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Weight Stigma Tied To Lingering Depression, Anxiety After Weight-Loss Surgery

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People who get weight-loss surgery experience an improvement in their mental health, but not because of the weight they lose, a new study says. Rather, these patients face much less societal stigma over their weight, and it’s that – not the actual weight loss – that boosts their mental health, researchers reported today in the journal Health Psychology. “The cumulative effect of stigma and discrimination actually contributes to a large part of the physical and mental health problems that we disproportionately see for patients with obesity compared to the general population,” lead researcher Larissa McGarrity, a clinical psychologist in physical medicine and rehabilitation at University of Utah Health, said in a news release. People who faced less stigma after their surgery had healthier eating habits and better mental health, researchers found. But patients who continued to experience stigma despite their surgery had higher risks of depression, anxiety and eating disorders, results showed. For the study, researchers assessed the mental health and habits of nearly 150 people who underwent weight-loss surgery, both prior to and then 18 to 36 months following their procedure. Results showed that, in general, people do tend to face less shame, blame and guilt around their body weight or shape in the years following surgery. In fact, the reduction in stigma was striking, McGarrity said. “The degree of change far exceeded clinically…  read on >  read on >

Weight Stigma Tied To Lingering Depression, Anxiety After Weight-Loss Surgery

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People who get weight-loss surgery experience an improvement in their mental health, but not because of the weight they lose, a new study says. Rather, these patients face much less societal stigma over their weight, and it’s that – not the actual weight loss – that boosts their mental health, researchers reported today in the journal Health Psychology. “The cumulative effect of stigma and discrimination actually contributes to a large part of the physical and mental health problems that we disproportionately see for patients with obesity compared to the general population,” lead researcher Larissa McGarrity, a clinical psychologist in physical medicine and rehabilitation at University of Utah Health, said in a news release. People who faced less stigma after their surgery had healthier eating habits and better mental health, researchers found. But patients who continued to experience stigma despite their surgery had higher risks of depression, anxiety and eating disorders, results showed. For the study, researchers assessed the mental health and habits of nearly 150 people who underwent weight-loss surgery, both prior to and then 18 to 36 months following their procedure. Results showed that, in general, people do tend to face less shame, blame and guilt around their body weight or shape in the years following surgery. In fact, the reduction in stigma was striking, McGarrity said. “The degree of change far exceeded clinically…  read on >  read on >

New Sugar-Based Test Can Suss Out Snake Venoms

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Sweet! Synthetic sugars could be key to sussing out what type of snake venom is threatening a person’s life, researchers say. Specifically, researchers have developed a way to use these sugars to detect the venom of the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, according to a paper published recently in ACS Biomacromolecules. “Snake venoms are complex and detecting the toxins at work is challenging but essential to save lives,” said senior researcher Alex Baker, an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Warwick in the U.K. The new test “lays the foundations for the rapid and cheap detection of snakebite beyond antibody-based techniques, potentially improving improve patient outcomes,” Baker added in a news release. Every five minutes, 50 people are bitten by a snake worldwide, researchers said in background notes. Four will be permanently disabled by the venomous bite, and one will die. Identifying the snake venom coursing through a person’s body is vital to counteracting its effects, but most places are home to a variety of different snakes that could have caused any given bite, researchers said. Most tests use antibodies to diagnose snake venom, but they tend to be expensive, slow and inconsistent, researchers said. To come up with a better test, researchers noted that some snake venoms – like the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake — work by binding to specific sugar molecules called glycans that…  read on >  read on >

New Sugar-Based Test Can Suss Out Snake Venoms

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Sweet! Synthetic sugars could be key to sussing out what type of snake venom is threatening a person’s life, researchers say. Specifically, researchers have developed a way to use these sugars to detect the venom of the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, according to a paper published recently in ACS Biomacromolecules. “Snake venoms are complex and detecting the toxins at work is challenging but essential to save lives,” said senior researcher Alex Baker, an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Warwick in the U.K. The new test “lays the foundations for the rapid and cheap detection of snakebite beyond antibody-based techniques, potentially improving improve patient outcomes,” Baker added in a news release. Every five minutes, 50 people are bitten by a snake worldwide, researchers said in background notes. Four will be permanently disabled by the venomous bite, and one will die. Identifying the snake venom coursing through a person’s body is vital to counteracting its effects, but most places are home to a variety of different snakes that could have caused any given bite, researchers said. Most tests use antibodies to diagnose snake venom, but they tend to be expensive, slow and inconsistent, researchers said. To come up with a better test, researchers noted that some snake venoms – like the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake — work by binding to specific sugar molecules called glycans that…  read on >  read on >

Coffee Could Be Key To Aging Gracefully

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A morning cup of coffee might do more than momentarily boost your energy and spirits. Full-test java also appears to help women age more gracefully, a new study says. Middle-aged women who regularly drank caffeinated coffee were more likely to stay mentally sharp and physically functional as they aged, researchers reported Monday at a meeting of the American Society for Nutrition. Each extra cup was tied to a 2% to 5% increased chance of aging gracefully, results show. “The findings suggest that caffeinated coffee — not tea or decaf — may uniquely support aging trajectories that preserve both mental and physical function,” researcher Sara Mahdavi, a post-doctoral fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said in a news release. For the study, researchers tracked more than 47,500 women participating in the Nurses’ Health Study, a long-term research project that has collected data since 1984. The team compared the women’s caffeine intake to their healthy aging, which was defined as living to 70, being free from 11 major chronic illnesses, maintaining physical function, having good mental health and exhibiting no memory or thinking difficulties. By 2016, more than 3,700 of the women met all the requirements for being considered a person who has aged gracefully, researchers said. In middle age, these women typically consumed about 315 milligrams of caffeine daily, roughly three small…  read on >  read on >

Coffee Could Be Key To Aging Gracefully

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A morning cup of coffee might do more than momentarily boost your energy and spirits. Full-test java also appears to help women age more gracefully, a new study says. Middle-aged women who regularly drank caffeinated coffee were more likely to stay mentally sharp and physically functional as they aged, researchers reported Monday at a meeting of the American Society for Nutrition. Each extra cup was tied to a 2% to 5% increased chance of aging gracefully, results show. “The findings suggest that caffeinated coffee — not tea or decaf — may uniquely support aging trajectories that preserve both mental and physical function,” researcher Sara Mahdavi, a post-doctoral fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said in a news release. For the study, researchers tracked more than 47,500 women participating in the Nurses’ Health Study, a long-term research project that has collected data since 1984. The team compared the women’s caffeine intake to their healthy aging, which was defined as living to 70, being free from 11 major chronic illnesses, maintaining physical function, having good mental health and exhibiting no memory or thinking difficulties. By 2016, more than 3,700 of the women met all the requirements for being considered a person who has aged gracefully, researchers said. In middle age, these women typically consumed about 315 milligrams of caffeine daily, roughly three small…  read on >  read on >

How Do Low-Calorie Diets Affect A Person’s Mood?

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Counting calories isn’t simply a bummer, it might actually increase your risk of depression, a new study says. People on low-calorie diets scored higher for symptoms of depression, compared with those not dieting, researchers reported June 3 in BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health. Overweight people and men were particularly vulnerable to the mood changes that come with a low-calorie diet, results show. “Calorie-restricted diets were associated with higher depressive symptom scores, which contrasts with the findings of earlier controlled studies,” concluded a team led by senior researcher Dr. Venkat Bhat, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto. “Additionally, biological men and overweight individuals appear more vulnerable to the negative effects of restrictive eating,” the team added. Cutting calories might also rob the brain of nutrients needed to maintain a balanced mood, researchers speculated. For the study, researchers tracked the health of more than 28,500 participants in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2007 and 2018. These people all had completed a questionnaire assessing symptoms of depression, and also were asked if they were following any particular diet. In all, just under 8% of participants reported symptoms of depression. Researchers categorized everyone based on their dietary pattern, including diets that restricted calories, diets that cut specific nutrients like carbs or fat or diets established to help manage health problems like…  read on >  read on >

How Do Low-Calorie Diets Affect A Person’s Mood?

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Counting calories isn’t simply a bummer, it might actually increase your risk of depression, a new study says. People on low-calorie diets scored higher for symptoms of depression, compared with those not dieting, researchers reported June 3 in BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health. Overweight people and men were particularly vulnerable to the mood changes that come with a low-calorie diet, results show. “Calorie-restricted diets were associated with higher depressive symptom scores, which contrasts with the findings of earlier controlled studies,” concluded a team led by senior researcher Dr. Venkat Bhat, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto. “Additionally, biological men and overweight individuals appear more vulnerable to the negative effects of restrictive eating,” the team added. Cutting calories might also rob the brain of nutrients needed to maintain a balanced mood, researchers speculated. For the study, researchers tracked the health of more than 28,500 participants in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2007 and 2018. These people all had completed a questionnaire assessing symptoms of depression, and also were asked if they were following any particular diet. In all, just under 8% of participants reported symptoms of depression. Researchers categorized everyone based on their dietary pattern, including diets that restricted calories, diets that cut specific nutrients like carbs or fat or diets established to help manage health problems like…  read on >  read on >

How Does A Pregnant Woman’s Weight Influence Her Child’s Infection Risk?

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Children born to women who are obese have a higher risk of landing in a hospital with a severe infection, a new study says. Infants under 1 year of age have a 41% increased risk of hospitalization for infection if their mom was severely obese during pregnancy, researchers reported June 3 in the journal BMJ Medicine. And that risk extends into childhood and adolescence, with 5- to 15-year-olds 53% more likely to require hospital treatment for an infection, the study found. “Most excess hospital admissions for infection were caused by respiratory and gastrointestinal infections, and multisystem viral infections,” wrote a team led by Victoria Coathup, a researcher in epidemiology with the University of Oxford in the U.K. “The findings indicate a need to help women achieve and maintain a healthy weight before conception,” researchers added. The percentage of women who are obese while pregnant has nearly doubled, rising to more than 16% in the 2010s from under 9% in the 1990s, researchers said in background notes. To explore the potential health risks to children of obesity during pregnancy, researchers turned to a long-range study of 9,540 births in Bradford, U.K., between March 2007 and December 2010. About 56% of the mothers were overweight or obese during pregnancy, researchers found. Expectant moms with severe obesity — a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or higher —…  read on >  read on >

How Does A Pregnant Woman’s Weight Influence Her Child’s Infection Risk?

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Children born to women who are obese have a higher risk of landing in a hospital with a severe infection, a new study says. Infants under 1 year of age have a 41% increased risk of hospitalization for infection if their mom was severely obese during pregnancy, researchers reported June 3 in the journal BMJ Medicine. And that risk extends into childhood and adolescence, with 5- to 15-year-olds 53% more likely to require hospital treatment for an infection, the study found. “Most excess hospital admissions for infection were caused by respiratory and gastrointestinal infections, and multisystem viral infections,” wrote a team led by Victoria Coathup, a researcher in epidemiology with the University of Oxford in the U.K. “The findings indicate a need to help women achieve and maintain a healthy weight before conception,” researchers added. The percentage of women who are obese while pregnant has nearly doubled, rising to more than 16% in the 2010s from under 9% in the 1990s, researchers said in background notes. To explore the potential health risks to children of obesity during pregnancy, researchers turned to a long-range study of 9,540 births in Bradford, U.K., between March 2007 and December 2010. About 56% of the mothers were overweight or obese during pregnancy, researchers found. Expectant moms with severe obesity — a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or higher —…  read on >  read on >