Omega-3 fatty acids tied to fewer childhood asthma symptoms

A six-month study of children from Baltimore City by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers has added to evidence that having more omega-3 fatty acids in the diet results in fewer asthma symptoms triggered by indoor air pollution. The same study suggests that higher amounts of dietary omega-6 fatty acids may have the opposite effect, and be associated with more severe asthma.
The researchers say results of the study, published online March 29th in American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, suggest that families and health care providers may be able to protect children from harmful effects of indoor air pollution by having them eat more foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, and reducing foods rich in omega-6 fatty acids, such as soybean oil and corn oil in their diet. Ultimately, policy changes in school lunches could play a role in providing these nutrients in diets.
"Our group is working on ways to reduce the levels of indoor air pollution in Baltimore City homes," said Emily Brigham, M.D., M.H.S, lead study author and assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "Results are promising, but we don't want to stop there."
Indoor air pollution, from sources including cooking, cleaning activities (i.e., sweeping) and cigarette smoke, is a known trigger for asthma symptoms. Earlier work by the research group demonstrated that levels of indoor air pollution, specifically particles in the air in homes in Baltimore City, often exceed acceptable standards for outdoor air quality as set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Brigham notes there is mounting evidence that diet, particularly omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid levels, may play a role in lung health by changing how the body responds to and processes inflammation. Omega-3 fatty acids, which are found abundantly in fish and certain nuts and seeds, are considered healthy in part because they reduce inflammation. Omega-6 fatty acids, primarily found in vegetable oils (including corn, soybean, safflower and sunflower), have been shown in other studies to have mixed effects on health, but have the potential to promote inflammation. Because children with asthma are already prone to inflammation and respiratory symptoms, the researchers hypothesized that omega-3 and omega-6 intake might be related to asthma severity, and how children responded to the air pollution in their homes.
The new study included 135 children with asthma, ages 5 to 12. Ninety-six percent of the children were African-American, and 47 percent were girls. Roughly a third of the children had mild, a third moderate, and a third severe asthma. The researchers defined asthma severity based on National Asthma Education and Prevention Program guidelines, which take into account symptoms, inhaler use and how well the lungs can forcefully breathe out. Generally, the more symptoms, the more medication use, and worse lung function, the more severe their asthma is considered. Diet, asthma symptoms (recorded daily) and inhaler use (also recorded daily) were reported by the participants and caregivers in surveys for one week each at enrollment, and again at three and six months. Researchers also collected blood samples to assess for changes in markers of inflammation each time participants filled out the surveys.
During each of the assessment weeks, the equipment in the participants' homes measured two size ranges of air pollution: particles with diameters of 10 micrometers and smaller (one-sixth the width of a human hair or less) and particles with diameters of 2.5 micrometers and smaller. When inhaled, the larger particles typically deposit along the airways, whereas the smaller particles can penetrate farther into the lungs, reaching the tiny air sacs. Both size ranges, though invisible to the naked eye, have been linked to asthma symptoms in children and adults. The average concentration for the smaller particles in children's homes was 26.8 micrograms per cubic meter (annual EPA standard for outdoor air is 12 micrograms per cubic meter), and the average concentration for the range including larger ones was 39 micrograms per cubic meter.
The study found that for each additional gram of omega-6 intake, children had 29 percent higher odds of being in a more severe asthma category. Each additional gram of omega-6 in the diet was associated with a 2 percent increase in the odds of daytime symptoms in response to increased pollution levels of small particles by 10 micrograms per cubic meter (essentially, children who ate more omega-6 were more likely to have symptoms even at the same level of pollution exposure). The results were similar for larger particle pollution, and for the outcomes of nighttime symptoms and inhaler use. More omega-6 in the diet was also associated with higher percentages of a type of white blood cell linked with inflammation, neutrophils, in response to pollution.
Conversely, with each 0.1-gram increase in levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the diet reported on the survey, researchers saw 3 to 4 percent lower odds of daytime asthma symptoms in response to increases in both size ranges of air pollution by 10 micrograms per cubic meter (essentially, children who ate more omega-3 were less likely to have symptoms even at the same level of air pollution exposure).
The researchers noted that the changes they used for omega-6 compared to omega-3 were 10 times higher. The investigators say this was intentional based on suggested dietary guidelines by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for children. The USDA recommends omega-3 levels of 0.9-1.6 grams per day (equivalent to that in an approximately 3-ounce serving of salmon) and omega-6 levels of 10-16 grams per day (equivalent to that in around 3 grams or half a tablespoon of soybean oil, which many fast-food restaurants use to fry their food).
The researchers say that many children in the U.S., including those in Baltimore City, where they conducted the research, consume a diet that deviates sharply from national guidelines. The diet consists of low amounts of omega-3-rich foods, and higher amounts of omega-6-rich foods, consistent with a typical American diet. The researchers recognize and acknowledge that many places where low-income people live are food deserts that lack access to healthy options, and that foods rich in omega-3s may be more expensive. If diet proves to directly impact asthma health, eliminating these barriers will be a key step in reducing health inequalities and in combating asthma disparities in Baltimore City and elsewhere. Brigham says, "Among populations known to be disproportionately affected by asthma, we may find that improving diet and air pollution together has the greatest impact on health."
Because the study used a questionnaire to assess diet, completed by children and caregivers, the researchers acknowledge that errors in reporting are possible, one of the major limitations in dietary studies. However, the researchers used a questionnaire designed for residents of Baltimore City, with the hope of capturing relevant and common local foods and limiting this issue.
Because this new study was observational rather than a randomized, controlled trial, the researchers said it doesn't prove cause and effect between fatty acids and asthma severity or symptoms. It's possible that other factors may have contributed to the relationship between fatty acids and asthma.
Asthma is a chronic lung disease associated with the inflammation and narrowing of airways. It causes symptoms such as wheezing, chest tightness, shortness of breath and coughing. According to the EPA, 6.1 million children in the U.S. have asthma, and the average annual medical cost is around $983 per child. Particularly, indoor environmental triggers such as dust mites, mold, cockroaches, pet dander and secondhand smoke can worsen asthma symptoms.

Exercise is more critical than diet to maintain weight loss P

s

A new study from the University of Colorado Anschutz Health and Wellness Center (AHWC) at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus revealed physical activity does more to maintain substantial weight loss than diet.
The study, published in the March issue of Obesity, was selected as the Editor's Choice article.
"This study addresses the difficult question of why so many people struggle to keep weight off over a long period. By providing evidence that a group of successful weight-loss maintainers engages in high levels of physical activity to prevent weight regain - rather than chronically restricting their energy intake - is a step forward to clarifying the relationship between exercise and weight-loss maintenance," said Danielle Ostendorf, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at the CU Anschutz Health and Wellness Center.
The findings reveal that successful weight-loss maintainers rely on physical activity to remain in energy balance (rather than chronic restriction of dietary intake) to avoid weight regain. In the study, successful weight-loss maintainers are individuals who maintain a reduced body weight of 30 pounds or more for over a year.
Key findings include:

• The total calories burned (and consumed) each day by weight-loss maintainers was significantly higher (300 kcal/day) compared with that in individuals with normal body weight controls but was not significantly different from that in the individuals with overweight/obesity.
• Notably, of the total calories burned, the amount burned in physical activity by weight-loss maintainers was significantly higher (180 kcal/day) compared with that in both individuals of normal body weight and individuals with overweight/obesity. Despite the higher energy cost of moving a larger body mass incurred by individuals with overweight/obesity, weight-loss maintainers were burning more energy in physical activity, suggesting they were moving more.
• This is supported by the fact that the weight-loss maintainer group also demonstrated significantly higher levels of steps per day (12,000 steps per day) compared to participants at a normal body weight (9,000 steps per day) and participants with overweight/obesity (6,500 steps per day).

"Our findings suggest that this group of successful weight-loss maintainers are consuming a similar number of calories per day as individuals with overweight and obesity but appear to avoid weight regain by compensating for this with high levels of physical activity," said Victoria A. Catenacci, MD, a weight management physician and researcher at CU Anschutz Medical Campus.
The study looked at successful weight-loss maintainers compared to two other groups: controls with normal body weight (Body Mass Index (BMI) similar to the current BMI of the weight-loss maintainers); and controls with overweight/obesity (whose current BMI was similar to the pre-weight-loss BMI of the maintainers). The weight-loss maintainers had a body weight of around 150 pounds, which was similar to the normal weight controls, while the controls with overweight and obesity had a body weight of around 213 pounds.
This study is one of the few to measure total daily energy expenditure in weight-reduced individuals using the gold standard doubly labeled water method. This method allows researchers to precisely determine an individual's energy expenditure through collecting urine samples over one to two weeks after people are given a dose of doubly labeled water. Doubly labeled water is water in which both the hydrogen and the oxygen atoms have been replaced (i.e. labeled) with an uncommon isotope of these elements for tracing purposes.
The measure of total daily energy expenditure from doubly labeled water also provides an estimate of energy intake when people are weight stable, as they were in this study. Prior studies used questionnaires or diet diaries to measure energy intake, which have significant limitations.
The researchers also measured each individual's resting metabolic rate in order to understand how much of the total daily energy expenditure is from energy expended at rest versus energy expended during physical activity. Prior studies used self-reported measures or activity monitors to measure physical activity, which are techniques that cannot provide the same accuracy.
The findings are consistent with results from the longitudinal study of "The Biggest Loser" contestants, where physical activity energy expenditure was strongly correlated with weight loss and weight gain after six years.

Liquid meal replacements contributed to greater weight loss than low-calorie diets

Liquid meal replacements helped overweight diabetes patients lose an average of about five pounds more than others who tried a conventional low-calorie diet, according to a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
The analysis, which was commissioned by the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, compared outcomes of patients on various diets after 24 weeks and also found liquid meal replacements contributed to better reductions of body mass index and systolic blood pressure.
The review is published in Diabetes Care, a journal of the American Diabetes Association.
"This study suggests there's one more tool for patients with diabetes to help them meet their weight-loss goals," said lead author Dr. John Sievenpiper of Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital.
"This is another way to achieve weight-loss goals but I'd emphasize there is no best way. The method that's superior is the one the individual themselves is able to follow and sustain."
The median estimated dose of liquid meal replacement being used by patients represented about 20 percent of their total energy intake. This review suggests the use of liquid meal replacements within a structured dietary plan may offer a viable solution when replacing one or two meals each day and supplemented with fruits, vegetables and nuts to achieve a targeted daily caloric intake.
"I think liquid meal replacements could be a way to get to weight loss and then work on achieving a healthier diet to maintain that weight loss," said Dr. Sievenpiper, who is also a scientist with the hospital's Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute and the Clinical Nutrition and Risk Modification Centre.
The review also analyzed how liquid meal replacements performed in randomized controlled trials for other factors such as body fat, waist circumference and diastolic blood pressure but only marginal clinical significance was observed.

Just seeing reminders of coffee can stimulate the brain

Just looking at something that reminds us of coffee can cause our minds to become more alert and attentive, according to a new University of Toronto study.

"Coffee is one of the most popular beverages and a lot is known about its physical effects," said Sam Maglio, an associate professor in the department of management at U of T Scarborough and the Rotman School of Management.
"Much less is known about its psychological meaning -- in other words, how even seeing reminders of it can influence how we think."
The study, co-authored by Maglio and published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition, looks at an effect called priming, through which exposure to even subtle cues can influence our thoughts and behaviour.
"People often encounter coffee-related cues, or think about coffee, without actually ingesting it," says Maglio, an expert on consumer behaviour.
"We wanted to see if there was an association between coffee and arousal such that if we simply exposed people to coffee-related cues, their physiological arousal would increase, as it would if they had actually drank coffee."
Arousal in psychology refers to how specific areas of the brain get activated into a state of being alert, awake and attentive. It can be triggered by a number of things, including our emotions, neurotransmitters in the brain, or the caffeinated beverages we consume.
In this case the researchers, including Maglio and Eugene Chan, a former PhD student at Rotman, wanted to explore how simply being exposed to things that remind us of coffee may have an effect on arousal.
Across four separate studies and using a mix of participants from western and eastern cultures, they compared coffee- and tea-related cues. They found that participants exposed to coffee-related cues perceived time as shorter and thought in more concrete, precise terms.
"People who experience physiological arousal -- again, in this case as the result of priming and not drinking coffee itself -- see the world in more specific, detailed terms," says Maglio, whose past research has looked at how uncertainty can affect our perception of time.
"This has a number of implications for how people process information and make judgments and decisions."
However, the effect was not as strong among participants who grew up in eastern cultures. Maglio speculates that the association between coffee and arousal is not as strong in less coffee-dominated cultures.
"In North America we have this image of a prototypical executive rushing off to an important meeting with a triple espresso in their hand. There's this connection between drinking caffeine and arousal that may not exist in other cultures."
Past U of T research has looked at the effect of other primed associations, notes Maglio. One study found that merely looking at a fast food restaurant logo may lessen our ability to slow down and savour pleasurable experiences in life.
Maglio says next steps for the research will look at associations people have for different foods and beverages. Just thinking about energy drinks or red wine, for example, could have very different effects on arousal.

Eating small amounts of red and processed meats may increase risk of death c

A new study out of Loma Linda University Health suggests that eating red and processed meats -- even in small amounts -- may increase the risk of death from all causes, especially cardiovascular disease.

Saeed Mastour Alshahrani, lead author of the study and a doctoral student at Loma Linda University School of Public Health, said the research fills an important gap left by previous studies that looked at relatively higher levels of red meat intake and compared them with low intakes.
"A question about the effect of lower levels of intakes compared to no-meat eating remained unanswered," Alshahrani said. "We wanted to take a closer look at the association of low intakes of red and processed meat with all-cause, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer mortality compared to those who didn't eat meat at all."
This study, "Red and Processed Meat and Mortality in a Low Meat Intake Population" is part of the Adventist Health Study-2 (AHS-2), a prospective cohort study of approximately 96,000 Seventh-day Adventist men and women in the United States and Canada. The principal investigator of AHS-2 is Gary E. Fraser, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and epidemiology at Loma Linda University Health.
Adventists are a unique population -- approximately 50 percent are vegetarians, and those who consume meat do so at low levels. This allowed researchers to investigate the effect of low levels of red and processed meat intake compared to zero-intake in a large setting such as the Adventist Health Study.
The study evaluated the deaths of over 7,900 individuals over an 11-year period. Diet was assessed by a validated quantitative food frequency questionnaire and mortality outcome data were obtained from the National Death Index. Of those individuals who consumed meat, 90 percent of them only ate about two ounces or less of red meat per day.
Nearly 2,600 of the reported deaths were due to cardiovascular disease, and over 1,800 were cancer deaths. Processed meat -- modified to improve flavor through curing, smoking, or salting (such as ham and salami) -- alone was not significantly associated with risk of mortality possibly due to a very small proportion of the population who consume such meat. However, the total intake of red and processed meat was associated with relatively higher risks of total and cardiovascular disease deaths.
Michael Orlich, MD, PhD, co-director of AHS-2 and co-author of the present study, said these new findings support a significant body of research that affirms the potential ill health effects of red and processed meats.
"Our findings give additional weight to the evidence already suggesting that eating red and processed meat may negatively impact health and lifespan," Orlich said.

Cannabis during pregnancy bumps psychosis risk in offspring

Pregnant women who use cannabis may slightly increase the risk their unborn child will develop psychosis later in life, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis.
"Our research shows that prenatal marijuana exposure after maternal knowledge of pregnancy is associated with a small increase in psychosis proneness during middle childhood or about age 10," said Jeremy Fine, an undergraduate majoring in psychological & brain sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University and the study's lead author.
The findings come on the heels of several national studies documenting a dramatic increase in marijuana usage by pregnant women, including a 2018 study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis that found past-month marijuana use among pregnant mothers in the United States increased by 75 percent between 2002 (2.85 percent) and 2016 (4.98 percent).
As more states legalize medicinal and recreational use of cannabis, other reports suggest that many marijuana dispensaries commonly suggest cannabis as a natural cure for pregnancy related nausea.
This latest study, published March 27 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, suggests that pregnant women should be discouraged from using cannabis at any time in their pregnancy because so little is yet known about its health effects.
But its findings also raise new concerns that prenatal exposure to cannabis may pose a greater risk after the fetal brain begins to develop a receptor system for endocannabinoids, which are part of the naturally occurring neurotransmitter network through which cannabis affects the brain.
"One possible explanation for the finding of increased psychosis risk for marijuana use following, but not before, knowledge of pregnancy is that the endocannabinoid receptor system may not be in place during the early weeks of pregnancy," said Ryan Bogdan, associate professor of psychological & brain sciences and senior author of the paper. "Prenatal cannabis exposure may be associated with later psychosis proneness in offspring only when there is sufficient fetal endocannabinoid type 1 receptor expression, which may not occur until after many mothers learn they are pregnant."
Bogdan, who directs the Washington University BRAIN Lab where the research took place, said these latest findings build on other basic research suggesting that endocannabinoid signaling may contribute to processes, such as neurogenesis and neural migration, that play important roles in early development of brain structure and connections.
"This study raises the intriguing possibility there may be developmental windows during which cannabis exposure may be more likely to increase psychosis risk," he said.
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the principal psychoactive component of marijuana, mimics our body's endocannabinoids and binds to endocannabinoid receptors to exert its effects. Various studies have confirmed that THC crosses the placental barrier to gain access to the developing fetus.
"Data from rodent studies suggest that the endocannabinoid type 1 receptor, through which the psychoactive effects of THC largely arise, is not expressed until the equivalent of 5-6 weeks of human gestation," Fine said. "Given that mothers in our study on average learned of their pregnancy at 7.7 weeks, it is plausible that any impact of THC on psychosis risk would not arise until sufficient endocannabinoid type 1 receptors are expressed."
The BRAIN Lab findings are based on data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, an ongoing longitudinal study of child health and brain development with data collection sites throughout the nation. They used data from the initial ABCD baseline data release which included survey responses from 3,774 mothers about marijuana usage during 3,926 pregnancies. Risk of psychosis in the 4,361 children born from these pregnancies between 2005 and 2008 was measured using a questionnaire administered to the children between ages 8.9 and 11 years.
Among the 4,361 children sampled in this study, 201 (4.61 percent) were reported to have been exposed to marijuana before birth. Of these, 138 were exposed only before mothers knew they were pregnant; two were exposed only after the mother knew she was pregnant.
Bogdan and his co-authors acknowledge that the study has many limitations, including the small sample of prenatal cannabis-exposed offspring; potential maternal underreporting of use during pregnancy; imprecise data on timing, amount, frequency and potency of cannabis exposure; absence of data on whether childhood psychosis proneness is associated with conversion to psychosis; and lack of data on some potential confounders, such as maternal stress and genetic risk of psychosis among parents.
"Our research is correlational and as such cannot draw causal conclusions," said Allison Moreau, study co-author and a graduate student in psycholody at Washington University. "However, that the relationship between prenatal marijuana exposure following maternal knowledge of pregnancy was associated with offspring psychosis proneness after accounting for potentially confounding variables -- such as maternal education, prenatal vitamin usage, prenatal alcohol and nicotine use, child substance use, and so on -- increases the plausibility that prenatal cannabis exposure may contribute to a small risk of increased psychosis liability in children."
The study provides further evidence that expectant mothers should think twice before considering cannabis usage during pregnancy.
"Given increasing cannabis accessibility and potency, as well as growing public perceptions that it's safe to use, it is critical for additional research to understand the potential adverse consequences and benefits of cannabis throughout development and how these associations may arise." Bogdan said. "In the meantime, evidence that prenatal marijuana use is associated with a small increase in offspring psychosis proneness suggests that marijuana use during pregnancy should be discouraged until more is known."

On the keto diet? Ditch the cheat day,

The often embraced 'cheat day' is a common theme in many diets and the popular ketogenic diet is no exception. But new research from UBC's Okanagan campus says that just one 75-gram dose of glucose--the equivalent a large bottle of soda or a plate of fries--while on a high fat, low carbohydrate diet can lead to damaged blood vessels.
"The ketogenic--or keto--diet has become very common for weight loss or to manage diseases like type 2 diabetes," says Jonathan Little, associate professor in the School of Health and Exercise Sciences at UBCO and study senior author. "It consists of eating foods rich in fats, moderate in protein, but very low in carbohydrates and it causes the body to go into a state called ketosis."
Little says the diet can be very effective because once the body is in ketosis and starved for its preferred fuel glucose, the body's chemistry changes and it begins to aggressively burn its fat stores. This leads to weight loss and can reverse the symptoms of diseases like Type 2 diabetes.
"We were interested in finding out what happens to the body's physiology once a dose of glucose is reintroduced," says Cody Durrer, UBC Okanagan doctoral student and study first author. "Since impaired glucose tolerance and spikes in blood sugar levels are known to be associated with an increased risk in cardiovascular disease, it made sense to look at what was happening in the blood vessels after a sugar hit."
For their test, the researchers recruited nine healthy young males and had them consume a 75-gram glucose drink before and after a seven-day high fat, low carbohydrate diet. The diet consisted of 70 per cent fat, 10 per cent carbohydrates and 20 per cent protein, similar to that of a modern ketogenic diet.
"We were originally looking for things like an inflammatory response or reduced tolerance to blood glucose," says Durrer. "What we found instead were biomarkers in the blood suggesting that vessel walls were being damaged by the sudden spike in glucose."
Little says the most likely culprit for the damage is the body's own metabolic response to excess blood sugar, which causes blood vessel cells to shed and possibly die.
"Even though these were otherwise healthy young males, when we looked at their blood vessel health after consuming the glucose drink, the results looked like they might have come from someone with poor cardiovascular health," adds Little. "It was somewhat alarming."
The researchers point out that with only nine individuals included in the study, more work is needed to verify their findings, but that the results should give those on a keto diet pause when considering a cheat day.
"My concern is that many of the people going on a keto diet--whether it's to lose weight, to treat Type 2 diabetes, or some other health reason--may be undoing some of the positive impacts on their blood vessels if they suddenly blast them with glucose," he says. "Especially if these people are at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease in the first place."
"Our data suggests a ketogenic diet is not something you do for six days a week and take Saturday off."

Does running cadence matter? Not as much as previously thought

Contrary to long-standing popular belief, running at a prescribed, one-size-fits-all "optimal" cadence doesn't play as big a role in speed and efficiency as once thought.
Since the 1980s, when running coach Jack Daniels noted that the step rate for runners in the 1984 Olympics was about 180 per minute, it's been widely touted as a means to reduce injury or improve speed, said Geoff Burns, an elite marathoner and University of Michigan doctoral student in kinesiology.
"It's one of the few biomechanical measures we have that is a gross system-level output for running," he said.
To find out what determines cadence and how much cadence really matters, Burns had the top 20 elite male and female runners record their cadence during the 100K International Association of Ultrarunners World Championship in 2016.
While the average number of steps per minute was 182, the number of steps per minute per mile varied enormously by individual.
"Some ran at 160 steps per minutes and others ran at 210 steps per minute, and it wasn't related at all to how good they were or how fast they were," Burns said. "Height influenced it a little bit, but even people who were the same height had an enormous amount of variability."
The main takeaway for runners is that cadence is highly individual, and your body knows what's optimal, said Burns, a third-year Ph.D. student in Professor Ronald Zernicke's lab. This means runners shouldn't necessarily try to manipulate cadence to reach the 180 steps, but rather, monitor cadence as their running progresses.
"It's a barometer and not a governor," he said. "There's no magical number that's dogmatically right for everybody."
For years, many coaches and practitioners thought that cadence should remain constant as speed increases, which required longer steps. Burns says longer steps takes more energy, and his study found that cadence naturally increased four to five steps per minute per mile as runners ran faster.
Other findings surprised Burns, as well. First, step cadence was preserved through the race, even during the torturous "ultra shuffle" near the end--when racers shuffle across the finish line, barely lifting their feet.
Burns assumed that exhausted runners would take shorter, choppier steps. But surprisingly, when researchers controlled for speed, cadence stayed constant.
Another unexpected finding is that by the end of a race, cadence varied much less per minute, as if the fatigued runner's body had locked into an optimal steps-per-minute turnover. It's unclear why, Burns said, but this deserves further study.
An ultramarathon is anything longer than a traditional marathon of 26 miles. As a semi-pro ultramarathoner, Burns spends about two hours a day running and another two hours a day on conditioning--in addition to his doctoral work.
"It's a really unique symbiotic relationship," he said. "My running informs my research and helps me not just ask novel questions and gain insight and perspective into the craft, but also helps me refine how I prepare for races."
Burns' research appears in the February issue of Applied Physiology.

A simple strategy to improve your mood in 12 minutes

- 

We all have a remedy - a glass of wine or a piece of chocolate - for lifting our spirits when we're in a bad mood. Rather than focusing on ways to make ourselves feel better, a team of Iowa State University researchers suggests wishing others well.
"Walking around and offering kindness to others in the world reduces anxiety and increases happiness and feelings of social connection," said Douglas Gentile, professor of psychology. "It's a simple strategy that doesn't take a lot of time that you can incorporate into your daily activities."
Gentile, Dawn Sweet, senior lecturer in psychology; and Lanmiao He, graduate student in psychology, tested the benefits of three different techniques intended to reduce anxiety and increase happiness or well-being. They did this by having college students walk around a building for 12 minutes and practice one of the following strategies:

• Loving-kindness: Looking at the people they see and thinking to themselves, "I wish for this person to be happy." Students were encouraged to really mean it as they were thinking it.
• Interconnectedness: Looking at the people they see and thinking about how they are connected to each other. It was suggested that students think about the hopes and feelings they may share or that they might take a similar class.
• Downward social comparison: Looking at the people they see and thinking about how they may be better off than each of the people they encountered.

The study, published in the Journal of Happiness Studies, also included a control group in which students were instructed to look at people and focus on what they see on the outside, such as their clothing, the combination of colors, textures as well as makeup and accessories. All students were surveyed before and after the walk to measure anxiety, happiness, stress, empathy and connectedness.
Love and kindness wins The researchers compared each technique with the control group and found those who practiced loving-kindness or wished others well felt happier, more connected, caring and empathetic, as well as less anxious. The interconnectedness group was more empathetic and connected. Downward social comparison showed no benefit, and was significantly worse than the loving-kindness technique.
Students who compared themselves to others felt less empathetic, caring and connected than students who extended well wishes to others. Previous studies have shown downward social comparison has a buffering effect when we are feeling bad about ourselves. ISU researchers found the opposite.
"At its core, downward social comparison is a competitive strategy," Sweet said. "That's not to say it can't have some benefit, but competitive mindsets have been linked to stress, anxiety and depression."
The researchers also examined how different types of people reacted to each technique. They expected people who were naturally mindful might benefit more from the loving-kindness strategy, or narcissistic people might have a hard time wishing for others to be happy. They were somewhat surprised by the results.
"This simple practice is valuable regardless of your personality type," Lanmiao He said. "Extending loving-kindness to others worked equally well to reduce anxiety, increase happiness, empathy and feelings of social connection."
Social media comparisons Social media is like a playground for comparisons: he makes more money than I; she has a nicer car. While the study did not look specifically at social media, Gentile says the results demonstrate that comparison is a risky strategy.
"It is almost impossible not to make comparisons on social media," Gentile said. "Our study didn't test this, but we often feel envy, jealousy, anger or disappointment in response to what we see on social media, and those emotions disrupt our sense of well-being."
Comparison works well when we are learning something or making a choice, Gentile said. For example, as children we learn by watching others and comparing their results to ours. However, when it comes to well-being, comparison is not as effective as loving-kindness, which consistently improves happiness.

For migraine sufferers with obesity, losing weight can decrease headaches

---

For migraine sufferers with obesity, losing weight can decrease headaches and improve quality of life, researchers from Italy and the United States report. The results of their meta-analysis will be presented Saturday, March 23 at ENDO 2019, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in New Orleans, La.

"If you suffer from migraine headaches and are obese, losing weight will ameliorate the quality of your family and social life as well as your work and school productivity. Your overall quality of life will greatly improve," said lead study author Claudio Pagano, M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Padova in Padova, Italy.
"Weight loss in adults and children with obesity greatly improves migraine headache by improving all the main features that worsen migraineurs' quality of life," he added. "When people lose weight, the number of days per month with migraine decreases, as does pain severity and headache attack duration."
To investigate the effects of weight loss achieved through bariatric surgery or behavioral intervention on migraine frequency and severity, Pagano and his colleagues reviewed the standard online medical research databases for studies that considered pain intensity, headache frequency, attack duration, disability; and BMI, BMI change, intervention (bariatric surgery versus behavioral), and population (adult versus pediatric).
In a meta-analysis of the 473 patients in the 10 studies that met the researchers' inclusion criteria, they found that weight loss was linked with significant reductions in headache frequency, pain intensity and disability (all p<0 .0001="" as="" attack="" duration="" p="0.01).</p" well=""> Migraine improvement was not linked with either degree of obesity at baseline or amount of weight reduction. Also, the effect on migraine was similar when weight reduction was achieved through bariatric surgery or behavioral intervention and was comparable in adults and children.
"Weight loss reduces the impact of conditions associated with obesity, including diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke and respiratory diseases," Pagano said. "Obesity and migraine are common in industrialized countries. Improving quality of life and disability for these patients will greatly impact these populations and reduce direct and indirect healthcare costs."
The mechanisms linking obesity, weight loss and migraine headache remain unclear, according to the authors, but they may include alterations in chronic inflammation, adipocytokines, obesity comorbidities, and behavioral and psychological risk factors.

---

Exercise helps prevent cartilage damage caused by arthritis

Exercise helps to prevent the degradation of cartilage caused by osteoarthritis, according to a new study from Queen Mary University of London.
The researchers show for the first time how mechanical forces experienced by cells in joints during exercise prevent cartilage degradation by suppressing the action of inflammatory molecules which cause osteoarthritis.
The study, published in the journal Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, demonstrates the benefits of exercise on the tissues that form our joints and how this is down to tiny hair-like structures called primary cilia found on living cells.
During exercise the cartilage in joints such as the hip and knee is squashed. This mechanical distortion is detected by the living cells in the cartilage which then block the action of inflammatory molecules associated with conditions such as arthritis.
The researchers show that this anti-inflammatory effect of physical activity is caused by activation of a particular protein, called HDAC6, which triggers changes in the proteins that form primary cilia.
Pharmaceutical drugs that blocked HDAC6 activation prevented the anti-inflammatory effects of physical activity, whilst other drug treatments were able to mimic the benefits of exercise.
Changes in length of the primary cilia, which are only a few 1000th of a millimetre, provided a biomarker of the level of inflammation. Cilia got longer during inflammation, but treatments that prevented this elongation successfully prevented inflammation.
Mr Su Fu, PhD student at Queen Mary University of London and study author, said: "We have known for some time that healthy exercise is good for you - now we know the process through which exercise prevents cartilage degradation."
Professor Martin Knight, lead researcher of the study added: "These findings may also explain the anti-inflammatory effects of normal blood flow in arteries which is important for preventing arterial disease such as atherosclerosis and aneurism."
The researchers hope that these findings will help in the search for treatments for arthritis which affects over three million people in the UK causing stiff and painful joints.
The researchers suggest the results may lead to a whole new therapeutic approach known as mechano-medicine in which drugs simulate the effect of mechanical forces to prevent the damaging effects of inflammation and treat conditions such as arthritis.

Paternal smoking is linked to increased risk of congenital heart defects

---

Fathers-to-be who smoke may increase the risk of congenital heart defects in their offspring, according to a study published today in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). For mothers-to-be, both smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke were detrimental.

"Fathers-to-be should quit smoking." said study author Dr Jiabi Qin, of Xiangya School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, China. "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."
Congenital heart defects are the leading cause of stillbirth and affect 8 in 1,000 babies born worldwide. Prognosis and quality of life continues to improve with innovative surgeries, but the effects are still lifelong.
"Smoking is teratogenic, meaning it can cause developmental malformations. The association between prospective parents smoking and the risk of congenital heart defects has attracted more and more attention with the increasing number of smokers of childbearing age." said Dr Qin.
This was the first meta-analysis to examine the relationships between paternal smoking and maternal passive smoking and risk of congenital heart defects in offspring. Previous analyses have focused on women smokers. Yet, as Dr Qin points out: "In fact, smoking in fathers-to-be and exposure to passive smoking in pregnant women are more common than smoking in pregnant women."
The researchers compiled the best available evidence up to June 2018. This amounted to 125 studies involving 137,574 babies with congenital heart defects and 8.8 million prospective parents.
All types of parental smoking were associated with the risk of congenital heart defects, with an increase of 74% for men smoking, 124% for passive smoking in women, and 25% for women smoking, compared to no smoking exposure.
This was also the first review to examine smoking at different stages of pregnancy and risk of congenital heart defects. Women's exposure to secondhand smoke was risky for their offspring during all stages of pregnancy and even prior to becoming pregnant. Women who smoked during pregnancy had a raised likelihood of bearing a child with a congenital heart defect, but smoking before pregnancy did not affect risk.
"Women should stop smoking before trying to become pregnant to ensure they are smokefree when they conceive." said Dr Qin. "Staying away from people who are smoking is also important. Employers can help by ensuring that workplaces are smokefree."
"Doctors and primary healthcare professionals need to do more to publicise and educate prospective parents about the potential hazards of smoking for their unborn child." added Dr Qin.
Regarding specific types of congenital heart defects, the analysis showed that maternal smoking was significantly associated with a 27% greater risk of atrial septal defect and a 43% greater risk of right ventricular outflow tract obstruction compared to no smoking. The overall risk of congenital heart defects with all types of parental smoking was greater when the analysis was restricted to Asian populations.

Replacing sitting time with physical activity associated with lower risk of death

---

For those who get the least amount of physical activity, replacing a half hour of sitting time with physical activity was associated with up to a nearly 50% reduction in mortality, according to a new study from the American Cancer Society. The study, appearing in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, suggests that replacing modest amounts of sitting time with even light physical activity may have the potential to reduce the risk of premature death among less active adults.

Regular moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease; certain cancers; and premature death. In addition, the amount of time spent sedentary-distinct from physical inactivity -- is associated with a higher risk of death and disease. That may be a result, at least in part, from sedentary behavior displacing physical activity.
Most previous studies have explored the potential effect of sedentary time without considering the physical activity it displaces, leaving a gap in the understanding of the issue. To explore further, investigators led by Erika Rees-Punia, PhD, analyzed self-reported sitting time, light physical activity, and moderate/vigorous physical activity among 92,541 participants in the ACS's Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort.
The analysis reviewed sedentary time and activity levels over 14 years. It found among those who were the least active at baseline (?17 minutes/day moderate to vigorous physical activity), replacing 30 minutes/day of sitting with light physical activity was associated with a 14% reduced risk of death, while replacement with moderate to vigorous physical activity was associated with a 45% reduced risk of death.
The investigators found similar but smaller associations among moderately active participants: replacing a half hour of sedentary time with light physical activity was associated with a 6% reduction in mortality among those who were moderately active; replacing 30 minutes of sitting time with moderate to vigorous physical activity was associated with a 17% mortality reduction in this group. However, for the most active (>38 minutes/day of MVPA), substitution of sitting time with light physical activity or MVPA was not associated with a reduction in mortality risk.
Participants reporting more moderate/vigorous physical activity were leaner, had a higher educational attainment, and were less likely to be current smokers. For all participants, sitting time largely included watching TV (39%) and reading (20%).
The study did have some limitations: it relied on self-reported physical activity and sitting time; it lacked information on certain activities of daily living (e.g., cleaning, self-care, cooking) that are particularly common for older adults. And participants were predominately white and educated, so may not represent the general U.S. population.
"These findings suggest that the replacement of modest amounts of sitting time with even light physical activity may have the potential to reduce the risk of premature death among less active adults," conclude the authors.

Eating later in the day may be associated with obesity T

Eating later in the day may contribute to weight gain, according to a new study to be presented Saturday at ENDO 2019, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in New Orleans, La.
Previous studies have suggested that later timing of eating and sleeping are related to obesity, said lead author Adnin Zaman, M.D., of the University of Colorado in Denver, Colo. "However, few studies have assessed both meal and sleep timing in adults with obesity, and it is not clear whether eating later in the day is associated with shorter sleep duration or higher body fat," she said.
The study used three types of technology to record participants' sleep, physical activity and eating patterns. "It has been challenging to apply sleep and circadian science to medicine due to a lack of methods for measuring daily patterns of human behavior," Zaman said. "We used a novel set of methods for simultaneous measurement of daily sleep, physical activity, and meal timing patterns that could be used to identify persons at risk for increased weight gain."
The week-long study included 31 overweight and obese adults, average age 36. Ninety percent were women. They were enrolled in an ongoing weight-loss trial comparing daily caloric restrictions to time-restricted feeding, meaning they could only eat during certain hours of the day.
Participants wore an activPAL electronic device on their thigh. This device measured how much time they spent in physical and sedentary activities. They also wore an Actiwatch, which assesses sleep/wake patterns. Participants were asked to use a phone app called MealLogger to photograph and time stamp all meals and snacks throughout the day.
The researchers found that on average, participants consumed food throughout an 11-hour timeframe during the day and slept for about 7 hours a night. People who ate later in the day slept at a later time, but they slept for about the same amount of time as those who finished eating earlier. Later meal timing was associated with a higher body mass index as well as greater body fat.
"We used a novel set of methods to show that individuals with overweight or obesity may be eating later into the day," Zaman said. "These findings support our overall study, which will look at whether restricting the eating window to earlier on in the day will lower obesity risk."
"Given that wearable activity monitors and smartphones are now ubiquitous in our modern society, it may soon be possible to consider the timing of behaviors across 24 hours in how we approach the prevention and treatment of obesity," Zaman said.

Treating diabetes in older adults requires simpler medication regimens, looser glycemic targets

Simplifying medication regimens and tailoring glycemic targets in older adults with diabetes improves adherence and avoids treatment-related complications, according to a Clinical Practice Guideline issued today by the Endocrine Society. The Society debuted the guideline during a press conference on the opening day of ENDO 2019, its annual meeting in New Orleans, La.
The guideline, titled "Treatment of Diabetes in Older Adults: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline," was published online and will appear in the May 2019 print issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), a publication of the Endocrine Society. The guideline focuses on treatment strategies that take into consideration the overall health and quality of life of older adults with diabetes, defined as age 65 or older.
Aging plays a major role in the development of diabetes, which currently affects an estimated 33 percent of older adults in the U.S. Older adults with diabetes often have one or more co-existing conditions such as cognitive impairment, cardiovascular disease, impaired vision, and rheumatoid arthritis, which affect diabetes self-management.
"The guideline encourages clinicians to consider available evidence and a patient's overall health, likelihood to benefit from interventions and personal values when considering treatment goals such as glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol," said Derek LeRoith, M.D., Ph.D., of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, N.Y. LeRoith chaired the writing committee that developed the guideline. "Our framework prioritizes blood glucose targets over the hemoglobin A1c test when managing diabetes in older adults."
Recommendations from the guideline include:

• Simplifying medication regimen and tailoring glycemic targets in older adults with diabetes and cognitive impairment (e.g. dementia) to improve compliance and prevent treatment-related complications
• Designing outpatient diabetes regimens specifically to minimize hypoglycemia
• Targeting blood pressure levels of 140/90 mmHg to decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease outcomes, stroke, and progressive chronic kidney disease in older adults with diabetes aged 65 to 85 years
• Using an annual lipid profile to reduce the amount of "bad cholesterol" in the blood
• Administering annual comprehensive eye exams to detect retinal disease
• Establishing clear blood sugar targets for older adults with diabetes in hospitals or nursing homes at 100-140 mg/dL (5.55-7.77 mmol/L) fasting and 140-180 mg/dL (7.77-10 mmol/L) after meals while avoiding hypoglycemia

Exercise adds up to big brain boosts

Anyone who trains for a marathon knows that individual running workouts add up over time to yield a big improvement in physical fitness. So, it should not be surprising that the cognitive benefits from workouts also accumulate to yield long-term cognitive gains. Yet, until now, there was has been little research to describe and support the underlying neurobiology. In new work being presented this week about the effects of exercise on the brain at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) in San Francisco, researchers are finding that brain changes that occur after a single workout are predictive of what happens with sustained physical training over time.
"There is a strong and direct link between physical activity and how your brain works," says Wendy Suzuki of New York University (NYU), who is chairing a symposium on the topic at CNS. "People still do not link physical health to brain and cognitive health; they think about fitting into a bikini or losing that last pound, not about all the brain systems they are improving and enhancing every time they work out."
But as new research comes out to illuminate how different types, amounts, and intensities of physical activity improve brain function, cognitive neuroscientists hope to see a sea change in how the general public views exercise - from the effects of long-term training to bringing the positive effects of physical activity to socioeconomically disadvantaged communities.
The new study showing that immediate cognitive effects from exercise mirror long-term ones is the first of its kind, as short- and long-term effects are typically examined in different studies, says Michelle Voss of the University of Iowa, who led the study. Her team's initial findings are good news for the field of cognitive neuroscience, as they suggest that the brain changes observed after a single workout study can be a biomarker of sorts for long-term training.
Study participants underwent fMRI brain scans and working memory tests before and after single sessions of light and moderate intensity exercise and after a 12-week long training program. The researchers found that those who saw the biggest improvements in cognition and functional brain connectivity after single sessions of moderate intensity physical activity also showed the biggest long-term gains in cognition and connectivity.
The study used recumbent cycles that had motorized pedals, allowing the participants to either apply their own force to turn the pedals or to let the pedals do the work. "This feature allowed us to keep pedal speed constant while only changing heart rate between conditions of light and moderate intensity activity," Voss says. "This is novel for acute exercise paradigms, which often use sitting as a control condition."
Voss looks forward to replications of this first study with larger samples. Her lab is currently recruiting participants for a similar study that will include 6 months of training instead of 3 months, to give participants more time to improve cardiorespiratory fitness. But in the meantime, she says: "Think about how physical activity may help your cognition today and see what works. Day-by-day, the benefits of physical activity can add up."
Michelle Carlson of Johns Hopkins University is working to bring that message to socioeconomically disadvantaged communities through a novel program called Experience Corps Program, which embeds physical activity into weekly volunteering for older adults to mentor children in local elementary schools. "We need to address socioeconomic barriers like cost and accessibility to motivate older adults to regularly engage in healthful behaviors," Carlson says. "And many people don't appreciate the power of physical activity for our brains."
Multiple studies from the Experience Corps Program have found that the regular walking and other physical activity generated from the volunteering experience has resulted in improved memory and other cognitive functions, as well as changes to the prefrontal cortex that mirror those seen after 6 months of exercise in cognitively at-risk older adults. "These and related findings in my lab and others have contributed to our understanding that targeting low-intensity lifestyle activity is increasingly being recognized as important and scalable intervention to promote any physical activity," she says.
Her team has also developed a 3-D game to simulate real-world activity for both cognition and mobility. Carlson will be presenting new data at the CNS meeting on 14 participants who completed a 5-week intervention with the game. "What is cool is that most participants, regardless of baseline cognitive and physical limitations, learn and improve steadily over sessions," she says. "We want to help a large segment of the aging population that is sedentary or unable to tap into volunteer opportunities by providing opportunities to increase meaningful physical activity."
Suzuki has experienced the transformative power of exercise on the brain firsthand. When working to lose weight, she notices her memory improving over time. She became so fascinated by the link between physical activity and brain function that she transformed her lab entirely, from one that studied the hippocampus in nonhuman primate to one that focused solely on human cognition and exercise. "I've really gone all in," she says.
There are a whole host of questions cognitive neuroscientists can help answer -- from how much and what types of exercise are optimal for brain health to how to translate findings from young, healthy populations to older, at-risk ones. Suzuki hopes to see improved neuroimaging techniques in the coming years that better capture what happens in the brain during and after exercise.

Antioxidants the key to lowering risk of age-related cataracts

A $5.7 billion global medical bill to restore sight for the estimated 45 million people with cataracts could be slashed in half by a diet rich in colourful fruits and vegetables, according to an international study.
Researchers from China and the University of South Australia have published the first study of its kind to verify the link between foods high in antioxidants and a lower risk of age-related cataracts (ARC).
UniSA Senior Research Fellow Dr Ming Li and colleagues from Xi'an Jiaotong University analysed 20 studies from around the world looking at the impact of vitamins and carotenoids on cataract risk.
Despite some inconsistencies, the findings overwhelmingly support the benefits of eating citrus fruits, capsicum, carrots, tomatoes and dark green vegetables such as spinach, broccoli and kale to delay the onset of ARC.
Their paper has been published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition ahead of World Optometry Week (March 26-30).
"Age-related cataracts are the leading cause of visual impairment among the elderly throughout the world, with unoperated cataracts contributing to 35 per cent of all blindness," Dr Li says. "Although cataract extraction surgery is an effective method to restore vision, it will have cost society more than $5.7 billion by 2020."
With the population ageing dramatically and an increasing number of people needing surgery, urgent action is needed, the researchers say.
"If we could delay the onset of ARC by 10 years it could halve the number of people requiring surgery."
Improvements would rely on global changes to most of the world's diet, however, with current consumption of antioxidants well below the recommended level to prevent age-related cataracts.

NIH study finds no evidence that calcium increases risk of AMD

Eating a calcium-rich diet or taking calcium supplements does not appear to increase the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to the findings of a study by scientists at the National Eye Institute (NEI). AMD is a leading cause of vision loss and blindness among people age 65 and older in the United States. The study findings are published in JAMA Ophthalmology.
The findings contradict an earlier study indicating that high levels of calcium were associated with increased prevalence of AMD, but they are consistent with another suggesting that calcium has a protective role in AMD.
"Although the findings suggest that high calcium intake may be protective, the jury is still out on whether people should alter their calcium intake to prevent the onset or progression of AMD," said the study's lead investigator, Emily Chew, M.D., director of the Division of Epidemiology and Clinical Applications and the deputy clinical director at NEI, which is part of the National Institutes of Health.
"These latest findings provide no evidence that there is a need to change the management of calcium intake for individuals who are already taking calcium for other medical indications," Chew said.
An estimated 50 percent of men and 65 percent of women in the United States regularly use calcium supplements, which in addition to building strong bones and teeth, are commonly used to prevent and treat osteoporosis. Recommended daily amounts of calcium are 1,000 mg for adults 50 and younger and 1,200 mg for those older than 50.
Chew and colleagues investigated the relationship between calcium intake, by diet and/or supplements, and AMD onset, or its progression. They analyzed data from a previous investigation known as the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS). That landmark multicenter trial funded by the NEI assessed a range of nutrients and their effects on onset and progression of AMD and cataract.
Focusing specifically on calcium, these latest findings looked retrospectively at 4,751 AREDS participants who had been followed for an average of 10 years. Self-reports of calcium intake were collected using a questionnaire asking about the frequency with which people ate calcium-rich foods and whether they regularly used calcium supplements in the past year. At baseline, participants had no AMD, intermediate AMD (large deposits known as drusen in the retina of both eyes), or late-stage AMD in one eye.
As participants got older, an association between calcium intake and AMD risk reduction emerged. People with the highest intake of calcium from dietary or supplement sources had a lower risk of developing late-stage AMD compared with those in the lowest calcium intake groups.
Chew emphasized that this suggestion of a benefit from calcium could be due to confounding factors. For example, people who are mindful to maximize their calcium intake may be more likely to also eat a healthy diet, exercise and take prescribed medications - all of which could also lower AMD risk.
Most importantly, the findings underscore the need for prospective investigations to resolve the issue of whether calcium is protective against AMD, and whether calcium intake impacts the development of drusen or the different subtypes of AMD, Chew said.

Eating breakfast with parents is associated with positive body image for teenagers

 Parents hoping to raise teenagers with positive body image might just find helpful tools in the kitchen every morning. A new study from the University of Missouri says consistently eating breakfast as a family might promote positive body image for children and adolescents.
"We know that developing healthy behaviors in adolescence such as eating breakfast every day and eating family meals can have long-term effects into adulthood," said Virginia Ramseyer Winter, assistant professor in the School of Social Work and director of the MU Center for Body Image Research and Policy. "Children and adolescents are under a lot of pressure from social media and pop culture when it comes to physical appearance. Having a healthy relationship with food from eating breakfast and spending meal time with family might have a significant impact on well-being."
Researchers analyzed data from more than 12,000 students in more than 300 schools in all 50 states and Washington D.C. They looked at data related to eating behaviors, including frequency of eating breakfast and eating meals with a parent.
The researchers found that eating breakfast during the week more frequently was associated with positive body image. Just over half of the sample reported eating breakfast five days a week; however, nearly 17 percent reported never eating breakfast. More than 30 percent reported eating breakfast fewer than five times a week. The researchers also found that boys were more likely to eat breakfast than girls.
Additionally, the researchers found that children were much more likely to have a positive body image if they regularly ate breakfast with a parent.
"We know that the health behaviors of a parent can have long-term effects on a child," Ramseyer Winter said. "Results of this study suggest that positive interactions with food-- such as eating breakfast and having family meals together-- could be associated with body image."
"Eating breakfast and family meals in adolescence: the role of body image," recently was published in Social Work in Public Health. Aubrey Jones, a doctoral student at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and Elizabeth O'Neill, assistant professor at Washburn University, also contributed to the study.
The study is part of the newly created Center for Body Image Research and Policy, an interdisciplinary research center housed in the MU College of Human Environmental Sciences. The center was built around the goal to improve body image, health and wellness for individuals, families and communities.

Team sports associated with less depression in boys as young as 9

Adult depression has long been associated with shrinkage of the hippocampus, a brain region that plays an important role in memory and response to stress. Now, new research from Washington University in St. Louis has linked participation in team sports to larger hippocampal volumes in children and less depression in boys ages 9 to 11.
"Our findings are important because they help illuminate the relationships between involvement in sports, volume of a particular brain region and depressive symptoms in kids as young as nine," said Lisa Gorham, lead author of the study and a senior majoring in cognitive neuroscience in Arts & Sciences.
"We found that involvement in sports, but not non-sport activities such as music or art, is related to greater hippocampal volume in both boys and girls, and is related to reduced depression in boys," Gorham said.
These relationships were particularly strong for children participating in sports that involved structure, such as a school team, a non-school league or regular lessons, as compared to more informal engagement in sports, according to the study, which is forthcoming in the journal Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.
The findings raise the intriguing possibility that there is some added benefit of the team or structured component of sports, such as the social interaction or the regularity that these activities provide, said Deanna Barch, senior author on the study, chair of the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences in Arts & Sciences and the Gregory B. Couch Professor of Psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
The study is based on a nationwide sample of 4,191 children ages 9-11 years from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study. Parents provided information on their child's participation in sports and other activities and on depressive symptoms. Brain scans of the children provided data on their bilateral hippocampal volume.
Additional co-authors include Terry Jernigan, a neuropsychologist at University of California, San Diego; and Jim Hudziak, chief of child psychiatry at the University of Vermont.
While other studies have shown the positive impact of exercise on depression and the link with hippocampal volume in adults, this study is among the first to show that participation in team sports may have similar anti-depressant effects in preteen children.
Learn more about Gorham
Lisa Gorham, captain of the Washington University in St. Louis cross-country, track and indoor track teams, had personal experience to drive her research interest. Read her story as an athlete and undergraduate researcher: https://source.wustl.edu/2019/03/student-gorham-excels-in-the-lab-on-the-track/
The results indicated that there was an association between sports involvement and hippocampal volume in girls, but unlike boys, no additional association with depression. This might mean that different factors contribute to depression in girls, or that a stronger association to sports involvement might emerge at a later developmental period for girls.
It's important to note, wrote Barch and Gorham, that these results are correlational, not causational. It could be that participating in sports leads to increased hippocampal volume and decreased depression, or it could be that children who are more depressed are less likely to engage in sports and also have smaller hippocampal volume. Either scenario could have important implications for understanding childhood depression.
"The fact that these relationships were strongest for team or structured sports suggests that there might be something about the combination of exercise and the social support or structure that comes from being on a team that can be useful at preventing or treating depression in young people," Gorham said. "The findings raise intriguing possibilities for new work on preventing and treating depression in children."
Confirming the impact of team sports on brain development and mood would provide strong support for encouraging children to participate in structured sports that provide both exercise and social interaction.
"These interesting results provide important clues as to how exercise benefits mood in children and reveals the important role that gender plays in these effects," said Cameron Carter, MD, editor of Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging and professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of California, Davis.

###

Source: "Involvement in Sports, Hippocampal Volume, and Depressive Symptoms in Children," appears in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, published by Elsevier. Copies of this paper are available to credentialed journalists upon request; please contact Rhiannon Bugno at BPCNNI@sobp.org or +1 214 648 0880.

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

Media Contact
Gerry Everding
gerry_everding@wustl.edu
314-935-6375

 @WUSTLnews
http://www.wustl.edu 

---

More on this News Release

How team sports change a child's brain

Washington University in St. Louis

Journal

Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging

Funder

National Institutes of Health

Keywords

• BEHAVIOR
• DEPRESSION/ANGER
• MEDICINE/HEALTH
• MENTAL HEALTH
• NEUROBIOLOGY
• PARENTING/CHILD CARE/FAMILY
• SEX-LINKED CONDITIONS
• SOCIAL/BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE
• SPORTS/RECREATION
• UNDERGRADUATE

Multimedia

Lisa Gorham, Washington University in St. Louis (IMAGE)

Deanna Barch, Washington University in St. Louis (IMAGE)

Original Source

https://source.wustl.edu/2019/03/how-team-sports-change-a-childs-brain/

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2019.01.011

---

More in Social & Behavior

• When more women make decisions, the environment wins University of Colorado at Boulder
• How team sports change a child's brain Washington University in St. Louis
• Eating breakfast with parents is associated with positive body image for teenagers University of Missouri-Columbia
• Delusions may stem from sticky beliefs, study finds Columbia University Irving Medical Center

View all Social & Behavior news 

---

Trending Science News

• Ancient birds out of the egg running The University of Hong Kong
• C-sections are seen as breastfeeding barrier in US, but not in other global communities Purdue University
• Analyzing a Facebook-fueled anti-vaccination attack: 'It's not all about autism' University of Pittsburgh
• World's smallest bears' facial expressions throw doubt on human superiority University of Portsmouth

View all latest news 

---

Copyright © 2019 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

• Breaking News RSS Feed
• All EurekAlert! RSS Feeds
• @EurekAlert
• facebook.com/EurekAlert

• Help / FAQ
• Disclaimer
• Privacy Policy
• Terms & Conditions
• Contact EurekAlert!

Polyphenols, found in coffee, reduce cardiovascular disease risk

A new report from the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee (ISIC) titled 'Coffee, polyphenols and cardiovascular disease' highlights the potential role of polyphenols - which are found in coffee, cocoa and wine, as well as other plant-based foods - in reducing the risk of CVD.
The report, authored by Professor Kjeld Hermansen, Department of Endocrinology and Internal Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark discusses the research that suggests that there is an association between the consumption of polyphenols and a reduction in CVD prevalence.^1,2
Coffee is one of the main sources of polyphenols in the diet; the compounds naturally occur in the beverage and contribute to its unique flavours and aromas.¹ In recent years there has been growing academic interest in the role of polyphenols in health through their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.
The new ISIC report authored by Prof Hermansen discusses the range of potential cardio protective functions of polyphenols and the mechanisms involved.
Key research findings highlighted in the report include:

• Epidemiological research suggests that there is an association between the consumption of polyphenols and reduction in CVD prevalence.^1,2
• Polyphenols may have a range of cardio protective functions but the precise mechanisms are not yet fully understood. It is suggested that they may alter cholesterol absorption and the processing of fats in the body, and reduce inflammation.^1,2
• Coffee is one of the main sources of polyphenols in the diet.¹

Latest Health Research

General Health

Mothers who breastfed are 34 percent less likely to die of heart disease

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 10 minutes ago

Mothers who breastfeed their babies have a lower risk of developing or dying from heart disease than those who don't breastfeed, finds new research from the University of Sydney, Australia. Published in *Journal of the American Heart Association*, the study of over 100,000 Australian mothers participating in the Sax Institute's 45 and Up Study found women who breastfed had a 14 percent lower risk of developing, and 34 percent lower risk of dying from, cardiovascular disease. This is an important finding given heart disease is the leading cause of death for women worldwide, says lead... more » 

African refugee women experience healthier pregnancies than women born in the United States

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 day ago

African refugee women experience healthier pregnancies than women born in the United States, despite receiving less prenatal care, found a recent University at Buffalo study. Compared to U.S.-born black and white women, African refugee women had fewer pre-pregnancy health risks, fewer preterm births and higher rates of vaginal deliveries. Surprisingly, the refugee women were more likely to delay beginning prenatal care until the second trimester. The disparity, says the researchers, may be tied to various unhealthy behaviors and practices present within U.S. culture. For African refu... more »

Early sports specialization tied to increased injury rates

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 day ago

Sixty million kids participate in organized athletics each year with ever increasing amounts of children specializing in one sport before the age of 14 with hopes of a college scholarship or professional career on the line. However, researchers presenting their work at the AOSSM/AANA Specialty Day today reveal that this early intense participation might come at the cost of increased injuries during their athletic careers. "Our research indicated that athletes who specialized in their varsity sport before the age of 14 were more likely to report a history of injuries and multiple co... more »

Guidance for preventing heart disease, stroke released

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 day ago

The choices we make every day can have a lasting effect on our heart and vascular health. Adopting a heart healthy eating plan, getting more exercise, avoiding tobacco and managing known risk factors are among the key recommendations in the 2019 Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease guideline from the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA). Also, it is recommended that aspirin should only rarely be used to help prevent heart attacks and stroke in people without known cardiovascular disease. The guideline, presented today at ACC's 68th An... more » 

 

A nap a day keeps high blood pressure at bay

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 week ago

It seems that napping may do more than just reboot our energy level and improve our mood. New research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 68th Annual Scientific Session found that people who took advantage of a midday snooze were more likely to have a noticeable drop in blood pressure compared with those who didn't nap. "Midday sleep appears to lower blood pressure levels at the same magnitude as other lifestyle changes. For example, salt and alcohol reduction can bring blood pressure levels down by 3 to 5 mm Hg," said Manolis Kallistratos, MD, cardiologist at t... more »

Diet 

Eating fish may help prevent asthma

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 11 minutes ago

A scientist from James Cook University in Australia says an innovative study has revealed new evidence that eating fish can help prevent asthma. Professor Andreas Lopata from JCU's Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, (AITHM) took part in the study which tested 642 people who worked in a fish processing factory in a small village in South Africa. "Around 334 million people worldwide have asthma, and about a quarter of a million people die from it every year. In Australia, one in nine have asthma (about 2.7 million), and among Indigenous Australians this rate is alm... more » 

Long-term, high nut consumption could be the key to better cognitive health in older people

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 38 minutes ago

Long-term, high nut consumption could be the key to better cognitive health in older people according to new research from the University of South Australia. In a study of 4822 Chinese adults aged 55+ years, researchers found that eating more than 10 grams of nuts a day was positively associated with better mental functioning, including improved thinking, reasoning and memory. Lead researcher, UniSA's Dr Ming Li, says the study is the first to report an association between cognition and nut intake in older Chinese adults, providing important insights into increasing mental health i... more »

Does alcohol consumption have an effect on arthritis?

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 51 minutes ago

Several previous studies have demonstrated that moderate alcohol consumption is linked with less severe disease and better quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, but a new *Arthritis Care & Research* study suggests that this might not be because drinking alcohol is beneficial. In the 16,762-patient study, patients with a higher severity of disease were more likely to discontinue the use of alcohol and less likely to initiate use, and patients with greater disability and poor physical and mental quality of life were less likely to use alcohol over time. Also, alcohol... more »

Drinking hot tea linked with elevated risk of esophageal cancer

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 52 minutes ago

Previous studies have revealed a link between hot tea drinking and risk of esophageal cancer, but until now, no study has examined this association using prospectively and objectively measured tea drinking temperature. A new *International Journal of Cancer* study achieved this by following 50,045 individuals aged 40 to 75 years for a median of 10 years. During follow-up, 317 new cases of esophageal cancer were identified. Compared with drinking less than 700 ml of tea per day at less than 60°C, drinking 700 ml per day or more at a higher temperature (60°C or higher) was associated... more » 

Sugary drinks may be associated with an increased risk of death from cardiovascular diseases

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 day ago

Frequently drinking sugar-sweetened drinks, such as sodas and sports drinks, was associated with an increased risk of death from cardiovascular diseases and, to a lesser extent, cancers, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal *Circulation*. Among study participants the risk of death rose as people drank more sugar-sweetened drinks. In addition, substituting one sugary drink a day with an artificially sweetened drink was associated with a slightly lower risk of dying, but drinking four or more artificially sweetened drinks a day was associated with a ... more »

 

Higher egg and cholesterol consumption hikes heart disease and early death risk

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 4 days ago

 Cancel the cheese omelet. There is sobering news for egg lovers who have been happily gobbling up their favorite breakfast since the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans no longer limited how much dietary cholesterol or how many eggs they could eat. A large, new Northwestern Medicine study reports adults who ate more eggs and dietary cholesterol had a significantly higher risk of cardiovascular disease and death from any cause. "The take-home message is really about cholesterol, which happens to be high in eggs and specifically yolks," ... more »

Eating mushrooms may reduce the risk of cognitive decline

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 week ago

A team from the Department of Psychological Medicine and Department of Biochemistry at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore (NUS) has found that seniors who consume more than two standard portions of mushrooms weekly may have 50 per cent reduced odds of having mild cognitive impairment (MCI). A portion was defined as three quarters of a cup of cooked mushrooms with an average weight of around 150 grams. Two portions would be equivalent to approximately half a plate. While the portion sizes act as a guideline, it was shown that even one small p... more » 

Yo-yo dieting may increase women's heart disease risk

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 week ago

Yo-yo dieting may make it harder for women to control a variety of heart disease risk factors, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention | Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Scientific Sessions 2019, a premier global exchange of the latest advances in population-based cardiovascular science for researchers and clinicians. "Achieving a healthy weight is generally recommended as heart healthy but maintaining weight loss is difficult and fluctuations in weight may make it harder to achieve ideal cardiovascular health,"... more »

 

 

Moderate alcohol consumption linked with high blood pressure

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 week ago

A study of more than 17,000 U.S. adults shows that moderate alcohol consumption--seven to 13 drinks per week--substantially raises one's risk of high blood pressure, or hypertension, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 68th Annual Scientific Session. The findings contrast with some previous studies that have associated moderate drinking with a lower risk of some forms of heart disease. Most previous studies, however, have not assessed high blood pressure among moderate drinkers. Since hypertension is a leading risk factor for heart attack... more »

Medicine 

Statins: unexpected benefits

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 13 minutes ago

While investigating why cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins cause negative side effects such as blurred vision, short-term memory loss or increased risk for diabetes, cellular chemists at The University of Toledo discovered several previously unknown benefits. It is well-established statins can help lower the risk of heart attack by lowering blood cholesterol, but statins also may play a protective role in the event of a heart attack because they can suppress a biological process that disrupts cardiac function. By suppressing the activity of key cellular receptors called G pro... more » 

Taking statins for heart disease cuts risk in half, yet only 6 percent of patients taking as directed

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 day ago

A new study has found that patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease cut their risk of a second major adverse cardiovascular event by almost 50 percent, if they adhere to taking a statin medication as prescribed by their doctors. While that's good news for patients, the bad news, however, is that researchers from the Intermountain Healthcare Heart Institute in Salt Lake City found that only about six percent of patients are in fact following the statin regimen given to them to lower their cholesterol, negating any potential cardiovascular benefits. "A lot of clinical tr... more »

  

Research ties common heartburn medications to kidney disease and failure

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 day ago

Common medications prescribed to treat heartburn, acid reflux and ulcers are linked to increased risks for kidney failure and chronic kidney disease, found a recent University at Buffalo study. Use of proton pump inhibitors (PPI), a group of drugs that reduce the production of stomach acid, increases the risk of chronic kidney disease by 20 percent and raises the risk of kidney failure by four times. Risks were highest among people at least 65 years old. The research, published in February in *Pharmacotherapy*, is one of the first large, long-term studies to examine the effects of P... more » 

Statins, which are used to prevent cardiovascular diseases, also guard against brain hemorrhages.

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 6 days ago

The drugs statins, which are used to prevent cardiovascular diseases, also guard against brain hemorrhages. This is the conclusion of most extensive study ever carried out, which thus also rebuffs suspicions of the opposite being true. As well as lowering blood cholesterol, the medication statin also acts to guard against haemorrhages. This is shown by the results of the largest study in the world so far, which followed more than half-a-million people being treated with statin over a decade. "With this study we refute a concern raised by earlier studies that treatment with statins ... more »

Inactive ingredients in pills and capsules may cause allergic, adverse reactions

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 6 days ago

A new study led by a team of investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts Institute of Technology has found that the vast majority of the most frequently prescribed medications in the U.S. contain at least one ingredient capable of causing an adverse reaction. Known as inactive ingredients, these components are added to improve the taste, shelf-life, absorption and other characteristics of a pill, but the authors found that more than 90 percent of all oral medications tested contained at least one ingredient that can cause allergic or gastrointestinal symptoms... more »

  

Getting a flu shot while hospitalized lowers the chance of a heart attack 

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 week ago

There's now another reason to get your yearly flu shot. Not only can it protect you from the body aches, fever and fatigue associated with a bout of influenza, it may even prevent you from having a heart attack, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 68th Annual Scientific Session. The study of nearly 30 million hospital records shows that people who got a flu shot while hospitalized had a 10 percent lower risk of having a heart attack that year compared to people who visited a hospital but did not get the vaccine during their stay. The study ... more »

Exercise

Even low levels of leisure time physical activity lowers risk of death

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 35 minutes ago

Even low-level physical activities, such as walking or gardening, are associated with a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, cancer or any cause finds a large observational study published online in the *British Journal of Sports Medicine*. Higher amounts of activity or more vigorous activities, such as running, cycling and competitive sports, are associated with additional health benefits that are not outweighed by the risks of participating in these activities, the authors say. Every year, a representative sample of the US population is asked about their health and lif... more »

Getting active later in life brings benefits

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 day ago

Physical activity reduces the risk of many chronic illnesses and increases the odds of a longer, healthier life. But it hasn’t been clear whether the benefits of exercise differ based on when during their lives people are most active. Researchers led by Dr. Pedro Saint-Maurice from NIH’s National Cancer Institute (NCI) wanted to examine this question in more detail. They looked at data collected from more than 300,000 Americans who participated in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study. People aged 50 to 71 were invited to join the study in the mid-1990s. They filled out surveys that ca... more »

Light physical activity linked to lower risk of heart disease in older women

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 5 days ago

Light physical activity such as gardening, strolling through a park, and folding clothes might be enough to significantly lower the risk of cardiovascular disease among women 63 and older, a new study has found. This kind of activity, researchers said, appears to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease events such as stroke or heart failure by up to 22 percent, and the risk of heart attack or coronary death, by as much as 42 percent. The results of the study, which was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, appea... more » 

Engaging in physical activity could reduce long-term mortality

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 week ago

Cognitive frailty is a heterogeneous clinical manifestation characterized by the simultaneous presence of both physical frailty and cognitive impairment, in the absence of dementia, and it seems to entail a greater death risk than physical frailty or cognitive impairment separately. Despite the potential effect of regular physical activity to slow cognitive decline and its association with lower mortality in nonfrail individuals, no previous studies have investigated whether and to what extent physical activity could attenuate the effect of cognitive frailty on mortality. Colleagues... more »

The ups and downs of sit-stand desks

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 week ago

Have a seat. No, wait! Stand. With researchers suggesting that "sitting is the new smoking," sit-stand desks (SSD) have become a common tool to quell sedentary behavior in an office environment. As this furniture becomes ubiquitous, conflicting opinions have arisen on its effectiveness. The University of Pittsburgh's Dr. April Chambers worked with collaborators to gather data from 53 studies and published a scoping review article detailing current information on the benefits of SSDs. "There has been a great deal of scientific research about sit-stand desks in the past few years, but... more »

Moderate muscle strength may lower risk for type 2 diabetes

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 week ago

Of the 30 million Americans with diabetes, 90 to 95 percent have type 2, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. New research shows building muscle strength may be one way to lower risk for the disease. The study of more than 4,500 adults found moderate muscle mass reduced the risk for type 2 diabetes by 32 percent. The benefits were independent of cardiorespiratory fitness, and higher levels of muscle strength did not provide additional protection. The findings are published in the journal *Mayo Clinic Proceedings*. DC (Duck-chul) Lee, associate professor of k... more » 

Never too late for adults to benefit from physical activity

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 week ago

t may never be too late for adults to become physically active and enjoy some health benefits. This observational study looked at how patterns of leisure-time physical activity from adolescence (15 to 18) to later adulthood (40-61) were associated with risk of dying using data for 315,000 U.S. adults. The results suggest maintaining physical activity from adolescence into later adulthood was associated with lower risk of dying and so was increasing leisure-time physical activity in adulthood, including from age 41 to 60, for adults who had been less active. The study relied on sel... more »

 

Aging

Long-term, high nut consumption could be the key to better cognitive health in older people

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 38 minutes ago

Long-term, high nut consumption could be the key to better cognitive health in older people according to new research from the University of South Australia. In a study of 4822 Chinese adults aged 55+ years, researchers found that eating more than 10 grams of nuts a day was positively associated with better mental functioning, including improved thinking, reasoning and memory. Lead researcher, UniSA's Dr Ming Li, says the study is the first to report an association between cognition and nut intake in older Chinese adults, providing important insights into increasing mental health i... more »

Lowering blood pressure prevents worsening brain damage in elderly

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 day ago

But see: Lower blood pressure is associated with an increased risk of death in adults over the age of 80 Elderly people with high blood pressure, or hypertension, who took medicine to keep their 24-hour systolic blood pressure around 130 mm Hg for three years showed significantly less accumulation of harmful brain lesions compared with those taking medicine to maintain a systolic blood pressure around 145 mm Hg, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 68th Annual Scientific Session. However, the reduction in brain lesions, visible as bright white spot... more »

Lower blood pressure is associated with an increased risk of death in adults over the age of 80, and in adults who have previously had a heart attack or stroke

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 week ago

Until recently, physicians had generally assumed that older adults benefit from keeping their blood pressure below 140/90 mmHg. However, researchers from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin have now found that this assumption does not apply to all patients with high blood pressure. The reality is, in fact, quite the opposite: lower blood pressure is associated with an increased risk of death in adults over the age of 80, and in adults who have previously had a heart attack or stroke. Results from this study have been published in the *European Heart Journal**. Approximately 70 to ... more »

For older adults, sense of control tied to feeling younger

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 4 days ago

A recent study finds that older adults feel younger when they feel that they have more control over their daily lives, regardless of stress or health concerns. However, stress and health - not a sense of control - play a significant role in how old younger adults feel. "We recently found that there are things older adults can do to improve their feelings of control in their everyday lives," says Shevaun Neupert, a professor of psychology at North Carolina State University and co-author of a paper on the work. "Now this study highlights how those feelings of control influence percep... more » 

Periodontitis may raise the risk for developing dementia

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 4 days ago

Gum disease (gingivitis) that goes untreated can become periodontitis. When this happens, the infection that affected your gums causes loss in the bone that supports your teeth. Periodontitis is the main cause of tooth loss in adults.Interestingly, periodontitis is also a risk factor for developing dementia, one of the leading causes for disability in older adults. A United Nations forecast estimates that 1 in 85 individuals will be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, a form of dementia, by the year 2050. Reducing the risk factors that lead to dementia and Alzheimer's disease could... more »

Older adults should wait until October to get their flu immunization

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 5 days ago

When flu season peaks after mid-winter, tens of thousands of influenza cases and hundreds of deaths can likely be avoided if older adults wait until October to get their flu immunization, a University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine analysis reveals in the April issue of the *American Journal of Preventive Medicine*. The protection offered by the flu vaccine wanes as the season progresses, a previous study has shown, which indicates that waiting until closer to the start of flu season ensures greater immunity. However, if flu season arrives early or i... more »

 

Light physical activity linked to lower risk of heart disease in older women

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 5 days ago

Light physical activity such as gardening, strolling through a park, and folding clothes might be enough to significantly lower the risk of cardiovascular disease among women 63 and older, a new study has found. This kind of activity, researchers said, appears to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease events such as stroke or heart failure by up to 22 percent, and the risk of heart attack or coronary death, by as much as 42 percent. The results of the study, which was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, appea... more » 

More vitamin D may improve memory but too much may slow reaction time

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 6 days ago

How much vitamin D can boost memory, learning and decision-making in older adults, and how much is too much? A unique Rutgers-led study found that overweight and obese older women who took more than three times the recommended daily dose of vitamin D showed improvements in memory and learning - but also had slower reaction times. The researchers hypothesize that slower reaction times may increase the risk of falling among older people. The researchers, whose work is in the *Journals of Gerontology: Series A*, used computers to assess the impact of vitamin D on cognitive function. Th... more »

Diet quality in midlife not associated with later risk for dementia

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 week ago

The quality of diet for adults in midlife (average age 50) wasn't associated with later risk of dementia in a study that included adults followed for more than two decades. Other observational studies have suggested diet may be linked to cognitive health but those studies often had short follow-up periods that could not cover the long preclinical period before dementia diagnosis. In this study, about 8,200 adults were without dementia in 1991-1993 and 344 cases of dementia were recorded during nearly 25 years of follow-up. During that time, the adults completed diet questionnaires ... more »

Eating mushrooms may reduce the risk of cognitive decline

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 week ago

A team from the Department of Psychological Medicine and Department of Biochemistry at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore (NUS) has found that seniors who consume more than two standard portions of mushrooms weekly may have 50 per cent reduced odds of having mild cognitive impairment (MCI). A portion was defined as three quarters of a cup of cooked mushrooms with an average weight of around 150 grams. Two portions would be equivalent to approximately half a plate. While the portion sizes act as a guideline, it was shown that even one small p... more »

Engaging in physical activity could reduce long-term mortality

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 week ago

Cognitive frailty is a heterogeneous clinical manifestation characterized by the simultaneous presence of both physical frailty and cognitive impairment, in the absence of dementia, and it seems to entail a greater death risk than physical frailty or cognitive impairment separately. Despite the potential effect of regular physical activity to slow cognitive decline and its association with lower mortality in nonfrail individuals, no previous studies have investigated whether and to what extent physical activity could attenuate the effect of cognitive frailty on mortality. Colleagues... more »

Never too late for adults to benefit from physical activity

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 week ago

t may never be too late for adults to become physically active and enjoy some health benefits. This observational study looked at how patterns of leisure-time physical activity from adolescence (15 to 18) to later adulthood (40-61) were associated with risk of dying using data for 315,000 U.S. adults. The results suggest maintaining physical activity from adolescence into later adulthood was associated with lower risk of dying and so was increasing leisure-time physical activity in adulthood, including from age 41 to 60, for adults who had been less active. The study relied on sel... more »

At what age do you feel 65?

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 week ago

A 30-year gap separates countries with the highest and lowest ages at which people experience the health problems of a 65-year-old, according to a new scientific study. Researchers found 76-year-olds in Japan and 46-year-olds in Papua New Guinea have the same level of age-related health problems as an "average" person aged 65. "These disparate findings show that increased life expectancy at older ages can either be an opportunity or a threat to the overall welfare of populations, depending on the aging-related health problems the population experiences regardless of chronological a... more »

Social support and a purpose in life may help preserve cognitive abilities

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 week ago

Higher social support and having a sense of purpose in life are each associated with higher cognitive functioning in middle-aged and older Hispanics/Latinos, while loneliness has a detrimental effect on cognition, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention | Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Scientific Sessions 2019, a premier global exchange of the latest advances in population-based cardiovascular science for researchers and clinicians. Previous studies have shown that psychological resources (such as optimism... more »

Opioid misuse sending more older adults to emergency departments

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 week ago

Emergency department (ED) visits by people age 65 and older who were identified with opioid misuse and dependence more than tripled between 2006 and 2014, according to new research published by researchers at Towson University. The study also discovered that opioid misuse was associated with an increased number of chronic conditions, greater injury risk, and higher rates of alcohol dependence and mental health diagnoses. These outcomes are reported in the article "Increasing Rates of Opioid Misuse Among Older Adults Visiting Emergency Departments" appearing in the journal *Innovatio... more »

Early onset menstruation linked to high blood pressure in late adulthood,

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 week ago

The age a woman begins menstruation is associated with having high blood pressure later in her life, according to a team of researchers at the University of Georgia. Specifically, researchers found that early onset menstruation significantly increased risk of hypertension in late adulthood, even after controlling for independent social economic factors, lifestyle behaviors, and other metabolic measures. The study, which appeared in *Hypertension Research*, aimed to shed some light on how the age of menarche and menopause may affect chronic disease later in life. Existing research o... more »