Health

(NEW YORK) — The American Academy of Pediatrics is warning parents and caregivers that excessive exposure to loud noises can be detrimental to children, and sound machines can cause more harm to children than previously thought.

In a statement released Saturday, the AAP said: “What families may not realize is that children are exposed to potentially harmful noise from infancy and that the effects are cumulative over a lifetime.”

ABC News medical correspondent Dr. Darien Sutton told “Good Morning America” that millions of children are at risk of some form of hearing loss.

“One of the reasons why is because children have smaller ear canals. That exposes them to intensification of that higher frequency sound and [makes] them at risk for damage,” Sutton explained.

According to one study published in BMJ Global Health in 2022, more than 1 billion young people are at risk of hearing loss around the world due to unsafe high listening volumes. The AAP cited another study that estimated 60% of adolescents listened to music and audio that was greater than the maximum recommended daily noise intake of 85 decibels averaged over eight hours, a standard that is also for adults and not children.

“The average volume that kids listen to music at is 70 to 100 [decibels],” Sutton said. “That’s the upper limit of normal or the range for most of our headphone outputs.”

“Now, noise above 70 [decibels] for prolonged periods of time can cause damage. Noise at 100, which is the maximum, can cause damage in minutes. And noise over 120 can cause immediate harm,” Sutton continued. “So it’s important to pay attention to those volume settings [and] keep them at least 60 to 70% total.”

With sound machines, often used to lull infants and children to sleep, the AAP warns that they are often too loud for healthy listening.

“The AAP recommends that parents and caregivers consider that if an environment sounds too loud for an adult, it probably is too loud for a child. ‘Too loud’ can mean having to raise your voice to speak with someone just an arm’s length away,” the pediatricians’ group said.

“The Academy of Pediatrics recommends, for example, that nurseries have a volume maximum of around 50 decibels,” Sutton said. “That’s a volume that you and I can speak at without raising our voice. Most of these machines go above that. So if you’re going to use them, turn that volume down, place it away from the bed at least seven feet and make sure that you give limits.”

Sutton recommended parents pay attention to their child’s communication.

“It’s about paying attention to that communication. If you’re finding that your child is speaking loudly, having difficulties with pronunciation, if you’re finding that they’re not reacting to loud noises — these are all some of the reasons why you should get them checked, their hearing checked, because it can help with their learning comprehension and, of course, reduce their risk long-term,” Sutton said.

 

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(NEW YORK) — A new study released on Friday found that women who followed a heart-healthy diet reduced their risk of cognitive issues later in life.

Doctors have long touted the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, which was designed to lower blood pressure, and now a New York University Women’s Health Study of 5,116 women over 30 years showed that following DASH could reduce risks of self-reported cognitive problems such as memory loss.

Subjective cognitive complaints were based on self-perceived memory loss and follow-ups were conducted via questionnaire.

High blood pressure, especially in midlife, has been shown to be a risk factor for dementia and women make up more than two-thirds of those diagnosed with the disease.

The data showed that women who continued the DASH diet in midlife were about 17% less likely to report memory loss and other cognitive decline decades later.

Dr. Genevieve Jing, a resident in the ABC News medical unit, noted that the subject cognitive complaints were all self-reported without clinical assessment.

The diet consists of higher levels of plant-based foods and lower saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, and sugar.

Dr. Jing also noted that there is some selection bias due to death, non-response, and loss to follow-up.

The study’s largest takeaway suggests that it’s important to start a healthy diet in midlife to help avoid cognitive decline or impairment later in life.

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(NEW YORK) — CVS Health is planning to remove one type of a common decongestant from shelves after an advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it was ineffective earlier this year.

The products contain the oral formulation of phenylephrine (PE), which is found in several over-the-counter (OTC) medications.

Although PE has been used as a decongestant for nearly a century, experts have been questioning its efficacy for years.

The FDA Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee unanimously voted in September that PE did not improve nasal congestion any more than a placebo at the dosage given for OTC use.

In response, CVS said it is removing products, in which PE is the only active ingredient, from store shelves. This means products like Dayquil, which uses a combination of active ingredients, will remain available for purchase.

“We are aware of the FDA Advisory Committee’s position on oral phenylephrine (PE) and will follow direction from the FDA to ensure products we sell comply with all laws and regulations,” CVS Health said in a statement. “We are removing certain oral cough and cold products that contain phenylephrine as the only active ingredient from CVS Pharmacy stores. Other oral cough and cold products will continue to be offered to meet consumer needs.”

CVS did not give specifies on brands that will be removed.

The FDA told ABC News it has not yet determined whether it no longer considers PE to be a safe and effective medication and has not ordered the product to be removed from shelves. CVS’s move is voluntary.

“The FDA has no further information to provide at this time regarding the timing of any decision the agency may make following the advisory committee meeting,” the federal health agency said.

The Consumer Healthcare Products Association told ABC News that the advisory committee’s recommendation is a non-binding decision and not a change in regulation.

“FDA is currently in the process of reviewing the regulatory status of oral phenylephrine (PE) following September’s advisory committee meeting,” CHPA said in a statement. “Until FDA makes a determination on the committee’s recommendation, oral PE remains a Category 1 OTC ingredient, which is generally recognized as safe and effective.”

Concerns were first raised about PE in 2007. Since then, evidence has accumulated showing that the drug offers little to no relief for nasal congestion.

Experts believe this is because the body processes the drug before it reaches the nasal passages where it needs to work.

It’s unclear if other major retail pharmacy chains will follow in CVS’s footsteps.

Walgreens Boots Alliance would not disclose whether it is planning to remove products with PE from store shelves and said it would defer to the FDA.

“Walgreens follows FDA regulations. We are closely monitoring the situation and actively partnering with the Walgreens Office of Clinical Integrity and suppliers on appropriate next steps,” a Walgreens spokesperson told ABC News.

Other major pharmacy chains including Albertsons, Costco and Kroger did immediately reply to ABC News’ request for comment. Walmart did not have an answer immediately available.

ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik and Sony Salzman contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it was considering issuing a proposed rule to ban hair straighteners with formaldehyde.

Formaldehyde is a chemical and a known carcinogen which has been found to cause an increased risk of endometrial cancers when used in chemical hair straighteners, often marketed to Black women.

However, it’s not just straighteners. A plethora of products — including perms, hair relaxers, lotions and gels — geared towards Black women have been found to raise the risk of diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and health risks while pregnant. Experts say this has been occurring for years.

In Western culture, straight and long hair has been considered a traditional beauty standard while textured hair with tight curls or coils has not.

“There’s a whole history of hair and hair care in the Black community, and some of it stems from issues of racism and discrimination against how women wear their hair and what’s considered a professional hairstyle in office settings, for example, or in school,” Dr. Kimberly Bertrand, an associate professor of medicine at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, told ABC News.

“So, there’s lots of reasons women may have used chemical hair relaxers, historically and even currently, everything stemming from the social pressures to have their hair look a certain way smooth and sleek,” she continued. “Some women find that their hair is just easier to manage when it’s relaxed and then of course there’s individual style and fads and trends, and how people want to wear their hair.”

Studies have shown that many of these products contain chemicals, such as phthalates, which are known to be endocrine disruptors, meaning they mimic, block or interfere with hormones in the body.

According to one Harvard professor, 50% of hair products advertised to Black women contain this group of chemicals while only about 7% of products advertised to white women do the same.

While exposure to phthalates has been linked to obesity, diabetes and pre-term birth, they’ve also been linked to uterine fibroids and uterine cancer.

“Some of the things that we’ve seen with permanent relaxers is the association with several different types of cancer, including breast and uterine cancer and ovarian cancer,” Dr. Jasmine McDonald, an assistant professor in the department of epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, told ABC News.

“We’ve also seen associations with the chemicals that are present within these products associated with uterine fibroids and fertility, so a lot of hormonal driven conditions, and that’s mainly because a lot of the chemicals of concern are endocrine-disrupting chemicals,” she said.

McDonald performed a study looking at the use of these products in early childhood and its association and found it was associated with an earlier starting age for one’s period, which increases the risk for breast cancer.

Meanwhile, Bertrand is an investigator on the long-running Black Women’s Health Study, which found that Black post-menopausal women who used chemical hair relaxers for more than five years or more than five times a year had a nearly 50% increased risk of developing uterine cancer compared to Black women who never or infrequently used these relaxers.

McDonald said some of the damage can be undone if users switch their products. For example, phthalates are chemicals that are excreted very quickly so small changes can make a difference.

“The great thing about it is there’s been intervention studies that have shown that if you remove that product, and you replace it with a cleaner product, you will see a decrease in your exposures of these chemicals of concern that have been associated with these chronic conditions,” she said.

Both experts say if the FDA does decide to ban formaldehyde it would be an important first step, but that it should extend to more chemicals.

However, the agency is still very early in the regulatory process and its notice only suggests it may a consider a proposal in the future.

“The fact of the matter is it’s one chemical, and we’re exposed to a plethora of chemicals, not just formaldehyde,” said McDonald. “So, I think it’s a very important ban. But it’s just one step that isn’t exhaustive to all the other chemicals of concern.”

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(NEW YORK) — A new study has found a link between eating red meat, especially processed red meat, and an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton explained the findings of the study, which was led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and published Thursday in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

“We’re talking about lamb, beef, pork, sausage, hot dogs, burgers,” said Ashton. “This was a big study, over 200,000 people followed for 30 years, [that] basically found a direct link and association — didn’t show cause and effect, but the more red meat consumed the higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes over that period of time.”

Researchers tracked the eating patterns of 216,695 adults over decades and noted whether they developed various health problems, assessing their diet with food frequency questionnaires every two to four years, for up to 36 years. During that time, more than 22,000 participants developed Type 2 diabetes.

The research showed that the more servings of red meat a person ate, the higher was their likelihood of developing Type 2 diabetes. The study did not conclude that eating red meat causes a person to develop Type 2 diabetes, only that there appeared to be an association.

U.S. dietary guidelines recommend that if you are getting protein from meat, you should choose lean meats, like chicken breast, over processed meats.

Researchers also noted that people can prevent or offset their potential risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by “substituting one daily serving of red meat for another protein source.” They further discovered that “substituting a serving of nuts and legumes was associated with a 30% lower risk of Type 2 diabetes, and substituting a serving of dairy products was associated with a 22% lower risk,” according to the study.

“That was the silver lining,” Ashton said. “They did find consuming as little as half a serving a day of legumes and nuts dramatically lowered that risk.”

Ashton also emphasized the importance of knowing your own risks, and assessing the factors that can contribute to developing Type 2 diabetes, such as genetics, exercise, weight and diet.

“If you have a family history or have had diabetes in pregnancy, you are at higher risk. Getting screened with a simple blood test, everyone should do that regardless of their weight,” Ashton encouraged. “But keeping your weight in a healthy range is key for preventing or lowering the risk of Type 2 diabetes.”

Echoing the study findings, Ashton further said “swapping out proteins” can be beneficial, and that while “we all love our occasional burger,” foods like “fish, plant based protein [are] definitely healthier.”

Finally, Ashton reminded that exercise is key to good health.

“Every little bit counts, including walking, so getting those steps in,” she said.

The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion recommends that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity every week, or about 22 minutes a day.

Dr. Liz Ghandakly, from the ABC News medical unit, noted that the study participants were all health professionals, 81% of whom were female and about 90% of whom were white, which she said may limit how broadly the data can be generalized.

The study also relied on participants self-reporting their average frequency of eating certain foods over the past 12 months when they filled out the questionnaire, which could have affected accuracy.

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(NEW YORK) — People with HIV are at increased risk of being reinfected with the virus that causes COVID-19, according to new federal data.

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Chicago Department of Public Health followed adult residents in Chicago from their first reported infection from March 2020 through the end of May 2022, according to the report published Wednesday by the CDC.

The team compared COVID test laboratory data and COVID vaccine administration data to Chicago’s Enhanced HIV/AIDS Reporting System.

About 5% experienced reinfection among more than 453,000 Chicago residents who tested positive for the virus.

Rates of reinfection were higher among people with HIV (6.7%) than among people without HIV (5.2%).

People with HIV are more likely to have completed a primary COVID vaccine series plus a booster before their reinfection — 31.8% versus 27% for those without HIV.

Reinfection rates were consistently higher throughout the pandemic for people with HIV and were highest during the original omicron variant phase, according to the report.

“Understanding if persons with HIV have a higher risk for SARS-CoV-2 reinfection may help tailor future COVID-19 public health guidance,” the authors wrote. “[Persons with HIV] should follow the recommended COVID-19 vaccine schedule, including booster doses, to avoid SARS-CoV-2 reinfections.”

Those who were reinfected were more likely to be male, older and Black or African American compared to those without HIV, the study found.

People with HIV were also less likely to have been unvaccinated at the time of their first infection compared to people without HIV.

The report notes the findings are a reminder about the risks of reinfection for those who are immunocompromised.

HIV can weaken the immune system, infecting and destroying CD4 cells, which causes the white blood cell count to drop and compromises the immune system.

This means that people with HIV are susceptible to COVID infection especially those who are not on antiretroviral therapy (ART).

ART is a combination of drugs that suppresses a person’s viral load until HIV Is virtually undetectable. The ability of ART to control viral replication has been shown to greatly improve immune system function, studies show.

“Evaluating the association between HIV infection and SARS-CoV-2 reinfections using surveillance data can help strengthen public health recommendations including the need for extra doses as part of a primary series, booster doses of vaccine, and optimized ART in [persons with HIV],” the authors wrote. “Tailored guidance and prevention messaging for [persons with HIV] can help reduce the elevated risk we identified in this analysis and limit continued SARS-CoV-2 transmission.”

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(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas conflict continues — with food, water and fuel running out in Gaza — pregnant people and those who have just given birth are facing a crisis, experts and humanitarian organizations said.

About 50,000 people are estimated to be pregnant in Gaza with about 160 estimated to give birth every day, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Additionally, an estimated 73,000 are pregnant in the West Bank, with more than 8,000 expected to give birth within the next month, the UNFPA said.

Experts said pregnant women and new mothers are facing life-threatening challenges to accessing safe care, putting their health and the health of their babies at risk.

“I think we have to start off with the basic premise, which is that war is bad for health,” Dr. Dabney P. Evans, an associate professor of global health in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, told ABC News. “There’s no good health outcome that is going to come as a result of war and conflict.”

“And then from a public health perspective, we would tend to focus on vulnerable groups and so pregnant women and children … would be among the populations that we would want to pay special attention, to ensure that their health needs are being met,” she said.

Blocked access to care

One of the biggest problems facing pregnant and post-partum people right now is a lack of access to care.

An editorial in The BMJ on the risks pregnant women face in war discussed how there’s no transportation to get someone to a medical center or to a health care provider.

“You have to be able to provide some sort of prenatal care and, generally, that’s gonna be difficult to get them to a clinic unless they have some sort of transportation, depending on the type of zone that you’re in,” Dr. Harry Johnson, an OB/GYN at the University of Maryland Medical Center, who has experience practicing in war zones, told ABC News.

“If you’re house bound, because of the things that are going on around you, you’re not able to get to a health care facility, you don’t have access into to prenatal care, and you don’t have access to the hospital where you deliver the babies,” he continued. “So, you’re pretty much are limited to home care, which is not always adequate.”

This puts pregnant people at risk of having an infant with low birthweight or suffering a premature birth, stillbirth or even miscarriage, experts said.

He added that hospitals also have nurseries to care for newborns so, if someone gives birth at home, there’s no access to health care providers who can keep an eye on the infants’ health.

Even if a patient is able to get to a hospital, the medical center might be overwhelmed due to caring of those who have been injured, have underlying conditions or are even sheltering at the hospital due to losing their homes, experts said.

“There’s more attention, more resources being pooled into acute traumatic events, of injuries that are inflicted by war and in conflict,” Dr. Mimi Niles, an assistant professor at New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing and a practicing midwife, told ABC News.

She added, “What does that do to the people who are seeking out health care for other reasons? Their lives do not stop when conflict [starts]. People don’t stop being pregnant, right? Or people don’t stop being in labor.”

Risk to safety

Another risk for pregnant people and new mothers’ is their immediate safety due to air strikes and raids.

With a potential ground offensive looming, Israel told more than one million people in northern Gaza last week to flee south to escape the fighting.

The UNFPA shared the testimony of a 30-year-old pregnant woman who been forced to evacuate her home four times, each time with only a small bag of clothes, who said “each time feels like a race against death.”

Pregnant women or those who just gave birth may not be able to move to safety depending on their condition.

“For anyone that has been pregnant, they will know that their doctor would suggest not flying or not traveling far from their local home base as their delivery draws nearer, and for people that are in conflict situations or humanitarian situations, they may not have the ability to control that,” Evans, the director of Emory’s Center for Humanitarian Emergencies, said.

Hospitals may also be at risk of attacks. Israel’s evacuation orders included 22 hospitals treating more than 2,000 patients in northern Gaza.

Experts told ABC News that health care facilities in any conflict zone should be neutral players.

“We’re medical providers, so we can’t really say what’s going on outside the hospital, but we would encourage that, and we would hope that, hospitals are protected and that they’re really safe zones,” Johnson said. “I think medical personnel are really neutral players in conflict zones and what we focus on really is taking care of patients — and in my particular case, would be pregnant women and newborns — and it’s just important that we respect that neutrality.”

Disputed family planning services

While the blockades may be preventing pregnant people and new mothers from accessing care, it’s also affecting access to family planning services.

This means people trapped in conflict zones may not be able to reach their health care providers to receive reproductive health care or have access to contraceptive, taking reproductive choices away from civilians.

“There are people who maybe were scheduled to get routine care or routine contraceptive care and routine abortion care, and they no longer have access to that care, because that clinic is closed or it’s been destroyed or there might be blockades,” said Niles. “These are all things that are part of what we call the reproductive justice framework, making sure that people have access to all the options that help them realize their own full humanity.”

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(NEW YORK) — Decreased levels of serotonin in the body may be a contributing factor in the development and persistence of so-called ‘long COVID’ symptoms, according to a new study.

Researchers suggest that, even after acute COVID symptoms subside, traces of the virus remain in the gastrointestinal tract, which is where the majority of circulating serotonin is produced, and where the virus reduces levels of the essential chemical. The low levels of serotonin might in turn lead to some of the more commonly reported long COVID symptoms, such as cognitive difficulties and memory problems, according to the study.

For the study, published Monday in the journal Cell, researchers at Penn Medicine conducted an analysis using questionnaire surveys and medical chart reviews of 1,540 patients hospitalized with long COVID.

Patients reported symptoms including fatigue, cognitive difficulties, headaches, anxiety, loss of endurance, problems with sleep and memory loss — all typically associated with long COVID diagnosis.

The study also analyzed blood samples taken from 58 long COVID patients and compared them to samples taken from 30 people who were fully recovered from COVID, as well as to samples taken from 60 people in the midst of an active COVID infection.

“These findings provide a possible explanation for neurocognitive symptoms associated with viral persistence in Long COVID, which may extend to other post-viral syndromes,” the authors wrote.

Researchers found that long COVID patients had different levels of chemicals in their body compared to those who had recovered, the most significant of which were levels of serotonin.

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter, sometimes referred to as the “feel good” chemical, that carries messages between nerve cells in the brain and throughout the body, helping to regulate mood. But serotonin also plays a significant role in digestion, sleep, bone health, wound healing, blood clotting and sexual desire, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

The researchers believe leftover bits of the virus in the gastrointestinal tract cause the body to produce proteins that lead to inflammation and an inability to absorb tryptophan, an amino acid that’s essential for the production and maintenance of neurotransmitters, including serotonin. The resulting low levels of serotonin lead to memory problems and other cognitive issues.

Serotonin levels also were predictive of whether a patient in the study fully recovered or developed long-term complications after COVID infection. Serotonin levels remained reduced in severe cases of long COVID. Long COVID patients also had higher levels of enzymes in the body that can break down serotonin, which in turn may also reduce levels of the neurotransmitter.

Researchers say further studies are needed to confirm a causal link between low serotonin levels and long COVID, with further, multiple steps needed before the research can result in a treatment.

Long COVID is a condition that occurs when patients still exhibit symptoms at least four weeks after they have cleared the infection. In some cases, long COVID symptoms can be experienced for months or years.

Though symptoms often vary, they can include fatigue, difficulty breathing, headaches, brain fog, joint and muscle pain, and continued loss of taste and smell, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Despite the new findings about serotonin’s possible role, it’s unclear what causes people to develop long COVID, and research is ongoing.

Earlier this year, the Biden administration announced it was forming a new Office of Long COVID Research and Practice to study the condition and help those who have been diagnosed with it.

The office, which will be under the Department of Health and Human Services, “is charged with on-going coordination of the whole-of-government response to the longer-term effects of COVID-19,” according to an HHS news release.

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(NEW YORK) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a notice suggesting it may consider a proposal to ban the use of formaldehyde in hair straightening and hair smoothing products.

The FDA’s consideration of the proposal was entered in the Unified Agenda, a government registry of actions that administrative agencies plan to issue.

There is no set timeline on when the agency may consider the proposal or when, if it moves forward, a ban would go into effect.

Frequent use of hair-straightening products that include chemicals like formaldehyde has been found in studies to put women at a higher risk for uterine cancer.

One study published last year found an association that women who self-reported frequent use of hair straightening products were more than twice as likely to later develop uterine cancer than women who did not use the products. Scientists caution that it’s not clear yet if these products cause cancer. For now, research only hints at only a probable link.

Uterine cancer, a type of cancer that starts in the uterus, is a risk factor for anyone with a uterus, but the risk increases with age, especially during and after menopause, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last year’s study found that Black women may be more affected by the increased risk of uterine cancer not because of their race, but due to the fact that they use chemical hair straightening products at a higher rate. Frequent use of the products was defined as more than four times in the previous year, according to the study, which included more than 33,000 women between the ages of 35 to 74.

Formaldehyde is described by the Environmental Protection Agency as a “colorless, flammable gas” that can cause “adverse health effects” with exposure. When used in hair smoothing products, the formaldehyde is released into the air as a gas when the products are heated.

The Department of Health and Human Services lists formaldehyde as a “known carcinogen.”

The FDA issued a warning last year stating that the use of hair smoothing products in an area that is not properly ventilated could lead to a risk of a person inhaling formaldehyde. In the warning, the agency acknowledged it began receiving “inquiries from consumers and salon professionals” about the safety of formaldehyde in products as far back as 20 years ago.

Melanie Benesh, vice president for government affairs at the Environmental Working Group, an environmental advocacy organization, described the FDA’s consideration of a ban on formaldehyde as a move that is “welcome, but long overdue.”

Benesh pointed out that the Environmental Working Group published a report as early as 2011 on the widespread use of formaldehyde in hair product brands and in salons across the U.S.

“The FDA has been aware of this issue for a long time,” Benesh told ABC News’ Good Morning America, adding, “There is no reason that the FDA shouldn’t have acted earlier on what is a real public health issue, particularly for salon workers.”

The FDA did not reply to ABC News’ request for comment in response to Benesh’s claim that the agency should have acted sooner.

Benesh added that salon workers are at increased risk of adverse health effects due to their prolonged exposure to the types of hair treatments that include chemicals, including keratin treatments and Brazilian blowouts.

“Consumers are going to be exposed if they get one of those treatments or if you’re in the salon while someone else is getting that same kind of treatment,” she said. “But salon workers are more likely to do multiple treatments a day or multiple treatments a week and over the course of a year, and so those repeat exposures can really add up to an increased risk.”

California and Maryland recently passed state legislation banning the use of formaldehyde in hair straightening products. Both laws are set to go into effect January 2025.

Benesh noted there are hair straightening and smoothing products currently on the market that do not use formaldehyde. She said her advice to consumers and salon workers is to not wait for regulatory action but instead refrain from using hair products with formaldehyde on their own.

“There’s no reason to wait until the law takes effect or until a proposed rule takes effect to switch to safer products, or to just no longer offer those services if you can’t find a hair smoothing or hair straightening treatment that you like that doesn’t use formaldehyde,” Benesh said. “It’s not worth the risk. It’s not worth your stylists or your consumers potentially getting cancer just to have straight hair.”

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(NEW YORK) — High-profile cases of unhoused people committing violent acts in U.S. cities like New York and San Francisco may have ignited fear and frustration around the homeless population of these areas, experts say.

But while those incidents tend to draw attention, they may create a false impression that homeless people are significantly more dangerous than the general population, according to research.

“Fear of danger far exceeds the actual risk of danger,” said Nyssa Snow-Hill, a researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Stigmas around people in marginalized groups contribute to the perception that people experiencing homelessness are a risk, Snow-Hills said. Some research shows that people view unhoused people with more disgust and as less human than other groups, for example.

“We view them as lacking in morality, being more dangerous, being more lazy, being less rational,” Snow-Hill said. “This contributes to those cognitive views that this is somebody who could present harm to me.”

Some people can be very uncomfortable with those that are different from them, according to Snow-Hill, and that can create increased anxiety.

“People don’t often have a lot of experience with those experiencing homelessness,” she says.

The visibility of unhoused people can increase that discomfort, experts say. An ABC News analysis found that while the number of people experiencing homelessness has been relatively stable over the past decade, the public’s visibility of unhoused people has increased. Some reasons include more urban construction and aggressive policing policies that have forced some people experiencing homelessness closer to where other people live and work.

Studies in recent decades have attempted to answer the question about whether unhoused people are more likely to be violent, but these studies have produced mixed results, and rely on inconsistent data sources.

Still, some research has found that unhoused people are arrested at higher rates than housed people, but that they’re arrested for non-violent behavior like public intoxication or shoplifting — not violence.

Researchers who study public perceptions of homelessness say people tend to have exaggerated fears of unhoused people. They also tend to assume that most have severe psychiatric disorders — which reinforces their fear.

“We tend to stereotype those experiencing homelessness as automatically having mental illnesses,” Snow-Hill says. “Then we often assume mental illness is severe and could pose a risk to the general public.’

Data suggests around 20% of people experiencing homelessness have severe mental illness, according to an ABC News analysis of data United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

People with mental illness may have a slightly higher risk of committing violence than healthy people, research shows. But most violence is not committed by people with mental illness, and the things that predict violence in people with mental illness — like antisocial behavior and substance use — are the same qualities that predict violence in people without mental illness, according to the research.

Like unhoused people, people with mental illnesses are more likely to be the victim of violence than to be a perpetrator.

“There is this perception that people with severe mental illness are unpredictable and act violently … even though through research we know that they’re more likely to be victims,” says Jack Tsai, campus dean at the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health and research director for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans.

Encouraging people to have more contact with people experiencing homelessness is one way to try changing attitudes and stereotypes around unhoused people, Snow-Hill says. Situations that offer meaningful contact between unhoused people and housed people — like in shelters through outreach — can help create those shifts. But disrupting deep-seated, often unconscious bias can be difficult, she says.

But changing those attitudes is important for creating the policy change that can actually address underlying causes of homelessness. People who have more negative views about people experiencing homelessness may be less likely to vote for policies that are less punitive and help provide housing, for example, Snow-Hill says.

“The issue of homelessness often comes down to these large systemic issues that will have to be addressed at policy level,” she says. “Unless attitudes change, we’re never going to get to that point where we have the change that’s needed to make a difference.”

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