Could inhaling a deep whiff of another person’s sweat help ease crippling social anxiety? Quite possibly, new Swedish research suggests. The notion stems from a trial that involved just 48 women. All struggled with what’s known as social anxiety disorder — an often intense and relentless fear of being watched or judged by others when participating in common social situations. The standard course of treatment centers on talk therapy involving meditation practices that are designed to ease some of the anxiety that arises. But Swedish researchers discovered that when such “mindfulness therapy” is combined with the inhaling of sweat of others, the result appears to be a far steeper drop in anxiety levels. “Social anxiety is a common disorder which entails an intense and persistent fear of social situations,” explained study author Elisa Vigna, a research assistant with the Swedish National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention at the Karolinska Institute. “This can lead to anxiety and fear of common situations like speaking in front of an audience, meeting new people, even talking to a cashier in a store. So, it can be very debilitating, affecting many areas of everyday life.” This is the first study that uses body odor as a treatment enhancer, Vigna noted. The results “were very interesting and promising,” she said. While a single session of mindfulness therapy alone triggered a…  read on >  read on >

In yet another sign of the stress that can haunt gay, lesbian and bisexual youth, a new study finds that compared with their straight peers, they are twice as likely to report trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Depression and family conflict may be contributing to sleep issues in young LGBTQ people, the researchers noted. “Young people who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual may face discrimination and negative attitudes because of their sexual orientation. These experiences can make it harder for them to get a good night’s sleep,” said lead author Dr. Jason Nagata, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. “Difficulties getting along with family, feeling sad and hopeless, and being under a lot of pressure could all make it hard for lesbian, gay and bisexual youth to sleep well,” he explained. For the study, Nagata’s team used data from 2018 to 2020 on more than 8,500 chlidren aged 10 to 14 who were part of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, a large, long-term study of brain development and child health in the United States. The children and their parents answered questions about their sleep habits. The kids were also asked about their sexual orientation. Those who were only starting to question their sexuality also had greater risk for sleep problems compared to their straight peers, the…  read on >  read on >

For depressed or anxious children, taking melatonin may afford a good night’s sleep and, as a result, lower the odds they will harm themselves, new research suggests. The risk of self-harm increased before melatonin was prescribed and decreased by about half after kids started taking the supplement, the study found. Teen girls suffering from depression or anxiety were the most likely to benefit. “This suggests that melatonin might be responsible for the reduced self-harm rates, but we cannot rule out that the use of other psychiatric medications or psychotherapy may have influenced the findings,” said senior researcher Sarah Bergen, from the department of medical epidemiology and biostatistics at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. “Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone, and we believe the findings are due to improved sleep,” she said. The study can’t prove that melatonin caused the drop off in self-harm, only that there appears to be a link. Of the more than 25,000 young people in the study, 87% had psychiatric disorders in addition to sleep problems. “Melatonin was probably only one part of their treatment package,” Bergen said. “We found that controlling for antidepressant use did not appreciably alter the results, but it’s possible that other medications or psychotherapy are contributing to the observed findings.” For the study, her team identified nearly 25,600 Swedish youngsters between 6 and 18 years…  read on >

While all Americans could benefit from proposed new limits on what’s called PM2.5 air pollution, new research indicates the change has the potential to benefit Black and low-income Americans the most. The limits being considered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could cut death rates in those more vulnerable groups by up to 7%, according to researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in Boston. “The EPA is currently considering stronger rules for PM2.5 air pollution and the decision will have profound effects on ensuring all Americans have an equal opportunity to breathe clean air,” said co-lead author Scott Delaney, a research associate in the department of environmental health at Harvard. “Our research shows that, while stronger rules will protect all aging Americans from air pollution, those harmed the most by air pollution will benefit the most — and that these benefits may be larger than prior research suggests,” Delaney said in a Harvard news release. These stronger air quality policies could also drive innovative ways to reduce the emission of heat-trapping gases, the study authors said. This might save even more lives through its impact on climate change. To study this, the researchers used Medicare data from more than 73 million Americans aged 65 and older between 2000 and 2016 according to race, income level and annual average PM2.5 exposure by…  read on >  read on >

While thinking declines can be a common symptom of multiple sclerosis in women, new research suggests sleep, or lack of it, could be making matters worse. “Sleep disorders have gained substantial recognition for their role in cognitive [thinking] decline, which affects up to 70% of people with multiple sclerosis,” explained study author Dr. Tiffany Braley, director of the Multiple Sclerosis/Neuroimmunology Division and the MS Fatigue and Sleep Clinic at University of Michigan Health. “Our results highlighted important pathways between sleep and perceptions of cognitive function in women with MS,” Braley said in a university news release. “We have previously identified important associations between objective cognitive performance and sleep in people with MS, but little is known about how sleep and MS interact together to impact long-term cognitive outcomes, particularly among women who are less likely to be diagnosed with sleep disorders.” Using data for more than 60,000 women in the 2013 and 2017 waves of the Nurses’ Health Study, the reseachers found that women with MS were more likely than those without MS to report sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia and sleepiness. Sleep disorders identified in 2013 contributed to thinking problems reported by women with MS in 2017, including memory and ability to follow instructions and conversations, according to the authors. Sleep apnea accounted for 34% of the total effect between MS…  read on >  read on >