Meal Timings vs Osteoporosis Fracture Risk
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…and other items from this week’s health news:
Worse than smoking?
The following factors were found to have the following effects on osteoporotic fracture risk:
- skipping breakfast: 18% higher risk
- slow gait speed: 16% higher risk
- smoking: 11% higher risk
- late dinner: 8% higher risk
- regular exercise: 1% lower risk
- enough sleep: 5% lower risk
- daily alcohol consumption: 9% lower risk
That last one’s not a typo! But it also doesn’t mean that alcohol is protective against osteoporosis itself, or against fractures.
So, what does it mean? It means that binge-drinking is more likely to result in someone falling over and breaking something, than moderate daily drinking.
Note: the term “binge-drinking” is popularly associated with young people getting intentionally drunk at the weekend, but please understand that if you don’t drink for months and then have several drinks on some special occasion (e.g. Christmas, New Year’s Eve, a wedding), etc, then that is binge-drinking.
So, what’s this about skipping breakfast and the late dinner? We are hypothesizing here, but in all likelihood it has to do with being rushed and frazzled and lacking energy in the morningโwhich again, makes you more likely to fall over and break something.
Similarly, that about regular exercise yielding a meager 1% lower risk… Actually, taking into account the confidence interval, an argument could be made for 0%. However, that 0% change to risk isn’t because exercise doesn’t make a differenceโit’s because (and partly depending on what kind of exercise it is), while exercise does typically make people more robust, you’re also more likely to fall over while playing tennis than you are to fall over while watching TV. So, looking at nearly a million people’s data, those two sides of exercise cancel each other out.
In short: it’s not just about how strong your bones are or aren’t; it’s also about how likely you are to do something that can result in a fracture.
Read in full: Late dinners and missed breakfasts tied to higher osteoporosis risk
Related: Fall Special โ this is about how to not fall, and how to make it less likely you’ll be injured by a fall if you do
Do you know the early symptoms of prostate cancer?
No, you don’t. But don’t worry, neither does anyone else, because prostate cancer has no symptoms in its early stages.
What is cause for concern, however, is that most people don’t know that (or at least: 80% of Americans polled didn’t know that), and thus that it needs to be diagnosed with a blood test.
In the US, it’s recommended to get tested at age 50 (assuming you have a prostate to test), though earlier can be good especially if you have a family history of it, and/or otherwise are aware of a genetic risk factor (such from having done a health genomics test which revealed it).
Since prostate cancer typically progresses very slowly, it’s considered very treatable if caught early.
But that doesn’t mean “don’t worry”; it means “do catch it early”!
Read in full: Most Americans unaware that early prostate cancer shows no symptoms
Related: Prostate Health: What You Should Know โ this also covers the Prostate Screening Episwitch (PSE) test, which is 94% accurate, unlike the usual go-to, the Prostate-Specific Androgen (PSA) test, which is so inaccurate that even its original creator has called it โa profit-driven health disasterโ that is โno better than a coin tossโ.
Depression, according to the brain cells
Sometimes, arguments are made for depression being a purely psychological thing, and not physical. We reviewed such a book a while back โ it wasn’t good
However, researchers (Dr. Anjali Chawla et al.) have identified two specific brain cell types altered in people with depression. Specifically, a subtype of excitatory neurons linked to mood and stress regulation, and a subtype of microglia that manage neuroinflammation.
Most notably (and showing a clear long-term effect), many genes functioned differently in these cells in depressed people, indicating disruptions in mood regulation and inflammatory systems, respectively.
Dr. Chawla and her team now plan to study more comprehensively how these cellular changes affect brain function, and explore treatment options with this new information in mind.
Read in full: Research sheds new light on depressionโs biological roots
Related: The Brain As A Work-In-Progress
Take care!
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Tea vs Coffee: Very Different Results For Bones!
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Tea and coffee both have abundant health benefits, and both have some small health risks (usually associated specifically with the caffeine, so drinking decaffeinated versions can avoid those in any case).
But when it comes to bone health, there’s a clear (albeit marginal, but clear) winner:
Here’s the tea
In few words: a decade-long prospective analysis examined whether coffee and tea intake were linked to changes in bone mineral density in older women.
More specifically: The Study of Osteoporotic Fractures followed (in the observational longitudinal study sense, not in the stalker sense) 9,704 women aged 65 and older for about 10 years, taking note of repeated self-reports of coffee and tea intake and repeated hip and femoral neck bone mineral density measurements using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.
How tea and coffee scored:
- Tea: regular tea consumption was associated with slightly higher total hip bone mineral density, a small but statistically significant difference that could matter at a population level.
- Coffee: moderate coffee intake of about two to three cups per day was not linked to harm, while heavy intake of more than five cups per day was associated with lower bone mineral density.
In other words:
- Tea appears to be good for the bones
- Coffee is fine* at moderate levels, potentially harmful at more than 5 cups per day
*Actually likely better than “fine” at moderate levels, as we wrote about here: Coffee vs Frailty โ but that was about frailty in general, not bone density specifically
One category of drink that the study reinforced should be avoided, however was alcohol: higher alcohol intake strengthened the negative association between heavy coffee consumption and bone density.
On the flipside, and to share some good news: higher BMI strengthened the positive association between tea consumption and bone density.
Likely one of the differences between coffee and tea here is that while both are abundant in polyphenols, tea is generally higher in catechins, which can be particularly beneficial to bone formation.
Nevertheless these differences are modest, so:
โOur results donโt mean you need to give up coffee or start drinking tea by the gallonโ
~ Dr. Enwu Liu
Want to learn more?
First, about caffeine (unrelated to whether you get it from tea, coffee, or something else), you might like to check out: Caffeine: Cognitive Enhancer Or Brain-Wrecker?
Next, when choosing your tea, should you choose black, white, green, or red?
You can see which is best for what, here: Which Tea Is Best For The Health, By Science?
You can also learn about why getting flavonoids (as are abundant in these drinks) from diverse sources is important, here: Are You Getting The Right Kinds Of Flavonoids?
For more on polyphenols in general, see: 21 Most Beneficial Polyphenols & What Foods Have Them
For the coffee-lovers, enjoy: The Bitter Truth About Coffee (or is it?) โ as while we’ve focused on tea’s merits today, itโs worth noting before we close that coffee has a lot of health benefits; we didnโt cover them today because they were beside the point, but they are interesting nevertheless. including:
- 53% reduced suicide risk for coffee-drinkers
- Coffee is the worldโs biggest source of antioxidants
- 65% reduced risk of Alzheimerโs for coffee-drinkers
- 67% reduced risk of type 2 diabetes for coffee-drinkers
- 43% reduced risk of liver cancer for coffee-drinkers
And if you don’t love coffee but would like the benefits, then check out: Green Coffee Bean Extract: Coffee Benefits Without The Coffee?
Enjoy!
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How a sense of awe can be good for your mentalย health
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Words escape you. Your skin tingles. You are overwhelmed by how small and insignificant you really are, bursting with a feeling that is hard to define. This is awe.
Awe is a complex emotional state we experience when the enormity of what we see or feel transcends what we understand. It can be positive or negative.
Astronauts report this feeling when confronted with the vastness of space and Earthโs puny place within it. This experience โ sometimes known as the โoverview effectโ โ can change forever how people whoโve seen Earth from afar think about life here.
But you donโt have to travel to the moon and back to experience awe. Beautiful art, a walk in nature or dancing in a crowd can give you this overwhelming, transcendent feeling.
Neuroscience suggests experiences of awe can be good for your mental health โ when theyโre positive. So, when is awe good for us? And what exactly is going on in the brain?
Arnaud Mesureur/Unsplash Awe can be both positive and negative
Positive awe is what probably comes to mind when most people think of awe. If youโve ever been moved by something immense and beautiful โ such as a majestic mountain or sunset โ youโve likely experienced this sense of calm and wonder.
However, psychologists sometimes describe awe as an experience at the boundary of pleasure and fear. Both pleasure and fear can result in similar bodily arousal โ racing heartbeat, goosebumps and chills โ but the way we interpret this as an emotion will depend on the context. It can be the same when we experience something vast and overwhelming.
Negative awe may occur when we feel threatened or a lack of control, such as during an earthquake or terrorist attack.
Imagine standing in front of a tsunami and seeing it come towards you. You may feel powerless and filled with dread, while also overcome with a sense of insignificance in the face of natureโs majesty and power. This is the complexity of awe.
Trying to make sense of the unexpected
Our brains are constantly making predictions and integrating our experiences into what we already know.
We tend to โfilter outโ sensory signals that match our expectations, to instead focus on being ready to respond to information that is surprising.
New information is processed by parts of the brain that help to fit it within our pre-existing understanding of the world, knowledge frameworks known as schemata (or schemas).
According to schema theory, we either assimilate this new information into an existing schema, or have to change the schema to fit the new knowledge.
Not all new experiences will evoke awe. It occurs when we experience both the inability to assimilate an experience into current knowledge and a sense of vastness.
For example, you might have a schema for โwaterfallโ โ a mental framework of what you expect (rocks, water, beautiful). But confronted by the roar of Victoria Falls, its size and velocity, the way the sun hits the spray, you experience awe; itโs unlike any waterfall you have ever seen and is beyond your expectations.
Awe can make us feel small and insignificant in the face of something immense. byronetmedia/unsplash What happens in the brain when we experience awe?
When we feel awe, activity decreases in the brain regions associated with internal or self-referential processing. This network is what drives our memory and understanding of our place in the world.
When activity in these regions decreases, there is a shift away from yourself towards processing external information. This may explain why you tend to โfeel smallโ when you experience awe.
But positive and negative awe may have different effects on our nervous system.
Negative awe is associated with sympathetic nervous system activity, which drives our โfight or flightโ response.
Positive awe, however, is associated with increased parasympathetic activity. This reduces heart rate and arousal, which is why we may feel calmer.
How awe can be good for us
If youโre someone who seeks out experiences bigger than yourself โ hiking for breathtaking views, enjoying meditation, art or losing yourself in the roar of a crowd โ you probably already know awe can make you feel fantastic.
Now, research is exploring why. Emerging evidence suggests awe may be good for mental health and wellbeing in five ways:
- improving your nervous systemโs ability to relax
- diminishing self-focus
- making us more likely to help other people
- connecting us to others
- increasing sense of meaning.
More work needs to be done before we can say whether awe results in long-lasting benefits. But purposefully seeking awe may help you feel less stressed, more satisfied and happier.
Sharing awe-filled experiences can help us transcend ourselves and connect with others. Danny Howe/Unsplash Finding awe in the everyday
What evokes awe will likely be different for different people. But we know some things are more likely to induce this complex feeling, such as experiences of art, music and natural environments that move us.
Many people also find awe in collective experiences, especially those involving shared music or movement, or religious rituals. These help us transcend ourselves and become part of something bigger. Contemplating inspiring and complex โbigโ intellectual ideas by learning something new may also have this effect.
So, can you actively cultivate awe? One way to start is by taking โawe walksโ. These involve walking with the intention of noticing beauty, vastness and wonder. Connecting with your own sense of spirituality โ even if you are not religious โ can also evoke awe.
In many cases, the vast and overwhelming experience of awe can start with simple acts of noticing.
Nikki-Anne Wilson, Lecturer, School of Psychology, UNSW Sydney; Neuroscience Research Australia
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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How To Build a Body That Lasts โ by Adam Richardson
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This book is written on a premise, and that premise is: โyour age doesnโt define your mobility; your mobility defines your ageโ.
To this end, we are treated to 328 pages of why and how to improve our mobility (mostly how; just enough on the โwhyโ to keep the motivation flowing).
Importantly, Richardson doesnโt expect that every reader is a regular gym-bunny or about to become one, doesnโt expect you to have several times your bodyweight in iron to life at home, and doesnโt expect that youโll be doing the vertical splits against a wall any time soon.
Rather, he expects that weโd like to not dislocate a shoulder while putting the groceries away, would like to not slip a disk while being greeted by the neighborโs dog, and would like to not need a 7-step plan for putting our socks on.
What follows is a guide to โon the good end of normalโ mobility that is sustainable for life. The idea is that you might not be winning Olympic gymnastics gold medals in your 90s, but you will be able to get in and out of a car door as comfortably as you did when you were 20, for example.
Bottom line: if you want to be a superathlete, then you might need something more than this book; if you want to be on the healthy end of average when it comes to mobility, and maintain that for the rest of your life, then this is the book for you.
Click here to check out How To Build A Body That Lasts, and build a body that lasts!
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Stickers and wristbands arenโt a reliable way to prevent mosquito bites. Hereโs why
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Protecting yourself and family from mosquito bites can be challenging, especially in this hot and humid weather. Protests from young children and fears about topical insect repellents drive some to try alternatives such as wristbands, patches and stickers.
These products are sold online as well as in supermarkets, pharmacies and camping stores. Theyโre often marketed as providing โnaturalโ protection from mosquitoes.
But unfortunately, they arenโt a reliable way to prevent mosquito bites. Hereโs why โ and what you can try instead.
Why is preventing mosquito bites important?
Mosquitoes can spread pathogens that make us sick. Japanese encephalitis and Murray Valley encephalitis viruses can have potentially fatal outcomes. While Ross River virus wonโt kill you, it can cause potentially debilitating illnesses.
Health authorities recommend preventing mosquito bites by: avoiding areas and times of the day when mosquitoes are most active; covering up with long sleeved shirts, long pants, and covered shoes; and applying a topical insect repellent (a cream, lotion, or spray).
I donโt want to put sticky and smelly repellents on my skin!
While for many people, the โstingโ of a biting mosquitoes is enough to prompt a dose of repellent, others are reluctant. Some are deterred by the unpleasant feel or smell of insect repellents. Others believe topical repellents contain chemicals that are dangerous to our health.
However, many studies have shown that, when used as recommended, these products are safe to use. All products marketed as mosquito repellents in Australia must be registered by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority; a process that provides recommendations for safe use.
How do topical repellents work?
While there remains some uncertainty about how the chemicals in topical insect repellents actually work, they appear to either block the sensory organs of mosquitoes that drive them to bite, or overpower the smells of our skin that helps mosquitoes find us.
Diethytolumide (DEET) is a widely recommended ingredient in topical repellents. Picaridin and oil of lemon eucalyptus are also used and have been shown to be effective and safe.
How do other products work?
โPhysicalโ insect-repelling products, such as wristbands, coils and candles, often contain a botanically derived chemical and are often marketed as being an alternative to DEET.
However, studies have shown that devices such as candles containing citronella oil provide lower mosquito-bite prevention than topical repellents.
A laboratory study in 2011 found wristbands infused with peppermint oil failed to provide full protection from mosquito bites.
Even as topical repellent formulations applied to the skin, these botanically derived products have lower mosquito bite protection than recommended products such as those containing DEET, picaridin and oil of lemon eucalyptus.
Wristbands infused with DEET have shown mixed results but may provide some bite protection or bite reduction. DEET-based wristbands or patches are not currently available in Australia.
There is also a range of mosquito repellent coils, sticks, and other devices that release insecticides (for example, pyrethroids). These chemicals are primarily designed to kill or โknock downโ mosquitoes rather than to simply keep them from biting us.
What about stickers and patches?
Although insect repellent patches and stickers have been available for many years, there has been a sudden surge in their marketing through social media. But there are very few scientific studies testing their efficacy.
Our current understanding of the way insect repellents work would suggest these small stickers and patches offer little protection from mosquito bites.
At best, they may reduce some bites in the way mosquito coils containing botanical products work. However, the passive release of chemicals from the patches and stickers is likely to be substantially lower than those from mosquito coils and other devices actively releasing chemicals.
One study in 2013 found a sticker infused with oil of lemon eucalyptus โdid not provide significant protection to volunteersโ.
Clothing impregnated with insecticides, such as permethrin, will assist in reducing mosquito bites but topical insect repellents are still recommended for exposed areas of skin.
Take care when using these products
The idea you can apply a sticker or patch to your clothing to protect you from mosquito bites may sound appealing, but these devices provide a false sense of security. There is no evidence they are an equally effective alternative to the topical repellents recommended by health authorities around the world. It only takes one bite from a mosquito to transmit the pathogens that result in serious disease.
It is also worth noting that there are some health warnings and recommendations for their use required by Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority. Some of these products warn against application to the skin (recommending application to clothing only) and to keep products โout of reach of childrenโ. This is a challenge if attached to young childrenโs clothing.
Similar warnings are associated with most other topical and non-topical mosquito repellents. Always check the labels of these products for safe use recommendations.
Are there any other practical alternatives?
Topical insect repellents are safe and effective. Most can be used on children from 12 months of age and pose no health risks. Make sure you apply the repellent as a thin even coat on all exposed areas of skin.
But you donโt need โtropical strengthโ repellents for short periods of time outdoors; a range of formulations with lower concentrations of repellent will work well for shorter trips outdoors. There are some repellents that donโt smell as strong (for example, childrenโs formulations, odourless formulations) or formulations that may be more pleasant to use (for example, pump pack sprays).
Finally, you can always cover up. Loose-fitting long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and covered shoes will provide a physical barrier between you and mosquitoes on the hunt for your or your familyโs blood this summer.
Cameron Webb, Clinical Associate Professor and Principal Hospital Scientist, University of Sydney
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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As The Summer Gets Hotter Stillโฆ
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Itโs Q&A Day at 10almonds!
Have a question or a request? We love to hear from you!
In cases where weโve already covered something, we might link to what we wrote before, but will always be happy to revisit any of our topics again in the future tooโthereโs always more to say!
As ever: if the question/request can be answered briefly, weโll do it here in our Q&A Thursday edition. If not, weโll make a main feature of it shortly afterwards!
So, no question/request too big or small
โI would love to see an article about heat dehydrated illness….so much of the US is under hot conditions. I had an fainting sweating episode and now trying to recoup from it. What should we do? Drink water,rest…???โ
We have done some of this, but itโs always a good one to revisit! Last summer (N. Hemisphere summer), we wrote this:
Stay Safe From Heat Exhaustion & Heatstroke!
โฆand this year, itโs getting hotter still (and is already the hottest summer on record), with certainly much of the US seriously affected, as you say. Next year, it will probably be worse again; climate change is getting predictable like that, and likely will continue until fixed. We are but a health science publication, so we canโt fix the worldโs climate, but we can reiterate the above advice, and urge everyone to take it seriously.
Note: heat exhaustion and heatstroke kill. Yes, weโre including heat exhaustion in that, because by the time you get heat exhaustion, youโre often not in the best state of mind to take the correct steps to avoid the heatstroke that follows.
To think otherwise would be akin to thinking โfalling never killed anyone; itโs only when you stop falling that itโs dangerousโ.
This summer, we did also write this more niche article:
โฆwhose advice wonโt apply to everyone, but will be helpful to some, and honestly, some of that advice does go for everyone.
One thing we didnโt write about in those articles that weโll add here:
Humidity is dangerous:
- Dry heat: you sweat, the sweat evaporates, cooling you. As well as losing heat, youโve also now lost water and salts, which youโll need to replenish, but your body is operating correctly.
- Humid heat: you sweat, and now you are just sweaty until further notice. It doesnโt evaporate because the surrounding humidity doesnโt provide the physics for that. Not only are you not losing heat through evaporating sweat, but also, if youโre wearing clothes, thatโs now an insulating layer youโre wearing.
โฆso that means, watch the humidity as carefully as you watch the temperature, and when itโs high, get extra serious about finding ways to keep yourself cool (e.g. shade, rest, cooling showers etc if you can, that kind of thing).
Take care!
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Dates vs Tangerine โ Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing dates to tangerines, we picked the dates.
Why?
Of these two seasonal snacks, thereโs a clear winner:
In terms of macros, dates have more than 4x the fiber, about 5x the carbs, and 3x the protein, making them the more macronutrient-dense choice by far, and due to the fiber content, the glycemic index is still very favorable.
In the category of vitamins, dates have more of vitamins B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, and K, while tangerines have more of vitamins A, C, and E, yielding a 7:3 win to dates in this round.
Looking at minerals, dates have more copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, while tangerines are not higher in any minerals, although they are equal for calcium. Still, all things considered, itโs a landslide for dates in this category.
Adding up the sections makes for a clear overall win for dates, but by all means do enjoy either or both, as diversity is great!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
From Apples to Bees, and High-Fructose Cs: Which Sugars Are Healthier, And Which Are Just The Same? โ for any wondering about the sugariness of dates, and why theyโre just fine regardless ๐
Enjoy!
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