Dr. John's Health Matters
Welcome to Dr. John's Health Matters blog.
The articles posted here are from various sources who are duly acknowledged. I would appreciate being immediately notified, if any copywritten material needs to be removed. This blog is not intended to replace the qualified advice of a licensed health practitioner. Readers should exercise their own judgment. Enjoy, subscribe, participate and tell others :)
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Tuesday, Sep 1st, 2009 ↓Tags: workplace job work stress bullying bully sleep disturbance disorder suicide prevention risk violence harassment behaviour hostile
Depression And Anxiety Affect Up To 15 Percent Of Preschoolers →
Aug 28, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Almost 15 percent of preschoolers have atypically high levels of depression and anxiety, according to a new study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. The five-year investigation also found that children with atypically high depression and anxiety levels are more likely to have mothers with a history of depression.
The study was conducted in Canada by an international team of researchers from the Université de Montréal, the Université Laval and McGill University, as well as Inserm (Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale) in France, Carnegie Mellon University in the U.S. and University College Dublin in Ireland.
“As early as the first year of life, there are indications that some children have more risks than others to develop high levels of depression and anxiety,” says first author Sylvana M. Côté, a professor at the Université de Montréal’s Department of Social and Preventive Medicine. “Difficult temperament at five months was the most important predictor of depression and anxiety in the children.”
As part of the investigation, the scientists annually evaluated a representative sample of pre-schoolers from five months to five years of age. All 1,758 children were born in Québec and mothers provided information during extensive interviews on behaviour and family members.
“We found that lifetime maternal depression was the second most important predictor of atypically high depressive and anxiety problems during preschool years,” stresses Dr. Côté. “Our study is the first to show that infant temperament and lifetime maternal depression can lead to a high trajectory of depressive and anxiety problems before school entry.”
“It is critical that preventive interventions be experimented with infants who risk developing depressive and anxiety disorders,” adds Dr. Côté. “Health professionals should target such high risk children at infancy, as well as their parents, to have a long-term impact on their well-being.”
For full article, see link above.
Tags: depression anxiety preschool child children kid risk temperament maernal emotion disorder infant well-being
7% of 5th graders unhappy with body size: study →
Aug 27, 2009 (Cbc.ca)—Canadian children as young as 10 years old may benefit from programs to improve satisfaction with body shape, say researchers who studied the relationship between body size and happiness.
The study of 4,254 Nova Scotia fifth graders suggests girls were happiest when thinnest while boys were unhappy when they were too skinny or too fat.
“With the substantial prevalence of poor body satisfaction, public health initiatives designed to improve body satisfaction along with promotion of healthy eating and active living in children as young as 10 and 11 years are appropriate and warranted,” researchers from Harvard University in Boston and the University of Alberta concluded in Thursday’s issue of BMC Public Health.
The relationship between poor body satisfaction and increased risk of eating disorder behaviours such as use of vomiting, laxatives and diet pills is well established.
For full article, see link above.
Tags: body size self confidence body image happiness children child kid satisfaction promotion healthy eating active living risk eating disorder behaviour vomiting laxative diet pill weight
Omega-3, vitamin E mix shows potential for autistic speech →
Aug 19, 2009 (Nutraingredients.com)—A combination of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E may lead to speech improvements in autistic children with verbal disorders, suggests a new study.
Verbal apraxia is a speech disorder common in autism, and an estimated 50 per cent of children with autism have apraxia. Furthermore, many thousands more are reported to have apraxia but are not autistic.
According to new research published in the journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, daily supplements of omega-3 and vitamin E were associated with improvements in speech, imitation, eye contact, and behaviour.
Claudia Morris from the Children’s Hospital and Research Center Oakland (CHRCO) and Marilyn Agin from the Saint Vincent Medical Center in New York recruited families with experiences of omega-3 fatty acid and vitamin E supplementation. The majority of families used doses of 800 IU of vitamin E, while the average omega-3 consumption was 280 to 840 mg DHA and 695 to 2,085mg EPA.
The ratios and dosages determined through the work with the study led to a patent for Dr Morris through the CHRCO (US patent # 2008/002216). The patented formulation is licensed exclusively to Illinois-based NourishLife from CHRCO.
Kate Bolton, VP of speech nutrients at NourishLife, told NutraIngredients: “The results of the study are significant in that 97 per cent of the participants with apraxia and/or on the autism spectrum reported dramatic improvements while taking a combination of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E.
“The study represents the largest summary of children with apraxia to date,” she added.
“Antidotal evidence had previously shown that omega-3 can help children with apraxia and those known as ‘late talkers’. The researchers discovered that they symptoms presented by children with apraxia mirror those of vitamin E deficiency,” said Bolton. “The addition of high dose vitamin E with omega-3 fatty acids is the breakthrough.”
For full article see link above.
Tags: vitamin e omega 3 fatty acid speech improvement autistic children child kid verbal disorder apraxia imitation eye contact behaviour supplement
Tags: suicidal drug abuse substance victimization LGBT social stigma lesbian gay bisexual transgender sexual behaviour eating disorder youth teen adolescent gender identity treatment healthcare
Excessive Exercise Can Be Addicting, New Study Says →
Aug 18, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Although exercise is good for your health, extreme exercise may be physically addicting. Rats given a drug that produces withdrawal in heroin addicts went into withdrawal after running excessively in exercise wheels, according to new research. Rats that ran the hardest had the most severe withdrawal symptoms.
The scientists who conducted the study reason that if excessive exercise is addicting, then maybe, to feel good, addicts could take moderate exercise instead of drugs. The findings also shed light on the potentially fatal eating disorder called anorexia athletica, in which exercise undertaken to shed pounds becomes as compulsive as taking drugs, resulting in even greater weight loss.
“Excessive running shares similarities with drug-taking behavior,” the researchers wrote in the August issue of Behavioral Neuroscience, published by the American Psychological Association.
For those looking for an excuse to hit the couch, however, this study looked at excessive, not moderate, exercise. “As with food intake and other parts of life, moderation seems to be the key. Exercise, as long as it doesn’t interfere with other aspects of one’s life, is a good thing with respect to both physical and mental health,” said lead author Robin Kanarek, PhD, of Tufts University.
For fulla rticle see link above.
Tags: exercise physical activity addiction eating disorder anorexia athletica weightloss complusive running diet
Tags: mental emotion behaviour youth disorder problem psychiatric depression thinking pattern violence peer pressure caggressive antisocial schizophrenia
High-fat, High-sugar Foods Alter Brain Receptors →
July 27, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Overconsumption of fatty, sugary foods leads to changes in brain receptors, according to new animal research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The new research results are being presented at the 2009 annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB). The results have implications for understanding bulimia and other binge eating disorders.
Dr. Bello and colleagues report that either continuous eating or binge eating a high fat, high sugar diet alters opioid receptor levels in an area of the brain that controls food intake. Opioids are a family of chemicals with actions similar to those of morphine; however, opioids exist naturally in the brain and have been linked to feelings of pleasure and euphoria. “These results are interesting because we saw changes in opioid receptor gene expression in a brain area that controls how much we eat during a meal”, said Bello.
The new findings suggest that overconsumption of highly palatable foods maintains bingeing by enhancing opioids in the brain, and that increased opioids could be a factor involved in binge eating disorders. These findings may help to understand the biological basis of eating disorders.
For full article see link above.
Tags: fat sugar brain function. diet nutrition eating disorder receptor behaviour binge opioid food intake
Why is Wheat Gluten Disorder on the Rise? →
July 24, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—A study using frozen blood samples taken from Air Force recruits 50 years ago has found that intolerance of wheat gluten, a debilitating digestive condition, is four times more common today than it was in the 1950’s.
The findings contradict the conventional wisdom that the sharp increase in diagnoses of wheat gluten intolerance has come about because of greater awareness and detection. It now seems likely that dramatic changes in the American diet have played a role.
The disease occurs in people whose bodies cannot digest gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. The undigested protein triggers the immune system to attack the lining of the small intestine, causing diarrhea, nausea and abdominal pain.
The researchers who conducted the study also found that the recruits who had the undiagnosed digestive disorder, called celiac disease, had a four-fold increase in their risk of death.
Sources:
Minneapolis Star Tribune July 1, 2009Tags: wheat gluten disorder intolerance digestion diet nutrition rye barley protein immune system small intestine diarrhea nausea abdominal pain celiac
Low Rates of Help-Seeking Among Those Who Contemplate or Attempt Suicide →
July 23, 2009 (Medscape.com)— Nearly half of individuals who contemplate suicide and one-quarter of those who have attempted suicide do not seek help, new research shows.
A study published in the July issue of Psychiatric Services indicates that 48% of individuals in a sample from the Canadian Community Health Survey who had suicidal ideation in the past year did not seek help from a healthcare professional and in fact did not perceive a need for help.
In addition, 24% of those in the sample who actually attempted suicide themselves did not seek help or believe they needed help.
“This is worrisome, given that suicidal ideation and suicide attempts can lead to eventual completed suicide if left unaddressed,” lead investigator Jitender Sareen, MD, from the University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg, told Medscape Psychiatry.
In the study, Dr. Sareen and colleagues examined a sample of 36,984 individuals age 15 years and over in the Canadian Community Health Survey Cycle 1.2. Among these individuals, 1234 had suicidal ideation in the past year. Another 230 said they had tried to kill themselves in the previous year.
The investigators found that individuals who had made a suicide attempt or had suicidal thoughts were much less likely to seek help than those in the sample who had a mental disorder but were not suicidal.
The individuals who had suicidal ideation or attempted suicide cited a wide range of reasons for not seeking assistance. The most common reason among people who had suicidal ideation was that they preferred to manage the problem themselves.
For full medical article see link above.
Parental Death Has Major Impact on Depression Risk in Youth →
July 23, 2009 (Medscape.com)— A parent’s death more than quadruples the risk for depression for children, adolescents, and young adults, new research shows. Further, depression affects 10% of bereaved youth compared with 2% of nonbereaved youth, and those who continue to be depressed at 9 months are likely to continue to suffer from depression during the second year after the loss.
Led by David Brent, MD, the study is published in the July issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Parental Suicide, Accidental Death Linked To Higher Incidence of Depression
The investigators studied the incidence and prevalence of psychiatric problems at 9 and 21 months after the loss of a parent in 154 bereaved subjects aged 7 to 25 years vs a group of 100 matched controls with 2 living parents. The bereaved subjects had lost a parent due to suicide, accident, or sudden natural death.
Parental suicide was associated with a higher incidence of depression in bereaved youth than losing a parent by sudden natural death but not compared with losing a parent by accidental death. “I was surprised that the rate of different disorders in the youth whose parents died by accident were similar to the youth whose parents died by suicide,” Dr. Brent told Medscape Psychiatry.
Risk for onset of depression plateaued after about 9 months in offspring whose parents died by accident or natural death but continued to rise until about 24 months in those whose parent died by suicide. Dr. Brent said that although this risk has continued to rise in the suicide group, the difference is not yet statistically significant.
“The most common problems kids have are depression, posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD], and intense grief,” Dr. Brent said. “Kids who blame others for the death seem to have a more difficult course, so understanding attributions about the death is important.”
For full medical article see link above.
Tags: parent death loss depression child adolescent bereaved psychiatric problem suicide accident ptsd posttraumatic stress disorder
New Insights Into Causes Of Anorexia →
July 23, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—New imaging technology provides insight into abnormalities in the brain circuitry of patients with anorexia nervosa (commonly known as anorexia) that may contribute to the puzzling symptoms found in people with the eating disorder. In a review paper published online in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Walter Kaye, MD, professor of psychiatry and director of the Eating Disorders Program at the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues describe dysfunction in certain neural circuits of the brain which may help explain why people develop anorexia in the first place, and behaviors such as the relentless pursuit of dieting and weight loss.
“Currently, we don’t have very effective means of treating people with anorexia,” said Kaye. “Consequently, many patients with the disorder remain ill for years or eventually die from the disease, which has the highest death rate of any psychiatric disorder.”
A better understanding of the underlying neurobiology – how behavior is coded in the brain and contributes to anorexia —is likely to result in more effective treatments, according to the researchers.
Childhood personality and temperament may increase an individual’s vulnerability to developing anorexia. Predisposing factors, some suspected to be inherited, such as perfectionism, anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive tendencies may precede the onset of an eating disorders. These traits become intensified during adolescence as a consequence of many factors such as hormonal changes, stress and culture.
“Adolescence is a time of transition, when individuals must learn to balance immediate and long-term needs and goals in order to achieve independence,” said Kaye. “For such individuals, learning to cope with mixed societal messages and pressures may be overwhelming, exacerbating underlying traits of anxiety and a desire to perfectly achieve.”
For full article see link above.
Tags: anorexia diet weight behaviour psychiatric disorder personality child adolescence anxiety trigger malnutrition hunger brain body image
Tags: alcohol spectrum disorder FASD psychiatric ADHD cognitive emotion social behaviour attention impulsivity neurodevelopment
Health Tip: Symptoms of ADHD →
July 19, 2009 (Therapytimes.com)—Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects a child’s ability to perform in school and form relationships.
The disorder is characterized by primary traits including inattentiveness, over-activity, impulsivity, or a combination, the U.S. National Library of Medicine says.
The agency offers this list of classic symptoms of ADHD:
- Carelessness in school work
- Losing personal items and those needed for school.
- Problems paying attention for long periods.
- Difficulty listening and following instructions, and problems with organization.
- Acting forgetful, and getting frequently distracted.
- Difficulty sitting still or performing quiet activities.
- Talking excessively, often out of turn.
— Diana Kohnle
Tags: ADHDchild children disorder inattentiveness over-activiy implusivity carelessness forgetting listening forgetful
