HEALTH & WELLNESS

10May

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Sleep, How Much Do You Really Need?

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com. Why do I need to sleep for a long time at night? – Sly M., 6, Cambridge, Massachusetts Just like eating, drinking or breathing, sleep is an essential part of life. In fact, all animals do it – with some interesting variations. A dolphin, for example, sleeps with one eye open and only half of its brain snoozing at a time. This is likely because dolphins need to be partly conscious to breathe while in the water. Zebras sometimes sleep standing up in case they need to wake up and quickly escape a predator. Bats sleep upside down. When someone’s asleep, it can look like they are turned “off” and not doing anything at all. But, t...

Beware Of Claims That Ecstasy Is A Magic Bullet – MDMA May Help Treat PTSD

7May

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS, VIDEO REELS

Beware Of Claims That Ecstasy Is A Magic Bullet – MDMA May Help Treat PTSD

Recent clinical trials, including one soon to be published in Nature Medicine, have suggested that MDMA combined with psychotherapy may help treat post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. The news generated considerable optimism and excitement in the media, and some in the scientific community. As a psychiatrist and an expert in neurobiology and treatment of PTSD, I think these developments may be important – but not the major breakthrough that some people are suggesting. This approach is not a new magic bullet. A combat veteran discusses his experience with PTSD. PTSD, a disorder of emotional memories Post-traumatic stress disorder is a result of exposure to extreme traumatic experiences, such as natural disasters, motor vehicle accidents, assault, robbery, rape, combat and torture. Base...

To Secure Oxygen For COVID-19 Patients Now And Into The Future, What Steps Must Be Taken

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS

To Secure Oxygen For COVID-19 Patients Now And Into The Future, What Steps Must Be Taken

New waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in countries, such as Kenya and India, have exposed the poor management of oxygen supplies. Moina Spooner, from The Conversation Africa, asked Professor Trevor Duke, an expert on [oxygen provision] and editor of the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines on oxygen therapy for children, to provide insights into what countries, with limited resources, can do to secure better supplies. Why is oxygen so important for treating COVID-19? The SARS CoV-2 virus causes COVID-19 pneumonia and hypoxaemia. Hypoxaemia is a lack of oxygen in the blood – the most important complication of COVID-19 pneumonia and a major cause of death. A few antiviral drugs have been effective in treating COVID-19 infection however, in severe pneumonia, oxygen relieves hypoxaemia. It...

Online Communities Are Important Sources Of Support, But They Also Pose Risks For Young People

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Online Communities Are Important Sources Of Support, But They Also Pose Risks For Young People

Aristotle called humans “the social animal,” and people have recognized for centuries that young people need to be in communities to develop into healthy adults. The ongoing pandemic has caused concern about the effects of isolation on children and teenagers’ social and psychological growth. But while young people today may not be able to gather in person as often as they’d like, they aren’t necessarily isolated. They have long used online communities to explore their identities and conduct their social lives. They’re involved in anonymous hip-hop discussion forums, ADHD support groups on Facebook, biology class group chats on Instagram and comments sections under popular YouTube videos. There are many of these online communities, and collectively they cover a wide range of subjects. The...

A Doctor Explains What A Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Suspension Means For You

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS, VIDEO REELS

A Doctor Explains What A Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Suspension Means For You

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration on April 13, 2021 halted use of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine that has been given to 6.8 million people in the U.S. The pause is due to reports of blood clotting in six people who have received the vaccine. One woman died, and another has been hospitalized in critical condition. Dr. William Petri, an infectious disease physician and immunologist at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, answers questions to help put this development in context. What is this potential side effect of the J&J vaccine for COVID-19? The potential side effect is a blood clot in the veins that drain blood from the brain. This is called central venous sinus thrombosis. In the vaccine-associated cas...

Some Types Are Better Than Others – But Too Much Sitting Is Bad For You

2Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Some Types Are Better Than Others – But Too Much Sitting Is Bad For You

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced a number of new behaviours into daily routines, like physical distancing, mask-wearing and hand sanitizing. Meanwhile, many old behaviours such as attending events, eating out and seeing friends have been put on hold. However, one old behaviour that has persisted, and has arguably been amplified due to COVID-19, is sitting — and it is not surprising to see why. Whether sitting during transportation, work, screen time or even meals, everyday environments and activities are tailored nearly exclusively to prolonged sitting. As such, sedentary behaviours, like sitting, make up the vast majority of our waking day. Pre-COVID-19 estimates place the average Canadian adult’s sedentary behaviour at around 9.5 hours per day. Current daily sedentary time is likel...

Survivors, First Responders And Millions Of Others Are Left With Emotional And Mental Scars By Mass Shootings

29Mar

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS, SOCIETY

Survivors, First Responders And Millions Of Others Are Left With Emotional And Mental Scars By Mass Shootings

The deadly shootings of eight people in Atlanta on March 16 and 10 people in Boulder, Colorado, on March 22 brought heartache and grief to the families and friends of the victims. These events also take a toll on others, including those who witnessed the shooting, first responders, people who were nearby – and even those who heard about the shooting in the media. I am a trauma and anxiety researcher and clinician, and I know that the effects of such violence reach millions. While the immediate survivors are most affected, the rest of society suffers, too. First, the immediate survivors Like other animals, we humans get stressed or terrified when exposed to a dangerous event. The extent of that stress or fear can vary. Survivors of a shooting may want to avoid the neighborhood where the s...

We Found Dangerous And Stigmatizing Stereotypes Prevail While Studying Depression Messages On YouTube Videos

29Mar

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS, SOCIETY, VIDEO REELS

We Found Dangerous And Stigmatizing Stereotypes Prevail While Studying Depression Messages On YouTube Videos

Rates of depression have tripled in the U.S. since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and most recent estimates suggest these numbers remain elevated compared with pre-pandemic rates of mental health problems. Even before the pandemic, depression was a leading source of disability, affecting over 17 million Americans each year. In a society where mental health education is not uniformly taught in schools, and where most people with depression go untreated, this is a recipe for disaster. Psychologists have proposed ways to reform mental health care such as increasing access to care through telehealth. These actions are important. However, few experts have provided recommendations for how everyday citizens can flatten the depression curve by reducing stigma. To better understand why ...

African Americans And People With Vascular Dementia Are At Greater Risk For COVID-19

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS, VIDEO REELS

African Americans And People With Vascular Dementia Are At Greater Risk For COVID-19

New research is shedding light on how dementia can increase people’s risk for developing COVID-19, particularly among two groups: African Americans and people with vascular dementia. The headline findings of a recent study revealed that dementia patients overall face twice the risk for developing COVID-19 as adults without dementia. But two other results from that study deserve more attention than they have received so far. One is that African Americans with dementia had three times the risk of developing COVID-19, and when they did, it was more likely to be life-threatening. African Americans with both dementia and COVID-19 had a higher hospitalization rate than white patients with dementia – 73% compared with 54% – and a higher death rate – 23% compared with 19% for whites. In view of ...

11Mar

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS

COVID-19 Sleep Loss – Daylight Saving Time Could Be Especially Hard This Weekend

The clock springs forward one hour on Sunday morning, March 14 for most people in the U.S. That is not an appealing thought for those who have suffered sleep problems because of the pandemic. Sleep this past year has been affected by a variety of factors, including anxiety, inconsistent schedules and increased screen time. This affects our health, as getting adequate sleep is important to assure our immune system can fend off and fight infections. Even before the pandemic, about 40% of adults – 50 to 70 million Americans – got less than the recommended minimum seven hours per night. And, many researchers were already concerned about how the twice-a-year switch affects our body’s physiology. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the largest scientific organization that studies sleep, i...