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Though the physical health risks posed by COVID-19 are at the top of everyone’s mind, experts warn the pandemic is also exacting a massive toll on mental health. So finds new research emerging on the mental health effects in China, where infection peaks and lockdowns have preceded the American experience by several months. For example, one recent study in the journal Psychiatry Research surveyed more than 7,200 Chinese men and women during the country’s February lockdown. More than a third were found to be suffering from COVID-related “generalized anxiety disorder,” while about a fifth struggled with signs of depression. Just over 18% reported sleeping difficulties. The good news? Experts say there are effective coping strategies for those who feel they’re sinking under the weight of the coronavirus crisis. “First I think it is important that we acknowledge for ourselves that feeling overwhelmed, fearful or stressed in the current circumstance is quite understandable,” said Danielle King, assistant professor of industrial and organizational psychology at Rice University in Houston. “Rather than avoiding having those feelings, I believe it is beneficial for us to acknowledge them, give ourselves grace, and find ways to also experience some positive emotions in the midst of these difficulties,” she said. Consciously doing that, said King, helps people accept that there are some things “that are not within our control.” And it also… read on >

Mindfulness training may help counter the thinking and emotional difficulties caused by multiple sclerosis. In a small test study, people with multiple sclerosis (MS) who had four weeks of mindfulness training emerged with better emotional control and faster thinking. Multiple sclerosis is a disease in which the immune system attacks the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. This interferes with communication in the brain and between the brain and body, leading to worsening mental and physical problems. An estimated one million people in the United States are affected. “Emotional upheaval is part and parcel of living with multiple sclerosis — there’s no cure, per se,” said Nicholas Larocca, a National Multiple Sclerosis Society consultant. “You can look at someone who has mild multiple sclerosis. They can have cognitive problems much more than physical problems,” he added. In a pilot study, Ohio State University researchers tested 47 women and 14 men with MS on emotional control, mental speed and short-term memory. For four weeks, the study participants were divided into three groups. One group received mindfulness training; a second received computerized “adaptive cognitive” training aimed at focusing their attention; and a control group received no training until the study ended. Mindfulness training teaches people to stay focused in the present, helping them look at problems objectively and accept without judgment, said study leader Ruchika Prakash, director… read on >

(HealthDay News) — A jump in coronavirus cases is being seen in nearly a dozen U.S. states, at least half of which reopened early, as the country’s coronavirus case count neared 1.7 million on Wednesday. Though the overall national trend has been staying steady or dropping, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee are some of the states seeing upticks, The New York Times reported. All five states were among the first to loosen social distancing restrictions. To some degree, the increase in cases may be due to increased testing, but it also suggests that the virus’s spread in this country is nowhere near over, the Times reported. In a sign that the mental health toll of the coronavirus pandemic is also on the rise, new Census Bureau data shows that nearly a third of Americans are showing signs of clinical anxiety or depression, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. Meanwhile, safety concerns over a malaria drug that President Donald Trump has touted as a coronavirus treatment prompted the World Health Organization on Monday to remove the medication from a global trial of potential COVID-19 therapies. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the international health agency’s director-general, said the WHO decided to take a “pause” in testing hydroxychloroquine after a study published last week in The Lancet medical journal found people who took the drug were more likely… read on >

(HealthDay News) — Safety concerns over a malaria drug that President Donald Trump has touted as a coronavirus treatment prompted the World Health Organization on Monday to remove the medication from a global trial of potential COVID-19 therapies. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the international health agency’s director-general, said the WHO decided to take a “pause” in testing hydroxychloroquine after a study published last week in The Lancet medical journal found people who took the drug were more likely to die, The New York Times reported. Several other studies have found the medication has no benefit and could possibly harm COVID-19 patients. Still, Trump said on Sunday he had just finished taking a two-week course of the malaria drug to guard against COVID-19 infection after two White House staffers tested positive for the coronavirus. On Tuesday, pharmaceutical giant Merck jumped into the fight against the coronavirus, announcing two separate efforts to develop a vaccine and a partnership to develop a promising antiviral drug that can be taken as a pill, the Times reported. Meanwhile, hopes for another drug being tested against coronavirus infection dimmed on Friday, after a major, new study found the drug on its own won’t be enough to significantly curb cases and deaths. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that, “given high mortality [of patients] despite the use… read on >

For parents hoping their “picky” eater will grow out of it, a new study may be unwelcome news. Researchers found that choosy 4-year-olds were still turning their noses up at many foods at age 9 — suggesting their finicky eating is more of a trait than a phase. The study, which followed over 300 children, found three patterns: The majority were consistently middle-of-the-road when it came to food fussiness — sometimes shunning unfamiliar cuisine, but remaining relatively open to trying new foods. A sizable minority (29%) consistently ate everything their parents offered up. Then there was the picky 14%. From age 4 to 9, they routinely refused new foods and maintained a limited culinary repertoire. Still, researchers saw bright spots in the findings, published May 26 in the journal Pediatrics. For one, there were no signs that picky eaters were underweight. And the fact that the fussiness seems to be a trait — and not a failure on the parents’ part — might bring some solace. “It can be very stressful for parents to deal with a picky eater,” noted senior researcher Dr. Megan Pesch, a pediatrician at the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor. But if parents think they did something wrong to cause it, she added, these findings suggest otherwise. “It’s not your fault,” Pesch said. “It seems to… read on >

If anxiety and fear about COVID-19 are keeping you awake, rest assured: Adopting a few easy-to-follow habits will help you get a good night’s sleep. “Now more than ever, we need to get good sleep,” said Dr. Amy Guralnick, a pulmonologist at Loyola Medicine in Chicago. “Sleep can help our immune system function at its best. Getting a good night’s sleep also helps us to think clearly and to problem-solve better.” And, she added, too little sleep can lead to depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions. So what can you do to get more — and better — Zzzzzzz’s? Make a sleep schedule and follow a routine, Guralnick advised. “Having a daily, fixed wake up time is the most important part of the schedule,” she said. In the hours before bedtime, avoid viewing any technology with a backlight, she suggested. That includes a phone, tablet or a computer. Here’s why: “Your brain thinks that the light coming from those is daylight and it will suppress the release of a hormone called melatonin which helps put you to sleep,” Guralnick explained. If you suffer from stress or anxiety, consider writing down your worries in a journal. But set it aside before bedtime, she said. Your bed should be used only for sleep and intimacy. “The bed is not for eating or working or reading or… read on >

With many beaches and parks opening in time for Memorial Day, the American Cancer Society is reminding people to practice sun safety. Overexposing yourself to the sun increases your risk for skin cancer, which is the most common cancer in the United States, with almost 5.5 million cases each year. That’s more than breast, colon, lung and prostate cancers combined. “COVID-19 has forced Americans to remain indoors, and many people are anxious to get back to outdoor activities with some stay-at-home orders being lifted,” said Dr. Laura Makaroff, senior vice president of prevention and early detection at the American Cancer Society (ACS). “As more people get outside, practicing social distancing and avoiding crowded areas is still very important to reduce the risk of COVID transmission, and it is also important to not forget the risks of sun exposure and sunburn and take appropriate steps to protect your skin,” Makaroff said in an ACS news release. One of every 5 Americans will have some type of skin cancer in their lifetime. Melanoma, the deadliest type accounts for about 1% of all skin cancer cases, the ACS said. But skin cancer is very preventable. More than 90% of skin cancers are caused by exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun or indoor tanning. You can reduce the risk of skin cancer by: Not intentionally getting a sunburn… read on >

People with physically demanding jobs take more sick leave. They also have higher unemployment rates and shorter work lives, a new Danish study finds. “This study showed that high physical work demands are a marked risk factor for a shortened expected working life and increased years of sickness absence and unemployment,” study co-author Lars Andersen and colleagues wrote. Andersen is with the National Research Center for the Working Environment in Copenhagen. For the study, the researchers looked at people ages 30, 40 and 50 in Denmark who had a job as of November 2013. The investigators examined their periods of sick leave, unemployment and disability pension payments until 2017. More men than women had physically demanding jobs, such as carpentry, masonry, painting, plumbing, cleaning and manufacturing. Men with such jobs were an average of nearly three years younger than men in physically undemanding jobs, while women in physically demanding jobs were about 10 months older than those in physically undemanding jobs. For both men and women, physically demanding jobs were strongly associated with shorter work life (years worked until retirement), and more sick leave and unemployment, compared with physically undemanding jobs. For men age 30, working life would be expected to last almost 32 years for those with physically demanding jobs and nearly 34 years for those with physically undemanding jobs. Among women, the figures… read on >

Swimming pools in many parts of the United States may reopen soon, and Americans can take comfort in knowing that taking a dip should pose little risk of coronavirus infection. However, there could be risks at indoor pools from crowds, poor air circulation, and contaminated surfaces such as handrails, according to Ernest Blatchley III, a professor of environmental and ecological engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. He specializes in research on how chlorine in swimming pools reacts with contaminants such as human body fluids, medicines and personal care products. “There are no data to show how the coronavirus responds to chlorine, but we do know that chlorine effectively inactivates similar viruses,” Blatchley said in a university news release. “In the U.S., the general guidance for keeping pools properly disinfected is maintaining a free chlorine concentration between 1 and 5 milligrams per liter. If a pool has that concentration, there would be very little infective novel coronavirus in the water,” he explained. However, the air around an indoor pool is likely “to pose similar risks of coronavirus spread as other indoor spaces,” he pointed out. “A person’s risk would not be affected by the water. The most relevant issue would be contamination of the air or surfaces in these facilities,” said Blatchley, who has studied pool water treatment and chemistry for more than 20… read on >

Getting too little or too much sleep may worsen asthma in adults, a new study finds. Researchers asked nearly 1,400 adults, 20 and older, with self-reported asthma about their sleep habits. About one-quarter said they slept five hours or less a night (short sleepers), 66% slept six to eight hours a night (normal sleepers), and 8% slept nine or more hours a night (long sleepers). Short sleepers were more likely to be younger and nonwhite, while long sleepers were more likely to be older, female and smokers, according to the study published recently in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. “Disturbed sleep in an asthma patient can be a red flag indicating their asthma isn’t well-controlled,” said Dr. Gailen Marshall, an allergist and journal editor-in-chief. The study warns that “consequences can be expected when sleep patterns are chronically inadequate,” Marshall said in a journal news release. Compared to normal sleepers, short sleepers had: a higher risk of an asthma attack, dry cough and an overnight hospitalization during the past year; significantly worse health-related quality of life, including poor physical and mental health and inactivity due to poor health; and more frequent general healthcare use during the past year. Compared to normal sleepers, long sleepers were more likely to have some activity limitation due to wheezing, but no other significant differences. “Previous research revealed that… read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Lockdown Got You Down? Experts Offer Tips to De-Stress

Mindfulness May Ease the Emotional Burden of MS

Coronavirus Cases Ticking Upwards in Nearly a Dozen U.S. States

WHO Halts Testing of Drug That President Trump Has Embraced

For Many Kids, Picky Eating Isn’t Just a Phase, Study Finds

Banishing Pandemic Worries for a Good Night’s Sleep

As Summer Starts, Sun Safety Slashes Skin Cancer Risk

Physical Jobs Tied to More Sick Leave, Earlier Retirement

Outdoor Swimming Pools Not a COVID-19 Risk: Expert

Your Sleep Habits May Worsen Your Asthma