I am thought to be a communist and anti-social because I don’t have a Facebook account. So be it. I do see the good side of it, but I feel the bad outweighs it. Many studies agree. The latest is found below.
Hugo Rodier, MD
Social media use may increase depressive symptoms
“Healio (11/30, Gramigna) reports, “Social media use may increase depressive symptoms among adults,” researchers concluded after analyzing “data of 5,395 individuals with a nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) score below five on an initial survey who completed a second PHQ-9HQ-9 (mean age, 55.8 years; 65.7% women).” The findings of the survey study were published online Nov. 23 in JAMA Network Open.”
Comment: it has been reported that children and adolescents fare even worse.
Higher coffee intake may help delay onset of Alzheimer’s
“HealthDay (11/30, Murez) reports research suggests higher coffee consumption may “guard against Alzheimer’s disease in the long run.” Researchers “investigated whether coffee intake affected the rate of cognitive decline over 10 years in more than 200 people,” and “found that people who had no memory impairments and who consumed higher amounts of coffee had a lower risk of transitioning to mild cognitive impairment.” The study, published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, also revealed that “higher coffee intake appeared to be slowing the accumulation of amyloid protein in the brain, as well as being linked to positive results in the areas of executive function and attention.”
Comment: unfortunately, some people are adversely affected by coffee. It may increase blood pressure, overstimulate the heart and irritate the stomach. Besides, it is addicting. Have you seen the lines at airport Starbucks?
Vitamin D, omega-3 supplements reduced risk for incident autoimmune disease
Healio Minute, November 08, 2021
“The use of vitamin D3 or omega-3 fatty acid supplements over a 5-year period may reduce the incidence of autoimmune disease in older adults by 25% to 30%, according to data presented at ACR Convergence 2021. Inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis and type 2 diabetes are more prevalent at northern latitudes, where circulating vitamin D levels are lower,” Karen Costenbader, MD, MPH, director of the Lupus Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, told attendees at the virtual meeting. “Both high plasma 25-OH vitamin D and high residential UV exposure were associated with a decreased risk for rheumatoid arthritis among women in the Nurses’ Health Study in our past work.”
Comment: both vitamin D and omega oils help our microbiome, which is 2/3 of our immune system. Despite a preponderance of positive studies on vitamin D and omega oils, the occasional negative study gets more publicity. What do you think about that?
Reducing sodium, increasing potassium intake may cut CV risk
Healio Minute, November 13, 2021
“Higher sodium intake, measured in multiple 24-hour urine samples, was associated with greater risk for CVD in a dose-response manner, researchers reported at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions. Moreover, lower intake of potassium and higher sodium-to-potassium ratio were also associated with greater risk. Our study offers new insights concerning current methodological challenges in sodium assessment. A single measurement is not sufficient to reflect a person’s usual sodium intake owing to large day-to-day variations in sodium consumption and excretion,” Yuan Ma, PhD at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The New England Journal of Medicine.”
Comment: don’t salt your food and don’t eat out too much. Eat more fruits, veggies and nuts.
Nonpharmacological sleep interventions reduce anxiety
Healio Minute, September 02, 2021
“Nonpharmacological sleep interventions were effective in reducing anxiety and sleep-related “thought processes, and these benefits were more substantial in patients with anxiety, according to a recent meta-analysis. Prior to the pandemic, data from the National Institute of Mental Health showed that 19.1% of all U.S. adults had an anxiety disorder, with prevalence of these conditions more common in women than men (23.4% vs. 14.3%). Also, 31.9% of all U.S. adolescents have had an anxiety disorder, with a higher prevalence among girls than boys (38% vs. 26.1%). In a meta-analysis conducted during the early days of the pandemic — late 2019 until August 2020 — the pooled prevalence of anxiety among adults and children worldwide was 47% and 20.5%, respectively. Sleeping difficulties are also common, with about one-third of adults in Western countries experiencing a sleep problem at least once a week, Alex Catherine Staines, DClinPsy, MSc, of the department of clinical psychology at the Norwich Medical School at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom, and colleagues wrote. They noted that previous research efforts examining sleep interventions have limited their scope to cognitive behavioral therapy-insomnia (CBT-I). These earlier meta-analyses also “often included measures of both anxiety and co-related anxiety processes such as worry or stress, and effects were not investigated for those from a mental health population,” they wrote in the Journal of Sleep Research. Staines and colleagues reviewed 43 randomized clinical trials, 12 of which were conducted in the U.S., with 5,945 patients. The trials examined nonpharmacological sleep interventions such as:
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- CBT-I, either alone or in combination with mindfulness therapy;
- face-to-face or telehealth appointments with a health care professional;
- computer programs, either self-taught or by a health care professional;
- exposure to bright light;
- sleep hygiene;
- bibliotherapy;
- hypnotherapy for insomnia; and
- brief behavioral therapy for insomnia.
Reflective of the previously established bi-directional relationship that exists among individuals of all ages between sleep problems and emotional difficulties such as stress and anxiety, the trials contained representatives from all age groups except children. The studied trials also had to include resolution of anxiety symptoms as an outcome. According to Staines and colleagues, the combined effect size of nonpharmacological sleep interventions on anxiety symptoms was moderate, which signified a reduction in symptoms. Subgroup analyses found a moderate effect of these interventions among trial participants with additional physical or mental health difficulties and for those with elevated levels of anxiety at baseline. A secondary meta-analysis showed that nonpharmacological sleep interventions had a large effect on sleep-related thought processes.”
Comment: I would add the recommendation to delve into our subconscious for the root of anxiety. It may be rooted in factors that began as far back as our childhood. But more often than not, anxiety is due to stress at home and work. And a practical tip: listen to YouTube or other venues’ podcasts. They may distract you from trying to solve all the world’s problems in the middle of the night.
Probiotics may reduce risk for atopic dermatitis in pregnant women, infants
Healio Minute, August 16, 2021
“Certain probiotic strains lowered the risk for developing atopic dermatitis when administered to pregnant women and infants, according to a systematic meta-analysis published in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology. “After the completion of an earlier study on the comparative effectiveness of probiotics in the treatment of pediatric atopic dermatitis, we were interested to find out its role on prevention,” Carol Stephanie C. Tan-Lim, MD, of the department of clinical epidemiology at the University of the Philippines, told Healio. “Many children are affected by atopic dermatitis, and we wanted to investigate if certain probiotic strains may be of use in the prevention of this disease.” The researchers reviewed data from 35 fully randomized placebo-controlled trials published through April 12, 2020, that examined probiotic efficacy in pediatric atopic dermatitis prevention, 14 of which were follow-up studies of completed randomized controlled trials. The 21 original studies examined the efficacy of six single probiotic strains and/or nine mixed strains administered orally compared with placebo.”
Comment: Eczema is due to an unbalanced microbiome. It leads to an inflamed lining of intestinal cells and poor absorption of nutrients necessary to maintain a healthy skin. By now you know how to fix your microbiome. Adding omega oils to your diet will also help.
