Three out of five Americans suffer from loneliness.[1] The negative health consequences are far reaching. Ironically, social media offers no relief. Having been lonely most of my life, I ask my patients about it. What can we do to mitigate it? A lot, but I focus on a few principles. One is an ability to compromise. We cannot build meaningful relationships without understanding another’s’ point of view. It requires tolerance, listening and an ability to forgive.
I hope 2020 brings meaningful relationships to lonely people reading this.
Hugo Rodier, MD
Weight, Major Psychiatric Disorders Genetically Linked
Medscape – Jan 16, 2020.
“There appears to be a robust genetic link between body weight and major psychiatric disorders, an international research team has concluded. Using data from more than a 500,000 individuals with major depression, bipolar disorder (BD), and schizophrenia, the investigators showed extensive genetic overlap between body mass index (BMI) and psychiatric disorders. Interestingly, they found that although the genetic risk variants for major depression and BD were primarily associated with increased weight, the majority of genetic variants for schizophrenia were related to reduced weight. “This difference in direction was quite interesting to us,” principal investigator Ole A. Andreassen, MD, PhD, told Medscape Medical News. “Most of the gene variants overlapping between BMI and depression/bipolar disorder were in the same direction and were associated with higher BMI. “So if you had a susceptibility for increased BMI, you were also likely to suffer from depression or bipolar disorder,” said Andreassen, who is professor of medicine at the University of Oslo, in Norway. “But for schizophrenia, it was the opposite direction: if you were at risk of schizophrenia, you were less likely to be obese.” The study was published online January 8 in JAMA Psychiatry.”
Comment: is your weigh is driving you crazy? I hope answering the question motivates you to do what needs to be done to improve your physical and mental health: stop eating refined sugars. They mess with your brain. Refined sugars are addicting. You will need help withdrawing, just like you would to overcome any other addiction.
Chemicals in Tap Water Linked to Bladder Cancer
Medscape – Jan 15, 2020.
“Exposure to chemicals found in drinking water after it has been disinfected with chlorine could be responsible for up to 1 in 20 cases of bladder cancer across the European Union. The number rises to as high as 1 in 5 in some countries, asserts an international team of researchers. Trihalomethanes (THMs) are one of the most common disinfection by-products (DBPs) found in drinking water after chlorination. They have been associated in particular with an increased risk for bladder cancer; one meta-analysis suggests that exposure to THMs could increase the risk for the disease by more than 50%, the authors state. Total THM concentrations, defined as the sum of levels of chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane, and bromoform, are the only DBPs in drinking water that are regulated by the European Union. The maximum is set at 100 µg/L. Although “major efforts” have been made to reduce THM levels in several countries, “current levels in certain countries could still lead to considerable bladder cancer burden,” said coauthor Kogevinas, PhD, a senior researcher in cancer and water pollution at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain.”
Comment: get a water filter or buy filtered water at the store. Don’t get water bottles. A hard plastic 5-gallon container is OK, but best to a glass or ceramic container.
‘Serious’ Respiratory Problems With Gabapentin –
Medscape – Dec 19, 2019.
“Life-threatening breathing difficulties can occur in patients who use gabapentin or pregabalin with opioids or other drugs that depress the central nervous system, as well as those with underlying respiratory impairment and the elderly, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned in a drug safety communication issued today. “Reports of gabapentinoid abuse alone, and with opioids, have emerged and there are serious consequences of this co-use, including respiratory depression and increased risk of opioid overdose death,” Douglas Throckmorton, MD, deputy director for Regulatory Programs at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement.”
Comment: Gabapentin is heavily promoted by pharmaceuticals for many problems, most of which have no evidence to justify using it. It’s all about money. Talk to your doctor if you have lung problems and are taking this drug.
California considers listing acetaminophen as carcinogen
“The AP (1/21, Beam) reports “a fight is coming to California over whether to list [acetaminophen] as a carcinogen, echoing recent high-profile battles over things like alcohol and coffee.” Regulators in the state “have reviewed 133 studies about acetaminophen, all of which were published in peer-reviewed journals,” and discovered “some studies reported an increased risk of some types of cancers, while others did not.” Governor-appointed scientists make up a panel that can add chemicals to a list mandated by Proposition 65, and the panel has scheduled a public hearing on the listing for the spring, once the public comment period ends Jan 27.”
Comment: great. While they are at it, they need to bring up the fact that half of cases of liver failure in the USA are caused by acetaminophen. And it is still over the counter with no warnings.
Exposure to air pollution in womb may be linked to higher blood sugar in childhood
“Reuters (1/9, Rapaport) reports that children who “are exposed to air pollution in the womb may have higher blood sugar levels during childhood than kids without this exposure, according to a study that suggests particle pollution could be an environmental risk factor for diabetes.” Researchers “focused on so-called PM 2.5, a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter that can include dust, dirt, soot and smoke.” Their findings were published in JAMA Network Open.”
Comment: this is due to increased insulin resistance in cells because cell membranes are toxic, including the Mitochondria. Also, chemicals interfere with our microbiome metabolism or handling of energy from food. Let’s keep pressuring legislators for more clean air regulations. Make your next car electric.
Sunscreen chemicals may be absorbed into the bloodstream
“Reuters (1/21, Steenhuysen) reports scientists at the FDA found “that active chemicals in sunscreens can readily soak into the bloodstream, confirming the need for more testing on whether these products are safe.” The findings were published in JAMA replicating the “findings of a pilot study by FDA scientists in May.” CNN (1/21, Lamotte) reports Dr. Janet Woodcock, the director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said that just because an ingredient is absorbed into the bloodstream does not mean it is unsafe, “Rather, this finding calls for further industry testing to determine the safety and effect of systemic exposure of sunscreen ingredients, especially with chronic use.” Experts agree that “the sun’s link to cancer and aging is real, so don’t abandon sun protection.” Healio (1/21) reports that the researchers at the FDA tested six active ingredients and found that all of them were absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream. The six ingredients tested in the study were: avobenzone, homosalate, octinoxate, octisalate, octocrylene, and oxybenzone.”
Comment: use natural sunscreens (https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/beauty/anti-aging/tips/g256/natural-sunscreens-460608/) Also, remember that the sun is more likely to cause skin problems when we are eating a processed-high sugar diet low in anti-oxidants.
Reduced Alcohol Intake Reduces Atrial Fibrillation
Medscape – Jan 16, 2020.
“In case you need support to make a case for “Dryuary” to your atrial fibrillation (AF) patients, moderate to heavy drinkers who either quit drinking alcohol or reduced their intake substantially saw a significant reduction in arrhythmia burden, compared with those who continued their usual drinking habits, in a just published randomized trial. “These randomized data allow clinicians to more strongly recommend substantial reduction, if not abstinence from alcohol, in patients with atrial fibrillation,” senior author Peter Kistler, MB, BS, PhD, University of Melbourne, Australia, told theheart.org | Medscape Cardiology. Several observational studies have shown a dose-dependent relation between alcohol intake and AF, but there is limited prospective evidence supporting a role for alcohol abstinence or reduced intake and AF outcomes. The results from the Alcohol-AF trial, which were first presented at the American College of Cardiology 2019 meeting and covered at that time by theheart.org | Medscape Cardiology, have now been published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The first author was electrophysiologist Aleksandr Voskoboinik, MB, BS, PhD, also from the University of Melbourne. The researchers enrolled 140 Australians, mostly men (85%), who had paroxysmal or persistent AF and were moderate to heavy drinkers (17 standard drinks per week).”
Comment: One drink a day is no longer healthy, especially if you have heart problems. Alcohol is a fermented sugar; it has a negative impact on our microbiome,
Drinking tea linked to lower risk of heart disease
“Newsweek (1/9, Gander) reports a new study indicates that “drinking tea has been linked to a lower risk of heart disease, as well a ‘longer and healthier life.’” The research “involved 100,902 people from 15 provinces in China, who answered questions about their tea-drinking habits and provided medical records as part of a study on cardiovascular disease.” The study was published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.”
Comment: it’s the antioxidants in tea helping your arteries. Green tea is the best.
Lack of sleep explains why poor people get more heart disease
Cardiovascular Research, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), Sophia Antipolis, 22 November 2019:
“Insufficient sleep is one reason why disadvantaged groups have more heart disease. That’s the finding of a study published today in. People with lower socioeconomic status sleep less for a variety of reasons: they may do several jobs, work in shifts, live in noisy environments, and have greater levels of emotional and financial stress. This was the first large population-based study to examine whether lack of sleep could partly explain why poor people have more heart disease. It found that short sleep explained 13.4% of the link between occupation and coronary heart disease in men.”
Comment: lack of sleep from worrying about anything, especially loneliness and financial issues, adversely affects the brain. See below.
Loss of one night’s sleep may increase tau protein levels
“CNN (1/8, LaMotte) reports that “the loss of one night’s sleep in healthy young men increased the levels of tau protein in their blood compared to getting a complete night of uninterrupted sleep.” The findings were published in Neurology. HealthDay (1/8, Thompson) reports the study’s findings might help explain previous studies that linked poor sleep to the development of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.”
Comment: this won’t help us fall asleep!
- https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/23/loneliness-is-rising-younger-workers-and-social-media-users-feel-it-most.html ↑
