It’s natural for everyone to experience anxiety at different times in their lives. Maybe you’re worried about making a good first impression with your new partner’s family, and you become anxious in the days leading up to the meeting about what you’ll wear. Being anxious even has its benefits, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). It can keep you alert when you’re behind the wheel during a snowstorm, for example, or help you better prepare for a work presentation. Yet, for over 40 million Americans, anxiety has affected so much of their lives that it’s considered a mental health disorder. When that happens, it can have major emotional, physical and mental impacts on your health, so learning how to deal with it is important. Here are some science-based, evidence-backed tips on how to deal with anxiety when it pops up, including easy self-care ideas. In addition, anxiety medications are available to help you manage and control your anxiety symptoms. What is anxiety? According to NAMI, anxiety may be considered a disorder when fear or worry prevents you from accomplishing everyday activities. It includes several disorders. Among them are generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, social anxiety disorder and panic disorder. While the exact causes of anxiety disorders aren’t known, several factors are thought to play a role, according to the Cleveland Clinic. These include…  read on >  read on >

People living in heavily polluted areas of the United States may be more vulnerable to Parkinson’s disease, a new study suggests. Specifically, the culprit is a type of air pollution called fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which is less than 2.5 microns in diameter and comes from car exhaust, burning of fuels in power plants and other industries, and forest and grass fires, researchers say. “We found an association between Parkinson’s disease and exposure to fine particulate matter. In specific, people in the highest exposure have a 25% greater risk of Parkinson’s disease compared to people with the lowest exposure,” said lead researcher Brittany Krzyzanowski, from the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Ariz. “We also found that the regions with the strongest association between particulate matter and Parkinson’s disease were the Mississippi-Ohio River Valley and the Rocky Mountain region,” she said. “Our findings suggest that the regional differences in Parkinson’s disease might reflect that the composition of the particulate matter in some areas may be more toxic than others,” Krzyzanowski added. “We know that air pollution causes inflammation in the brain, which is linked to Parkinson’s disease.” Krzyzanowski said that lowering levels of air pollution might help lower the risk of Parkinson’s, especially in areas where pollution levels are high. “Despite 30 years of research trying to identify the environmental risk factors of Parkinson’s disease, most…  read on >  read on >

Men who have physically demanding jobs and regularly lift heavy objects at work also have higher sperm counts and testosterone levels. A new study that is part of broader effort to explore how exposure to environmental chemicals and lifestyle choices affect reproductive health found the link. “We already know that exercise is associated with multiple health benefits in humans, including those observed on reproductive health, but few studies have looked at how occupational factors can contribute to these benefits,” said study author Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón. She is a reproductive epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and co-investigator of the broader Environment and Reproductive Health (EARTH) study. “What these new findings suggest is that physical activity during work may also be associated with significant improvement in men’s reproductive potential,” she said in a hospital news release. The EARTH study is a collaboration between the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Mass General Brigham health care system. For the EARTH study, the researchers have collected samples and survey data from more than 1,500 men and women. The latest study, published recently in the journal Human Reproduction, focused on a subset of this overall group, including 377 male partners in couples seeking fertility treatment. The investigators found that men who reported often lifting or moving heavy objects on the job had 46% higher sperm concentration.…  read on >  read on >

When heart failure strikes, being a lifelong bachelor may mean you might die sooner than women or previously married men diagnosed with the same condition, a new study suggests. Lifetime marital history appears to be an important predictor of survival in men with heart failure, but not women. Specifically, lifelong bachelors had significantly worse long-term survival than men who had been married, separated, divorced or widowed, said senior researcher Dr. David Kao, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora. In contrast, women with heart failure who had never been married did not appear to be at higher risk of death than those who had, he added. “These findings suggest that marriage has some kind of beneficial effect for men that helps them survive longer after developing heart failure,” Kao said. “At present, we have not identified precisely what these effects are, but they could include health-seeking behaviors, socioeconomic and family support in older age, or differences in factors like frailty and nutrition, and mood.” The lack of difference in survival between women with different marital histories could indicate that either the same factors are not as clinically beneficial in women or possibly that there are fewer deficits in those traits that are affected through marriage, Kao said. With heart failure, the heart becomes too weak or stiff…  read on >  read on >

Getting good sleep may have long-term benefits — even extending your life span, a new study suggests. Researchers found that young people with better sleep habits were incrementally less likely to die early. About 8% of deaths from any cause could be attributed to poor sleep patterns. Study co-author Dr. Frank Qian, a resident at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and clinical fellow at Harvard Medical School, said his team found a “clear dose-response relationship.” Simply put: The better the sleep, the greater the protection from early death from all causes, including heart disease. “These findings emphasize that just getting enough hours of sleep isn’t sufficient,” Qian said in an American College of Cardiology news release. “You really have to have restful sleep and not have much trouble falling and staying asleep.” Researchers identified several sleep habits that made a difference: sleeping seven to eight hours a night; having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep no more than twice a week; not using any sleep medication, and feeling well rested on awaking at least five days a week. “If people have all these ideal sleep behaviors, they are more likely to live longer,” Qian said. “So, if we can improve sleep overall, and identifying sleep disorders is especially important, we may be able to prevent some of this premature [deaths].” For the study,…  read on >  read on >

America’s health care workforce is under unprecedented strain, and leaders of the medical profession are scrambling to shore up doctors and nurses who are burning out in record numbers. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of a nationwide group of doctors and nurses said they are experiencing a moderate or great deal of burnout at work, according to a new HealthDay-Harris Poll online survey. Those numbers jibe with figures from top medical associations, officials said. For example, only 57% of doctors say they would choose medicine as a profession again, compared with 72% the year before, said Dr. Christine Sinsky, vice president of professional satisfaction at the American Medical Association. “Likewise, a year ago, 40% of physicians felt highly professionally satisfied. A year later, only 22%,” Sinsky said during a HealthDay Now interview. “So, I think a picture of a workforce in peril is coming into focus.” The National Academy of Medicine has seen a disturbingly similar trend. “Even before COVID, about 40% and up to 50% of doctors and nurses are reporting burnout, distress, anxiety,” Dr. Victor Dzau, president of the National Academy of Medicine, told HealthDay Now. “And since COVID, the numbers have gone up to 70 to 90%.” Understaffing is the greatest contributor to burnout, with 66% of primary care physicians and 75% of nurses citing it in the HealthDay-Harris Poll survey. The amount of…  read on >  read on >

Living closer to outdoor spaces and natural water may be better for your mental health, researchers say. A new study finds that close proximity to nature may reduce an older person’s risk for serious psychological distress. That distress can lead to mild impairment of thinking and memory, as well as dementia. The study is scheduled for presentation at a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, online and in Boston, April 22-27. “Since we lack effective prevention methods or treatments for mild cognitive impairment and dementia, we need to get creative in how we look at these issues,” said study author Solmaz Amiri, a postdoctoral research associate at Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. “Our hope is that this study showing better mental health among people living close to parks and water will trigger other studies about how these benefits work and whether this proximity can help prevent or delay mild cognitive impairment and dementia,” she said in a meeting news release. Mental health problems that require treatment and have a moderate to severe effect on a person’s ability to participate in work, school and social situations are considered serious psychological distress. To study this, researchers used data from the U.S. Census and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine how close participants lived to so-called green and blue spaces.…  read on >  read on >

For anyone struggling with a mental health issue who is looking for support coping with stress or managing complicated feelings, help is available. It’s called psychotherapy, and it might be the answer you’re looking for. According to the American Psychiatric Association, psychotherapy “is a way to help people with a broad variety of mental illnesses and emotional difficulties. Psychotherapy can help eliminate or control troubling symptoms so a person can function better and can increase well-being and healing.” Psychotherapy is also known as talk therapy because it involves talking with a professional therapist. Is psychotherapy for you? Psychotherapy may help if you: Feel overwhelming sadness or anxiety Are concerned about your drug or alcohol use Have a mental health diagnosis Have been in an abusive situation Are grieving a loss Are experiencing emotions that interfere with relationships, work, school, or day-to-day functioning Have experienced trauma Where should you start? Dr. Christine Crawford, associate medical director at the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) said recently that, “It can be really tough to go online and start googling mental health treatment and support because you’ll get a whole slew of responses. And if you’re already feeling overwhelmed with anxiety and depression or experiencing trauma, it’s going to be incredibly difficult to process all of the information to know where to start.” Crawford suggests starting with a…  read on >  read on >