Lonely adolescents are susceptible to internet addiction

February 22, 2021

Science Daily University of Helsinki

Loneliness is a risk factor associated with adolescents being drawn into compulsive internet use. The risk of compulsive use has grown in the coronavirus pandemic: loneliness has become increasingly prevalent among adolescents, who spend longer and longer periods of time online.

A study investigating detrimental internet use by adolescents involved a total of 1,750 Finnish study subjects, who were studied at three points in time: at 16, 17 and 18 years of age. The results have been published in the Child Development journal.

Adolescents' net use is a two-edged sword: while the consequences of moderate use are positive, the effects of compulsive use can be detrimental. Compulsive use denotes, among other things, gaming addiction or the constant monitoring of likes on social media and comparisons to others.

"In the coronavirus period, loneliness has increased markedly among adolescents. They look for a sense of belonging from the internet. Lonely adolescents head to the internet and are at risk of becoming addicted. Internet addiction can further aggravate their malaise, such as depression," says Professor of Education and study lead Katariina Salmela-Aro from the University of Helsinki.

Highest risk for 16-year-old boys

The risk of being drawn into problematic internet use was at its highest among 16-year-old adolescents, with the phenomenon being more common among boys. For some, the problem persists into adulthood, but for others it eases up as they grow older. The reduction of problematic internet use is often associated with adolescent development where their self-regulation and control improve, their brains adapt and assignments related to education direct their attention.

"It's comforting to know that problematic internet use is adaptive and often changes in late adolescence and during the transition to adulthood. Consequently, attention should be paid to the matter both in school and at home. Addressing loneliness too serves as a significant channel for preventing excessive internet use," Salmela-Aro notes.

It was found in the study that the household climate and parenting also matter: the children of distant parents have a higher risk of drifting into detrimental internet use. If parents are not very interested in the lives of their adolescents, the latter may have difficulty drawing the lines for their actions.

Problematic net use and depression form a cycle

In the study participants, compulsive internet use had a link to depression. Depression predicted problematic internet use, while problematic use further increased depressive symptoms.

Additionally, problematic use was predictive of poorer academic success, which may be associated with the fact that internet use consumes a great deal of time and can disrupt adolescents' sleep rhythm and recovery, consequently eating up the time available for academic effort and performance.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210222124640.htm

Depression, anxiety, loneliness are peaking in college students

February 19, 2021

Science Daily Boston University

A survey by a Boston University researcher of nearly 33,000 college students across the country reveals the prevalence of depression and anxiety in young people continues to increase, now reaching its highest levels, a sign of the mounting stress factors due to the coronavirus pandemic, political unrest, and systemic racism and inequality.

"Half of students in fall 2020 screened positive for depression and/or anxiety," says Sarah Ketchen Lipson, a Boston University mental health researcher and a co-principal investigator of the nationwide survey published on Februray 11, 2021, which was administered online during the fall 2020 semester through the Healthy Minds Network. The survey further reveals that 83 percent of students said their mental health had negatively impacted their academic performance within the past month, and that two-thirds of college students are struggling with loneliness and feeling isolated -- an all-time high prevalence that reflects the toll of the pandemic and the social distancing necessary to control it.

Lipson, a BU School of Public Health assistant professor of health law, policy, and management, says the survey's findings underscore the need for university teaching staff and faculty to put mechanisms in place that can accommodate students' mental health needs.

"Faculty need to be flexible with deadlines and remind students that their talent is not solely demonstrated by their ability to get a top grade during one challenging semester," Lipson says.

She adds that instructors can protect students' mental health by having class assignments due at 5 pm, rather than midnight or 9 am, times that Lipson says can encourage students to go to bed later and lose valuable sleep to meet those deadlines.

Especially in smaller classroom settings, where a student's absence may be more noticeable than in larger lectures, instructors who notice someone missing classes should reach out to that student directly to ask how they are doing.

"Even in larger classes, where 1:1 outreach is more difficult, instructors can send classwide emails reinforcing the idea that they care about their students not just as learners but as people, and circulating information about campus resources for mental health and wellness," Lipson says.

And, crucially, she says, instructors must bear in mind that the burden of mental health is not the same across all student demographics. "Students of color and low-income students are more likely to be grieving the loss of a loved one due to COVID," Lipson says. They are also "more likely to be facing financial stress." All of these factors can negatively impact mental health and academic performance in "profound ways," she says.

At a higher level within colleges and universities, Lipson says, administrators should focus on providing students with mental health services that emphasize prevention, coping, and resilience. The fall 2020 survey data revealed a significant "treatment gap," meaning that many students who screen positive for depression or anxiety are not receiving mental health services.

"Often students will only seek help when they find themselves in a mental health crisis, requiring more urgent resources," Lipson says. "But how can we create systems to foster wellness before they reach that point?" She has a suggestion: "All students should receive mental health education, ideally as part of the required curriculum."

It's also important to note, she says, that rising mental health challenges are not unique to the college setting -- instead, the survey findings are consistent with a broader trend of declining mental health in adolescents and young adults. "I think mental health is getting worse [across the US population], and on top of that we are now gathering more data on these trends than ever before," Lipson says. "We know mental health stigma is going down, and that's one of the biggest reasons we are able to collect better data. People are being more open, having more dialogue about it, and we're able to better identify that people are struggling."

The worsening mental health of Americans, more broadly, Lipson says, could be due to a confluence of factors: the pandemic, the impact of social media, and shifting societal values that are becoming more extrinsically motivated (a successful career, making more money, getting more followers and likes), rather than intrinsically motivated (being a good member of the community).

The crushing weight of historic financial pressures is an added burden. "Student debt is so stressful," Lipson says. "You're more predisposed to experiencing anxiety the more debt you have. And research indicates that suicidality is directly connected to financial well-being."

With more than 22 million young people enrolled in US colleges and universities, "and with the traditional college years of life coinciding with the age of onset for lifetime mental illnesses," Lipson stresses that higher education is a crucial setting where prevention and treatment can make a difference.

One potential bright spot from the survey was that the stigma around mental health continues to fade. The results reveal that 94 percent of students say that they wouldn't judge someone for seeking out help for mental health, which Lipson says is an indicator that also correlates with those students being likely to seek out help themselves during a personal crisis (although, paradoxically, almost half of students say they perceive that others may think more poorly of them if they did seek help).

"We're harsher on ourselves and more critical of ourselves than we are with other people -- we call that perceived versus personal stigma," Lipson says. "Students need to realize, your peers are not judging you."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210219190939.htm

Boys who play video games have lower depression risk

February 18, 2021

Science Daily University College London

Boys who regularly play video games at age 11 are less likely to develop depressive symptoms three years later, finds a new study led by a UCL researcher.

The study, published in Psychological Medicine, also found that girls who spend more time on social media appear to develop more depressive symptoms.

Taken together, the findings demonstrate how different types of screen time can positively or negatively influence young people's mental health, and may also impact boys and girls differently.

Lead author, PhD student Aaron Kandola (UCL Psychiatry) said: "Screens allow us to engage in a wide range of activities. Guidelines and recommendations about screen time should be based on our understanding of how these different activities might influence mental health and whether that influence is meaningful.

"While we cannot confirm whether playing video games actually improves mental health, it didn't appear harmful in our study and may have some benefits. Particularly during the pandemic, video games have been an important social platform for young people.

"We need to reduce how much time children -- and adults -- spend sitting down, for their physical and mental health, but that doesn't mean that screen use is inherently harmful."

Kandola has previously led studies finding that sedentary behaviour (sitting still) appeared to increase the risk of depression and anxiety in adolescents. To gain more insight into what drives that relationship, he and colleagues chose to investigate screen time as it is responsible for much of sedentary behaviour in adolescents. Other studies have found mixed results, and many did not differentiate between different types of screen time, compare between genders, or follow such a large group of young people over multiple years.

The research team from UCL, Karolinska Institutet (Sweden) and the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute (Australia) reviewed data from 11,341 adolescents who are part of the Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative sample of young people who have been involved in research since they were born in the UK in 2000-2002.

The study participants had all answered questions about their time spent on social media, playing video games, or using the internet, at age 11, and also answered questions about depressive symptoms, such as low mood, loss of pleasure and poor concentration, at age 14. The clinical questionnaire measures depressive symptoms and their severity on a spectrum, rather than providing a clinical diagnosis.

In the analysis, the research team accounted for other factors that might have explained the results, such as socioeconomic status, physical activity levels, reports of bullying, and prior emotional symptoms.

The researchers found that boys who played video games most days had 24% fewer depressive symptoms, three years later, than boys who played video games less than once a month, although this effect was only significant among boys with low physical activity levels, and was not found among girls. The researchers say this might suggest that less active boys could derive more enjoyment and social interaction from video games.

While their study cannot confirm if the relationship is causal, the researchers say there are some positive aspects of video games which could support mental health, such as problem-solving, and social, cooperative and engaging elements.

There may also be other explanations for the link between video games and depression, such as differences in social contact or parenting styles, which the researchers did not have data for. They also did not have data on hours of screen time per day, so they cannot confirm whether multiple hours of screen time each day could impact depression risks.

The researchers found that girls (but not boys) who used social media most days at age 11 had 13% more depressive symptoms three years later than those who used social media less than once a month, although they did not find an association for more moderate use of social media. Other studies have previously found similar trends, and researchers have suggested that frequent social media use could increase feelings of social isolation.

Screen use patterns between boys and girls may have influenced the findings, as boys in the study played video games more often than girls and used social media less frequently.

The researchers did not find clear associations between general internet use and depressive symptoms in either gender.

Senior author Dr Mats Hallgren (Karolinska Institutet) has conducted other studies in adults finding that mentally-active types of screen time, such as playing video games or working at a computer, might not affect depression risk in the way that more passive forms of screen time appear to do.

He said: "The relationship between screen time and mental health is complex, and we still need more research to help understand it. Any initiatives to reduce young people's screen time should be targeted and nuanced. Our research points to possible benefits of screen time; however, we should still encourage young people to be physically active and to break up extended periods of sitting with light physical activity."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210218201158.htm

Preschoolers with higher cardiorespiratory fitness do better on cognitive tests

February 18, 2021

Science Daily University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau

Researchers report that 4-6-year-old children who walk further than their peers during a timed test -- a method used to estimate cardiorespiratory health -- also do better on cognitive tests and other measures of brain function. Published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, the study suggests that the link between cardiorespiratory fitness and cognitive health is evident even earlier in life than previously appreciated.

Most studies of the link between fitness and brain health focus on adults or preadolescent or adolescent children, said doctoral student Shelby Keye, who led the new research with Naiman Khan, a professor of kinesiology and community health at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Such research has consistently found positive correlations between people's aerobic exercise capacity and their academic achievement and cognitive abilities, she said. Studies have found that higher cardiorespiratory fitness in older children and adults corresponds to the relative size and connectivity of brain structures that are important to cognitive control.

"But it isn't yet known at what point in the developmental trajectory of childhood this relationship emerges," Keye said.

Previous reports suggest that, just like older children and adults, preschoolers are failing to meet daily recommended guidelines for physical activity.

"This is worrisome, since brain development of core cognitive control processes begins in early childhood and continues well into early adulthood," Khan said. And yet, studies of this age group are limited, he said.

To better understand the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and brain health in 59 preschool-aged children, the researchers subjected them to several tests. The children walked as far as they could in six minutes, a test that allowed researchers to estimate their cardiorespiratory fitness. An early cognitive and academic development test gave the team a measure of each child's intellectual abilities, and a computerized "flanker" task measured how well they were able to focus on the important part of an image while ignoring distracting information. Participants also took part in a computerized task that required them to alter their responses depending on whether flowers or hearts appeared on the screen -- a measure of mental flexibility.

A subset of 33 children also engaged in an auditory task that required them to respond to certain sounds and not others while wearing an EEG cap. The EEG measured electrical activity during the cognitive control task.

"The EEG offers a noninvasive way to measure children's ability to pay attention despite distractions and process information in real time as they complete tasks," Keye said.

Statistical analyses revealed a relationship between the children's physical fitness and their cognitive abilities and brain function, the researchers said.

"Preschool children with higher estimated cardiorespiratory fitness had higher scores on academic ability tasks related to general intellectual abilities as well as their use of expressive language," Keye said. "They had better performance on computerized tasks requiring attention and multitasking skills, and they showed the potential for faster processing speeds and greater resource allocation in the brain when completing these computerized tasks."

The study does not prove that cardiorespiratory fitness enhances cognitive abilities in young children but adds to a growing body of evidence that the two are closely linked -- even in children as young as four years old, the researchers said.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210218140110.htm

Most teen bullying occurs among peers climbing the social ladder

Highest rates of bullying occur between friends and friends-of-friends

February 17, 2021

Science Daily University of California - Davis

Teens who bully, harass, or otherwise victimize their peers are not always lashing out in reaction to psychological problems or unhealthy home environments, but are often using aggression strategically to climb their school's social hierarchy, a University of California, Davis, study suggests. These findings point to the reasons why most anti-bullying programs don't work and suggest possible strategies for the future.

"To the extent that this is true, we should expect them to target not vulnerable wallflowers, but their own friends, and friends-of-friends, who are more likely to be their rivals for higher rungs on the social ladder," said Robert Faris, a UC Davis researcher on bullying and author of the paper "With Friends Like These: Aggression From Amity and Equivalence." The paper was published recently in the American Journal of Sociology. Co-authors are sociologists Diane Felmlee at Pennsylvania State University and Cassie McMillan at Northeastern University.

Faris, a professor of sociology, said friends and associates with close ties to one another likely compete for positions within the same clubs, classrooms, sports and dating subgroups, which heightens the risk of conflict and aggression. This paper is the first known to show that those rivals are often their own friends.

This differs from some common theories and definitions of bullying, in which the behavior stems from an imbalance of power and is mainly directed at youths in the lower social strata in school or community environments who possibly have physical, social or psychological vulnerabilities.

The study focuses, instead, on a broader definition of peer aggression -- theorizing that aggression can actually improve the social status of the aggressor.

Using a large, longitudinal social network study of more than 3,000 eighth, ninth and 10th graders in North Carolina over the course of a single school year, the authors found that teens who were friends in the fall were more than three times as likely to bully or victimize each other in the spring of that same school year. This is not merely animosity between former friends who drifted apart: Schoolmates whose friendships ended during the year were three times as likely to bully or victimize each other in the spring, while those whose friendships continued over the school year were over four times as likely to bully those friends, researchers said.

'Frenemy effect'

This "frenemy effect" is not explained by the amount of time friends spent together, Faris explained. Additionally, "structurally equivalent" classmates -- those who are not necessarily friends, but who share many friends in common -- are also more likely to bully or otherwise victimize each other. Compared to schoolmates with no overlapping friendships, those whose friendships are perfectly overlapping are roughly three times more likely to bully each other, and those who share the same bullies or victims are more than twice as likely to bully each other.

Finally, being victimized by friends is particularly painful, and is associated with significant increases in symptoms of depression and anxiety, and significant decreases in school attachment, researchers said.

Real-life case

The paper cites the real-life case of Megan Meier, who hanged herself in 2007 after being bullied by people she thought were her friends -- with the added twist of a mother orchestrating the social media bullying scheme. "The tragedy of Megan Meier highlights more than the limitations of the criminal justice system in addressing complex, often subtle, social problems like bullying," researchers said. The case illustrates the need for research in this area: ... "contrary to the once-prevailing view of bullying as a maladjusted reaction to psychological deficiencies, emotional dysregulation, empathy deficits, or problematic home lives, [the perpetrator of the bullying] is one of millions of adolescents who has harmed a schoolmate for instrumental reasons: to exact retribution, achieve prominence, or vanquish a rival," researchers said. Indeed, the research shows, "the desire for popularity motivates much aggressive behavior."

Few anti-bullying programs work

Additionally, the researchers conclude, few anti-bullying programs work. "The reason for the typically low success rates, we believe, is that aggressive behavior accrues social rewards, and to a degree that leads some to betray their closest friends. Even the most successful prevention programs are unable to alter the aggressive behavior of popular bullies, who use cruelty to gain and maintain status," the authors said. The popularity contests ubiquitous in secondary schools, the authors wrote, encourage peer bullying.

The authors suggest that efforts to support and strengthen adolescent friendships -- such as broadening extracurricular offerings and hosting camps, trainings and retreats -- could help de-emphasize popularity and reduce the "frenemy effect."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210217151139.htm

Drinking, smoking, and drug use linked to premature heart disease in the young

Those who regularly use 4 or more substances 9 times as likely to be affected

February 15, 2021

Science Daily BMJ

Recreational drinking, smoking, and drug use is linked to premature heart disease in young people, particularly younger women, finds research published online in the journal Heart.

Those who regularly use 4 or more substances are 9 times as likely to be affected, the findings indicate.

The numbers of new cases of heart disease (atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease) have been increasing in young adults, but the potential role of recreational substance use isn't entirely clear.

To probe this further, the researchers explored whether the recreational use of tobacco, cannabis, alcohol, and illicit drugs, such as amphetamine and cocaine, might be linked to prematurely and extremely prematurely furred up arteries.

They drew on information supplied to the 2014-2015 nationwide Veterans Affairs Healthcare database and the Veterans with premaTure AtheroscLerosis (VITAL) registry.

Extremely premature heart disease was defined as an 'event', such as a heart attack, angina, or stroke before the age of 40, while premature heart disease was defined as an event before the age of 55 in men and before the age of 65 in women.

In all, there were 135,703 people with premature heart disease and 7716 with extremely premature heart disease. They were compared with 1,112, 45 patients who didn't have premature heart disease.

Recreational use of any substance was independently associated with a higher likelihood of premature and extremely premature heart disease.

Patients with premature heart disease were more likely to smoke (63% vs 41%), drink (32% vs 15%), and to use cocaine (13% vs 2.5%), amphetamines (3% vs 0.5%), and cannabis (12.5% vs 3%).

After accounting for potentially influential factors, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol, those who smoked tobacco were nearly twice as likely to have premature heart disease while those who drank recreationally were 50% more likely to do so.

Cocaine users were almost 2.5 times as likely to have premature heart disease, while those who used amphetamines were nearly 3 times as likely to do so. Cannabis users were more than 2.5 times as likely to have premature heart disease while those using other drugs were around 2.5 times as likely to do so.

The higher the number of substances used recreationally, the greater was the risk of premature heart disease, ranging from a doubling in risk with the use of 1 substance to a 9-fold heightened risk for those using 4 or more.

Similar trends were observed among those who had extremely premature heart disease, with recreational substance use associated with 1.5 to 3 times higher odds of heart disease.

The associations were even stronger among women with premature and extremely premature heart disease than among similarly affected men.

This is an observational study, and as such can't establish causality. And the researchers acknowledge that they were unable to gather information on other potentially influential factors, such as the dose and duration of recreational substance use.

In a linked editorial, Dr Anthony Wayne Orr of LSU Health Shreveport, Louisiana, points out that use of cocaine and methamphetamine have been associated with faster cell ageing and neurocognitive decline, with higher than average loss of grey matter.

And epidemiological studies suggest that 1 in 5 young adults misuse several substances and that these 'polysubstance users' often start using at younger ages, and so have worse health over the long term, he says.

The growing body of published research on these issues "suggests the need for a nationwide education campaign on the potential long-term damage being done to the cardiovascular system in patients with substance use disorders," he argues.

These people need to be aware of the long term consequences for their health beyond the risk of an overdose, while doctors should screen patients with a history of substance misuse, he says.

"We are only young once, and we should do everything in our power to maintain that state as long as we can," he concludes.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210215211040.htm

Long-term exposure to low levels of air pollution increases risk of heart and lung disease

February 22, 2021

Science Daily/American Heart Association

Analysis of records for more than 63 million Medicare enrollees from 2000 to 2016 finds long-term exposure to air pollution had a significant impact on the number of people hospitalized for cardiac and respiratory conditions. Researchers examined three components of air pollution: fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and ozone. Even levels lower than national standards affected heart and respiratory illnesses.

Exposure to what is considered low levels of air pollution over a long period of time can increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, atrial fibrillation and pneumonia among people ages 65 and older, according to new research published today in the American Heart Association's flagship journal Circulation.

Air pollution can cause harm to the cardiovascular and respiratory systems due to its effect on inflammation in the heart and throughout the body. Newer studies on the impact of air pollution on health are focused on understanding the potential harm caused by long-term exposure and are researching the effects of multiple air pollutants simultaneously. Research on air pollution is critical to informing recommendations for national environmental and health guidelines.

"People should be conscious of the air quality in the region where they live to avoid harmful exposure over long periods of time, if possible," said Mahdieh Danesh Yazdi, Pharm.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., a post-doctoral research fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and lead author of the study. "Since our study found harmful effects at levels below current U.S. standards, air pollution should be considered as a risk factor for cardiovascular and respiratory disease by clinicians, and policy makers should reconsider current standards for air pollutants."

Researchers examined hospitalization records for more than 63 million Medicare enrollees in the contiguous Unites States from 2000 to 2016 to assess how long-term exposure to air pollution impacts hospital admissions for specific cardiovascular and respiratory issues. The study measured three components of air pollution: fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3). Using hundreds of predictors, including meteorological values, satellite measurements and land use to estimate daily levels of pollutants, researchers calculated the study participants' exposure to the pollutants based upon their residential zip code. Additional analysis included the impact of the average yearly amounts of each of the pollutants on hospitalization rates for non-fatal heart attacks, ischemic strokes, atrial fibrillation and flutter, and pneumonia.

Statistical analyses found thousands of hospital admissions were attributable to air pollution per year. Specifically:

The risks for heart attacks, strokes, atrial fibrillation and flutter, and pneumonia were associated with long-term exposure to particulate matter.

Data also showed there were surges in hospital admissions for all of the health outcomes studied with each additional unit of increase in particulate matter. Specifically, stroke rates increased by 2,536 for each additional ug/m3 (micrograms per cubic meter of air) increase in fine particulate matter each year.

There was an increased risk of stroke and atrial fibrillation associated with long-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide.

Pneumonia was the only health outcome in the study that seemed impacted by long-term exposure to ozone; however, researchers note there are currently no national guidelines denoting safe or unsafe long-term ozone levels.

"When we restricted our analyses to individuals who were only exposed to lower concentrations of air pollution, we still found increased risk of hospital admissions with all of the studied outcomes, even at concentration levels below current national standards," added Danesh Yazdi. "More than half of the study population is exposed to low levels of these pollutants, according to U.S. benchmarks, therefore, the long-term health impact of these pollutants should be a serious concern for all, including policymakers, clinicians and patients."

The researchers further stratified the analyses to calculate the cardiovascular and respiratory risks associated with each of the pollutants among patient subgroups including gender, race or ethnicity, age and socioeconomic factors, detailed in the study.

The causality in the study could only be interpreted and not proven definitively due to the limitations of the data available, which may have not included other known CVD risk factors. In addition, coding errors can occur in the Medicare database, which would impact the analyses.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210222082622.htm

Seasonal variation in daylight influences brain function

February 23, 2021

Science Daily/University of Turku

Seasons have an impact on our emotions and social life. Negative emotions are more subdued in the summer, whereas seasonal affective disorder rates peak during the darker winter months. Opioids regulate both mood and sociability in the brain.

In the study conducted at the Turku PET Centre, Finland, researchers compared how the length of daylight hours affected the opioid receptors in humans and rats.

"In the study, we observed that the number of opioid receptors was dependent on the time of the year the brain was imaged. The changes were most prominent in the brain regions that control emotions and sociability. The changes in the opioid receptors caused by the variation in the amount of daylight could be an important factor in seasonal affective disorder," says Postdoctoral Researcher Lihua Sun from the Turku PET Centre and the University of Turku.

Animal studies confirm the significance of daylight

The researchers wanted to ensure that the changes in brain function were caused by the amount of daylight and not some other factor. To achieve this, they measured the opioid receptors in rats when the animals were kept in standard conditions where only the length of daylight hours was changed. The results were similar to those observed in humans.

"On the basis of the results, the duration of daylight is a particularly critical factor in the seasonal variation of opioid receptors. These results help us to understand the brain mechanisms behind seasonal affective disorder," says Professor Lauri Nummenmaa from the Turku PET Centre.

The study was conducted with Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and altogether 204 volunteers participated as subjects. A small dose of radioactive tracer that binds to the brain's opioid receptors was injected in the subjects' blood circulation. The decay of the tracers was measured with a PET scanner. The study is based on the AIVO database hosted by Turku University Hospital and Turku PET Centre. The database contains different in vivo molecular brain scans for extensive analyses. Furthermore, the amount of opioid receptors was studied with PET imaging of rats. Animal studies were conducted at the Central Animal Laboratory, University of Turku, with the genuine support of Professor Anne Roivainen and Dr Emrah Yatkin.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210223110343.htm

Effective treatment for insomnia delivered in a few short phone calls

February 23, 2021

Science Daily/University of Washington

Insomnia -- trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or waking up too early -- is a common condition in older adults. Sleeplessness can be exacerbated by osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis causing joint pain. While there are effective therapies for treating insomnia in older adults, many people cannot get the treatment they need because they live in areas with limited access to health care, either in person or over the internet.

With telephones nearly universal among the elderly, however, researchers at the University of Washington and Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute sought to determine if therapy using only a phone connection could be used to dramatically improve access to insomnia treatment.

In a study involving patients in the Kaiser Permanente Washington system -- the Osteoarthritis and Therapy for Sleep, or OATS study, published Feb. 22 in JAMA Internal Medicine -- the researchers found that effective treatment for insomnia can be delivered in a few short phone calls. The phone-delivered therapy, which consisted of guided training and education to combat insomnia, also helped reduce fatigue as well as pain associated with osteoarthritis.

"It's very exciting," said Susan M. McCurry, lead author and research professor in the UW School of Nursing, "because when people have insomnia, it's miserable. Our study has shown that this treatment can be delivered over the phone, and its effects are sustainable for up to a year."

Importantly, added McCurry, who is also an affiliate investigator at Kaiser Permanente, the study results also mean people living in rural or other areas with limited access to the internet and health care, especially sleep clinics, could potentially be reached and helped.

"When people can get relief from their sleep problems," she said, "they're going to function better during the day. They're going to emotionally feel better, be less irritable and think more clearly."

The study tracked 327 people over 60 years old with moderate to severe insomnia from 2016 to 2018. The patients were interviewed six times for 20 to 30 minutes over an eight-week period. Roughly half of the patients received materials and guided training called cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. CBT-I is a proven and effective strategy used as the first line of treatment for insomnia.

The remaining patients were in a control group, which received education-only phone calls that did not include the CBT-I therapy. The control group was important, McCurry said, to make sure the positive effects of the phone calls weren't due to "the fact that you have someone who's smart and pleasant calling you every week."

The key task of the therapy sessions was to guide patients through routines, information and self-monitoring in order to get their homeostatic sleep drive, which is the internal drive to sleep that is dissipated during the night and builds up during the day, and circadian rhythms, the complex and innate cycles of biochemical, physiological and behavioral processes, working together so that the patient will sleep at night and be wakeful during the daytime.

The phone-based therapy also helped patients reduce anxiety related to sleeplessness.

"People can become conditioned to knowing that when they get into bed, they're going to have a bad night. The bed becomes an anxious place for them to be," McCurry said. "We help them develop cognitive tools that can give their mind something else to do other than worry about what tomorrow is going to be like if they don't get a good night's sleep."

While earlier phone-based studies using similar techniques improved sleep, these studies were limited by their small number of participants and included only patients of specialty insomnia clinics. The OATS study was the first large trial of a statewide population of older adults with chronic osteoarthritis who were randomly assigned to either the treatment or a control group.

"Although osteoarthritis-related insomnia is a very common condition among older adults, it can be a challenge to find and enroll people with this condition in a clinical trial. Our ability to work with Kaiser Permanente Washington's extensive electronic health records data made it possible to identify and recruit more than 300 patients across Washington state over age 60 with moderate to severe osteoarthritis pain and insomnia," said Kai Yeung, co-author and assistant scientific investigator at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute.

The study authors concluded that the phone-based treatment benefits for insomnia were "large, robust" and sustained for a year, even for patients with more severe insomnia and pain symptoms. The study also found a reduction of those pain symptoms, although the pain reductions did not last a full year.

While the study results can give hope to those suffering from insomnia and osteoporosis-related pain, the study authors said patients may not yet have access to a phone-based system of treatment. However, they can still talk to their medical care provider to learn what treatment options are available to them now.

"The bottom line is nobody should be sleeping poorly," said Michael V Vitiello, co-author and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at University of Washington School of Medicine. "We have ways to fix sleep problems. Older adults don't need to suffer. We can make them better."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210223135603.htm

A sleep disorder associated with shift work may affect gene function

Going on holiday has a restorative effect on changes in DNA

February 22, 2021

Science Daily/University of Helsinki

Long-term sleep deprivation is detrimental to health, increasing the risk of psychiatric and somatic disorders, such as depression and cardiovascular diseases. And yet, little is known about the molecular biological mechanisms set in motion by sleep deprivation which underlie related adverse health effects.

In a recently published study, the University of Helsinki, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and the Finnair airline investigated dynamic changes to DNA methylation in shift workers. DNA methylation denotes epigenetic regulation that modifies gene function and regulates gene activity without changing the sequence of bases in the DNA.

Short-term genetic changes caused by DNA methylation are not well known. While methylation is connected with our surroundings, more research is needed on how the environment affects epigenetic regulation and gene function.

The recently published study provides researchers with new information on both DNA methylation and the biological processes that have an impact on a sleep disorder related to shift work (shift work disorder, or SWD).

The study was published in the Scientific Reports publication series.

Changes to DNA methylation can mediate infections caused by sleep deprivation

A total of 32 shift workers participated in the study, of whom 21 suffered from shift work disorder and 11 were in the control group. Dynamic changes to DNA methylation were investigated through a genome-wide analysis during work and after a holiday period.

Changes to DNA methylation which affected gene function were identified in study subjects suffering from a sleep disorder caused by shift work. The findings demonstrated that rest and recovery during holiday periods also resulted in the restoration of DNA methylation in cases where changes had been observed during the work period.

The study proved the dynamic nature of DNA methylation, which was particularly emphasised in the activity of NMDA glutamate receptors. The strongest evidence was gained from the GRIN2C receptor: the methylation level of a specific CpG base pair in the regulatory region was lower during the work period in subjects suffering from shift work disorder. However, this change was reversed after the holiday period.

"Based on the results, we can deduce that changes to the DNA methylation of white blood cells are associated with shift work disorder. These changes, such as low methylation levels observed during the work period, are probably linked to sleep deprivation and related inflammatory consequences which DNA changes may mediate," says doctoral student Alexandra Lahtinen, MSc, from the University of Helsinki.

"Sufficient rest and recovery are important for everyone, but especially important for people with a background of long-term sleep deprivation due to, for example, living habits or irregular working conditions. Having said that, it's positive that the subjects recovered from at least some of the changes related to shift work disorder observed in the study," says Professor Tiina Paunio from the University of Helsinki and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, who was the principal investigator of the study.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210222095035.htm

Pandemic got you down? A little nature could help

Spending time in nature can help ease stressful feelings, researchers find

February 18, 2021

Science Daily/University of Connecticut

Having trouble coping with COVID?

Go take a hike. Literally.

Researchers have long been aware of the positive impact of a connection with nature on psychological health and, according to a new study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, the pandemic hasn't decreased the power of nature to improve mental well-being.

"Thinking about the natural world in an interconnected and harmonious way corresponds to improved psychological health, no matter where you are," says Brian W. Haas, the lead author of the new study and an associate professor in the Behavioral and Brain Sciences Program at the University of Georgia.

Haas and his collaborators -- Fumiko Hoeft, a professor of psychological sciences at UConn and director of UConn's Brain Imaging Research Center; and Kazufumi Omura, faculty of Education, Art and Science at Yamagata University in Japan -- used a survey in America and Japan to measure worldviews on nature as well as how much the pandemic impacted people's lives, and their current psychological health.

The survey sought to gauge whether the participants had a worldview in harmony with nature -- being in tune or connected with the natural world, or a worldview of mastery over nature -- the belief that people have the ability to control the natural world. They also reported on their stress levels and were asked if the COVID-19 pandemic has affected them personally or impacted their employment or finances.

The researchers found that, while participants in general report greater stress levels during the pandemic, individuals with a harmony-with-nature worldview were coping better regardless of whether they lived in Japan or in the United States.

"Clearly there's great need for study as relates to the pandemic, not just now during COVID, but also of previous pandemics and for possible future pandemics," says Hoeft. "I feel like this is a really great lesson, and a moment for us to really appreciate that things like our relationship with nature do matter and make an impact on more tangible things, like our mental health, which we often forget."

The researchers found that the difference between the two cultures, however, became apparent when looking at individuals with a mastery-over-nature worldview.

"We found that the Americans who believed that humans are, and should be, the masters of the natural world did not tend to cope well during the pandemic," Haas says. "While this was not the case in Japan."

Rather, in Japan, having a mastery-over-nature worldview was not correlated with poor coping. The researchers suggest the difference might be rooted in the concept of naïve dialecticism -- the acceptance or tolerance of contradiction.

"In other cultures outside of the United States, people tend to be more comfortable with contradiction; in other cultures, it is generally more accepted to possess conflicting ideas within your mind at the same time," Haas says. "But in the United States, it's not. We can apply this concept to nature and the current global pandemic. For instance, if I hold a view that I am the master of the natural world, and then a global pandemic happens, this is a clear natural disaster. If I believe that I am the master of the natural world, then surely I would never allow a natural disaster to happen. These concepts are inconsistent with one another, and a consequence of inconsistency is often negative mood."

While the study offers only a snapshot view of just two cultures, Haas believes other cultures would likely demonstrate a similar positive association with a harmony-with-nature worldviews, predicting that "it's likely a universal phenomenon."

Both Haas and Hoeft say that, in an increasingly virtual and technology driven world, taking a moment to appreciate nature has clear benefits regardless of where you live.

"In Japanese, there's this word called 'forest-bathing,'" Hoeft says. "It's basically when you go out into nature, and enjoy being surrounded by trees. It's usually for forests, but you go walking and it's supposed to refresh you. People often talk about how they went out 'forest bathing.' I love thinking about these kinds of old phrases -- do they have some real impact or real scientific background in the end? And I think this is one of them where this really does have a connection. There is some scientific truth behind this."

"Think about taking a step away from Zoom for a moment and taking a walk and listening to the birds chirp," Haas says. "I mean, just the benefit of that, and understanding that we have a role in this natural world, and we're part of it. I think that's really intuitive and it's obvious, but I think it's also really, really important. We're showing very convincingly with empirical data that, during a very difficult time like we are in now, that it's important to do these things to maintain your psychological health."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210218140115.htm

Irregular sleep schedules connected to bad moods and depression

The more variation in wake-up time and sleep time, the worse mood and more chance of depression symptoms in study of first-year medical residents

February 18, 2021

Science Daily/Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan

An irregular sleep schedule can increase a person's risk of depression over the long term as much as getting fewer hours of sleep overall, or staying up late most nights, a new study suggests.

Even when it comes to just their mood the next day, people whose waking time varies from day to day may find themselves in as much of a foul mood as those who stayed up extra late the night before, or got up extra early that morning, the study shows.

The study, conducted by a team from Michigan Medicine, the University of Michigan's academic medical center, uses data from direct measurements of the sleep and mood of more than 2,100 early-career physicians over one year. It's published in npj Digital Medicine.

The interns, as they are called in their first year of residency training after medical school, all experienced the long intense work days and irregular work schedules that are the hallmark of this time in medical training. Those factors, changing from day to day, altered their ability to have regular sleep schedules.

The new paper is based on data gathered by tracking the interns' sleep and other activity through commercial devices worn on their wrists, and asking them to report their daily mood on a smartphone app and take quarterly tests for signs of depression.

Those whose devices showed they had variable sleep schedules were more likely to score higher on standardized depression symptom questionnaires, and to have lower daily mood ratings. Those who regularly stayed up late, or got the fewest hours of sleep, also scored higher on depression symptoms and lower on daily mood. The findings add to what's already known about the association between sleep, daily mood and long-term risk of depression.

"The advanced wearable technology allows us to study the behavioral and physiological factors of mental health, including sleep, at a much larger scale and more accurately than before, opening up an exciting field for us to explore," says Yu Fang, M.S.E., lead author of the new paper and a research specialist at the Michigan Neuroscience Institute. "Our findings aim not only to guide self-management on sleep habits but also to inform institutional scheduling structures."

Fang is part of the team from the Intern Health Study, led by Srijan Sen, M.D., Ph.D., that has been studying the mood and depression risk of first-year medical residents for more than a decade. The study collected an average of two weeks of data from before the doctors' intern years began, and an average of nearly four months of monitoring through their intern year.

For the new paper, the team worked with Cathy Goldstein, M.D., M.S., an associate professor of neurology and physician in the Sleep Disorders Center at Michigan Medicine.

She notes that wearable devices that estimate sleep are now being used by millions of people, including the Fitbit devices used in the study, other activity trackers, and smart watches.

"These devices, for the first time, allow us to record sleep over extensive time periods without effort on behalf of the user," says Goldstein. "We still have questions surrounding the accuracy of the sleep predictions consumer trackers make, though initial work suggests similar performance to clinical and research grade actigraphy devices which are cleared by the FDA."

Sen, who holds the Eisenberg Professorship in Depression and Neurosciences and is a professor of neuroscience and psychiatry, notes that the new findings build on what his team's work has already shown about high risk of depression among new physicians, and other underlying factors that as associated with a heightened risk.

"These findings highlight sleep consistency as an underappreciated factor to target in depression and wellness," he says. "The work also underscores the potential of wearable devices in understanding important constructs relevant to health that we previously could not study at scale."

The team notes that the relatively young group of people in the study -- with an average age of 27, and holding both college and medical degrees -- are not representative of the broader population. However, because all of them experience similar workloads and schedules, they are a good group to test hypotheses in. The researchers hope that other groups will study other populations using similar devices and approaches, to see if the findings about variation in sleep schedule hold up for them.

Fang, for instance, notes that the parents of young children might be another important group to study. "I also wish my 1-year-old could learn about these findings and only wake me up at 8:21 a.m. every day," she jokes.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210218094502.htm

New link between personality and risk of early death

February 17, 2021

Science Daily/University of Limerick

Ground-breaking research led by University of Limerick has revealed for the first time that the immune system directly links personality to long-term risk of death.

The study sheds new light on why people who are more conscientious tend to live longer.

Results from the new international study published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity have found that the immune system plays a previously unknown role in the link between personality traits and long-term risk of death.

"Personality is known to be associated with long-term risk of death, it is a well replicated finding observed across numerous research studies internationally," explained Principal Investigator on the study Dr Páraic Ó Súilleabháin, from the Department of Psychology and Health Research Institute at University of Limerick, Ireland.

"The critical question is 'how'. We wanted to find out if a biological pathway such as our immune system may explain why this happens.

"Our personality is critically important throughout our lives, from early stages in our development, to the accumulation of the impact of how we think, feel, and behave across our lives, and in the years preceding our death. It is also becoming increasingly apparent how important personality actually is for our long-term health and resulting longevity. For instance, it has been shown that people scoring lower on the personality trait of conscientiousness (a tendency to be responsible, organized, and capable of self-control) can be at a 40% increased risk of future death compared to their higher scoring counterparts. What is not clear is how this could happen, and importantly, what biological pathway might be responsible for this link," added Dr Ó Súilleabháin.

Led by Dr Ó Súilleabháin, this study was conducted with a team of collaborators from the Department of Psychology at UL, the Department of Psychology at West Virginia University, the Department of Psychology at Humboldt University Berlin, and the College of Medicine at Florida State University.

The researchers wanted to investigate if two biological markers which are central to the immune system may explain why personality traits are associated with long-term mortality risk. Specifically, they wanted to test if interleukin-6 and c-reactive protein which are known to play an important role in age-related morbidity may explain how our personality traits are related to how long we live. The study was drawing on data from the Midlife in the United States Longitudinal Study carried out on 957 adults who were examined over a 14-year period.

Dr Ó Súilleabháin explained: "We found that part of the reason why people who score higher on the personality trait of conscientiousness live longer is as a result of their immune system, specifically due to lower levels of a biological marker called interleukin-6. There are likely further biological mechanisms that are yet to be discovered which will give a clearer picture of all the different ways that our personalities are so critical to our long-term health.

"These findings are very important and identify for the first time that an underlying biological marker directly links personality to long-term mortality risk. With replication, these findings provide an opportunity for future interventions to increase our longevity and health across the lifespan," Dr Ó Súilleabháin added.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210217151051.htm

Regular caffeine consumption affects brain structure

February 16, 2021

Science Daily/University of Basel

Coffee, cola or an energy drink: caffeine is the world's most widely consumed psychoactive substance. Researchers from the University of Basel have now shown in a study that regular caffeine intake can change the gray matter of the brain. However, the effect appears to be temporary.

No question -- caffeine helps most of us to feel more alert. However, it can disrupt our sleep if consumed in the evening. Sleep deprivation can in turn affect the gray matter of the brain, as previous studies have shown. So can regular caffeine consumption affect brain structure due to poor sleep? A research team led by Dr. Carolin Reichert and Professor Christian Cajochen of the University of Basel and UPK (the Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel) investigated this question in a study.

The result was surprising: the caffeine consumed as part of the study did not result in poor sleep. However, the researchers observed changes in the gray matter, as they report in the journal Cerebral Cortex. Gray matter refers to the parts of the central nervous system made up primarily of the cell bodies of nerve cells, while white matter mainly comprises the neural pathways, the long extensions of the nerve cells.

A group of 20 healthy young individuals, all of whom regularly drink coffee on a daily basis, took part in the study. They were given tablets to take over two 10-day periods, and were asked not to consume any other caffeine during this time. During one study period, they received tablets with caffeine; in the other, tablets with no active ingredient (placebo). At the end of each 10-day period, the researchers examined the volume of the subjects' gray matter by means of brain scans. They also investigated the participants' sleep quality in the sleep laboratory by recording the electrical activity of the brain (EEG).

Sleep unaffected, but not gray matter

Data comparison revealed that the participants' depth of sleep was equal, regardless of whether they had taken the caffeine or the placebo capsules. But they saw a significant difference in the gray matter, depending on whether the subject had received caffeine or the placebo. After 10 days of placebo -- i.e. "caffeine abstinence" -- the volume of gray matter was greater than following the same period of time with caffeine capsules.

The difference was particularly striking in the right medial temporal lobe, including the hippocampus, a region of the brain that is essential to memory consolidation. "Our results do not necessarily mean that caffeine consumption has a negative impact on the brain," emphasizes Reichert. "But daily caffeine consumption evidently affects our cognitive hardware, which in itself should give rise to further studies." She adds that in the past, the health effects of caffeine have been investigated primarily in patients, but there is also a need for research on healthy subjects.

Although caffeine appears to reduce the volume of gray matter, after just 10 days of coffee abstinence it had significantly regenerated in the test subjects. "The changes in brain morphology seem to be temporary, but systematic comparisons between coffee drinkers and those who usually consume little or no caffeine have so far been lacking," says Reichert.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210216100137.htm

Veterans Putting Americans to Work: How to be One of Them

Guest Post by: Kelli Brewer deploycare.org

A penchant for being organized. Attention to details. Dedication. Operating under pressure. These are just some of the attributes that fit many veterans who transfer well to entrepreneurship. While possessing these traits certainly doesn’t guarantee success, there is a reference for success: According to this article in Military.com, “around 9% of all businesses in the U.S. are veteran-owned and 10% of veterans run their own business.”

Get started with an idea, resources to help you with planning, and steps to protect yourself and your business and yA penchant for being organized. Attention to details. Dedication. Operating under pressure. These are just some of the attributes that fit many veterans who transfer well to entrepreneurship. While possessing these traits certainly doesn’t guarantee success, there is a reference for success: According to this article in Military.com, “around 9% of all businesses in the U.S. are veteran-owned and 10% of veterans run their own business.”

Get started with an idea, resources to help you with planning, and steps to protect yourself and your business and you may be on your way to helping put other Americans to work. MindSpa provides some tips and resources that can help you get started.

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

First steps, boot by boot

You may remember learning about some business resources during your Transition Assistance Program (TAP) as you were preparing to transition out of service. In particular, you hopefully took advantage of the US Small Business Administration’s Boots to Business program that provides education and training to veteran entrepreneurs. You can also participate in Reboot classes. In general, the SBA’s Office of Veterans Business Development Resources is going to be an excellent starting point for guidance and additional resources. It will also point you to your nearest Veterans Business Outreach Center for available workshops and training.

By now, you likely have an idea of what type of business you want to pursue. Still, it’s not a bad idea to review popular ideas for veterans that have a good track record of success, such as franchise ownership and retail, and compare the pros and cons of each against your own ideas.

Planning pieces

One of the things you’ll learn about is the importance of the business plan. This business roadmap details your ideas and the realistic opportunities for business success – including any threats, such as competition or market hindrances – to demonstrate your preparedness. Even if you think you have it “all in your head” or you’ve already gotten a good start and things are going well, it’s important to examine things from every angle to prepare for change. Also, if you need outside financing, your investor or lender will want to see your business plan, along with other documents such as a marketing plan and financial projections.

Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash

Another important preparation piece is liability protection. If you remain a sole proprietor, you open yourself up to near-unlimited liability if something goes wrong in your business, such as a lawsuit or a business failure that leaves behind substantial debt. To avoid this, consider structuring your business as a limited liability company. While an LLC is a corporate structure, it offers more flexibility than some other corporate structures while still, in most cases, protecting your personal assets, like your house and personal bank accounts.

Individual states govern how LLCs are structured and can operate within their states, so it’s important to check your state laws. You can approach your secretary of state office for details and instructions; or, to save you time, a lawyer can take care of everything. However, to save that expense, consider a company that provides this same service for typically far less cost.

Continuing to serve

Owning your own business gives you an opportunity to continue to serve. Fulfilling your dream of being your own boss and pursuing a passion is rewarding – even more so when you consider that you could be one of the many veterans who continue to serve Americans by providing them with rewarding jobs and careers.ou may be on your way to helping put other Americans to work. MindSpa provides some tips and resources that can help you get started.

Tuning the circadian clock, boosting rhythms may be key to future treatments and medicines

New article unravels the remarkable relationship between time-of-day and physiology

February 11, 2021

Science Daily/University of California - Irvine

Subconsciously, our bodies keep time for us through an ancient means -- the circadian clock. A new University of California, Irvine-led article reviews how the clock controls various aspects of homeostasis, and how organs coordinate their function over the course of a day.

"What is fascinating is that nearly every cell that makes up our organs has its own clock, and thus timing is a crucial aspect of biology," said Kevin B. Koronowski, PhD, lead author and a postdoctoral fellow in Biological Chemistry at the UCI School of Medicine. "Understanding how daily timing is integrated with function across organs has implications for human health, as disruption of the clock and circadian rhythms can be both a cause and effect of diseases from diabetes to cancer."

The circadian clock generates a ~24 hour rhythm that controls behavior, hormones, the immune system and metabolism. Using human cells and mice, researchers from the Paolo Sassone-Corsi Laboratory at UCI's Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism aim to uncover the physiological circuits, for example between the brain and liver, whereby biological clocks achieve coherence. Their work, titled, "Communicating clocks shape circadian homeostasis," was published today in Science.

Circadian clocks align internal processes with external time, which enables diverse lifeforms to anticipate daily environmental changes such as the light-dark cycle. In complex organisms, clock function starts with the genetically encoded molecular clock or oscillator within each cell and builds upward anatomically into an organism-wide system. Circadian misalignment, often imposed in modern society, can disrupt this system and induce adverse effects on health if prolonged.

"Strategies to tune our clocks and boost rhythms have been promising in pre-clinical studies, which illustrates the importance of unraveling this aspect of our biology and unlocking the potential it holds for treatments and medicines of the future," said Koronowski.

Without electrical light, high-speed travel, constant food availability and around the clock work-life schedules, our ancestors' clocks were in constant harmony with the environment. However, due to these pressures of modern society, aligning our internal time with geophysical time has become a challenge in today's world. Chronic misalignment -- when eating and sleeping patterns conflict with the natural light-dark cycle -- is associated with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, neurological conditions, and cancer. A large portion of the global workforce has atypical hours and may be particularly vulnerable.

"It has become urgent that we uncover the molecular underpinnings of the relationship between the circadian clock and disease," explained Koronowski. "Deciphering the means by which clocks communicate across metabolic organs has the potential to transform our understanding of metabolism, and it may hold therapeutic promise for innovative, noninvasive strategies to promote health."

This work is dedicated to the memory of Paolo Sassone-Corsi (1956-2020), a great scientist, mentor, and human. It was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, Novo Nordisk Foundation and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210211171053.htm

Benefits of CBD, how to use it to improve your overall health

Guest Post by Eva Gore, Alta Farms

 CBD products include CBD gummies, CBD oil and CBD beverages. 

Just in case you did not know, CBD is a type of cannabinoid that is obtained from the hemp cannabis plant. It is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid that does not make you high or alter your brain or motor skills. On the other hand, the cannabinoid that does make you experience a “high” is called THC which is found within the sugar, aerial leaves, and flower of the marijuana cannabis plant. There is only 0.3% THC in the CBD Herbal Tea products I am recommending to you today. 

So, you might be thinking, “If CBD won’t make me high, then what is the point of using it?” What I can tell you is that the benefits of cannabinoids extend way beyond altering brain function. As a matter of fact, your body is in possession of an endocannabinoid system which operates with the natural cannabinoid receptors in your brain and immune system, to reduce inflammation, alleviate pain, aid in controlling stress and help you have a good night’s sleep, all of which and including other things, put at risk your internal homeostasis. While taking CBD products, you still are in control and are able to maintain full brain functionality. 

Here are the top 10 health advantages of consuming CBD products. Although gummies are good, most people respond better to CBD in a soluble form. For example, just a cup of CBD infused tea at night before bed will have you feeling the results relatively quick in 15 minutes. 

1) CBD can alleviate Depression and Anxiety 

According to the World Health Organization, over 300 million people in the world suffer from depression and a significant percentage of these people also struggle with anxiety too. These are two profoundly serious mental disorders that can devastate the quality of a person’s life. Nevertheless, more and more medical researchers have found that CBD will reduce the symptoms of depression and anxiety for people. It even helps overcome social anxiety and public speaking anxiety too. 

2) Greatly reduces Pain 

CBD gets the most interest because of its ability to decrease pain. CBD can reduce everything from the physical pain caused by arthritis to the neuropathic pain caused by multiple sclerosis. If you live with an inflammatory disease which is causing you physical suffering, then try some CBD oil, Salve, Tea or Gummies and you should see that pain dissipating very quickly. 

3)Overcoming Drug Addiction 

Drug addiction can affect the crucial brain pathways that cause you to develop a dependency to addictive substances like morphine or heroin. CBD works to correct the brain circuits accountable for stimulating the addiction in the first place so that you do not have a dependency on those drugs as much going forward in the future. 

4) Prevent Diabetes 

Yes, you read this correctly! CBD is understood to inhibit a condition called insulitis which destroys pancreatic beta cells. Because insulitis is a big cause of Type I Diabetes, taking steps to prevent insulitis can help avert diabetes too. For those people who already have diabetes, CBD may lower the side effects of the disease like memory loss and neuroinflammation. 

5) Reduces Blood Pressure 

High blood pressure is the major cause of cardiovascular diseases, heart attacks, and strokes. Just taking one dose of CBD each day, you may find yourself having lower blood pressure. This means you would have a decreased chance of having a heart attack, stroke, or heart disease. 

6) Fights recurring Insomnia 

Do you regularly have trouble falling asleep? If your answer is yes, then even just 18mg CBD might be the answer you are searching for to help reduce insomnia or any other sleep related difficulties you may be experiencing. CBD has the ability to reduce anxiety and then lessen the effects of worry which cause you to stay awake at night. 

7) Eradicates and Prevents Acne 

Because CBD contains anti-inflammatory properties it will help lower the production of sebum within the skin. Sebum is a naturally produced oil which protects the skin. When disproportionate amounts of sebum are produced, it causes acne to develop on the surface and create those annoying pimples and blackheads. Consuming CBD oil and using CBD lotions can lower the production of sebum, so the sometimes painful acne can clear up quickly. 

8) Reduces and even prevents Alzheimer’s Disease Symptoms 

The biggest contributor to the development of Alzheimer’s disease is Neuroinflammation. CBD will act to reduce and may even prevent neuroinflammation by acting to safeguard your neurons from the free radicals that want to destroy them. This means you will lessen chance of having to deal with Alzheimer’s disease or its progressive symptoms. 

9) Anti-psychotic Effects 

Psychotic symptoms have been found to lessen with CBD treatment in people suffering from a variety of mental disorders, like schizophrenia and psychosis. These results have not been medically proven for all types of mental disorders, though people living with these disorders have apparently noticed a welcomed relief from CBD. 

10) Helps Fight Cancer 

Once again, the anti-inflammatory properties of CBD provide anti-tumor effects as well. If you are concerned about developing a cancerous tumor in your, lung, breast, brain, colon, or even prostate, we recommend dosing on CBD consistently. It has been purported that it might even prevent cancer from spreading if it already exists within the system. 

New to CBD? 

I recommend starting simply with a warm cup of delicious CBD tea at night. This way you get used to the unique taste and you will be able to monitor how you feel after consuming it. Alta Farms in Utah bring to us a unique tasting line of specially formulated CBD Herbal Teas (18mg CBD per cup) mixed specifically with natural herbs and spices, to help with pain and inflammation, anxiety and stress and insomnia. If you find the CBD flavor too overwhelming, Alta Farms also have CBD Isolate infusions where there is absolutely no distinct hempy taste. 

Nearly third of US young people prescribed psychoactive drugs admit misusing them

Stimulants and tranquillisers more frequently misused than opioids

February 2, 2021

Science Daily/BMJ

Nearly a third of US teens and young adults prescribed a psychoactive drug misuse that drug, with the likelihood of misuse rising with age, suggests an analysis of national survey responses published in the online journal Family Medicine & Community Health.

Stimulants and tranquillisers were more likely to be misused than opioids, the findings indicate.

Drug overdose is a leading cause of unintentional death in the US, most cases of which involve opioid painkillers, but not all.

Data on the misuse of other prescription psychoactive drugs are few and far between. And every year more than 1 in 3 teens and young adults in the US is prescribed one of these drugs.

To plug this knowledge gap, the researchers drew on the responses of 110,556 US 12-25 year olds who took part in the 2015-2018 National Survey of Drug Use and Health Sampling.

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Overall, around a third (35%) said they had taken a prescribed psychoactive drug in the past year, and a similar proportion (31%) said they had misused that drug.

While opioids were the most commonly prescribed drug, misuse of stimulants and tranquillisers was higher, with nearly 45% of users admitting to this.

One in 10 respondents said they took at least two prescribed psychoactive drugs, with nearly 6 in 10 (58%) confessing to misusing one of these. And 87% admitted to misusing another substance, such as alcohol, cigarettes, cigars, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, inhalants, or hallucinogens.

Use and misuse of a prescribed psychoactive drug increased with age. While one in four teens (12-17 year olds) reported taking any psychoactive prescribed drug over the past year, and around 6% reported taking at least two such drugs, this increased to 41% and 13.5%, respectively, among 18-25 year olds.

Among the teen users of psychoactive prescription drugs, opioids were the most frequently used (19%) followed by stimulants (7%), tranquillisers (4%) and sedatives (2%).

Around 1 in 5 users of prescribed psychoactive drugs said they misused them, with tranquillisers most often misused (40%), followed by stimulants (24%), opioids (nearly 18%), and sedatives (14%).

Among 18-25-year-olds prescribed psychoactive drugs in the past year, 35% reported misuse of at least one drug. And among those prescribed at least two of these drugs, 61% reported misuse and just under 94% reported concurrent use of another substance.

Analyses of the responses from the 18-25-year-olds revealed that, compared with those who had never touched other substances, misuse of psychoactive prescription drugs increased in tandem with more recent use of these substances and number used.

Among 18-25 year-olds, opioids were again the most commonly prescribed psychoactive drug (30%), followed by stimulants (14%), tranquillisers (11.5%) and sedatives (3.5%).

The estimated proportion of misuse in this age group was highest for tranquillisers (45%) followed by stimulants (51%), opioids (23%) and sedatives (19%).

This is an observational study, and therefore can't establish cause, added to which the researchers acknowledge that the study was based on self report; the time frames over which some variables were measured weren't consistent; and misuse was very broadly defined.

Nevertheless, they conclude that the overlap in the profiles of those who use for medical reasons and those who misuse is a strong indicator of how likely they are to abuse psychoactive drugs.

"It is important to monitor the diversity of medication misuse behaviours among youth and young adults, given their potential for abuse liability," they write.

"Modifiable risk factors for prescription substance misuse, such as tobacco and other non-prescription substance use, underscore the need for comprehensive approaches towards health promotion among youth and young adults," they add.

They note that 11.5% of the 18-25 year olds reported serious psychological distress, which was consistently associated with misuse of every psychoactive prescription drug assessed.

"Mental health and medical providers would benefit from using a team approach and having open communication with other healthcare providers to ensure evidence-based guidelines are used when assessing for, and treating, mental health and substance use difficulties," they conclude.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210202192756.htm

Frequent cannabis use by young people linked to decline in IQ

January 28, 2021

Science Daily/RCSI

A study has found that adolescents who frequently use cannabis may experience a decline in Intelligence Quotient (IQ) over time. The findings of the research provide further insight into the harmful neurological and cognitive effects of frequent cannabis use on young people.

The paper, led by researchers at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, is published in Psychological Medicine.

The results revealed that there were declines of approximately 2 IQ points over time in those who use cannabis frequently compared to those who didn't use cannabis. Further analysis suggested that this decline in IQ points was primarily related to reduction in verbal IQ.

The research involved systematic review and statistical analysis on seven longitudinal studies involving 808 young people who used cannabis at least weekly for a minimum of 6 months and 5308 young people who did not use cannabis. In order to be included in the analysis each study had to have a baseline IQ score prior to starting cannabis use and another IQ score at follow-up. The young people were followed up until age 18 on average although one study followed the young people until age 38.

"Previous research tells us that young people who use cannabis frequently have worse outcomes in life than their peers and are at increased risk for serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia. Loss of IQ points early in life could have significant effects on performance in school and college and later employment prospects," commented senior author on the paper Professor Mary Cannon, Professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology and Youth Mental Health, RCSI.

"Cannabis use during youth is of great concern as the developing brain may be particularly susceptible to harm during this period. The findings of this study help us to further understand this important public health issue," said Dr Emmet Power, Clinical Research Fellow at RCSI and first author on the study.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/01/210128134755.htm

Legal cannabis stores linked to fewer opioid deaths in the United States

Findings may have implications for tackling opioid misuse

January 27, 2021

Science Daily/BMJ

Access to legal cannabis stores is associated with a reduction in opioid related deaths in the United States, particularly those linked to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, finds a study published by The BMJ today.

Opioids are 'morphine-type' drugs that relieve short-term (acute) pain and pain at the end of life. There is little evidence that they are helpful for long-term (chronic) pain, but they are often prescribed for this reason.

This has led to widespread misuse and a sharp rise in overdose deaths, particularly in the United States. In 2018, there were more than 46,000 fentanyl related deaths, representing over two thirds of all US opioid related deaths that year.

Some studies have suggested that increased access to cannabis stores -- legally authorised to sell medical and recreational cannabis -- may help to reduce opioid related deaths, but the evidence so far is mixed.

To explore this further, researchers examined relationships between medical and recreational cannabis stores (referred to as dispensaries) and opioid related deaths from 2014 to 2018.

Their findings are based on data for 812 counties within the 23 US states that allowed legal cannabis dispensaries to operate by the end of 2017.

Information on state level cannabis legislation was combined with county level data on licensed dispensaries and opioid related mortality rates.

After controlling for population characteristics and other potentially influential factors, the researchers found that counties with a higher number of active cannabis dispensaries were associated with reduced opioid related mortality rates.

According to this estimate, an increase from one to two dispensaries in a county was associated with an estimated 17% reduction in all opioid related mortality rates.

This association held for both medical and recreational dispensaries and appeared particularly strong for deaths associated with synthetic opioids other than methadone, with an estimated 21% reduction in mortality rates associated with an increase from one to two dispensaries.

An increase from two to three dispensaries was associated with a further 8.5% reduction in all opioid related mortality rates.

This study is the first to examine the association between active cannabis dispensary operations and opioid related mortality rates at the more fine grained county level.

However, the results are observational, so can't establish cause, and the researchers stress that while cannabis is generally thought to be less addictive than opioids, it still carries potential harms and public safety risks should not be ignored.

But they say their findings suggest "a potential association between increased prevalence of medical and recreational cannabis dispensaries and reduced opioid related mortality rates."

And they call for "a greater understanding of the impact of cannabis legalization on opioid misuse and public health outcomes before policy makers can weigh the potential benefits against the harms of promoting cannabis legalization."

In a linked editorial, researchers argue that cannabis liberalization "cannot be regarded as a remedy to the opioid crisis until a robust evidence base is available."

Although some may interpret these findings as evidence supporting cannabis liberalization to address the opioid crisis, they point out that "such conclusions are currently premature without evidence of causality."

Further experimental studies including individual level data of those with use of prescription opioids and illicit opioids "would inform a more nuanced understanding of the substitution between opioids and cannabis," they conclude.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/01/210127193325.htm