People with migraine may be much more likely to attempt suicide than others, a new study suggests.

It found that 1 in 12 adults with migraine had attempted suicide – and those with a history of sexual abuse or long-term exposure to domestic violence had a significantly higher risk.

Physical abuse and domestic violence

The findings come from data on nearly 22 000 Canadians who took part in a 2012 community mental health survey. Of those, more than 2 200 had been diagnosed with migraine.

The rate of lifetime suicide attempts was 8.7% among those with migraine and 2.3% for others.

“Even after taking into account most of the known risk factors for suicide attempts, those with migraines had 77% higher odds of having attempted suicide in comparison to those without migraines. Almost one-third (30%) of all Canadians who have attempted suicide are migraineurs,” said study author Esme Fuller-Thomson. She’s director of the Institute for Life Course and Aging at the University of Toronto.

Among those with migraines, adults with a history of sexual abuse during childhood were three times more likely to have attempted suicide. A history of physical abuse doubled suicide risk, and exposure to chronic parental domestic violence was associated with a 67% higher risk of attempted suicide. However, the study only found an association, and did not prove migraine causes suicide risk.

Extremely vulnerable population

“When we examined only the respondents with migraine, we found that a history of exposure to parental domestic violence, childhood sexual and physical abuse played a huge role, explaining 23% of the variability in suicide attempts,” study co-author Gwyneth Hodgins said in a university news release. Hodgins is a recent graduate in social work.

She said most other known risk factors combined – including gender, race, age, education, household income, level of chronic pain, history of substance use, anxiety and depression – only explained 26% of the variability in suicide attempts.

“Clearly those with migraine are an extremely vulnerable population. Knowledge of the added risk of suicide attempts associated with migraineurs with a high level of chronic pain, lower income and a history of adverse childhood experiences, substance dependence, anxiety disorders and depression will hopefully help clinicians improve targeting and outreach to this population,” Fuller-Thomson said.

The study was recently published online in the journal Archives of Suicide Research.

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Most folks know that sugary drinks aren’t healthy, but a new study finds fruit juices are not much better.

In fact, consuming them regularly may help shorten your life, researchers say.

Fruit juices included

“Older adults who drink more sugary beverages, which include fruit juice as well as sodas and other sugar-sweetened beverages, may be at risk of dying earlier,” said study author Jean Welsh. She is an associate professor at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.

“Efforts to decrease consumption of sodas and other sugar-sweetened beverages should also include fruit juices, and these efforts need to include adults as well as children,” Welsh said.

For the study, Welsh and her colleagues collected data on 13 440 men and women, average age 64, who were part of a large stroke study from 2003 to 2007. Among these participants, 71% were obese or overweight.

The participants were asked how many sugar-sweetened drinks they consumed. Over an average of six years, 1 168 of the participants died.

Adverse health effects

The researchers found that those who drank the most sugar-sweetened beverages – including 100% fruit juice – had higher odds of dying during the study, compared with those who drank the least of these.

Moreover, each additional 12-ounce drink increased the risk even more.

The report was published online in JAMA Network Open.

In the United States, about half of the population consumes at least one sugar-sweetened drink per day, said Marta Guasch-Ferre, a research scientist in the department of nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in Boston.

“Most people are aware that sodas and other sugar-sweetened beverages – including soft drinks, fruit punch and energy drinks – are associated with weight gain and adverse health effects. But fruit juices are still widely perceived by many as a healthier option,” Guasch-Ferre said.

Evidence has shown that sugar-sweetened drinks are tied to an increased risk for diabetes, heart disease and obesity, she added. The evidence is less clear for fruit juice.

Water the preferred beverage

Whole juice contains some nutrients, and that may be beneficial for health, but they also contain relatively high amounts of sugar from natural sources, Guasch-Ferre explained.

Although fruit juices have been associated with an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease, whole fruits have not, she said.

Current recommendations suggest drinking no more than four to six ounces of juice per day, Guasch-Ferre said.

“Although fruit juices are not as harmful as sugar-sweetened beverages, consumption should be moderated in both children and adults, especially for individuals who attempt to control their body weight,” said Guasch-Ferre, who co-authored an accompanying journal editorial.

Fruit-based smoothies are commonly seen as healthier options. However, their ingredients can vary substantially and there is limited research on their health effects, she said. In addition, smoothies are usually very high in calories and so aren’t recommended as daily beverages. Vegetable juice is a lower-calorie alternative to fruit juice, but may contain a lot of salt.

“The current evidence suggests that water should be the preferred beverage, and the intake of other beverages such as tea or coffee, without sugar and creamers, should be chosen in place of sugar-sweetened drinks,” Guasch-Ferre advised.

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A British woman with an extremely rare allergy to water has revealed the heartbreaking struggle of her day-to-day life.

Niah Selway from Sussex in England has such severe reactions that a single drop of water can cause an intense burning sensation across her body that lasts for hours.

The 21-year-old was diagnosed with aquagenic pruritus – a condition in which contact with water of any temperature causes intense itching, without any visible skin changes, according to Rare Diseases.

“I’m suffering in a really severe way, and no medication or treatment has had any substantial effect,” Niah said.

Even though Niah’s organs aren’t affected and she can still drink water, everything from her own tears to sweat can trigger an allergic reaction on her skin.

“It doesn’t matter where the water touches me. If a drop touches my arm the pain will spread to my back and torso, sometimes to my whole body.

“When I have a bath my whole body burns for hours on end.

“Over time I worked out a routine. Either way it’s painful but I’ve found ways to make it a little less traumatic.

“For instance, I don’t wash my hair in the bath anymore. I do it separately to feel less pain.

“There are so many things people don’t think about, such as sweat, urine and tears.

“Sometimes I’ll have a reaction on my body. I’ll start crying because of it and have one on my face too.

“It’s basically a disability because of the things I can no longer do.

“In the morning I get to the toilet and I’ll have an allergic reaction to the first thing I do.

“I also can’t do much exercise apart from yoga and walking because I can’t sweat, and on hot days I’ll have to be stuck in front of the fan.

“My day is working around my pain,” she said.

The young woman’s symptoms are so intense she’ll often fall asleep from exhaustion after a reaction.

Despite consulting numerous specialists for nearly four years, they’re yet to find the cause.

Niah, who experienced her first reactions at the age of five, said her condition worsened through puberty.

“Initially it would happen about every 10 showers.

“The doctors weren’t showing any concern for it, so I thought maybe I’m just not good at dealing with pain.

“Then in my teens it became every single shower or bath, and it got to the point where I wasn’t able to ignore it,” Niah said.

In 2018, Niah, who started a YouTube channel, came to the realisation that her illness wouldn’t allow her to lead a normal life.

She credits her strength to her parents, Bob and Antonia, and boyfriend Mark.

“I stopped focusing on what’s going to happen and try to make now as positive as it can be,” Niah said.

“My family have been amazing, even in little things, like doing the dishes.

“They just take all water-related responsibilities away from me, and they have adapted their lives around mine.

“I always worried when my condition got bad that my friends would leave me because I couldn’t do stuff with them, like going out and clubbing.

“But they’re amazing. They’re really understanding and make any effort to try and see me.”

Source: Magazine Features

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Magazine Features

If you’ve ever had the flu, you’ll know its symptoms can leave you feeling miserable, spending days in bed. In some cases, it can cause severe complications, like death. Last year Netcare reported that flu-related complications result in the deaths of 6 000–11 000 South Africans every year. With the flu season already in progress in South Africa, we asked locals what they know about the seasonal flu vaccine.

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Tauhira Dean & Zakiyah Ebrahim

Slash sodium from your diet. That’s the advice inevitably given to everyone.

Restricting sodium intake has been key to reducing blood pressure. Now researchers may have found an underlying mechanism to explain why.

Two specific metabolites

Scientists examined hundreds of metabolites substances produced during digestion from blood samples drawn in a study among 64 black British residents with high blood pressure, or hypertension. All participants were instructed to follow a reduced-sodium diet, but otherwise none were taking medication or receiving treatment for their condition.

The researchers discovered reducing sodium intake resulted in higher levels of two specific metabolites, both associated with lower blood pressure levels and arterial stiffness.

The study taps into the science of metabolomics, which examines how tiny molecules react to changes in their environment. In this case, the sodium levels altered the setting.

While everyone in the study was put on a low-sodium diet, half were given a slow-release sodium tablet for six weeks. The others received placebos. Researchers then switched the pills for an additional six weeks.

“We know reduced sodium intake reduces blood pressure and cardiovascular risk. However, the underlying biological mechanisms are not well established,” said Dr Haidong Zhu, lead author of the study published in the American Heart Association’s journal Hypertension.

Underlying biological pathway

Researchers examined the metabolites in blood samples to see which ones changed along with modification of sodium, she said.

They found that reduction of sodium intake resulted in the increase of two specific types of metabolites – beta-hydroxyisovalerate and methionine sulfone – along with a modest drop in blood pressure.

“The changes may represent some underlying biological pathway involved in this sodium regulation,” said Zhu, an associate professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences at Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.

The results were based on a sodium reduction of about 1 120mg a day, from 3 800mg to 2 680. That decline was associated with a decrease in both systolic blood pressure (the top number in a measurement) and diastolic pressure (the bottom number).

The AHA recommends less than 2 300 mg of sodium a day the equivalent of about 1 teaspoon of salt and ideally, no more than 1 500 mg per day for most adults. On average, Americans consume more than 3 400 mg of sodium each day.

Zhu said additional research would need to validate the study’s results because of its small sample size. But she hopes further studies will lead to development of a drug that targets pathways altered by sodium intake levels.

Important group of people

The study focused on the black population “and the emphasis is highly warranted due to a higher prevalence of salt-sensitive hypertension in this group”, said Casey Rebholz, an assistant professor in the epidemiology department of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

In the United States, the prevalence of high blood pressure among African Americans is among the highest in the world. More than 40% of black men and women have high blood pressure.

Rebholz pointed out that the landmark study Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension-Sodium showed a low-sodium diet was particularly effective in reducing blood pressure among black participants and among those with high blood pressure.

“That’s an important group of people to continue studying,” she said.

Rebholz said the new research backs up the standard advice doctors give many patients.

“It tells people that modifying and improving their diet, specifically by consuming less sodium, is important for reducing blood pressure.”

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