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Attention

Poor work-life balance leads to poor health later in life

Ana Sandoiu
Medical News Today
Wed, 02 Nov 2016 09:56 UTC
Workplace stress
© unknown
Too much work has adverse health effects.
Due to the increasing pressure of modern life and despite the adverse effects it has on our health, we tend to get less sleep and work more. A new study shows that a poor work-life balance in midlife may have negative consequences decades later.

Several studies have shown that long working hours are bad for one's health, with adverse effects on cardiovascular and mental health.

Conversely, flexible working hours and schedules that employees have more control over have been shown to have positive effects on health and well-being.

Despite this, many of us still have a poor work-life balance, and we tend to sleep less. In 1910, a "normal" sleeping schedule was considered an average of 9 hours per night, while today, this has fallen to around 7 hours.

Damaging effects include a higher risk of stroke, coronary heart disease, and mental disorders, such as anxiety and depression.

Some studies have shown that individuals who work 55 hours or more per week have a 1.3 times higher risk of stroke than those working standard hours.

Comment: See also:

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Laptop

Are you addicted to social media? Six questions

Baylor University
Science Daily
Thu, 27 Oct 2016 20:46 UTC
people on phones
© unknown
Yes, you spend a lot of time on social media. You might even check your phone every few minutes to see how many people have liked your latest Facebook post. But are you addicted? And even if you are, what's the big deal?

"Our devotion to technology and social media has changed how we interact with others, and that's not necessarily a good thing," said James Roberts, Ph.D., The Ben H. Williams Professor of Marketing in Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business. "Yes, there are advantages to technology. But our obsession with smartphones and the lives we live via our social media channels can come at a cost to our real-life relationships."

Roberts is known internationally for his research on smartphone addiction and how technology (smartphones, specifically) affects relationships and stress levels. He is the author of the book "Too Much of a Good Thing: Are you Addicted to your Smartphone?"

Comment: See also:

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Brain

Brain changes seen in youth football players without concussion

Radiological Society of North America
Science Daily
Mon, 24 Oct 2016 20:34 UTC
Football children
© Good Housekeeping
Researchers have found measurable brain changes in children after a single season of playing youth football, even without a concussion diagnosis, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology.

According to USA Football, there are approximately 3 million young athletes participating in organized tackle football across the country. Numerous reports have emerged in recent years about the possible risks of brain injury while playing youth sports and the effects it may have on developing brains. However, most of the research has looked at changes in the brain as a result of concussion.

"Most investigators believe that concussions are bad for the brain, but what about the hundreds of head impacts during a season of football that don't lead to a clinically diagnosed concussion? We wanted to see if cumulative sub-concussive head impacts have any effects on the developing brain," said the study's lead author, Christopher T. Whitlow, M.D., Ph.D., M.H.A., associate professor and chief of neuroradiology at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Comment: See also: Trying to Reduce Head Injuries, Youth Football Limits Practices

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Pills

Number of children and adolescents hospitalized for prescription opioid poisoning has doubled since 1997


RT
Tue, 01 Nov 2016 20:14 UTC
opioids
© John Moore / Getty Images North America / AFP
The number of children and adolescents hospitalized for prescription opioid poisoning more than doubled over the last two decades, according to a new study. The trend is part of endemic opioid abuse in the US.

Researchers analyzed pediatric hospital discharge records every three years from 1997 to 2012, identifying 13,052 cases of children or adolescents hospitalized for opioid poisoning. Records from the same time frame were also gathered for teens ages 15 to 19 whose opioid poisoning was due to heroin.

For children ages 1 to 19, opioid-poisoning hospitalizations went up by 165 percent (1.40 to 3.71 per 100,000 children) in the time period analyzed, according the study, National Trends in Hospitalizations for Opioid Poisonings Among Children and Adolescents, 1997 to 2012, published October 31 on the website of the JAMA Pediatrics. There was a 205 percent jump (0.86 to 2.62 per 100,000 children) for children ages 1 to 4, and an increase of 176 percent (3.69 to 10.17 per 100,000 children) for teens ages 15 to 19, the study found.

Poisonings from heroin for teens ages 15 to 19 went up by 161 percent (0.96 to 2.51 per 100,000 children), while poisoning from methadone increased by 950 percent (0.10 to 1.05 per 100,000 children), according to the study, led by Julie R. Gaither of the Yale School of Medicine.
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Pills

Former DEA chief: Congress protects Big Pharma and fuels the opioid crisis

Claire Bernish
The Free Thought Project
Mon, 31 Oct 2016 13:12 UTC
drug money, pharma drugs
Congress would rather protect the profits of pharmaceutical companies than the health of those addicted to dangerous opioid drugs, says a former head of the DEA responsible for preventing abuse of medications.

Joseph Rannazzisi, former Deputy Assistant Administrator at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, asserts Big Pharma and its lobbyists have a "stranglehold" on legislators in Congress and have engineered the protection of a $9 billion per year industry over the health of American citizens, according to a report from the Guardian.

"Congress would rather listen to people who had a profit motive rather than a public health and safety motive," he said, according to the outlet. "As long as the industry has this stranglehold through lobbyists, nothing's going to change."

Rannazzisi explained lobbyists have spent millions thwarting legislative and policy efforts to provide guidelines for reducing the prescribing of opioid medications closely related to heroin — and helped limit the DEA's powers to discipline those who dispense unusually high dosages of the same.

Comment: Further reading:

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Brain

Leaky brain: The critical importance of maintaining your blood-brain barrier

Mark Sisson
Mark's Daily Apple
Tue, 01 Nov 2016 16:21 UTC
Blood Brain Barrier
You all know about intestinal permeability, or "leaky gut." The job of the gut lining is to be selectively permeable, allowing helpful things passage into the body and preventing harmful things from getting in. Nutrients get through, toxins and pathogens do not. Leaky gut describes the failure of this vetting process. But what about "leaky brain"?

A similarly dynamic barrier lies between the brain and the rest of the body: the blood-brain barrier. Since the brain is the seat of all the conscious machinations and subconscious processes that comprise human existence, anything attempting entry receives severe scrutiny. We want to admit glucose, amino acids, fat-soluble nutrients, and ketones. We want to reject toxins, pathogens, and errant immune cells. Think of the blood-brain barrier like the cordon of guards keeping the drunken rabble from spilling over into the VIP room in a nightclub.

The blood-brain barrier (or BBB) can get leaky, just like the gut lining. This is bad.

A compromised BBB has been implicated in many neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and vascular dementia.

More generally, the BBB regulates passage of inflammatory cytokines into the brain, prevents fluctuations in serum composition from affecting brain levels, and protects against environmental toxins and infectious pathogens from reaching the brain. A leaky BBB means the floodgates are open for all manner of unpleasantries to enter the brain.
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Attention

Toxic beauty: Cosmetics claiming to be "organic" or "natural" are far from it

Brianna Acuesta
True Activist
Sat, 29 Oct 2016 00:00 UTC
toxic beauty products
Beauty products that claim to be "organic" or "natural" are far from it.

When it comes to the term "organic," there's actually not as much regulation surrounding use of the word as consumers would like. The U.S. Department of Agriculture regulates organic claims in farm products, but it's the controversial Federal Drug Administration that has control over cosmetics.

Though the USDA has strict standards for organic food products, the FDA does not even have an official definition for the term "organic." On their website, the question "Does FDA have a definition for the term organic?" is met with this answer:
"No. FDA regulates cosmetics under the authority of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) and the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA). The term 'organic' is not defined in either of these laws or the regulations that FDA enforces under their authority."

Comment: Your skin is your largest, and most permeable, organ. Almost anything you put on your skin will end up in the bloodstream and be distributed throughout the body where it tends to accumulate over time. The best way to read a personal care product ingredients list is to read each ingredient as if it were something that you might put in your mouth. If you wouldn't eat it, don't put it on your skin!

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Microscope 1

Study: Zika causes testicles to shrink & infertility in mice, alarming sign for humans


RT
Tue, 01 Nov 2016 15:42 UTC
mosquito-transmitted Zika virus
© Paulo Whitaker / Reuters
The mosquito-transmitted Zika virus that is responsible for some irreversible birth defects in babies could also be harmful to male fertility, a new study suggests. Infected mice had shrunken testicles and lower levels of testosterone.

The virus hits male mice's reproductive system hard, said a study published Monday in Nature magazine.

The lab tests run on mice infected with Zika have shown low sperm counts and testicles reduced 90 percent by weight.

That's not yet a reason for men to panic, but already a matter for concern and further studies.
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Life Preserver

Cure depression with vitamin B12

Kelly Brogan, MD
kellybroganmd.com
Tue, 01 Nov 2016 08:07 UTC
vitamin B12
Have you ever wondered if depression could be eased with an inexpensive over-the-counter supplement, no prescription required? Or how about extinguishing your chronic anxiety through more consumption of certain foods that contain natural stress-reducing ingredients? Read on, because I've got something for you that will both surprise and delight.

Every day I see patients who want to do everything in their power to avoid mind-altering pharmaceutical drugs. This is especially true of women hoping to become pregnant or who already are. Among the tests I order to get a sense of my patients' biology when they first come see me, one of the results I like to review immediately is their level of vitamin B12. Is it low? If so, could it be the reason they are in my office to begin with?

Vitamin B12 deficiency has long been implicated in the development of depression.

Comment: More information on this important vitamin:

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Syringe

Vaccines with aluminum adjuvants risk food allergies

Sarah
The Healthy Economist
Tue, 01 Nov 2016 07:57 UTC
food allergies
The low incidence of food allergies and other autoimmune disease in unvaccinated children versus skyrocketing rates for their vaccinated peers has been noted anecdotally by concerned parents for decades. Extensive research surveys of thousands of children has also documented the difference. Now, science is finally starting to explain why by examining one of the most controversial ingredients in vaccines today: aluminum adjuvants.

Five respected immunologists from the University of Virginia presented their troubling findings at a recent seminar for the World Allergy Organization.
  • Alice E. W. Hoyt, MD , Medicine, Division of Asthma, Allergy, and Immunology, University of Virginia
  • Peter Heymann, MD , Pediatrics, University of Virginia
  • Alexander Schuyler , Medicine, Division of Asthma, Allergy, and Immunology, University of Virginia
  • Scott Commins, MD, PhD , Medicine, Division of Asthma, Allergy, and Immunology, University of Virginia
  • Thomas A. E. Platts-Mills, MD, PhD, FRS , Medicine, Division of Asthma, Allergy, and Immunology, University of Virginia
The scientists theorized that aluminum adjuvants in routine childhood immunizations could be contributing to increasing rates of allergies to common foods such as peanuts, egg, milk, wheat, soy, almond, fish, and seafood. Aluminum is already known to contribute to the stimulation of IgE (immunoglobulin E) in mice. What is the impact of aluminum adjuvants in vaccines on IgE antibody production in children?

Comment: See also:

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