Health/Fitness « Weekly Gravy

Noninvasive electrical stimulation of the brain, fine-tuned to specific “circuitry” gone awry, might help ease obsessive-compulsive behaviors, an early study hints. Researchers found that the brain stimulation, delivered over five days, reduced obsessive-compulsive tendencies for three months, though in people who did not have full-blown obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). It’s too early to say whether the approach can be translated into an OCD therapy, said researcher Shrey Grover, a PhD student in psychological and brain sciences at Boston University. “We need more research to replicate these findings. It will take time before this is widely available.” But the work, described online Jan. 18 in Nature Medicine, builds on a body of research into the underpinnings of OCD. Research has shown that people with OCD have difficulty processing “rewards” from the environment, Grover explained. So they become reliant on certain rituals, whether it’s compulsively washing their hands, making sure household items are placed a particular way or checking that appliances are turned off. Scientists have also found that certain brain activity patterns are associated with those symptoms. In fact, abnormalities in the brain’s circuitry are involved in a number of psychiatric conditions, according to Dr. Alon Mogilner, director of the Center for Neuromodulation at NYU Langone Health, in New York City. “Neuromodulation” is a broad term for therapies that use electrical pulses to alter the firing patterns… read on > read on >

Want to get the most out of your COVID-19 vaccine? Make sure you get some good rest before you get your shot, sleep experts say. That’s because adequate sleep is an important factor in a strong immune system. “As COVID-19 vaccines are being distributed, it is of utmost importance that patients continue to prioritize their sleep to maintain optimal health,” American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) president Dr. Kannan Ramar said in an academy news release. “Getting sufficient, high-quality sleep on a regular basis strengthens your body’s immune system and optimizes your response to a vaccine.” Several studies have found an association between sleep and vaccination response. For example, a 2020 study in the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine found that flu vaccines appear to be more effective in people who get a sufficient amount of sleep during the two nights prior to receiving the shot. Other studies have reported similar findings about patients’ response to vaccines for hepatitis A and hepatitis B. Dr. Khurshid Khurshid is director of the UMMHC/UMMS Center for Neuromodulation at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, in Westborough, Mass. He said, “The role of sleep in boosting innate and acquired immune response is significant. All people, particularly health workers, should be aware of the immunity-boosting effects of sleep. Studies have shown that normal sleep after vaccination strengthens the immune response… read on > read on >

Marijuana addiction increases the risk of death by suicide, homicide and other causes (such as car crashes) in youth and young adults with mood disorders such as bipolar disorder, a new study warns. For the study, the researchers reviewed data on nearly 205,000 young people, aged 10 to 24, in Ohio who were diagnosed with mood disorders from July 2010 through December 2017. Marijuana addiction (“cannabis use disorder”) was reported in more than 10% of people in the study. It was most common among those who were older, male, Black, and those with bipolar or other mood disorders, and a prior history of self-harm and previous mental health service use, including psychiatric hospitalization and emergency department visits. “We also found that cannabis use disorder was significantly associated with self-harm, including death by unintentional overdose and homicide,” said study author Cynthia Fontanella, who stressed however that hte study couldn’t prove cause and effect. Fontanella is an associate professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral health at Ohio State University, in Columbus. “Marijuana use and addiction is common among youth and young adults with mood disorders, but the association of this behavior with self-harm, suicide and overall mortality risk is poorly understood in this already vulnerable population,” Fontanella said in a university news release. “These findings should be considered as states contemplate legalizing medical and recreational… read on > read on >

A promising step toward using retinal cell transplants to treat blindness is reported in a new study. Adult retinal stem cells from deceased human donors survived when they were transplanted into the eyes of non-human primates, according to the researchers. The cells were taken from the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). It is a layer of cells that supports and nourishes the retina, the light-sensitive tissue that lines the back of the eye. It helps maintain normal vision. RPE dysfunction can result in disorders such as macular degeneration and can cause blindness, which affects about 200 million people worldwide. “The results of this study suggest human adult donor RPE is safe to transplant, strengthening the argument for human clinical trials for treating retina disease,” said co-lead investigator Timothy Blenkinsop. He’s an assistant professor of cell, developmental and regenerative biology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York City. For the study, his team transplanted cell-derived patches under the primates’ maculas. The transplants remained stable and integrated for at least three months with no serious side effects, such as being attacked by the immune system or light sensitivity, according to the report published Jan. 14 in the journal Stem Cell Reports. The stem cell-derived RPE assumed some of the function of the original RPE, and also supported a photoreceptor that helps with functions… read on > read on >

When the coronavirus pandemic began, one U.S. children’s hospital saw an increase in trauma cases from recreational and outdoor activities, even as total ER visits dropped by 50%, researchers report. What happened? Their new study suggests that being in lockdown, with schools closed, may have prompted more kids to go outside and play — and potentially get injured doing so. At the same time, parents may have feared taking their children to the hospital unless it was a dire injury. Study author Dr. Zaid Haddadin, a postdoctoral research fellow at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, and his colleagues looked at the number of emergency room visits for respiratory illnesses or trauma between March and May 2020. Over that time, a total of nearly 6,400 pediatric emergency room visits occurred in 2020, compared with more than 12,000 in 2019. Meanwhile, the number of respiratory care for kids visits dropped by 58% in 2020, the researchers found. “Community efforts to control the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 might have played a role in decreasing the spread of other respiratory viruses in children,” Haddadin explained. But at the same time, there was a significant increase in the number of trauma visits related to activities like all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and motorcycles, which might have been related to school closings, Haddadin said. “Most schools were closed starting mid-March in our… read on > read on >

People in nursing homes have been suffering in isolation during the coronavirus pandemic, with their institutions in constant lockdown to prevent potentially fatal outbreaks. Now that they’re some of the first in line to receive COVID-19 vaccinations, it would be natural for nursing home residents to expect that visits from friends and family will soon resume. That might not happen, though. Uneven vaccination rates and unknowns related to the vaccines could mean that folks in nursing homes will have to remain isolated for a while longer, experts said. “It’s going to be a while before there are enough people immunized to really start to see a reduction in risk,” said Dr. Chris Beyrer, a professor of public health and human rights with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in Baltimore. “There’s going to be this challenging period where we won’t have enough vaccine and we won’t have enough people immunized.” There’s a reason for caution, and it’s the same reason why nursing home residents and workers gained a place in the first wave of vaccinations. People in long-term care facilities have accounted for 40% of all COVID-19 deaths in the United States, even though they represent only 6% of overall infections, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition, nearly one in five nursing home residents who contract COVID-19… read on > read on >

A study that examined how people walked through doorways provides new insight into anorexia’s effect on a person’s body image. It’s long been known that people with anorexia overestimate their body size, but this study examined unconscious body awareness — formally called “body schema.” It’s the innate ability a person has to orient themselves in a room and stop from bumping into objects. Body schema usually adapts to wherever a person happens to be,. but the new study found that it might not be as adaptable in people with anorexia. The researchers, at Ruhr University Bochum, in Germany, conducted an experiment with 23 people with anorexia and a control group of 23 people without the eating disorder. The participants were asked to pass through door frames of different widths, but weren’t told that was the actual focus of the study. “The [door] opening was adapted to the shoulder width of the subjects and varied between 0.9 times and 1.45 times this width,” said study leader Martin Diers, a research professor of neuroscience. Participants with anorexia turned their shoulders to the side with much wider doors than those in the control group, according to the report published online recently in the International Journal of Eating Disorders. Lead author Nina Beckmann said, “This shows us that they also unconsciously assess their proportions to be larger than they… read on > read on >