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An exhaustive review of sleep research spanning five decades underscores the importance of getting your Zzzzzs. Sleep loss undermines emotional functioning and increases a person’s risk for anxiety and depression, the study found. It also takes a toll on positive emotions like joy, happiness and contentment.   “In our largely sleep-deprived society, quantifying the effects of sleep loss on emotion is critical for promoting psychological health,” said lead author Cara Palma, director of the Sleep and Development Lab at Montana State University in Bozeman. “This study … provides strong evidence that periods of extended wakefulness, shortened sleep duration, and nighttime awakenings adversely influence human emotional functioning.” For the study, Palma’s team analyzed data from 154 studies that included more than 5,700 people.  In every study, participants’ sleep was disrupted for one night or more. Some kept participants awake for an extended period. Some allowed less-than-typical amounts of shuteye, and others awakened participants periodically throughout the night. Each also looked at one emotional measure, such as self-reported mood or measures of anxiety and depression. All three types of sleep loss took a toll on positive emotions and increased anxiety symptoms such as worry and rapid heart rate.  “This occurred even after short periods of sleep loss, like staying up an hour or two later than usual or after losing just a few hours of sleep,” Palmer…  read on >  read on >

Screens are everywhere — on desks, in laps, on the wall — and eye strain is a temporary but uncomfortable condition that comes with overuse. Folks spending too much time with screens can develop dry eyes, blurry vision, tearing or watering eyes, or a headache, warns the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). That’s because humans tend to blink less while staring at these devices, the AAO says. People normally blink around 15 times per minute, but this blink rate can be cut in half while staring at screens, the academy says. To reduce eye strain, the AAO recommends taking frequent breaks along the lines of the “20-20-20” rule. Every 20 minutes, look away from your screen and instead look at an object 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds. This gives your eyes a chance to reset. People can also: Use artificial tears to lubricate eyes when they feel dry. Sit arm’s length from your screen and adjust its height so you’re looking slightly downward at it. Apply a matte screen filter to reduce glare from glass screens. Adjust brightness and contrast of your screen, and dim lighting near the screen. Wear eyeglasses rather than contact lenses when working on a computer or tablet for longer periods. The AAO notes that blue light from computers have not been shown to increase risk of eye…  read on >  read on >

Chances are you know at least one person who’s given up eating gluten. Maybe you’ve even given it up yourself. But who can really benefit from a gluten-free diet? “Gluten is one of the main proteins found in wheat, barley and rye,” said Dr. Joseph Levy, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone, in New York City. “It’s actually a group of proteins and not a single component, but gluten is the general term.” In baking, it plays a key role. “Gluten is responsible for the way dough is able to rise when you put yeast in it,” Levy explained. “It’s the structure of gluten that makes baked goods light and crispy. If you try to cook with gluten-free flour it won’t have the same airiness. The dough is heavier, and the finished product will be flat and heavy.” But though gluten might make for a flaky croissant, it can cause a number of problems for certain people. New York City-based nutritionist Rachel Begun said that three types of people may not be able to eat products containing gluten: people with celiac disease, people with gluten sensitivity or intolerance and people with a wheat allergy. “Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder, and when gluten is eaten, the body triggers an attack on the intestines,” Begun said. “Damage occurs over time, and nutrients…  read on >  read on >

Using a weight-loss medication to help you shed pounds gradually appears to help extend life for people with arthritis of the hips or knees, a new study finds. However, folks with arthritis who dropped pounds very quickly showed no benefit in terms of survival, and even a slight uptick in their risk for heart disease, a team of American and Chinese researchers found. The study’s take-home message: “Gradual weight loss by anti-obesity medications may improve the overall wellness of overweight or obesity patients with knee or hip osteoarthritis,” concluded a team led by Jie Wei of Central South University in Changsha, China. The findings were published recently in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatology. Obesity can exacerbate arthritis in the joints, and is a known risk factor for an early death. In the new study, Wi’s group tracked outcomes for over 6,500 British people, aged 40 or older, who were overweight or obese and also had knee or hip arthritis. Some took weight-loss drugs to help them shed excess pounds. Wei’s team tracked their outcomes for various health conditions and death over a five-year period. The data was collected between 2000 and March of 2022 — before the advent of blockbuster weight-loss medications such as Wegovy and Zepbound. Instead, patients were taking drugs such as orlistat (Alli), sibutramine and rimonabant (Zimulti) to help them get slimmer.…  read on >  read on >

Even Valentine’s Day apparently doesn’t trump the start of a brand new year when it comes to getting frisky. Sales of the morning-after pill surged across the U.S. after New Year 2022, new research shows. Nearly 41,000 extra pills were sold in the following week, a period linked to increased risks of unprotected sex.  Sales of emergency contraception also rose after other holidays such as Valentine’s and Independence Day but not as much, a team led by Brandon Wagner of Texas Tech University report in the Christmas issue of the BMJ. While the annual New Year’s sale spike might seem funny,  Wagner’s team points out in a journal news release that “it  is indicative of unmet contraceptive need that calls for further attention” amid tightened restrictions on abortions in many U.S. states. The increased sexual activity associated with New Year’s is less likely to be protected due to increased drinking, they point out. New Year’s Eve has also been linked to increased rates of sexual assault and limited access to other forms of birth control because clinics, medical offices and shops close early or altogether. For the new study, researchers analyzed retail scan data for levonorgestrel, an over-the-counter medication available without age restrictions.  While effective when taken within as many 96, and possibly 120, after unprotected sex, it’s more likely to work the sooner it…  read on >  read on >

At least 205 cases of lead poisoning linked to contaminated fruit puree pouches have now been reported in the United States, federal health officials report. That’s up from 125 cases in the last weekly tally, with 33 states now reporting poisonings, the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention said in its latest update. States reporting new cases to CDC include Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington. How many cases have been reported in each state is unclear because the CDC has withheld state-specific counts, pointing to patient privacy, CBS News reported. The median age for cases in the investigation “is nearly 2 years old,” a CDC spokesperson told CBS News, though reports have come in for children as old as 9. Federal officials have urged state health departments to seek out cases of lead poisoning, which could be missed if children who ate the lead-tainted applesauce don’t get blood tests from their doctor for the toxic metal. AustroFoods, which makes the now-recalled WanaBana, Weis and Schnucks brand cinnamon-flavored applesauce pouches, said Monday it will reimburse customers for up to $150 for lead tests. Meanwhile, the FDA reported this week that cinnamon samples gathered at a facility in Ecuador linked to the tainted fruit puree pouches were found to contain levels of toxic lead that were 2,000 times…  read on >  read on >

Head injuries related to football might be tied to markers of dementia like brain shrinkage and decreased blood flow to the brain, a new study of former pro and college players reports. The study looked at signs of injury to the brain’s white matter, called white matter hyperintensities. These are caused by reduced blood flow to white matter, which functions as the information highway connecting different parts of the brain. “Studies have shown that athletes exposed to repetitive head impacts can have increased white matter hyperintensity burden in their brains,” said researcher Michael Alosco, a neuropsychologist at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. “White matter hyperintensities are easily seen on MRI as markers of injury of various causes,” he continued in a news release. “We know these markers are more common as people age and with medical conditions such as high blood pressure, but these results provide initial insight that they may be related to multiple aspects of brain damage from repetitive head impacts.” For the study, Alosco’s team compared brain scans of 120 former pro football players and 60 former college players against 60 men who never played football and had no history of concussion. They found that the relationship between white matter hyperintensities and stroke risk was more than 11 times stronger in former football players than in those who never…  read on >  read on >

Believe it or not, your spinal cord may be a pathway to better mood and even an end to depression, new research suggests. Investigators at the University of Cincinnati stressed that their pilot study — to see whether tweaking the spinal cord can ease depression — is in its very early stages. However, 20-minute sessions did seem to bring mental health benefits to participants, the team said. As the scientists explained it, the spinal cord serves (among other functions) as a kind of neuronal highway, transmitting information from throughout the body to the brain’s mood centers. The Cincinnati researchers theorized that an informational “overload” on this pathway might overwhelm the brain, playing a role in depression. So, study lead author Dr. Francisco Romo-Nava designed a noninvasive spinal cord stimulation method that he has patented. Using this technology, he and his colleagues hoped to decrease the “noise” traveling along the spinal cord, offering some relief to an overtaxed brain. “Spinal cord stimulation is thought to help the brain modulate itself as it should by decreasing the noise or decreasing the hyperactive signaling that may be in place during a depressive syndrome,” explained Romo-Nava, a research associate professor in the university’s department of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience. The current trial was small, just 20 patients diagnosed with depression. Three times a week for eight weeks, half of…  read on >  read on >

Dozens of over-the-counter lubricating eyedrops and artificial tears faced recall in 2023, due to contamination and unsafe manufacturing practices. “This year, we’ve seen an especially large number of recalls in ophthalmologic products,” said Gary Novack, a clinical professor with the UC Davis Health Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences in Davis, Calif. People who regularly use eye drops to fend off dry eyes or help with contact lenses should be aware of these recalls, and take steps to protect themselves, Novack said. “Now that the public health emergency phase of the pandemic is over, the FDA is doing more inspections and they are finding a number of issues at manufacturing plants,” Novack explained in a university news release. The recalls began in February with three brands taken off shelves, including one linked to serious infections, vision loss and four deaths, Novack said. “It’s very rare to get infections from eye drops. However, what we learned this year is that it can happen,” Novack said. “It’s serious not only for potentially losing vision, but in some rare cases patients developed systemic infections and died.” Additional recalls followed in August, October and November, leaving consumers confused about whether any over-the-counter eye drops are safe to use. Products like eye drops are particularly tricky to manufacture because they need to be sterile and germ-free, and they must be…  read on >  read on >

Kids with emotional problems or ADHD can find the holidays a very challenging time, as all the routines that provide a sense of order are jumbled in a whirl of activities. The kids are home from school and restless, their parents are hauling them along to Christmas shopping and holiday gatherings, and they’re eating lots of heavy meals and sugary treats. But there are ways to limit the stress that the holidays can place on kids with depression, anxiety, an eating disorder or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), said Melissa Meyer, a child psychiatry specialist at DMG Children’s Rehabilitative Services in Phoenix. Communication is key when it comes to outings, Meyer said. Knowing what will happen can help decrease a child’s anxiety. For example, let children know what’s going to be happening ahead of time – how long you’ll be out, who will be with you, what kind of food they can expect. And don’t be afraid to share with your child if you’re feeling stressed, tired or anxious, Meyer said. “He or she will take comfort in knowing that even adults get nervous and stressed during the holidays,” Meyer said. Sleep is another important component to maintaining your child’s mood, Meyer said. Kids with emotional issues need good sleep, at least eight to 10 hours a night. Meyer also cautions against using screens as a…  read on >  read on >