Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/cb3EzDHKcOM

Sixteen year old teen girls using oral contraceptives are significantly more likely to show depressive symptoms than non-users at the same age.  This was not true for young women at other ages.

Dutch psychiatrists in association with Harvard psychiatrists and gynecologists report this finding from their study of 1010 teens 16 to 25 years of age.  They also found that teen pill users versus non-users experienced more eating disorders, sleep problems, and crying spells.

The bottom line for parents and teachers: the youngest sexually-active teens, hopefully using contraceptives, require much emotional support and surveillance in order to prevent and, if necessary, proactively manage psychiatric issues that arise. 

de Wit AE, Booij SH, Giltay EJ, Joffe H, Schoevers RA, Oldehinkel AJ. Association of Use of Oral Contraceptives With Depressive Symptoms Among Adolescents and Young Women. JAMA Psychiatry. Published online October 02, 2019. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.2838

#Teens #contraceptives #depression

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/cb3EzDHKcOM

Sixteen year old teen girls using oral contraceptives are significantly more likely to show depressive symptoms than non-users at the same age.  This was not true for young women at other ages.

Dutch psychiatrists in association with Harvard psychiatrists and gynecologists report this finding from their study of 1010 teens 16 to 25 years of age.  They also found that teen pill users versus non-users experienced more eating disorders, sleep problems, and crying spells.

The bottom line for parents and teachers: the youngest sexually-active teens, hopefully using contraceptives, require much emotional support and surveillance in order to prevent and, if necessary, proactively manage psychiatric issues that arise. 

de Wit AE, Booij SH, Giltay EJ, Joffe H, Schoevers RA, Oldehinkel AJ. Association of Use of Oral Contraceptives With Depressive Symptoms Among Adolescents and Young Women. JAMA Psychiatry. Published online October 02, 2019. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.2838

#Teens #contraceptives #depression

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/sjlLlEP08uA

Young women who suffer preterm birth or preeclampsia during their initial pregnancy have a two-fold greater risk of developing high blood pressure years later.  That hypertension can come on in only 3 years.

OB-GYN researchers at Indiana University studied nearly 4500 women with an average age of 27 at their first pregnancy.  Nearly 1 in every 3 women with a complication such as pre-eclampsia, a low birth weight baby, a pre-term delivery, or, sadly, a stillbirth later developed subsequent high blood pressure.  The risk rose with each additional complication.

Good prenatal care can prevent many pregnancy complications.  For those who do suffer them, continuing cardiovascular surveillance through the years is definitely a must.

NIH/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. "First-time pregnancy complications linked to increased risk of hypertension later in life: Detailed pregnancy history, prevention strategies may hold a key to improving health outcomes." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 30 September 2019. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/09/190930131551.htm

#Firstpregnancy #pre-eclampsia #hypertension

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/sjlLlEP08uA

Young women who suffer preterm birth or preeclampsia during their initial pregnancy have a two-fold greater risk of developing high blood pressure years later.  That hypertension can come on in only 3 years.

OB-GYN researchers at Indiana University studied nearly 4500 women with an average age of 27 at their first pregnancy.  Nearly 1 in every 3 women with a complication such as pre-eclampsia, a low birth weight baby, a pre-term delivery, or, sadly, a stillbirth later developed subsequent high blood pressure.  The risk rose with each additional complication.

Good prenatal care can prevent many pregnancy complications.  For those who do suffer them, continuing cardiovascular surveillance through the years is definitely a must.

NIH/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. "First-time pregnancy complications linked to increased risk of hypertension later in life: Detailed pregnancy history, prevention strategies may hold a key to improving health outcomes." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 30 September 2019. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/09/190930131551.htm

#Firstpregnancy #pre-eclampsia #hypertension

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/WmktGi8VmbA

Are you or do you know a person who becomes more jittery when trying to relax.  Psychologists at Penn State studied this so called “relaxation-induced anxiety” in a group of 96 college students.

One-third of subjects had generalized anxiety disorders; one-third had major depression; and one-third were without issues.  All participants did relaxation exercises before seeing scary or sad videos.  Those with anxiety problems experienced more trepidation and fear during relaxation sessions as almost a defense mechanism against the emotional plunge they just knew was coming.  

If this sounds like you, know that you are not alone.  The good news: repeated relaxation sessions can immunize you against experiencing this paradoxical anxiety.

Hanjoo Kim, Michelle G. Newman. The paradox of relaxation training: Relaxation induced anxiety and mediation effects of negative contrast sensitivity in generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 2019; 259: 271 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2019.08.045

#Anxiety #relaxation 

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/WmktGi8VmbA

Are you or do you know a person who becomes more jittery when trying to relax.  Psychologists at Penn State studied this so called “relaxation-induced anxiety” in a group of 96 college students.

One-third of subjects had generalized anxiety disorders; one-third had major depression; and one-third were without issues.  All participants did relaxation exercises before seeing scary or sad videos.  Those with anxiety problems experienced more trepidation and fear during relaxation sessions as almost a defense mechanism against the emotional plunge they just knew was coming.  

If this sounds like you, know that you are not alone.  The good news: repeated relaxation sessions can immunize you against experiencing this paradoxical anxiety.

Hanjoo Kim, Michelle G. Newman. The paradox of relaxation training: Relaxation induced anxiety and mediation effects of negative contrast sensitivity in generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 2019; 259: 271 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2019.08.045

#Anxiety #relaxation 

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/_a1bjl42fik

This plant sugar, naturally found in fruits, real fruit juices, and honey but added to table sugar, highly processed foods, and beverages, harms your liver by preventing its normal processing of fat.  Researchers at Boston’s Joslin Diabetes Center now report this result following their in-depth study of liver cell metabolism.

Their research shows that this fructose effect amplifies the physical damage to liver cellular mitochondria triggered by eating a high fat diet.  Fructose plus fatty foods will trigger a degenerative, fatty liver cured only by a transplant.

Don’t stop eating fruits but rather avoid high fructose corn syrup, honey, maple flavored and agave syrup, and molasses. Of course, that’s in addition to skipping the fries and pastries.

Joslin Diabetes Center. "High-fructose and high-fat diet damages liver mitochondria: Increases fatty-liver disease risk and metabolic syndrome." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 1 October 2019. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191001132712.htm

https://www.mayoclinic.org/fructose-intolerance/expert-answers/faq-20058097

#Fructose #fattyliver 

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/_a1bjl42fik

This plant sugar, naturally found in fruits, real fruit juices, and honey but added to table sugar, highly processed foods, and beverages, harms your liver by preventing its normal processing of fat.  Researchers at Boston’s Joslin Diabetes Center now report this result following their in-depth study of liver cell metabolism.

Their research shows that this fructose effect amplifies the physical damage to liver cellular mitochondria triggered by eating a high fat diet.  Fructose plus fatty foods will trigger a degenerative, fatty liver cured only by a transplant.

Don’t stop eating fruits but rather avoid high fructose corn syrup, honey, maple flavored and agave syrup, and molasses. Of course, that’s in addition to skipping the fries and pastries.

Joslin Diabetes Center. "High-fructose and high-fat diet damages liver mitochondria: Increases fatty-liver disease risk and metabolic syndrome." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 1 October 2019. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191001132712.htm

https://www.mayoclinic.org/fructose-intolerance/expert-answers/faq-20058097

#Fructose #fattyliver 

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/oaJHcZmrrN8

Most women are counseled to try a vaginal delivery following a previous Caesarian section (VBAC).  The latest evidence from the University of Oxford questions the wisdom of that recommendation.

More than 74,000 Scottish births over a 13 year period show that a VBAC is associated with a 7 fold higher risk of a uterine rupture, a 3 fold  higher risk of surgical injury, and a two-fold higher risk of sepsis and blood transfusion.  There is also a greater risk of stillbirth, a NICU admission, and a need for neonatal resuscitation.

If you’ve had a C-section and your OB is recommending a vaginal delivery, question carefully whether that choice is right for you.

Kathryn E. Fitzpatrick, Jennifer J. Kurinczuk, Sohinee Bhattacharya, Maria A. Quigley. Planned mode of delivery after previous cesarean section and short-term maternal and perinatal outcomes: A population-based record linkage cohort study in Scotland. PLOS Medicine, 2019; 16 (9): e1002913 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002913

#Csection #VBAC #vaginaldelivery

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/TtWHs0_tqLI

Thyroid surgeons performing at least 40 yearly complete thyroid excisions have the fewest complications. Kaiser Permanente California now reports its review of 10,500 such operations over a 7 year period.

The chief complications of vocal cord paralysis and parathyroid hormone deficiency occur since the nerves to the larynx and the parathyroid glands must be carefully dissected out of the thyroid before its removal.  Although these complications begin to decrease when a surgeon performs 18 such procedures a year, they only hit bottom at more than twice that number.

When you have surgery, your surgeon’s experience with your prospective operator far outweigh his or her bedside manner.  If you can get both, all the better.

Meltzer C, Hull M, Sundang A, Adams JL. Association Between Annual Surgeon Total Thyroidectomy Volume and Transient and Permanent Complications. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. Published online July 25, 2019145(9):830–837. doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2019.1752

#Thyroidectomy #surgerycomplications #surgeryvolume