Mindfulness can enrich our lives far more than we realize.....
Posted by Health, Wellness and Mindfulness on Monday, June 8, 2015
Showing posts with label mental health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mental health. Show all posts
Monday, June 8, 2015
The importance of Mindfulness
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Could light Pollution be another hazardous consequence of urban living?
Living in cities has always been known to increase most individual's stress level. The busy streets, crazy traffic, high noise level and air pollution are some of the things that might be adding to the toll a fast paced city life can take on one's health. Now scientists are adding the super bright nightlights of cities to the list and calling it 'Light Pollution'.
Lockley calls any light after dusk as unnatural, he says that with any such exposure "our daytime physiology is triggered and our brains become more alert, our heart rates go up, as does our temperature, and production of the hormone melatonin is suppressed".
The article also mentions Ken Wright at the University of Colorado in Boulder who conducted studies on camping. He found that for campers midnight meant middle of the night, whereas in urban areas the constant presence of light prolongs the daytime, thus leading people living in cities to stay awake longer, sleep later and hence sleep less. This could be causing health problems not yet clearly documented.
Lockley raises a thought-provoking question; "As a society we need to think, do we really need some of these amenities that are putting light pollution into the environment?" adding "Do we need 24/7 garages, do we need 24/7 supermarkets, do we need 24/7 TV? It was only in 1997 that the BBC turned off and there was the national anthem and we all went to bed."
Here are some excerpts of Ellie's article;
The International Dark Sky Association is an organisation of astronomers that aims to teach how to preserve the night sky. Member Scott Kardel says he believes in balance: “While we need certain amounts of light at night for safety, commerce and more, we also need to be more careful about how much light we use, where we use it and for how long.”
But at a more abstract level, Kardel also believes that “having bright skies takes something away from us. All of our ancestors had star-filled skies that inspired countless people in art, literature, religion, science and philosophy.”
It might not be plausible to put the metropolis to bed at dusk, but cities can mitigate some of the worst light pollution. “Proper outdoor lighting,” says Kardel, “conserves energy, reduces glare” and cuts back on so-called light trespass, for example when your neighbour’s bedroom light bleeds into your sitting room.
Lockley thinks LEDS are the “problem, but also the solution: they allow much more sophisticated lighting systems.” The blueness can be fixed, he says. “It is possible to create LED light with multiple colours – you can alter the colours for the right time of day and the right application.”
“We might not quite be at the point where cities are putting in those types of tuneable street lamps,” he adds. But many communities in the UK have either adopted or trialled “part night lighting”, switching off the lights where they’re not needed or lowering illumination levels for part of the night. Motion-sensing technologies are being tested in the Netherlands and Ireland.
At the centre of this shift is a change in the attitudes of city residents and their governments. In Hong Kong, until only a few years ago the government avoided even using the term “light pollution”, says Pun. “They wouldn’t even admit such a thing exists. If you call it something else, like ‘light nuisance’, then I guess it will make life a little easier. Even though it seems like a gloomy situation, no pun intended, I do see a change of mindset.”
In the end the article has some wonderful tips on how to reduce light pollution.
It’s an obvious one, but switch off any lights you are not using.
• Ensure indoor and outdoor lighting is directed at what you’re trying to light and that it’s shaded. Table and floor lamps are better for this than overhead lights.
• Use low-watt lightbulbs – you’ll save on bills and reduce glare.
• Install dimmer switches so you can alter brightness to suit ambient light.
• Use motion sensors or timers so outdoor lights are only on when they need to be.
• Install thick curtains or blinds to minimise light escaping your home at night.
• Ask your local councillor to get street lamps fitted with directional, low energy lights – after all, residential areas don’t need to be lit up like football pitches 24 hours a day.
References:
Urban light pollution: why we're all living with permanent 'mini jetlag' (The Guardian- Oct 23rd 2014)
In the article Urban light pollution: why we're all living with permanent 'mini jetlag'(The Guardian) Ellie Violet Bramley writes about studies that have shown that exposure to light after dusk is quite literally
unnatural, and may be detrimental to health. Astronomer Dr Jason Pun of the Hong Kong University department of physics has been studying light pollution and has done several studies on the subject. Recently they set up 18 stations around Hong Kong stretching from commercial urban sector to residential neighborhoods and on to rural areas. When they compared the levels of light to the standard (meaning how bright the sky would be without artificial lights), they found that the lit areas were about a 1000 times brighter.
 |
| Hong Kong Skyline By Barry Chum (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
According to Dr. Pun, “Similar studies in major capitals like Berlin and Vienna, would find something more of the order of 100 to 200 times brighter.”
Most cities like Hong Kong, New York, Tokyo and Las Vegas may be proud of their super bright nightscapes and get many visitors who come to see these illuminated cities. But these brightly lit skies may also be causing health problems. Steven Lockley, a neuroscientist and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School has been studying the effect of light on alertness, sleep, melatonin levels and its overall impact on human physiology.
Lockley calls any light after dusk as unnatural, he says that with any such exposure "our daytime physiology is triggered and our brains become more alert, our heart rates go up, as does our temperature, and production of the hormone melatonin is suppressed".
The article also mentions Ken Wright at the University of Colorado in Boulder who conducted studies on camping. He found that for campers midnight meant middle of the night, whereas in urban areas the constant presence of light prolongs the daytime, thus leading people living in cities to stay awake longer, sleep later and hence sleep less. This could be causing health problems not yet clearly documented.
Lockley raises a thought-provoking question; "As a society we need to think, do we really need some of these amenities that are putting light pollution into the environment?" adding "Do we need 24/7 garages, do we need 24/7 supermarkets, do we need 24/7 TV? It was only in 1997 that the BBC turned off and there was the national anthem and we all went to bed."
Here are some excerpts of Ellie's article;
The International Dark Sky Association is an organisation of astronomers that aims to teach how to preserve the night sky. Member Scott Kardel says he believes in balance: “While we need certain amounts of light at night for safety, commerce and more, we also need to be more careful about how much light we use, where we use it and for how long.”
But at a more abstract level, Kardel also believes that “having bright skies takes something away from us. All of our ancestors had star-filled skies that inspired countless people in art, literature, religion, science and philosophy.”
It might not be plausible to put the metropolis to bed at dusk, but cities can mitigate some of the worst light pollution. “Proper outdoor lighting,” says Kardel, “conserves energy, reduces glare” and cuts back on so-called light trespass, for example when your neighbour’s bedroom light bleeds into your sitting room.
Lockley thinks LEDS are the “problem, but also the solution: they allow much more sophisticated lighting systems.” The blueness can be fixed, he says. “It is possible to create LED light with multiple colours – you can alter the colours for the right time of day and the right application.”
“We might not quite be at the point where cities are putting in those types of tuneable street lamps,” he adds. But many communities in the UK have either adopted or trialled “part night lighting”, switching off the lights where they’re not needed or lowering illumination levels for part of the night. Motion-sensing technologies are being tested in the Netherlands and Ireland.
At the centre of this shift is a change in the attitudes of city residents and their governments. In Hong Kong, until only a few years ago the government avoided even using the term “light pollution”, says Pun. “They wouldn’t even admit such a thing exists. If you call it something else, like ‘light nuisance’, then I guess it will make life a little easier. Even though it seems like a gloomy situation, no pun intended, I do see a change of mindset.”
In the end the article has some wonderful tips on how to reduce light pollution.
It’s an obvious one, but switch off any lights you are not using.
• Ensure indoor and outdoor lighting is directed at what you’re trying to light and that it’s shaded. Table and floor lamps are better for this than overhead lights.
• Use low-watt lightbulbs – you’ll save on bills and reduce glare.
• Install dimmer switches so you can alter brightness to suit ambient light.
• Use motion sensors or timers so outdoor lights are only on when they need to be.
• Install thick curtains or blinds to minimise light escaping your home at night.
• Ask your local councillor to get street lamps fitted with directional, low energy lights – after all, residential areas don’t need to be lit up like football pitches 24 hours a day.
References:
Urban light pollution: why we're all living with permanent 'mini jetlag' (The Guardian- Oct 23rd 2014)
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Teenagers smoking weed daily far less likely to graduate high school
As the Global Commission on Drug Policy
denounces the so-called “war against drugs” as a failure and suggests
new approaches prioritising human rights and health, new studies on
increased weed use by teenagers show significantly damaging outcomes. Hence the debate about the consequences of adolescent cannabis use is continuing.
The latest research on the subject was published in the British journal The Lancet Psychiatry this month. It was seen that teenagers who smoked weed daily were 60% less likely to graduate high school and far more likely to attempt suicide.
Researchers studied adolescents using marijuana, gathering data on frequency of marijuana use from over 3700 students from Australia and New Zealand and followed their developmental outcomes upto 30 years of age. They found a significant association between frequency of cannabis use during adolescence and most young adult outcomes investigated, even after controlling for potential confounding factors including age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, use of other drugs, and mental illness. Teens who smoked weed were seen to have far more negative outcomes then their counterparts who didn't smoke weed, thus supporting the case against marijuana use by adolescents no matter how infrequent.
Here are some excerpts from The Washington Post article Study: Teens who smoke weed daily are 60% less likely to complete high school than those who never use by Christopher Ingraham on the research.
In a conference call, study co-author Edmund Sillins said that the relationship between cannabis use and negative outcomes is significant even at low levels of use (e.g., less than monthly), and that "the results suggest that there may not be a threshold where use can be deemed safe" for teens.
According to the study, there are significant relationships between cannabis use and high school graduation, college graduation, suicide attempts, cannabis dependency (not wholly surprising), and other illicit drug use.
The author points aptly out that;
A person who uses cannabis less than monthly would have slightly lower odds of graduating high school or getting a college degree, compared to a person who doesn't use at all. Increased use further decreases this likelihood. On the other hand, a person who uses cannabis monthly would have roughly 4 times the likelihood of becoming dependent on cannabis as a person who doesn't use at all.
(Continue reading)
P.S:
Study: Teens who smoke weed daily are 60% less likely to complete high school than those who never use
(Washington Post - Sept 9, 2014)
Young adult sequelae of adolescent cannabis use: an integrative analysis (September 2014)
The latest research on the subject was published in the British journal The Lancet Psychiatry this month. It was seen that teenagers who smoked weed daily were 60% less likely to graduate high school and far more likely to attempt suicide.
Researchers studied adolescents using marijuana, gathering data on frequency of marijuana use from over 3700 students from Australia and New Zealand and followed their developmental outcomes upto 30 years of age. They found a significant association between frequency of cannabis use during adolescence and most young adult outcomes investigated, even after controlling for potential confounding factors including age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, use of other drugs, and mental illness. Teens who smoked weed were seen to have far more negative outcomes then their counterparts who didn't smoke weed, thus supporting the case against marijuana use by adolescents no matter how infrequent.
Here are some excerpts from The Washington Post article Study: Teens who smoke weed daily are 60% less likely to complete high school than those who never use by Christopher Ingraham on the research.
In a conference call, study co-author Edmund Sillins said that the relationship between cannabis use and negative outcomes is significant even at low levels of use (e.g., less than monthly), and that "the results suggest that there may not be a threshold where use can be deemed safe" for teens.
According to the study, there are significant relationships between cannabis use and high school graduation, college graduation, suicide attempts, cannabis dependency (not wholly surprising), and other illicit drug use.
The author points aptly out that;
A person who uses cannabis less than monthly would have slightly lower odds of graduating high school or getting a college degree, compared to a person who doesn't use at all. Increased use further decreases this likelihood. On the other hand, a person who uses cannabis monthly would have roughly 4 times the likelihood of becoming dependent on cannabis as a person who doesn't use at all.
(Continue reading)
P.S:
Study: Teens who smoke weed daily are 60% less likely to complete high school than those who never use
(Washington Post - Sept 9, 2014)
Young adult sequelae of adolescent cannabis use: an integrative analysis (September 2014)
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Teenage cannabis use and schizophrenia
With the growing wave of legalizing marijuana
use across the US, it is important to fully understand the possible
consequences of expected increase in it's unrestricted use, specially
amongst the youth. A group of scientist at the Feinberg School of
Medicine and Northwestern Memorial Hospital have conducted a study which
has found a link between teenage Marijuana (Cannabis) use and
schizophrenia. This study was published by Schizophrenia Bulletin
The brains of teenagers smoking cannabis daily for about three years showed significant structural changes affecting memory. Some of those changes appear very similar to those seen in the brains of schizophrenics.These youngsters also performed badly when tested on memory tasks, indicating poor memory functioning.
As reported by Marla Paul for Northwestern University on Futurity;
This is the first study to target key brain regions in the deep sub-cortical gray matter of chronic marijuana users with structural MRI and to correlate abnormalities in these regions with an impaired working memory.
Working memory is the ability to remember and process information in the moment and—if needed—transfer it to long-term memory. Previous studies have evaluated the effects of marijuana on the cortex, and few have directly compared chronic marijuana use in otherwise healthy individuals and individuals with schizophrenia.
According to the lead study author Mathew Smith an assistant research professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine;
“The study links the chronic use of marijuana to these concerning brain abnormalities that appear to last for at least a few years after people stop using it. With the movement to decriminalize marijuana, we need more research to understand its effect on the brain.”
But in contrast to these findings another study conducted at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London, has shown a genetic link between cannabis use and schizophrenia. Kate Kelland reports for Reuters that;
The results chime with previous studies linking schizophrenia and cannabis, but suggest the association may be due to common genes and might not be a causal relationship where cannabis use leads to increased schizophrenia risk.
"We know that cannabis increases the risk of schizophrenia. Our study certainly does not rule this out, but it suggests that there is likely to be an association in the other direction as well – that a pre-disposition to schizophrenia also increases your likelihood of cannabis use," said Robert Power, who led the study at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London.
But what become evident from both these recent studies is the clear connection between adolescent use of cannabis and the development of schizophrenia. Therefore it is important for parents to discourage their children from getting swept up in this growing wave of legal recreational use of marijuana. We need to educate ourselves and our children on the very real dangers and consequences of indiscriminate use of marijuana.
References:
The brains of teenagers smoking cannabis daily for about three years showed significant structural changes affecting memory. Some of those changes appear very similar to those seen in the brains of schizophrenics.These youngsters also performed badly when tested on memory tasks, indicating poor memory functioning.As reported by Marla Paul for Northwestern University on Futurity;
This is the first study to target key brain regions in the deep sub-cortical gray matter of chronic marijuana users with structural MRI and to correlate abnormalities in these regions with an impaired working memory.
Working memory is the ability to remember and process information in the moment and—if needed—transfer it to long-term memory. Previous studies have evaluated the effects of marijuana on the cortex, and few have directly compared chronic marijuana use in otherwise healthy individuals and individuals with schizophrenia.
According to the lead study author Mathew Smith an assistant research professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine;
“The study links the chronic use of marijuana to these concerning brain abnormalities that appear to last for at least a few years after people stop using it. With the movement to decriminalize marijuana, we need more research to understand its effect on the brain.”
But in contrast to these findings another study conducted at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London, has shown a genetic link between cannabis use and schizophrenia. Kate Kelland reports for Reuters that;
The results chime with previous studies linking schizophrenia and cannabis, but suggest the association may be due to common genes and might not be a causal relationship where cannabis use leads to increased schizophrenia risk.
"We know that cannabis increases the risk of schizophrenia. Our study certainly does not rule this out, but it suggests that there is likely to be an association in the other direction as well – that a pre-disposition to schizophrenia also increases your likelihood of cannabis use," said Robert Power, who led the study at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London.
But what become evident from both these recent studies is the clear connection between adolescent use of cannabis and the development of schizophrenia. Therefore it is important for parents to discourage their children from getting swept up in this growing wave of legal recreational use of marijuana. We need to educate ourselves and our children on the very real dangers and consequences of indiscriminate use of marijuana.
References:
Teen marijuana use linked with schizophrenia (Futurity-January 3, 2014)
Study finds genetic links between schizophrenia and cannabis use (Reuters-June 24, 2014)
Cannabis-Related Working Memory Deficits and Associated Subcortical Morphological Differences in Healthy Individuals and Schizophrenia Subjects (Schizophrenia Bulletin-December 15, 2013)
Genetic predisposition to schizophrenia associated with increased use of cannabis (Molecular Psychiatry-June 24, 2014)
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Air Pollution damaging not children's health but also their IQs
In a recent study at Columbia University School of Public Health, researchers have shown that air pollution might affect children's earning potential later in life. The study has been published in The Journal of Public Health Policy May issue.
The researchers gathered data by tracking poor and pregnant African American and Dominican mothers and their children til the age of five.
The results as also discussed by Sydney Brownstone in Fast Company Coexist section showed an inverse relationship in air quality (presence of neurotoxicants, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) released to ambient air by combustion of fossil fuel and other organic material) and the children's IQ. Here are excerpts of the article;
Some of the biggest barriers blocking children's access to opportunity are also the most invisible. It’s no small difference either. If New York City were to reduce its pollution from sources like diesel fumes by even a quarter, affected children could earn an additional $215 million in their lifetimes.
It’s old news that some types of air pollution affect some groups more than others. Poor communities of color are most at risk, often housed in the polluted miasma next to highways, city dumps, landfills, power plants, and other undesirable places to live. New York City is no exception. In 2006, NYU researchers analyzed backpacks of South Bronx schoolchildren to link the borough’s heavy diesel-powered truck traffic to shockingly high rates of childhood asthma hospitalizations.
The Columbia researchers were able to see if pollution exposure correlated with academic performance and IQ. When they factored in the well-documented relationship between IQ and future earnings, the researchers calculated that if the city decreased PAH pollution by a quarter, each child could earn an additional $3,382 on average. Multiply that by the 63,500 kids exposed to this kind of pollution in the city, and the total comes to $215 million in lost dollars.
These findings have been supported by others studies and medical papers. Such as the 2012 paper published by the National Institute of Health in which Harvard Medical School Neurologist Dr. David C. Bellinger concluded that;
Any effort to compare the neurodevelopmental burden associated with different risk factors is limited by the data available and the assumptions required. It was possible to estimate the total loss of FSIQ points in the population of 0- to 5-year-old U.S. children for a variety of risk factors, including three environmental chemicals: methylmercury, organophosphate pesticides, and lead. Despite the limitations of the approach, it appears that when population impact is considered, the contributions of chemicals to FSIQ loss in children are substantial, in some cases exceeding those of other recognized risk factors for neurodevelopmental impairment in children. The primary reason for this is the relative ubiquity of exposure.
Although American industry will insist on more targeted and exact data to force any significant regulations to further reduce air pollution and other environmental pollutants, it is clear that harm is being done. If we want our children to have a fair chance at success and progress we need to take action now.
References:
A Strategy for Comparing the Contributions of Environmental Chemicals and Other Risk Factors to Neurodevelopment of Children (NIH April 1, 2012)
A Study Links Trucks’ Exhaust to Bronx Schoolchildren’s Asthma (The New York Times- June 2, 2006)
The researchers gathered data by tracking poor and pregnant African American and Dominican mothers and their children til the age of five.
The results as also discussed by Sydney Brownstone in Fast Company Coexist section showed an inverse relationship in air quality (presence of neurotoxicants, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) released to ambient air by combustion of fossil fuel and other organic material) and the children's IQ. Here are excerpts of the article;
Some of the biggest barriers blocking children's access to opportunity are also the most invisible. It’s no small difference either. If New York City were to reduce its pollution from sources like diesel fumes by even a quarter, affected children could earn an additional $215 million in their lifetimes.
It’s old news that some types of air pollution affect some groups more than others. Poor communities of color are most at risk, often housed in the polluted miasma next to highways, city dumps, landfills, power plants, and other undesirable places to live. New York City is no exception. In 2006, NYU researchers analyzed backpacks of South Bronx schoolchildren to link the borough’s heavy diesel-powered truck traffic to shockingly high rates of childhood asthma hospitalizations.
The Columbia researchers were able to see if pollution exposure correlated with academic performance and IQ. When they factored in the well-documented relationship between IQ and future earnings, the researchers calculated that if the city decreased PAH pollution by a quarter, each child could earn an additional $3,382 on average. Multiply that by the 63,500 kids exposed to this kind of pollution in the city, and the total comes to $215 million in lost dollars.
These findings have been supported by others studies and medical papers. Such as the 2012 paper published by the National Institute of Health in which Harvard Medical School Neurologist Dr. David C. Bellinger concluded that; Any effort to compare the neurodevelopmental burden associated with different risk factors is limited by the data available and the assumptions required. It was possible to estimate the total loss of FSIQ points in the population of 0- to 5-year-old U.S. children for a variety of risk factors, including three environmental chemicals: methylmercury, organophosphate pesticides, and lead. Despite the limitations of the approach, it appears that when population impact is considered, the contributions of chemicals to FSIQ loss in children are substantial, in some cases exceeding those of other recognized risk factors for neurodevelopmental impairment in children. The primary reason for this is the relative ubiquity of exposure.
Although American industry will insist on more targeted and exact data to force any significant regulations to further reduce air pollution and other environmental pollutants, it is clear that harm is being done. If we want our children to have a fair chance at success and progress we need to take action now.
References:
The Toxins That Threaten Our Brains(The Atlantic-May 18, 2014)
(Fast Company-CoExist May 12, 2014)
Prenatal exposure to airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and IQ: Estimated benefit of pollution reduction (Journal Of Public Health Policy- May 8, 2014)
Air Pollution and Health Risk (EPA)A Strategy for Comparing the Contributions of Environmental Chemicals and Other Risk Factors to Neurodevelopment of Children (NIH April 1, 2012)
A Study Links Trucks’ Exhaust to Bronx Schoolchildren’s Asthma (The New York Times- June 2, 2006)
Thursday, May 8, 2014
The autism vs vaccines controversy
In 1998 an article published in the British Journal The Lancet claimed it found a causal connection between the MMR vaccine and autism. Although that article was widely disputed and later retracted, it has left behind a significant following, leading many parents to refuse MMR vaccination for their children. The anti-vaccine groups also stressed on the use of mercury-based preservative Thimerosal in vaccines as a suspected culprit. As a result the government has gradually removed it or reduced it to trace amounts in all vaccines in 2001, in spite of no scientific proof of its possible link to incidence of autism. As explained on the CDC website;
"Over the years, some people have had concerns that autism might be linked to the vaccines children receive. One vaccine ingredient that has been studied specifically is thimerosal, previously used as a preservative in many recommended childhood vaccines. However, in 2001 thimerosal was removed or reduced to trace amounts in all childhood vaccines except for one type of influenza vaccine, and thimerosal-free alternatives are available for influenza vaccine. Evidence from several studies examining trends in vaccine use and changes in autism frequency does not support such an association between thimerosal and autism. Furthermore, a scientific review by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) concluded that "the evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal–containing vaccines and autism." CDC supports the IOM conclusion that there is no relationship between vaccines containing thimerosal and autism rates in children.
The IOM also recently conducted a thorough review of the current medical and scientific evidence on vaccines and certain health events that may be observed after vaccination. It released a report in August 2011 on 8 vaccines given to children and adults that found the vaccines to be generally safe and serious adverse events following these vaccinations to be rare."
A measles outbreak that struck a Texas megachurch community late last
summer sickened 21 people. And just recently, at least 16 people got
sick during a measles outbreak in Ohio. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported 13 measles outbreaks so far in 2014 -- the most since 1996.
According to an article in JAMA News;
Overall, among 140 US residents who acquired measles, 117 (84%) were unvaccinated, and 11 (8%) had unknown vaccination status. Of those who were unvaccinated, 92 (79%) had philosophical objections to vaccination, and 15 cases (13%) occurred among infants younger than 12 months who were not eligible for vaccination.
Besides leading to prevention and saving lives, these vaccines are also economically beneficial, as pointed out by Kuneet Kollipara;
A new study from CDC researchers led by Anne Schuchat analyzed what happened to disease rates as childhood vaccination rates increased starting in the early 1990s. The researchers used these findings to model the resulting effect over the kids' lifetimes. In the analysis, the researchers factored in most routine vaccines recommended for children below age 6 (among them the MMR and whooping cough vaccines). Their findings: Routine childhood vaccinations given between 1994 and 2013 will save 732,000 lives and prevent 322 million cases of illness and 21 million hospitalizations over the course of the children's lifetimes.
In 2009 alone, the researchers determined, each $1 spent on vaccines and their administration yielded $10 in benefits to society. And the vaccinations from 1994-2013, the researchers found, will save society a net $1.38 trillion, both directly (by reducing health expenses) and indirectly (via the economic activity that is saved from avoided illnesses). That's almost 10 percent of the U.S. economy's gross domestic product.
In the end vaccines may not be without fault but there is no clear cut evidence to their causal link to autism. And they are definitely effective and save lives if given to a significant percentage of the population.
References:
How the anti-vaccine movement is endangering lives (The Washington Post-May 5, 2014).
"Over the years, some people have had concerns that autism might be linked to the vaccines children receive. One vaccine ingredient that has been studied specifically is thimerosal, previously used as a preservative in many recommended childhood vaccines. However, in 2001 thimerosal was removed or reduced to trace amounts in all childhood vaccines except for one type of influenza vaccine, and thimerosal-free alternatives are available for influenza vaccine. Evidence from several studies examining trends in vaccine use and changes in autism frequency does not support such an association between thimerosal and autism. Furthermore, a scientific review by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) concluded that "the evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal–containing vaccines and autism." CDC supports the IOM conclusion that there is no relationship between vaccines containing thimerosal and autism rates in children.
The IOM also recently conducted a thorough review of the current medical and scientific evidence on vaccines and certain health events that may be observed after vaccination. It released a report in August 2011 on 8 vaccines given to children and adults that found the vaccines to be generally safe and serious adverse events following these vaccinations to be rare."
The 2012 National Immunization Survey found that about 90% of children aged 19 to 35 months
completed recommended vaccinations and less than 1% received no vaccines
at all. But it also highlighted the fact that rates are varied by states and regions therefore leaving some areas vulnerable to outbreaks of measles and other vaccine preventable diseases. The resurgence of measles and whooping cough (Pertussis) in recent years after decades of almost complete extinction could
possibly be the distressing consequence of an increasing number of parents refusing the MMR vaccine on grounds of its possible association to autism.
As explained by Puneet Kollipara in The Washington Post article How the anti-vaccine movement is endangering lives (May 5, 2014).
According to an article in JAMA News;
Overall, among 140 US residents who acquired measles, 117 (84%) were unvaccinated, and 11 (8%) had unknown vaccination status. Of those who were unvaccinated, 92 (79%) had philosophical objections to vaccination, and 15 cases (13%) occurred among infants younger than 12 months who were not eligible for vaccination.
Besides leading to prevention and saving lives, these vaccines are also economically beneficial, as pointed out by Kuneet Kollipara;
A new study from CDC researchers led by Anne Schuchat analyzed what happened to disease rates as childhood vaccination rates increased starting in the early 1990s. The researchers used these findings to model the resulting effect over the kids' lifetimes. In the analysis, the researchers factored in most routine vaccines recommended for children below age 6 (among them the MMR and whooping cough vaccines). Their findings: Routine childhood vaccinations given between 1994 and 2013 will save 732,000 lives and prevent 322 million cases of illness and 21 million hospitalizations over the course of the children's lifetimes.
In 2009 alone, the researchers determined, each $1 spent on vaccines and their administration yielded $10 in benefits to society. And the vaccinations from 1994-2013, the researchers found, will save society a net $1.38 trillion, both directly (by reducing health expenses) and indirectly (via the economic activity that is saved from avoided illnesses). That's almost 10 percent of the U.S. economy's gross domestic product.
In the end vaccines may not be without fault but there is no clear cut evidence to their causal link to autism. And they are definitely effective and save lives if given to a significant percentage of the population.
References:
How the anti-vaccine movement is endangering lives (The Washington Post-May 5, 2014).
Vaccination Rates for US Children Remain Generally High, But Measles Outbreaks Underscore Shortfalls in Some Regions(JAMA News Spetember 2013)
Saturday, May 3, 2014
The serious and difficult outcomes of saving extremely premature babies.
According to the CDC 1 in every 8 babies born in the US is preterm (birth of an infant prior to 37 weeks of pregnancy). 35% of all infant deaths in 2009 were because of preterm related causes of death. The US health care system spent about $26 billion on preterm births in 2005.
But the statistic that should be raising concern is that 'preterm birth is also a leading cause of long-term neurological disabilities in children.'
It is, says Pearce, a great taboo to wonder if she should have let her son go when he was born so fragile and weak, but one that she feels strongly that she should break. "More people need to be aware of what these little chaps go through," she said.
"I have no regrets that what has happened has happened. Now this most gorgeous little thing is here and I absolutely adore him. I am so glad I have got to know him. But that doesn't stop me knowing that all I have done is postpone the inevitable. He's not expected to live a very long life. I don't think he'll make it to his teens. He's so frail.
While the latest figures show that 39% of babies born at 24 weeks are now surviving with help from medical advances, the chances of those children suffering no serious ill-effects in later life are low – around six in 100.Last year, researchers from University College Hospital, London, found that premature babies were more sensitive to pain. All pre-term babies are more at risk of a lower IQ, poorer cognitive functioning, learning disabilities and behavioural problems such as attention deficit disorder than full-term babies.
Last year, researchers from University College Hospital, London, found that premature babies were more sensitive to pain. All pre-term babies are more at risk of a lower IQ, poorer cognitive functioning, learning disabilities and behavioural problems such as attention deficit disorder than full-term babies.
"You hear about 'miracle babies' or 'little fighters' and people have such a romantic view about premature babies – 'Oh, there's an incubator for a little while and then they go home and everything is rosy'. It's not."
"Obviously every life deserves a chance, every life. But you wouldn't put an adult through that. You wouldn't put an animal through it. If an adult required that level of medical intervention then someone would be taking the family aside and suggesting gently that the machines are switched off."
Pearce had no warning of her own premature birth, brought about by a sudden complication in the pregnancy, a placental abruption, and had none of the risk factors – she doesn't drink or smoke, isn't obese and her first son, Dominick, now five, was born at full term.
"Birth and death are the most natural processes a body can go through and Nathan's birth and treatment was so far removed from that. Strange birth, choices to be made, difficult bonding. I had to wait six weeks to hold my son and when I did he was still attached to a ventilator and I had many nurses around me. It was all so clinical."
An advocate or counsellor figure would, she feels, help the mother think more clearly about the situation.
But for Alexia Pearce, it's important for families to fully understand too that the difficult times do not end when the baby leaves the incubator. "When you go into labour that early, nobody is a winner," she said. "I'm not saying stop people from having their premature baby resuscitated. I'm not saying babies shouldn't be saved. I am saying that the myth that there is a happy ever after needs to be explored and it's important that we talk about it.
(Read Complete Article)
References:
'Nathan was born at 23 weeks. If I'd known then what I do now, I'd have wanted him to die in my arms' (The Guardian/The Observer)
CDC Reproductive Health- Preterm Births
Preterm Births- Complications (Mayo Clinic)
But the statistic that should be raising concern is that 'preterm birth is also a leading cause of long-term neurological disabilities in children.'
With modern medicine and all our advances in medical sciences, we have made it possible to save babies born at 22-23 weeks of gestation. But preterm births are associated with some serious short term and long term complications. Not only do these prevent the child from living a normal healthy life they can take a severe toll on the family and the community.
In the article 'Nathan was born at 23 weeks. If I'd known then what I do now, I'd have wanted him to die in my arms' reporter Tracy McVeigh covers the story of Alexia Pearce mother of a three years old son who was born prematurely at 23 weeks and now lives a difficult life with cerebral palsy and chronic lung disease. Alexia loves her son deeply yet she asks if "we are always right to save premature babies". Here are excerpt of the story;
Alexia Pearce looks at her three-year-old son Nathan every day and feels
the same rush of guilt. Guilt that she chose to let him live when he
was born too early, just 23 weeks into her pregnancy. "If I'd known then
what I know now about what extremely premature babies have to go
though, I would not have chosen that for my little boy.
"I would have wanted them to give him to me and for him to pass away in
my arms. I find the whole issue of what he has been put through, what he
continues to be put through, very difficult. I feel very guilty that I
took that decision, postponing the inevitable."
"He can't walk or talk. He's oxygen dependent, although hopefully
that might change. He has chronic lung disease, cerebral palsy and
global developmental delay. He has diabetes inspidus and his thermostat
is a bit wonky so he gets hot and cold."It is, says Pearce, a great taboo to wonder if she should have let her son go when he was born so fragile and weak, but one that she feels strongly that she should break. "More people need to be aware of what these little chaps go through," she said.
"I have no regrets that what has happened has happened. Now this most gorgeous little thing is here and I absolutely adore him. I am so glad I have got to know him. But that doesn't stop me knowing that all I have done is postpone the inevitable. He's not expected to live a very long life. I don't think he'll make it to his teens. He's so frail.
While the latest figures show that 39% of babies born at 24 weeks are now surviving with help from medical advances, the chances of those children suffering no serious ill-effects in later life are low – around six in 100.Last year, researchers from University College Hospital, London, found that premature babies were more sensitive to pain. All pre-term babies are more at risk of a lower IQ, poorer cognitive functioning, learning disabilities and behavioural problems such as attention deficit disorder than full-term babies.
Last year, researchers from University College Hospital, London, found that premature babies were more sensitive to pain. All pre-term babies are more at risk of a lower IQ, poorer cognitive functioning, learning disabilities and behavioural problems such as attention deficit disorder than full-term babies.
"You hear about 'miracle babies' or 'little fighters' and people have such a romantic view about premature babies – 'Oh, there's an incubator for a little while and then they go home and everything is rosy'. It's not."
"Obviously every life deserves a chance, every life. But you wouldn't put an adult through that. You wouldn't put an animal through it. If an adult required that level of medical intervention then someone would be taking the family aside and suggesting gently that the machines are switched off."
Pearce had no warning of her own premature birth, brought about by a sudden complication in the pregnancy, a placental abruption, and had none of the risk factors – she doesn't drink or smoke, isn't obese and her first son, Dominick, now five, was born at full term.
"Birth and death are the most natural processes a body can go through and Nathan's birth and treatment was so far removed from that. Strange birth, choices to be made, difficult bonding. I had to wait six weeks to hold my son and when I did he was still attached to a ventilator and I had many nurses around me. It was all so clinical."
An advocate or counsellor figure would, she feels, help the mother think more clearly about the situation.
But for Alexia Pearce, it's important for families to fully understand too that the difficult times do not end when the baby leaves the incubator. "When you go into labour that early, nobody is a winner," she said. "I'm not saying stop people from having their premature baby resuscitated. I'm not saying babies shouldn't be saved. I am saying that the myth that there is a happy ever after needs to be explored and it's important that we talk about it.
(Read Complete Article)
References:
'Nathan was born at 23 weeks. If I'd known then what I do now, I'd have wanted him to die in my arms' (The Guardian/The Observer)
CDC Reproductive Health- Preterm Births
Preterm Births- Complications (Mayo Clinic)
(NCBI- National Center for Biotechnology Information)
Sunday, April 20, 2014
The damage caused by bullying persists much longer then the bullying itself
According to a longitudinal British study just published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, the detrimental effects of bullying can lasts for decades and influence a person's socioeconomic status, social relationships, often leading to a poorer quality of life as far out as in their 50s.
As reported by the researchers of the study;
The impact of bullying victimization was not limited to indicators of adult health. Children who were frequently bullied had lower educational levels at midlife, and men in the labor market were more likely to be unemployed and to earn less than their peers. Social relationships in adulthood were affected too; children who were bullied were at increased risk of living without a spouse or partner at age 50, were less likely to have met up with friends in the recent past, and were less likely to have access to social support if they were sick. Bullying victimization also affected adult well-being; being bullied was associated with lower perceived quality of life at age 50 and lower satisfaction with life so far. Cohort members who had been frequently bullied also anticipated less life satisfaction in the years to come. When controlling for childhood confounders, bullying victimization became marginally associated with unemployment (for men), net pay (for men), and meeting friends in the last 2 weeks. All other associations remained significant.
In this study data was collected from almost 98% of all births in one week of 1958 in Scotland, England and Wales, leading to about 18,000 participants. Subsequent follow-up were then carried out at age 7, 11 and 16 years in their childhood, and then at ages 23, 33, 42, and 50 years in adulthood. To assess presence and frequency of bullying during childhood researchers interviewed parents. Whereas the psychological distress resulting in adult life was assessed through various standardized test.
It is clear from these observations that in addition to effectively reducing incidents of childhood bullying efforts must be made to minimize its effect on mental, emotional and physical.
To learn more about bullying and to find help please check Stopbullying.gov
References:
Adult Health Outcomes of Childhood Bullying Victimization: Evidence From a Five-Decade Longitudinal British Birth Cohort (American Journal of Psychiatry)
Mental And Physical Toll Of Bullying Persists For Decades (Health News from NPR)
As reported by the researchers of the study;
The impact of bullying victimization was not limited to indicators of adult health. Children who were frequently bullied had lower educational levels at midlife, and men in the labor market were more likely to be unemployed and to earn less than their peers. Social relationships in adulthood were affected too; children who were bullied were at increased risk of living without a spouse or partner at age 50, were less likely to have met up with friends in the recent past, and were less likely to have access to social support if they were sick. Bullying victimization also affected adult well-being; being bullied was associated with lower perceived quality of life at age 50 and lower satisfaction with life so far. Cohort members who had been frequently bullied also anticipated less life satisfaction in the years to come. When controlling for childhood confounders, bullying victimization became marginally associated with unemployment (for men), net pay (for men), and meeting friends in the last 2 weeks. All other associations remained significant.In this study data was collected from almost 98% of all births in one week of 1958 in Scotland, England and Wales, leading to about 18,000 participants. Subsequent follow-up were then carried out at age 7, 11 and 16 years in their childhood, and then at ages 23, 33, 42, and 50 years in adulthood. To assess presence and frequency of bullying during childhood researchers interviewed parents. Whereas the psychological distress resulting in adult life was assessed through various standardized test.
It is clear from these observations that in addition to effectively reducing incidents of childhood bullying efforts must be made to minimize its effect on mental, emotional and physical.
To learn more about bullying and to find help please check Stopbullying.gov
References:
Adult Health Outcomes of Childhood Bullying Victimization: Evidence From a Five-Decade Longitudinal British Birth Cohort (American Journal of Psychiatry)
Mental And Physical Toll Of Bullying Persists For Decades (Health News from NPR)
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Green makes us all happier
A recent survey of 2500 individuals about anxiety, depression and stress conducted and analyzed by researchers at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. They also analyzed 229 neighborhoods for vegetation cover. The verdict; people who live close to a park and green spaces are happier!
These results were discussed on Co.Exist (Fast Company) by Ben Schiller in his recent article, '
Those places with more trees tended to be happier, and the association was "significant and sizable," according to a paper discussing the results. In fact, the relationship of happiness to trees was similar to well-known correlations, like unemployment. "The most interesting thing is that decreased symptoms attributed to green space were similar to decreases observed for other important determinants of mental health, including insurance status and income," wrote Kirsten Beyer, an assistant professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin, in an email.
Read on
References:
These results were discussed on Co.Exist (Fast Company) by Ben Schiller in his recent article, '
If You Live Near A Park, You're More Likely To Be Happy'
Those places with more trees tended to be happier, and the association was "significant and sizable," according to a paper discussing the results. In fact, the relationship of happiness to trees was similar to well-known correlations, like unemployment. "The most interesting thing is that decreased symptoms attributed to green space were similar to decreases observed for other important determinants of mental health, including insurance status and income," wrote Kirsten Beyer, an assistant professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin, in an email.
The paper shows the difference in well-being levels between areas with
zero tree canopy cover and 100% canopy cover was greater than the
well-being difference between someone having and not having health
insurance.
References:
(International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health)
(Fast Company- Co.Exist)
Friday, April 18, 2014
Older dads might increase the risk of mental health issues in their children
A child's health issues have often been linked
to their mother's age at time of their birth. Now a study at University
of Indiana has found evidence that a father's age can influence a
child's risk of developing conditions such as autism, ADHD and bipolar
disorder. The children of older fathers were also seen to be more likely
to consider suicide.
Suicidal behaviour and substance misuse was twice as likely, according to the study, which is published today in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
Brian D’Onofrio, who led the research, told The Times: “We were shocked by the findings. The specific associations with paternal age were much, much larger than in previous studies.”
The researchers looked at information about everyone born in Sweden from 1973 until 2001, some 2,615,081 people.
Christopher Barratt, a professor of Reproductive Medicine at Dundee University, suggested younger men should consider freezing their sperm in case they want to have a child when they are in their 40s.
(Read on)
References:
As reported in The Independent by Ian Johnston in his article Children of older dads face more health problem;
Scientists at Indiana University found that a child born when their
father is 45 was 3.5 times more likely to have autism, 13 times more
likely to have ADHD and 25 times more likely to have bipolar disorder
than the child of a 24-year-old man.Suicidal behaviour and substance misuse was twice as likely, according to the study, which is published today in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
Brian D’Onofrio, who led the research, told The Times: “We were shocked by the findings. The specific associations with paternal age were much, much larger than in previous studies.”
The researchers looked at information about everyone born in Sweden from 1973 until 2001, some 2,615,081 people.
Christopher Barratt, a professor of Reproductive Medicine at Dundee University, suggested younger men should consider freezing their sperm in case they want to have a child when they are in their 40s.
(Read on)
References:
Children of older dads face more health problems (The Independent- April 4, 2014)
A Comprehensive Assessment of Parental Age and Psychiatric Disorders (JAMA Psychiatry)
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Several studies find further evidence of detrimental effects caused by marijuana smoking
Since this wave of legalization of use of recreational marijuana is spreading gradually but surely to more and more states in the United States, more and more studies funded by medical institutions and organizations are reporting on the very real dangers of frequent marijuana use. I am going to highlight only a few of the studies published on the subject in various medical journals in the past few years.
Journal of Neuroscience (April 16, 2014)
This study conducted by researchers from Harvard University and Chicago's Northwestern Medicine group, using a small sample of 40 individuals between the ages of 18-25 has shown that smoking cannabis ( also known as marijuana) once or twice a week can lead to major changes in brain areas associated with emotions and motivation.
Anne Blood, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School said that the areas affected were "core, fundamental structures of the brain".
"They form the basis for how you assess positive and negative features about things in the environment and make decisions," she said.
The severity of abnormalities in these regions of the brain was directly related to the number of joints a person smoked per week, according to the study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience on Wednesday. The more joints a person smoked, the more abnormal the shape, volume and density of the brain regions, but the effect was noticeable even in those who smoked once or twice a week.
However, experts in the UK said that the study group was small and that more research was needed over a longer timescale to establish whether cannabis smoking caused the unusual brain features, or whether people with such brain features were more likely to smoke cannabis in the first place.
Around one million people aged between 16 and 24 use cannabis in the UK per year, according to the charity DrugScope. Its use has been reported to cause anxiety and paranoia in some users and in rarer cases may be a trigger for underlying mental health problems.
Dr Michael Bloomfield, clinical research fellow at the UK's Medical Research Council (MRC), said that the study added to the MRC's own research which found that heavy cannabis use in adolescence is associated with changes in chemical connections in the brain.
Schizophrenia Bulletin ( December 16, 2013)
Yet another study conducted by Northwestern Medicine and mainly funded by The National Institute of Mental Health and National Institute of Drug Abuse, has shown that heavy use of marijuana (daily for 3 years) in teen years can lead to abnormal changes in the brain structure related to memory. The teens in the study performed poorly on memory tasks.
According to lead study author Matthew Smith, an assistant research professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, " The study links the chronic use of marijuana to these concerning brain abnormalities that appear to last for at least a few years after people stop using it, with the movement to decriminalize marijuana, we need more research to understand its effect on the brain."
Chronic use of marijuana may contribute to changes in brain structure that are associated with having schizophrenia, the Northwestern research shows. Of the 15 marijuana smokers who had schizophrenia in the study, 90 percent started heavily using the drug before they developed the mental disorder. Marijuana abuse has been linked to developing schizophrenia in prior research.
"The abuse of popular street drugs, such as marijuana, may have dangerous implications for young people who are developing or have developed mental disorders," said co-senior study author John Csernansky, M.D., chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Northwestern Memorial Hospital. "This paper is among the first to reveal that the use of marijuana may contribute to the changes in brain structure that have been associated with having schizophrenia."
Chronic marijuana use could augment the underlying disease process associated with schizophrenia, Smith noted. "If someone has a family history of schizophrenia, they are increasing their risk of developing schizophrenia if they abuse marijuana," he said.
While chronic marijuana smokers and chronic marijuana smokers with schizophrenia both had brain changes related to the drug, subjects with the mental disorder had greater deterioration in the thalamus. That structure is the communication hub of the brain and is critical for learning, memory and communications between brain regions. The brain regions examined in this study also affect motivation, which is already notably impaired in people with schizophrenia.
"A tremendous amount of addiction research has focused on brain regions traditionally connected with reward/aversion function, and thus motivation," noted co-senior study author Hans Breiter, M.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of the Warren Wright Adolescent Center at Feinberg and Northwestern Memorial. "This study very nicely extends the set of regions of concern to include those involved with working memory and higher level cognitive functions necessary for how well you organize your life and can work in society."
Journal of Chemical Research in Toxicology (May 18, 2009)
The study Dr. Michael Bloomfield mentions was conducted by Leicester University’s Rajinder Singh, Jatinderpal Sandhu, Balvinder Kaur, Tina Juren, William P. Steward, Dan Segerback and Peter B. Farmer from the Cancer Biomarkers and Prevention Group, Department of Cancer Studies and Molecular Medicine and Karolinska Institute, Sweden. This research was funded by MRC, European Union Network of Excellence (ECNIS) and Cancer Research UK. The findings were published in the Journal of Chemical Research in Toxicology.
In this case researchers found "convincing evidence" that cannabis smoke damages DNA in ways that could potentially increase the risk of cancer development in humans.
Lead author Dr Singh said:
“There have been many studies on the toxicity of tobacco smoke. It is known that tobacco smoke contains 4000 chemicals of which 60 are classed as carcinogens. Cannabis in contrast has not been so well studied. It is less combustible than tobacco and is often mixed with tobacco in use. Cannabis smoke contains 400 compounds including 60 cannabinoids. However, because of its lower combustibility it contains 50% more carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons including naphthalene, benzanthracene, and benzopyrene, than tobacco smoke.”
The authors added: “It is well known that toxic substances in tobacco smoke can damage DNA and increase the risk of lung and other cancers. Scientists were unsure though whether cannabis smoke would have the same effect. Our research has focused on the toxicity of acetaldehyde, which is present in both tobacco and cannabis.”
The researchers add that the ability of cannabis smoke to damage DNA has significant human health implications especially as users tend to inhale more deeply than cigarette smokers, which increases respiratory burden.
"These results provide evidence for the DNA damaging potential of cannabis smoke," the researchers conclude, "implying that the consumption of cannabis cigarettes may be detrimental to human health with the possibility to initiate cancer development."
Although in each case marijuana use supporters will argue the sample sizes are too small or the study was biased, the results of each of these researches were very real. If anything further promotion of the idea that recreational use of marijuana is completely harmless should be discouraged more aggressively.
References:
Cannabis use increases cancer risk study suggests (MRC News & Publications)
Marijuana May Hurt The Developing Teen Brain(Health News NPR-March 3, 2014)
Heavy Marijuana Use Alters Teenage Brain Structure(Psychology Today-March 30, 2014)
This study conducted by researchers from Harvard University and Chicago's Northwestern Medicine group, using a small sample of 40 individuals between the ages of 18-25 has shown that smoking cannabis ( also known as marijuana) once or twice a week can lead to major changes in brain areas associated with emotions and motivation.
In an article on this study, "Smoking cannabis could change the part of the brain dealing with motivation, according to one new study" published in The Independent ( April 16th 2014), health reporter Charlie Cooper writes;
The researchers used neuroimaging techniques to analyze the brains of cannabis users and non-users.
They found that the nucleus accumbens was unusually large in the
cannabis users, while the amygdala also had noticeable abnormalities.Anne Blood, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School said that the areas affected were "core, fundamental structures of the brain".
"They form the basis for how you assess positive and negative features about things in the environment and make decisions," she said.
The severity of abnormalities in these regions of the brain was directly related to the number of joints a person smoked per week, according to the study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience on Wednesday. The more joints a person smoked, the more abnormal the shape, volume and density of the brain regions, but the effect was noticeable even in those who smoked once or twice a week.
However, experts in the UK said that the study group was small and that more research was needed over a longer timescale to establish whether cannabis smoking caused the unusual brain features, or whether people with such brain features were more likely to smoke cannabis in the first place.
Around one million people aged between 16 and 24 use cannabis in the UK per year, according to the charity DrugScope. Its use has been reported to cause anxiety and paranoia in some users and in rarer cases may be a trigger for underlying mental health problems.
Dr Michael Bloomfield, clinical research fellow at the UK's Medical Research Council (MRC), said that the study added to the MRC's own research which found that heavy cannabis use in adolescence is associated with changes in chemical connections in the brain.
Schizophrenia Bulletin ( December 16, 2013)
Yet another study conducted by Northwestern Medicine and mainly funded by The National Institute of Mental Health and National Institute of Drug Abuse, has shown that heavy use of marijuana (daily for 3 years) in teen years can lead to abnormal changes in the brain structure related to memory. The teens in the study performed poorly on memory tasks.
According to lead study author Matthew Smith, an assistant research professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, " The study links the chronic use of marijuana to these concerning brain abnormalities that appear to last for at least a few years after people stop using it, with the movement to decriminalize marijuana, we need more research to understand its effect on the brain."
Chronic use of marijuana may contribute to changes in brain structure that are associated with having schizophrenia, the Northwestern research shows. Of the 15 marijuana smokers who had schizophrenia in the study, 90 percent started heavily using the drug before they developed the mental disorder. Marijuana abuse has been linked to developing schizophrenia in prior research.
As reported in 'Heavy marijuana users have abnormal brain structure and poor memory'
by Eureka Alert online science news service;"The abuse of popular street drugs, such as marijuana, may have dangerous implications for young people who are developing or have developed mental disorders," said co-senior study author John Csernansky, M.D., chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Northwestern Memorial Hospital. "This paper is among the first to reveal that the use of marijuana may contribute to the changes in brain structure that have been associated with having schizophrenia."
Chronic marijuana use could augment the underlying disease process associated with schizophrenia, Smith noted. "If someone has a family history of schizophrenia, they are increasing their risk of developing schizophrenia if they abuse marijuana," he said.
While chronic marijuana smokers and chronic marijuana smokers with schizophrenia both had brain changes related to the drug, subjects with the mental disorder had greater deterioration in the thalamus. That structure is the communication hub of the brain and is critical for learning, memory and communications between brain regions. The brain regions examined in this study also affect motivation, which is already notably impaired in people with schizophrenia.
"A tremendous amount of addiction research has focused on brain regions traditionally connected with reward/aversion function, and thus motivation," noted co-senior study author Hans Breiter, M.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of the Warren Wright Adolescent Center at Feinberg and Northwestern Memorial. "This study very nicely extends the set of regions of concern to include those involved with working memory and higher level cognitive functions necessary for how well you organize your life and can work in society."
Journal of Chemical Research in Toxicology (May 18, 2009)
The study Dr. Michael Bloomfield mentions was conducted by Leicester University’s Rajinder Singh, Jatinderpal Sandhu, Balvinder Kaur, Tina Juren, William P. Steward, Dan Segerback and Peter B. Farmer from the Cancer Biomarkers and Prevention Group, Department of Cancer Studies and Molecular Medicine and Karolinska Institute, Sweden. This research was funded by MRC, European Union Network of Excellence (ECNIS) and Cancer Research UK. The findings were published in the Journal of Chemical Research in Toxicology.
In this case researchers found "convincing evidence" that cannabis smoke damages DNA in ways that could potentially increase the risk of cancer development in humans.
Lead author Dr Singh said:
“There have been many studies on the toxicity of tobacco smoke. It is known that tobacco smoke contains 4000 chemicals of which 60 are classed as carcinogens. Cannabis in contrast has not been so well studied. It is less combustible than tobacco and is often mixed with tobacco in use. Cannabis smoke contains 400 compounds including 60 cannabinoids. However, because of its lower combustibility it contains 50% more carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons including naphthalene, benzanthracene, and benzopyrene, than tobacco smoke.”
The authors added: “It is well known that toxic substances in tobacco smoke can damage DNA and increase the risk of lung and other cancers. Scientists were unsure though whether cannabis smoke would have the same effect. Our research has focused on the toxicity of acetaldehyde, which is present in both tobacco and cannabis.”
The researchers add that the ability of cannabis smoke to damage DNA has significant human health implications especially as users tend to inhale more deeply than cigarette smokers, which increases respiratory burden.
"These results provide evidence for the DNA damaging potential of cannabis smoke," the researchers conclude, "implying that the consumption of cannabis cigarettes may be detrimental to human health with the possibility to initiate cancer development."
Although in each case marijuana use supporters will argue the sample sizes are too small or the study was biased, the results of each of these researches were very real. If anything further promotion of the idea that recreational use of marijuana is completely harmless should be discouraged more aggressively.
References:
Recreational Users (The Journal of Neuroscience-April 16, 2014)
Smoking cannabis could change the part of the brain dealing with motivation, according to one new study(The Independent April 16, 2014) Cannabis use increases cancer risk study suggests (MRC News & Publications)
Marijuana May Hurt The Developing Teen Brain(Health News NPR-March 3, 2014)
Heavy Marijuana Use Alters Teenage Brain Structure(Psychology Today-March 30, 2014)
Heavy marijuana users have abnormal brain structure and poor memory (Northwestern University on Eureka Alert-December 16, 2013)
Cannabis-Related Working Memory Deficits and Associated Subcortical Morphological Differences in Healthy Individuals and Schizophrenia Subjects (Schizophrenia Bulletin- Published 12/15/13)
Evaluation of the DNA Damaging Potential of Cannabis Cigarette Smoke by the Determination of Acetaldehyde Derived N2-Ethyl-2′-deoxyguanosine Adducts(Chemical Research in Toxicology-May 18, 2009)
Monday, March 24, 2014
Lost sleep = Lost Brain Cells
Yes, you read right.
Insufficient sleep is not only detrimental for our physical health but a recent study says it also leads to brain cell death.
The study conducted at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine was published in the latest issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. While studying lack of sleep in mice, the researchers noticed prolonged lack of sleep lead to 25% of certain brain cells dying. After further observation and research the team concluded that similar damage is most likely occurs in human too.
As explained in the abstract of the article, "Modern society enables a shortening of sleep times, yet long-term
consequences of extended wakefulness on the brain are largely
unknown. Essential for optimal alertness, locus
ceruleus neurons (LCns) are metabolically active neurons that fire at
increased
rates across sustained wakefulness. We
hypothesized that wakefulness is a metabolic stressor to LCns and that,
with extended
wakefulness, adaptive mitochondrial metabolic
responses fail and injury ensues."
With prolonged sleep deprivation the processes that maintain a health metabolic homeostasis in the brain can not be sustained, hence may lead to significant irreversible injury. Although much more research and work needs to be done to determine whether loss of sleep can lead to real brain damage.
In the end, for all of us who survive on minimal sleep, it is clearly time to make an extra effort to ensure we get a good prolonged sleep every night.
References:
Insufficient sleep is not only detrimental for our physical health but a recent study says it also leads to brain cell death.
The study conducted at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine was published in the latest issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. While studying lack of sleep in mice, the researchers noticed prolonged lack of sleep lead to 25% of certain brain cells dying. After further observation and research the team concluded that similar damage is most likely occurs in human too.
As explained in the abstract of the article, "Modern society enables a shortening of sleep times, yet long-term
consequences of extended wakefulness on the brain are largely
unknown. Essential for optimal alertness, locus
ceruleus neurons (LCns) are metabolically active neurons that fire at
increased
rates across sustained wakefulness. We
hypothesized that wakefulness is a metabolic stressor to LCns and that,
with extended
wakefulness, adaptive mitochondrial metabolic
responses fail and injury ensues."With prolonged sleep deprivation the processes that maintain a health metabolic homeostasis in the brain can not be sustained, hence may lead to significant irreversible injury. Although much more research and work needs to be done to determine whether loss of sleep can lead to real brain damage.
In the end, for all of us who survive on minimal sleep, it is clearly time to make an extra effort to ensure we get a good prolonged sleep every night.
References:
Extended Wakefulness: Compromised Metabolics in and Degeneration of Locus Ceruleus Neurons (The Journal of Neuroscience -March 19th 2014)
Lost sleep leads to loss of brain cells, study suggests (BBC World News- Health March 19th 2014)
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
A Survey for all parents of teenagers : Monitoring the Future 2013 Survey Results
*Past 30 day use.
This graphic illustrates past 30 day alcohol, cigarette, and illicit drug use among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders from 1993 through 2013. In general, alcohol and cigarette use has decreased, and illicit drug use, which declined in the late 1990s and early 2000s, has been increasing in recent years.
* Past-year use in 12th graders.
Three points in time are shown—1993, 2003, 2013— for marijuana use and the perception of risk (saw great risk in smoking marijuana occasionally) among 12th graders.
After marijuana, prescription and over-the-counter medications account for most of the top drugs abused by 12th graders in the past year.
Description: Abuse of Some Synthetic Drugs is Down.
These are substances that are chemically similar to and/or mimic the effects of illicit drugs. This year, 7.9% of high school seniors reported past-year use of K2/Spice (sometimes called synthetic marijuana), down from last year’s number of 11.3%. Past-year use of the substances called “bath salts” was low for all three grades - at or below 1%.
P.S:Monitoring the Future 2013 Survey Results(NIDA)
The truth about addiction; ruthless, honest, and extremely insightful....
"The mind of a heroin addict: the struggle to get clean and stay sober" on The Guardian is a collection of comments by recovering sober addicts and some using addicts on how they struggle and how Philip Seymour Hoffman's death from heroin overdose after 23 years of sobriety affected them.
As I read this post, I was not only shocked and troubled by the very truthful and blatantly honest responses but also got a better understanding of how they struggle or relapse and how terribly hard it is to fight the addict inside them. I am not totally unaware of what goes into rehabilitation, I worked with addicts during my one year psychiatry job. Yet I found these comments revealing and poignant.
One of the comments which stood out to me was by Danny from Ireland, who has been ten years sober; "My father died from addiction, we lost a cousin, I myself had numerous
overdoses and helped prevent siblings from OD-ing (all of who are now
clean thanks to the process of one addict helping another that Russell Brand spoke of).
Hearing about Hoffman affects me the same way as if it were a friend. I
didnt know he was an addict untill he died, but when I heard of his
story and addiction I immediatly identified with him. We work the same
way in our minds. I know what happened to him before he picked up. I
know how he felt. I'm pretty sure it started the same way most relapses
do. "
Some drug facts in the US:
According to NIDA ( National Institute on Drug Abuse) "Illicit drug use in America has been increasing. In
2012, an estimated 23.9 million Americans aged 12 or older—or 9.2
percent of the population—had used an illicit drug or abused a
psychotherapeutic medication (such as a pain reliever, stimulant, or
tranquilizer) in the past month. This is up from 8.3 percent in 2002.
The increase mostly reflects a recent rise in the use of marijuana, the
most commonly used illicit drug."
More than half of new illicit drug users begin with marijuana. Next most common are prescription pain relievers, followed by inhalants (which is most common among younger teens).
In 2009, there were nearly 4.6 million drug-related Hospital Emergency Department (ED) visits nationwide. These visits included reports of drug abuse, adverse reactions to drugs, or other drug-related consequences. Almost 50 percent were attributed to adverse reactions to pharmaceuticals taken as prescribed, and 45 percent involved drug abuse.
The majority of drug-related ED visits were made by patients 21 or older (80.9 percent, or 3,717,030 visits). Of these, slightly less than half involved drug abuse. Patients aged 20 or younger accounted for 19.1 percent (877,802 visits) of all drug-related visits in 2009; about half of these visits involved drug abuse.
In 2009, almost one million visits involved an illicit drug, either alone or in combination with other types of drugs. The rates of ED visits involving cocaine, marijuana, and heroin were higher for males than for females. Rates for cocaine were highest among individuals aged 35–44, rates for heroin were highest among individuals aged 21–24, stimulant use was highest among those 25–29, and marijuana use was highest for those aged 18–20.
Illicit drug use among teenagers remains high, largely due to increasing popularity of marijuana. Marijuana use by adolescents declined from the late 1990s until the mid-to-late 2000s, but has been on the increase since then. In 2013, 7.0 percent of 8th graders, 18.0 percent of 10th graders, and 22.7 percent of 12th graders used marijuana in the past month, up from 5.8 percent, 13.8 percent, and 19.4 percent in 2008. Daily use has also increased; 6.5 percent of 12th graders now use marijuana every day, compared to 5 percent in the mid-2000s.
P.S:
Sunday, January 12, 2014
We must bring back family mealtime chatting!
I grew up in a family where almost every meal was a sit down with the
family and chat time. Although as we grew up it became less and less
possible at breakfast and lunch, everyone had different schedules but
dinner time stayed the same. Everyone had to show up at the dinner table
at the same time, any late arrivals were expected to provide good
reason.
But it wasn't just eating together, it was more talking to
each other that was special. We talked about school, about issues with
friends, family plans for the coming weekend or holidays, extended
family updates, dad's job news, mom's social news, current affairs, and
just anything and everything. We knew all the names of my mom's friends,
dad's colleagues, and each others friends, enemies and frenemies too!
And our parents were aware of what was happening in each of our lives.
We shared, supported, discussed, advised, joked and teased throughout
dinner. Basically we bonded and were constantly reminded that we were
together and never alone.
Interestingly when I used to mention chatter at my house to friends, it became quite clear that this wasn't prevalent in every household. The friends who didn't get to sit down to eat and talk with family everyday expressed envy and unhappiness. That made me appreciate those family mealtimes at home even more!
That is also why it was no surprise, when today I read this piece of news 'Talking at mealtimes boosts children's confidence' on BBC World News, announcing that after studying about 35,000 UK children, they had come to the conclusion that eating meals together with family while chatting with each other was a confidence booster. I can only hope that when they do sit down to eat and talk to each other, the kids and parents leave their electronic devices in some other room! :)
P.S:
Talking at mealtimes boosts children's confidence
Interestingly when I used to mention chatter at my house to friends, it became quite clear that this wasn't prevalent in every household. The friends who didn't get to sit down to eat and talk with family everyday expressed envy and unhappiness. That made me appreciate those family mealtimes at home even more!
That is also why it was no surprise, when today I read this piece of news 'Talking at mealtimes boosts children's confidence' on BBC World News, announcing that after studying about 35,000 UK children, they had come to the conclusion that eating meals together with family while chatting with each other was a confidence booster. I can only hope that when they do sit down to eat and talk to each other, the kids and parents leave their electronic devices in some other room! :)
P.S:
Talking at mealtimes boosts children's confidence
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Welcome to MINDbank a new resource for mental health information.
On December 10th 2013, the WHO released its gigantic online database by the name of MINDbank. This database contains information on mental health, substance abuse, disability, human rights and the different policies, strategies, laws and service standards being implemented in different countries. One can also find key international documents and treaties in the MINDbank.
Because mental health is still a topic shunned and avoided in many countries all over the world, it can often be difficult to find out information on resources pertaining to mental health. The MINDbank is the only single point globally to access all comprehensive information related to to mental health, substance abuse, disability, general health, human rights and development.
WHO announcement for the media says;
Because mental health is still a topic shunned and avoided in many countries all over the world, it can often be difficult to find out information on resources pertaining to mental health. The MINDbank is the only single point globally to access all comprehensive information related to to mental health, substance abuse, disability, general health, human rights and development.
WHO announcement for the media says;
Launched on Human Rights Day, the platform is part of WHO’s QualityRights initiative, aiming to end human rights violations against people with mental health conditions.
“People with mental disabilities still face discrimination, violence and abuse in all countries,” says Dr Michelle Funk, from WHO’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse. “The easy-to-use platform was established as a tool to facilitate debate, dialogue, advocacy and research on mental health, to improve care and to promote human rights across the globe.”
The care available in mental health facilities may often not only be of poor quality but can also hinder recovery. It can still be common in some countries for people to be locked away in small, prison-like cells with no human contact or to be chained to their beds, unable to move. The MiNDbank will help decision makers to address these issues, support reform efforts and ultimately improve the lives of people with mental health conditions in line with the Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020, adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2013.
“If a government, for example, wishes to develop a new mental health policy in line with international human rights standards it can - on the new platform - quickly get an overview about the policies of other countries and benefit from their experiences and an array of international guidance tools and resources,“ explains Nathalie Drew, WHO Technical Officer working on mental health and human rights. So far, already more than 160 countries are sharing key mental health information through the MiNDbank and updates will be provided on a regular basis.
The MINDbank is meant to be the go-to site for everyone, from clinicians, health policy makers, legislators, academics research professionals to educationists and anyone anywhere in the world interested in finding reliable information on mental health and related topics.
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