Add one more issue to the growing list of harms from opioid abuse: Long-term use may lead to hormone deficiencies that affect a man’s health. Researchers reviewed the latest medical evidence and found that about two-thirds of men using opioids for more than six months develop hypogonadism, which is insufficient testosterone production. The review also found that about one in every five long-term opioid users also winds up suffering from low levels of the hormone cortisol. Cortisol is best known as a stress hormone because of its role in the “fight-or-flight response,” but it also helps regulate the body’s metabolism. Men with hypogonadism might suffer symptoms such as muscle weakness and a lowered sex drive, said lead researcher Amir Zamanipoor Najafabadi. He is a medical student at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. “This information can be used to maybe discourage people who are using opioids to get into a euphoric state, because it happens at the expense of their sexual function,” Najafabadi said. People with low levels of cortisol might experience fatigue, mood swings, muscle loss and weight loss, he added. Misuse of and addiction to opioids — which include prescription painkillers (such as OxyContin), heroin and synthetic opioids (such as fentanyl) — has led to an epidemic in the United States, with 47,000 overdose deaths reported in 2017, according to U.S. government…  read on >

It’s surprisingly easy to hold a grudge, but whether it involves a friend, a co-worker or a loved one, it can fill you with bitterness, keep you stuck in the past and even lead to anxiety or depression. That means you’re the one suffering from the situation, and not necessarily the subject of your anger and irritation. Besides the emotional toll, researchers from Glasgow Caledonian University and Edinburgh Napier University, in Scotland, found that holding a grudge can also heighten feelings of physical pain, even if that pain has nothing to do with the incident in question. So, if your lower back is bothering you or you have the achiness of arthritis, your pain can feel worse if you’re stewing over the grudge. Letting go of a grudge starts with forgiveness. That doesn’t mean you’re excusing the behavior the other person exhibited, and you may never forget it, but if you can forgive the person for their mistake, you can break free of the hold he or she has had on your life. The benefits are wide-ranging and immediate. Making a conscious decision to let go of the anger and resentment that keeps you rooted in the past will allow you to focus on your present and what’s important to you today. Letting go of grudges frees you to focus on the positive relationships in…  read on >

Having a fussy baby doesn’t just rob a new mother of sleep — it can also increase her risk of depression, a new study finds. That fussiness, combined with premature birth, may significantly affect a new mother’s mood. “We found that maternal depression risk varied by gestational age and infant fussiness,” said senior study author Dr. Prachi Shah. She is a developmental and behavioral pediatrician at University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, in Ann Arbor. For the study, researchers looked at more than 8,200 children and their mothers across the United States. The investigators found that mothers of very preterm, fussy infants (born at 24 to 31 weeks’ gestation) were about twice as likely to have mild depressive symptoms as those of very preterm infants who weren’t difficult to soothe. However, “mothers of fussy infants born late preterm and full-term are more likely to experience more severe levels of maternal depression than mothers of fussy infants who were born more preterm,” Shah said in a university news release. Among mothers of babies born moderate-late preterm (32 to 36 weeks’ gestation) and moms of full-term infants, those with fussy babies were about twice as likely to have moderate to severe depressive symptoms as those with less irritable infants. “These findings reinforce that all mothers caring for babies with more difficult temperaments may need extra help…  read on >

Fathers-to-be who expose their pregnant partners to secondhand smoke put their babies at risk of heart defects, researchers warn. For the new study, investigators in China reviewed 125 studies that included a total of nearly 9 million prospective parents and more than 137,000 babies with congenital heart defects. All types of parental smoking were linked to an increased risk of these birth defects, the analysis found. Compared to no smoking exposure, the increased risk was 124 percent for women exposed to secondhand smoke while pregnant, 74 percent for men smoking, and 25 percent for women smoking. “Fathers are a large source of secondhand smoke for pregnant women, which appears to be even more harmful to unborn children than women smoking themselves,” said study author Jiabi Qin of Central South University in Changsha, China. “Fathers-to-be should quit smoking,” Qin said in a news release from the European Society of Cardiology. The overall risk with all types of parental smoking was greater when the analysis was restricted to Asian groups, the study authors noted. Women’s exposure to secondhand smoke was dangerous throughout pregnancy — and even before, according to the report. While those who smoked before getting pregnant had no added risk, those who smoked during pregnancy were more apt to give birth to a child with a heart defect. Specifically, smoking while pregnant was associated with…  read on >

When couples experience recurrent pregnancy loss, it’s natural for them to want to know why. Now, a new study suggests that sperm DNA damage could be a factor. Recurrent pregnancy loss is defined as the consecutive loss of three or more pregnancies before 20 weeks’ gestation. It affects up to 2 percent of couples and, in many cases, it is difficult to identify the cause. While women in these couples typically undergo tests to pinpoint a cause, the same is not true of men, according to the study authors. “However, we know that sperm play an important role in the formation of the placenta, which is critical for survival of an unborn baby,” said lead researcher Dr. Channa Jayasena. He is a clinical senior lecturer in endocrinology at Imperial College London, in the United Kingdom. In the new study, Jayasena’s team compared 50 men in couples that had not suffered miscarriages with 63 men in couples that had recurrent pregnancy loss. The men were checked for their levels of sex hormones, such as testosterone, and the number and behavior of their sperm. Their level of sperm DNA damage was also assessed, along with levels of a chemical called reactive oxygen species, which can damage sperm. Compared with the men in the miscarriage-free couples, men in couples with recurrent pregnancy loss had twice as much sperm…  read on >

Fathers-to-be who expose their pregnant partners to secondhand smoke put their babies at risk of heart defects, researchers warn. For the new study, investigators in China reviewed 125 studies that included a total of nearly 9 million prospective parents and more than 137,000 babies with congenital heart defects. All types of parental smoking were linked to an increased risk of these birth defects, the analysis found. Compared to no smoking exposure, the increased risk was 124 percent for women exposed to secondhand smoke while pregnant, 74 percent for men smoking, and 25 percent for women smoking. “Fathers are a large source of secondhand smoke for pregnant women, which appears to be even more harmful to unborn children than women smoking themselves,” said study author Jiabi Qin of Central South University in Changsha, China. “Fathers-to-be should quit smoking,” Qin said in a news release from the European Society of Cardiology. The overall risk with all types of parental smoking was greater when the analysis was restricted to Asian groups, the study authors noted. Women’s exposure to secondhand smoke was dangerous throughout pregnancy — and even before, according to the report. While those who smoked before getting pregnant had no added risk, those who smoked during pregnancy were more apt to give birth to a child with a heart defect. Specifically, smoking while pregnant was associated with…  read on >