Lifestyle « Weekly Gravy

New moms who live on tree-lined streets may be somewhat less vulnerable to postpartum depression, according to a new study — the latest to link “green space” to better mental health. The study, of medical records from more than 415,000 new mothers, found that those living in urban areas with more tree coverage had a lower risk of being diagnosed with postpartum depression, versus women from less-green neighborhoods. The link was not explained by factors like household income, or mothers’ race or education level. Experts said the findings do not prove that living among trees lowers the likelihood of postpartum depression. But they do add to a body of research suggesting that having green space within sight is a boon for people’s mental well-being. The study also points to one reason: physical activity. It’s a lot easier to go out for a walk when you live in a tree-lined neighborhood, with its built-in shade and better air quality. And for new mothers, that may be especially important, said senior researcher Jun Wu, a professor at the University of California, Irvine. They have little time and are likely exhausted, Wu said, and getting to the park, especially if they have to drive, might be out of the question. Stepping outside into the fresh air and shade is much more doable, she suggested. Kathleen Wolf is a… read on > read on >

Tossing and turning, waking up frequently or lying awake for hours is no laughing matter. According to the National Sleep Foundation, the average adult should aim for seven to nine hours of sleep each night. Why? The Cleveland Clinic explains that lack of sleep can lead to: impaired memory relationship stress decreased quality of life increased risk of a car accident Chronic lack of sleep, or insomnia, can also lead to serious health issues including: high blood pressure diabetes cardiac issues obesity So, if you are asking yourself why can’t I sleep, here are some tips on getting better shut-eye: Try sleep restriction therapy According to Dr. Sanjeev Kothare of Northwell Medical in New Hyde Park, N.Y., “insomnia from an unknown cause or underlying anxiety or depression” is one of the more common sleep disorders. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine says that approximately 35% of adults experience insomnia at some point. One potential solution is sleep restriction therapy. The basis for this therapy is that time spent in bed and not sleeping can increase anxiety and worsen insomnia. For example: If you usually go to bed for seven hours but only sleep for five hours, then you would limit your time in bed to five hours. Once your sleep improves, slowly increase your time in bed by 15 to 30 minute increments. Initially, sleep… read on > read on >

Ongoing shortages of a medication that hospitals and emergency rooms rely upon to treat breathing problems are likely to worsen in coming days and weeks, experts warn. That’s because one of the two major U.S. suppliers of liquid albuterol, Akorn Pharmaceuticals, abruptly laid off its entire workforce and closed plants in New Jersey, New York and Illinois in late February. “We’re down to just one plant that’s supplying liquid albuterol to all patients in the United States,” said Dr. Juanita Mora, a Chicago allergist/immunologist and volunteer spokesperson for the American Lung Association. That remaining supplier of liquid albuterol, Nephron Pharmaceuticals, has had manufacturing issues of its own, exacerbating the situation even more, said Bayli Larson, a strategic initiatives associate with the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). “Another phenomenon that could be at play is institutions, anticipating the shortage, may have increased their orders to ensure they had enough on hand,” Larson added. “ASHP discourages hoarding as a countermeasure to medication supply disruptions; however, some institutions feel they have to do it to avoid jeopardizing patient care.” The shortage comes at an extremely inopportune time, Mora said. “We are about to enter allergic asthma season, where pollen levels are going to begin to rise all throughout the United States,” Mora said. “And we know so many kids and adults suffer from allergic asthma symptoms and… read on > read on >

Troubling new research finds that rates of type 1 and type 2 diabetes are continuing to increase in children and young adults. Asian or Pacific Islander, Black and Hispanic children had higher rates, the study found. “Our research suggests a growing population of young adults with diabetes who are at risk of developing complications from the disease,” said lead researcher Lynne Wagenknecht, a professor and director of public health sciences at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. “It’s a troubling trend in young people whose health care needs will exceed those of their peers,” she said in a university news release. The findings are from the final report of the large SEARCH For Diabetes in Youth study, launched in 2000 with support from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Wake Forest School of Medicine was coordinating center for the study, which included five U.S. medical centers. It identified more than 18,000 young people age 19 and under who were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and 5,200 10- to 19-year-old diagnosed with type 2 diabetes between 2002 and 2018. The annual incidence of type 1 diabetes was 22.2 per 100,000 in 2017-2018 and 17.9 per 100,000 for type 2 diabetes. “In our 17-year analysis, we found that the incidence of type 1 diabetes increased by 2% per… read on > read on >

In yet another example of the mind-body connection, people with depression symptoms may face an increased risk of having a stroke, as well as a worse recovery afterwards. A new international study, published online March 8 in the journal Neurology, found about 18% of those who had a stroke had symptoms of depression, compared to 14% of those who did not have a stroke. After adjusting for other contributing factors, researchers determined that people with symptoms of depression before stroke had an overall 46% increased risk of stroke compared to those with no symptoms of depression. As the symptoms increased, so did the higher risk of stroke. “Depression affects people around the world and can have a wide range of impacts across a person’s life,” said study author Dr. Robert Murphy, of the University of Galway in Ireland. “Our study provides a broad picture of depression and its link to risk of stroke by looking at a number of factors including participants’ symptoms, life choices and antidepressant use,” Murphy said in a journal news release. “Our results show depressive symptoms were linked to increased stroke risk and the risk was similar across different age groups and around the world.” The researchers used data from more than 26,000 adults in the INTERSTROKE study, which included 32 countries across Europe, Asia, North and South America, the Middle… read on > read on >

A new review of 137 studies from around the world has found that, despite dramatic stories about COVID-19’s impact on mental health, the psychological fallout from the pandemic has been less intense than thought. “Mental health in COVID-19 is much more nuanced than people have made it out to be,” said senior study author Brett Thombs, a Canada Research Chair and professor in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University in Montreal. “Claims that the mental health of most people has deteriorated significantly during the pandemic have been based primarily on individual studies that are ‘snapshots’ of a particular situation, in a particular place, at a particular time,” Thombs said in a university news release. “They typically don’t involve any long-term comparison with what had existed before or came after.” About 75% of study participants in the studies reviewed were adults and 25% were children and adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19. The mental health changes were minimal, researchers found, whether the studies covered the mental health of the population as a whole or that of specific groups. “This is by far the most comprehensive study on COVID-19 mental health in the world, and it shows that, in general, people have been much more resilient than many have assumed,” said study first author Ying Sun, a research coordinator from the Lady Davis Institute… read on > read on >

A new poll on sleep and mental health has found that more than 90% of adults who reported they get good sleep were also free of depressive symptoms. In its annual poll, the nonprofit National Sleep Foundation (NSF) focused this year on the impact of sleep on mental health because of the current mental health crisis in the United States. “In the day-to-day execution of our sleep health mission, we give lots of simple, evidence-based and consensus-driven tips and tools to help people get enough of the quality sleep they need. For this year’s poll, we were compelled to look again at the connection between sleep health and mental health conditions like depression,” NSF CEO John Lopos said in a foundation news release. The Sleep in America poll also found that about 65% of adults who were dissatisfied with their sleep experience had mild or greater levels of depressive symptoms. Those who reported difficulties falling or staying asleep just two nights a week had higher levels of depressive symptoms than those without sleep difficulties. About 50% of all adults who sleep less than the recommended seven to nine hours nightly experienced mild or greater levels of depressive symptoms. “One unique aspect of this year’s research was how we combined NSF’s multiple validated measures of the population’s sleep health with an established measure of depressive symptoms,… read on > read on >

When people struggle to fall asleep, it’s no surprise they seek solutions. Options can range from prescription medications to sleep therapy, good habits and an abundance of supplements. Taking magnesium for sleep is something some say has real benefits, but does it really? It’s not entirely certain, but the mineral serves a variety of other important functions, so it just might actually work. “The science on whether taking magnesium helps improve the length or quality of sleep has been mixed,” said Dr. Indira Gurubhagavatula, an associate professor of medicine in the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. Past research has had various design limitations and has not been of high enough quality to support a general recommendation for magnesium supplementation in insomnia sufferers, Gurubhagavatula said. “We don’t have definitive, large, randomized trials across healthy populations, or those with specific diseases, over long periods of time,” she said. What is magnesium? Magnesium is a mineral found in a range of foods and in dietary supplements, according to the Sleep Foundation. It produces protein, bone and DNA; maintains blood sugar and pressure; and regulates the muscles, nerves and the cardiovascular system, according to the foundation. This nutrient is needed for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body, according to the National Library of Medicine. “It is used by hundreds of enzymes… read on > read on >

Can vitamin D lower dementia risk? Quite possibly, a team of British and Canadian researchers report. In their study, investigators spent roughly a decade tracking more than 12,000 older people. None had dementia at the start of the study period. In the end, the team determined that those who had been taking vitamin D supplements during that time appeared to face a 40% lower risk for dementia, compared with those who had never taken the supplements. Even so, Claire Sexton, senior director of scientific programs and outreach at the Alzheimer’s Association, cautioned that much more research is needed to better understand a possible link between vitamin D and dementia risk. For one thing, she noted that the study team did not track how much vitamin D supplementation any of the participants took, nor how long they had been taking them. Similarly, overall patient vitamin D levels were never assessed — either at the study launch or conclusion. In addition, the study was observational, Sexton added, meaning at no point were patients told to take, or not to take, vitamin D. That means the study cannot prove that vitamin D actually causes dementia risk to fall. Still, study author Dr. Zahinoor Ismail said that fresh evidence of vitamin D’s power against dementia has “great biological plausibility.” For example, prior research indicates that people with genetic mutations… read on > read on >

A new study is enough to take your breath way: Nearly no place on Earth is free of air pollution, it found. The study “provides a deep understanding of the current state of outdoor air pollution and its impacts on human health. With this information, policymakers, public health officials and researchers can better assess the short-term and long-term health effects of air pollution and develop air pollution mitigation strategies,” said study co-author Yuming Guo, from the Monash University School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine in Melbourne, Australia. He spoke in a university news release. The researchers found that only 0.001% of the global population is exposed to World Health Organization-established safe levels of ambient fine particulate matter known as PM2.5. Only 0.18% of the global land area had safe levels of pollution, the study found. Fine particle pollution (PM2.5) is the main cause of smog in parts of the United States. It can be inhaled deep in the lungs, raising the risk of lung and heart disease. Daily pollution levels have fallen in Europe and North America over two decades, but they increased in southern Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America and the Caribbean, with more than 70% of days globally exceeding safe levels. Among the other results, the study found that in southern Asia and eastern Asia, more than 90% of days had… read on > read on >