You may be struggling with stomach pain and digestive distress without understanding why, thinking it might be something you ate. Can stress cause stomach pain? Stress, especially chronic stress, can indeed increase your risk for gastrointestinal (GI) problems. “Stress and anxiety are common causes of stomach pain and other GI symptoms,” Dr. Nina Gupta, a gastroenterologist at University of Chicago Medicine, said recently in an article. Stress impacts the digestive system through the nervous system, and can affect food movement and the gut’s bacterial balance. Stress can also cause people to eat poorly, smoke and/or drink too much alcohol or caffeine — all habits that can trigger stomach pain. Outside the brain, the gut has the greatest area of nerves. This component of the autonomic nervous system — known as the enteric nervous system — is sometimes referred to as the “second brain.” According to Harvard Health, “neurons lining the digestive tract signal muscle cells to initiate a series of contractions that propel food farther along, breaking it down into nutrients and waste.” The enteric nervous system communicates with the central nervous system and is known as the “brain-gut axis.” This connection explains why stress may cause digestive problems. According to the American Psychological Association, stress may increase the risk for or exacerbate symptoms of the following gut diseases or dysfunction: Bloating, burping, gas Heartburn,…  read on >  read on >

For what they say is the first time, British researchers report that they have found the spread of COVID-19 in households is linked to the presence of the virus on hands and surfaces, not just in the air. The investigators collected data from households at the height of the pandemic, finding that people were much more likely to get COVID-19 from someone in their house if virus was present on hands or frequently touched places, like refrigerator door handles or sink faucets. “There’s no doubt that if you have COVID-19, you’re emitting the virus into the air as micro-aerosols as well as large droplets that land on your hands and the surfaces around you. What hasn’t been shown, until now, is that the presence of the virus on people’s hands or household surfaces predicts transmission to contacts,” said study author Ajit Lalvani. He is director of the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Respiratory Infections. The NIHR HPRU is a research partnership between Imperial College London and the UK Health Security Agency. Researchers from University of Oxford also worked on the study. “Our real-life study in London households provides the first empirical evidence to show that the presence of SARS-CoV-2 on people’s hands and surfaces contributes significantly to spread of COVID-19. Since we didn’t systematically sample household…  read on >  read on >

It’s well known that being overweight or obese can increase health risks. But a new study finds that the reasons why a person is obese may have some impact on heart disease risk. Specifically, being obese because of lifestyle carried higher risks than it did if the extra weight was due to genetic predisposition, researchers found. “The link between obesity and cardiovascular disease was twice as strong in those with a genetic predisposition to a low BMI as it was in those with obesity driven by genetic factors,” said study author Ida Karlsson, an assistant professor at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Karolinska Institute in Solna, Sweden. To study this, her team used data from more than 15,000 twins from the Swedish Twin Registry. Information included their BMI and their genetic predisposition for high BMI. The researchers also used data from medical registries to establish the incidence of heart disease in this group. Karlsson stressed that a healthy lifestyle is always important for everyone. The risk of heart disease was still higher in all people who were overweight or obese compared to people with a healthy weight. “Obesity is a complex common disease that can have many different causes,” Karlsson said in an institute news release. “Since it’s so stigmatized, the results can help us understand that its effects on health…  read on >  read on >

Medicaid reimbursement for mental health services varies widely across the United States, making it hard for many folks who need help to get it, a new study finds. Researchers found as much as a fivefold difference among states in Medicaid reimbursement rates. Even though Medicaid, the governmental health care program for low-income Americans, serves a population that is disproportionately affected by mental illness, many providers choose not to care for Medicaid patients due to low reimbursement rates. At the same time, a growing demand for help with depression, anxiety and substance use means many psychologists are unable to take on new patients, according to a 2022 American Psychological Association survey. Medicare, the federal health insurance program for American seniors, pays much more for mental health services, the study found. “We find that Medicaid reimbursement to psychiatrists for a common set of 20 frequently billed services varies across states and that on average, Medicaid pays about 80% of what Medicare pays for the same services,” said lead researcher Dr. Jane Zhu, an assistant professor of medicine at Oregon Health & Science University. Mental health services generally have low insurance acceptance rates, but this is worse in Medicaid, partly due to low reimbursement rates, she said. “Our study confirms that some states are setting these reimbursement rates quite low, which has implications not just for provider acceptance…  read on >  read on >