up to 18 months for a toenail to completely replace itself. A fingernail takes four to six months to grow back.

It's not known why exactly fingernails grow faster, but one possibility is that they receive greater blood flow contributing to faster growth.

Get Me That, Stat!

The move to over-the-counter hearing aids could have broad implications. It's estimated that nearly 30 million adults in the U.S. could benefit from them, though only one-fifth of people with hearing problems use aids.

OTC hearing aids are expected to dramatically reduce costs, from more than $5,000 per pair of hearing aids and fitting services to $2,800.

Mark Your Calendar

December is a quiet health awareness month, but there are a couple of weeks to note: Hand-washing and flu vaccination weeks both occur Dec. 5-11.

Doc Talk

Aerophagia: excessive swallowing of air

Phobia of the Week

Rhytiphobia: fear of getting wrinkles

Never Say 'Diet'

The Major League Eating record for deep-fried asparagus is 12 pounds, 8.75 ounces in 10 minutes, held by Joey Chestnut. That aroma is the sweet smell of excess.

Best Medicine

I have an inferiority complex, but not a very good one.

Observation

"Fresh air is good if you do not take too much of it; most of the achievements and pleasures of life are in bad air." — American writer Oliver W. Holmes Sr. (1809-1894)

Medical History

This week in 1952, a dense smog descended on London, England. It would last four days, causing at least 4,000 deaths and transportation chaos due to severely reduced visibility. Most of the deaths were among the elderly, the very young or those with underlying medical problems. The cause was coal-burning, resulting in the Clean Air Act of 1956. Freshening winds and a rise in temperature dissipated the smog.

No word about any great achievements made during the week, per Oliver W. Holmes Sr.

Ig Nobel Apprised

The Ig Nobel Prizes celebrate achievements that make people laugh, then think. A look at real science that's hard to take seriously, and even harder to ignore.

In 1999, the Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine went to Dr. Arvid Vatle of Stord, Norway, who carefully collected, classified and contemplated which kinds of containers his patients chose when submitting urine samples.

Only requirement: a lid.

Self-exam

Q: Which part of the human body prevents food from entering the respiratory tract?

a) Mandible

b) Vocal cords

c) Pharynx

d) Epiglottis

A: d) Epiglottis, which is a flap of cartilage at the root of the tongue that is depressed during swallowing to cover the opening of the windpipe.

Curtain Calls

Basil Brown was a scientist and self-avowed health food enthusiast who believed consuming 70 million units of vitamin A in the form of carrot juice was good for him. That works out to roughly a gallon of carrot juice per day.

Brown died in 1974 at the age of 48. A coroner's inquest determined he died due to carrot juice addiction, or more specifically, cirrhosis of the liver caused by toxic overexposure to vitamin A. Brown's skin was bright yellow at the time of his death.

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: geralt at Pixabay