There is an epidemic of loneliness and isolation today, and the consequences can be deadly, researchers say. Folks who reported that they were socially isolated or felt lonely were more likely to die early from all causes including cancer, according to a sweeping review of 90 studies that included more than 2.2 million people from around the globe. Exactly how loneliness or social isolation affects a person’s health and well-being is not fully understood, but many theories exist, the researchers reported. People who are socially isolated or lonely may be less likely to eat a healthy diet and get regular exercise and more likely to smoke and consume alcohol. In addition, social isolation is linked to inflammation and weakened immune systems. People who are socially isolated may be less likely to receive medical care due to their smaller social networks. Social isolation and loneliness are not one and the same, the researchers pointed out. Social isolation refers to a lack of contact with other people. By contrast, loneliness is the feeling of being alone, regardless of social contact. For the study, researchers led by Maoqing Wang and Yashuang Zhao from Harbin Medical University in China reviewed 90 studies. Folks who reported being socially isolated and feeling lonely were more likely to die early from all causes including cancer. What’s more, social isolation was linked to…  read on >  read on >

(HealthDay News) – New research finds that many of those who have received an implanted cardiac device to extend their life also have mood disorders, including anxiety, depression and PTSD. “Implantable cardioverter defibrillators [ICDs] are effective at extending patients’ lives, but we need to make sure that’s a good quality life,” said study author Hannah Keage, a professor of psychology at the University of South Australia in Adelaide. “Rates of mood disorders in people with an ICD are much higher than in the general population, suggesting that psychological assessment and therapy should be integrated into the routine care of these patients.” In the study published June 13 in EP Europace, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology, the researchers found that nearly one-third of patients had anxiety in the first year after their device was implanted. Depression affected 1 in 5. More than 1 in 10 had PTSD. Anxiety and depression are associated with higher likelihood of premature death in these patients who had a device implanted because of risk of a life-threatening heart rhythm. The researchers analyzed 109 studies involving nearly 40,000 ICD patients. They examined prevalence of mental health issues from the time the ICD was implanted to one year of follow-up, finding that rates of anxiety were 23%, depression was at 15% and PTSD at 12%. In the general population, the…  read on >  read on >

It is already known that getting enough sleep is vital to good health, but now new research suggests that having a sleep disorder is linked to suicidal thoughts in children, teens and young adults. Treating these sleep issues could be an inroad to improving their mental health, the study authors suggested. “People so often think of sleep disorders as being a symptom of other mental health problems like depression or anxiety,” said Melynda Casement, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Oregon, in Eugene. “But sleep problems can also contribute to anxiety, mood disorders and suicide risk,” she explained in a university news release. The researchers, which included collaborator Jason Carbone of Wayne State University in Detroit, looked at emergency department records for a nationally representative sample of children, adolescents and young adults aged 6 to 24. The investigators found that youth who had a sleep disorder were three times more likely to be seen in an emergency department with suicidal thoughts than those who did not have a sleep disorder. Yet, the prevalence of sleep disorders diagnosed in the emergency room was much lower, at just 0.38%, than what would be expected in the general population, Casement said. This suggests that these disorders are underdiagnosed in emergency medicine, he added. Screening youth for sleep disorders in the ER could provide an indication…  read on >  read on >

Using gas stoves can increase indoor air levels of benzene, a chemical linked to higher risk of leukemia and other blood cell cancers, a new study reports. Analysis of dozens of stoves revealed that a single gas cooktop burner on high or a gas oven set to 350 degrees Fahrenheit can raise indoor levels of benzene above those typically released by secondhand tobacco smoke, the researchers reported. Benzene emitted by gas stoves also can drift throughout a home and linger for hours, according to the study published June 15 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. More than one-third of U.S. households, some 47 million homes, cook with gas, researchers said in background notes. “Benzene forms in flames and other high-temperature environments, such as the flares found in oil fields and refineries. We now know that benzene also forms in the flames of gas stoves in our homes,” said senior study author Rob Jackson. He is a professor of Earth system science at Stanford University’s Doerr School of Sustainability. “Good ventilation helps reduce pollutant concentrations, but we found that exhaust fans were often ineffective at eliminating benzene exposure,” Jackson added in a Stanford news release. The researchers noted that the new study is the first to analyze benzene emissions when a gas stove or oven is in use. Gas stoves have become something of a…  read on >  read on >

Testosterone replacement therapy is safe for most men with heart problems who also have been diagnosed with a low testosterone disorder, a new clinical trial has concluded. The trial found that testosterone replacement did not raise these patients’ incidence of heart attack, stroke or heart-related death in a group of men with both heart problems and hypogonadism — a condition in which low testosterone levels have led to specific health problems. “For men with heart disease or at risk for heart disease, taking testosterone — when given in appropriate doses and carefully monitored — did not increase the risk of heart-related events like heart attack, stroke or death from heart-related causes,” said senior researcher Dr. Steve Nissen, chair of cardiovascular medicine with the Cleveland Clinic. However, researchers warn the results are not a green light for “Low-T Centers” to tout testosterone replacement for any healthy man, including those whose levels of the male hormone are declining naturally with age. “My nightmare really is that we’ll see ads on television that say, ‘Cleveland Clinic says that testosterone is safe. Now, come on in and we’ll give you your testosterone.’ That’s not a good outcome from this study,” Nissen said. The trial also identified certain health risks with testosterone replacement therapy that should be taken into account before prescribing the treatment, Nissen added. “There are some people…  read on >  read on >

Just like their humans, dogs get cranky when temperatures and air pollution levels surge. Heat and air pollution have previously been linked to human aggression. Now, researchers say it also appears that there are more dog bites on hot, polluted days. More research is needed to confirm these findings, according to study author Tanujit Dey, of the department of surgery at the Center for Surgery and Public Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston, and colleagues. For the new study, the investigators used dog bite data from 2009 to 2018 in eight U.S. cities: Dallas, Houston, Baltimore, Baton Rouge, Chicago, Louisville, Los Angeles and New York City. The data included more than 69,000 reported dog bites, an average of three per day over 10 years. When the researchers compared this bite information with daily levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), ozone, temperature, UV light and precipitation, they found that dog bites rose 11% on days with higher UV levels; 4% on higher temperature days; and 3% on days with increased ozone levels. Dog bites decreased slightly, by 1%, on days with higher levels of rainfall. No changes were seen in dog bites on days with higher levels of PM2.5 air pollution. The study findings were published online June 15 in Scientific Reports. These records did not include information about other factors that could have…  read on >  read on >

For the first time, researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have broken down statistics on depression among Americans, pinpointing which states the debilitating illness is most likely to strike. Adjusted for age, 18.5% of all American adults included in the new analysis said they’d been diagnosed with depression at least once in their lifetime. But incidence varied widely by state, from a low of 12.7% in Hawaii to more than double that (27.5%) in West Virginia, according to a team led by Benjamin Lee. He’s with the CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. The new findings should “help guide state- and local-level efforts to prevent, treat and manage depression,” depending on each state’s level of need, Lee’s group said. The need appears greatest in the Southeast and Northwest areas of the country. For example, besides West Virginia, residents in six other states in the Southeast — Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Tennessee — had rates of reported adult depression near or above 23%, the study found. In the Northwest, Montana, Oregon and Washington all had rates of depression 21% and higher, the researchers found. Nearly 23% of adults living in Utah said they’d been diagnosed with depression at least once, and two states in the Northeast — Maine and Vermont — each had adult depression rates…  read on >  read on >