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Primary care providers’ physical activity counseling and referral practices and barriers for cardiovascular disease prevention - PMC
Our analyses used data from DocStyles 2015, a Web-based panel survey of 1251 PCPs. Overall, 58.6% of PCPs discussed physical activity with most of their at-risk patients. Among these PCPs, the prevalence of components offered ranged from 98.5% encouraging increased physical activity to 13.9% referring to intensive behavioral counseling. Overall, only 8.1% both discussed physical activity with most at-risk patients and referred to intensive behavioral counseling. Barriers related to PCPs’ attitudes and beliefs about counseling (e.g., counseling is not effective) were significantly associated with both discussing physical activity with most at-risk patients and referring them to intensive behavioral counseling (adjusted odds ratio, 1.92; 95% confidence interval, 1.15–3.20). System-level barriers (e.g., referral services not available) were not. Just over half of PCPs discussed physical activity with most of their at-risk patients, and few both discussed physical activity and referred patients to intensive behavioral counseling. Overcoming barriers related to attitudes and beliefs about physical activity counseling could help improve low levels of counseling and referrals to intensive behavioral counseling for CVD prevention.
Can the Ketogenic Diet Treat Mental Illness? | MedPage Today
Though 3 patients were unable to adhere to the diet for more than 14 days, the researchers concluded that following the ketogenic diet for treatment-refractory mental illness was "feasible, well-tolerated, and associated with significant and substantial improvements in depression and psychosis symptoms and multiple markers of metabolic health."
More than 40% of patients experienced remission from their diagnosis, Ede said, and 64% left the hospital on less psychiatric medication than when they entered.
A local tip helps reveal an ancient ‘arcade’ in Kenya’s highlands | YaleNews
“Modern people in the region tend to play games like Mancala when they are out herding,” she said. “That’s probably what they were doing here. People tend to look at early life as brutish, nasty, and short. But perhaps life was not all about survival.”
Day-to-day variability in sleep parameters and depression risk: a prospective cohort study of training physicians | npj Digital Medicine
Within individuals, increased TST (b = 0.06, p < 0.001), later wake time (b = 0.09, p < 0.001), earlier bedtime (b = − 0.07, p < 0.001), as well as lower day-to-day shifts in TST (b = −0.011, p < 0.001) and in wake time (b = −0.004, p < 0.001) were associated with improved next-day mood.
Exercise improves learning and memory in young adults -- ScienceDaily
The review, which is published in Translational Sports Medicine, included 13 relevant studies. The types of exercise that were studied involved walking, running, and bicycling in individuals between 18 to 35 years of age.
Investigators found that aerobic exercise for 2 minutes to 1 hour at moderate to high intensity improved attention, concentration, and learning and memory functions for up to 2 hours. They noted that the results may have important education-related implications.
Unparalleled inventory of the human gut ecosystem -- ScienceDaily
"Last year, three independent teams, including ours, reconstructed thousands of gut microbiome genomes. The big questions were whether these teams had comparable results, and whether we could pool them into a comprehensive inventory," says Rob Finn, Team Leader at EMBL-EBI.
The scientists have now compiled 200,000 genomes and 170 million protein sequences from more than 4 600 bacterial species in the human gut. Their new databases, the Unified Human Gastrointestinal Genome collection and the Unified Gastrointestinal Protein catalogue, reveal the tremendous diversity in our guts and pave the way for further microbiome research.
"This immense catalogue is a landmark in microbiome research, and will be an invaluable resource for scientists to start studying and hopefully understanding the role of each bacterial species in the human gut ecosystem," explains Nicola Segata, Principal Investigator at the University of Trento.
The project revealed that more than 70% of the detected bacterial species had never been cultured in the lab -- their activity in the body remains unknown. The largest group of bacteria that falls into that category is the Comantemales, an order of gut bacteria first described in 2019 in a study led by the Bork Group at EMBL Heidelberg.
"It was a real surprise to see how widespread the Comantemales are. This highlights how little we know about the bacteria in our gut," explains Alexandre Almeida, EMBL-EBI/Sanger Postdoctoral Fellow in the Finn Team. "We hope our catalogue will help bioinformaticians and microbiologists bridge that knowledge gap in the coming years."
A freely accessible data resource
All the data collected in the Unified Human Gastrointestinal Genome collection and the Unified Human Gastrointestinal Protein catalogue are freely available in MGnify, an EMBL-EBI online resource that allows scientists to analyse their microbial genomic data and make comparisons with existing datasets.
Intermittent fasting from dawn to sunset for 30 consecutive days is associated with anticancer proteomic signature and upregulates key regulatory proteins of glucose and lipid metabolism, circadian clock, DNA repair, cytoskeleton remodeling, immune system and cognitive function in healthy subjects - ScienceDirect
Fourteen healthy subjects fasted from dawn to sunset for over 14 h daily. Fasting duration was 30 consecutive days. Serum samples were collected before 30-day intermittent fasting, at the end of 4th week during 30-day intermittent fasting, and one week after 30-day intermittent fasting. An untargeted serum proteomic profiling was performed using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. Our results showed that 30-day intermittent fasting was associated with an anticancer serum proteomic signature, upregulated key regulatory proteins of glucose and lipid metabolism, circadian clock, DNA repair, cytoskeleton remodeling, immune system, and cognitive function, and resulted in a serum proteome protective against cancer, metabolic syndrome, inflammation, Alzheimer's disease, and several neuropsychiatric disorders. These findings suggest that fasting from dawn to sunset for 30 consecutive days can be preventive and adjunct therapy in cancer, metabolic syndrome, and several cognitive and neuropsychiatric diseases.
PsycNET Record Display - PsycNET
In the present study, we test the effects of a 3-month randomized controlled trial of aerobic exercise training in young to midlife adults on trait measures of depression, anxiety, hostility, and anger. Method: One-hundred and 19 men (n = 56) and women (n = 63) aged 20–45 were randomized to 1 of 2 conditions: (a) 12 weeks of aerobic exercise after which they were asked to halt exercising and decondition for 4 weeks, or (b) a 16-week waitlist control group. Assessments of depression, anxiety, hostility and anger were completed at study entry, Week 12 and Week 16. Results: At study entry, participants scored low on measures of depression, anxiety, hostility and anger. Analyses among the intent-to-treat and per protocol samples found significant treatment effects of aerobic training for hostility and depression, but not for anxiety and anger. Within-group analyses demonstrated that depression and hostility scores decreased in the exercise group over the course of the intervention, while remaining stable in the control group. These effects persisted for the exercise group at nonsignificant levels after 4 weeks of deconditioning. Conclusions: Aerobic exercise training has significant psychological effects even in sedentary yet euthymic adults, adding experimental data on the known benefits of exercise in this population.
Adjunctive Bright Light Therapy for Bipolar Depression: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial | American Journal of Psychiatry
In seasonal affective disorder (27, 28) and nonseasonal depression (29), the response to morning light therapy is typically attributed to the phase-resetting effects (28). However, the mechanism of response is unclear in bipolar disorder. Combined with a prior night of sleep deprivation, morning (and possibly midday) light therapy can quickly reverse severe bipolar depression in carefully supervised chronotherapeutic protocols (30–32). Compared with morning light therapy, implementing bright light therapy at midday induced robust antidepressant effects and possibly subtle effects on the circadian system (12, 13) that might have mitigated the risk for hypomania or mixed symptoms, as observed in our earlier report (5). But whether the circadian effects of midday light therapy are detectable in bipolar depressed patients and correspond with an antidepressant response requires further investigation. Even so, this novel finding of a significant antidepressant effect from midday bright light therapy offers a real clinical advance and contributes an additional treatment option for bipolar depression.
Sitting still linked to increased risk of depression in adolescents -- ScienceDaily
The Lancet Psychiatry study found that an additional 60 minutes of light activity (such as walking or doing chores) daily at age 12 was associated with a 10% reduction in depressive symptoms at age 18.
"Our findings show that young people who are inactive for large proportions of the day throughout adolescence face a greater risk of depression by age 18. We found that it's not just more intense forms of activity that are good for our mental health, but any degree of physical activity that can reduce the time we spend sitting down is likely to be beneficial," said the study's lead author, PhD student Aaron Kandola (UCL Psychiatry).
Upper respiratory tract infection is reduced in physically fit and active adults | British Journal of Sports Medicine
We combined data from two cohorts of approximately 500 subjects each that were studied during the winter and fall seasons. After controlling for important confounders, total days with URTI during the 12-week study were 43–46% lower in the high versus low tertiles for aerobic activity and perceived physical fitness level, respectively, and URTI severity and symptomatology were reduced 32–41%. Limitations in this study include lack of adjustment for all potential confounders including exposure to URTI pathogens at work and from children in the home.
Although methodology varies widely, other epidemiologic and randomised exercise training studies consistently report a reduction in URTI incidence or risk of 18–67%.11,–,19 Within certain subgroups such as the elderly or those with high mental stress, the reduction in URTI with aerobic exercise training may have more significance. Fondell et al,15 eg, reported an 18% reduction in URTI risk between high and low physical activity quartiles, but this risk reduction improved to 42% among those with high perceived mental stress. A randomised study of elderly women (mean age, 73 years) showed that walking 30–40 min, 5 days/week, for 12 weeks at 60% heart rate reserve, reduced URTI rates to 20% as compared with 50% among sedentary controls.18 A 1-year randomised study of 115 overweight, postmenopausal women showed that regular moderate exercise (166 min/week, ∼4 days/week) lowered URTI risk compared to controls modestly during the first half year, but then more strongly during the final months.19
The underlying mechanisms for the reduction in URTI risk with aerobic exercise training are still being explored and debated. Each aerobic exercise bout causes a transient increase in the recirculation of immunoglobulins, and neutrophils and natural killer cells, two cells involved in innate immune defenses.16 17 Animal data indicate that lung macrophages play an important role in mediating the beneficial effects of moderate exercise on lowered susceptibility to infection.36 Stress hormones, which can suppress immunity, and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, indicative of intense metabolic activity, are not elevated during moderate aerobic exercise.16 17 Although the immune system returns to pre-exercise levels within a few hours after the exercise session is over, each session may improve immunosurveillance against pathogens that reduce overall URTI incidence and symptomatology.
Fat cells can sense sunlight—not getting enough increases metabolic syndrome risk
In the latest findings, the research team studied how mice respond when exposed to chilly temperatures—about 40° F. They already knew that mice, much like humans, use both a shivering response and an internal fat-burning response to heat themselves.
Deeper analysis revealed that the internal heating process is compromised in the absence of the gene OPN3 and exposure specifically to a 480-nanometer wavelength of blue light. This wavelength is a natural part of sunlight but occurs only in low levels in most artificial light.
When the light exposure occurs, OPN3 prompts white fat cells to release fatty acids into the bloodstream. Various types of cells can use these fatty acids as energy to fuel their activities. But brown fat literally burns the fatty acids (in a process called oxidation) to generate heat that warms up the chilly mice.
When mice were bred to lack the OPN3 gene, they failed to warm up as much as other mice when placed in chilly conditions. But surprisingly, even mice that had the correct gene failed to warm up when they exposed to light that lacked the blue wavelength.
Humans Roasted Starchy Carbs 170,000 Years Ago | Discover Magazine
Roasting rhizomes and other starchy plant material also makes finding evidence of them, tens of thousands of years later, much more likely.
Authors of the new research note that, had the plants been eaten raw, it's unlikely any sign of them would have been preserved in the archaeological record. Something to keep in mind when you hear claims that ancient humans skipped eating starchy plants.
The multiple specimens found in the ancient hearth appear to belong to the genus Hypoxis, flowering plants that include H. hemerocallidea, also known as the African potato. Researchers believe the ancient rhizomes they analyzed may belong to H. angustifolia, a species found today in much of sub-Saharan Africa and also the southern Arabian Peninsula.
According to the authors, H. angustifolia would have been a reliable, year-round food source for hunter-gatherer groups moving across the ancient Southern African landscape. The rhizome provides about 120 calories per 3.5 ounces and, note the researchers, the relative ease of digging them up could have provided an entire day's caloric needs in about two hours.
The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race | Discover Magazine
One straight forward example of what paleopathologists have learned from skeletons concerns historical changes in height. Skeletons from Greece and Turkey show that the average height of hunger-gatherers toward the end of the ice ages was a generous 5' 9'' for men, 5' 5'' for women. With the adoption of agriculture, height crashed, and by 3000 B. C. had reached a low of only 5' 3'' for men, 5' for women. By classical times heights were very slowly on the rise again, but modern Greeks and Turks have still not regained the average height of their distant ancestors.
The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race | Discover Magazine
While farmers concentrate on high-carbohydrate crops like rice and potatoes, the mix of wild plants and animals in the diets of surviving hunter-gatherers provides more protein and a bettter balance of other nutrients. In one study, the Bushmen's average daily food intake (during a month when food was plentiful) was 2,140 calories and 93 grams of protein, considerably greater than the recommended daily allowance for people of their size. It's almost inconceivable that Bushmen, who eat 75 or so wild plants, could die of starvation the way hundreds of thousands of Irish farmers and their families did during the potato famine of the 1840s.
Hope is a key factor in recovering from anxiety disorders: Hope increases in therapy -- ScienceDaily
His study examined the role of hope in predicting recovery in a clinical trial of 223 adults in cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for one of four common anxiety disorders: social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
"In reviewing recovery during CBT among the diverse clinical presentations, hope was a common element and a strong predictor of recovery," said Gallagher who reports that moderate-to-large increases in hope and changes in hope were consistent across the five separate CBT treatment protocols.
Teens sleep 43 more minutes per night after combo of two treatments -- ScienceDaily
The treatment had two components: brief, early morning flashes of bright, broad-spectrum white light to reset the teens' circadian clocks, and cognitive behavioral therapy that motivated them to try earlier bedtimes. The findings will be published online Sept. 25 in JAMA Network Open.
"Using a passive light therapy during sleep, we can help teens get an extra 43 minutes of sleep every single night," said senior author Jamie Zeitzer, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.
The light was delivered by a device in the teens' bedrooms that was programmed to deliver 3-millisecond flashes of light every 20 seconds during the last few hours of sleep. The brief flashes of light did not wake the teens. Zeitzer's previous research on jet lag had shown that exposure to short flashes of light can trick the brain into adjusting to a new time zone, even during sleep.
Sauna Use as an Exercise Mimetic for Heart and Healthspan
Some of the positive benefits of the sauna on heart health may have to do with similar physiological changes that also occur during physical exercise. For example, there is a 50-70% redistribution of blood flow away from the core to the skin to facilitate sweating. You start to sweat. Heart rate increases up to 150 beats per minute which correspond to moderate-intensity physical exercise. Cardiac output (which is a measure of the amount of work the heart performs in response to the body’s need for oxygen) increases by 60-70%. Immediately after sauna use, blood pressure and resting heart rate are lower than baseline similar to physical activity.
Furry friends ease depression, loneliness after spousal loss -- ScienceDaily
They found all individuals who lost their spouse experienced higher levels of depression. However, people without a pet experienced more significant increases in depressive symptoms and higher loneliness than those who had pets. In fact, those who had a pet and experienced the death or divorce of their spouse were no lonelier than older adults who didn't experience one of those events.
Diet's effect on gut bacteria could play role in reducing Alzheimer's risk -- ScienceDaily
In a small pilot study, the researchers identified several distinct gut microbiome signatures -- the chemicals produced by bacteria -- in study participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) but not in their counterparts with normal cognition, and found that these bacterial signatures correlated with higher levels of markers of Alzheimer's disease in the cerebrospinal fluid of the participants with MCI.
Through cross-group dietary intervention, the study also showed that a modified Mediterranean-ketogenic diet produced changes in the gut microbiome and its metabolites that correlated with reduced levels of Alzheimer's markers in the members of both study groups.
The Week That Wasn't: Kimchi, Light Therapy, FDA Bleach Warning
After conducting mouse experiments, the researchers recruited healthy human volunteers, exposed them to intense light for 30 minutes, and analyzed protein levels in their blood to confirm that the biological changes from intense light that they observed in mice also occurred in people. The researchers posit that intense light therapy might be helpful for treating cardiovascular disease.
Ketogenic Diet for Schizophrenia: Clinical Implication
Abnormal glucose and energy metabolism and mitochondrial functioning are emerging as important pathophysiological mechanism in schizophrenia. Therapeutic ketogenic diet shows promise to interfere with these processes resulting in the restoration of normal synaptic communication and alleviation of the devastating psychiatric symptoms. Furthermore, because of the impact of ketogenic diet on systemic metabolism, it is possible that the metabolic features and cardiovascular risk typical of patients with chronic schizophrenia can be addressed by this dietary intervention. However, more research is needed both at preclinical level and in the form of controlled clinical trials before ketogenic diet can take its place in the mainstream of the treatment and management of schizophrenia.
Diet rapidly and reproducibly alters the human gut microbiome | Nature
Here we show that the short-term consumption of diets composed entirely of animal or plant products alters microbial community structure and overwhelms inter-individual differences in microbial gene expression. The animal-based diet increased the abundance of bile-tolerant microorganisms (Alistipes, Bilophila and Bacteroides) and decreased the levels of Firmicutes that metabolize dietary plant polysaccharides (Roseburia, Eubacterium rectale and Ruminococcus bromii). Microbial activity mirrored differences between herbivorous and carnivorous mammals2, reflecting trade-offs between carbohydrate and protein fermentation.
New therapy targets gut bacteria to prevent and reverse food allergies -- ScienceDaily
Recent insights about the microbiome -- the complex ecosystem of microorganisms that live in the gut and other body sites -- have suggested that an altered gut microbiome may play a pivotal role in the development of food allergies. A new study, led by investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Boston Children's Hospital, identifies the species of bacteria in the human infant gut that protect against food allergies, finding changes associated with the development of food allergies and an altered immune response. In preclinical studies in a mouse model of food allergy, the team found that giving an enriched oral formulation of five or six species of bacteria found in the human gut protected against food allergies and reversed established disease by reinforcing tolerance of food allergens. The team's results are published in Nature Medicine.
On the keto diet? Ditch the cheat day: Just one dose of carbohydrates can damage blood vessels -- ScienceDaily
"Since impaired glucose tolerance and spikes in blood sugar levels are known to be associated with an increased risk in cardiovascular disease, it made sense to look at what was happening in the blood vessels after a sugar hit."
For their test, the researchers recruited nine healthy young males and had them consume a 75-gram glucose drink before and after a seven-day high fat, low carbohydrate diet. The diet consisted of 70 per cent fat, 10 per cent carbohydrates and 20 per cent protein, similar to that of a modern ketogenic diet.
"We were originally looking for things like an inflammatory response or reduced tolerance to blood glucose," says Durrer. "What we found instead were biomarkers in the blood suggesting that vessel walls were being damaged by the sudden spike in glucose."
Little says the most likely culprit for the damage is the body's own metabolic response to excess blood sugar, which causes blood vessel cells to shed and possibly die.
"Even though these were otherwise healthy young males, when we looked at their blood vessel health after consuming the glucose drink, the results looked like they might have come from someone with poor cardiovascular health," adds Little. "It was somewhat alarming."
Virtual reality could improve your balance, study finds -- ScienceDaily
"People with long-term dizziness sometimes rely a lot on their vision and do not use the very quick and effective balance system provided by sensory information from joints and muscles. This can intensify feelings of dizziness, which is very unpleasant. The new study shows a possible treatment method for these conditions," says Eva Ekvall Hansson, researcher and associate professor of physiotherapy at Lund University.
Twenty healthy women and men took part in the study, in which they watched a Virtual Reality (VR) simulation of a roller-coaster ride while standing on a platform which registered their postural stability. The researchers investigated how the participants' balance system was affected when visual information was disrupted by the experience of being in a VR environment which gave them a strong sensation of being in movement.
The study shows that the human balance system can very quickly cease to rely on vision and use other senses instead, such as sensory information from the feet, joints and muscles to increase postural stability. Differences also emerged in how men and women are affected by watching a VR video. More women had difficulty maintaining their balance in a VR environment and they generally needed more practice before they learnt to use their other senses to increase postural stability.
