Medical News You Can Use-MAY, 2025

A Monthly Roundup of Current Health Topics

As the medical correspondent for WGN Morning News in Chicago, I do regular segments on current health stories and recently published scientific articles. A few weeks ago, I posted current topics I covered during my regular WGN morning news segment—basically, quick summaries of what’s going on in health.

People seemed to like it, so I am going to make this a regular thing to close out each month.

At-Home Cervical Screening Now FDA-Approved

Your at-home laboratory just got bigger. In addition to pooping in a box to screen for colon cancer, peeing on a stick to find out if you are in menopause (READ Why Home Menopause Tests are ridiculous) and swabbing your boogers to see if you have Covid or the flu, there is now a cervical cancer screening test kit to use in the privacy of your bathroom.

This is huge. Even though cervical cancer can usually be prevented with the HPV vaccine, and if detected early, is rarely fatal, we have a long way to go.

Every year

• More than 25% of at-risk women don’t get screened

• 13,00 cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed.

• Over 4000 women die from cervical cancer

Numbers are particularly high in Black women, Native American women, and older women who are told they don’t need a Pap test. Check out my article on why women over 60 still need to go to the gynecologist, including cervical cancer screening.

Screening for HPV instead of Looking at Specific Cells

The original Pap smear sampled cervical cells to detect pre-cancerous or cancerous changes. The newer cervical screening approach is to check for Human Papillomavirus (HPV), the virus that is responsible for cervical cancer. If the virus is detected, it may indicate the presence of abnormal cells or simply that there is an increased risk for developing cervical cancer down the road. The purpose of the HPV test, like all screening tests, is to identify individuals who require further testing and closer surveillance.

How it Works

You are eligible for an at-home cervical screening if you are between the ages of 25 and 65 and considered to be low risk. To receive your kit in the mail, you first need to get a prescription from a healthcare professional.

The home test is performed using the Teal Wand™, a disposable device roughly the diameter of a tampon.

Once the wand is inserted in the vagina, the soft sponge on the tip is used to collect cervical cells, which are then sent to the lab, and tested for HPV. The results are sent to your health care clinician, who will discuss the results with you.

Although it requires a prescription, insurance should typically cover the cost. It’s rolling out in California first, with an expectation that it will soon be available everywhere.

The advantage is clear: no need to go to the gynecologist, no need to undress, and no need for a speculum exam, which means many more women will likely get screened. Additionally, home HPV testing is considered as accurate as an in-office Pap test and will detect cervical pre-cancer 96% of the time.

My biggest concern is that many women consider a Pap test to be synonymous with a gynecologic exam, and, without the need to go to the gynecologist for a Pap, women will take a pass and not get examined, evaluated, or screened for the hundreds of other things gynecologists check out.

So, overall, this is a good thing, but as far as I’m concerned, you are not off the hook. At-home cervical cancer screening is not a substitute for a gynecologic exam. Sorry.

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Could Blocking the Internet on Your Smartphone Help with Brain Fog?

Approximately 90% of adults own a smartphone. The average user spends almost five hours a day on that phone. Five hours! No surprise, numerous studies indicate that smartphone use has a detrimental effect on cognitive function, attention, memory, and mental health.

In other words, your smartphone may be making you stupider and more anxious.

My first thought when I came across this recently published study was, WHY? That question has already been asked and answered. However, the study, which was designed to specifically examine the impact of internet use compared to using a smartphone exclusively for calls or texting, revealed some interesting new data.

In this study, half of the 500 participants were blocked from using the internet for two weeks, meaning no access to social media, news, or the ability to fact-check.

Almost half of the group enrolled in the internet blocking cell phone group dropped out of the study. They couldn’t do it! Which says a lot right there. It also means there was significant selection bias.

90% of participants who no longer had access to the internet improved in at least one of the following parameters:

• Mental health

• Sustained attention

• Task accuracy

• Subjective well-being

One notable finding was that mental health scores improved more than with the use of antidepressants. Think about that…

Interestingly, the people who benefited the most were those who had the highest “fear of missing out” score at baseline.

According to the investigators, there are two major reasons for the results.

• Avoiding the internet means there is a lower chance of interruption and multitasking, which can consume cognitive resources. It’s hard to concentrate and be “in the moment” when your brain is checking “likes” on your latest Instagram post, scrolling for a recipe for your dinner party, playing Wordle, and browsing through whatever horrible stuff is happening in the news.

• People who were internet-blocked had more “freed-up time” and used that increased time to socialize, read books, exercise, and be outside. Instead of staring at their phone for 5 hours a day, they were more socially connected.

There is a lot more data you can check out.

A couple of thoughts: If I were designing this study, I would have added a 3^rd group in which the entire internet wasn’t blocked, just social media. Additionally, this study included only young adults. I think it would have been interesting to include a group of perimenopausal women, a group that really struggles with focus, brain fog, and memory. Having said that, the results might be skewed since most perimenopausal women can’t remember why they walked into the room, much less where they left their phone.

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It’s Not Just WHAT You Eat, It’s HOW You Eat

It’s a well-known fact that people who eat quickly tend to be heavier. But is it the meal duration, the size of the bites, or the number of chews per bite?

In this study, participants were given a meal consisting of ¼ of a pizza and then tracked by how many bites they took per slice, the number of chews per bite, the tempo of eating (controlled by a metronome), and total meal duration. It turns out that the eating tempo, contributed, but was not the primary variable that determined the duration of the meal. It was the number of bites and the number of chews for each bite.

Obviously, if you take smaller bites and chew more times, you will end up eating more slowly, and ultimately, often eat less because your brain has time to register that you are full. But according to the authors of this study, the benefits go beyond eating less.

• Small bites mean that you are increasing the activity of digestive enzymes.

• Increased enzymes mean that theoretically there will be better digestion, more nutrients absorbed, less bloating, and less indigestion.

Everything in this study is common sense, but it’s always a good thing to have scientific validation of what your grandma told you.

And it’s a good reminder that if you want to eat less and digest your food better:

• Take smaller bites by using a smaller spoon or cut your food into small bites before you start eating.

• Don’t take another bite until your mouth is empty.

• Slow down, which means you should sit for a meal instead of wolfing your food while standing in front of an open refrigerator.