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Facing the pandemic with a mental health : Students are struggling

Cr. Sam Balye

Source from WebMD.com

College life could be both stressful and demanding and from that, anxiety, depression and inactive lifestyles are actually common among students. Now with the pandemic of COVID-19 happening worldwide, a new study might have found that the mental-health issues could be escalated and turn for the worst.

Researchers at Dartmouth College determined that the coronavirus pandemic had an immediate impact on the mental health of this particular undergraduate group of 200 students, using a mix of smartphone data and online surveys.

The study involved students who were participating in a research program tracking mental health at the New Hampshire university with Spikes of depression and anxiety were reported at the beginning of the pandemic in early March, just as the school pushed students to leave campus and begin remote learning all by their selves.

The study found out that the students’ overall anxiety and depression levels remained consistently high than in previous years, even if their self-reported anxiety and depression lessened slightly later on in the semester.

Jeremy Huckins, a lecturer at Dartmouth stated that there is a large-scale shift in mental health and behaviour compared to the observed baseline established for the group over previous years.

In addition, the students reported around spring break period in mid-March that their day-to-day lives were dramatically more sedentary than pervious terms.

Huckins suspected that spring break 2020 was stressful and confining for the students in the study and it might be responsible for a large number of college students across the country even though it is usually a period of decreased stress and increased physical activity.

A smartphone app developed at Dartmouth was used by the researchers to calculate sedentary time. It collected information such as number of phone unlocks, phone usage duration and sleep duration from the student volunteers.

Through the app, data on depression and anxiety were also collected using weekly, self-reported questionnaires. The decrease in activity among these students may have been related to lockdown orders implemented at the time.

Huckins also said that when social distancing was recommended by local governments, students were more sedentary and visited fewer locations on any given day. “The impact of COVID-19 extends beyond the virus and its direct impacts. An unresolved question is if mental health and physical activity will continue to degrade over time, or if we will see a recovery, and how long that recovery will take”.

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Study shows that having red meat before exercise does not offer any additional benefits

Cr. Victoria Shes

Source from MIMS.com

A new study has shown that people who are consuming lean red meat in line with current recommendations does not improve muscle mass, strength, nor cognitive functions of healthy community-dwelling older adults undertaking resistance-based exercise training 3 days/week compared to those consuming carbohydrates.

154 random adults aged ≥65 years was picked by the researchers as they participated in a multicomponent 3-day/week resistance-based exercise programme to either a lean red meat group, the exercise plus lean red meat or a control group receiving carbohydrates in the form of one-half cup or rice or pasta or 1 medium potato, the exercise plus carbohydrate control, on training days.

For the primary outcomes in total body lean mass, leg LM, thigh muscle cross-sectional area, leg and back muscle strength, and executive function;  there were no significant differences between-groups in exercise-induced improvements.

There were also no significant differences in improvements for the secondary outcomes of global cognition function, fat mass, physical function measures, or systolic blood pressure.

In terms of arm Lm, gait speed, muscle density, and appendicular LM in the per-protocol analysis, the improvements were greater for the Ex + meat group than the C + Ex group.

At the same time, net improvements in working memory learning after 12 weeks and 24 weeks were greater in the C + Ex group than the Ex + Meat group.

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Bleeding and cardiovascular risks heightens after consumption of NSAIDs

Cr. JESHOOTS.com

Source from MIMS.com

Researchers conducted a study that investigated the risk for cardiovascular and bleeding events according to groups of antithrombotic medications and subtypes of NSAIDs. The first diagnosed MI in the nationwide cohort study was retrieved from 108,232 patients that they have accessed the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service database between 2009 and 2013.

Based on their prescribed antithrombotic medications, the patients were divided into groups  with the thromboembolic cardiovascular and clinically relevant bleeding events as the study outcomes.

Concomitant NSAID treatment significantly elevated the risk for cardiovascular events and bleeding events compared with no NSAID treatment over a mean follow-up of 2.3 years. Celecoxib and meloxicam showed the lowest risk of cardiovascular and bleeding events among NSAID subtypes.

The authors stated in their research that although NSAID treatment should be avoided after MI, celecoxib and meloxicam could be considered as alternative options in cases in which NSAID use is unavoidable.

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Lower risks of cancer, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes by having more fibres in your diet

Cr. Joanna Kosinka

Source from MIMS.com

A recent study suggests that to reduce the risk of several chronic diseases and mortality, higher consumption of dietary fibres (DF), particularly soluble (SF) and insoluble fibres (IF) from fruits.

The researchers sought to examine the association of intake of DFs of different types (total DF, SF and IF) and from various sources with the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVDs), cancer, type 2 diabetes (T2D), and mortality in the large-scale NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort.

107,377 participants were included in the cohort study where the usual DF intake was estimated from validated repeated 24-h dietary records over the first 2 years following inclusion in the cohort. To assess the associations between sex-specific quintiles of DF intake and the risk of chronic diseases and mortality.

With the increased intake of total DFs, it was found that T2D risk is being significantly decreased and also correlated with a lower risk of breast cancer. It is also stated that intake from fruits led to a reduced risk of several chronic diseases. . For particularly soluble (SFs), they are correlated with a reduced risk of CVD and colorectal cancer, while IFs reduce mortality from cancer or CVDs.

The investigators stated that to involve different types and sources of fibre, further studies are needed and more emphasis should be put on dietary fibres in public health nutrition policies, as DF intake remains below the recommended levels in many countries.

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Diabetic ketoacidosis in children equals to hypertension

Cr. Rene Bernal

Source from MIMS.com

Study has found that for children with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), hypertension is a common phenomenon.

Researchers gathered 1,258 patients who had sufficient haemodynamic data for the present analysis while using data from the Paediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network. Out of these, 12.2 percent had documented hypertension at presentation.

In under 2 hours, hypertension were resolved quickly in 36 children and for 118 episodes, hypertension lasted for 2 hours. During DKA treatment, the blood pressure was normal at baseline in 196 patients but progressed to hypertension during DKA treatment. Developed at any time during DKA, the resulting overall rate of hypertension was at 27.8 percent.

The median duration of  hypertension was 4.0 hours and at presentation, correlated with more severe acidosis and stage 2 or 3 acute kidney injury. On the contrary, at baseline, lower glucose levels or glucose-corrected sodium concentrations were associated with hypertension at presentation.

Lower scores on the Glasgow Coma Scale and more severe acidosis correlated with the development of hypertension at any point during DKA. Severe acidosis, stage 2 acute kidney injury, and younger patient age are also directly correlated with hypertension severity.

The researchers stated that a central mechanism may be involved in causing abnormal haemodynamic regulation with the development of hypertension during DKA treatment and the association of hypertension with altered mental status.

They also added that it is necessary to better understand relationships of regional cerebral blood flow abnormalities during DKA is necessary and how these relate to life-threatening cerebral injuries in some children.

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Erectile health in men gets affected by the functionality of their lungs

Cr. Tim Marshall

Source from MIMS.com

Based on recent study, erectile dysfunction (ED) appears to correlate with an impaired forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) out of other classic risk factors.

Free of a history of diabetes, cardiovascular or kidney diseases, 331 men were under supervision and assessment using the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) resulted into the main outcome of ED. Through mini-spirometry, FEV1 was measured under the guidance of a study nurse.

For normal predicted FEV1 values, sixty-six percent of the participants had it while 23 percent and 11 percent had mild and moderate impairments. Five patients had a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), while four had a history of asthma with fifty-nine participants had moderate-to-severe ED.

A link between the impaired predicted FEV1 and moderate-to-severe ED were uncovered by researchers.

The risk of ED was increased by almost fivefold for men with FEV1, which is between 1.0-2.0 L/s. For those with predicted FEV1, the corresponding risk was over four times as high.

The researchers stated that the biological background can only be hypothesized since it is the first study to report the association between decreased pulmonary function and ED in apparently healthy men. Be that as it may, the findings underscore the importance of monitoring for sexual and erectile health in men with weak lung function.

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Early ageing of ovary: A future health problem?

Cr. Andre Piacquadio

Source from MIMS.com

A large cohort study that was presented at the 2020 ESHRE Meeting suggested that early ovarian ageing may be predictive of later health problems.

Few oocytes in Assisted Reproductive Technology (Art) were harvested from young women with premature ovarian ageing and were discovered to have a much higher risk of age-related diseases such as cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and osteoporosis compared to those with undergoing normal ovarian ageing and happens to be in line with what was known so far regarding early menopause.

Mette Wulf Christensen from Aarhus University in Denmark suggested that a few oocytes that were repeatedly harvested in well stimulated ART cycles is a likely predictor of advanced menopausal age when seen in young women and may thus serve as an early marker of accelerated general ageing. There is also an association shown between early menopause with a greater risk of CVD, osteoporosis, and death. She also said that identifying women at risk of early menopause may thus allow early preventive health initiatives in terms of  a healthy lifestyle.

The national cohort study that was based in Danish included >19,000 young women (≤37 years) who were undergoing their first ART treatment in a fertility clinic between the period of 1995-2014 with the number of oocytes harvested in the first and following cycles serves as a marker.

In a follow-up of 6 years span, women with early ovarian ageing for overall-disease risk has a higher risk than those with a normal oocyte field and they consisted of Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease, all-cause death, cancer, cataract, Charlson Comorbidity index, CVD, early retirement benefit, osteoporosis and type 2 diabetes.

To be specific, the early ovarian ageing group was significantly more likely to develop osteoporosis, CVD, comorbidity, and have early retirement benefit than women with normal ovarian ageing.

Christhensen concluded that it is important to have a counselling towards the women who are affected with a much earlier menopause, with the introduction of a new lifestyle habit or  applying the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to reduce the adverse health risks.

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Vaccines : Proven to be safe after a two decade study

Cr. CDC

Source from MIMS.com

There have been many doubts from naysayers who criticize the usage of vaccines as they claimed it could make their child get autistic and how it would make them get infected with the disease they are trying to prevent instead.

A recent US study that was conducted for over a 20-year period recently revealed that they have debunked the myths and shown that vaccines are relatively safe via existing postmarketing surveillance programmes, stated the authors.

The vaccines that were approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – the initial and subsequent labels – between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 2015 were included in the retrospective cohort study.

Out of the fifty-seven FDA-approved vaccines that were analysed, fifty-three (93 percent) initially had approval that were supported by randomized controlled trials, with a median cohort size of 4,161 participants.

There were similarities in the initial approval trial characteristics in vaccines with and without postmarketing, safety-related label modifications. The most common safety issue prompting label modifications was the expansion of population restrictions, followed by allergies with postmarketing surveillance as the most common source of safety data.

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