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FRIDAY, Aug. 30, 2024 -- More than half of people around the world aren’t getting enough micronutrients essential to human health, including calcium, iron and vitamins C and E, a new study says. These deficiencies are contributing to global malnutrition, as well as health problems like blindness, increased vulnerability to infections, and pregnancy complications, researchers said in The Lancet Global Health . “These results are alarming,” researcher Ty Beal , a senior technical specialist at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, said in a news release. “Most people — even more than previously thought, across all regions and countries of all incomes — are not consuming enough of multiple essential micronutrients,” Beal said. “These gaps compromise health outcomes and limit human potential on a global scale.” For the study, researchers combined data from several sources to compare the nutritional intake of people in 185 countries. The team specifically assessed intake of 15 vitamins and minerals -- calcium, iodine, iron, riboflavin, folate, zinc, magnesium, selenium, thiamin, niacin, and vitamins A, B6 , B12, C and E. Researchers found widespread inadequate intake of iodine (68% of the world's population); vitamin E (67%); calcium (66%); and iron (65%). More than half of people consume inadequate levels of riboflavin, folate, and vitamins C and B6, researchers added. Intake of niacin was closest to sufficient, with 22% of people worldwide consuming too little, followed by thiamin (30%) and selenium (37%). “The public health challenge facing us is immense, but practitioners and policymakers have the opportunity to identify the most effective dietary interventions and target them to the populations most in need,” senior author Christopher Golden , associate professor of nutrition and planetary health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said in a news release. Women were more likely than men to get too little iodine, vitamin B12, iron and selenium, results indicate. On the other hand, men weren't getting enough niacin, thiamin, zinc, magnesium, and vitamins A, C, and B6 compared to women, researchers said. Children and young adults 10 to 30 were most prone to low calcium intake, especially in South and East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Calcium intake was also low across North America, Europe and Central Asia. “Our study is a big step forward,” co-lead author Chris Free , a research professor at the University of California-Santa Barbara, said in a news release. “Not only because it is the first to estimate inadequate micronutrient intakes for 34 age-sex groups in nearly every country, but also because it makes these methods and results easily accessible to researchers and practitioners.” Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.

THURSDAY, July 11, 2024 -- Tampon use is a potential source of metal exposure, according to a study published in the August issue of Environmental International . Jenni A. Shearston, Ph.D., from the School of Public Health at the University of California Berkeley, and colleagues compared the concentrations of 16 metal(loid)s (arsenic, barium, calcium, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, mercury, nickel, lead, selenium, strontium, vanadium, and zinc) in 30 tampons from 14 tampon brands and 18 product lines. The researchers found measurable concentrations of all 16 assessed metals, including detectable concentrations of several toxic metals, with elevated mean concentrations of lead (geometric mean [GM], 120 ng/g), cadmium (GM, 6.74 ng/g), and arsenic (GM, 2.56 ng/g). There were differences seen in metal concentrations by region of tampon purchase (United States versus European Union/United Kingdom), by organic versus nonorganic material, and for store- versus name-brand tampons. For example, lead concentrations were higher in nonorganic tampons, while arsenic was higher in organic tampons. Consistently lower concentrations of metals were not seen for any single category. "Future research is needed to replicate our findings and determine whether metals can leach out of tampons and cross the vaginal epithelium into systemic circulation," the authors write. Abstract/Full Text Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.