Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/P1tlzAik8wY

Relaxing yourself before going in that examining room will help you get much more from your visit.  Psychologists at the University of Michigan studied nearly 1500 subjects to determine if interventions that induced more positivity and openness to information would result in a more relaxed and productive health maintenance encounter.

The study mimicked a doctor’s visit by exposing the subjects to an array of healthcare information on subjects as diverse as the flu, cancer, HIV, and sexually-transmitted diseases.  Testing and interviews then ascertained how well the participants understood the information given.   Before the so-called “visit,” groups of participants were pre-treated with positivity therapy including meditation, relaxation audios, and breathing exercises.   A control group only listened to documentary information.

Those persons who received the relaxation intervention absorbed more of the health information and felt better about the entire experience.  The “health news you should use” is to wait to see your doctor while meditating or enjoying soothing music.  Then, to be certain that you catch the information your doctor discusses, bring along a family member or friend as a second pair of ears to take good notes.

Koji J. Takahashi, Allison Earl. Effect of Extraneous Affect on Health Message Reception. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2019; 014616721985504 DOI: 10.1177/0146167219855042

#relaxation #healthinformation #meditation

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/P1tlzAik8wY

Relaxing yourself before going in that examining room will help you get much more from your visit.  Psychologists at the University of Michigan studied nearly 1500 subjects to determine if interventions that induced more positivity and openness to information would result in a more relaxed and productive health maintenance encounter.

The study mimicked a doctor’s visit by exposing the subjects to an array of healthcare information on subjects as diverse as the flu, cancer, HIV, and sexually-transmitted diseases.  Testing and interviews then ascertained how well the participants understood the information given.   Before the so-called “visit,” groups of participants were pre-treated with positivity therapy including meditation, relaxation audios, and breathing exercises.   A control group only listened to documentary information.

Those persons who received the relaxation intervention absorbed more of the health information and felt better about the entire experience.  The “health news you should use” is to wait to see your doctor while meditating or enjoying soothing music.  Then, to be certain that you catch the information your doctor discusses, bring along a family member or friend as a second pair of ears to take good notes.

Koji J. Takahashi, Allison Earl. Effect of Extraneous Affect on Health Message Reception. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2019; 014616721985504 DOI: 10.1177/0146167219855042

#relaxation #healthinformation #meditation

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/-EFYrk5NLnM

If you love falling asleep with the TV treating you to Law and Order or if you merely leave a light on in the room, you’d better watch that scale.  

 The NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences studied nearly 44,000 women in the so-called Sister Study of women’s disease.  The researchers questioned the participants about their sleeping habits and compiled physical data including weight at the onset of the study and again 5 years later.  

Women who slept with the TV going or a room light on were 17% more likely to gain 11 pounds over the 5 years compared with those who slept in a dark room or at most had a small nightlight burning.  The weight gain was not associated with the reported quality of the participant’ s sleep.

The investigators suspect that disruption of the natural day-night cycle or circadian rhythm may be the culprit.  If you must fall asleep to the TV or with a light, use a sleep timer.

Yong-Moon Mark Park, Alexandra J. White, Chandra L. Jackson, Clarice R. Weinberg, Dale P. Sandler. Association of Exposure to Artificial Light at Night While Sleeping With Risk of Obesity in Women. JAMA Internal Medicine, 2019; DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.0571

#Sleep #overweight #obesity

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/-EFYrk5NLnM

If you love falling asleep with the TV treating you to Law and Order or if you merely leave a light on in the room, you’d better watch that scale.  

 The NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences studied nearly 44,000 women in the so-called Sister Study of women’s disease.  The researchers questioned the participants about their sleeping habits and compiled physical data including weight at the onset of the study and again 5 years later.  

Women who slept with the TV going or a room light on were 17% more likely to gain 11 pounds over the 5 years compared with those who slept in a dark room or at most had a small nightlight burning.  The weight gain was not associated with the reported quality of the participant’ s sleep.

The investigators suspect that disruption of the natural day-night cycle or circadian rhythm may be the culprit.  If you must fall asleep to the TV or with a light, use a sleep timer.

Yong-Moon Mark Park, Alexandra J. White, Chandra L. Jackson, Clarice R. Weinberg, Dale P. Sandler. Association of Exposure to Artificial Light at Night While Sleeping With Risk of Obesity in Women. JAMA Internal Medicine, 2019; DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.0571

#Sleep #overweight #obesity

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/XMWrYblrEB4

Grapefruit and grapefruit juice may cause you to overdose on many popular prescription drugs.  The FDA now repeats its 2017 warning to us and asks us to carefully read the label on any drug you are taking to see if grapefruit can interfere with its function

Grapefruit juice blocks the enzyme in the small intestine that normally breaks down drugs causing you to absorb too much of a drug into your system.  And, as always, too much of a good thing isn’t good.

The list of affected drugs includes:

• some statin drugs that lower cholesterol: Zocor (simvastatin), Lipitor (atorvastatin);
• blood pressure medications such as nifedipine (Procardia, Adalat CC);
• transplant rejection drugs: cyclosporine (Sandimmune, Neoral);
• Anxiety drugs: buspirone;
• steroids: budesonide for IBD (Entocort EC, Uceris);
• cardiac rhythm controllers: amiodarone (Pacerone, Nexterone).

Do speak with your doctor and pharmacist about your medications and grapefruit juice as well as checking the labels and online information.

https://www.mdlinx.com/internal-medicine/top-medical-news/article/2019/06/17/7569842/

#grapefruit #overdose #statins #antihypertensives #transplant #steroids

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/XMWrYblrEB4

Grapefruit and grapefruit juice may cause you to overdose on many popular prescription drugs.  The FDA now repeats its 2017 warning to us and asks us to carefully read the label on any drug you are taking to see if grapefruit can interfere with its function

Grapefruit juice blocks the enzyme in the small intestine that normally breaks down drugs causing you to absorb too much of a drug into your system.  And, as always, too much of a good thing isn’t good.

The list of affected drugs includes:

• some statin drugs that lower cholesterol: Zocor (simvastatin), Lipitor (atorvastatin);
• blood pressure medications such as nifedipine (Procardia, Adalat CC);
• transplant rejection drugs: cyclosporine (Sandimmune, Neoral);
• Anxiety drugs: buspirone;
• steroids: budesonide for IBD (Entocort EC, Uceris);
• cardiac rhythm controllers: amiodarone (Pacerone, Nexterone).

Do speak with your doctor and pharmacist about your medications and grapefruit juice as well as checking the labels and online information.

https://www.mdlinx.com/internal-medicine/top-medical-news/article/2019/06/17/7569842/

#grapefruit #overdose #statins #antihypertensives #transplant #steroids

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/7YWEoizy0y4

Taking frequent vacations is associated with a lower risk of developing the metabolic syndrome, that deadly triad of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.  This welcome news comes from Syracuse University’s Department of Public Health.

The study focused on 63 university workers, and the researchers compiled information about their vacations and health status over a 12 month period.  A greater number of vacation days was associated with a lower incidence of metabolic syndrome components.  The risk of full-blown metabolic syndrome diminishes by 25% for each vacation taken.

The fact that the US has a  $  declining average life expectancy relative to other industrialized nations may have something to do with the fact that we are the only one of those nations that does not guarantee a paid vacation to workers.   Then too, when U.S. workers do receive paid vacation time, fewer than half take advantage of it and instead take the money.

The last word:  hit the road and take that vacation.  If you live a little, you might live a little.....longer!

Bryce Hruska, Sarah D. Pressman, Kestutis Bendinskas, Brooks B. Gump. Vacation frequency is associated with metabolic syndrome and symptoms. Psychology & Health, 2019; 1 DOI: 10.1080/08870446.2019.1628962

https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/quality-u-s-healthcare-system-compare-countries/#item-start

#Vacation #heartdisease #stroke #diabetes #metabolicsyndrome

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/7YWEoizy0y4

Taking frequent vacations is associated with a lower risk of developing the metabolic syndrome, that deadly triad of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.  This welcome news comes from Syracuse University’s Department of Public Health.

The study focused on 63 university workers, and the researchers compiled information about their vacations and health status over a 12 month period.  A greater number of vacation days was associated with a lower incidence of metabolic syndrome components.  The risk of full-blown metabolic syndrome diminishes by 25% for each vacation taken.

The fact that the US has a  $  declining average life expectancy relative to other industrialized nations may have something to do with the fact that we are the only one of those nations that does not guarantee a paid vacation to workers.   Then too, when U.S. workers do receive paid vacation time, fewer than half take advantage of it and instead take the money.

The last word:  hit the road and take that vacation.  If you live a little, you might live a little.....longer!

Bryce Hruska, Sarah D. Pressman, Kestutis Bendinskas, Brooks B. Gump. Vacation frequency is associated with metabolic syndrome and symptoms. Psychology & Health, 2019; 1 DOI: 10.1080/08870446.2019.1628962

https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/quality-u-s-healthcare-system-compare-countries/#item-start

#Vacation #heartdisease #stroke #diabetes #metabolicsyndrome

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/fN_v_Z1pldM

When we comment about the taste of our food, the overwhelming conclusion is “it’s TOO SWEET!”  This is the “bittersweet" conclusion from tabulation of almost 400,000 food reviews by Philadelphia’s Monell Chemical Senses Center.

The scientists there used artificial intelligence techniques to analyze data about the taste, texture, and smell of nearly 68,000 unique foods posted on amazon.com product reviews.   When it came to discussions of taste, sweet was the word most frequently mentioned appearing in 11% of reviews and 3 times more often than the word “bitter.”  Food was rated as “overly sweet “ 25 times more often than “not sweet enough.”

It’s probably no surprise how often products are rated too sweet, since  $   literally tons of fructose syrup is poured into the food we eat.  Try to avoid all that unhealthy sugar by reading food labels.

Danielle R. Reed, Joel D. Mainland, Charles J. Arayata. Sensory nutrition: The role of taste in the reviews of commercial food products. Physiology & Behavior, 2019; 112579 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2019.112579

#Sweetness #foodreviews #fructose

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/fN_v_Z1pldM

When we comment about the taste of our food, the overwhelming conclusion is “it’s TOO SWEET!”  This is the “bittersweet" conclusion from tabulation of almost 400,000 food reviews by Philadelphia’s Monell Chemical Senses Center.

The scientists there used artificial intelligence techniques to analyze data about the taste, texture, and smell of nearly 68,000 unique foods posted on amazon.com product reviews.   When it came to discussions of taste, sweet was the word most frequently mentioned appearing in 11% of reviews and 3 times more often than the word “bitter.”  Food was rated as “overly sweet “ 25 times more often than “not sweet enough.”

It’s probably no surprise how often products are rated too sweet, since  $   literally tons of fructose syrup is poured into the food we eat.  Try to avoid all that unhealthy sugar by reading food labels.

Danielle R. Reed, Joel D. Mainland, Charles J. Arayata. Sensory nutrition: The role of taste in the reviews of commercial food products. Physiology & Behavior, 2019; 112579 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2019.112579

#Sweetness #foodreviews #fructose