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Health24.com | Milk chocolate, dairy and fatty foods tied to acne in adults

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  • The reason for acne in adulthood is most likely related to what you eat
  • A typical Western diet can increase one’s chances of getting pimples
  • Foods like vegetables, fish and more plant-based fare are tied to reductions in acne for adults

Are you plagued by acne even though you’re way past puberty? A new report might have you avoiding certain foods.

The study of more than 24 000 French adults found that sweet and greasy fare – especially milk chocolate, sweetened drinks, dairy products, and sugary or fatty foods – all appeared to raise the odds for zits.

The new findings “appear to support the hypothesis that the Western diet (rich in animal products and fatty and sugary foods) is associated with the presence of acne in adulthood”, said the team led by dermatologist Dr Emilie Sbidian, of Mondor Hospital in Paris.

Food affects hormones

One US dermatologist who read over the report wasn’t surprised.

“This new study confirms what I have always believed, that proper nutrition is an important component of acne treatment,” said Dr Michele Green, of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

The likely culprit? Foods’ effects on hormones, she said.

“One of the reasons that this high ‘glycemic’ diet – high in sugar – causes acne, is that it changes the normal dynamic of one’s hormones,” Green explained. “These high-sugar diets can cause a rise in insulin levels and this affects other hormones, which lead to the development of acne.”

Adding to that, Green said, “there are also ongoing studies looking into the hormones that cows are fed in their feed, which may also have an effect on the development of acne.”

The new study focused on acne in adults, not on people younger than 18 years of age. Unlike many prior studies, this one was especially rigorous. Thousands of French participants filled out researcher-validated 24-hour dietary records over a two-week period. In these food diaries, participants recorded all foods and drinks consumed, and at what amounts.

Quantity matters

They also recorded any incidence of an acne outbreak.

The result: After adjusting for a number of confounding factors, certain foods – dairy, fatty and sugary fare – emerged as potential acne triggers.

Quantity mattered. For example, having one glass of milk per day bumped up the odds of an outbreak by 12%, and a glass of a sugary drink (such as soda) raised it by 18%.

But drink five glasses of either a sugary drink or milk in a day, and your odds of developing zits rose by more than twofold or 76%, respectively.

Fatty foods appeared to do people’s skin no favours, either: One portion of a fatty (think French fries, burgers) food or a sugary treat (sugared donuts, cookies) boosted the odds for an outbreak by 54%, the study found.

And “a complete meal of fatty and sugary products” upped the odds more than eightfold, Sbidian’s group reported.

More than a cosmetic nuisance

Overall, “adults with current acne were found to be less likely to have a healthy dietary pattern,” the French team concluded.

And what about chocolate? Intake of milk chocolate did seem tied to acne risk, bumping up the odds for an outbreak by 28%, the researchers found. But consumption of less fatty dark chocolate was actually tied to a 10% lower odds for acne.

Healthier foods – such as vegetables, fish and more plant-based fare – were also tied to reductions in acne for adults, the findings showed.

For many, acne isn’t just a cosmetic nuisance, Green noted.

“Acne patients suffer from low self-esteem and depression, and many go on to have physical acne scars, which they carry on their face for a lifetime,” she said.

In fact, “acne is an extremely important and emotional issue that frequently gets neglected,” Green added.

“More studies need to be done but it is so important to investigate the role of diet, nutrition and chemicals, and their effect on blood hormonal levels, acne, and our health in general,” she said.

The study was published online on 10 June in JAMA Dermatology.

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Health24.com | FDA approves ‘prescription video game’ for kids with ADHD

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  • A video game for kids with ADHD is the first game-based treatment for any condition approved by the FDA
  • The device is a non-drug way to alleviate ADHD symptoms in children 
  • The game will probably appeal to parents and children alike, but it is still uncertain how effective it really is

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The first video game to help treat kids with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

EndeavorRx is a prescription-only game designed to help improve attention in eight- to 12-year-olds with ADHD who have confirmed attention problems.

It is the first game-based treatment authorised by the FDA for any condition.

The game from Akili Interactive is meant to be part of a treatment plan that may include healthcare provider-directed therapy, medication and/or education, according to the FDA.

No serious side effects

“The EndeavorRx device offers a non-drug option for improving symptoms associated with ADHD in children and is an important example of the growing field of digital therapy and digital therapeutics,” Dr Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in an agency news release.

Approval of the device follows several studies that included a total of 600 children. The studies evaluated whether the game led to improvements in areas such as attention and school performance.

No serious side effects were reported. The most common ones were frustration, headache, dizziness, emotional reaction, and aggression, according to the FDA.

Dr Andrew Adesman, chief of developmental and behavioural paediatrics at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York, said the device seems promising and is likely to appeal to parents of kids with ADHD. But the jury is still out on its effectiveness, he added.

Diagnosis by a professional

“Presently, many parents of children with ADHD have difficulty accessing appropriate counselling services and are reluctant to consider treatment with medications that have proven effectiveness,” Adesman said. “To the extent that this product is only available by prescription, it is unclear to what extent insurance companies will cover the cost of this treatment approach.”

He said the video game is likely to be most effective in conjunction with other treatments.

ADHD is a common disorder that begins in childhood and affects about four million six- to 11-year-olds in the United States.

ADHD should be diagnosed by a professional based on symptoms such as inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that interfere with functioning or development, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Health24.com | Bacteria differ from your cellphones to your shoes

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  • There are countless different bacteria that live in our environment
  • American researchers gathered bacteria form the shoes and cellphones of thousands of people across the USA
  • A lot of the bacteria on shoes and phones of participants belong to groups called ‘microbial dark matter’ 

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Fears of the coronavirus have put germs on nearly everyone’s radar. But a new study points out just how little is known about the microbes that inhabit your environment.

You likely have thousands of different varieties of bacteria on your shoes and cellphone, including groups hardly ever studied by scientists, said researcher David Coil, of the University of California, Davis Genome Center, and colleagues.

“This [study] highlights how much we have to learn about the microbial world around us,” Coil said in a university news release.

The researchers analysed the DNA of bacteria gathered from the cellphones and shoes of nearly 3 500 people who attended sporting events across the United States.

No obvious regional trends

A consistent finding was that the shoes and phones of the same person had distinct communities of bacteria. Cellphone bacteria reflected those found on the person, while shoes had bacteria characteristic of soil. This matched previous results.

Populations of bacteria on shoes were more diverse than those on phones, according to the study.

Although samples were collected nationwide, the researchers didn’t find any obvious regional trends. In some cases, there were significant differences between samples collected at different sporting events in the same city. In other cases, samples from distant cities were quite similar.

The researchers were surprised to find that a substantial proportion of bacteria on shoes and phones came from groups called “microbial dark matter”. These bacteria are difficult to grow and study in a laboratory, so they have been compared to invisible “dark matter” believed to comprise much of the universe.

Dark matter groups of bacteria have only been discovered as scientists used genetic sequencing to search for microbes in different locations. Although many dark bacteria groups are found in remote or extreme environments – such as boiling acid springs and nutrient-poor underground aquifers – some have been discovered in more common habitats, such as soil.

“Perhaps we were naive, but we did not expect to see such a high relative abundance of bacteria from these microbial dark matter groups on these samples,” said study co-author Jonathan Eisen, of the UC Davis Genome Center.

The findings were published on 9 June in the journal PeerJ.

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Health24.com | Working from home? Posture, ergonomics can make it safe

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  • When working from home, we need to make sure our work station is ergonomically sound
  • We must also avoid sitting down for too long without taking a break
  • Forms of exercise like desk stretches or yoga can help us stay physically and mentally healthy

If you’re working from home because of the coronavirus pandemic and expect to keep doing so, you need to be sure your work station is set up properly, an orthopaedic specialist says.

You also need to take regular breaks to move around, according to Terrence McGee, a physical therapist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

In an office, many people have ergonomic support and opportunities for physical breaks. You might have walked to the water cooler or coffee machine, attended meetings or walked to co-workers’ desks, he noted in a university news release.

Feet flat on the floor

To help you adapt to working at home, McGee has some suggestions to improve the safety and comfort of your workspace.

When sitting at your desk, rest your feet flat on the floor. Use a footrest if the desk height can’t be adjusted.

Your thighs should be parallel to the ground, with a two-finger space between the back of the knees and the chair, and 3–6 inches of space between your thighs and the desk/keyboard.

Place a small pillow or towel roll behind you for lower back support, he suggested. Your head should be level, facing forward, and in line with your torso.

The top of your computer screen should be at or slightly below eye level. The screen itself should be 18–28 inches from your eyes, or at arm’s length. If you feel you need to bring your eyes closer to your screen, consider seeing an eye doctor for an eyeglass prescription, or make your screen’s text larger, McGee said.

Don’t stay seated all day

If you use a dual monitor, swivel your body in your chair rather than constantly turn your head to view the monitors. If you can’t adjust your chair, consider changing the orientation of the monitor from landscape to portrait.

When using the keyboard and mouse, relax your shoulders and place your forearms parallel to the floor. Your wrists should rest in a neutral position (hand in line with wrist and forearm). Use soft pads or a wrist rest as needed, and keep the mouse within easy reach and next to the keyboard. Adjust mouse sensitivity for a light touch. A cordless mouse is the best option, McGee noted.

Also, use a hands-free headset if you’re on the phone for more than two hours a day, and use a document holder to secure papers when typing.

It’s not good for your physical or mental health to stay seated all day. Stand and move from your chair at least once an hour, McGee advised.

Also, perform desk stretches or chair yoga in between work tasks, he added.

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Health24.com | Stubbed your toe? Only real swear words help dull the pain

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  • Swearing to cope with pain is a very common thing
  • In tests, substituting other words for real swear words did not have the same effect 
  • It may be the emotional connection to our childhood that give swear words their ‘power’

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Ouch! Many of us swear when we get hurt, and a new study shows it actually does help.

Turns out that swearing can significantly increase your pain tolerance – but only if you use real swear words, and not G-rated versions that mimic them, British researchers report.

For the study, 92 volunteers held their hands in an ice bath. To assess their pain threshold, researchers timed how long it took them to begin to feel pain, and their pain tolerance was determined by how long they were able to keep their hands in the freezing water.

Each participant did the experiment four times. In random order, they were instructed to repeat either actual expletives or the fake swear words “twizpipe” and “fouch”.

Benefits linked to childhood

Using actual swear words increased their pain tolerance by 33%, while the fake swear words did little to help people cope. The findings were recently published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

“This is the first study to assess whether novel ‘swear’ words have any pain-relieving effects. They didn’t, even though they were rated as being funny and emotion-arousing,” said lead author Richard Stephens, a senior lecturer in psychology at Keele University in the United Kingdom.

“This new finding confirms that it’s not the surface properties of swear words, such as how they sound, that underlie the beneficial effects of swearing, but something much deeper, probably linked back to childhood as we learn swear words growing up,” he said in a university news release.

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Health24.com | Medical pot may help many battle insomnia, pain and stress

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  • Most of the states in America have legalised the use of dagga for recreational and medicinal purposes 
  • Users of medicinal marijuana claim that it lessens pain, makes them sleep better and reduces their anxiety
  • Users are, however, advised to be cautious, as there’s evidence that dagga can interact with certain medications

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More and more US states are allowing marijuana to be taken as medicine, and a new study suggests that users do indeed feel better.

In a survey of nearly 1 300 people with chronic health conditions, researchers found that those using “medicinal cannabis” reported less pain, better sleep and reduced anxiety.

They also tended to use fewer prescription medications and were less likely to have been to the hospital recently.

A majority of US states have made marijuana legal for medical or recreational use, and studies have looked at whether those laws are linked to increased marijuana use, car accidents or emergency room visits.

Popularity explosion

But little research has examined the impact of legalisation on the people who use medicinal cannabis, said senior study author Ryan Vandrey, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

The finding that cannabis users felt better than non-users is not necessarily surprising, according to Vandrey. But it’s important to demonstrate it in a study, he said.

The results do not prove, however, that medicinal cannabis is effective. It’s also unclear whether certain products were linked to particular benefits.

Medicinal cannabis included not only formulations of THC – the chemical behind marijuana’s “high” – but also cannabidiol, or CBD, which does not create a high. Fifty-eight percent of users were taking “CBD-dominant” oils, tinctures and other products.

CBD has exploded in popularity across the United States in recent years, and is marketed in everything from oils and capsules to cookies and coffee. The purported benefits are also wide-ranging, and include relief from chronic pain, anxiety and insomnia.

But nearly all of those claims are untested, said Richard Miller, a professor of pharmacology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Taken for thousands of years

CBD has been shown to improve certain rare seizure disorders, he noted. In 2018, the US Food and Drug Administration approved Epidiolex – a purified, pharmaceutical-grade CBD – for those conditions.

“But all of the other 10 000 things CBD is supposed to do? We have no idea,” Miller said. “I think the vast majority of it is b.s.”

That said, cannabis clearly does have some medicinal use, according to Miller.

“With respect to humanity’s experience with cannabis,” he said, “people have taken it medicinally for thousands of years.” It was only in the last century that marijuana prohibition took hold – making those years “the anomaly”, Miller said.

The new findings, published recently in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, are based on responses from 808 cannabis users and 468 “controls”. All had chronic health conditions – most often neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis or epilepsy; chronic pain; or psychiatric conditions such as depression or anxiety.

All were seeking information from a non-profit on medical marijuana use; people in the control group were not using cannabis but were considering it.

Fewer prescription medications

Overall, the study found, cannabis users scored a little lower on standard scales rating pain severity and anxiety and depression. They also reported better sleep quality.

More striking, Vandrey said, was the fact that cannabis users needed less health care: They were 46% less likely to have been hospitalised in the prior month, and 39% less likely to have visited an ER. And in their day-to-day lives, they tended to use fewer prescription medications – an average of 14% fewer.

Jane Allen, an analyst with the research institute RTI International in North Carolina, called the study’s recruitment strategy a limitation. Since participants consulted the non-profit, they likely had “positive perceptions” about cannabis from the start, she said.

“The study would be stronger and less susceptible to bias if recruitment had been through a cannabis-neutral channel,” Allen said.

To Vandrey, the findings highlight the need for researchers to dig deeper into medicinal cannabis. Studies need to look, for example, at individual health conditions and the effects of a given CBD or THC product, he said.

“If we’re going to legalise cannabis to be used as medicine,” Vandrey said, “then we need to better understand how to use it as medicine.”

Miller agreed. He said the new findings “add to the flow of data” that medicinal cannabis has benefits – but the specifics remain unclear.

‘Talk to your doctor’

The study also found that only 27% of cannabis users said they were doing so under a doctor’s recommendation.

That’s concerning, according to Vandrey. “So who is recommending it to them?” he said. “And are their doctors aware they’re using it?”

For one, he noted, there’s increasing evidence that cannabinoids can interact with certain medications.

Vandrey suggested that if people are interested in using cannabis for medical reasons, they talk to their doctor. And do the research: “See if there’s evidence of safety and efficacy for your health condition,” he said.

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News24.com | Why exercise? Researchers say it prevents 3.9 million deaths a year

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  • Getting enough exercise can make you live longer
  • Researchers from the UK found that exercise prevents close to four million deaths a year
  • The WHO recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity and 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week

It’s often said that physical activity rates are too low, but a new report takes a different angle and reveals the good news that exercise prevents nearly four million premature deaths a year worldwide.

For the study, the researchers analysed data from 168 countries on the percentage of people who were getting recommended levels of exercise. The World Health Organization recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, 75 minutes of vigorous activity, or an equivalent combination each week.

By combining the exercise data with estimates of the risk of dying early among active and inactive people, the investigators estimated how many premature deaths were prevented by physical activity.

The conclusion: Physical activity reduced premature deaths by 15%, or about 3.9 million lives saved per year.

Go for a daily walk

In the United States, physical activity prevents 140 200 early deaths a year, the study authors said. The report was published on 17 June in The Lancet Global Health.

Much attention is focused on the health risks of inactivity, but the benefits of exercise need to be highlighted, according to the researchers at the University of Edinburgh and University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

“By focusing on the number of lives saved, we can tell a good news story of what is already being achieved,” said study author Tessa Strain, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Cambridge.

“It tells us how much good is being done and helps us say ‘look how much benefit physical activity is already providing – let’s make things even better by increasing physical activity levels further,'” she said in a university news release.

Strain said the researchers hope the findings will encourage public officials to protect and maintain services at a time when many are asking why more needs to be invested.

Being active during coronavirus lockdowns can be challenging, so the researchers offer the following suggestions: Go for a daily walk; cycle or do whatever activity you are able to do while maintaining physical distancing; stretch or do yoga for your muscles and joints; join an online exercise session. If it’s an option, gardening is great for stretching and bending.

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Health24.com | Why exercise? Researchers say it prevents 3.9 million deaths a year

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  • Getting enough exercise can make you live longer
  • Researchers from the UK found that exercise prevents close to four million deaths a year
  • The WHO recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity and 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week

It’s often said that physical activity rates are too low, but a new report takes a different angle and reveals the good news that exercise prevents nearly four million premature deaths a year worldwide.

For the study, the researchers analysed data from 168 countries on the percentage of people who were getting recommended levels of exercise. The World Health Organization recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, 75 minutes of vigorous activity, or an equivalent combination each week.

By combining the exercise data with estimates of the risk of dying early among active and inactive people, the investigators estimated how many premature deaths were prevented by physical activity.

The conclusion: Physical activity reduced premature deaths by 15%, or about 3.9 million lives saved per year.

Go for a daily walk

In the United States, physical activity prevents 140 200 early deaths a year, the study authors said. The report was published on 17 June in The Lancet Global Health.

Much attention is focused on the health risks of inactivity, but the benefits of exercise need to be highlighted, according to the researchers at the University of Edinburgh and University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

“By focusing on the number of lives saved, we can tell a good news story of what is already being achieved,” said study author Tessa Strain, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Cambridge.

“It tells us how much good is being done and helps us say ‘look how much benefit physical activity is already providing – let’s make things even better by increasing physical activity levels further,'” she said in a university news release.

Strain said the researchers hope the findings will encourage public officials to protect and maintain services at a time when many are asking why more needs to be invested.

Being active during coronavirus lockdowns can be challenging, so the researchers offer the following suggestions: Go for a daily walk; cycle or do whatever activity you are able to do while maintaining physical distancing; stretch or do yoga for your muscles and joints; join an online exercise session. If it’s an option, gardening is great for stretching and bending.

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News24.com | What yoga does to your body – according to science

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  • This traditional Indian discipline has been touted for its health and mental benefits for centuries
  • Science so far has found some links to its impact on the brain, how it reduces stress and retrains the way your muscles react to strain
  • However, studies still have a long way to go in terms of larger sample sizes that are more demographically diverse 

We all have that one friend that can’t stop talking about how great yoga is. You yourself might even be that friend.

Rooted in ancient India as a means of relaxation, focusing mind and body, it has become one of modern society’s most popular exercise disciplines – and for some more of a lifestyle.

But what does science say about the benefits of yoga? And what does it really do for your body?

Muscles

One of the biggest and most obvious benefits of yoga for the body is flexibility. It involves very coordinated stretching manoeuvres, which train your muscles to withstand more pressure during extension without firing off pain signals. 

With practice, you’re essentially retraining the nervous system to let your body move into more extreme positions, according to Live Science. 

In a look at yoga studies by Harvard Health Publishing, they highlight one study where a group of individuals not used to exercise started doing yoga twice a week for 180 minutes in total. They ended up being stronger, more flexible and having more sustained endurance. 

Heart

When it comes to the heart, science is also on yoga’s side. It’s shown to activate the body’s stress response, aka the parasympathetic part of the nervous system in charge of relaxation. 

It also lowers cholesterol and blood pressure more in yoga practitioners than those who don’t do yoga. 

According to Harvard Health, yoga may restore baroreceptor sensitivity which makes it easier for your body to regulate your heart rate. It also lowers your cortisol levels – a major driver of stress in the human body. 

Lungs

Yoga involves controlled breathing exercises, which help to manage your heartbeat, which in turn can improve lung functioning. 

Respiratory conditions can shrink the lung’s pathways that transport oxygen, and these breathing techniques can relax the muscles for better oxygen delivery. 

A study by the National Library of Medicine measured lung capacity in a group of university students before they started yoga and then again at the end of two 17-week semesters. The research found a significant increase in their lungs’ vital capacity, even in smokers and asthmatics. 

Brain

Yoga has always been hailed as great for your mental health, and it can also affect the size of certain regions in the brain. 

A brain scan study found that areas involved in thinking clearly, decision-making, memory and regulating emotions, like the hippocampus, saw an increase in size among people who started doing yoga.  

Yoga is also commonly prescribed as a supplement for reducing symptoms of depression, in conjunction with other treatments. 

Limitations

However, many experts have pointed out that more thorough research still needs to be done. Many studies use small sample sizes and demographically aren’t as wide enough as they should be to account for other positive factors. 

The US National Centre for Complementary and Integrative Health adds in their analysis of studies on yoga that most aren’t of high quality – but although many of yoga’s purported benefits haven’t yet been conclusively proven, it shows great promise for improving general health. 

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Health24.com | New guidelines say no to probiotics for digestive woes

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  • Many people take probiotics to improve their digestive health
  • A recent review, however, found that there is not enough evidence to recommend probiotics for diseases like Crohn’s and IBS
  • Clinical trials are needed to establish what bacterial strains are effective for which conditions

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There isn’t enough scientific evidence to support using probiotics to treat most digestive disorders, according to a new American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) guideline.

Probiotics are living, microscopic organisms found in foods or dietary supplements, according to the AGA. They include certain bacteria and yeasts.

An estimated 3.9 million American adults have taken probiotics and many do so to improve their digestive health, so the AGA reviewed published research on their use for digestive disorders.

The review found insufficient evidence to recommend probiotics for treatment of Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and C. difficile infection, the AGA reported on 9 June in the journal Gastroenterology.

Assumptions not well-founded

“Patients taking probiotics for Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis or IBS should consider stopping,” said Dr Grace Su, a professor of gastroenterology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, who led the guideline panel. “The supplements can be costly and there isn’t enough evidence to prove a benefit or confirm lack of harm. Talk with your doctor.”

The new AGA guideline also recommends against the use of probiotics to treat acute infectious gastroenteritis in children.

The guideline does support the use of certain probiotic formulations in three situations: prevention of C. difficile infection in adults and children taking antibiotics; prevention of necrotising enterocolitis in preterm, low birth weight infants; and management of pouchitis, a complication of inflammatory bowel disease.

“While our guideline does highlight a few use cases for probiotics, it, more importantly, underscores that the public’s assumptions about the benefits of probiotics are not well-founded, and that there is also a major variation in results based on the formulation of the probiotic product,” Su said in an AGA news release.

The AGA said well-designed clinical trials are needed to refine probiotics guidelines and investigate other relevant clinical conditions.

The association said gastroenterologists should suggest probiotics to their patients only if there is a clear benefit. They should keep in mind that the effects of probiotics apply to specific strains of bacteria and combinations of strains, the AGA added.

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