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Although blood pressure levels among Americans rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, new research suggests things could have been far worse. “We expected blood pressure control to be worse due to decreased physical activity, stress, poor sleep and other cardiovascular disease risk factors that worsened during the pandemic,” said study leader Dr. Hiroshi Gotanda, an assistant professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. “But the results were better than we expected, probably because of the use of telemedicine and home monitoring of blood pressure,” he noted. For the study, which was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, researchers looked at the electronic data records of more than 137,500 adults who had high blood pressure (hypertension) and were treated at Cedars-Sinai, Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City, and Ochsner Health in New Orleans. Patients were an average age of 66. About 57% were women, while 30% were Black. The researchers compared blood pressure outcomes before the pandemic, from August 2018 through January 2020, with those during the peak of the pandemic, from April 2020 through January 2021. The number of blood pressure readings declined by as much as 90% during the first three months of the pandemic. Measurements began to increase as the months passed, though they were still below pre-pandemic levels. This may… read on > read on >

Most people consider drowsy driving dangerous, but an estimated 37 million Americans still get behind the wheel at least once a year when they’re so tired they can barely keep their eyes open. About six in 10 people admitted to drowsy driving in a new survey by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). “Drowsy driving is impaired driving,” said Joseph Dzierzewski, the foundation’s vice president of research and scientific affairs. “We see that while most Americans believe drowsy driving is risky, they still drive when not fully alert. The good news is — drowsy driving is preventable.” In a survey conducted this fall, nearly 20% of respondents were overly confident in their ability to drive after sleeping two hours or less the previous night. Respondents who said they get the recommended amount of sleep — about seven to nine hours per night for adults and eight to 10 for teens — were less likely to drive drowsy. Members of historically excluded groups were at higher risk for drowsy driving, according to the NSF, which said it may be an issue of sleep health equity. (In a position statement issued earlier this year, the foundation noted that people of color in the United States are disproportionately affected by poor sleep health and sleep disorders.) An estimated 6,400 people die in the United States each year because of… read on > read on >

Spending time on their phones or online doesn’t harm teens’ mental health, according to a new study that challenges a widely held belief. “It may be time for adults to stop arguing over whether smartphones and social media are good or bad for teens’ mental health and start figuring out ways to best support them in both their offline and online lives,” said study co-author Candice Odgers. She’s a professor of psychological science at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). For the study, researchers surveyed more than 2,000 10- to 15-year-olds at public schools in North Carolina and tracked nearly 400 of them on their smartphones for two weeks. The young people reported on any mental health symptoms three times a day, as well as their daily digital technology use. Neither using more types of digital technology or spending more time using it was associated with worse mental health, the researchers found. When links between digital technology use and mental health were found, they were minor and positive, according to the report. For example, participants who sent more text messages reported feeling better than those who texted less often, the findings showed. “Contrary to the common belief that smartphones and social media are damaging adolescents’ mental health, we don’t see much support for the idea that time spent on phones and online is associated with… read on >

As helpful as your smartphone is, it’s easy to develop an unhealthy attachment to it, one that can even become an addiction. It also can isolate you from other people. For instance, looking at your phone in social settings keeps you from looking at others, whether loved ones, friends or co-workers, and missing the connection that comes from making eye contact. Research shows that just having a phone in view interferes with the connection between people and the quality of their interaction. There’s even a term for preferring your phone to people: phubbing (it’s pronounced fubbing). It’s short for phone snubbing, when you’re in a social setting and concentrate on your phone instead of talking to the person you’re with. Even more dangerous is “P-phubbing,” (it’s pronounced pee-fubbing) and happens when you phub your partner, or vice versa. People phub and are phubbed. It can erode marital satisfaction and overall satisfaction with life. Phubbing grows not only from smartphone overuse, but also from being addicted to the internet and the fear of missing out on something — yes, the famous acronym FOMO — if you’re not always connected. To prevent phubbing, keep your phone in a pocket or purse when you’re with other people and focus exclusively on them. Be part of the conversation that’s happening in front of you in real time. Your behavior… read on >

Drinking and driving an electric scooter doesn’t mix, according to a new study. Researchers reported serious injuries like brain bleeding or fractures that have happened while riding an electric scooter (e-scooter). Alcohol and drugs were a factor in many of these crashes. “E-scooters may look like fun and games, but it’s a vehicle. It’s a motor attached to wheels, and you need to have a healthy respect for it. Anyone drinking or using any mind-altering substance should not be operating an e-scooter,” said the study’s lead author Dr. Leslie Kobayashi. She’s an associate professor of clinical surgery at the University of California, San Diego. Several people have died while riding e-scooters, according to published reports. Though these devices aren’t new, their popularity soared when several companies introduced rentable, dockless e-scooters in 2017, according to the study authors. Less than a year after the introduction of this environmentally friendly mode of transportation, almost 4% of U.S. adults said they had ridden one. E-scooters are available in more than 65 cities, the study said. The laws regulating them vary depending on where you’re riding. In California, drivers over age 18 aren’t required to wear helmets, and they can use e-scooters on roads with speed limits up to 35 mph. Kobayashi’s study found that almost none of the injured riders was wearing a helmet. She said anytime you’re… read on >

Do all the ads for dry eye relief have you thinking you could have this condition? If you’ve ever felt like you had a grain of sand in your eye when nowhere close to the beach, you could be experiencing dry eye. Exactly what is dry eye? Simply put, it’s when you aren’t making enough tears to keep the front surface of the eye lubricated, or your tears don’t have enough water in them. Eyes can feel gritty, scratchy or like they’re burning. You might even notice excess watering or blurred vision. Tear production often lessens with age, but it can also be the result of a medical condition — not only eye diseases but also rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes and thyroid problems. It can also be a side effect of certain medications, including antihistamines, decongestants, blood pressure medications and antidepressants. Living in a dry, windy climate or just sitting in front of a cozy fireplace in winter can cause tears to evaporate. There’s much you can do to restore the normal amount of tears, according to the American Optometric Association, starting with over-the-counter artificial tear solutions, or prescription eye drops or ointments. See your eye professional to discuss the options and find out what’s most appropriate for you. Lifestyle changes can also help. Try getting more omega-3 fatty acids in your diet. Treat your eyes… read on >

A middle-aged woman had persistent symptoms that doctors couldn’t explain. Frustrated, she took an increasingly common route: a search through the internet. “Dr. Google” led the woman to specialists at Wake Forest University Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. There, she was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition called autosomal dominant tubulointerstitial kidney disease (ADTKD). This gradually causes the kidneys to stop working. “My two brothers, mother, cousin, second cousin, uncle, and two great uncles suffered from kidney disease, but no doctor had made a diagnosis,” recalled the woman, who prefers to remain anonymous. “Two nephrologists I saw did not know about this condition,” she said. Another doctor made an incorrect diagnosis and treatment, while advising her to “just let me do the worrying.” The patient didn’t take that advice. “We were prompted to search the internet when several family members had worsening kidney disease, and no one could diagnose it,” she said. So her brother searched “gout” and “kidney disease” online, and found Wake Forest’s specialists. As her situation indicates, figuring out what’s going on when a rare disease strikes can be tricky. Most primary care physicians are not trained to spot a rare disease. And even specialists can have a tough time unraveling the mysteries of an illness they may not have seen before. For many patients, this means going months, if not years,… read on >

Bingeing on social media isn’t good for any teen, but new research has pinpointed three ways in which hours spent on Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Facebook may harm the mental health of young girls in particular. “Almost all of the influence of social media on mental health could be explained by the three mechanisms examined — namely experiencing cyberbullying, sleeping for less than eight hours a night and reduced physical activity — all of which have known effects on mental health,” said researcher Dasha Nicholls, a reader in child psychiatry at Imperial College London. “The influence of these mechanisms in boys was much less marked, however, and it is likely that other mechanisms are operating that we were unable to explore,” she added. Girls use social media much more than boys, Nicholls explained, and girls may use social media differently than boys. They also are exposed to and react differently to the content they see, she noted. “It’s important to keep a balance, so that social media does not displace other activities that are important for mental health,” Nicholls said. Another expert said social media is a mixed bag for teens. Social media use does not necessarily need to be harmful, said Ann DeSmet, a post-doctorate fellow in health science at Ghent University in Belgium. It can reduce loneliness, but can also increase exposure to… read on >

School kids who get to bed early rather than staring at their devices at night may be better equipped to control their behavior, a new study suggests. Researchers found that 8- to 11-year-olds who got adequate sleep and had limits on “screen time” were less likely than their peers to report problems with impulsive behavior. Impulsivity is generally described as a tendency to act without thinking, or an inability to wait for something you want. It’s a central problem in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Later in life, impulsivity may also make kids vulnerable to other problems, like substance abuse and other forms of addiction, said lead researcher Michelle Guerrero. Guerrero said her team wanted to see what factors might affect that tendency to “act before thinking.” In general, the researchers found, kids were less likely to report impulsive behavior if they met recommendations for sleep and screen time. That meant nine to 11 hours of sleep each night and no more than two hours a day devoted to “recreational” screen time. (School work didn’t count.) However, the findings only point to a correlation, said Guerrero, a fellow with the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, in Ottawa, Canada. They do not prove earlier bed times and screen limits will actually prevent impulsivity, she explained. “Is it that impulsive kids don’t meet the recommendations, or that… read on >