Sunscreen In The US Just Got A Lot Better

…and other items from this week’s health science news:

Catching up with Europe and Asia

Good news! The US has finally approved bemotrizinol (BEMT), a sunscreen UV filter widely used for many years in Europe and Asia, marking the first new organic UV filter approved in the US this century.

What it does differently is that it improves coverage against UVA1 rays, the part of the UVA spectrum that many existing US sunscreen filters fail to effectively block.

UVA rays contribute to skin aging, wrinkles, and skin cancer risk, so this is quite important!

For any worrying about chemicals being absorbed: some sunscreen ingredients can be absorbed into the bloodstream, but after more than 50 years of widespread use, there is no well-documented evidence that approved sunscreens cause harmful effects in people.

^{(As an aside, it is interesting that there’s often fear of chemicals in things like sunscreen, while not fearing chemicals such as ethanol in drinks. Perhaps for many people it’s a case of feeling safer with “the devil you know”)}

Bemotrizinol is the first UV filter approved through a streamlined review process, and the agency has proposed strengthening US UVA protection requirements to more closely match European standards:

Read in full: Why sunscreen just got more effective in the United States

Related: Who Screens The Sunscreens?

So many measles

Cases have already exceeded last year’s record: the US has recorded 2,318 confirmed measles cases so far in 2026, surpassing the 2,289 cases reported during all of 2025, making this the country’s worst year for measles in 35 years.

But it gets worse, because official case counts invariably underestimate the true spread, as many infected people never seek testing or medical care, meaning confirmed cases almost certainly represent only part of the outbreak.

We have a lot of readers in Texas, so you might want to know that Texas was singled out for having erred particularly egregiously with the numbers, and officially recorded only about half of infections.

The main reason, of course, is that vaccination rates have fallen: measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination coverage among US kindergartners declined from 95.2% in 2019–20 to 92.5% in 2024–25, below the 95% threshold generally needed to prevent sustained outbreaks.

This is important, because maintaining high vaccination coverage not only reduces each individual’s risk of infection, but also helps protect vulnerable people who cannot rely on vaccination themselves (for example, children too young to receive the MMR vaccination yet):

❝Some people see skipping vaccination as like deciding not to wear a seat belt in a car.

But not vaccinating is like saying, “I don’t want my car to have brakes”.

Because it’s other people that you can hit. It’s not just you in your car. It’s other people.❞

~ Dr. Mark Roberts

The common response here is that “well, let them vaccinate if they’re worried, then”, but the reality is that not everyone can get vaccinated, and especially those who are too young to get vaccinated, and/or are immunocompromised, are most dependent on community immunity.

Much like a pedestrian can’t brake for you.

Read in full: There are already more US measles cases this year than in all of 2025

Related:The Truth About Vaccines

Red meat, your gut, and atrial fibrillation

In few words: recent research has found that higher blood levels of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) are associated with a greater risk of atrial fibrillation (AFib), the most common heart rhythm disorder.

You may be wondering what TMAO actually is and where it comes from: TMAO is a compound produced when gut bacteria break down nutrients found in red meat and other animal products. Your liver then converts these breakdown products into TMAO.

In this case, the reserach team analyzed blood samples from thousands of people undergoing heart procedures and, also did additional lab experiments on heart cells to investigate how TMAO affects heart function.

As for how this happens, best current science says TMAO appears to directly alter your heart’s electrical activity, making it more prone to developing abnormal rhythms. The researchers linked this effect to changes in signaling through muscarinic receptors, which help regulate the autonomic nervous system.

Read in full: Red meat-related gut byproduct tied to higher atrial fibrillation risk

Related: The AFib Cure – by Dr. John Day & Dr. Jared Bunch

Take care!