Lifestyle « Weekly Gravy

The popular herbal supplement kratom may cause liver damage, researchers warn. Kratom is widely available in smoke shops and online. It’s a botanical product made from Mitragyna speciosa, a tropical evergreen tree found in Southeast Asia. At low doses, it’s a stimulant. At high doses, it has an opioid-like effect. Use of kratom has risen sharply since the start of the opioid epidemic, and more than 90 deaths have been linked to it, researchers say. “There are risks associated with using kratom, and liver injury is on the list of things that are a potential consequence of using it,” said William Eggleston, a clinical assistant professor at the Binghamton University-State University of New York’s School of Pharmacy. He wasn’t involved with the study, but reviewed the findings. There were eight cases of reported liver injury associated with kratom products in the study. Eggleston said this may not seem like a lot, but they are enough to be concerning. “Maybe we need to re-evaluate whether or not this drug should be available as a dietary supplement,” he said. Unlike prescription drugs, dietary supplements don’t need approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. And though kratom is a legal herbal supplement, the FDA has warned against its use. The agency has called it “opioid-like” and cited concerns that it might pose an addiction risk. Some patients… read on >

Mass shootings, health care and the 2020 presidential election are significant causes of stress for American adults, a new survey finds. The poll of more than 3,600 U.S. adults found that 71% of them said mass shootings are a major source of stress, an increase from 62% in 2018. Hispanics were most likely to say mass shootings are a significant source of stress (84%), followed by blacks (79%), Asians (77%), Native Americans (71%) and whites (66%). Health care is a significant cause of stress for 69% of the respondents. Among the 47% who experience stress about health care at least sometimes, the cost of health care is the most common source of that stress (64%). Adults with private insurance (71%) were more likely than those with public insurance (53%) to say the cost of health care causes them stress. Overall, 55% worry that they won’t be able to pay for health care services they may need in the future, according to this year’s Stress in America survey from the American Psychological Association (APA). The online survey, conducted by The Harris Poll, also found that 56% of respondents have significant stress about the 2020 presidential election, an increase from 52% in the period before the 2016 election. Stress related to climate change rose to 56% this year from 51% last year. Stress associated with widespread sexual… read on >

(HealthDay News) — More than 30 million Americans need help dealing with their feelings and problems, says the American Psychological Association. From the loss of a job to the death of a loved one, these stressful events can be debilitating and require outside help. The APA mentions important questions to ask when choosing a psychologist: Are you a licensed psychologist? How many years have you been practicing? I have been feeling “x” and I’m having problems with “y.” What experience do you have in helping people with these types of problems? What are your areas of expertise? What kinds of treatments do you use? Have they been proven effective? What are your fees? What types of insurance do you accept?

Only about half of all American adults meet the national guidelines for aerobic activity and only about one-fifth meet the combined aerobic and strength-training goals. One reason is that some people just don’t find it enjoyable, so they don’t stick with it. Changing your mindset can lead not only to increases in exercise time, but also feeling good about working out. A study in the journal Psychology of Sport and Exercise looked at overweight women and their reaction to 15-minute high-intensity interval workouts designed to get faster results compared to continuous and longer-lasting exercise. The researchers found that the slow and steady approach was met more positively, and left participants looking forward to another workout rather than tired and discouraged. In another test, they found that starting out at an intense pace and tapering off to a very low intensity was also more pleasurable than the other way around. A separate study in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity found that many influences are at work when it comes to developing a fondness for exercise, including mental engagement. It helps to choose an activity that you’re confident about. For instance, if you’re a poor swimmer, you won’t feel comfortable in a water class. If you are self-conscious about how you look in exercise clothes, group classes may not be for you right… read on >

If you’ve ever experienced an immobilizing sense of panic when faced with a difficult or threatening situation, you’re not alone. It turns out that the well-documented fight-or-flight instinct for self-preservation isn’t a guaranteed reaction. Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found that stress can actually lower your ability to effectively assess new threats because it can distract you, leading you to pay less attention to what’s going on around you and impair your ability to react in your own best interests. Furthermore, a study in the Journal of Neuroscience found that stress can keep you from making positive changes in your life by holding you back, as though your feet were stuck in mud. It can color your thinking, making situations seem worse than they really are. So, for instance, just when you should be taking steps to get out of a difficult situation, you end up doing nothing. If stress has you paralyzed, it’s important to take steps to “un-freeze” your thinking. While relaxation techniques, like deep breathing, can help you refocus in moments of high stress, everyday actions can work together to lower daily low-grade stress levels. Specifically, find ways to exercise more — physical activity redirects your energy. To keep blood sugar on an even keel, limit your intake of sugary foods. If caffeine gives you… read on >

Loneliness can take a heavy toll on heart patients — including a higher risk of death in the year after hospitalization, researchers found. “This study confirms what has also been indicated in previous research regarding the serious health consequences of loneliness,” said lead researcher Anne Vinggaard Christensen, of Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark. “Loneliness should be considered a serious risk factor in patients with cardiac disease and should be included in risk evaluation of patients,” added Christensen, who is with the hospital’s heart center. The Danish researchers cautioned, however, that their findings can’t prove that loneliness caused people to die, only that loneliness and the risk of death appear to be connected. But the differences in mortality between those who felt lonely and those who didn’t can’t be explained by their medical condition alone, they said. Loneliness is a subjective experience, one that is distressing and unpleasant, the researchers noted. The connection between loneliness and health is complex, Christensen said. People who are lonely or socially isolated tend to have more unhealthy lifestyles. They smoke more, are less likely to be physically active and don’t take their medication, she said. “Having a social network helps motivate people to make healthier choices,” Christensen said. “A social network can act as a buffer for stress.” Also, lonely people have been found to have higher levels of stress… read on >

Making the decision to live healthier often involves important steps such as losing weight and exercising more. These are significant goals and everyday lifestyle habits that you should commit to. But there’s another type of “makeover” that can benefit you in equally important ways. That’s changing your general outlook on life by boosting positivity. This mental tweak will put you in a better frame of mind to meet your physical goals. Here’s how to get started. Look for ways to find more meaning in your life. You might not be able to change your job, but you might be able to take on work challenges that give you a stronger sense of purpose. If personal and professional commitments have you running in a million directions with none of them emotionally rewarding, reassess your obligations and pare back where you can. Prioritize the tasks that give you a stronger sense of accomplishment. Next, identify what’s standing in the way of reaching your goals. It might not be complicated. Maybe you want to eat better and exercise more, but you don’t make the time to cook whole foods or go to the gym. Again, re-prioritize and take action to accomplish what’s important to you. Don’t use roadblocks as excuses to stay stuck. And because people love instant gratification, give yourself a boost by picking a change you… read on >

Is emotional eating your downfall? One way to find out is with the EADES or “Eating and Appraisal Due to Emotions and Stress” questionnaire developed by Amy Ozier of Northern Illinois University. First published in 2007, it has been used and refined by many other researchers over the years, not just in the United States, but around the world. The questions aren’t complicated. They ask how well you cope with stress and other problems, whether you use food as a way to self-soothe in times of distress or even as a reward in times of happiness, and how much control you feel you have over your eating, all with the goal of pinpointing eating behaviors that typically lead to weight gain. Emotions That Can Prompt Eating Stress Sadness Fatigue Feeling down on yourself Anger Not feeling that you’re in control of your own life Some other risk factors for emotional eating are not having a support network of family and friends, and feeling incapable of handling problems on your own. Strongly agreeing with statements such as you overeat when stressed, you keep eating even after you feel full, and you reach for food when you’re tired, angry or sad, are signs that your eating habits are related to more than true hunger. Keeping a food journal that includes how you feel every time you eat… read on >

Smoking is a notoriously tough habit to quit, but a new study suggests it is far harder for women to stop than it is for men. Why? The researchers point to a higher prevalence of anxiety and depression in women, which might interfere with even the best intentions to kick the habit. And one expert noted that prior evidence has shown that women’s brains react differently to nicotine. In the latest study, involving more than 200 patients at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, the prevalence of anxiety or depression was 41% in women while it was only 21% in men. Depression and other mood disorders need to be addressed in women who smoke, especially those with heart disease and stroke, said senior study author Dr. Beth Abramson, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Toronto. “Smoking cessation is the most significant modifiable risk factor to prevent heart disease in women, but there is no one-size-fits-all,” Abramson noted. In the study, the average age of participants was 56, and almost one-third were women. Patients reported smoking an average of 18 cigarettes daily for 37 years. Two-thirds had lipid abnormalities such as dyslipidemia, in which blood levels of lipids (triglycerides and cholesterol) hit the roof. Nearly two-thirds had high blood pressure, close to half reported heart disease, and more than a quarter had depression or… read on >

More than 300 million people worldwide — or 4% of the population — have a rare disease, a new study finds. A disease is considered rare when it affects fewer than five in 10,000 people, according to a European definition. Until now, it’s been difficult to gauge how widespread rare diseases are. But a team led by a French research institute has analyzed the scientific literature on thousands of rare diseases and created a database that makes it possible to estimate how many people worldwide have them. Of the more than 6,000 diseases in the database, 72% are genetic, and 70% start in childhood. In addition, 149 diseases are responsible for 80% of rare disease cases identified worldwide. Rare cancers, as well as rare diseases caused by infection or poisoning, weren’t included. “Although rare diseases are individual and specific, what they have in common is their rarity, and the consequences which result from that,” said project coordinator Ana Rath, a researcher at INSERM in Paris, where the database was developed. Because of a lack of research, health provider expertise and suitable treatments for rare diseases, these illnesses cause significant suffering to many patients and families worldwide, an INSERM news release noted. Understanding how many people have rare diseases is key to identifying priorities for health and research efforts, understanding the burden these diseases place on… read on >