Tomorrow’s Health: Child death rates, sleep & vax, brain food

(WWNY) - There’s a link between shuteye and a shot in the arm. And child mortality rates have seen their largest increase in decades.

Child death rates

Child and adolescent death rates rose 20% between 2019 and 2021. It’s the largest jump in at least 50 years, according to an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

That’s despite decades of progress against childhood diseases.

Driving the spike: deaths from homicide, suicide, accidental drug overdoses, and car accidents.

Sleep & vax

If you roll up your sleeve, you may want to turn down the bed.

A study in “Current Biology” found more sleep could help your body respond better to vaccination.

Researchers found people who slept fewer than six hours per night produced significantly fewer antibodies than those who clocked seven or more hours of shuteye.

Brain food

A diet rich in plant-based foods and healthy fats may be good for your brain.

British researchers found that people who ate a Mediterranean-like diet had up to 23% lower risk for dementia than those who did not.

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