There is little that is harder than watching a loved one struggle with depression. So what can you do? More than you might think, experts say. First, depression is a mood disorder that can affect anyone, regardless of age, race, socioeconomic status or gender. Symptoms ranging from mild to severe and it impacts the way you feel, think and behave, according to the American Psychiatric Association. Here are a few simple facts about depression, also known as major depressive disorder. According to the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): It’s common. An estimated 21 million adults have experienced major depression at least once. It’s one of the most common mental health disorders in the United States. It’s serious. Major depression leads to impairment that impacts your ability to function on a day-to-day basis. Simple activities like eating, sleeping, working and concentrating can become almost impossible. It can lead to feelings of guilt and worthlessness and suicidal thoughts or attempts. It’s treatable. Depression is treated with psychotherapy and/or medication. Experts at NIMH remind patients that treatment is a process. It can take time to find a regimen that’s effective. When someone you care about is experiencing symptoms of depression, it can be hard to know what to do, what to say, or how to help. “The most important thing we can offer is ourselves, our…  read on >  read on >

Have you ever been in a social situation where you felt nervous? Maybe starting a new job caused you to sweat a lot on your first day. Or going to a party where you didn’t know anyone gave you a nervous stomach. These are normal feelings that most people experience at different times in their lives. But social anxiety is a much different experience. It can be debilitating and interfere with simple, day-to-day activities like going to work, attending social gatherings or even going to the store. What is social anxiety? Experts from the Anxiety and Depression Association of America describe social anxiety as “intense anxiety or fear of being judged, negatively evaluated or rejected in a social or performance situation.” Fear of appearing awkward or dumb intensifies anxious feelings and often leads to avoiding the social situation altogether. Since avoidance is a common response, social anxiety can be a life-limiting disorder if left untreated. The avoidance turns into missed opportunities, experiences or relationships, which leads to low achievement in school and work, poor social skills, low self-esteem, social isolation, depression and even suicidal thoughts or attempts. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Fifteen million American adults have social anxiety disorder, according to Mental Health America. Social anxiety symptoms Mayo Clinic says the criteria for diagnosing social anxiety disorder include: Persistent, intense fear or…  read on >  read on >

Alarmed by the increasing spread of medical misinformation, 50 U.S. medical and science organizations have announced the formation of a new group that aims to debunk fake health news. Called the Coalition for Trust in Health & Science, the group brings together reputable associations representing American academics, researchers, scientists, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, drug and insurance companies, consumer advocates, public health professionals and even medical ethicists. A small sampling of the groups that have currently signed on includes the American Board of Internal Medicine, the American College of Physicians, the American College of Preventive Medicine, the American Psychological Association, the American Medical Association, the American Nurses Association and the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. The coalition plans to take direct aim at what it is calling a “health infodemic.” “I’ll start in saying that we in health care are very aware that American society — the contemporary society that we live in — is characterized to a significant degree by a distrust in almost all of institutions of our society, and by uncertainty as to the truthfulness or accuracy of the information that is being presented to them,” noted Dr. Reed Tuckson, chair and co-founder of the Black Coalition Against COVID (BCAC) and a core convening committee member of the newly formed coalition. He argues that this predisposition to distrust is compounded by the…  read on >  read on >

It won’t come as a surprise to those who love their furry friends, but a new poll finds many Americans saying their pets offer them mental health benefits and are a part of the family. Roughly 86% of cat and dog owners said their pets had a positive impact on their well-being, the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Healthy Minds Monthly Poll found. Owners of fish, birds and turtles were less likely to say so, at 62%. Still, about 88% of all pet owners said their animals were part of their family. “People recognize that there is something special about bonds between humans and their pets,” said APA President Dr. Rebecca Brendel. “The animals we bring into our lives and our families play many roles, from nonjudgmental companions that we love to key partners in reducing our stress and anxiety,” she said in an APA news release. “Americans clearly recognize that our relationships with our pets can have noticeable benefits for our overall mental health.” About 50% of 2,200 people surveyed in February said they had dogs, 35% had cats, 3% had a variety of other pets and 31% had no pets. But there were some downsides to being so attached to their pets. Among the concerns pets brought their owners were worries about the pets aging or dying, at 71%, their pets’ health conditions, at…  read on >  read on >

Men suffering from an enlarged prostate can receive long-term relief from a minimally invasive procedure that partially blocks blood flow to the gland, new research reports. The procedure, called prostate artery embolization (PAE), dramatically improved urinary symptoms in patients without having any effect on erectile function, said senior researcher Dr. Shivank Bhatia, chair of interventional radiology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. PAE also improved the overall health of the prostate, Bhatia added. “Medical imaging before and after the procedure showed a 32% reduction in size of the prostate gland at 12 months following the procedure,” Bhatia said. “Additionally, the PSA [prostate-specific antigen] lab values showed a decrease of 42% at 12 months post-PAE,” he added. PSA levels are used to detect prostate cancer and signs of poor prostate health. Results from 1,000 men who underwent embolization show that their relief was both significant and sustained, lasting through up to six years of follow-up, Bhatia said. Bhatia will present these results Monday at a meeting of the Society of Interventional Radiology, in Phoenix. Findings presented at medical meetings are considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. As many as 18 million U.S. men suffer from enlarged prostates, including more than 50% of men older than 60, researchers said in background notes. The prostate gland naturally enlarges with age, putting pressure on…  read on >  read on >

People who have long COVID — lingering symptoms after a COVID-19 infection — may also have lower brain oxygen levels, cognitive problems and psychiatric troubles, such as anxiety and depression. Researchers from the University of Waterloo in Canada and Drexel University in Philadelphia combined two parallel studies to better understand what is happening in long COVID patients. One was a lab study that included tests of thinking skills and imaging of oxygen levels in the brain. The other was a national population survey of Canadians in 2021 and 2022. The lab study compared people who did not previously have symptomatic COVID-19 with those who did have the virus. Those who had experienced COVID-19 did worse on two computer tasks. One measured inhibition. The other looked at impulsive decision-making. People who had been infected did not have the expected increase in oxygen level in an area of the brain that is normally engaged during one of these tasks, the investigators found. “We are the first to show reduced oxygen uptake in the brain during a cognitive task in the months following a symptomatic COVID-19 infection,” said lead author Dr. Peter Hall, a researcher in the School of Public Health Sciences at Waterloo, in Ontario. “This is important because a lack of sufficient oxygen supply is thought to be one of the mechanisms by which COVID-19 may…  read on >  read on >

(HealthDay) — Allergic reactions to the Pfizer or Moderna COVID vaccines are very rare, and a new study questions whether many of those that do occur are even real. In a small new study of 16 people who said they’d experienced an allergic reaction to a dose of the Pfizer vaccine, those who got a follow-up placebo (fake) vaccine were more likely to complain of another round of “allergic” reactions than those who got the real thing. This phenomenon is something doctors have long known about, and it even has a name: Immunization Stress-Related Response (ISRR) syndrome. “This has been reported prior to the COVID pandemic, but I think it’s been accentuated by the COVID pandemic and these newer vaccinations,” Dr. David Khan, president of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI), said in an interview with HealthDay. According to Khan, there’s good news from the findings: “The vast majority of patients who’ve had reactions which they think are allergic can actually receive subsequent vaccinations, and do this safely, and there have been a number of studies that show that.” The study was presented recently at the AAAAI’s annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas. The new trial was led by Dr. Muhammad Khalid, a clinical fellow in the Laboratory of Allergic Diseases of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part…  read on >  read on >

THURSDAY, March 2, 2023Black women who are exposed to certain forms of racism may be more likely to develop heart disease, researchers say. Specifically, Black women who said they faced discrimination in employment, housing and in their interactions with the police were 26% more likely to develop heart disease than their counterparts who had not experienced such structural racism. Structural racism refers to the ways that a society fosters racial discrimination through housing, education, employment, health care and criminal justice systems. The new study wasn’t designed to determine how perceived racism increases heart disease risk, but researchers have their theories. “Chronic psychosocial stressors such as racism increase levels of inflammation, blood pressure and other risks for heart disease,” said study author Shanshan Sheehy. She is an assistant professor of medicine at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. For the study, the researchers tracked more than 48,000 women enrolled in the Black Women’s Health Study from 1997 to 2019. None had heart disease in 1997. During 22 years of follow-up, 1,947 women developed heart disease. Women answered five questions in 1997 about their experiences related to racism in their everyday lives and three questions about structural racism in employment, housing or in their interactions with police. Heart disease risk wasn’t tied to experiences of racism in everyday life, but women who reported experiencing racism…  read on >  read on >