Could a mother’s diet prevent food allergies in breastfeeding children?; less processed diets lead to greater weight loss; emergency wait times surge – Morning Medical Update

Morning Medical Update © Alena Kryazheva – stock.adobe.com

Could a mother’s diet prevent food allergies in their children?

A new National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded trial will test whether pregnant and breastfeeding women who eat peanuts and eggs can reduce the risk of their babies developing early allergic responses to those foods. The ESCAPE study will enroll 504 mother-infant pairs nationwide to examine if maternal diet affects infants’ production of IgE antibodies — an early marker of food allergies — before babies are introduced to solid food. Results are expected in 2029.

Less processed diets lead to greater weight loss

People eating minimally processed foods lost twice as much weight as those eating ultra-processed alternatives, even when both diets were nutritionally identical, according to a new randomized trial from University College London. Published in Nature Medicine, the study found that participants on the less processed diet consumed fewer calories and had better craving control, suggesting that food processing itself may influence weight gain, beyond fat, salt or sugar content.

Emergency wait times surge, with 1 in 4 patients boarding over 4 hours

A new national study finds that emergency department “boarding” — when patients wait for hospital beds after admission — has sharply increased since 2020 and shows no sign of slowing. By 2024, more than 25% of patients waited over four hours for a bed, even during off-peak months. In winter, that figure neared 35%, and nearly 5% waited more than 24 hours. Researchers warn that prolonged boarding delays care, worsens safety risks and threatens the health system’s ability to respond to future crises.