Roundup: Health Risks Linked to Teens’ Skincare Trends on Social Media; and More News

Hidden Health Risks, Costs of Teen Skincare Trends on Social Media

Researchers are shedding light on a growing health concern: the increasing use of complex skincare routines among girls aged 7 to 18, driven largely by social media content, according to a new peer-reviewed study from Northwestern Medicine, published this week in Pediatrics.

The study found that many of these routines — popularized on platforms like TikTok — may do more harm than good.

According to the study, girls in the targeted age group are using an average of six skincare products daily, with some applying more than a dozen. These routines, heavily promoted by social media influencers, are not only costly but also potentially damaging. The average monthly expense for these regimens is $168, with some totaling over $500.

In one striking example, a TikTok user applied 10 products to her face in just six minutes. “As she’s applying the products, she begins to express discomfort and burning, and in the final few minutes, she develops a visible skin reaction,” said Tara Lagu, M.D, senior author of the study and adjunct lecturer at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, in a news release.

Funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases – part of the National Institute of Health, the study is the first of its kind to investigate teen skincare content in the social media landscape, and it urges caution. For families, healthcare providers, and policymakers, these findings highlight the need for increased awareness, better media literacy, and guidance on safe skincare practices for adolescents.

Health Risks Outweigh Benefits

While skincare is often promoted as a form of self-care and health maintenance, the study's authors caution that many of these routines may do more harm than good, especially for children and teens with sensitive, still-developing skin.

The researchers analyzed 100 of the most-viewed TikTok skincare videos using accounts set to simulate 13-year-old users. The content featured an average of 11 potentially irritating active ingredients per video. These include substances like hydroxy acids, which when layered together — or used repeatedly across multiple products — greatly increase the risk of skin irritation, sun sensitivity, and allergic contact dermatitis.

“That high risk of irritation came from both using multiple active ingredients at the same time, such as hydroxy acids, as well as applying the same active ingredient unknowingly over and over again when that active ingredient was found in three, four, five different products,” explained Molly Hales, M.D., corresponding author of the study and a board-certified dermatologist at Northwestern, in a news release.

Developing allergic contact dermatitis can lead to lifelong skin sensitivities, restricting future use of many everyday products including soaps, shampoos, and cosmetics.

Sunscreen Often Missing

One of the most concerning findings was the lack of sunscreen use in daytime routines. Only 26 percent of the analyzed skincare regimens included sunscreen — widely recognized as the single most important skincare product for all age groups, particularly for children and adolescents. The absence of sun protection undermines any potential benefits of these elaborate routines and increases long-term skin cancer risk.

Social Pressures and Racial Undertones

Beyond physical health, the study also highlighted troubling social implications. Researchers noted that many videos subtly promoted “lighter, brighter skin,” using coded racial language and visuals. “We saw that there was preferential, encoded racial language in some cases that really emphasized lighter, brighter skin,” said Dr. Lagu. “There also were real associations between use of these regimens and consumerism.”

These portrayals not only set unrealistic beauty standards but also reinforce narrow and potentially harmful ideals about appearance, health, and self-worth.

Dr. Hales added, “It's problematic to show girls devoting this much time and attention to their skin. We're setting a very high standard for these girls. The pursuit of health has become a kind of virtue in our society, but the ideal of ‘health’ is also very wrapped up in ideals of beauty, thinness and whiteness. The insidious thing about ‘skin care’ is that it claims to be about health.”

Can Diet Help Lower the Risk of Dementia? New Study Points to the MIND Diet

As the number of Americans living with dementia continues to rise, researchers are exploring whether certain lifestyle choices— particularly diet — can help prevent this devastating condition. A new study offers promising evidence that what people eat may significantly affect their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

The study, presented at the NUTRITION 2025 conference by researchers from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, found that individuals who closely followed a dietary pattern known as the MIND diet had a notably lower risk of developing dementia.

The MIND diet, short for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay, is a combination of two well-known eating patterns: the Mediterranean diet and the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet. Both are known for their heart health benefits. The MIND diet places special emphasis on foods that support brain health, including ; leafy green vegetables, berries, nuts, olive oil, whole grains, beans, fish, and poultry.

At the same time, it recommends limiting red meats, butter, cheese, pastries, and fried or fast food.

Researchers analyzed data from nearly 93,000 adults in the U.S. who participated in the Multiethnic Cohort Study, which began in the 1990s. Participants were between the ages of 45 and 75 at the start and were tracked over time to see how their diets affected their risk of dementia.

Key findings include:

• Participants who adhered most closely to the MIND diet at the beginning of the study had a 9% lower risk of developing dementia.
• Among African American, Latino, and White participants, the risk reduction was even higher—around 13 percent.
• People who improved their MIND diet adherence over time—even if they started out with poor dietary habits—had a 25 percent lower risk of developing dementia compared to those whose diets worsened.

Crucially, the benefits were observed across age groups, suggesting that it’s never too late to make healthy dietary changes.

“Our study findings confirm that healthy dietary patterns in mid to late life and their improvement over time may prevent Alzheimer’s and related dementias,” said Dr. Song-Yi Park, associate professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. “This suggests that it is never too late to adopt a healthy diet to prevent dementia.”

Differences by Race and Ethnicity

While the MIND diet showed clear benefits for many participants, the results varied by racial and ethnic group. The researchers observed strong protective effects in African American, Latino, and White individuals, but less pronounced effects in Asian American and Native Hawaiian participants.

This variation may be due to differences in traditional diets, genetic factors, or underlying rates of dementia in different populations. Notably, Asian Americans generally have lower rates of dementia, which may affect how the MIND diet influences their risk.

“We found that the protective relationship between a healthy diet and dementia was more pronounced among African Americans, Latinos and Whites, while it was not as apparent among Asian Americans and showed a weaker trend in Native Hawaiians,” Dr. Park said. “A tailored approach may be needed when evaluating different subpopulations’ diet quality.”

Although the study’s results are encouraging, it’s important to note that this was an observational study—it can show associations but not prove cause and effect. Further research, especially interventional studies, is needed to confirm whether improving diet directly reduces dementia risk.

Taurine and Aging: New NIH Study Challenges Its Role as a Biomarker

Taurine, an amino acid often featured in energy drinks and supplements, has recently gained attention for its potential anti-aging effects. However, new research from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) suggests that taurine may not be a reliable marker of aging, despite promising findings in animals.

A study led by scientists at the NIH’s National Institute on Aging (NIA) examined how taurine levels change with age in humans, monkeys, and mice. The research, published in Science, shows that taurine levels in the blood often increased or stayed the same with age—rather than declining, as might be expected if it were a marker of biological aging.

What Is Taurine and Why the Interest?

Taurine is a conditionally essential amino acid, meaning that the body can usually make enough of it, but under certain conditions—like illness or stress—supplementation might be beneficial. It plays many roles in the body, including supporting heart function, eye health, and muscle performance.

Interest in taurine as an anti-aging compound surged after recent studies showed that giving taurine to mice and worms improved several age-related traits and even extended lifespan. These findings led researchers to explore whether taurine levels in the blood could serve as a biomarker to track aging in humans and other species.

Key Findings: Taurine Levels Don’t Decline with Age

The NIH study used blood samples from several long-term and cross-sectional studies:

• The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, which included adults aged 26 to 100
• A study of rhesus monkeys aged 3 to 32 years
• A study of mice aged 9 to 27 months
• Two geographically distinct human populations: one in Mallorca, Spain, and another in Atlanta, Georgia

In most cases, taurine levels increased with age or remained steady. The only exception was in male mice, whose taurine levels stayed the same. Importantly, the variation in taurine levels between individuals was often greater than any changes seen with age, suggesting that taurine levels are influenced more by personal factors than by aging itself.

An Important Insight: Aging Is Not One-Size-Fits-All

The study's most significant contribution is its challenge to the idea of using taurine as a universal biomarker for aging. The research found no consistent link between taurine levels and measures of health like muscle strength or body weight. In some cases, low or high taurine levels were associated with poor motor function; in others, there was no connection at all.

This led the authors to a key conclusion: "Declining taurine is not a universal marker of aging. Instead, its impact may depend on individual physiological contexts shaped by genetic, nutritional, and environmental factors."

This insight underscores the complexity of aging. According to Luigi Ferrucci, M.D., Ph.D., scientific director at the NIA and co-author of the study. “Identifying reliable biomarkers to predict the onset and progression of aging and functional decline would be a major breakthrough, enabling more effective, personalized strategies to maintain health and independence into old age,” he said in a news release.

While taurine supplements may offer some benefits—especially as shown in animals—there is currently no strong clinical evidence to support taurine as a proven anti-aging treatment in humans. This new research urges caution and calls for more human studies before taurine can be recommended as part of a longevity plan.

Rafael de Cabo, M.D., one of the study’s authors, explained in a news release: “A recent research article on taurine led us to evaluate this molecule as a potential biomarker of aging in multiple species.”