Just like adults, kids face daily stressors. Luckily, a new study suggests that teaching them creative thinking can help them manage it all. Researchers found that when school-age children learned some “narrative creativity” techniques — such as shifting your perspective and imagining “what if” scenarios — they quickly became better problem-solvers. After a week-long creativity camp, or even just a single lesson, kids showed more confidence in their ability to face life’s daily problems and come up with a “plan B” when necessary. The study was small, based on 60 kids attending the same summer camp. But experts said the findings just make sense. When kids can think flexibly, they are less likely to “panic” in the face of challenge, said study author Angus Fletcher, a professor at Ohio State University. Instead of simply giving up, he said, they are more apt to hunt for alternative solutions — a capacity called resilience. “Kids have some of the same daily challenges that adults do,” Fletcher said. “Their biggest problems aren’t in math, they’re in interacting with other kids.” Yet, Fletcher noted, schools typically focus on test scores rather than life skills. Meanwhile, parents, however well-intentioned, can also get in the way — if they rush to fix their child’s dilemma or tell them the “correct” solution. “It’s very challenging for some parents to resist that,” Fletcher…  read on >  read on >

Lee-Anne Mosselman-Clarke knows firsthand what it’s like to battle with postpartum mental health crises. She experienced difficulties after the births of her two children. “I have an 11 and 9 year old and I didn’t actually know that I had postpartum anxiety with my oldest. He had very significant health problems and I just thought I am having an awful first journey as a new mum,” she said. “It wasn’t until I got pregnant with my second that the midwife said, ‘I’d like you to talk to somebody because I think you are at risk for having postpartum depression again.’” Mosselman-Clarke, of Brant County, Ontario, Canada, has a background in social work and now works as a postpartum doula, supporting women through pregnancy and childbirth. When she heard about a new Canadian study involving group peer-delivered therapy for people battling postpartum depression, she applied immediately and was accepted as a peer facilitator. The sessions have been her passion since then. “The peer program is an incredible way to be able to talk to other people who have struggled the way you struggle without judgment or guilt or shame. And it gives an opportunity to not feel alone and to feel a lot less isolated,” Mosselman-Clarke said. The study, published Aug. 31 in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, had some considerable findings. Postpartum depression patients who received treatment…  read on >  read on >

Obesity taxes many parts of the body, but new research suggests the heart might take the hardest hit of all. Between 1999 and 2020, deaths from heart disease linked to obesity tripled in the United States, and some groups were more vulnerable than others. Specifically, Black adults had some of the highest rates of obesity-related heart disease deaths, with the highest percentage of deaths seen in Black women. The new study was published Sept. 6 in the Journal of the American Heart Association. “Our study is the first to demonstrate that this increasing burden of obesity is translating into rising heart disease deaths,” study author Dr. Zahra Raisi-Estabragh, a cardiologist and clinical lecturer at the William Harvey Research Institute in London, said in a journal news release. About 42% of Americans are now obese, an increase of almost 10% from the last decade, according to the American Heart Association. For the study, researchers analyzed data on more than 281,000 deaths from 1999 to 2020 in which obesity was listed in a contributing cause of death in a database. They also looked at race, gender and whether people lived in urban or rural areas. Overall, obesity-related heart disease deaths jumped from 2.2 per 100,000 people in 1999 to 6.6 per 100,000 people in 2020, the study showed. The rate of heart disease deaths not related to…  read on >  read on >

As waters warm across the United States and hurricanes and flooding season begins, the odds of being infected by flesh-eating bacteria are also rising, U.S. health officials warn. According to a Sept. 1 health alert from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a dozen types of the bacteria called Vibrio cause an estimated 80,000 such illnesses each year. One particular type of bacteria, Vibrio vulnificus, can cause life-threatening “flesh eating” infections. About 150 to 200 of these infections are reported each year and about one in five of those infected die; sometimes within a day or two after becoming ill, the CDC noted in a news release. Vibrio bacteria thrive in warmer water, especially during the summer months and when hurricanes hit. In the United States, infections have been mostly seen in Gulf Coast states. Not surprisingly, infections in the Eastern United States have increased eightfold from 1988 to 2018 and moved up the coast by about 30 miles per year. Connecticut, New York and North Carolina have now seen severe and fatal infections. Most people get infected by eating raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly oysters, the CDC warns. Some people, however, are infected when an open wound is exposed to the bacteria. Open wounds include those from recent surgeries, piercings, tattoos and other cuts or scrapes. Coastal floods, hurricanes and storm surges…  read on >  read on >

Cancer is surging among people under 50, a new global study reveals. Over the past 30 years, new cases have increased 79% worldwide in that age bracket, according to a report published Sept. 5 in BMJ Oncology. The fastest rising cancers are in the windpipe and prostate, and most deaths have been from breast, windpipe, lung, bowel and stomach cancer, the researchers found. Cancer tends to be more common in older people, but cases in those under 50 have been rising in many parts of the world since the 1990s, the researchers noted. They drew on the Global Burden of Disease database, which includes data for 29 cancers in 204 countries and regions. A team led by Xue Li, a research associate at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, conducted the study. Worldwide, the number of new early-onset cancer cases is projected to rise by 31% and deaths by 21% by 2030. Those in their 40s are at the greatest risk, Li’s group noted in a journal news release. Why the steep rise? Although genetics has a role in the increasing cancer rate, other factors could also play a part. The researchers cited diets high in red meat and salt, and low in fruit and milk; alcohol consumption; and tobacco use as the main risk factors for cancers among those under 50, with physical inactivity,…  read on >  read on >