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Treating depression with talk therapy may provide protection against heart disease, new research suggests. As depression lifts, people may begin to engage more in healthy eating and exercise, investigators believe. In a study of nearly 637,000 people who took part in talk therapy offered by the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) between 2012 and 2020, those whose depression symptoms improved were 12% less likely to develop cardiovascular disease, including coronary heart disease, stroke and death, researchers found. “It is the first time that such a link is established; however, it is important to note that our study does not prove a causal effect, namely that the lower likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease is caused by the psychological therapy,” said lead author Celine El Baou, a research assistant at the Dementia Research Center of University College London. More research is needed to understand these findings better and the mechanisms involved, which could be biological or linked to lifestyle behaviors, she said. Globally, cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and heart disease are the No. 1 cause of death, claiming 18.6 million people worldwide in 2019, according to the study. “The study suggests that talking therapies for depression may also help in reducing the future risk of cardiovascular disease,” El Baou said. “So it is important that therapies are made as effective and accessible as possible.” Talking… read on > read on >

People are often reminded that they are their own unique person — and a new study says that’s particularly true of the digestive tract. Dissections of a few dozen deceased individuals revealed striking differences in gastrointestinal anatomy, even among a small group of people. Some livers were larger, some intestines and colons were longer. Crucial discrepancies were observed between men and women. And some organs were even located in the wrong place, the researchers said. “I almost missed one guy’s appendix because it was growing off the back of the cecum [the pouch that forms the first part of the large intestine] instead of the front,” said lead researcher Erin McKenney, an assistant professor of applied ecology at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. “If I hadn’t flipped it over and looked in the least likely spot, I would have missed it entirely.” These variations in anatomy have powerful implications for doctors and patients, the researchers said. Surgery, medical treatments, and even lifestyle choices like diet, are often crafted to best serve an “average” person, but individual human digestive systems are far from average, the study found. “If you’re talking to four different people, odds are good that all of them have different guts, in terms of the relative sizes of the organs that make up that system,” McKenney explained. Understanding the anatomical differences between… read on > read on >

Reading is fundamental, but it’s also a complex skill. Now, a new study sheds more light on how the brain makes sense of the written word. Researchers found that two key brain “networks” work in tandem to help people read sentences — so folks not only grasp the meanings of individual words but also process the bigger picture of what’s being said. Because reading is such an essential daily activity, it’s easy to take it for granted, said study leader Oscar Woolnough, a research fellow with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. “That is, until you lose that ability,” he said. Woolnough pointed to the example of aphasia, which impairs people’s ability to use language — including their speech and ability to write or read. It stems from damage to the brain, often from a stroke or a head injury. If researchers can better understand how the healthy brain allows people to read, Woolnough said, that could improve understanding of aphasia and other types of reading impairment. For the latest study, the researchers recruited patients with epilepsy who’d had electrodes implanted in their brains to try to identify the source of their seizures. That allowed Woolnough’s team to record the participants’ brain activity as they read — precisely charting the timing of events in a way not possible with noninvasive imaging of the brain. Researchers… read on > read on >

Sciatica can send searing, unrelenting pain down your legs, and surgery is often recommended if other less invasive measures fail to bring relief. Unfortunately, a new study review suggests that such operations likely only provide temporary results, with pain typically returning within a year. Sciatica is “characterized by pain going down the back of the leg, most often due to pressure on a spinal nerve root caused by a ruptured spinal disc in the lower back,” said study author Christine Lin, a professor with Sydney Musculoskeletal Health at the University of Sydney in Australia. “The condition can also manifest as back pain, muscle weakness, and a pins-and-needles sensation in the lower leg. “We set out to investigate if surgery was effective in relieving pain and disability in people with sciatica caused by a ruptured [spinal] disc,” said Lin. But after reviewing 24 prior studies, she and her colleagues concluded that while partial removal of a ruptured disc (discectomy) did result in short-term pain and disability relief, “the benefits reduced with time, and at one year there were no treatment benefits compared to people who did not have surgery.” Lin noted that while surgery is not the only intervention for sciatica patients, “we don’t have a lot of treatment options that are backed by scientific evidence.” There is only “limited evidence” suggesting that an exercise program… read on > read on >

When exercise studies are led by men, female participants are often in short supply. While this underrepresentation of female research subjects has been documented in everything from clinical trials to cell cultures, a new study links researchers’ gender and women’s participation. “Our findings provide direct evidence of the link between gender of authors and gender of research participants,” said lead study author Jessica Linde, a doctoral candidate at Marquette University in Milwaukee. Having too few women participating results in gaps in understanding how certain interventions work in females. For this study, researchers analyzed 971 original research articles in three major journals that focus on exercise physiology, zeroing in on studies published in 1991 and in 2021. They found that in 1991, 51% of the papers were written by all-male teams. That was also true of about 18% of papers in 2021. All female-research teams also declined over the period, from 1.8% in 1991 to 1.1% in 2021. While the number of women participating in exercise studies rose over the years, they represented just one-third of study participants in 2021. The number of female participants was lower in both years when the study leader (or last author) was a man. In 2021, Linde said, when studies were led by a woman, they included equal numbers of men and women as participants. More women in other leadership… read on > read on >

Need to get your shut-eye on time? What you eat could make a difference, according to a new study. Researchers found that college athletes who ate more carbohydrates and vitamins B12 and C tended to go to sleep and wake up earlier. It’s possible that these nutrients might increase synthesis of vital hormones that regulate sleep, including serotonin and melatonin, the authors said. “For athletes, success is measured not only by readiness to perform but also resiliency on and off the field,” said first author Lauren Rentz, a doctoral student at West Virginia University. “We know that sleep helps the body heal from daily physical and mental stress and influences future physical and mental performance,” she said. “The relationship between sleep and nutrient intake hasn’t been researched as thoroughly in high-performing athletes, who consistently experience large amounts of stress.” For the study, researchers evaluated sleep and nutritional patterns of 23 women who play college soccer. Each of the athletes wore a smart ring that tracked their sleep for 31 straight nights during the season. They also recorded their food intake during the final three days. The study found links between nutrient consumption and sleep timing but not duration. Most of the athletes averaged seven to eight hours of sleep a night. They also met recommended intake for many vitamins, but not for all their nutritional… read on > read on >

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the abortion pill mifepristone can remain widely available while litigation over its fate winds its way through the court system. In the meantime, the order effectively halts a ruling from a federal judge in Texas that said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the pill more than two decades ago was invalid. Following the Supreme Court ruling, President Joe Biden issued a statement saying, “As a result of the Supreme Court’s stay, mifepristone remains available and approved for safe and effective use while we continue this fight in the courts. I continue to stand by FDA’s evidence-based approval of mifepristone, and my Administration will continue to defend FDA’s independent, expert authority to review, approve and regulate a wide range of prescription drugs.” Friday’s order is just the second time in a year that the Supreme Court has considered slashing access to abortion in the United States. In overturning Roe v. Wade last June, a conservative majority said it was leaving the issue of abortion to elected officials. It was only last Wednesday when a federal appeals court partially overruled Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s April 7 ruling made in Texas, which said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone back in 2000 was invalid and the drug should not be used. While the three-judge appeals… read on > read on >

The number of kids who attempted suicide using over-the-counter or easily accessible medications is up sharply, a new study shows. This research spotlights a pediatric mental health crisis, said researchers from the University of Virginia Health System, who reviewed data on reported suicide attempts that were reported to the National Poison Data System in 2021. “This significant increase in suicide attempts during the pandemic surprised us,” said Dr. Christopher Holstege, medical director of the Blue Ridge Poison Center at UVA Health. “We are alarmed at the dramatic increase in suicide attempts in such a young population, which continues to escalate according to our data.” Suspected suicide attempts by poisoning in 10- to 19-year-olds that were reported to poison centers increased by 30% in 2021. Among the younger kids in that age group, those ages 10 to 12, suicide attempts were up 73% compared to 2019. In 13- to 15-year-olds, the rate of suspected suicide attempts by poisoning increased 48.8%. “These findings suggest that the mental health of children and adolescents might still be affected by the pandemic, raising concerns about long-term consequences, especially given that previous attempted suicide has been found to be the strongest predictor of subsequent death by suicide,” the researchers wrote in a paper outlining the findings. Researchers also noted an increase in suicide attempts by girls — up 36.8% between 2019… read on > read on >

A good sports bra provides more than sturdy support alone for female runners. The increased breast support affects biomechanics in other parts of the body — and, a new study shows, the right sports bra could actually boost a woman’s running performance by 7%. “Our study represents one of a series of research studies on the topic of breast support and whole body biomechanics,” said Douglas Powell, of the Breast Biomechanics Research Center at the University of Memphis. “We wanted to identify strategies to reduce activity-induced breast pain for females, a group that makes up approximately 50% of the population.” For the study, published April 21 in Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, the researchers looked at the influence of breast support on knee joint stiffness during treadmill running. Knee joint stiffness is a measure of the knee’s resistance to movement when force is applied. It has been linked to lower oxygen consumption, improved running performance and running-related injury. There were 12 recreational runners between 18 and 35 years of age professionally fitted with two sports bras. One had high support; the other, low support. The women had self-reported cup sizes of B, C or D. As a control, participants were also asked to perform the experiment bare-chested. Each runner did three-minute running bouts in each of the three randomized breast support conditions: high, low… read on > read on >

While overall support for childhood vaccines remains strong, a new UNICEF report documents a significant decline in the public’s faith in the importance of these vaccines. Confidence in childhood immunizations dropped by up to 44 percentage points in some countries during the pandemic, according to the report. Meanwhile, 67 million children missed one or more of their vaccines over three years because of pandemic-related strains on health systems, scarce resources, conflict, fragility and decreased confidence. “At the height of the pandemic, scientists rapidly developed vaccines that saved countless lives. But despite this historic achievement, fear and disinformation about all types of vaccines circulated as widely as the virus itself,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “This data is a worrying warning signal. We cannot allow confidence in routine immunizations to become another victim of the pandemic,” Russell said in a UNICEF news release. “Otherwise, the next wave of deaths could be of more children with measles, diphtheria or other preventable diseases.” Perception about the importance of vaccines for children declined by more than one-third in the Republic of Korea, Papua New Guinea, Ghana, Senegal and Japan, according to the “State of the World’s Children 2023: For Every Child, Vaccination.” Only in China, India and Mexico did the perception about the importance of vaccines continue at the same level or increase. People under 35 and women… read on > read on >

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Psychotherapy’s Hidden Bonus: Healthier Hearts

Digestive Organs Vary Widely Between People, Study Finds

This Is Your Brain on Books: Science Reveals Secrets of Reading

Is Surgery for Sciatica Really Worth It?

Lack of Women Researchers Could Mean Fewer Female Study Participants

For Athletes, Diet Might Influence Sleep Patterns

U.S. Supreme Court Keeps Abortion Pill Widely Available While Appeal Continues

Rate of U.S. Kids Attempting Suicide by Overdose Rose During Pandemic

Sports Bra Support Makes a Difference for Women Runners

Pandemic Saw Rise in Mistrust of Childhood Vaccines Worldwide