You may be struggling with stomach pain and digestive distress without understanding why, thinking it might be something you ate. Can stress cause stomach pain? Stress, especially chronic stress, can indeed increase your risk for gastrointestinal (GI) problems. “Stress and anxiety are common causes of stomach pain and other GI symptoms,” Dr. Nina Gupta, a gastroenterologist at University of Chicago Medicine, said recently in an article. Stress impacts the digestive system through the nervous system, and can affect food movement and the gut’s bacterial balance. Stress can also cause people to eat poorly, smoke and/or drink too much alcohol or caffeine — all habits that can trigger stomach pain. Outside the brain, the gut has the greatest area of nerves. This component of the autonomic nervous system — known as the enteric nervous system — is sometimes referred to as the “second brain.” According to Harvard Health, “neurons lining the digestive tract signal muscle cells to initiate a series of contractions that propel food farther along, breaking it down into nutrients and waste.” The enteric nervous system communicates with the central nervous system and is known as the “brain-gut axis.” This connection explains why stress may cause digestive problems. According to the American Psychological Association, stress may increase the risk for or exacerbate symptoms of the following gut diseases or dysfunction: Bloating, burping, gas Heartburn,…  read on >  read on >

For what they say is the first time, British researchers report that they have found the spread of COVID-19 in households is linked to the presence of the virus on hands and surfaces, not just in the air. The investigators collected data from households at the height of the pandemic, finding that people were much more likely to get COVID-19 from someone in their house if virus was present on hands or frequently touched places, like refrigerator door handles or sink faucets. “There’s no doubt that if you have COVID-19, you’re emitting the virus into the air as micro-aerosols as well as large droplets that land on your hands and the surfaces around you. What hasn’t been shown, until now, is that the presence of the virus on people’s hands or household surfaces predicts transmission to contacts,” said study author Ajit Lalvani. He is director of the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Respiratory Infections. The NIHR HPRU is a research partnership between Imperial College London and the UK Health Security Agency. Researchers from University of Oxford also worked on the study. “Our real-life study in London households provides the first empirical evidence to show that the presence of SARS-CoV-2 on people’s hands and surfaces contributes significantly to spread of COVID-19. Since we didn’t systematically sample household…  read on >  read on >

It’s well known that being overweight or obese can increase health risks. But a new study finds that the reasons why a person is obese may have some impact on heart disease risk. Specifically, being obese because of lifestyle carried higher risks than it did if the extra weight was due to genetic predisposition, researchers found. “The link between obesity and cardiovascular disease was twice as strong in those with a genetic predisposition to a low BMI as it was in those with obesity driven by genetic factors,” said study author Ida Karlsson, an assistant professor at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Karolinska Institute in Solna, Sweden. To study this, her team used data from more than 15,000 twins from the Swedish Twin Registry. Information included their BMI and their genetic predisposition for high BMI. The researchers also used data from medical registries to establish the incidence of heart disease in this group. Karlsson stressed that a healthy lifestyle is always important for everyone. The risk of heart disease was still higher in all people who were overweight or obese compared to people with a healthy weight. “Obesity is a complex common disease that can have many different causes,” Karlsson said in an institute news release. “Since it’s so stigmatized, the results can help us understand that its effects on health…  read on >  read on >

Medicaid reimbursement for mental health services varies widely across the United States, making it hard for many folks who need help to get it, a new study finds. Researchers found as much as a fivefold difference among states in Medicaid reimbursement rates. Even though Medicaid, the governmental health care program for low-income Americans, serves a population that is disproportionately affected by mental illness, many providers choose not to care for Medicaid patients due to low reimbursement rates. At the same time, a growing demand for help with depression, anxiety and substance use means many psychologists are unable to take on new patients, according to a 2022 American Psychological Association survey. Medicare, the federal health insurance program for American seniors, pays much more for mental health services, the study found. “We find that Medicaid reimbursement to psychiatrists for a common set of 20 frequently billed services varies across states and that on average, Medicaid pays about 80% of what Medicare pays for the same services,” said lead researcher Dr. Jane Zhu, an assistant professor of medicine at Oregon Health & Science University. Mental health services generally have low insurance acceptance rates, but this is worse in Medicaid, partly due to low reimbursement rates, she said. “Our study confirms that some states are setting these reimbursement rates quite low, which has implications not just for provider acceptance…  read on >  read on >

Life isn’t all fun and games for kids. They do a fair amount of worrying, too. In fact, according to a survey of kids ages 9 to 13, a striking number, 86%, say they worry. More than one-third worry at least once a week. School and friendships are key concerns. And as they get older, worries increase. “One of the things that we really saw rising to the surface during the pandemic was this overall increase in kids’ difficulties with mental health — and that’s both depression and also anxiety and worry,” said Meghan Walls, a pediatric psychologist at Nemours Children’s Health in Delaware. “Really what we were curious about is what does it look like now? What does it look like today in this landscape?” To better understand kids’ concerns, Nemours surveyed 504 youngsters. The oldest respondents — age 13 — were more likely than their younger counterparts to say they thought they would never stop worrying. Nearly half felt that way. About 1 in 3 kids felt they worry more than most children their age. About 50% of girls said they worry about friendships, compared to 32% of boys. About 35% of kids were worried about loved ones’ health. Girls were more likely than boys to worry about their looks (39% versus 24%). More than 6 in 10 said they worried about school.…  read on >  read on >

A therapy that bolsters the immune system may not only help certain cancer patients live longer, but better, a new study finds. The treatment, called chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, is used to fight certain types of blood cancer — including leukemia and lymphoma — that have not responded to standard treatments. It involves removing a patient’s own immune system T-cells, genetically tweaking them to target the cancer, then infusing them back into the patient. For some people with advanced blood cancers, CAR T-cell therapy is able to wipe out the malignant cells and keep the disease at bay for years. But there has been relatively little known about patients’ quality of life post-treatment, said study author Dr. Patrick Connor Johnson, an oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston. “That’s obviously very important to patients,” he said. While CAR T-cell therapy can send cancer into remission, Johnson said, it’s also an intensive treatment that requires about two weeks in the hospital. That’s, in part, to monitor patients for potentially severe side effects. One of the most concerning is cytokine release syndrome, where the infused T-cells flood the bloodstream with chemicals called cytokines — which can cause problems like high fever, a rapid drop in blood pressure and breathing difficulty. Severe cases can be fatal. In addition, some patients develop problems with the nervous system,…  read on >  read on >

The stress of caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease can take a toll on loved ones. It’s important for caregivers’ own health and well-being to reduce that stress, the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America says. “Finding ways to manage and reduce stress is of paramount importance for every Alzheimer’s caregiver — untreated stress over a prolonged period of time can lead to caregiver burnout and a host of other health issues,” said Jennifer Reeder, the foundation’s director of educational and social services. “Caregivers need to take care of themselves so they can provide the best possible care for their loved ones,” Reeder added in a foundation news release. April is National Stress Awareness Month, and it “is a great time for caregivers to be proactive about managing and reducing their stress and make an investment in self-care that will benefit them and their loved one for whom they are caring,” she advised. Here, the foundation suggests six steps that may help: Be adaptable and positive. This can influence stress levels for you and the person in your care. Going with the flow can help you both stay relaxed, while feeling agitated can have the opposite effect. Deal with what you can control. Some things will be out of your control, but you can control your reactions. Concentrate on finding solutions that can help make the problem…  read on >  read on >

Cafeteria workers. Receptionists. Pharmacists. Janitors. Administrators. Physical therapists. Much has been made of burnout among doctors and nurses, but a new survey has found high rates of work fatigue in nearly every type of job associated with health care. Physicians, nurses, clinical staff and non-clinical support workers in health care all are experiencing substantial levels of burnout, according to a report published recently in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. For example, the percentage reporting burnout was very similar between nurses (56%), clinical staff (54%), doctors (47%) and non-clinical staff (46%). “Every member of the health care team is really critical to patient outcomes and patient experiences of care,” said lead researcher Dr. Lisa Rotenstein, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “It’s just really important for us to remember that as we are trying to optimize both patient outcomes and experiences for our workforce.” For this study, Rotenstein and her colleagues surveyed workers at 206 large health care organizations between April and December 2020, at the height of the pandemic. The participants included more than 15,000 physicians and 11,000 nurses. But researchers also surveyed more than 5,000 clinical staff such as pharmacists, nurse assistants, therapists and social workers, as well as more than 11,000 non-clinical staff including housekeeping, administrators, lab technicians and food service workers. In addition to high levels of burnout,…  read on >  read on >