Sweeteners and Genetics Linked to Early Puberty Risk
Sweetener intake, including aspartame and sucralose, was associated with an increased risk for early puberty in children, particularly in those who were genetically predisposed. Sex-specific effects were noted, with sucralose showing a stronger association with early puberty in boys and glycyrrhizin, sucralose, and other sugars in girls.
METHODOLOGY:
The prevalence of central precocious puberty, characterized by the early onset of secondary sexual characteristics, is increasing, highlighting the need for research into its causes and prevention strategies.
Researchers analyzed a cohort of 1407 children from the Taiwan Pubertal Longitudinal Study to assess the effect of sweetener intake and genetic predisposition on the risk for central precocious puberty.
Sweetener intake was evaluated using validated questionnaires and urinary biomarkers.
Genetic predisposition was quantified using polygenic risk scores derived from 19 single-nucleotide polymorphisms related to central precocious puberty.
Central precocious puberty was diagnosed using clinical, hormonal, and imaging criteria.
TAKEAWAY:
Central precocious puberty was diagnosed in 481 children.
Aspartame, glycyrrhizin, sucralose, and added sugars showed a significant association with an increased risk for central precocious puberty, especially in children with a genetic predisposition.
The consumption of these sweeteners showed a dose-dependent relationship, with a higher intake increasing the risk for central precocious puberty. No significant interaction effects were found between genetic predisposition and sweetener intake.
Sex-specific effects were noted; the consumption of sucralose was associated with a higher risk for central precocious puberty in boys, and the consumption of sucralose, glycyrrhizin, and added sugars was associated with a higher risk in girls.
IN PRACTICE:
'The findings indicate that sweetener consumption and genetic predisposition are independently associated with CPP [central precocious puberty] risk. Integrating genetic and dietary assessments could guide prevention strategies for children at heightened risk, mitigating the long-term health impacts of early puberty,' the authors of the study wrote.
'The findings are directly relevant to families, pediatricians, and public health authorities,' the lead author said in a press release. 'They suggest that screening for genetic risk and moderating sweetener intake could help prevent early puberty and its long-term health consequences. This could lead to new dietary guidelines or risk-assessment tools for children, supporting healthier development.'
SOURCE:
The study was led by Yang-Ching Chen, MD, PhD, Taipei Municipal Wan Fang Hospital and Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan. It was presented at ENDO 2025: The Endocrine Society Annual Meeting in San Francisco.
LIMITATIONS:
No limitations were discussed in the abstract.
DISCLOSURES:
The authors had no disclosures, and no conflict of interest statements were provided.
This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Lightning Kills Way More Trees Than You Would Ever Believe
A first-of-its-kind study estimates that lightning strikes kill 320 million trees every year. For perspective, these dead trees account for up to 2.9 percent of annual loss in plant biomass and emit up to 1.09 billion tons of carbon dioxide. Even more striking (pun unintended), the study includes only tree deaths caused directly by lightning. It does not include tree deaths caused indirectly by lightning-induced wildfires. Altogether, these findings can improve statistical models that help researchers study forest structure and carbon storage on a worldwide scale. Researchers from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) ascertained these figures using novel mathematical models, which offer an unprecedented overview of how lightning-induced tree mortality impacts the global ecosystem. Related: Classifying tree mortality was no easy task. Dead trees often lack clear visual signs of their cause of death, while others may be too decomposed for meaningful forest forensics. Some tree deaths occur slowly, and most surveys are limited to infrequent observations of isolated deaths after the event has occurred. Some areas, like temperate and boreal forests, are not as well-studied as those in the tropics. So the researchers combined multiple methods to make their global estimate, including using results from another team's camera-based lightning detection system in an old-growth tropical forest in Panama's Barro Colorado Island (BCI). These camera observations were followed up with drone and ground surveys to confirm lightning-struck trees. This BCI data revealed that lightning is highly contagious. A lightning strike can cause a 'flashover' as electricity crosses the air gap between the crowns of neighboring trees, reaching as far away as 45 meters (almost 150 feet) from the initially struck tree. As a result, each lightning strike killed 3.5 trees on average. Testing their model against the real data, they found their model adequately simulated the trees killed by lightning strike. The researchers then applied the validated model to other temperate and tropical forests around the world. To pad out the global averages, the researchers also incorporated two hefty datasets of lightning frequency and density, one from a spaceborne optical network and the second from ground-based observations. According to the simulations, "286–328 million lightning strikes hit the Earth's surface each year," with the majority occurring over ice-free land areas, particularly in the tropics. This resulted in the annual death of 301-340 million trees over the 2004-2023 period, including 24-36 million large trees (over 60 centimeters in diameter). For comparison, natural causes kill around 50 billion trees annually, occasionally creating 'farting' ghost forests. So while lightning is only responsible for 0.69 percent tree deaths overall, it is responsible for up to 6.3 percent of large-tree deaths. Additionally, these numbers appear to be rising. "Currently, lightning-induced tree mortality is highest in tropical regions," says Andreas Krause, a computer scientist at TUM's Land Surface-Atmosphere Interactions lab and the study's lead author. "However, models suggest that lightning frequency will increase primarily in middle-and-high-latitude regions, meaning that lightning mortality could also become more relevant in temperate and boreal forests." The impact may be significant; a separate study predicts a 9-18 percent uptick in large-tree deaths for a 25-50 percent increase in lightning frequency. Most importantly, the study provides evidence that lightning-induced tree deaths are underestimated – if estimated at all. The researchers note that tree mortality is a neglected aspect in the dynamic models that scientists use to study how forests respond to environmental shifts, and should be included in future carbon calculations. This research is published in the journal Global Change Biology. Related News Scientists Found a Mysterious Barrier in The Ocean That Jellyfish Won't Cross Leopard Seal Mating Songs Are Eerily Like Our Nursery Rhymes Massive Earthquake Could Strike Canada as Ancient Fault Line Wakes Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
'Hot Blob' Heading For New York Following Ancient Greenland Rift
A vast blob of hot rock moving slowly beneath the Appalachian Mountains in the northeastern US is now thought to be the result of a divorce between Greenland and Canada some 80 million years ago. A study by an international team of researchers challenges the existing consensus in both geographical and chronological terms. It was previously thought the breaking up of the North American and African continents was responsible, some 180 million years ago. To test their assertion, the researchers used a combination of existing data and computer modeling to link the hot blob to a geological formation in the Labrador Sea in the North Atlantic dated to around 85-80 million years ago. Related: "This thermal upwelling has long been a puzzling feature of North American geology," says earth scientist Thomas Gernon, from the University of Southampton in the UK. "It lies beneath part of the continent that's been tectonically quiet for 180 million years, so the idea it was just a leftover from when the landmass broke apart never quite stacked up." Technically known as the Northern Appalachian Anomaly (NAA), the 350-kilometer- (217-mile-) wide blob of hot rock hasn't been in any particular hurry to get to its present location, moving at a rate of around 20 kilometers every million years. At that rate, the blob should pass New York in around 10 to 15 million years or so. However, the research team suggests this anomaly is one of the main reasons the Appalachians are still in place. The heat helps the continental crust remain buoyant, contributing to the mountains being uplifted further over the years. The new study builds on previous work from some of the same researchers. Known as the 'mantle wave' theory, it posits blobs of hot rock rise in a lava-lamp style when continents break apart, triggering a variety of geological phenomena such as volcanic eruptions and formation of mountains. "Our earlier research shows that these drips of rock can form in series, like domino stones when they fall one after the other, and sequentially migrate over time," says geophysicist Sascha Brune, from the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences in Germany. "The feature we see beneath New England is very likely one of these drips, which originated far from where it now sits." Further analysis and tracking of the hot rock will help to confirm its origins. Meanwhile, the same theories and techniques can be used to identify other geological features like this. In fact, the researchers think they might have already spotted a 'mirror' to the NAA, under north-central Greenland and also originating from the Labrador Sea. "The idea that rifting of continents can cause drips and cells of circulating hot rock at depth that spread thousands of kilometers inland makes us rethink what we know about the edges of continents both today and in Earth's deep past," says Derek Keir, a geophysicist from the University of Southampton. The research has been published in Geology. Related News Prehistoric Air Has Been Reconstructed From Dinosaur Teeth in an Amazing First Lightning Kills Way More Trees Than You Would Ever Believe Scientists Found a Mysterious Barrier in The Ocean That Jellyfish Won't Cross Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Forget 10,000 steps — try my 3-4-5 walking workout to boost your cardiovascular fitness and mood
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. I'll start this article with a strong caveat — I'm not a personal trainer or a walking coach, I'm a fitness editor and enthusiast, who reviews gear and tests new workouts for a living. Like the rest of the fitness world, I've recently been swept up in the Japanese walking method hype, and it's changed my walking workouts for good, but after a month, I found myself thinking, what's next? In order to get fitter and stronger, you need to keep progressing your workouts. With walking workouts, this is pretty easy — you simply walk faster, add weight in the form of a weighted vest (or in my case, a baby strapped to your torso in a sling), walk up hill, or increase the time you spend walking. That said, if you're looking for a new walking workout to try this summer, why not give my 3-4-5 walking method a go? Read on to find out exactly how to do it. As a reminder, if you're returning to workouts following an injury or pregnancy, it's always a good idea to get signed off by a medical professional before taking on a new routine. What is the 3-4-5 walking workout? Similar to the Japanese Walking Method, my 3-4-5 workout is also a form of HIIT training that involves changing the pace throughout the session. I found it best to program the walking workout on my Apple Watch beforehand (here's how to build a custom workout on your Apple Watch), but you can do the same on most of the best fitness trackers. If you don't have a fitness tracker, just use a stopwatch or the stopwatch on your smartphone. Here's how to do it: Walk for three minutes at a low intensity. This should be a 4/10 effort — you're still moving, but you should easily be able to hold a conversation with someone next to you. Then walk four minutes at a high intensity. This is a 7/10 walking effort — you should be working hard. Repeat this 5 times. You'll walk for 35 minutes in total. I've been doing the 3-4-5 walking workout for a week — here are the benefits As you might have spotted, this progresses the Japanese walking method by increasing the time spent walking at a faster pace and adding five minutes to the workout. Here's what I noticed: The extra 60 seconds of work makes all the difference 60 seconds doesn't sound like a long time, until you're having to power through another minute of walking at a fast pace. The extra minute of work made this feel like a step up from the three-minute intervals involved in the Japanese walking method. It's enough to keep your heart rate elevated for a little bit longer, and I felt like I'd worked harder and burned more calories during this walking workout. One of the benefits of adding intervals to your walks is raising your heart rate. This helps lower your blood pressure and cholesterol, and increases your aerobic capacity compared to walking continuously at a moderate pace for the same time. You're also likely to burn more calories than you would if you just walked at a moderate pace for 35 minutes, which is useful if you're walking for weight loss. Knowing how many times I was repeating the intervals helped I've run five marathons, and one thing that always gets me through the final miles is counting. From mile 20, I'll count each step to 100, then start again, or work out how many minutes of running I have left and count down. It helps keep my mind busy when the going gets tough. I also use a similar technique in my speed workouts when running, counting down the intervals, work, or laps of the track left. I liked counting down from five during this workout — knowing I only had one interval or four minutes of work left allowed me to push my pace. It raised my heart rate and boosted my mood I'm not walking to lose weight, but using it as a way to rebuild my fitness postpartum, and keep moving on days when my toddler doesn't go to daycare, and I can't head out for a run. It's also a great form of active recovery, and stops my legs getting too stiff between running and strength training sessions. I have to walk my dog every day, so why not mix it up and make it more of a workout? As well as raising my heart rate and leaving me feeling like I'd done a workout, not just rambled along with a podcast, my 3-4-5 walking workout left me with all those happy, post-workout endorphins flowing through my body before I sat down at my desk. It's a fun challenge, and one you can do for free, from anywhere. Do it on a treadmill, with a friend or a dog, in your local park, or up a hill if you want to really work your legs. All you need is a comfy pair of sneakers and 35 minutes. Happy walking! Follow Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button. More from Tom's Guide Forget 10,000 steps — I tried 'rucking' instead of regular walking for one week, and it's a game changer Forget running — 3 walking workouts that build lower body strength and burn calories I tried the 6-6-6 walking challenge — here's how it boosted my calm
