SATURDAY, Sept. 9, 2023 (HealthDay News) – Lots of parents are giving their children the supplement melatonin to help with sleep, but is it safe? In a new survey, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) found that 46% of parents — what it called a “shocking number” — have given melatonin to children under the age of 13. About 30% gave their teenager melatonin to aid in sleep. Yet, there is little evidence that melatonin helps with insomnia in children, the AASM said. A natural hormone that helps regulate the body’s internal clock, melatonin may seem like a simple solution, the AASM said. Yet the organization noted important safety concerns. Parents should talk to a health care professional before giving melatonin or any supplement to children, the AASM advised. Melatonin supplements do not have U.S. Food and Drug Administration oversight in the way over-the-counter or prescription medications do, and the contents can vary widely among products and brands. In one study, researchers found that melatonin ranged from less than one-half to more than four times the amount stated on the label. Chewable tablets had particularly significant variability. Some of the supplements even contained other chemicals that require medical prescriptions. “Because many sleep difficulties children experience can be fixed with behavioral changes, parents should help their child establish consistent bedtime routines and practice good sleep…  read on >  read on >

There’s an adage that in romantic relationships, opposites attract. Now, a large, new study confirms that just like many old sayings, it’s wrong. In an analysis of about 200 studies involving millions of couples, researchers came to the conclusion that there is little behind the claim that opposites attract. If anything, the one about birds of feather flocking together is much closer to the truth. When it came to the hundreds of “traits” the study analyzed — from political leanings to smoking and drinking habits — partners were almost always more alike than different. It was only in relation to 3% of traits that people tended to pair off with someone who had different inclinations, according to the findings published recently in the journal Nature Human Behaviour. To be fair to the adage, the findings do not mean that people rarely find themselves attracted to someone who is much different from them. “We looked at cohabiting and co-parenting couples,” explained lead researcher Tanya Horwitz, a doctoral candidate at the University of Colorado Boulder. “So, this study speaks to long-term relationships.” On average, the findings show, long-term partners are similar in a host of ways — from religious and political beliefs, to educational background and certain aspects of intelligence, to lifestyle habits. The results are based on data from 199 published studies involving millions of male-female…  read on >  read on >

Global warming has been linked to higher rates of asthma, heart disease and other health concerns. Now, new research suggests that rising temperatures across the planet may place pregnant women at greater risk for severe pregnancy-related illnesses, especially in their third trimester. And this is likely to get worse in the near future, said study author Anqi Jiao, a Ph.D. student at the University of California, Irvine. “Climate change will continue to impact all facets of health with increasing severity and duration of extreme heat events,” she noted. Severe maternal illness is an umbrella term for 21 serious conditions that can include heart attacks, kidney failure, sudden cardiac arrest, heart failure, anesthesia complications, blood infections, and need for a hysterectomy (removal of the uterus), among other illnesses and complications. “These women… would have died without appropriate and timely identification and intervention, but severe pregnancy-related illnesses are thought to be preventable to a large extent,” Jiao said. What’s more, these conditions can result in longer-term treatment and recovery and place a greater financial burden on families, she added. Exactly how exposure to extreme heat causes serious pregnancy complications for expectant moms is not fully understood, but the researchers have some theories. Heat exposure may lead to dehydration and an imbalance of minerals in the blood, which can cause inflammation, increased heart rate and other symptoms, Jiao…  read on >  read on >

Most American men think they’re leading a healthy lifestyle, possibly picturing themselves as a Hollywood leading man type. But their actual health habits are those of a schlubby sidekick, a new Cleveland Clinic survey reveals. The national poll found that four out of five (81%) American men believe they are leading a healthy lifestyle. But nearly half do not get a yearly physical (44%) and do not take care of their mental health (44%), researchers found. Only half said they follow a healthy diet (51%), and about a quarter (27%) admit to being couch potatoes who watch TV more than five hours a day, on average. “What they found was that the majority of men in the survey really felt like they were living a very healthy lifestyle,” said Dr. Raevti Bole, a urologist with the Center for Men’s Health in the Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. “But when you ask some of those more specific questions and got them to think about it, they found that some of those behaviors weren’t in alignment with what they had initially thought about how healthy their lifestyles were.” Cleveland Clinic issued the survey as part of its eighth annual MENtion It educational campaign. The campaign is meant to draw attention to the fact that men often do not mention health issues or take…  read on >  read on >

“Vain” isn’t a word normally associated with football players, but many wide receivers believe they look slim and fleet-footed with a lower number on their jersey rather than a higher one. New research shows these players are onto something. In two experiments, subjects shown images of players consistently said that those wearing jerseys numbered 10 to 19 looked thinner than those in jerseys 80 to 89 — even when their body sizes were the same, according to a new report in the journal PLOS ONE. Researchers say this is because the way we perceive numbers appears to influence our perceptions of body sizes. “How we perceive the world is highly influenced by our prior knowledge,” said senior researcher Ladan Shams, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of California, Los Angeles. “In our daily lives, numbers written on objects — on a bag of sugar in the supermarket or weights in the gym — usually represent the magnitude of the objects,” she said in a university news release. “The higher the number, the bigger or more massive the object generally is.” The study followed up on a 2019 ESPN report exploring why many football wide receivers prefer to wear jersey numbers between 10 and 19. A longtime NFL rule required wide receivers to wear uniform numbers between 80 and 89, but the league…  read on >  read on >

Just like adults, kids face daily stressors. Luckily, a new study suggests that teaching them creative thinking can help them manage it all. Researchers found that when school-age children learned some “narrative creativity” techniques — such as shifting your perspective and imagining “what if” scenarios — they quickly became better problem-solvers. After a week-long creativity camp, or even just a single lesson, kids showed more confidence in their ability to face life’s daily problems and come up with a “plan B” when necessary. The study was small, based on 60 kids attending the same summer camp. But experts said the findings just make sense. When kids can think flexibly, they are less likely to “panic” in the face of challenge, said study author Angus Fletcher, a professor at Ohio State University. Instead of simply giving up, he said, they are more apt to hunt for alternative solutions — a capacity called resilience. “Kids have some of the same daily challenges that adults do,” Fletcher said. “Their biggest problems aren’t in math, they’re in interacting with other kids.” Yet, Fletcher noted, schools typically focus on test scores rather than life skills. Meanwhile, parents, however well-intentioned, can also get in the way — if they rush to fix their child’s dilemma or tell them the “correct” solution. “It’s very challenging for some parents to resist that,” Fletcher…  read on >  read on >

Lee-Anne Mosselman-Clarke knows firsthand what it’s like to battle with postpartum mental health crises. She experienced difficulties after the births of her two children. “I have an 11 and 9 year old and I didn’t actually know that I had postpartum anxiety with my oldest. He had very significant health problems and I just thought I am having an awful first journey as a new mum,” she said. “It wasn’t until I got pregnant with my second that the midwife said, ‘I’d like you to talk to somebody because I think you are at risk for having postpartum depression again.’” Mosselman-Clarke, of Brant County, Ontario, Canada, has a background in social work and now works as a postpartum doula, supporting women through pregnancy and childbirth. When she heard about a new Canadian study involving group peer-delivered therapy for people battling postpartum depression, she applied immediately and was accepted as a peer facilitator. The sessions have been her passion since then. “The peer program is an incredible way to be able to talk to other people who have struggled the way you struggle without judgment or guilt or shame. And it gives an opportunity to not feel alone and to feel a lot less isolated,” Mosselman-Clarke said. The study, published Aug. 31 in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, had some considerable findings. Postpartum depression patients who received treatment…  read on >  read on >

Obesity taxes many parts of the body, but new research suggests the heart might take the hardest hit of all. Between 1999 and 2020, deaths from heart disease linked to obesity tripled in the United States, and some groups were more vulnerable than others. Specifically, Black adults had some of the highest rates of obesity-related heart disease deaths, with the highest percentage of deaths seen in Black women. The new study was published Sept. 6 in the Journal of the American Heart Association. “Our study is the first to demonstrate that this increasing burden of obesity is translating into rising heart disease deaths,” study author Dr. Zahra Raisi-Estabragh, a cardiologist and clinical lecturer at the William Harvey Research Institute in London, said in a journal news release. About 42% of Americans are now obese, an increase of almost 10% from the last decade, according to the American Heart Association. For the study, researchers analyzed data on more than 281,000 deaths from 1999 to 2020 in which obesity was listed in a contributing cause of death in a database. They also looked at race, gender and whether people lived in urban or rural areas. Overall, obesity-related heart disease deaths jumped from 2.2 per 100,000 people in 1999 to 6.6 per 100,000 people in 2020, the study showed. The rate of heart disease deaths not related to…  read on >  read on >

As waters warm across the United States and hurricanes and flooding season begins, the odds of being infected by flesh-eating bacteria are also rising, U.S. health officials warn. According to a Sept. 1 health alert from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a dozen types of the bacteria called Vibrio cause an estimated 80,000 such illnesses each year. One particular type of bacteria, Vibrio vulnificus, can cause life-threatening “flesh eating” infections. About 150 to 200 of these infections are reported each year and about one in five of those infected die; sometimes within a day or two after becoming ill, the CDC noted in a news release. Vibrio bacteria thrive in warmer water, especially during the summer months and when hurricanes hit. In the United States, infections have been mostly seen in Gulf Coast states. Not surprisingly, infections in the Eastern United States have increased eightfold from 1988 to 2018 and moved up the coast by about 30 miles per year. Connecticut, New York and North Carolina have now seen severe and fatal infections. Most people get infected by eating raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly oysters, the CDC warns. Some people, however, are infected when an open wound is exposed to the bacteria. Open wounds include those from recent surgeries, piercings, tattoos and other cuts or scrapes. Coastal floods, hurricanes and storm surges…  read on >  read on >