Health News Today Archives - Page 9 of 76

January 19, 2023

Might deep meditation act on the gut and improve health?

older woman in green t-shirt meditating with closed eyes and palms drawn together — Does meditation act on the gut and therefore influence several features of wellness? Picture credit rating: Danil Nevsky/Stocksy.

The gut microbiome may perhaps impact health by influencing the gut-brain axis, in accordance to existing analysis.
Meditation is a psychological follow that can benefit the regulation of bodily and psychological situations.
In spite of this, there is confined analysis that has entirely explored the outcomes of meditation on the intestine microbiome.
Now, a new review suggests that practicing deep meditation for an prolonged period of time might support retain equilibrium in the gut microbiome, and in flip, positively impact actual physical and mental overall health.

According to a little comparative study, printed in General Psychiatry, extended and dependable deep meditation might control the gut microbiome, which has the likely to strengthen physical and psychological health and fitness.

Meditation consists of a wide variety of techniques that encourage the integration of the head and overall body. These strategies range from preserving aim and focus on a distinct feeling to merely being present, without the need of making any judgments.

According to this new research, the gut microbiomes of a team of 37 Tibetan Buddhist monks ended up drastically diverse to those of 19 community inhabitants.

Earlier study in people today and rodents suggests that the microbiota located to be enriched in the monks may be associated with a lowered possibility of anxiety, despair, and cardiovascular illness.

Experiments indicate that the intestine microbiome can affect emotions and conduct as a result of the gut-mind axis, which contains the immune process, hormone signaling, tension reaction, and the vagus nerve — which performs a vital role in the parasympathetic anxious system and regulates a variety of vital bodily functions.

The significance of the gut-mind relationship in preserving stability is properly acknowledged. However, more than the previous 15 a long time, the part of microbiota as a big controller of intestine-brain purpose has also been acknowledged, which has emphasised the importance of the exclusive microbiota-gut-mind connection.

Dr. Adil Maqbool, from the Allama Iqbal Health-related College in Lahore, Pakistan, not included in this analysis, defined the notion to Medical News These days.

He observed that “the relationship in between the gut microbiota and quite a few diseases, like IBD, hepatic steatosis, diabetes, and malignancies, has now been set up as an crucial discovery.”

“When we use expression ‘gut-brain axis’ we are talking about a link amongst brain and intestine with neurotransmitters. Even [the] gut has its have neuronal method identified as [the] enteric nervous process, which has pretty a great deal [the] very same neurotransmitters which we see in [the] mind. Hence, numerous phone it the second mind of our entire body. And the microbiota in our gut has an influence on this neurological technique.”

– Dr. Adil Maqbool

“Therefore, it is simple that the gut microbiota is necessary for fantastic overall health and can enjoy a sizeable purpose in the advancement of continual illness avoidance tactics. But when I see it, I see another connection which this microbiota creating in our intestine,” Dr. Maqbool said.

According to the scientists, Tibetan Buddhist meditation is derived from the historic Ayurveda system, a approach of psychological training.

The monks who participated in this examine had been engaged in their meditation apply for at the very least 2 hours daily for a period of time ranging from 3 to 30 years.

They examined stool and blood samples from 37 Tibetan Buddhist monks from a few temples, as perfectly as 19 inhabitants dwelling in nearby areas.

None of the members had taken any substances that can transform the volume and selection of gut microbes, these as antibiotics, probiotics, prebiotics, or antifungal treatment, in the earlier 3 months.

Both equally groups had been matched, which means they ended up equivalent in phrases of age, blood tension, heart level, and diet regime.

The scientists explained how certain bacteria that had been additional common in the meditation team have previously been connected with a lower possibility of psychological ailment in experiments of rodents and individuals.

This led them to infer that meditation may well affect particular micro organism that may have a role in psychological nicely-becoming.

The scientists then applied an highly developed analytical technique to predict the chemical procedures that the microbes might be influencing.

This discovered that numerous anti-inflammatory pathways that guard towards swelling, as properly as rate of metabolism, the approach of changing foods into electrical power, ended up increased in the meditation team.

Finally, evaluation of blood samples confirmed that stages of brokers connected to an enhanced risk of cardiovascular disorder, these as total cholesterol and apolipoprotein B, were being appreciably reduced in the monks when in contrast with their neighbors.

Dr. James Giordano, Pellegrino Center professor of neurology and biochemistry at Georgetown University Clinical Center, also not associated in this exploration, informed MNT that “this research offers novel perception to the potential correlation of meditative methods — as very well as perhaps other long lasting lifestyle aspects — of Buddhist monks on the intestine-mind axis in basic, and structure of the gut microbiome, extra particularly.”

“Such conclusions assistance a growing body of proof to suggest that a selection of life-style, wellbeing and social, and environmental variables can have an affect on the intestine-mind axis both equally by using ‘top-down’ (mind to gut), as effectively as ‘bottom up’ (intestine to brain) mechanisms, which could be important for regulating a range of physiological functions that are wellbeing promotional and sustaining.

– Dr. James Giordano

It need to be observed that this research is observational, which means there might be distinctions among the groups other than meditation that account for the differences in their microbiomes.

The research also did not element the mindfulness or meditative methods of the manage team, and the range of members was modest, all were being male, and lived at large altitude, making it complicated to make any business or generalizable conclusions.

Participants ended up not assessed for their mental overall health or the presence of cardiovascular sickness, so probable health implications could only be inferred from formerly posted exploration in human beings and rodents.

Nevertheless, centered on their conclusions, the scientists propose that the purpose of meditation in preventing or treating sickness warrants additional investigation.

“There has been growing proof to help that sure life style encounters and practices of Tibetan monks can invoke and maintain well being promotional advantages. As properly, there have been investigations to show optimistic effects of sure varieties of meditative methods on a number of neurological, and psycho-physiological features that are essential to sustaining well being and endorsing pressure resilience.”

Dr. James Giordano

Dr. Maqbool stated how meditation has been proven to have a significant influence on pressure hormones, which can contribute to swelling. It is perfectly-known for its calming effect on the mind.

As both equally stress hormones and irritation can have an impact on gut bacteria, practising meditation can support to balance these hormones and decrease inflammatory markers, probably preserving the gut microbiome.

Equally gurus agree that extra exploration is necessary. However, Dr. Giordano highlighted three vital implications of this analysis for people and the general public:

the good operation of the intestine-brain axis seems to be participatory, if not directly contributory to psychological and physiological wellness.
that meditative practices, and the result of long-expression meditative apply, can affect the gut-mind axis at both the cerebral (i.e. brain) and enteric (i.e. intestine) levels
though dietary and way of living variables had been briefly resolved in the review, it will be crucial to further look into the prospective roles of genetics, surroundings, and other lifestyle tactics and components in developing and sustaining distinctive styles of gut-mind purpose.

In conclusion, Dr. Maqbool claimed, “for [the] standard general public, it is far more vital to be knowledgeable of the fact that “your intestine performs an significant purpose to your typical perfectly-being.”

In the end, pursuing wholesome ingesting and meditation techniques will be beneficial for men and women, even just before the precise procedures or pathways alluded to in this research are discovered.

January 18, 2023

Social isolation may increase risk by 28{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}

an elderly person sitting on a bench alone — Social isolation could affect mind well being far more than thought. Adam Lister/Getty Photos

A new analysis of information from a significant, nationally consultant team of more mature Individuals finds an association concerning currently being socially isolated and producing dementia.
Individuals at possibility are these who only occasionally have get hold of with other individuals and have handful of energetic associations.
The study’s getting implies that by remaining or starting to be more socially energetic, 1 might lower the risk of dementia.

A new study has investigated regardless of whether social isolation can have an effect on the growth of dementia in more mature people today.

The new evaluation indicated that socially isolated adults had been 28{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} far more very likely to acquire dementia in excess of a period of time of nine decades, no matter of race or ethnicity, when compared to people who weren’t socially isolated.

The research is an evaluation of facts from 5,022 more mature U.S. grown ups who took aspect in the longitudinal Nationwide Well being and Aging Traits Study (NHATS). Of the NHATS review cohort, 1,172 individuals, or 23.3{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}, were being classified as socially isolated — 3,850 (76.7{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}) were not.

Further than its association with dementia, social isolation has also been connected to bad mental wellness and emotional effectively-staying in older individuals.

The research is posted in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Culture.

Although there is no common comprehending of what “social isolation” usually means, the study bases its use of the term on the definition presented in a report from the Countrywide Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Drugs, which suggests:

“Social isolation is defined as the goal condition of owning couple social interactions or infrequent social get in touch with with many others.”

The new study lists numerous attributes that qualify a person as currently being socially isolated: dwelling alone, possessing no one or only just one particular person with whom they can focus on essential issues, and obtaining minimal or no engagement in social or religious teams.

The persons who experienced as socially isolated in the research satisfied two or a lot more of the next conditions:

Lived alone.
They did not have two or a lot more folks in the final yr with whom they could examine important issues.
They did not attend religious providers in the past month.
Did not do take part in other activities, this sort of as volunteer do the job, golf equipment, conferences, or teams, in the last month.

The authors of the analyze point out to Health-related Information Now the significance that upcoming exploration investigates social isolation and dementia in a more in-depth method. These types of study may glance into the outcome every single particular person criterion could have on dementia.

They also visualize long run experiments that take into consideration achievable discrepancies in the way social isolation might occur and influence unique race and ethnicity teams.

Dr. Rosanne Freak-Poli, senior research fellow at Monash University’s Drugs Monash Wellbeing, who was not included in the study, pointed out that “[s]ome men and women might confuse social isolation with social help.”

Social help, she stated, is about how social contacts are used. For illustration, a individual might experience sufficient assist from a several good good friends who satisfy their social demands.

“I like to describe men and women as ‘enjoying their solitude’ if they are socially isolated but also feel socially supported,” she informed MNT.

NHATS surveyed persons residing in communities and did not contain older people today institutionalized in nursing houses or household care.

“However, persons in nursing homes or residential treatment normally report emotion lonely or acquiring minimal social assistance. Loneliness and minimal social guidance are also risk factors for ill health and fitness and decrease very well-being,” stated Dr. Freak-Poli.

In the meantime, Dr. Angelina R. Sutin, professor at Florida State University’s College or university of Medicine, who was not involved in the present research, stated she was “not conscious of any scientific tests that have examined no matter if social wellness in residential configurations is involved with dementia danger.”

She famous that most present study focuses on men and women in these kinds of options who already have dementia.

The study’s corresponding creator, Dr. Thomas K. M. Cudjoe, assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins Medication in Baltimore, Maryland, explained three means in which social isolation could direct to dementia.

1st, he cited a strong association amongst social isolation and actual physical and mental health chance aspects for dementia, this sort of as hypertension, coronary heart sickness, and melancholy. As social isolation encourages these disorders, it may well increase the threat of dementia.

Dr. Cudjoe also mentioned that a lack of social engagement could direct to a reduction in cognitive activity and, for that reason a lessen cognitive reserve.

“The cognitive reserve speculation indicates people today with reduce ranges of cognitive operating and reserve are a lot more vulnerable to the pathology involved with dementia.”
— Dr. Thomas K. M. Cudjoe

Last but not least, Dr. Cudjoe proposed that socially isolated folks may well lack added benefits affiliated with larger social connectedness, which includes social help, data-sharing, coordination of healthcare providers, and access to those companies.

“Social isolation matters for cognitive wellbeing. Clinicians must be contemplating about and assessing the existence or absence of social connections in their clients,” stated Dr. Cudjoe.

Dr. Cudjoe said the study’s nationally representative team of contributors strengthens its conclusions, enabling them to be generalized across U.S. populations.

“This is critical in our pondering of wide-primarily based methods or coverage,” he mentioned.

More mature older people may perhaps take into account achieving out more to other persons, possibly on an personal basis or by participating in actions with teams of persons, to decreased the chance of acquiring dementia.

“Getting out of your household and interacting with persons at minimum as soon as for every month can have large positive aspects to your long term well being and rapid perfectly-staying.”
— Dr. Rosanne Freak-Poli

“When I imagine about the other wellbeing behaviors, these as healthy taking in or bodily exercise, they feel a lot more tricky to obtain for the same well being reward,” added Dr. Freak-Poli.

Dr. Sutin underscored the study’s upside:

“The fantastic information is that social isolation is modifiable, and could be a focus on of intervention that may possibly assistance reduce the hazard of dementia involved with it.”

January 17, 2023

Could a bronchitis drug help consolidate memory?

black and white photo of instant photographs — It can be difficult to retrieve new reminiscences just after a sleepless night time. Could a bronchitis drug enable? Graphic credit: Olga Moreira/Stocksy.

Researchers think that sleep helps consolidate memories and thus learning processes.
Although an particular person can make a memory throughout the working day, it can grow to be much more complicated to remember if they acquire that memory even though rest deprived. Disrupted snooze, therefore, impedes studying means.
Although rest cleanliness can be applied to aid to boost sleep and for that reason memory and discovering skill, many have considered if a pharmaceutical intervention could help to make improvements to an individual’s skill to remember memories.
A the latest analyze has seemed at the likelihood of using an existing persistent bronchitis drug could to assist consolidate memory in sleep-deprived mice.

A single of the most significant unsolved questions about the human system is: Why do we slumber? A person theory is that sleep assists us to consolidate memories, which allows us to discover.

A paper in Character outlined evidence that replaying recollections from a portion of the mind responsible for memory and discovering known as the hippocampus occurs all through rest, which provides us the capacity to consolidate them and understand.

Present comprehending indicates that the consolidation of memories happens in two phases, discussed Dr. Kieland Cooper, neuroscientist and synthetic intelligence researcher at the Middle for the Neurobiology of Discovering and Memory at the College of California Irvine, in an e mail to Health-related News Now.

“The initially is when memories are acquired and saved in the course of a specified day, and the second is when the recollections are manufactured a lot more everlasting, recognised as consolidation,” he described.

“The current wondering strongly indicates that snooze is a key driver of producing memories much more long-lasting, in some circumstances reorganizing how and the place memories are stored. For example, most new recollections depend on the hippocampus however, consolidated reminiscences count much less on the hippocampus and much more on the cortex.”

– Dr. Keiland Cooper

“Retrieving reminiscences is critically dependent on when and how it was stored,” he included.

Simply because of the potentially essential function of rest in memory development, slumber deprivation can disrupt our potential to discover. This has a sizeable effect, not only on learners and young folks, but throughout our life.

Scientists advise that deficiency of snooze is a international epidemic that is finding worse across distinct age teams.

Although a whole lot of target on improving our snooze has been on snooze cleanliness, other individuals have looked at the likelihood of pharmacological intervention. Becoming capable to pop a tablet soon after a undesirable night’s rest would offer an possibility for men and women who are not able to management their snooze patterns.

A latest paper revealed in Present Biology has delved further into this challenge.

Specifically, scientists from the College of Groningen in the Netherlands appeared at the probability that the drug roflumilast, currently accredited to handle chronic bronchitis and COPD, could assist retrieve reminiscences lost owing to rest loss.

Though reminiscences can be manufactured — throughout revision for an exam, for case in point — it might not be easy to recall them thanks to sleep-decline-relevant amnesia.

Initially, the scientists made the decision to search at regardless of whether or not it was probable to retrieve recollections disrupted by snooze deprivation in genetically engineered mice.

They taught the mice to understand the site of an object and then look for out a new one particular in the similar environment days later. Some of the mice have been sleep deprived before this undertaking and some, performing as the controls, were not.

This verified that the rest-deprived mice were being much less equipped to uncover the new object.

Researchers then reactivated the hippocampal neurons applying a system recognised as optogenetics, which allows scientists to look at how particular person neurons sign.

They found that by reactivating the neurons in the hippocampus that had initially saved this facts, with light, quite a few days following the understanding process experienced been done, the mice could don’t forget the place the item was located.

The scientists then resolved to look at irrespective of whether or not roflumilast could be employed to develop the exact outcome.

Carrying out the similar schooling experiment, they tested the mice qualified though rest-deprived and dealt with with roflumilast as opposed to individuals that had not been handled with roflumilast.

They confirmed that treatment with roflumilast helped the mice improved recall the locale of the object.

But why roflumilast, of all medications? The study’s lead creator Dr. Robbert Havekes explained to MNT in an email:

“We made use of this precise drug since it taps into the cAMP signaling pathway, just one we know that is significant for memory procedures in the mind and strongly afflicted by snooze deprivation.”

“In our prior perform, we applied this drug to assist mind operate by applying the drug during slumber deprivation. In the current function, we used it to reverse the amnesia even times after the sleep deprivation interval occurred,” he described.

Though the drug is certified for use in people, the examination only seemed at the effect in mice, specially when they had been exposed to a one sleep deprivation party.

Dr. Cooper, who was not associated in the analysis, explained the pharmaceutical intervention was significantly less invasive than optogenics, when it will come to investigating the way in which memories are created and then recalled.

He explained that “[o]ptogenetics, particularly in the mind, is very invasive and needs genetically altering mobile purpose. So the authors looked for a less invasive treatment that may well also rescue memory deficits.”

“They turned to roflumilast — commonly used to address COPD — which is in a course of prescription drugs which will help increase neuron exercise. They identified that this far too assisted conquer slumber deprivation deficits,” explained Dr. Cooper.

January 16, 2023

Drinking too much coffee doubles mortality risk

Collage of cups of coffee on a white background — Drinking 2 or more cups of coffee daily may increase mortality rates in people with severe hypertension, researchers say. Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A recent study in Japan found a connection between drinking 2 or more cups of coffee per day and increased mortality rates in people with severe hypertension.
Severe hypertension is another way of describing high blood pressure.
The cohort study, which included just over 18,000 men and women, lasted nearly 2 decades.
While the study authors found that 2 or more cups of coffee raised the risk, they did not find any risks associated with 1 cup of coffee or green tea for people with severe hypertension.

While many people cannot get started in the morning without coffee, a recent study indicates that some may need to practice caution with their coffee consumption.

The researchers found that drinking 2 or more cups of coffee per day may double mortality rates in people with severe hypertension.

They also noted that 1 cup of coffee is 8 ounces — and that anything beyond that may pose health risks in people with severe high blood pressure.

The results of the study were published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), hypertension occurs when “the force of blood flowing through your blood vessels is consistently too high.”

Unhealthy lifestyle choices often lead to developing high blood pressure, such as eating foods high in cholesterol and not getting regular exercise. Additionally, health conditions like diabetes can factor into developing hypertension.

A blood pressure reading consists of two numbers: the systolic number (higher number) and the diastolic number (lower number).

The AHA includes five blood pressure categories:

normal blood pressure (less than 120 over less than 80)
elevated blood pressure (120–129 over less than 80)
high blood pressure or hypertension stage 1 (130–139 over 80–89)
high blood pressure or hypertension stage 2 (140 or higher over 90 or higher)
hypertensive crisis (higher than 180 over higher than 120)

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), high blood pressure can be a “silent killer” since people do not always experience symptoms and may not know they have high blood pressure unless they see a doctor regularly or self-monitor.

When high blood pressure is untreated, it can lead to a heart attack or stroke.

If someone is diagnosed with high blood pressure, they may treat it by making lifestyle changes or taking medications such as angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or calcium channel blockers.

The study authors used information from participants in the Japan Collaborative Cohort Study for Evaluation of Cancer Risk. They analyzed data from 18,609 people (6,574 men and 12,035 women).

The participants were 40 to 79 years old when the cohort study began between 1988 and 1990.

The cohort researchers took the participants’ blood pressure reading at the beginning of the study, as well as other medical background information and followed up with them over 18.9 years.

The coffee study authors were interested in how the participants’ coffee and green tea consumption habits factored into their blood pressure scores and heart-related deaths.

The researchers placed the participants into one of five categories based on their blood pressure readings (the categories vary somewhat from the AHA):

optimal and normal blood pressure (less than 130 over less than 85)
high‐normal blood pressure (130–139 over 85–89)
grade 1 hypertension (140–159 over 90–99)
grade 2 hypertension (160–179 over 100–109)
grade 3 hypertension (180 and higher over 110 and higher)

Since many participants did not have grade 2 and 3 hypertension, the researchers combined the data for these groups.

After placing the participants into categories based on their blood pressure readings, the researchers considered their coffee and green tea drinking habits. The participants indicated the frequency and amount of consumption.

For context, an 8-ounce coffee contains 95 to 200 mg of caffeine, making coffee more caffeinated than some energy drinks. Green tea contains approximately 35 mg of caffeine.

Over the course of the study follow-up, the researchers recorded 842 cardiovascular-related participant deaths.

The results of the study showed that people with grade 2 and 3 hypertension who drank 2 or more cups of coffee per day had twice the cardiovascular-related death mortality rate compared to people in the same category who did not drink coffee.

”These findings may support the assertion that people with severe high blood pressure should avoid drinking excessive coffee,” senior author Dr. Hiroyasu Iso, director of the Institute for Global Health Policy Research in Tokyo, told Medical News Today.

The study findings also showed that drinking 1 cup of coffee did not increase the risk for anyone across any blood pressure categories.

Just 1 cup of coffee can contain nearly 3 times the amount of caffeine as 1 cup of green tea, but the researchers did not detect issues with green tea regardless of the amount consumed.

The study authors believe this is due to the “mechanism underlying the beneficial effects of green tea,” which is the compound epigallocatechin-3-gallate, “the most abundant polyphenol in green tea.”

The authors noted that animal studies of green tea shows that epigallocatechin-3-gallate can positively affect oxidative stress, reduce inflammation, and improve lipid profiles.

“These beneficial effects of green tea catechins may partially explain why only coffee consumption was associated with an increased risk of mortality in people with severe hypertension despite both green tea and coffee containing caffeine,” the authors wrote.

“This study supports the implication that heavy coffee consumption can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease mortality among people with severe hypertension, while green tea consumption does not increase the risk,” Dr. Jayne Morgan, a cardiologist and clinical director of the Covid Task Force at the Piedmont Healthcare Corporation in Atlanta, GA, told MNT.

Yelena Wheeler, RDN, a clinical dietitian with the Measurement Instrument Database for Social Sciences (MIDSS) in Los Angeles, CA, also spoke with MNT about the study findings:

“The study pointed out that ‘heavy’ coffee consumption was associated with increased risk of cardiovascular mortality with people who were already suffering from severe hypertension. This seems somewhat of an obvious cause and effect; however, not finding any increased risk of CVD mortality amongst those in all categories who consumed green tea was an interesting twist.”

Wheeler added it would be interesting to see further research into the habits of people who consume coffee versus green tea, such as the types of jobs they hold or whether they practice mindfulness and meditation.

January 15, 2023

5-minute walks every 30 minutes may offset effects of too much sitting

A female takes an exercise break to stretch at her desk — New research has found that a 5-minute walking break after every 30 minutes of sitting may help regulate blood pressure and blood sugar levels. Westend61/Getty Images

Physical inactivity is often synonymous with modern life, with up to 85{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of the world’s population leading a sedentary lifestyle.
Sitting for too long, regardless of general physical activity, is a recognized health hazard associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure.
New research has found that a 5-minute walking break after every 30 minutes of sitting may help regulate blood pressure and control blood sugar levels.
The work highlights that short exercise “snacks” during the working day may also improve mood, fatigue, and well-being.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates around 2 million deaths each year are linked to physical inactivity. The institution has described a sedentary lifestyle as being among the 10 leading causes of death and disability in the world.

The number of people leading sedentary lifestyles is increasing due to a rise in occupational sedentary behaviors, such as office work, and increased use of electronic devices.

An estimated 60–85{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of people in the world and nearly two-thirds of children lead sedentary lifestyles.

Researchers and health experts are committed to finding ways to mitigate the harmful effects of prolonged sitting.

A new study from Columbia University in New York suggests that regular bursts of short exercise “snacks” throughout the working day might be enough to counter the effects of a sedentary lifestyle.

Specifically, the researchers found that a 5-minute walk every 30 minutes could offset the effects of prolonged sitting.

The work was published on Jan. 12 in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, the journal of the American College of Sports Medicine.

A sedentary lifestyle has serious health implications, contributing to an increased risk of:

Studies have also shown people who lead a sedentary lifestyle are also at higher risk of developing mental health disorders. On the flipside, people who exercise tend to report better mental health.

Reducing sedentary behavior and increasing physical activity a matter of public health.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that adults aim to sit less throughout the day.

The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans state that adults should engage in 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity every week combined with 2 days of strength training.

Yet regardless of how physically active you are, studies have shown that prolonged sitting can still increase your risk of serious health complications.

To help reduce those risks, researchers and health experts recommend getting up from your desk often and moving around.

For the Columbia University study, 11 participants visited a laboratory where they sat for 8-hour sessions.

They were allowed to work, read, and use their mobile phones. During the sedentary sessions, they followed one of five exercise “snacks” as prescribed by the researchers:

1 minute of walking after every 30 minutes of sitting
1 minute of walking after 60 minutes of sitting
5 minutes of walking after every 30 minutes of sitting
5 minutes of walking after every 60 minutes of sitting
no walking

Each participant was also provided with standardized meals during the sessions. The researchers also monitored key health indicators at set intervals, including blood pressure and blood sugar levels.

The researchers found that participants’ blood sugar and blood pressure levels were reduced after 5 minutes of walking for every 30 minutes of sitting.

Lead study author Keith Diaz, Ph.D, associate professor of behavioral medicine at Columbia, told Medical News Today the most exciting part of the new research is that they’ve answered how best to prevent the detrimental health effects of sitting.

“Just like we have recommendations on how many fruits and vegetables we should eat each day and how much we should exercise — this is the most exciting part of this work. We finally have an answer. There are so many adults who have a job or lifestyle where they have to sit for prolonged periods. We can now provide them with guidance on this one behavior change to reduce their health risks from sitting.”

– Dr. Keith Diaz, Ph.D., lead study author

The research team also found that a 5-minute walk every half hour led to a 58{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} reduction in blood sugar spikes after eating.

Dr. Diaz explained the potential mechanism behind the biological effects on blood sugar:

“Muscles serve an important role in our health by helping to regulate blood sugar and cholesterol levels — but they need to be used and contracted to do this,” he said.

“When our muscles aren’t used after hours and hours of sitting, they don’t fully help out to regulate blood sugar and cholesterol levels. So we think that regular short walks or ‘activity snacks’ helps to activate the muscles to serve as better blood sugar and cholesterol regulators.”

Dr. Yu-Ming Ni, a noninvasive cardiologist at MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center, not involved in the study, explained to MNT that muscles are an important consumer of blood sugar.

“Physical activity improves blood sugar levels and can reduce the risk for diabetes,” Dr. Ni said. “Since diabetes is a major risk factor for heart attacks and strokes, any effort to prevent diabetes will ultimately lead to less risk of heart disease.”

The researchers also found that blood pressure monitoring showed that all exercise “snacks” resulted in up to a 5 mmHg drop in blood pressure reading when compared to no walking at all.

“The sitting posture creates bends and constrictions in the blood vessels of the legs,” Dr. Diaz said. “In other words, sitting puts a kink in your legs’ blood vessels. This ultimately changes blood flow and can lead to increases in blood pressure.”

Dr. Diaz concluded that “regular short walks can help prevent the changes in blood pressure by regularly restoring blood flow to the legs.”

Dr. Ni noted the benefits of better blood pressure control: “Over time, this puts less strain on the heart and can prevent the development of heart failure or a heart attack,” he said, noting there are long-term benefits of the study findings.

“Remember that small changes done over the years can have a lasting impact on health. It may not seem like much to walk for 5 minutes every hour of desk work, but this can add up over the work day. For example, an 8-hour workday amounts to 40 minutes of physical activity. Add in a 15 min walk during your lunch break, and you suddenly have almost an hour of additional physical activity each workday. With these small changes, anyone can make a difference in their health — one walking break at a time.”

– Dr. Yu-Ming Ni, cardiologist

The researchers noted a reduction in participant fatigue and improvement in mood in all of the walking interventions when compared to no walking at all.

When asked if the short exercise “snacks” could be used to promote well-being, Dr. Diaz said:

“Compared to sitting all day, a 5-minute light walk every half hour reduced feelings of fatigue and improved mood. So beyond improving your physical health, regular walks to break up your sitting will put you in a better mood and help you feel more energized.”

Dr. Diaz added that the next steps for the research include finding more ways to reduce the harmful effects of sitting.

“We hope to find the least amount of movement you have to do to prevent the health harms of sitting,” Dr. Diaz said. “The reality is that many adults will find it hard to walk every half hour. So finding a more feasible recommendation is still needed.”

Posted on January 14, 2023
Endometriosis cellular mapping could aid diagnosis, treatment

Share on Pinterest
Researchers have analyzed almost 400,000 cells in order to build a detailed profile of endometriosis. Image credit: Westend61/Getty Images.

Endometriosis affects roughly 10{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of people who menstruate.

In endometriosis, tissue similar to the uterine lining grows elsewhere in the body, causing painful, heavy periods, abdominal and pelvic pain, and a range of other symptoms.

More research is needed for this condition for which there is still no cure, diagnosis can take many years, and treatments are often ineffective.

New research analyzing almost 400,000 cells has revealed a detailed molecular profile of endometriosis, which may help improve diagnostic and therapeutic options for people with the condition.

Endometriosis is “a systemic disease that is often painful and chronic.” According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it affects around 190 million people — some 10{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of people who menstruate worldwide.

People with the condition experience debilitating symptoms, due to the growth of tissue similar to the uterine lining, or endometrium, elsewhere in the body.

Symptoms may include:

heavy and painful periods

spotting between periods

pain during sexual intercourse or when emptying the bladder or bowels

abdominal, lower back, and pelvic pain

infertility.

Currently, there is no cure for endometriosis, but symptoms can be treated with medications, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs), birth control pills, hormonal IUD, surgery, or a combination of these treatments.

Dr. Steven Vasilev, board-certified integrative gynecologic oncologist and medical director of integrative gynecologic oncology at Providence Saint John’s Health Center and Professor at Saint John’s Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, CA, explained the issues to Medical News Today:

“Endometriosis diagnosis and treatment today remains surgical, based on removing or destroying endometriotic lesions growing on the peritoneum (internal skin-like lining of the body) and ovaries, combined with various hormonal modulations. There has not been a major clinical advance in endometriosis diagnosis and treatment outside these relatively narrow parameters in decades.”

Now, a new study led by researchers from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA, published in Nature Genetics, has analyzed almost 400,000 cells to generate cellular and molecular profiles of endometrial cells.

Its findings may lead to easier diagnosis and more effective treatments for endometriosis.

Although endometriosis affects 10{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of people who menstruate, there is a lack of research into the condition. To date, there has been little cellular data about endometriosis.

This, says Dr. Kate Lawrenson, research scientist, co-senior and corresponding author of the study, and associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology and biomedical sciences at Cedars-Sinai, iswhy they undertook this research:

“Endometriosis has a devastating effect on so many people, and is remarkably common. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most underfunded diseases there is, and many basic questions remain unanswered — which is why this research provides a huge leap forward in understanding the biology of his disease.”

“I hope that work like ours can help bring conversations about endometriosis into the forefront, to improve awareness and also increase much-needed funding for endometriosis research,” she told MNT.

In this new study, the researchers used state-of-the-art methods to analyze more than 370,000 cells from 21 participants, 17 of whom had endometriosis and four who did not.

They sampled different tissues — peritoneal endometriosis, ovarian endometriomas, eutopic endometrium samples, and uninvolved ovary tissues. Eutopic endometrium and uninvolved ovary tissues came from people with and without endometriosis.

“The methodology of the study is basic molecular biology. It has done something I have not seen in other endometriosis studies, which is [to] try and break down the various characteristics of endometriosis-type cells depending on [the] body location of the lesion. It is cataloging the cell type and surrounding microenvironment,” Dr. G. Thomas Ruiz, OB/GYN lead at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA, not involved in this study, explained for MNT.

The researchers analyzed the cells using droplet-based single-cell RNA sequencing. This method identifies which genes are transcribed to make RNA, determining which proteins the cell makes.

By identifying which genes are transcribed, researchers can see differences between the types of cells under investigation.

Using this method, the researchers identified molecular differences between the major subtypes of endometriosis, including peritoneal endometriosis and ovarian endometrioma.

Dr. Lawrenson explained their findings: “We saw a number of differences when we compared endometriosis cells to endometrium. The endometriosis cells are responding differently to hormones and communicate differently with the immune system.”

“The fact that they are behaving so differently is really exciting, as it potentially provides us with new opportunities for therapeutic targeting,” she added.

“This atlas of molecular findings will help researchers move the ball forward towards achieving earlier diagnosis, differentiation between subtypes of endometriosis, a better understanding of the overlap with ovarian cancer in a small but significant percentage of endometriosis patients, and insights into eventual development of molecularly targeted therapy for endometriosis,” said Dr. Vasilev.

So could this research lead the way to new diagnosis and treatment methods? Dr. Lawrenson believes so, and is investigating potential diagnostics for the condition:

“We urgently need a blood test for endometriosis and this is now one of our top research priorities in the laboratory. We were encouraged to see that in endometriosis, multiple cell types overproduce the same genes, which should make it easier to detect those genes in the blood.”

The research discovered that endometriosis cells and normal cells respond differently to the immune system. New therapies that target the immune system might prove effective in treating the condition, as Dr. Lawrenson explained.

“Recent advances suggest that we might be able to treat endometriosis by correcting how the immune system responds to lesions. This is particularly exciting because there might be immune therapies used for other diseases that could be rapidly repurposed for the treatment of endometriosis,” she told MNT.

There is still a need for further research, and Dr. Ruiz suggested directions this research might take: “Endometrioma, superficial versus deep infiltrating had very specific cellular characteristics. The next step would be in vitro studies to see if various endometriosis cell types act differently to current hormone treatments.”

With the mapping of endometriosis, this research has highlighted potential diagnostic and treatment pathways for investigation — it can only be good news for the many people with this debilitating condition.

Posts pagination

Previous page Page 1 … Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 … Page 76 Next page