Cleaner bedroom air may help manage blood sugar in prediabetes

NYU Langone Health / NYU Grossman School of Medicine

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Using portable filters to reduce exposure to air pollution during sleep may stabilize the large spikes in blood sugar experienced by people with prediabetes, a condition in which sugar (glucose) levels are higher than normal, a new study shows.

Led by researchers at NYU Langone Health, the team assessed more than 150 men and women with prediabetes who did not have any known buildup of cholesterol in their arteries, a condition called atherosclerosis.

Prediabetes raises the risk of heart disease and diabetes, and large swings in blood sugar during the day are tied to worsening disease. While experts have linked air pollution to both prediabetes and cardiovascular disease, until now it remained unclear whether using high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters at home could improve blood sugar control. 

Testing this for the first time in humans, scientists had half the study participants sleep with real bedroom air filters for about a month, while the other half used sham filters that did not clean air. The real filters cut levels of tiny, harmful air particles by 36 percent. 

In turn, this cleaner air was linked to a nearly 8 percent drop in daily blood sugar swings and smaller morning sugar surges after breakfast. The total extra glucose in the blood after eating breakfast fell by about 17 percent on average, while peak levels following breakfast decreased by 13 percent. 

“Our findings suggest that cleaner air at home, especially in the bedroom, may help people with prediabetes keep their blood sugar steady and blunt morning spikes,” said study lead author and cardiologist Sharine L. Wittkopp, MD, PhD, a clinical instructor in NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s Department of Medicine and its Leon H. Charney Division of Cardiology. “Installing HEPA filters offers an easy, low cost tool to help protect heart and metabolic health along with healthy eating, regular exercise, and prescribed medications.”

The results will be presented November 8 at the American Heart Association’s annual Scientific Sessions.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly half of US adults have prediabetes despite prevention and treatment efforts. Besides well-known risk factors, including poor diet, physical inactivity, and smoking, past studies have connected prediabetes to pollutants from vehicle exhaust, wildfires, and emissions from power plants and industrial sites. When these particles, which can be less than one thirtieth the average width of a human hair, are inhaled, they can enter the lungs and bloodstream and lead to disease. 

The new study is the first to test whether in home HEPA filtration can improve glucose control in adults with prediabetes, the authors said.

For the investigation, the research team randomly assigned volunteers in New York City to use either real or sham portable air cleaners in their bedrooms for a month and measured concentrations of indoor air pollution throughout the trial. Participants wore continuous glucose monitors, small sensors that track blood sugar every few minutes, for one week before and again after four weeks of filtration so the team could see how daily blood sugar changed over time. 

An AI tool that analyzed glucose patterns was used to detect mealtimes so the team could focus on blood sugar changes that occurred during breakfast. Next, they analyzed the data using statistical models to compare each participant’s readings over time, taking into account age, sex, and body mass index (a measure of obesity). 

“Our results add to a growing body of evidence that poor air quality is a threat not only to lung health but to heart and metabolic health as well,” said study senior author Jonathan Newman, MD, MPH, an associate professor in NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s Department of Medicine and its Leon H. Charney Division of Cardiology. “These findings support broader efforts to reduce air pollution and suggest that healthcare providers should consider indoor air quality when helping patients manage their cardiometabolic risk.”

According to Dr. Newman, the team next plans to run longer term studies to see whether air filtration can slow or stop the progression from prediabetes to diabetes and whether it can reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke, and other signs of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome.

Dr. Newman cautioned that the findings may not apply to people who already have diabetes or to those living in other regions of the country, who are exposed to different types and levels of pollution. 
 
Funding for the study was provided by the Doris Duke Foundation. 

In addition to Drs. Wittkopp and Newman, NYU Langone researchers involved in the study were Souptik Barua, PhD; Parsa Asachi, MD; Filipp Kazatsker; Rujul Singh; José Alemán, MD, PhD; Jiyuan Hu, PhD; Terry Gordon, PhD; and Lorna E. Thorpe, PhD, MPH. Another study co-investigator was Robert Brook, MD, at Wayne State University. 

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About NYU Langone Health
NYU Langone Health is a fully integrated health system that consistently achieves the best patient outcomes through a rigorous focus on quality that has resulted in some of the lowest mortality rates in the nation. Vizient Inc. has ranked NYU Langone No. 1 out of 122 comprehensive academic medical centers across the nation five years in a row, and it continues to have the most No. 1– and top 10–ranked specialties among medical centers in the United States, according to U.S. News & World Report. NYU Langone offers a comprehensive range of medical services with one high standard of care across seven inpatient locations, its Perlmutter Cancer Center, and more than 400 outpatient locations in the New York City area and Florida. The system also includes two tuition-free medical schools, in Manhattan and on Long Island, and a vast research enterprise.

Media Inquiries
Shira Polan
212-404-4279
shira.polan@nyulangone.org

 

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Method of Research

Randomized controlled/clinical trial

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

“Cleaner Air for Lower Cardiometabolic Risk: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Sham-Controlled Trial of Air Pollution Reduction

Article Publication Date

8-Nov-2026

 

Genetic variant may increase the risk of pneumonia

Lund University

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Kristian Riesbeck

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Credit: Tove Smeds

A common genetic variant can weaken the lungs’ defences against bacteria and increase the risk of pneumonia. This is shown by a new study led by researchers at Lund University in Sweden. The researchers have also discovered a previously unknown mechanism by which the immune system in the airways detects and combats bacteria.

Pneumonia is a common and sometimes serious infection that affects 20,000-30,000 people in Sweden every year.

Well-known risk factors include advanced age, smoking and underlying medical conditions. In a new study, researchers at Lund University and Skåne University Hospital have shown that genetic differences in the innate immune system can also influence the risk of developing the condition.

“We investigated how a common genetic variant – carried by roughly one in seven Europeans – affects the immune receptor Dectin-1. The receptor is found on cells in lung tissue, where it recognises foreign substances and helps the body to respond to them,” says Kristian Riesbeck, professor of clinical bacteriology at Lund University and senior consultant in clinical microbiology at Skåne University Hospital.

Dectin-1 has previously been associated mainly with protection against fungal infections, but the study shows that the receptor also plays a significant role in defending the airways against bacteria. The analysis covered just over 28,000 participants in the Malmö Diet and Cancer Study. The participants were followed for an average of more than 17 years, during which time around 5,500 cases of pneumonia were recorded.

“The genetic variant causes the receptor to function less effectively. Carriers had an approximately 12 per cent higher risk of developing pneumonia, even when we took into account smoking, body weight and medical conditions that affect the immune system,”continues Kristian Riesbeck.

The researchers were surprised that a single, relatively common genetic variant could have such a significant impact. As this variant is common, it may affect many people, even though the increased risk for each individual is moderate. The increased risk persisted when the analysis was restricted to bacterial pneumonia, which strengthens the link to the lungs’ defences against bacteria.

To understand the mechanism behind the increased risk, the researchers also carried out experiments on mice. When the immune system’s receptor was absent or functioned less effectively, the mice found it more difficult to clear two common bacteria that can cause respiratory tract infections: pneumococci and Haemophilus. The less effectively the receptor worked, the less successfully the body was able to get rid of the bacteria.

“We also discovered that the receptor helps the immune system to recognise bacteria and trigger the body’s defences. If the receptor does not function as it should, we therefore also become less effective at fighting off bacteria,” says Oskar Thofte, a postdoc at Lund University.

The discovery reveals a previously unknown way in which the lungs’ immune system detects bacteria. In the long term, the findings may contribute to a better understanding of why some people are more susceptible to infections than others.

“In my 30 years as a researcher, this is one of the studies I am most proud of. I began researching Haemophilus as far back as 1999, and my long experience of the bacterium has been crucial to this work. But it is only with today’s techniques, including whole-genome sequencing, that we have been able to analyse the participants’ genetic background and achieve these results,” concludes Kristian Riesbeck.

 

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Journal

EBioMedicine

DOI

10.1016/j.ebiom.2026.106497

Method of Research

Case study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

The CLEC7A Y238∗ variant and susceptibility to pneumonia: a prospective population-based cohort study and mechanistic investigation

COI Statement

OT, Y-CS, and KR are named inventors on a patent application related to EF-Tu-based vaccine delivery. All other authors declare no competing interests.

 

Clinical guidelines call on hospitals to make tobacco treatment part of routine care

Medical University of South Carolina

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Drs. Benjamin Toll and Alana Rojewski contributed to new guidelines from the American College of Chest Physicians that promote an opt-out approach to offering tobacco treatment to all hospitalized patients who currently smoke.

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Credit: Medical University of South Carolina

For people who smoke cigarettes, a hospital stay may be an opportunity to quit. New clinical guidelines developed with experts from MUSC Hollings Cancer Center call on hospitals to make tobacco treatment a routine part of care.

The guidelines from the American College of Chest Physicians, or CHEST, recommend an “opt-out” approach: Every hospitalized patient who currently smokes should be proactively offered tobacco treatment. That marks a shift from approaches that offer treatment primarily to patients who say they are ready to quit.

The goal is to keep tobacco use from getting lost among the many other health concerns being addressed during a hospitalization, said Benjamin Toll, Ph.D., director of the MUSC Health Tobacco Treatment Program and co-director of the Lung Cancer Screening Program. Toll helped to develop the guidelines along with Alana Rojewski, Ph.D., associate director of the Tobacco Treatment Program.

“Unfortunately, but understandably, tobacco can get overlooked,” Toll said. “Our providers are so busy clinically. There’s a lot to do.”

But a hospital stay can be an important window for intervention. Patients cannot smoke while there, meaning those who regularly smoke may experience nicotine withdrawal. That gives providers an opportunity to treat those symptoms while also opening a conversation about whether the patient might want to stop smoking for good.

“It's important just to have the conversation,” Toll emphasized.

Grounding the guidelines in evidence

The recommendations are based on an extensive review of the scientific literature. The panel screened more than 9,300 research abstracts and included 142 studies in its evidence base.

The strength of the evidence varied by topic. Rojewski said relatively few studies have directly compared medications or examined questions such as how much counseling patients should receive. Where research was more limited, the multidisciplinary panel drew on members’ clinical expertise and experience treating tobacco use in real-world healthcare settings.

The result is a mix of strong and conditional recommendations that follow patients across the continuum of tobacco treatment – from identifying who should be offered help to providing medication and counseling in the hospital to continued support after discharge.

Treating smoking status, not readiness to quit

At the heart of the guidelines is a simple change: A patient’s current smoking status – not whether the person says they are ready to quit – should trigger an offer of tobacco treatment.

That differs from an opt-in approach, in which treatment is offered only to patients who indicate that they are willing or motivated to quit. The distinction matters because readiness to quit is not necessarily a simple yes-or-no decision, Toll said.

“There’s obviously those that are very ready and those that are a hard no,” he said. “But there’s a fairly big middle section of maybes.”

Patients in that middle ground can easily be missed when treatment depends on someone explicitly asking for help. Rojewski pointed out that it is not uncommon for providers to offer treatment to the same person more than once before the answer changes to “yes.” Consistently offering treatment increases the chances that support will be available when a patient is ready to make a quit attempt.

“It really is about planting that seed and being there when they’re ready.”

Building treatment into routine hospital care also reduces reliance on individual clinicians to raise the subject while managing a patient’s hospitalization. Instead, the health system creates a consistent process for reaching anyone identified as currently smoking.

Starting treatment in the hospital

Once a patient is identified, the guidelines address two related goals: managing nicotine withdrawal during the hospital stay and helping patients to stop smoking after they leave.

To manage withdrawal, the panel suggests starting nicotine replacement therapy, or NRT, during hospitalization. NRT supplies nicotine without the harmful chemicals produced by burning cigarettes. Combining a long-acting nicotine patch with a short-acting option such as a nicotine gum or a lozenge can provide steady nicotine levels and reduce breakthrough cravings.

Hospitalization can also be a chance to begin medication that supports a longer-term quit attempt. The guidelines strongly recommend starting varenicline, a prescription medication that reduces nicotine cravings, before patients leave the hospital. That allows treatment to begin in a controlled setting and gives patients a plan before they return home, where cigarettes and smoking triggers may again be part of daily life.

But medication is only half the picture. Counseling is another essential part of treatment.

The guidelines strongly recommend that hospitalized patients who smoke receive at least 15 minutes of tobacco treatment counseling rather than only brief advice. Together with medication, that counseling can support patients before they leave the hospital.

Continuing support after discharge

The next challenge is helping patients to maintain that progress once they go home.

The guidelines call for telephone-based counseling after discharge and proactive outreach rather than simply referring patients to a state quitline. Quitlines remain an important, scalable resource, the panel noted, but the evidence showed that follow-up from the health system was more effective than a passive referral alone.

Toll hopes the recommendations encourage more hospitals to build tobacco treatment programs that can reach patients during hospitalization and continue that care after discharge.

“There are not a lot of health systems that are currently doing this,” he said. “I really hope these recommendations encourage a dedicated tobacco program inside hospitals where treatment is offered to all, and there’s also some kind of treatment offered post-discharge.”

Importantly, the guidelines do not proscribe who should provide that care. Depending on the hospital, tobacco treatment could involve nurses, doctors, social workers or other allied health professionals. Rojewski said having a tobacco treatment specialist is ideal, but the larger priority is creating a workable system that ensures patients receive treatment rather than allowing responsibility to fall through the cracks.

Ultimately, Toll and Rojewski hope the guidelines change what patients who smoke can expect from a hospital stay: Not pressure to quit but a routine offer of evidence-based help and continued support if they choose it.

“I really, really hope that this encourages more health systems to create opt-out tobacco treatment programs,” Toll said. “We want that to occur and for more patients to receive lifesaving tobacco treatment.”

Rojewski agreed.

“Hospitals are a place that can help increase the access and reach of tobacco treatment,” she said. “If treatment is built into the health system, patients who might not otherwise receive help with smoking will have another opportunity to access it.”

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About MUSC Hollings Cancer Center  

MUSC Hollings Cancer Center is South Carolina’s only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center with the largest academic-based cancer research program in the state. With more than 230 faculty cancer scientists from 20 academic departments, it has an annual research funding portfolio of more than $50 million and sponsors more than 200 clinical trials across the state. Hollings specialists include surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, radiologists, pathologists, psychologists and other clinical providers equipped to provide the full range of cancer care from diagnosis to survivorship. Hollings offers state-of-the-art cancer screenings, diagnostics, therapies and surgical techniques within its multidisciplinary clinics. Dedicated to preventing and reducing the cancer burden statewide, the Hollings Office of Community Outreach and Engagement works with community organizations to bring cancer education and prevention information to affected populations throughout the state. For more information, visit  hollingscancercenter.musc.edu.

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Journal

CHEST Journal

DOI

10.1016/j.chest.2026.08.038

Method of Research

Commentary/editorial

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Tobacco Treatment in the Inpatient Setting: An American College of Chest Physicians Clinical Practice Guideline

COI Statement

All panelists were reviewed for their potential conflicts of interest (COI) by the CHEST Professional Standards Committee (Table 1). Nominees without any significant COI’s were approved, and those with potential intellectual and/or financial COI’s that were manageable were “approved with management.” Panelists “approved with management” did not participate in discussions and did not vote on recommendations for which they had COI’s.

 

High levels of indoor radon linked to higher risk of heart failure in postmenopausal women

New findings from a UNC-led study of women who have gone through menopause suggest that those living in areas with higher estimated indoor radon levels may be at higher risk of heart failure.

UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

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New findings from a study of women who have gone through menopause suggest that those living in areas with higher estimated indoor radon levels may be at higher risk of heart failure. The study, published today in JAMA Network Open, was led by researchers at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, and adds the newest evidence that radon exposure may pose a significant risk to heart health among aging women.

Radon has long been linked to lung cancer, but a growing body of research has also uncovered links between increased radon exposure and common cardiovascular diseases like heart attack and stroke. Yet current United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) radon policy remains exclusively focused on preventing lung cancer, highlighting the continued importance of radon-cardiovascular disease association studies.

“Heart failure is a globally burdensome and increasingly common form of cardiovascular disease among aging women,” said lead author, Shu Chen, research collaborator in the Gillings School’s Department of Epidemiology, “so identifying readily testable and modifiable factors, like home radon levels, that may be related to it in this at-risk population is critical.”

Radon is a colorless and odorless, yet radioactive gas that passes from bedrock and soil through basement floor slabs, porous or cracked foundation walls, and crawlspaces into homes where it can build up. Currently, the EPA recommends testing all homes and reducing radon levels greater than 4 picocuries per liter of indoor air (pCi/L), a process called “mitigation”. Recent data suggest that approximately one quarter of the U.S. population may reside in places that exceed this level.

In the study, which involved more than 43,000 postmenopausal women with an average age of 63, those living in areas with estimated indoor radon levels greater than 4 pCi/L had a higher risk of heart failure than those living in areas with levels below 2 pCi/L, particularly among women with a history of smoking.   

Notably, the radon-related risk of heart failure was similar to that associated with substantial increases in systolic blood pressure and body mass index, two established heart failure risk factors.

Eric A. Whitsel, MD, MPH, senior author of the study and professor of epidemiology at the Gillings School, emphasized that “the cardiovascular health benefits of radon mitigation remain unknown.” Despite that, he also noted that, “the benefits are plausible and may be analogous to the once-unrecognized benefits of smoking cessation, long before cigarette and environmental tobacco smoke were identified as risk factors for non-pulmonary disease.”

Chen added that, “EPA-recommended testing is simple, and reducing radon exposure benefits everyone who lives in the home.”

The EPA provides information on radon test kits on their website. Kits can also be found in home improvement stores and sometimes through state-funded radon programs, such as the one in the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

Additional authors on the study include Jason M. Collins, PhD, MPH, Carson Mowrer, MS, MPH, Cuiran Shi, MS, Ayesha Ekanayaka, PhD, James D. Stewart, MA, GISP, and Richard L. Smith, PhD.

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Journal

JAMA Network Open

DOI

10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.42391

Article Title

Indoor Radon and Incident Heart Failure Among Postmenopausal Women

Article Publication Date

5-Nov-2026

 

UCLA study challenges belief that women are more sensitive to the effects of cannabis

Findings show men who used cannabis occasionally experienced stronger effects than women with similar use habits

University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences

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Men who use cannabis occasionally reacted more strongly to smoked cannabis than women with similar use habits, even though the amount of THC in their blood was about the same, according to a new study from UCLA Health. The findings run counter to earlier research suggesting that women are more sensitive to cannabis.

The study, published in Neuropsychopharmacology, is the first experiment designed to test how sex and frequency of use together shape the short-term effects of smoked cannabis. Researchers at the UCLA Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoids enrolled healthy adults, split evenly by sex and by how often they used cannabis: weekly or daily use. In three separate sessions, each participant smoked placebo, lower-THC and higher-THC cannabis without knowing which they had received. Women in the study were not using hormonal birth control and were tested during the same phase of their menstrual cycle. The analysis found:

• Men who used cannabis occasionally reported feeling more high, sedated and impaired than other participants, along with more unpleasant effects such as anxiety. They were also the only group whose heart rate rose significantly after smoking active cannabis.
• Women and men who used cannabis frequently responded to it in similar ways.
• Regardless of sex, people who used frequently exhibited the addictive qualities of cannabis more than those who used occasionally.
• Blood THC levels did not explain the differences. Men who used frequently tended to have the highest THC levels, yet they felt fewer effects than men who used occasionally.

“Much of what we thought we knew about sex differences in cannabis effects came from animal research and from human studies that pooled data from different trials,” said Dr. Ziva Cooper, the study’s principal investigator and director of the UCLA Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoids. “When we designed a study to look at sex and frequency of use at the same time, and controlled for hormones, the picture changed. As more women use cannabis, including for women’s health conditions, we need evidence from studies designed to include them.”

Cannabis use is rising among women, and women tend to move more quickly than men from first use to cannabis use disorder. The authors suggest women may build tolerance to cannabis with less use than men, which larger studies will need to test. The study answers the National Institutes of Health’s call for research on differences between women and men, and understanding these differences could inform how cannabis use disorder is prevented and treated.

“Sex and cannabis use history can both shape how someone experiences the effects of cannabis,” said the study’s lead author Dr. Stephanie Lake, a researcher at the UCLA Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoids. “And studying both together is key to understanding who is most at risk of higher-risk, unpleasant, or beneficial experiences from cannabis.”

The sample was modest, several findings were exploratory, and the THC strengths tested were lower than those of many products sold today. The team is now studying high-potency products and adults 55 and older, whose cannabis use is rising.

The study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.

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Journal

Neuropsychopharmacology

DOI

10.1038/s41386-026-02571-3

Method of Research

Randomized controlled/clinical trial

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Sex- and frequency-dependent acute pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic effects of smoked cannabis: a randomized controlled trial

COI Statement

Outside of this work, ZDC reports receiving study drug from Canopy Growth Corp and True Terpenes, and study-related materials from Storz & Bickel. ZDC’s research is funded by grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, California Department of Cannabis Control, Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research, and the California Highway Patrol. She is also an Associate Editor of Neuropsychopharmacology. CHM is the founder of Psynautics Inc., which has no financial interest in the research outcomes and provided no financial support for this work. MH is a stockholder of and on the scientific advisory board for PleoPharm. The remaining authors have nothing to disclose.