Health/Fitness « Weekly Gravy

It might seem like sunshine, vacation and time spent with family and friends will bring you happiness this summer. But sometimes it takes a little more effort, said Lina Begdache, an associate professor of health and wellness studies at Binghamton University, State University of New York. If you’d like to lift your spirits, start by thinking positive thoughts, she said in a university news release. “The way our brains work, the more negative thinking is practiced, the higher your chance of developing a low mood and feeling miserable,” Begdache said. “The good news is that the brain is adjustable, or better known as ‘plastic.’ People can weaken the negative wiring by practicing positive thinking.” Pioneers of positive psychology research have shown that positive thinkers appraise stressful situations as less threatening, Begdache said. They cope well compared to negative thinkers and are happier people. Eating healthy food can also boost your mood, she added. Lifestyle factors, including diet and sleep, have an impact on your mood. A fluctuation in blood sugar can lead to feeling “hangry” (bad-tempered or irritable as a result of hunger). Certain healthy diets, such as the Mediterranean diet, are rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory chemicals that support brain and heart health, Begdache said. In addition, a healthy sleep schedule can help your brain steadily produce the chemicals needed to maintain a positive… read on > read on >

Stimulant medications like Ritalin are commonly prescribed to help treat the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but there have been concerns the drugs may lay the groundwork for later substance abuse. New research may now set those worries at ease. Children who take prescription stimulants for ADHD do not have more substance use disorders as teens or young adults than children who didn’t take stimulants, according to researchers. “The concern was whether or not that would, for multiple reasons, train the brains, train the behaviors of the children to use substances to deal with their problems,” said Brooke Molina, a professor of psychiatry, psychology and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “That’s why we launched into this, to see if, in fact, there was a connection.” About 10% of U.S. children ages 3 to 17 get a diagnosis of ADHD at some point, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Children with ADHD have problems with inattention, hyperactivity and/or impulsivity. These behaviors can affect how they function socially, academically and at home, in childhood and adulthood. Stimulant drugs — paired with counseling to help build skills and parent training — are a first-line treatment, but they’re also classified as schedule 2 controlled substances by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The drugs include methylphenidate (Ritalin and Concerta) and amphetamine/dextroamphetamine… read on > read on >

Heather Anderson, a star Australian rules football player who died last November, is the first female professional athlete to be diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. “She is the first female athlete diagnosed with CTE, but she will not be the last,” researchers wrote in a paper published Friday. Anderson was 28 when she died from what was believed to be suicide. CTE is a progressive degenerative brain disease caused by repeated head impacts, like those suffered when heading a ball in soccer (football). The finding was made possible after Anderson’s family donated her brain to the Australian Sports Brain Bank, hoping to discover “whether a lifetime of exposure to repetitive head trauma contributed to her death,” according to a report co-written by one of the researchers. It was published on a nonprofit academic news site, The Conversation. Dr. Michael Buckland, director of the Australian Sports Brain Bank, identified low-stage CTE when conducting the postmortem analysis. “There were multiple CTE lesions as well as abnormalities nearly everywhere I looked in her cortex. It was indistinguishable from the dozens of male cases I’ve seen,” said Buckland in a news release from the Concussion Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in the United States. Although women athletes previously had not been diagnosed with CTE, evidence suggests women are more susceptible to concussions in sports than men,… read on > read on >

Dr. Richard Stumacher’s coworker at Northwell Health in New York City used to smoke to curb her severe anxiety, and tried multiple times to stop. “She went through the program and she would quit, and then she would fall off, and we would always support her,” said Stumacher, who specializes in pulmonary disease and critical care medicine. “And I saw her in the hallway just a few months ago and she hugged me out of nowhere. I’m like, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’” She told Stumacher it was her five-year anniversary of not smoking. “It took her a long time, but she got there,” he said. Just 11.5% of Americans currently smoke cigarettes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But within that population, the CDC found that those with feelings of severe psychological distress or those who were diagnosed with depression were far more likely to smoke. Thankfully, a new study found that people with serious mental illness who were offered medication and counseling to quit smoking had a 26% success rate after 18 months, compared to 6% in a control group. This included successful weight management, which is often a reason smokers are hesitant to quit. Dr. Gail Daumit, vice dean of clinical investigation at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, is first author of the study, published recently in the journal… read on > read on >

Older American adults who live in warmer regions are more likely to have serious vision impairment than those who live in cooler places, new research finds. Living with average temperatures of 60 degrees Fahrenheit or above — think South Florida, for example — created much higher odds of blindness or trouble seeing even with glasses, according to a new study of 1.7 million people. “This link between vision impairment and average county temperature is very worrying if future research determines that the association is causal,” said co-author Esme Fuller-Thomson, director of the University of Toronto’s Institute of Life Course and Aging. “With climate change, we are expecting a rise in global temperatures. It will be important to monitor if the prevalence of vision impairment among older adults increases in the future,” she added in a school news release. Compared with those who lived in counties with average temperatures of less than 50 degrees F, the odds of severe vision impairment were 14% higher for those who lived in counties with average temperatures from 50-54.99 degrees, according to the study. The risk was 24% higher for those in places where temps averaged 55-59.99 degrees. For those basking in even warmer territory, the odds of vision loss were 44% higher. Even with differences in age, sex and income, the relationship held. “It was powerful to see that… read on > read on >

People are using “browning lotions” to tan quickly, but experts are questioning the safety of this trend driven by social media influencers. Browning lotions work with the sun’s UV rays to darken skin faster. “It is important to know that a tan is never considered to be healthy and exposure to UVA and UVB radiation can cause skin cancer, that’s the first issue I have,” said dermatologist Dr. Alexis Young of Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. “A tan is a warning flag or a sign of sun damage, and the second problem I see is that products like this might make it seem as though people are somewhat protected from the sun’s UV rays when they are not,” she said in a center news release. The best and only way to protect exposed skin from sun is to use broad spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher, even on cloudy days, experts agree. “Apply a broad spectrum sunscreen containing either titanium dioxide and/or zinc oxide, which provides protection from both UVA and UVB rays, liberally to all uncovered skin, especially your nose, ears, neck, hands, feet and even your lips,” Young advised. Reapply sunscreen every two hours and after going in the water, she urged. In addition, wear photoprotective clothing, wide-brimmed hats and sunglasses to further protect yourself from the sun.… read on > read on >

Pickleball has burst onto the scene, inspiring people of all ages to pick up a paddle. But as with any sport, it’s possible to get hurt. Some best practices can help prevent injuries, according to a sports medicine expert. For pickleball players, the most common injury is to the rotator cuff tendon in the shoulder. This can cause shoulder pain, especially with movement and use. Problems range from tendonitis and bursitis to a tear of the tendon itself. Bigger tears can create weakness. Someone might not be able to use their arm. “The unfortunate reality of the rotator cuff is that everyday use can cause tearing and damage,” said Dr. Bruce Moseley, an orthopedic surgeon from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. “You don’t necessarily have to do anything wrong or abnormal to get a rotator cuff tear — in many instances it just happens as a consequence of living.” Most adults who use their shoulders are at risk. For many people, rotator cuff damage appears over time. In pickleball, reaching overhead requires a lot of force from this tendon, which can worsen rotator cuff injuries. These tears are not preventable. But the shoulder does better when it’s flexible and strong. Moseley suggests stretching and doing light to moderate strengthening. “If you warm up and stretch before your activity and ice down afterwards, your shoulder… read on > read on >

The trendy weight-loss drug Ozempic could be dangerous for a patient undergoing anesthesia for an operation, according to a new warning from the American Society of Anesthesiologists. Semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and other drugs of their class known as GLP-1 receptor agonists cause digestion to slow down, which decreases hunger and reduces how much people eat. That food left in the stomach increases the risk you will vomit while under anesthesia, said ASA President Dr. Michael Champeau. “We’ve had reports of people vomiting immediately preoperatively when there shouldn’t be any food in their stomach,” Champeau said. “As soon as we started hearing anecdotal reports and case reports, the mind immediately goes to how the drug works and what it does.” The ASA is recommending that people on a GLP-1 agonist like Ozempic stop taking it prior to surgery. If you take such a drug once a day, you should not take your daily dose the morning of surgery, Champeau said. If you take the drug once a week, you should hold off on your dose until after surgery. “If you take it every Sunday and you’re having surgery on a Wednesday, you can’t take it the Sunday before the surgery,” Champeau said. “You’ve got to stop it at least a week in advance, if you’re taking the once-a-week dose.” There’s a reason patients are told to… read on > read on >

(HealthDay News) – It’s been said many times, but it deserves repeating: Use caution when handling fireworks. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) is repeating the message to try to help people avoid injuries to the fingers, hands, arms and face. “It may be a tradition to let children and teens oversee fireworks, but parents should always be cautious. Fireworks-related injuries can have long-term and sometimes devastating effects,” said orthopedic hand surgeon Dr. Tyler Steven Pidgeon, a spokesman for the AAOS. “Common fireworks, such as bottle rockets and hand sparklers, may seem tame, but the high temperatures of these devices can result in third-degree burns down to the bone or even loss of limbs.” Fireworks injuries jumped 25% between 2006 and 2021, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Body parts most injured in 2021 were hands and fingers, at 31%, and head, face and ears, at 21%. About 32% of the fireworks-related injuries seen in emergency departments were burns. To enjoy a safe Fourth, the AAOS recommends taking the following steps: Check with your local police department to learn what fireworks are legal in your area and to verify that there is not a burn ban in effect. Never buy or use illegal fireworks. Quality cannot be assured. Only adults should light fireworks. Do not allow young children to play with… read on > read on >

Blaming your ailing knees for feeling down? Unfortunately, even after physical pain eases, healing or fixing an injured joint often does not improve mental health, research shows. A new study found that anxiety symptoms only improved when a patient had major improvements in physical function. Depression, meanwhile, did not meaningfully improve even when the improvements to physical function were significant. “We wanted to find out if patients have fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression as physical function improves and pain lessens,” said senior study author Dr. Abby Cheng, an assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “The answer is that they mostly do not.” It’s reasonable that someone might feel frustrated, anxious or depressed when they’re experiencing pain. Cheng said the findings came as a surprise even though in her practice she often sees people whose physical health has improved without dramatic gains in mental health. “What was interesting to me was that patients’ anxiety lessened somewhat in cases where patients experienced notable improvements in physical health, but depression did not improve in many such instances,” she said. “As physicians, what we really care about is how patients feel. One patient might be happy because now he or she can walk a mile, and that’s good. But other patients who can walk a mile might not be happy… read on > read on >