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Antidepressants are often prescribed to people suffering from chronic pain, but a new evidence review argues that the science behind these prescriptions is shaky at best. These drugs helped people in chronic pain in only a quarter of potential uses tested, and even then the effect ranged from low to moderate, according to a combined analysis of 26 prior reviews. “We found that, for most pain conditions and types of antidepressants, the evidence of their effectiveness was either inconclusive or they were ineffective,” said lead researcher Giovanni Ferreira, a research fellow at the University of Sydney Institute for Musculoskeletal Health in Australia. In particular, the review found scant evidence supporting the use of tricyclic antidepressants, he said. Previous studies have found that as many as 3 out of 4 antidepressant prescriptions for pain involved a tricyclic antidepressant, researchers said in background notes. “Tricyclic antidepressants such as amitriptyline are by far the most commonly used antidepressant for the treatment of pain,” Ferreira said. “But to our surprise most evidence for tricyclic antidepressants showed that the effectiveness of these antidepressants is inconclusive. We think this is a concerning finding.” The U.S. opioid epidemic has led doctors to look to non-opioid drugs as a means of pain relief. For example, a 2021 guideline for chronic pain management from the U.K’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)… read on > read on >

Americans who live near a “food swamp” may have a higher risk of suffering a stroke, a preliminary study finds. A number of studies have looked at the health consequences of living in a so-called food desert — areas with few grocery stores or other options for buying fresh food. Food swamps are different: The term was coined to describe communities where fast food restaurants, convenience stores and other junk-food purveyors heavily outweigh healthier options like grocery stores and farmers’ markets. The new study looked at whether Americans’ stroke risk varies based on how far their county of residence veers into food swamp territory. It turned out it did: Among nearly 18,000 adults age 50 and older, those living in U.S. counties high on the food swamp scale had a 13% higher risk of suffering a stroke, compared to those in areas with more healthy options. Many factors affect stroke risk, and it is hard to separate the importance of food swamps from those other variables, said lead researcher Dr. Dixon Yang, a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City. In fact, he said, the food swamp issue is intertwined with other factors in those communities. People living there may have lower incomes, little time or places for exercise, or less access to health care, for example. But food swamps… read on > read on >

Androstenedione is one of those supplements that was peddled to athletes for years as a quick path to bulging muscles and high testosterone levels, but it carries some grave dangers. Also known as “andro,” the dietary supplement was once touted to enhance athletic performance by stimulating muscle growth and boosting testosterone levels. But once it enters the body, it acts like a steroid and can pose similar health risks. In October 2004, President George Bush signed the Anabolic Steroid Control Act, which reclassified androstenedione from a supplement to an anabolic steroid, making it and other steroid-based drugs a controlled substance. They are currently banned in sports. This was because a small number of studies of androstenedione led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to believe that its use may increase the risk of serious health problems because of its conversion in the body to the hormones testosterone and a particular form of estrogen. While over-the-counter androstenedione supplements are now banned, doctors can still prescribe it for medical purposes. According to a study published online recently in the journal Molecules, doctors can offer androstenedione shots for preventing or treating certain chronic diseases. Androstenedione’s dangers But the supplement is linked to numerous side effects. According to the Mayo Clinic, long-term use of androstenedione supplements by men can result in testicular atrophy, impotence and the development of female… read on > read on >

A new study hints that treating low vitamin D levels with supplements might have a critical benefit for certain people: a decreased risk of attempting suicide. In a study of more than 1 million U.S. veterans, researchers found that those prescribed vitamin D were nearly 50% less likely to attempt suicide over eight years, versus those who were not prescribed the supplements. The benefit was seen specifically among veterans who had low vitamin D levels to begin with, as well as Black veterans — who may be at greater risk of insufficient vitamin D stores. Experts stressed that the study was not a clinical trial that directly tested vitamin D for reducing suicidal behavior. So it does not prove that supplements, per se, actually cause suicide risk to fall. At the same time, it’s known that vitamin D deficiency can cause depression-like symptoms, including mood changes and chronic fatigue, said Dr. Christine Crawford, a psychiatrist and associate medical director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Crawford, who was not involved in the study, said that in her practice, she often has patients with depression symptoms tested for blood levels of vitamin D, as well as vitamin B12, folic acid and thyroid hormones. (Deficiencies in those vitamins, or thyroid hormone disturbances, can also cause depressive symptoms.) “I think that medical evaluation is so important,” Crawford… read on > read on >

Dave Conway had a heart attack in 2018. He was only 30. The Clintonville, Ohio, resident had been experiencing fatigue and shortness of breath, finally going to the emergency room with what he thought was pneumonia. Instead, he learned he’d had a “widowmaker” heart attack and a 100% blockage in a major artery. “I thought people who had heart attacks or heart disease were older people who drink and smoke a lot and weigh much more than I did,” Conway said. “Recovery has been really tough, but I’m willing to do whatever my doctors tell me is needed to keep my heart safe in the future,” he said in an Ohio State University news release. Stories like Conway’s are becoming more common, with studies showing heart attacks and stroke are on the rise among Americans younger than 40. Certain healthy habits can help prevent heart problems — but getting younger adults to accept their risks remains an obstacle. “It is alarming that younger people don’t feel that they’re at risk for heart disease, but it’s not surprising,” said Dr. Laxmi Mehta, director of preventative cardiology and women’s cardiovascular health at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. “Most young people think heart disease only happens in old people, but that’s not the case,” Mehta said in the release. The medical center surveyed 2,000 Americans, finding that… read on > read on >

Black and Hispanic women who work as hairdressers are exposed to an array of chemicals, including many that have not been previously identified, a small study finds. Researchers found that compared with women of color in office jobs, hair stylists had higher levels of various chemicals in their urine. Those substances included expected ones — ingredients known to be in salon products — but also many more the researchers could not identify. Experts said the findings underscore a need to better understand the chemical exposures inherent to salon work — and what the health effects could be. There is particular concern for Black women and Hispanic women in the industry, according to senior researcher Carsten Prasse, an assistant professor of environmental health and engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Those women may have especially high exposure to chemical hair products like straighteners and dyes, because their clients often want those services. Hair products, as well as a range of personal care products, commonly contain chemicals that are considered endocrine disruptors — meaning they may interfere with the body’s hormones. Studies have linked some of those products, including hair straighteners and dyes, to increased risks of breast, ovarian and uterine cancers in women who use them frequently. Some of the chemicals in personal care products may be familiar to consumers, such as parabens, pthalates and… read on > read on >

Chromium picolinate is a supplement that many folks take, as it’s touted to unlock insulin, burn fat and build muscle. But do you really need to add it to your diet when the mineral chromium is already present in many foods, albeit in tiny amounts? “There is little evidence or support for chromium supplementation, though advertisements suggest it can enhance muscle mass and help with weight loss and insulin sensitivity,” said Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. The European Food Safety Authority Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies agrees, saying there is no convincing evidence that chromium is an essential nutrient. Tell that to athletes and bodybuilders, who claim chromium picolinate supplements are a safe and effective alternative to steroids and growth hormones. And some tout chromium’s benefits in helping people with diabetes lower their blood sugar levels. According to Mount Sinai in New York City, as many as 90% of American have diets that are low in chromium. People with low chromium levels can include: The elderly Those who do a lot of strenuous exercise Those who eat a lot of sugary foods Pregnant women. Chromium picolinate benefits Low chromium levels can increase blood sugar, triglycerides and cholesterol levels, and increase the risk for diabetes and heart disease, according to Mount Sinai. Chromium supplements… read on > read on >

The “love hormone” oxytocin might not play the critical role in forming social bonds that scientists have long believed, a new animal study suggests. Prairie voles bred without receptors for oxytocin display the same monogamous mating, attachment and parenting behaviors as regular voles, according to researchers. “While oxytocin has been considered ‘Love Potion No. 9,’ it seems that potions 1 through 8 might be sufficient,” said co-senior researcher Dr. Devanand Manoli, a psychiatrist with the University of California, San Francisco’s Weill Institute for Neurosciences. “This study tells us that oxytocin is likely just one part of a much more complex genetic program.” Prairie voles are one of the few mammals known to form lifelong monogamous relationships, so they are a natural fit for researchers looking into the biology of social bonding. Studies performed in the 1990s showed that oxytocin-blocking drugs left voles unable to pair-bond, researchers said in background notes. As a result, oxytocin gained its reputation as a love hormone. To dig further into that relationship, researchers used gene-editing tools to create prairie voles that lacked functional oxytocin receptors. They then tested the altered voles’ ability to form enduring relationships with other voles. The researchers were surprised to find that the mutant voles paired up as readily as normal voles. “The patterns were indistinguishable,” Manoli said in a university news release. “The major behavioral… read on > read on >

There’s good news for American mothers-to-be and their newborns: Rates of smoking during pregnancy have fallen by 36% since 2016, a new report finds. The percentage of pregnant women who smoked was already low in 2016 compared to decades past: 7.2%. But by 2021, that rate had fallen to just 4.6%. That’s according to the latest data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Keeping tobacco toxins away from the developing fetus is crucial to infant health. According to the March of Dimes, smoking while pregnant has been linked to higher risks of miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, ectopic pregnancy, birth defects and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), among other harms. The new data comes from a national database which is sourced, in part, by information provided by U.S. mothers around the time of their deliveries. Researchers led by the NCHS’ Joyce Martin reported that “the percentage of mothers who smoked during pregnancy declined across all maternal age groups between 2016 and 2021.” Declines were seen regardless of race or ethnicity and they occurred across the nation. Overall, Martin’s team calculated that rates of smoking during pregnancy fell by an average of 8% per year between 2016 and 2021. The pandemic year of 2020-2021 brought a particularly steep decline of 16%, they noted. Young mothers… read on > read on >

If you find yourself stuck in a traffic jam and you start to feel fuzzy-headed, the diesel exhaust from the truck in front of you might be to blame. New research found that just two hours of exposure to diesel exhaust impaired the brain’s functional connectivity, which can lower your ability to think and remember. “We compared people after diesel exhaust exposure compared to filtered air exposure. We saw that network had decreased activity,” said lead researcher Jodie Gawryluk. She is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. Fortunately, the effect doesn’t last long, usually clearing in a couple of hours, Gawryluk said, but it’s not known if long-term exposure to diesel exhaust can cause permanent brain damage. “That’s certainly a possibility,” she noted. “There’s studies ongoing right now looking at whether this could be a potential risk factor for neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.” In an earlier study, Aisha Dickerson, an assistant professor in the department of epidemiology at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, found that work exposure to diesel exhaust was linked to an increased risk for the neurodegenerative disease ALS (also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease). It’s very possible that long-term exposure can cause permanent brain damage, Dickerson said. “I would expect to see… read on > read on >