Believe it or not, your spinal cord may be a pathway to better mood and even an end to depression, new research suggests. Investigators at the University of Cincinnati stressed that their pilot study — to see whether tweaking the spinal cord can ease depression — is in its very early stages. However, 20-minute sessions did seem to bring mental health benefits to participants, the team said. As the scientists explained it, the spinal cord serves (among other functions) as a kind of neuronal highway, transmitting information from throughout the body to the brain’s mood centers. The Cincinnati researchers theorized that an informational “overload” on this pathway might overwhelm the brain, playing a role in depression. So, study lead author Dr. Francisco Romo-Nava designed a noninvasive spinal cord stimulation method that he has patented. Using this technology, he and his colleagues hoped to decrease the “noise” traveling along the spinal cord, offering some relief to an overtaxed brain. “Spinal cord stimulation is thought to help the brain modulate itself as it should by decreasing the noise or decreasing the hyperactive signaling that may be in place during a depressive syndrome,” explained Romo-Nava, a research associate professor in the university’s department of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience. The current trial was small, just 20 patients diagnosed with depression. Three times a week for eight weeks, half of…  read on >  read on >

Kids are home for the holidays, but the wonders of the season can pose problems for children with asthma. Sources of joy like Christmas trees, a Yule log burning or Grandma’s pet dog can all be unexpected asthma triggers, warns the American Lung Association. Parents should talk with their kid’s doctor about creating an asthma action plan based on their plans for the holidays, the ALA says. Such a plan could alert them to early warning signs and help them manage symptoms during a flare-up. They also should keep the following holiday hazards in mind while crafting such a plan. Holiday scents Popular holiday-scented items like candles, dried potpourri, scented pine cones and cinnamon brooms all pose a similar risk to children with asthma as air fresheners do year-round, the ALA warns. Cinnamon brooms in particular create a powerful asthma-triggering scent. Parents should refrain from hanging cinnamon brooms in their home, and instead bake cinnamon-, vanilla- or citrus-laced goodies to provide a festive aroma. Parents who crave the ambiance of candlelight should opt for either non-scented candles or battery-operated flameless candles, the ALA adds. Christmas decorations A live Christmas tree might be one of the ultimate holiday traditions, but a pine tree can harbor asthma triggers like mold and pollen, the ALA warns. Even the strong smell of pine can be a trigger. Parents should…  read on >  read on >

What’s even more nerve-wracking than paying taxes? The holidays, according to a majority of Americans, who say it takes them weeks to recover from seasonal stress.  “The holidays are an easy time to justify putting off healthy habits, but it’s important to manage chronic stress and other risk factors to stay healthy during the holiday season and into the New Year,” said Dr. Glenn Levine, lead writer of the American Heart Association’s (AHA) 2021 statement on psychological health, well-being and the mind-heart-body connection. He warned in an AHA news release that chronic stress that isn’t managed can have a negative impact on long-term mental and physical health. And the holiday season provides a perfect storm of stressors, as folks struggle to balance work, family, budgets and everyday obligations as well as the festivities that make this time of year special. That’s why 63% of respondents in the AHA’s new nationwide survey of 1,000 U.S. adults called the holidays more stressful than tax season, and 51% said it takes them weeks to bounce back.  The holidays can be especially trying for moms, the survey showed. More than a quarter of mothers said it takes them a month or more to regain equilibrium. Almost 80% of respondents said they’re so intent on making the season special for others that they neglect their own needs. Priorities that fall…  read on >  read on >

Anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress are common among people caring for the victim of a recent stroke, a new study has found. Nearly 30% of caregivers of severe stroke patients experience stress and emotional problems during the first year after the patient leaves the hospital, according to a report in the journal Neurology. “This research suggests that depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress are common among family members who make life and death decisions for their loved ones who are very sick,” said Dr. Lewis Morgenstern, a professor of neurology, neurosurgery and emergency medicine at University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor. “As physicians, we usually concentrate on our patients, and it is important to recognize that caregivers may have long-term consequences from a loved one’s severe illness,” he added. The new study focused on stroke survivors and caregivers in Nueces County, Texas, between April 2016 and October 2020. Between 17% and 28% of caregivers reported high levels on measures of psychological distress, which include anxiety, depression and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), the study found. As many as 16% of caregivers experienced all three as they attempted to look after their loved one, researchers said. PTSD was worse among Mexican-American caregivers than white caregivers. Depression scores improved more rapidly over time among white caregivers. “There are important support systems for families in hospitals, which include…  read on >  read on >

Beyond a myriad of other consequences, childhood trauma appears to raise the specter of chronic pain in adulthood, new research shows. Researchers pored over 75 years’ worth of data involving more than 826,000 people. That included information on levels of neglect or physical, emotional or sexual abuse, plus other serious trauma of childhood. Their review found strong links between a history of childhood physical abuse, especially, and chronic pain conditions decades later. But other forms of “adverse childhood experiences” (ACEs) appeared linked, too.  “These results are extremely concerning, particularly as over 1 billion children – half of the global child population – are exposed to ACEs each year, putting them at increased risk of chronic pain and disability later in life,” said study lead author André Bussières, an assistant professor of physical and occupational therapy at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.  The findings — based on data from 57 studies — were published Dec. 19 in the European Journal of Psychotraumatology. Besides various forms of abuse, other trauma included in the new analysis involved domestic violence, living with a family member who has substance abuse, or the loss of a parent.  Conditions of adult chronic pain in the study included low back pain, arthritis, headache and migraine, often severe enough to interfere with daily living.  Overall, kids exposed directly to neglect or physical, sexual or…  read on >  read on >

Long left to the fringes of the recreational drug culture, psilocybin — the hallucinatory ingredient in “magic mushrooms” — has recently been making inroads as a legitimate (and fast-acting) antidepressant. Research published Dec. 18 in Cancer shows its benefits may extend to people battling cancer, who often experience the added burden of depression. “As an oncologist for many years, I experienced the frustration of not being able to provide cancer care that treats the whole person, not just the tumor,” said study lead author Dr. Manish Agrawal.  “This was a small, open-label study and more research needs to be done, but the potential is significant and could have implications for helping millions of patients with cancer who are also struggling with the severe psychological impact of the disease,” he added in a journal news release.   Agrawal is CEO of Sunstone Therapies, based in Rockland, Md, which funded the phase 2 trial. In the trial, 30 people with cancer who were experiencing moderate-to-severe depression got a single, 25 milligram dose of synthesized psilocybin. They also received one-on-one sessions with a therapist and group therapy sessions before, during and after the treatment. Key to patient outcomes was the fact that people were prepped for the treatment beforehand and then received the therapy in these small groups of three to four people, researchers said.  Sharing the overall…  read on >  read on >

Exposure to a common chemical group found in many household products may delay or even prevent a woman from becoming pregnant, a new study says. Phthalates can lower a woman’s odds of becoming pregnant by up to 18% in any given month, researchers report in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Phthalates are chemicals found in products like shampoo, makeup, soaps, hair sprays, toys, vinyl flooring and medical devices. These chemicals are known “endocrine disruptors,” substances that can influence and alter the way hormones function in the human body. “Phthalates are ubiquitous endocrine disruptors and we’re exposed to them every day,” lead researcher Carrie Nobles said in a news release. She’s an assistant professor of environmental health sciences in the University of Massachusetts Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences. For their study, Nobles and her colleagues analyzed data on more than 1,200 women who were followed through six menstrual cycles as they attempted to get pregnant, as part of previous research on the effect of low-dose aspirin on birth rates. “We were able to look at some environmental exposures like phthalates and how that relates to how long it takes to get pregnant,” Nobles said. “There was detailed data for each menstrual cycle, so we had a good handle on the date of ovulation and the timing of pregnancy when that happened.” The body…  read on >  read on >