Hormone replacement therapy might help women avoid depression as they go through menopause, a new study finds. Women treated with hormone therapy at a menopause clinic in Ontario, Canada, experienced a reduction in their symptoms of depression, researchers report Feb. 21 in the journal Menopause. This improvement occurred whether or not antidepressants were also prescribed, results showed. “This study showed a beneficial effect of hormone therapy on mood symptoms during menopause when used alone and a synergistic effect when used in combination with antidepressants,” said Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director for The Menopause Society. “It also highlights the high prevalence of mood symptoms during this transition and the need to address women’s symptoms holistically rather than having a singular focus on hot flash management,” Faubion added in a society news release.  Depression has been shown to be particularly likely to occur around the time of menopause, researchers said. In this study of 170 women, about 62% of participants scored as “depressed,” said researchers led by Dr. Alison Shea, from The Research Institute of St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton. Hormone therapy has been shown to effectively manage hot flashes, but its ability to address mood-related symptoms is less established, researchers said in background notes. Hormones influence the brain pathways that regulate mood during and after menopause, and are thought to play a role in depressive symptoms,…  read on >  read on >

Women working in health care endure significantly more stress and burnout compared to their male co-workers, a new review concludes. Gender inequality, a poor balance between work and life and a lack of workplace autonomy all create pressure on female health care professionals, researchers report. On the other hand, there are factors that can protect women from stress and burnout: a supportive and flexible work environment, opportunities for professional development and mindfulness meditation. “Human beings are not equipped to handle the combined, intense pressures in healthcare, in part due to the pressure to not take time to care for yourself,” said researcher Leigh Frame, associate director of the George Washington University Resiliency & Well-being Center. For the study, Frame and her colleagues analyzed the results from 71 prior studies published in 26 countries and four languages between 1979 and 2022. The studies reviewed stress and burnout among a range of female health care workers, including doctors, nurses, clinical social workers and mental health providers. This is the first comprehensive analysis to examine the relationship between work stress and well-being in female health professionals, researchers said. The pandemic prompted the review, as it cast a spotlight on health care burnout. Results showed that women are under tremendous pressure to succeed both at home and on the job. Such pressure contributes to toxic stress, occupational burnout, depression,…  read on >  read on >

Black voters support a ban on menthol cigarettes by a wide margin, refuting claims that such a ban would be strongly opposed by Black Americans, a new survey shows. Black voters support by a 37-point margin the menthol ban proposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, with 62% in favor and 25% against. That’s even greater than the 29-point margin by which all voters support the ban, with 58% in favor and 29% against. Implementing the rule would not harm President Joe Biden’s chances of re-election, the poll found. There was no change in Biden’s overall standing after voters were asked to assume his administration ended the sale of menthol cigarettes. “There is clear evidence that the menthol rule has no meaningful electoral impact,” concluded The Mellman Group, a leading political research firm that conducted the poll on behalf of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free kids. In December 2023, the Biden administration announced it was delaying until March a long-planned ban on menthol cigarettes. The ban had been opposed by some civil rights leaders with ties to Big Tobacco, who argued it would give police an excuse to target Black smokers. Media reports said that a poll commissioned by tobacco giant Altria also influenced the administration’s decision to delay the ban.  The Altria poll, presented to the administration but never publicly released, claimed that the…  read on >  read on >

Lockdown drills have become a shudder-inducing part of American life, preparing kids to lie low and keep quiet if a gunman chooses to roam their school. But a new study finds these drills help children who’ve been exposed to violence, helping them feel safer at school. The findings contradict claims that drills traumatize children rather than making them feel secure, researchers said. “Participating in drills may be a way to help students who have been exposed to violence feel safer in schools,” said researcher Jaclyn Schildkraut, executive director of the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium at the Rockefeller Institute of Government in the U.S. Lockdown drills, now carried out at almost all public schools, involve locking classroom doors, turning off the lights, staying out of sight and remaining quiet. The drills were introduced following the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, in which two teens shot dead 12 classmates and a teacher and wounded 24 others. For this study, students in fifth grade and above at a large urban school district in New York State responded to a survey about how safe they felt at school and how prepared they were for lockdowns and other emergencies. The students were also asked about their exposure to violence, such as seeing or hearing that someone brought a gun or knife to school or being involved in or…  read on >  read on >

Toddlers who are really into their food might have a higher risk of developing an eating disorder once they enter adolescence, a new study shows. Kids ages 4 and 5 with a strong urge to eat when teased with tasty food appear more likely to report a range of eating disorder symptoms by ages 12 to 14, researchers report Feb. 20 in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal. For example, teens who responded to food most strongly as a toddler were nearly three times more likely to report binge eating symptoms as those who were least interested in food, results show. “Although our study cannot prove causality, our findings suggest food cue responsiveness may be one predisposing risk factor for the onset of eating disorder symptoms in adolescence,” said researcher Ivonne Derks, with the University College London Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care. “However, high responsiveness to food is also a normal and very common behavior and should be seen as just one potential risk factor among many rather than something to cause parents worry,” Derks added in a university news release. High food responsiveness is defined as the urge to eat when seeing, smelling or tasting good food, researchers said in background notes. For the study, researchers analyzed data from 3,670 youngsters in the U.K. and the Netherlands to see how appetite traits…  read on >  read on >

Former talk show host Wendy Williams has been diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia, her representatives announced in a statement on Thursday. The conditions are the same diagnoses actor Bruce Willis received in 2022; his aphasia later progressed to frontotemporal dementia. Williams’ team said the 59-year-old’s decision to reveal her diagnoses was “difficult and made after careful consideration.” Williams is receiving treatment and is still able to “do many things for herself,” they added. Primary progressive aphasia is a nervous system disorder that brings a gradually increasing inability to communicate, the Cleveland Clinic explained. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, frontotemporal dementia is “a group of disorders caused by progressive nerve cell loss in the brain’s frontal lobes [the areas behind your forehead] or its temporal lobes [the regions behind your ears].” It is a progressive, debilitating neurological condition for which there is no effective treatment, the association said. The illness can also affect speech, language comprehension and movement. Behavioral changes are common. Unlike Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia is typically diagnosed at a younger age, often in a person’s 40s or 50s. Williams was diagnosed in 2023 after a series of medical tests, her team said. Aphasia and frontotemporal dementia have already “presented significant hurdles in Wendy’s life,” they said. “Wendy would not have received confirmation of these diagnoses were it not for the diligence…  read on >  read on >