Fire at chemical plant in northeastern Spain keeps thousands indoors
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A fire at a chemical factory in northeastern Spain forced emergency services to issue health warnings to 150,000 local residents and stay-indoors orders for five nearby towns, authorities said Saturday.
Health services said that medics attended to four people who had reported breathing problems.
The fire broke out early on Saturday inside a warehouse at the plant near the town of Vilanova i la Geltrú. The warehouse housed 70 tons of chlorine for use in swimming pools, firefighters said.
The stay-indoors order stayed in effect for seven hours for the nearest municipalities in the area between Barcelona and Tarragona on the Mediterranean coast.
Firefighters said that by Saturday afternoon that the fire was under control.
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CNET
5 hours ago
- CNET
9 High-Protein Snacks When on the Go
Protein is important because it helps you build and maintain muscle. This is key, especially if you have certain fitness goals in mind. It also helps keep your immune system healthy, provides energy and keeps your metabolic functions in good shape. Many people want to increase their protein intake, but they aren't sure where to start. If you are always on the go and trying to balance many things in your life, you may not have the time to meal-prep or eat a complete meal, let alone protein. To make your life easier, it's helpful to have ready-made, protein-packed items that you can keep in your fridge or pantry. This way, you can just grab and go or add it to your plate when needed. Below are some ready-made protein snacks (including plant-based options) that will help keep you aligned with your wellness and fitness goals. Best high-protein snacks Bone broth Bone broth has become trendy in the wellness space for good reason. The broth is traditionally made by slow-simmering the bones and connective tissue of animals like chicken and beef for many hours. It consists of protein, collagen, minerals and other nutrients that may have some gut and health benefits. Although more research is needed to prove that bone broth is beneficial to the gut, there is some evidence that glutamine, an amino acid found in bone broth, could help with leaky gut. As you can imagine, not everyone has the time to make their own bone broth, but brands like Brodo and Kettle & Fire have made it easy to have bone broth accessible in your pantry closet. Some broths like Brodo come in an easy-to-open packet or a carton. You'll find bone broth labeled as chicken, beef, turkey or a combination so you can add it to your cooking, soups or, in some cases, warmed up straight out of a mug or bowl. It's an easy way to sneak in some protein and, depending on the amount you consume, you can get about 20 grams of protein per serving. $132 a box at Brodo $58 a box at Kettle & Fire High-protein smoothie packets If you like to get your protein in through smoothies but don't have the time to cut up fruit every day, you can pre-make them by chopping and freezing them ahead of time. If this is too much for your schedule, brands like Daily Harvest offer a subscription where you can receive a box of its frozen high-protein smoothie delivery on a weekly basis. Daily Harvest uses cups to hold different fruit and seed protein combinations (like Dark Chocolate Protein), which you can blend with your milk of choice later. These high-protein smoothies are 100% plant-based and organic. Daily Harvests uses pea protein in its high-protein smoothies, so you're guaranteed 20 grams of protein every time. $9.49 at Daily Harvest Cottage cheese You've probably seen the cottage cheese craze on TikTok -- where everyone seems to be sneaking it into different meals. Although cottage cheese may seem like a trendy diet food of the '90s, there's good reason to keep it in your fridge if you enjoy the curd-like snack. It is naturally high in protein (about 14 grams for a half-cup) and has casein, a slow-digesting protein. To up your protein intake, you can add cottage cheese to eggs, pancakes and pasta sauces or have it as-is and mix in your favorite fruits. You can try various brands from your local supermarket, like Good Culture, Breakstone's, Daisy and many others. $4.00 at Target $4.19 at Target $3.94 at Walmart Roasted edamame A popular plant-based snack is roasted edamame. However it can be an involved process making your own at home. One of my favorite brands, The Only Bean, sells roasted edamame in a variety of flavors (Buffalo, Sriracha, Salted), so you're sure to never get bored. A 1/3 cup of roasted edamame offers 14 grams of protein, and you can have it as a snack or to top your salads. Another plus is that it sells its beans in individual snack sizes or 4-ounce packets, so they're easy to keep in your pantry, desk drawer or gym bag. $29 at Amazon Beef jerky Beef jerky is a high-protein snack that you can keep in your pantry for those times when you need a quick snack while on the go. There are various brands of jerky out there, including Country Archer Provisions and Chomps, that keep their product sugar-free and without additives. Depending on the brand, one stick of beef jerky can have 8-12 grams of protein per serving. These brands and others will have beef, chicken and turkey options with different flavors. You can have these straight out of the bag or as individually wrapped sticks, which make it easy to transport. If you're vegetarian or vegan, brands like Beyond Meat and Primal Spirit also have plant-based options made out of mung bean protein and soy, respectively. Pair your jerky with other healthy options like cheese and fruit to make it a filling and complete snack. $25 at Amazon Hummus Hummus is made up of blended chickpeas, and one of the appealing things about this spread is that you can flavor it in a variety of ways. Traditionally, it's made with olive oil, tahini, lemon juice and salt. It's easy to make at home, but if you don't have a food processor or the time to make batches for the week, there are plenty of ready-made brands available at your local supermarket. Wellness editor Anna Gragert loves ithaca and Revolutionary Earthy's hummus options. For a complete snack, she pairs it with whole grain or seeded crackers. You can also pair it with your favorite cut vegetables like carrots if you are looking to increase your daily veggie quota as well. $6.00 at Stop & Shop High-protein overnight oats One of my favorite breakfasts is overnight oats. What's great about it is that you can flavor it however you want, including making it high-protein by adding in your favorite protein powder. Overnight oats are easy to make at home; all you need are old-fashioned oats, your milk of choice and a sweetener. If you're feeling creative, you can add toppings like chia seeds, yogurt or chocolate chips -- the options are endless. You mix it together in a mason jar and let it sit in your fridge overnight so you wake up to freshly made overnight oats. You can also purchase it ready-made in some delis or sign up for a subscription like Oats Over Night, which offers high-protein oatmeal packet options in the form of a shake that you just add milk to. One packet has 20 grams of protein, and you have many flavors to choose from, like dark chocolate, mint chocolate chip, cookies and cream and more. $60 at Oats Over Night Why is protein important? Protein is a pillar of our diets. It's essential for building bone, muscle and cartilage and repairing tissues. Protein also aids digestion and boosts your metabolism to help with weight loss. Nutritional guidelines say that the average adult should eat at least 0.8 to 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight. That means that a 200-pound person needs to consume 73 grams of protein each day to not be deficient. However, there's a difference between giving your body the baseline and enough to build muscle. If you're particularly active, you may benefit from a boost in protein. The average person probably already gets enough protein from their diet, assuming they don't have dietary restrictions. So while it's essential to ensure your body has the fuel it needs, experts say you don't need to become obsessed with your protein intake. If you're having difficulty meeting your protein goals, you can use CNET's visual guide to help you plan your meals. Always remember that protein needs will vary per individual, and a healthy balanced diet should include protein, fiber, carbohydrates, fats as well as vitamins and minerals.
Medscape
13 hours ago
- Medscape
The Head and the Heart: Managing a ‘Silent Epidemic'
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause for premature mortality in patients with mental illness, particularly those with severe psychiatric disorders. The numbers bear out the link: The life expectancy of a person with severe mental illness is 15-20 years shorter than that of unaffected individuals, largely thanks to the effects of cardiac conditions. Patients with depression have a two to fourfold increased risk for developing CVD and a two to fourfold higher risk for mortality after experiencing a cardiac event compared to individuals without depression. A panel discussion at the 2025 annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology held in Madrid, Spain, in conjunction with the Inter-American Society of Cardiology explored the intersection of the heart and the mind. Panelist Donata Kurpas MD, PhD, of Wroclaw Medical University, in Wrocław, Poland, called the burden of CVD in people with mental illness a 'silent epidemic' and encouraged attendees to 'rethink cardiovascular prevention' in the psychiatric conditions of their patients. Historically, cardiologists 'haven't paid too much attention to psychiatric symptoms, such as anxiety or depressive mood, and psychiatrists haven't spent much time looking for cardiovascular risk factors in their patients,' Panelist Maria Manuela Neves Abreu, MD, of the University of Lisbon, in Lisbon, Portugal, told Medscape Medical News . But this fragmentation has done a disservice to patients who were psychiatrically ill with CVD. Abreu said she encourages 'collaborative approach, which should be a team effort between cardiologists and psychiatrists.' 'It's important for all of us, as cardiologists and as doctors, to remind ourselves to try not to treat only the disease but rather, as much as realistically possible, to treat the patient as a whole,' said Glenn Levine, a professor of medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine and chief of the Cardiology Section at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, in Houston. Complex Biological Mechanisms Roger McIntyre, MD, professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, who was not a participant in the panel, said the intersection of CVD and psychiatric illness can be 'considered across different levels.' Biological and 'social and economic determinants that play a role' in both conditions, McIntyre, who was not a member of the panel, told Medscape Medical News . Both have biological, behavioral, psychological, and genetic etiologies. Abreu, a cardiologist and a psychiatrist, said the intersection of mental illness and CVD likely involves a 'complex biological mechanism that integrates the inflammatory and immune systems, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, the sympathetic nervous system, reduced heart rate variability, and platelet dysfunction' as well as 'several shared genetic features common to both.' Kurpas noted sleep disorders, stress, and autonomic dysfunction 'amplify cardiovascular risk.' Given the biological commonalities, it appears that addressing each condition can benefit the other and particularly improve cardiovascular health in people with psychiatric illness, McIntyre said. Cardiac Effects of Psychotropic Drugs, Psychiatric Effects of Cardiac Drugs Psychotropic drugs used to treat psychiatric conditions can have cardiovascular effects. These may induce arrhythmias and cardiometabolic disturbances such as weight gain, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. Abreu noted that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors typically are used as first-line treatment for depression in patients with cardiac disorders 'because they're well-tolerated and safe, in terms of cardiac rhythm, blood pressure, and interaction with cardiologic medication.' On the other hand, she said, they can have disrupt platelet aggregation — an effect that is enhanced when they're taken with antiplatelet aggregation or anticoagulant drugs. And fluoxetine and fluvoxamine can interact with aspirin, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or anticoagulants. And escitalopram and citalopram 'require greater caution, when it comes to QT interval prolongation and bradyarrhythmias.' A review by Pina and colleagues summarized the cardiac effects of commonly-prescribed antidepressants. Certain second-generation antipsychotics can have adverse cardiac effects, — myocarditis, cardiomyopathy, tachycardia, and arrhythmias, notably, prolongation of the QT interval, which can increase mortality risk. Many of these drugs also have cardiometabolic effects. A 2020 review comparing 18 second-generation antipsychotics found olanzapine and clozapine to have the most metabolic side effects, while aripiprazole, brexpiprazole, cariprazine, lurasidone, and ziprasidone have the most benign metabolic profiles. Abreu recommended following the protocols outline in a consensus statement created jointly by four organizations, including the American Diabetes Association, which delineates a schedule of screening and monitoring for patients taking these agents. Second-generation antipsychotics are not the only psychotropic drugs with potential cardiometabolic effects, Abreu added. Some mood stabilizers also can affect heart health. In particular, valproic acid and lithium are associated with weight gain. 'When prescribing psychotropic medications, the approach is to 'start low and titrate slowly,' and to monitor patients for adverse side effects and interactions with cardiac medications,' Abreu advised. 'Choose medications with lower potential for adverse metabolic effects as initial therapy and make adjustments and dose reductions of medications to the lowest therapeutic doses when feasible.' She also recommended adjunctive strategies for patients taking second-generation antipsychotics, including starting metformin upon initiation of treatment initiation. Just as psychotropic drugs can affect the heart, cardiac drugs can have adverse psychiatric effects. For example, alpha- and beta-adrenergic blockers, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, anti-arrhythmics, and statins can cause sedation, sleep disturbances, depression, and sometimes anxiety, and cardiovascular and psychotropic drugs can interact with one another. Far-Reaching Effects Psychosocial and lifestyle factors significantly affect cardiovascular risk in people with psychiatric illness. 'People with poor psychological health — be it depression, anxiety, or stress — are less likely to take their medications consistently and may be less likely and more averse to seeking evaluation of their symptoms,' Levine said. They 'may tend to exercise less, eat poorly, have less-controlled diabetes, and thus be more prone to developing metabolic syndrome.' McIntyre, board chair of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, a US-based national organization focusing on mood disorders, including depression and bipolar disorder, highlighted poverty, inadequate access to care, malnutrition, the need for food stamps and childhood adversity, particularly, physical or sexual abuse, as risk factors associated with the combination of mental illness and CVD. The healthcare system, too, can aggravate the problem. 'This includes stigma, negative attitudes, discrimination toward patients [with mental illness] and disparities in cardiovascular care, often resulting in fewer diagnostic procedures and delayed treatment initiation,' Abreu said. Karl-Heinz Ladwig, PhD, MD, senior research professor at the Medical Faculty of the Technische Universität Muenchen, in Munich, Germany, and a member of the panel, elaborated on some of the lifestyle and behavioral patterns of patients with CVD and depressive comorbidity. These include tobacco use, greater likelihood of not returning to work following an myocardial infarction, and co-occurring sleep disturbances and insomnia. In addition, decreased ability to maintain intimate relationships may occur, with a 'mutually reinforcing triad of depressive symptoms, CVD, and erectile dysfunction.' Levine pointed to a 2021 scientific statement from the American Heart Association (AHA), which concluded that psychological health 'may be causally linked to biological processes and behaviors that contribute to and cause' CVD. Contributors to negative psychological health, include chronic stress and social stressors, such as social isolation and loneliness, work-related challenges, financial hardships, and discrimination; posttraumatic stress disorder; anger and hostility, anxiety, depression, and pessimism. The AHA statement, on which Levin was the first author, did not focus only on the deleterious impact of negative psychological states. It stressed that positive psychological health, including a sense of optimism and purpose, happiness and positive affect, mindfulness, and higher emotional vitality can improve psychological well-being and, in turn, cardiovascular health. Multidisciplinary Collaboration Multidisciplinary collaboration is a critical component of addressing cardiovascular health in people with mental illness. 'No single provider can address psychiatric, behavioral, and somatic needs alone,' Kurpas said. 'A collaborative model has been shown to improve detection, continuity, and accountability and significantly improve patient outcomes.' Cardiologists should keep mental health factors in mind, and psychiatrists should keep cardiac concerns on their radar. 'Collaborative care should be a team effort between cardiologists and psychiatrists,' Abreu said. McIntyre agreed. 'All persons with mental illness should be screened for cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome, and all persons with heart disease should be screened for depression, as depression is the most robust prognosticator of cardiovascular death in people' after a myocardial infarction. The AHA statement recommended the Patient Health Questionaire-2 depression screen tool as well as the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire-2, which can be administered by staff such as nurses or medical assistants. Positive screens can open a discussion about additional symptoms and can be used for making appropriate referrals to mental health providers. The statement offers specific talking points that cardiologists can use when addressing these issues with their patients. Even in the absence of a formally filled-out measurement tool, it 'may become apparent during the patient interaction that the patient is depressed or unduly stressed,' Levine said. Many cardiologists 'don't feel comfortable formally diagnosing or treating patients for depression, but it's fair game and appropriate to gently mention to the patient that it seems like they may be depressed or stressed and gently inquire if they have interest in seeing a mental health professional, which we can help arrange a referral to,' he said. 'That's a time-efficient and nonthreatening way to talk to patients, acknowledge their symptoms, and offer a pathway forward if they're interested.' Patients might 'recoil' at the suggestion of a psychiatrist, due to cultural values or fear of stigma, Levine added. 'They're more likely to be amenable if you recommend a 'mental health professional.'' Specific approaches to behavioral counseling are laid out in the 2016 joint recommendations of the European Society of Cardiology, Ladwig said. They include cognitive-behavioral strategies to facilitate lifestyle changes; utilizing multimodal interventions integrating medical resources with education, enhancing physical activity, stress management, and counseling regarding psychosocial risk factors; and referral for psychotherapy, medication, or collaborative care. The AHA statement includes similar recommendation regarding interventions for psychiatric disorders or symptoms, including pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy —particularly cognitive-behavioral therapy — care management, stress management programs, meditation training, and mindfulness-based interventions. The bidirectional relationship between psychiatric disease and CVD, which can become a vicious cycle, each exacerbating the other. Cardiologists should be cognizant of the role that addressing psychiatric illness can have in improving cardiovascular outcomes. In the words of Ladwig, 'the brain heals the heart.' The opposite side of the coin is also true, according to McIntyre. Healing the heart can also benefit the brain. Addressing both together is optimal to improving both mental and cardiovascular health. Kurpas, Abreu, Ladwig, and Levine declared no relevant financial relationships. McIntyre had received research grant support from CIHR/GACD/National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Milken Institute; speaker/consultation fees from Lundbeck, Janssen, Alkermes, Neumora Therapeutics, Boehringer Ingelheim, Sage, Biogen, Mitsubishi Tanabe, Purdue, Pfizer, Otsuka, Takeda, Neurocrine, Neurawell, Sunovion, Bausch Health, Axsome, Novo Nordisk, Kris, Sanofi, Eisai, Intra-Cellular, NewBridge Pharmaceuticals, Viatris, Abbvie and Atai Life Sciences.
CBS News
15 hours ago
- CBS News
Driver killed in fiery crash on 215 Freeway in Murrieta
A driver was killed in a fiery crash on the 215 Freeway in Murrieta on Thursday morning. The crash was reported just before 3:30 a.m. on southbound lanes near Clinton Keith Road, according to the California Highway Patrol. Officers were dispatched to the area after learning of a 2007 Chevrolet Malibu that had lost control in the fast lane and collided with the center divider. The crash left the car inoperable and stalled in the No. 1 lane. The driver, the only passenger of the Malibu, decided to get out and stand in the center divider, while the driver remained behind the wheel and called for assistance, CHP's statement said. Minutes later, a Ford F-350 transit van also traveling southbound approached the stalled car but was unable to stop in time. The driver, only identified as a 61-year-old man from Moreno Valley, collided with the back of the Malibu. The force of the crash caused the van to spin into the middle of the freeway. The Malibu caught fire as a result of the crash. Firefighters from Murrieta Fire & Rescue responded to the scene and extinguished the flames. The driver of the car, only identified as a 22-year-old man from Temecula, was declared dead at the scene. The passenger was uninjured. The Moreno Valley man driving the van suffering minor injuries and was hospitalized for treatment, police said. CHP officers closed all southbound lanes for nearly three hours for their investigation. Anyone who knows more is asked to contact CHP's Temecula office at (951) 466-4300.
