Lifestyle « Weekly Gravy

Light therapy: It’s long been a go-to therapy for seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a kind of depression that can beset some people when winter looms and days shorten. But new research is suggesting that time spent in front of light box might ease other forms of depression as well. The new review of data was led by Artur Menegaz de Almeida, of the Federal University of Mato Grosso in Sinop, Brazil. His team noted that, right now, light therapy’s effectiveness has only been proven against SAD. However, “Bright light therapy has been studied as a potential adjunctive treatment for major depressive disorder, as light exposure is well understood to affect human mood and cognitive function,” he said in a news release from the American Psychiatric Association. Reporting Oct. 2 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, the Brazilian team pored through data from 11 randomized clinical trials involving a total of 858 patients. These people had diagnoses of nonseasonal forms of major depression or bipolar depression. Some patients used light therapy in addition to whatever medication they had been prescribed. Therapy was defined as sitting in front of fluorescent 10,000 lux-powered light box for at least 30 minutes, with treatment lasting for between 1 and 6 weeks. Their outcomes were compared to those of patients on other adjunct treatments, such as air ionizers or dim red light. A… read on > read on >

The health benefits of fluoridated drinking water may be waning as Americans increasingly turn to using toothpastes and mouthwashes that already contain fluoride, a new review suggests. The research, published Thursday in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, came to that conclusion after analyzing more than 157 studies that compared tooth decay in kids living in communities that added fluoride to their water supply with communities that didn’t. Exactly what did the scientists discover? The studies of more than 5,700 children conducted before fluoride-fortified toothpaste became widely available in the mid-1970s found that adding fluoride to water systems reduced the number of decayed teeth by an average of 2.1 teeth per child. However, studies conducted after 1975, including nearly 3,000 children in the U.K. and Australia, estimated the benefit was lower, at 0.24 fewer decayed baby teeth per child, just one-quarter of one tooth. Despite that finding, the researchers stressed municipalities shouldn’t interpret the results as a reason to stop adding the cavity-fighting mineral to their water systems. “When interpreting the evidence, it is important to think about the wider context and how society and health have changed over time,” study co-author Anne-Marie Glenny, a professor of health sciences research at the University of Manchester in England, said in a journal news release. “Most of the studies on water fluoridation are over 50 years old, before… read on > read on >

Whether abusive parents, drug addiction or gun violence are to blame, the fallout from childhood traumas can reverberate until a person’s final days of life, new research shows. “We found that early-life trauma in particular, especially physical abuse by parents, was strongly related to end-of-life pain, loneliness and depressive symptoms,” said senior study author Dr. Ashwin Kotwal, of the University of California, San Francisco’s division of geriatrics and the San Francisco VA Medical Center. Traumatic events in childhood may lead to poor health habits, social and emotional isolation and an increased risk of subsequent trauma, he explained in a UCSF news release. His team looked at data from a study that followed about 6,500 Americans over age 50 who died between 2006 and 2020. Their average age at death: 78. Study participants completed questionnaires about their experiences with 11 traumatic events and their psychosocial well-being and were interviewed every other year until they died. A final interview with a family member or friend with power of attorney provided insights about their final year of life. In all, 2 in 5 participants had experienced traumas during childhood, including exposure to relatives’ drug or alcohol abuse or getting into trouble with the law. The most common potential source of childhood trauma was being held back a grade in school. Life-threatening illness or having a spouse or child… read on > read on >

The large majority of people with food allergy, and the caregivers of kids with such allergies, say the condition has led to psychological distress, a new study finds. However, only about 1 in every 5 such people have ever been assessed and counseled on their anxieties, the same report also found. “Our research highlights a major unmet need for psychological support for food allergy,” said Rebecca Knibb, a professor of psychology at Aston University in Birmingham, England. The main source of worry: The danger of anaphylaxis, a severe reaction to even small amounts of the food the person or their child is allergic to. The new study centered on an online survey of more than 1,300 adults with food allergy, as well as more than 1,900 caregivers of children with food allergy. Respondents to the survey came from more than 20 countries. In total, almost 68% of the adults with food allergy surveyed said that they’d had “direct experience” of psychological distress linked to their condition, as did nearly 78% of those caring for a child with such allergies. Most of those people said their main source of anxiety was the possibility of anaphylaxis, but “over half felt sadness about the impact of food allergy on their lives [54.1%],” Knibb’s team reported. Among caregivers of kids with food allergy, about 35% worried that the condition… read on > read on >

If you’re a 20-something who is unattached, having good friends is a key to happiness, new research shows. “The quality of your friendships is a key factor for your well-being, especially if you’re single,” a team led by Lisa Walsh, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of California, Los Angeles, reported Oct. 2 in the journal PLOS One. “We found that singles who were satisfied with their friendships tended to be happy with their lives, while those dissatisfied with their friendships were less happy,” they added in a journal news release. Other research has found that Americans in their early 20s tend to be less happy than at other times of life — and a growing percentage of folks in that age group are not in long-term relationships. While researchers are increasingly looking at single folks as a group, few studies have zeroed in on sub-groups, such as younger adults. This one analyzed responses to a survey of 1,073 single adults between the ages of 18 and 24. They were asked about their overall happiness as well as five factors that predict happiness: self-esteem, neuroticism, outgoingness, satisfaction with family and satisfaction with friends. The study was built on what is known as latent profile analysis — an assumption that individuals aren’t all the same and that differences among them fit diverse categories. Researchers found… read on > read on >

Nearly 8 in 10 Americans go through the day in a fog that interferes with their jobs, their moods and their relationships. Chalk it up to sleepiness: A new survey shows that 54% of Americans think they just don’t get enough sleep. “Daytime sleepiness is more than just an inconvenience — it can affect our ability to function our best, impacting everything from work productivity to personal relationships,” said sleep specialist Dr. Alexandre Abreu, a spokesman for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), the survey sponsor. The online poll of more than 2,000 adults was conducted in mid-May and revealed that daytime sleepiness is taking a big toll. Nearly half (47%) of respondents said it hampers their productivity, making it hard to focus and complete work efficiently. One-third (31%) said sleepiness affects the quality of their work — a complaint more often voiced by men than by women. A similar percentage (34%) of respondents see effects of sleepiness on their memory and mental recall, and 16% said it affects their reaction time behind the wheel. Notably, nearly a quarter (24%) said it affects their relationships with family and friends. “These statistics paint a clear picture of the widespread impact of daytime sleepiness,” Abreu said in an AASM news release. The academy says adults need seven or more hours of sleep a night. It recommends… read on > read on >

Even air pollution levels considered safe by U.S. standards appear to cause differences in the brains of growing children, a new review suggests. “We’re seeing differences in brain outcomes between children with higher levels of pollution exposure versus lower levels of pollution exposure,” said corresponding author Camelia Hostinar, an associate professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis. In all, she and her colleagues reviewed 40 studies. Most linked outdoor air pollution with differences in children’s brains, including the amount of the brain’s “white matter.” These differences affect thinking skills and may even be early markers for Alzheimer’s. Because their brains are still developing, air pollution poses a special risk to kids and teens. Relative to their weight, they absorb more contaminants than adults, researchers explained. As such, the authors called on parents and policymakers to add air filters to homes and schools near freeways to protect children from outdoor air pollutants. They urged other researchers to incorporate air quality measures into studies related to brain health and other health outcomes. The new review looked at research from the United States, Mexico, Europe, Asia and Australia that compared pollution levels with brain outcomes at various ages, from newborns to age 18. Some relied on brain imaging. Some looked at chemical changes in the body that affect brain function. Others looked for tumors in the… read on > read on >

As the southeastern United States begins to recover from Helene’s devastation, a new study suggests the health impact of major storms can linger for over a decade. So far, more than 120 people across six states have already been confirmed dead in Helene’s aftermath, although that number could rise much higher as rescue efforts continue. Now, a team from Stanford University reports the death toll over the much longer term could be in the thousands. Even years later, “in any given month, people are dying earlier than they would have if the storm hadn’t hit their community,” explained senior study author Solomon Hsiang. “A big storm will hit, and there’s all these cascades of effects where cities are rebuilding or households are displaced or social networks are broken. These cascades have serious consequences for public health,” said Hsiang, professor of environmental social sciences at Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability. Overall, the researchers estimate that anywhere between 7,000 and 11,000 excess deaths can be attributed to the years-long aftermath of a major tropical storm or hurricane. Adding up the damage, major storms have since 1930 contributed to the deaths of anywhere from 3.6 million and 5.2 million Americans, the team reported Oct. 2 in the journal Nature. That exceeds the combined number of deaths from motor vehicle accidents, infectious diseases or battle deaths in wars during… read on > read on >

In a finding that illustrates the damage that laws targeting transgender people can cause, new research shows that trans and nonbinary youth in states with such laws are more likely to attempt suicide. How much more likely? The study authors found the laws triggered up to a 72% increase in suicide attempts in the past year. “This groundbreaking study offers robust and indisputable evidence to support what we have already known: the recent wave of anti-transgender laws in the United States is quite literally risking the lives of young people across the country,” study co-author Dr. Ronita Nath, vice president of research at The Trevor Project, said in a news release. “From a scientific perspective, studying the phenomenon of how these policies impact LGBTQ+ young people’s mental health is relatively new,” she added. “In our analysis of data collected from more than 61,000 transgender and nonbinary youth across five years, this study critically confirms — for the first time — a causal relationship between anti-transgender laws and heightened suicide risk among transgender and nonbinary young people.” Published in the journal Nature Human Behavior, the research was conducted by the Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization. From 2018 to 2022, 48 anti-transgender laws were enacted in 19 different states, according to the Trevor Project. These included restrictions on transition-related care for minors and laws… read on > read on >

Most Americans are eating their way to inflammation that puts them at risk of cancer, heart disease and other serious health problems, a new study shows. “Overall, 57% of U.S. adults have a pro-inflammatory diet and that number was higher for Black Americans, men, younger adults and people with lower education and income,” said lead study author Rachel Meadows, a visiting faculty member at Ohio State University’s College of Public Health. Her team used a tool known as the dietary inflammatory index, which includes 45 components, to examine the self-reported eating habits of more than 34,500 adults included in a federal health and nutrition survey between 2005 and 2018. While other dietary measures look at intake of food groups like fruit, veggies or dairy or nutrients like fats, proteins and carbs, Meadows said inflammation is important to consider. Using the tool, they assigned inflammation values ranging from -9 to 8, with 0 representing a neutral diet. In all, 34% had anti-inflammatory diets, according to findings published Sept. 27 in the journal Public Health Nutrition. Meadows said overall balance of the diet is important. “Even if you’re eating enough fruits or vegetables, if you’re having too much alcohol or red meat, then your overall diet can still be pro-inflammatory,” she said, adding that she wants people to think about anti-inflammatory foods as tools to boost health.… read on > read on >