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For years, the common wisdom and science was that a little bit of alcohol wasn’t bad — and even beneficial — for your health: A toast to moderation. But new research published in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine suggests that even light alcohol consumption can increase dementia risk. (Sima, 10/15)

More on dementia and aging —

Older adults with Alzheimer's disease or dementia who were newly prescribed benzodiazepines or antipsychotic drugs in hospice had higher mortality than those who didn't get the drugs, a case-control analysis of Medicare claims data showed. (George, 10/15)

In Alzheimer's, brain cells die too soon. In cancer, dangerous cells don't die soon enough. That's because both diseases alter the way cells decide when to end their lives, a process called programmed cell death. "Cell death sounds morbid, but it's essential for our health," says Douglas Green, who has spent decades studying the process at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. So researchers have been searching for disease treatments that "modify or modulate the tendency of a cell to die," Green says. (Hamilton, 10/16)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: An Age-Old Fear Grows More Common: ‘I’m Going To Die Alone’
This summer, at dinner with her best friend, Jacki Barden raised an uncomfortable topic: the possibility that she might die alone. “I have no children, no husband, no siblings,” Barden remembered saying. “Who’s going to hold my hand while I die?” (Graham, 10/16)

In other health and wellness news —

For the first time in more than a decade, the number of states with rates of obesity of 35% or more dropped, an encouraging sign that America’s epidemic of excess weight might be improving. But cuts to federal staff and programs that address chronic disease could endanger that progress, according to a new report released Thursday. Nineteen states had obesity rates of 35% or higher in 2024, down from 23 states the year before, according to an analysis of the latest data collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Aleccia, 10/16)

Indonesia detected traces of radioactive cesium 137 at a clove plantation as it searches for the source of radioactive contamination that forced recalls of shrimp and spices exported to the U.S., a task force investigating the issue said Wednesday. U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials blocked the import of all spices processed by PT Natural Java Spice of Indonesia in September after federal inspectors detected cesium 137 in a shipment of cloves sent to California. (Tarigan, 10/15)

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded an existing recall for cinnamon that was found to contain elevated lead levels. Ground cinnamon from HAETAE, Roshni, Durra and Wise Wife have joined a dozen other brands that “may be unsafe” to consume, according to the most recent updates from the FDA. (Kutz, 10/14)

More than a dozen protein powders tested for toxic metals were found to have unsafe or concerning amounts of lead, the nonprofit watchdog Consumer Reports said Tuesday, adding that the average lead levels in such products appear to be worsening compared to years prior. Of 23 protein powders tested, more than two-thirds contained more lead in a single serving than is considered safe to ingest in a day, Consumer Reports said, citing its own safety standards. (Kasulis Cho, 10/15)

Ben's Original is recalling a limited number of rice products due to the possible presence of small stones, according to federal health officials. In an announcement shared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Tuesday, officials said the stones are naturally occurring and originate from the rice farm, but that they pose possible risk of oral or digestive tract injury if consumed. (Moniuszko, 10/15)

Also —

The world is on track to add nearly two months of dangerous superhot days each year by the end of the century, with poorer small nations hit far more often than the biggest carbon-polluting countries, a study released Thursday found. But efforts to curb emissions of heat-trapping gases that started 10 years ago with the Paris climate agreement have had a significant effect. Without them Earth would be heading to an additional 114 days a year of those deadly extra hot days, the same study found. (Borenstein, 10/16)