Lifestyle « Weekly Gravy

The nation is in a state of shock and outrage over Wednesday’s riotous siege on the U.S. Capitol Building by supporters of President Donald Trump, and there could be still worse to come before the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. So, taking care of your mental and physical health will be important in the coming days of trial and tribulation in the United States, American Psychiatric Association President Dr. Jeffrey Geller said Thursday. That’s even more crucial if you’re a parent, Geller added. “You want to reassure the child that they are safe, that home is safe and, far more important, that you’re taking care of yourself,” Geller said. “It’s very hard to take care of your child if you’re not taking care of yourself.” People can help ease their personal stress by sticking to a normal daily routine, sleeping well, staying hydrated, eating healthy, exercising and participating in self-calming techniques like meditation or yoga, Geller said. Even though they seem tempting in times of stress, you should try to avoid the use of alcohol, drugs or tobacco, Geller added. Instead, have conversations with the people in your life and limit your use of social media, he suggested. “You want to reach out to the people with whom you have a close relationship,” Geller said. “Better a few people with a close relationship… read on > read on >

As Americans await their COVID-19 shot, a new study of a different vaccine shows the power of Facebook posts in fueling “anti-vax” resistance to immunization. The study included more than 10 years of public Facebook posts on the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. It found that nearly 40% of 6,500 HPV vaccine-related posts from 2006 to 2016 amplified a perceived risk. The data suggest the posts had momentum over time. “We should not assume that only the disease is perceived as a risk, but when research supports it, that medical treatments and interventions might unfortunately also be perceived as risks,” said Monique Luisi, an assistant professor at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, in Columbia. “It’s more likely that people are going to see things on social media, particularly on Facebook, that are not only negative about the HPV vaccine, but will also suggest the HPV vaccine could be harmful. It amplifies the fear that people may have about the vaccine, and we see that posts that amplify fear are more likely to trend than those that don’t,” she said in a school news release Luisi said the findings could shed light on the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and distribution. During the rollout, people will likely see a lot of negative information and that negative information will be what trends on social media, she said. “If… read on > read on >

Food as medicine: New research suggests that a healthy Mediterranean diet might lower the risk of prostate cancer progressing to a more advanced state. The relative lack of saturated fat in these diets might be a major reason why. The Mediterranean diet is “known for its lower consumption of saturated fats,” said Dr. Phillip Vigneri, a prostate cancer specialist unconnected to the new study. He heads the department of radiation medicine at Staten Island University Hospital in New York City. For example, “it has been known for some time that while Japan has a similar incidence of prostate cancer, it has a lower metastatic rate and mortality,” Vigneri pointed out. And while it’s not possible to prove clear cause and effect, “this difference is usually attributed to a [Japanese] diet that is lower in fat,” he said. The new study involved 410 prostate cancer patients and was led by Dr. Justin Gregg, assistant professor of urology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston. Because most prostate cancer cases are low-risk and have favorable outcomes, many men do not need immediate treatment and opt for “active surveillance.” That was the case for the participants in this study. The Houston team found that those who stuck to meals rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, cereals and fish — hallmarks of a Mediterranean diet —… read on > read on >

The COVID-19 pandemic may feel like it’s been going on forever, but it’s important to keep up safety measures, a mental health expert says. Dr. Olusinmi Bamgbose, a psychiatrist at Cedars-Sinai in Southern California — an area that’s facing an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases — offered some tips for keeping up with pandemic safeguards and some theories about why people may be backsliding into unsafe behaviors. “People definitely have pandemic fatigue,” said Bamgbose, who is on the Cedars-Sinai Reproductive Psychology team. “I think people miss their families and miss doing what they want to do. I think they want their life to feel normal again, so they’re looking for ways to go and do that.” Among the reasons people are making riskier choices is peer pressure, Bamgbose said. “You might be faced with people around you who are pressuring you to push your boundaries, like a mother who wants you to come over for a holiday dinner where several people are coming over and getting together inside,” Bamgbose said. “It can be very difficult to stick to your guns and say, ‘I don’t feel comfortable doing that.’” Confirmation bias also plays a role. If a person engages in risky behavior and doesn’t get COVID-19, or gets the virus and has a mild case, they’re more likely to do the same behavior again, she explained… read on > read on >

If you’re a Black man, your risk of getting prostate cancer is 75% higher than it is for a white man, and it’s more than twice as deadly. Now, research is helping to bring genetic risks for people of various racial and ethnic groups into focus. In doing so, dozens more risk factors that could better help pinpoint the odds of developing prostate cancer have been uncovered. And that could potentially lead to better screening protocols and earlier detection for men of all races, experts said. “The potential utility of this is that it can be used to define men who are at elevated risk of developing prostate cancer,” said lead author Christopher Haiman, professor of preventive medicine at Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. “This is knowledge that men could find out, I hate to say it, but at birth,” he added. More likely, men would get this information later in life, Haiman said, but clinicians could use it to determine when blood tests to screen for prostate cancer should begin and how often screening should occur. Researchers from the USC Center for Genetic Epidemiology in Los Angeles and the Institute of Cancer Research in London led the study. They noted that past prostate cancer studies included an overrepresentation of white men, making it more difficult… read on > read on >

Tinder, Grindr and other dating apps have a reputation for encouraging casual hookups, but a new study suggests app users may be looking for — and finding — love in all the right places after all. Unlike more traditional dating sites such as Match.com and EHarmony, these apps are largely based on rating photos. You swipe right if you like what you see, or left if you don’t. It’s that simple, which is why many felt they would foster shallow relationships. That wasn’t the case for Los Angeles publicist Anthoni Allen-Zouhry, who swiped right when she first saw her now husband’s photo on Tinder. They have now been married for close to two years and are expecting their first child. “Love found me,” she said. “I was looking for a relationship, but I was also just casually dating and not putting too much pressure on myself. It took a few months before we actually got serious.” And there are many couples just like Allen-Zouhry and her husband, according to a study published recently in the journal PLOS ONE. Study author Gina Potarca, a researcher at the Institute of Demography and Socioeconomics at the University of Geneva in Switzerland, examined data from a 2018 family survey by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office to find out more about relationships formed online and offline. The survey included more… read on > read on >