Chemical exposure may have more risks than many consumers anticipated

• Blood levels of PFAS (forever chemicals) were linked to about a 31% increased future risk of type 2 diabetes.
  

• The study compared 180 newly diagnosed diabetes cases with 180 matched nondiabetic controls from Mount Sinais BioMe cohort.
  

• Metabolic disruptions in amino-acid and drug-processing pathways may offer clues to how PFAS interfere with blood sugar regulation.
  

Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or forever chemicals, have gotten a lot of attention recently for the plethora of health risks associated with them.

Now, a new study from Mount Sinai suggests that PFAS exposure may quietly raise your risk of developing type2 diabetes.

PFAS are synthetic chemicals that resist heat, oil, water, and stains, and are found in countless everyday consumer products, researcher Vishal Midya, Ph.D., M.Stat., said in a news release.

Because they dont break down easily, PFAS accumulate in the environment and in human bodies. Our study is one of the first to examine how these chemicals may disrupt the bodys metabolism in ways that increase diabetes risk particularly in diverse U.S. populations.

The study

The research team conducted the study using BioMe, a healthrecord linked biobank that has enrolled over 70,000 people at Mount Sinai Hospital since 2007.

They selected 180 individuals recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and matched them with 180 similar participants (same age, sex, ancestry) who did not have diabetes.

Blood samples from all participants were tested for PFAS levels. The researchers then examined how increasing PFAS exposure related to subsequent diabetes risk, while also exploring metabolic signatures in pathways tied to aminoacid biosynthesis and drug metabolism.

The results

The key finding: For each step up in PFAS exposure (e.g. from low to moderate, moderate to high), there was a 31% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes later on.

While the study cant prove PFAS causes diabetes directly, it did find signs that PFAS may disrupt critical metabolic processes specifically aminoacid biosynthesis and drug metabolism which are intimately involved in regulating blood sugar.

This research leverages an exposomics framework to characterize environmental impacts and associated metabolic alterations contributing to the development of type 2 diabetes in vulnerable U.S. populations, researcher Damaskini Valvi, M.D., Ph.D., MPH, said in the news release.

These findings can help us design more effective interventions for the early prevention of type 2 diabetes in the future, taking into account individuals exposures to environmental chemicals along with other well-known genetic, clinical, and lifestyle factors implicated in diabetes development. Mounting research suggests that PFAS are a risk factor for several chronic diseases, such as obesity, liver disease, and diabetes.

Study finds surprising microbial benefits to swapping out your usual nighttime snack

• Replacing a bedtime carb snack with pistachios significantly altered gut bacteria in adults with prediabetes.
  

• Beneficial microbes linked to anti-inflammatory effects and gut health increased after pistachio snacking.
  

• Harmful bacteria tied to heart and kidney risks were reduced during the pistachio phase of the study.
  

If youve ever reached for toast or a few cookies before bed, youre not alone.

However, researchers at Penn State recently asked a fun question: what if you replaced that carb-heavy snack with pistachios instead?

For adults with prediabetes, they wondered whether a nighttime pistachio habit could nudge the gut microbiome in a healthier direction.

Pistachios seem to be able to meaningfully shift the gut microbial landscape in adults with prediabetes especially when consumed as a nighttime snack, researcher Kristina Petersen said in a news release.

These microbiome changes may offer other long-term health benefitspotentially helping to slow the development of Type 2 diabetes or to reduce systemic inflammationwhich we hope to explore in future research.

The study

The study involved 51 adults diagnosed with prediabetes. For 12 weeks, the participants were assigned to one of two different test groups: one group was instructed to eat two ounces (57 grams) of unsalted pistachios each night, and the other group was instructed to eat 15-30 grams of carbs.

A common dietary recommendation for individuals with prediabetes is to consume a nighttime snack consisting of 15 to 30 grams of carbohydrates to help regulate overnight and morning blood glucose levels, researcher Terrence Riley said in the news release.

As an example, you could eat one or two slices of whole grain bread.

At the beginning and end of the 12week period, stool samples were collected and analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Thats a lab method that lets scientists identify and compare which bacterial species are present in the gut.

The results

At the end of the pistachio phase, participants showed clear differences in their stool bacterial communities compared to when they followed the carbohydrate snack routine. Statistical tests confirmed that the overall bacterial diversity was significantly different between the two conditions.

Specifically, levels of bacteria like Roseburia and members of the Lachnospiraceae family increased. These are known to produce butyrate, a shortchain fatty acid that fuels colon cells, helps maintain the gut lining, and supports antiinflammatory pathways.

At the same time, the pistachios led to decreases in some bacterial taxa linked to less favorable outcomes. For example, Blautia hydrogenotrophica which produces compounds associated with adverse effects on heart and kidney health and Eubacterium flavonifractor which can break down antioxidant compounds were both lower after pistachios.

Bottom Line

While this doesnt mean pistachios are a miracle cure for prediabetes, the findings suggest that switching from a simple-carb bedtime snack to pistachios could meaningfully reshape the gut microbiome in a way that may support metabolic and gut health.

Part of a push to reduce chronic disease in the U.S.

By Truman Lewis of ConsumerAffairs

Forecasters struggle amid changing climate, shrinking resources

• Forecasters revise outlook as 2024's bizarre hurricane behavior throws seasonal models into question.

• Despite a midseason lull, last year saw a record number of late hurricanes, pushing the season into hyperactive status.

• Concerns grow over weakened federal weather agency's ability to respond during peak storm months.

As the most dangerous weeks of hurricane season approach, meteorologists are finding it harder than ever to forecast what the Atlantic might deliver a challenge made worse by budget cuts hampering the U.S. weather agencys response capabilities.

The 2024 hurricane season, initially expected to be overactive, defied predictions and left forecasters scrambling to explain why weeks passed with little to no storm activity. The confusion has prompted a recalibration: researchers at Colorado State University, one of the leading seasonal forecast groups, have dialed back their expectations, trimming their outlook from nine storms to eight before the official end of the season on Nov. 30.

It was bizarre, and I definitely felt like a complete moron for a while, said Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane expert at Colorado State. Basically everything that we used last year was screaming: This will be a busy season.

Instead, the Atlantic went eerily quiet from late August through most of September 2024. An initial postmortem from a team of 20 scientists points to an unusual blend of factors: persistent warm air layers, intermittent dry pockets over the ocean, strong wind shear, and a strange pattern that saw some storm systems veer northward before they could intensify over record-warm tropical waters.

It was hyperactive, after all

Still, the quiet didnt last. Once storms began to churn again, they did so with force. The 2024 season ended up spawning seven hurricanes between late September and November, the most ever recorded so late in the season. Three of those were Category 3 or stronger, tipping the year into hyperactive territory, despite the early lull.

The shifting patterns are raising questions about the reliability of traditional forecasting models. Scientists rely on a complex cocktail of ocean temperatures, wind patterns, and atmospheric conditions to predict storm frequency and strength. But as climate change throws more curveballs, those models are under increasing strain.

And theres another layer of concern: the National Weather Service and other federal agencies responsible for tracking and responding to storms are grappling with staffing and funding shortages. The system hasnt yet faced a major hurricane since these constraints set in a reality that worries emergency managers and local officials.

Looking ahead, there are signs the Atlantic could heat up literally. The stretch of ocean where many cyclones form was nearly 0.9F (0.5C) above normal as of July 23, one of the hottest readings on record for this time of year. That warm water is like fuel for storms, and unless tropical systems emerge to siphon it off, conditions may become even more volatile.

The heat is building, Klotzbach warned, and its just waiting for something to tap into it.