“Body roundness” could be a better measure than BMI at predicting how excess weight might affect a person’s heart health, a new study finds. People who developed a high Body Roundness Index during a six-year period had a 163% increased risk of heart disease, researchers found, and even a moderate BRI was linked with a 61% increased risk. “Our findings indicate that six years of moderate-to-high stable BRI appeared to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, suggesting that BRI measurements may potentially be used as a predictive factor for cardiovascular disease incidence,” said senior investigator Dr. Yun Qian, a researcher of chronic non-communicable disease control at Nanjing Medical University’s Wuxi Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Body Roundness Index (BRI) compares a person’s waist circumference to their height, providing an estimate of their excess abdominal fat. By comparison, body-mass index only compares a person’s weight to their height. Some have criticized the BMI as an inaccurate measure of obesity — for example, very fit athletes can have a high BMI due to their heavy muscle mass. For the study, researchers tracked the BRI of nearly 10,000 adults in China 45 and older during the 2010s. BRI reflects not just a person’s belly fat, but also their amount of visceral fat — the fat packed in around the organs that’s thought to do the most damage related…  read on >  read on >

In a move that could mean more Americans in crisis get help and get it quickly, federal officials announced Tuesday that major cellphone carriers now have the technology to direct 988 callers to local mental health services based on their location instead of their area code. “The goal of 988 is to help people in a mental health or substance use crisis get 24/7 access to compassionate, nonjudgmental help,” Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, leader of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), said in a statement, CNN reported. “Connecting callers to local centers that can share information about their community’s services and resources helps to elevate that quality of care.” Verizon and T-Mobile started rolling out the “georouting” technology last week, CNN reported. Once fully implemented, the change will cover about half of all wireless calls to the 988 lifeline. AT&T also plans to begin the process within the next couple months. Next month, the Federal Communications Commission will vote on a rule that would require all wireless carriers to use georouting for 988 calls. If the final rule is adopted, nationwide providers will have 30 days to begin implementing the technology, while smaller providers will have two years to do so, CNN reported. “In times of crisis, every minute matters — especially when seeking help for yourself or a loved one in need of…  read on >  read on >

Only 1 in every 4 U.S. adults struggling with schizophrenia receive “minimally adequate treatment,” new data shows. Many of these patients also struggle with other mental health issues, such as substance abuse or depression, and they are further challenged by social and economic hardship, according to the new report. The data comes from the U.S. Mental and Substance Use Disorders Prevalence Study, which surveyed almost 4,800 adults aged 18 to 65 between 2020 and 2022. The study is sponsored by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency (SAMHSA). A total of 114 of those surveyed had a diagnosis of schizophrenia, according to researchers led by Natalie Bareis. She’s an assistant professor of clinical behavioral medicine at Columbia University in New York City. Bareis’ team found that, besides being diagnosed with schizophrenia, more than half (52%) of these patients also had depression, while 17% had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Suicidal thoughts ad attempts were much more common among these patients, as well. Nearly a quarter (23%) also had alcohol use disorder and 20% also used cannabis. Health care coverage was available to nearly all of the 114 patients with schizophrenia, and 70% had received some form of mental health treatment over the prior year. However, adequate levels of treatment were rare. For example, just 30% of patients were taking an antipsychotic…  read on >  read on >

Over 40 percent of U.S. adults are now obese, with rates roughly the same for men and women, new government data shows. Obesity rates fluctuated with age and fell as levels of education increased, said the report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The only good news: The rate of adult obesity did not change between 2013 and 2023, said a team led by Samuel Emmerich, an epidemiologist at the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. Obesity was defined as a BMI of 30 or above. For example, a person 5-foot 10-inches tall with a weight of 210 pounds has BMI of 30. So does a 5-foot-6 person weighing 185 lbs. Rates of severe obesity have risen among U.S. adults, however. In 2013, 7.7% of adults were severely obese, but that number jumped to 9.7% 10 years later. According to the CDC, severe obesity begins at a BMI of 40, equivalent to a 5-foot-10-inch person weighing 280 lbs. The peak time for obesity was middle age: 46.4% of adults ages 40 to 59 were obese, compared to 35.5% of those aged 20 to 39 and 38.9% of those over the age of 60, the report found. Similar trends were seen among people with severe obesity. While 44.6% of adults with only a high school degree were obese, that number fell to 31.6%…  read on >  read on >

Psilocybin could help people suffering from a mental health problem that can lead to eating disorders, a new study suggests. Psilocybin, the active chemical in “magic” mushrooms, significantly reduced symptoms in people with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), researchers reported Sept. 24 in the journal Psychedelics. BDD causes an obsessive preoccupation with perceived flaws in one’s physical appearance, and is frequently tied to eating disorders and other unhealthy behaviors, researchers said. For this pilot trial, eight people with hard-to-treat BDD received a single 25-milligram dose of psilocybin. Brain scans showed that the psilocybin treatment increased levels in connectivity between different brain regions related to emotional processing, cognitive activity and feelings and thoughts about oneself. People who had the greatest strengthening in these connections experienced the most improvement in their BDD symptoms within a week, results show. The findings “align with a growing body of evidence indicating that psychedelic compounds like psilocybin can promote mental health by enhancing the brain’s capacity for flexibility and integration,” concluded the research team led by Chen Zhang, a research assistant with the New York State Psychiatric Institute. “By facilitating communication within and between brain networks that are often dysregulated in psychiatric disorders, psilocybin may help restore more adaptive cognitive and emotional functioning,” the research team said in a journal news release. However, more studies in larger groups of people with BDD…  read on >  read on >

Psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, appears to ease depression symptoms at least as well as one of the most commonly used antidepressants, a new clinical trial shows. Patients showed significant improvement in their depressive symptoms after taking either a single dose of psilocybin or a six-week course of the SSRI antidepressant escitalopram (Lexapro), researchers reported Sept. 21 in the journal Lancet eClinicalMedicine1. They also presented the findings at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology’s annual meeting in Milan. However, patients given psilocybin also reported additional long-term benefits, including a greater sense of meaning in life and better psychological connectedness to others. “Both treatments led to comparable improvements in alleviating symptoms of depression at the six-week mark, such as sadness and negative emotions,” said lead researcher Tommaso Barba, a doctoral candidate with Imperial College London in the U.K. “However, this work shows that psilocybin outperformed escitalopram in several measures of well-being, meaning in life, work and social functioning,” Barba said in a journal news release. “These results appeared to be maintained over a six-month follow-up period.” SSRI antidepressants like Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft are one of the main types of drugs used to treat depression, researchers said. However, about a third of patients don’t respond to treatment. “SSRIs work well, but not for everyone. They are also associated with some side effects,” Barba said. “This…  read on >  read on >

Having a husband or boyfriend with adult ADHD can harm a woman’s mental stability, a new study suggests. About 3 in 5 women (59%) with male partners with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) had symptoms of depression, a rate on par with caregivers who help loved ones deal with health problems like autism, heart rhythm disorders, Alzheimer’s disease and kidney failure, researchers report. The women also had lower quality of life scores than folks whose partners suffer from health challenges like schizophrenia, depression, anxiety and stroke, results showed. “Our findings emphasize the importance of viewing ADHD as a condition that impacts not only the individual but also their close relationships,” concluded the research team led by Adina Maeir, a professor of medicine with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s School of Occupational Therapy in Israel. “By addressing the well-being of partners, we can take a more holistic approach to treatment, offering both individuals and couples the tools they need to improve their quality of life,” the researchers wrote in a university news release. For the study, the team recruited 100 heterosexual Israeli couples in which the man had been diagnosed with ADHD. On average, couples had been together for about nine years, with 65 married and 35 living together. Both the men and the women filled out questionnaires related to the man’s ADHD symptoms. Women also were screened…  read on >  read on >