
The 6 Dimensions Of Sleep (And Why They Matter)
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How Good Is Your Sleep, Really?

This is Dr. Marie-Pierre St-Onge, Director of Columbia University’s Center of Excellence for Sleep and Circadian Research.
The focus of Dr. St-Onge’s research is the study of the impact of lifestyle, especially sleep and diet, on cardio-metabolic risk factors.
She conducts clinical research combining her expertise on sleep, nutrition, and energy regulation.
What kind of things do her studies look at?
Her work focuses on questions about…
- The role of circadian rhythms (including sleep duration and timing)
- Meal timing and eating patterns
…and their impact on cardio-metabolic risk.
What does she want us to know?
First things first, when not to worry:
❝Getting a bad night’s sleep once in a while isn’t anything to worry about. That’s what we would describe as transient insomnia. Chronic insomnia occurs when you spend three months or more without regular sleep, and that is when I would start to be concerned.❞
But… as prevention is (as ever) better than cure, she also advises that we do pay attention to our sleep! And, as for how to do that…
The Six Dimensions of Sleep
One useful definition of overall sleep health is the RU-Sated framework, which assesses six key dimensions of sleep that have been consistently associated with better health outcomes. These are:
- regularity
- satisfaction with sleep
- alertness during waking hours
- timing of sleep
- efficiency of sleep
- duration of sleep
You’ll notice that some of these things you can only really know if you use a sleep-monitoring app. She does recommend the use of those, and so do we!
We reviewed and compared some of the most popular sleep-monitoring apps! You can check them out here: Time For Some Pillow Talk
You also might like…
We’re not all the same with regard to when is the best time for us to sleep, so:
Use This Sleep Cycle Calculator To Figure Out the Optimal Time for You To Go to Bed and Wake Up
AROUND THE WEB
What’s happening in the health world…
- Aspirin may make your breathing worse
- Taking naps for more than 30 minutes may raise your metabolic disease risk
- How to ease back into exercise after surgery
- Study provides evidence that breathing exercises may reduce your Alzheimer’s risk
- No one in movies knows how to swallow a pill
More to come tomorrow!
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Microplastics are in our brains. How worried should I be?
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Plastic is in our clothes, cars, mobile phones, water bottles and food containers. But recent research adds to growing concerns about the impact of tiny plastic fragments on our health.
A study from the United States has, for the first time, found microplastics in human brains. The study, which has yet to be independently verified by other scientists, has been described in the media as scary, shocking and alarming.
But what exactly are microplastics? What do they mean for our health? Should we be concerned?
Daniel Megias/Shutterstock What are microplastics? Can you see them?
We often consider plastic items to be indestructible. But plastic breaks down into smaller particles. Definitions vary but generally microplastics are smaller than five millimetres.
This makes some too small to be seen with the naked eye. So, many of the images the media uses to illustrate articles about microplastics are misleading, as some show much larger, clearly visible pieces.
Microplastics have been reported in many sources of drinking water and everyday food items. This means we are constantly exposed to them in our diet.
Such widespread, chronic (long-term) exposure makes this a serious concern for human health. While research investigating the potential risk microplastics pose to our health is limited, it is growing.
How about this latest study?
The study looked at concentrations of microplastics in 51 samples from men and women set aside from routine autopsies in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Samples were from the liver, kidney and brain.
These tiny particles are difficult to study due to their size, even with a high-powered microscope. So rather than trying to see them, researchers are beginning to use complex instruments that identify the chemical composition of microplastics in a sample. This is the technique used in this study.
The researchers were surprised to find up to 30 times more microplastics in brain samples than in the liver and kidney.
They hypothesised this could be due to high blood flow to the brain (carrying plastic particles with it). Alternatively, the liver and kidneys might be better suited to dealing with external toxins and particles. We also know the brain does not undergo the same amount of cellular renewal as other organs in the body, which could make the plastics linger here.
The researchers also found the amount of plastics in brain samples increased by about 50% between 2016 and 2024. This may reflect the rise in environmental plastic pollution and increased human exposure.
The microplastics found in this study were mostly composed of polyethylene. This is the most commonly produced plastic in the world and is used for many everyday products, such as bottle caps and plastic bags.
This is the first time microplastics have been found in human brains, which is important. However, this study is a “pre-print”, so other independent microplastics researchers haven’t yet reviewed or validated the study.
The most common plastic found was polyethylene, which is used to make plastic bags and bottle caps. Maciej Bledowski/Shutterstock How do microplastics end up in the brain?
Microplastics typically enter the body through contaminated food and water. This can disrupt the gut microbiome (the community of microbes in your gut) and cause inflammation. This leads to effects in the whole body via the immune system and the complex, two-way communication system between the gut and the brain. This so-called gut-brain axis is implicated in many aspects of health and disease.
We can also breathe in airborne microplastics. Once these particles are in the gut or lungs, they can move into the bloodstream and then travel around the body into various organs.
Studies have found microplastics in human faeces, joints, livers, reproductive organs, blood, vessels and hearts.
Microplastics also migrate to the brains of wild fish. In mouse studies, ingested microplastics are absorbed from the gut into the blood and can enter the brain, becoming lodged in other organs along the way.
To get into brain tissue, microplastics must cross the blood-brain-barrier, an intricate layer of cells that is supposed to keep things in the blood from entering the brain.
Although concerning, this is not surprising, as microplastics must cross similar cell barriers to enter the urine, testes and placenta, where they have already been found in humans.
Is this a health concern?
We don’t yet know the effects of microplastics in the human brain. Some laboratory experiments suggest microplastics increase brain inflammation and cell damage, alter gene expression and change brain structure.
Aside from the effects of the microplastic particles themselves, microplastics might also pose risks if they carry environmental toxins or bacteria into and around the body.
Various plastic chemicals could also leach out of the microplastics into the body. These include the famous hormone-disrupting chemicals known as BPAs.
But microplastics and their effects are difficult to study. In addition to their small size, there are so many different types of plastics in the environment. More than 13,000 different chemicals have been identified in plastic products, with more being developed every year.
Microplastics are also weathered by the environment and digestive processes, and this is hard to reproduce in the lab.
A goal of our research is to understand how these factors change the way microplastics behave in the body. We plan to investigate if improving the integrity of the gut barrier through diet or probiotics can prevent the uptake of microplastics from the gut into the bloodstream. This may effectively stop the particles from circulating around the body and lodging into organs.
How do I minimise my exposure?
Microplastics are widespread in the environment, and it’s difficult to avoid exposure. We are just beginning to understand how microplastics can affect our health.
Until we have more scientific evidence, the best thing we can do is reduce our exposure to plastics where we can and produce less plastic waste, so less ends up in the environment.
An easy place to start is to avoid foods and drinks packaged in single-use plastic or reheated in plastic containers. We can also minimise exposure to synthetic fibres in our home and clothing.
Sarah Hellewell, Senior Research Fellow, The Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science, and Research Fellow, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University; Anastazja Gorecki, Teaching & Research Scholar, School of Health Sciences, University of Notre Dame Australia, and Charlotte Sofield, PhD Candidate, studying microplastics and gut/brain health, University of Notre Dame Australia
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Felt Time – by Dr. Marc Wittmann
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This book goes far beyond the obvious “time flies when you’re having fun / passes slowly when bored”, or “time seems quicker as we get older”. It does address those topics too, but even in doing so, unravels deeper intricacies within.
The author, a research psychologist, includes plenty of reference to actual hard science here, and even beyond subjective self-reports. For example, you know how time seems to slow down upon immediate apparent threat of violent death (e.g. while crashing, while falling, or other more “violent human” options)? We learn of an experiment conducted in an amusement park, where during a fear-inducing (but actually safe) plummet, subjective time slows down yes, but measures of objective perception and cognition remained the same. So much for adrenal superpowers when it comes to the brain!
We also learn about what we can change, to change our perception of time—in either direction, which is a neat collection of tricks to know.
The style is on the dryer end of pop-sci; we suspect that being translated from German didn’t help its levity. That said, it’s not scientifically dense either (i.e. not a lot of jargon), though it does have many references (which we like to see).
Bottom line: if you’ve ever wished time could go more quickly or more slowly, this book can help with that.
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How Love Changes Your Brain
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When we fall in love, have a romantic attachment, or have a sad breakup, there’s a lot going on neurochemically, and also with different parts of the brain taking the wheel. Dr. Shannon Odell explains:
The neurochemistry of love
Of course, not every love will follow this exact pattern, but here’s perhaps the most common one:
Infatuation stage: This early phase is characterized by obsessive thoughts and a strong desire to be with the person. The ventral tegmental area (VTA), the brain’s reward center, becomes highly active, releasing dopamine, one of the feel-good neurotransmitters, which makes love feel intoxicating, similar to addictive substances. Additionally, activity in the prefrontal cortex, responsible for critical thinking and judgment, decreases, causing people to see their partners through “rose-tinted glasses”. However, this intense stage usually lasts only a few months.
Attachment stage: As the relationship progresses, it shifts into a more stable and long-lasting phase. This stage is driven by oxytocin and vasopressin, hormones that promote trust/bonding and arousal, respectively. These same hormones also play a role in family and friendship connections. Oxytocin, in particular, reduces stress hormones, which is why spending time with a loved one can feel so calming.
Heartbreak stage: When a relationship ends, the insular cortex processes emotional and physical pain, making heartbreak feel as painful as a physical injury. Meanwhile, the VTA remains active, leading to intense longing and cravings for the lost partner, similar to withdrawal symptoms. The stress axis also activates, causing distress and restlessness. Over time, higher brain regions help regulate these emotions. Healing strategies such as exercise, socializing, and listening to music can help by triggering dopamine release and easing the pain of heartbreak.
For more on all of this, enjoy:
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The Miracle of Flexibility – by Miranda Esmonde-White
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We’ve reviewed books about stretching before, so what makes this one different?
Mostly, it’s that this one takes a holistic approach, making the argument for looking after all parts of flexibility (even parts that might seem useless) because if one bit of us isn’t flexible, the others will start to suffer in compensation because of how that affects our posture, or movement, or in many cases our lack of movement.
Esmonde-White’s “flexibility, from your toes to your shoulders” approach is very consistent with her background as a professional ballet dancer, and now she brings it into her profession as a coach.
The book’s not just about stretching, though. It looks at problems and what can go wrong with posture and the body’s “musculoskeletal trifecta”, and also shares daily training routines that are tailored for specific sporting interests, and/or for those with specific chronic conditions and/or chronic pain. Working around what needs to be worked around, but also looking at strengthening what can be strengthened and fixing what can be fixed along the way.
Bottom line: if your flexibility needs an overhaul, this book is a very good “one-stop shop” for that.
Click here to check out The Miracle Of Flexibility, and discover what you can do!
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A Peek Behind The 10almonds Curtain
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At 10almonds we give a lot of health information, so you may wonder: how much do we (the 10almonds team) put into practice? Is it even possible to do all these things? Do we have an 80:20 rule going on?
So, here’s what someone who thinks, reads, and writes about health all day, does for her health—and how it ties in with what you read here at 10almonds.
Hi, it’s me, a member of the 10almonds team and regular writer here, and I’m going to do the rest of this article in the first-person, since it’s using me as an example!
(PS: yes, the thumbnail is a digital impression of my appearance, though I would correct it that my hair is much longer, and my eyes are more gray; I must admit though it captured my smile, not to mention my collarbones-that-you-could-sit-on)
Dietary habits
Before we get to foods, let’s talk intermittent fasting. I practise 16:8 intermittent fasting… Approximately. That is to say, I’m mostly not religious about it, but I will generally breakfast around 12 noon, and have finished eating dinner before 8pm, with no food outside of those hours.
See also: Intermittent Fasting: What’s the truth?
Importantly, while I feel free to be a little flexible around start and finish times, I do very consciously decide “I am now fasting” and “I will now break the fast”.
Note my imperfection: it would be ideal to have the eating period earlier in the day, and have a bigger breakfast and small dinner. However, that doesn’t really work for me (leisurely evening meal is an important daily event in this household), so this is how I do it instead.
Foods!
It gets an exclamation mark because a thing about me is that I do love foods.
Breakfast: a typical breakfast for me these past months is a couple of ounces of mixed nuts with about 1oz of goji berries.
The mixed nuts are in equal proportions: almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, cashews. Why those four? Simple, it’s because that’s what Aldi sells as “mixed nuts” and they are the cheapest nuts around, as well as containing absolute nutritional heavyweights almonds and walnuts in generous portions.
Often, but not always, I’ll have some dates with it, or dried apricots, or prunes.
I go through phases; sometimes I’ll enjoy overnight oats as my breakfast for a month or two at a time. I really just follow my gut in this regard.
See for example: Spiced Pear & Pecan Polyphenol Porridge
Lunch: I don’t really lunch per se, but between breakfast and dinner I’ll usually snack on a 3–5 organic carrots (I literally just cut the tops off and otherwise eat them like Bugs Bunny—peeling them would be extra work just to lose fiber). Note my imperfection: I don’t buy all of my vegetables organic, but I do for the ones where it makes the biggest difference.
If I’m feeling like it, I may lunch on a selection of herbs sabzi khordan style (see: Invigorating Sabzi Khordan), though I’m vegan so for simplicity I just skip the cheeses that are also traditional with that dish. On the other hand, for protein and fat I’ll usually add a cup of beans (usually black beans or kidney beans), seasoned with garlic and black pepper in an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing (that I make myself, so it’s just those ingredients). See also: Kidney Beans vs Black Beans – Which Is Healthier?
Dinner: this is my main sit-down meal of the day, and it’s enjoyed in a leisurely fashion (say, 40 minutes average with a normal distribution bell curve running between 20 and 60 minutes) with my son who lives with me. I mention all of this, because of the importance of relaxed mindful eating. In the instances of it being nearer the 20 minutes end, it’s not because of rushing, but rather because of a lighter meal some days.
See also: How To Get More Nutrition From The Same Food
Regular recurrences in the menu include:
I’ll often snack on something probiotic (e.g. kimchi) while I’m cooking.
See also: Make Friends With Your Gut! (You Can Thank Us Later)
In terms of what’s not in my diet: as mentioned, I’m vegan, so animal products are out. I don’t drink alcohol or use other recreational drugs, and I mostly drink decaffeinated coffee, but I’ll have a caffeinated one if I’m out somewhere. I’m not a puritan when it comes to sugar, but also, I simply don’t like it and I know well its health effects, so it doesn’t really form part of my diet except insofar as it’s in some ready-made condiments I may sometimes use (e.g. sriracha, teriyaki sauce). I’m also not a puritan when it comes to wheat, but it’s not something I consume daily. Usually on a weekly basis I’ll have a wholegrain pasta dish, and a dish with some kind of wholegrain flatbread.
See also:
Exercise!
First, some things that are lifestyle factors:
- I do not own a car, and I dislike riding in cars, buses, etc. So, I walk everywhere, unless it’s far enough that I must take the train, and even then I usually stand between carriages rather than sitting down.
- I have a standing desk setup, that hasn’t been lowered even once since I got it. I highly recommend it, as someone who spends a lot of time at my desk.
- You may imagine that I spend a lot of time reading; if it’s books (as opposed to scientific papers etc, which I read at my desk), then I’ll most of the time read them while perched like a gargoyle in a sitting squat (Slav squat, Asian squat, resting squat, deep squat, etc) on a balance ball. Yes, it is comfortable once you’re used to it!
About that latter, see also: The Most Anti Aging Exercise
In terms of “actual” exercise, I get 150–300 minutes “moderate exercise” per week, which is mostly composed of:
- Most days I walk into town to get groceries; it’s a 40-minute round trip on foot
- On days I don’t do that, even if I do walk to a more local shop, I spend at least 20 minutes on my treadmill.
See also: The Doctor Who Wants Us To Exercise Less, & Move More
Strength and mobility training, for me, comes mostly in what has been called “exercise snacking”, that is to say, I intersperse my working day with brief breaks to do Pilates exercises. I have theme days (lower body, core, upper body) and on average one rest day (from Pilates exercises) per week, though honestly, that’s usually more likely because of time constraints than anything else, because a deadline is looming.
See also: Four Habits That Drastically Improve Mobility
You may be wondering about HIIT: when I’m feeling extra-serious about it, I use my exercise bike for this, but I’ll be honest, I don’t love the bike, so on a daily basis, I’m much more likely to do HIIT by blasting out a hundred or so Hindu squats, resting, and repeating.
See also: How To Do HIIT (Without Wrecking Your Body)
Supplements
First I’ll mention, I do have HRT, of which the hormones I have are bioidentical estradiol gel in the morning, and a progesterone pessary in the evening. They may not be for everybody, but they’ve made a world of difference to me.
See also: HRT: A Tale Of Two Approaches
In terms of what one usually means when one says supplements, many I use intermittently (which is good in some cases, as otherwise the body may stop using them so well, or other problems can arise), but regular features include:
- Magnesium glycinate, malate, & citrate (See: Which Magnesium? (And: When?))
- Active vitamers of vitamins B9 and B12 (See: Which B Vitamins? It Makes A Difference!)
- Liposomal vitamin C (I actually get enough for general purposes in my diet, but as a vegan I don’t get dietary collagen, so this helps collagen synthesis)
- L-theanine (bedtime only) (See: L-Theanine: What’s The Tea?)
- Lion’s mane mushroom (See: What does lion’s mane mushroom actually do, anyway?)
- Quercetin (See: Fight Inflammation & Protect Your Brain, With Quercetin)
- Fisetin (weekends only) (See: Fisetin: The Anti-Aging Assassin)
Why weekends only for Fisetin? See: The Drug & Supplement Combo That Reverses Aging ← the supplement is fisetin, which outperforms quercetin in this role, and/but it only needs be taken for two days every two weeks, as a sort of “clearing out” of senescent cells. There is no need to take it every day, because if you just cleared out your senescent cells, then guess what, they’re not there now. Also, while sensescent cells are a major cause of aging, on a lower level they do have some anti-tumor effects, so it can be good to let some live a least for a while now and again. In short, cellular sensescence can help prevent tumors on a daily level, but it doesn’t hurt that capacity to have a clearing-out every couple of weeks; so says the science (linked above). Note my imperfection: I take it at weekends instead of for two days every two weeks (as is standard in studies, like those linked above), because it is simpler than remembering to count the weeks.
Cognitive exercise
Lest we forget, exercising our mind is also important! In my case:
- I’m blessed to have work that’s quite cognitively stimulating; our topics here at 10almonds are interesting. If it weren’t for that, I’d still be reading and writing a lot.
- I play chess, though these days I don’t play competitively anymore, and play rather for the social aspect, but this too is important in avoiding cognitive decline.
- I am one of those people who compulsively learns languages, and uses them a lot. This is very beneficial, as language ability is maintained in a few small areas of the brain, and it’s very much “use it or lose it”. Now, while I may not need my French or Russian or Arabic to keep the lights on in this part of the brain or that, the fact that I am pushing my limits every day is the important part. It’s not about how much I know—it’s about how much I engage those parts of my brain on a daily basis. Thus, even if you speak only one language right now, learning even just one more, and learning even only a little bit, you will gain the brain benefits—because you’re engaging it regularly in a new way, and that forces the brain to wire new synapses and also to maintain volume in those parts.
See also: How To Reduce Your Alzheimer’s Risk
And about language-learning specifically: An Underrated Tool Against Alzheimer’s ←this also shows how you don’t have to be extreme about language learning like I admittedly am.
How’s all this working out for me?
I can say: it works! My general health is better now than it was decades ago. I’ve personally focused a lot on reducing inflammation, and that really pays dividends when it comes to the rest of health. I didn’t talk about it above, but focusing on my sleep regularity and quality has helped a lot too.
In terms of measurable results, I recently had a general wellness checkup done by means of a comprehensive panel of 14 blood tests, and various physical metrics (BMI, body fat %, blood pressure, etc), and per those, I could not be in better health; it was as though I had cheated and written in all the best answers. I say this not to brag (you don’t know me, after all), but rather to say: it can be done!
Even without extreme resources, and without an abundance of free time, etc, it can be done!
Caveat: if you have some currently incurable chronic disease, there may be some limits. For example, if you have Type 1 Diabetes, probably your HbA1c* is going to be a little off even if you do everything right.
*HbA1c = glycated hemoglobin, a very accurate measure of what your blood glucose has been on average for the past 2–3 months—why 2–3 months? Because that’s the approximate lifespan of a red blood cell, and we’re measuring how much hemoglobin (in the red blood cells) has been glycated (because of blood glucose).
In summary
The stuff we write about at 10almonds can be implemented, on a modest budget and while juggling responsibilities (work, family, classes, etc).
I’m not saying that my lifestyle should be everyone’s template, but it’s at least an example of one that can work.
- Maybe you hate walking and love swimming.
- Maybe you have no wish to give up fish and eggs, say (both of which are fine/good in moderation healthwise).
- Maybe you have different priorities with supplements.
- Maybe you find language-learning uninteresting but take singing lessons.
- And so on.
In the absolute fewest words, the real template is:
- Decide your health priorities (what matters most for you)
- Look them up on 10almonds
- Put the things into action in a way that works for you!
Take care!
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Why a common asthma drug will now carry extra safety warnings about depression
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Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) recently issued a safety alert requiring extra warnings to be included with the asthma and hay fever drug montelukast.
The warnings are for users and their families to look for signs of serious behaviour and mood-related changes, such as suicidal thoughts and depression. The new warnings need to be printed at the start of information leaflets given to both patients and health-care providers (sometimes called a “boxed” warning).
So why did the TGA issue this warning? And is there cause for concern if you or a family member uses montelukast? Here’s what you need to know.
First, what is montelukast?
Montelukast is a prescription drug also known by its brand names which include Asthakast, Lukafast, Montelair and Singulair. It’s used to manage the symptoms of mild-to-moderate asthma and seasonal hay fever in children and adults.
Asthma occurs when the airways tighten and produce extra mucus, which makes it difficult to get air into the lungs. Likewise, the runny nose characteristic of hay fever occurs due to the overproduction of mucus.
Leukotrienes are an important family of chemicals found throughout the airways and involved in both mucus production and airway constriction. Montelukast is a cysteinyl leukotriene receptor antagonist, meaning it blocks the site in the airways where the leukotrienes work.
Montelukast can’t be used to treat acute asthma (an asthma attack), as it takes time for the tablet to be broken down in the stomach and for it to be absorbed into the body. Rather, it’s taken daily to help prevent asthma symptoms or seasonal hay fever.
It can be used alongside asthma puffers that contain corticosteriods and drugs like salbutamol (Ventolin) in the event of acute attacks.
What is the link to depression and suicide?
The possibility that this drug may cause behavioural changes is not new information. Manufacturers knew this as early as 2007 and issued warnings for possible side-effects including depression, suicidality and anxiousness.
The United Kingdom’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has required a warning since 2008 but mandated a more detailed warning in 2019. The United States’ Food and Drug Administration has required boxed warnings for the drug since 2020.
Montelukast can help children and adults with asthma. adriaticfoto/Shutterstock Montelukast is known to potentially induce a number of behaviour and mood changes, including agitation, anxiety, depression, irritability, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and suicidal thoughts and actions.
Initially a 2009 study that analysed data from 157 clinical trials involving more than 20,000 patients concluded there were no completed suicides due to taking the drug, and only a rare risk of suicide thoughts or attempts.
The most recent study, published in November 2024, examined data from more than 100,000 children aged 3–17 with asthma or hay fever who either took montelukast or used only inhaled corticosteroids.
It found montelukast use was associated with a 32% higher incidence of behavioural changes. The behaviour change with the strongest association was sleep disturbance, but montelukast use was also linked to increases in anxiety and mood disorders.
In the past ten years, around 200 incidences of behavioural side-effects have been reported to the TGA in connection with montelukast. This includes 57 cases of depression, 60 cases of suicidal thoughts and 17 suicide attempts or incidents of intentional self-injury. There were seven cases where patients taking the drug did complete a suicide.
This is of course tragic. But these numbers need to be seen in the context of the number of people taking the drug. Over the same time period, more than 200,000 scripts for montelukast have been filled under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Overall, we don’t know conclusively that montelukast causes depression and suicide, just that it seems to increase the risk for some people.
We’re still not sure how the drug can act on the brain to lead to behaviour changes. Elif Bayraktar/Shutterstock And if it does change behaviour, we don’t fully understand how this happens. One hypothesis is that the drug and its breakdown products (or metabolites) affect brain chemistry.
Specifically, it might interfere with how the brain detoxifies the antioxidant glutathione or alter the regulation of other brain chemicals, such as neurotransmitters.
Why is the TGA making this change now?
The new risk warning requirement comes from a meeting of the Australian Advisory Committee on Medicines where they were asked to provide advice on ways to minimise the risk for the drug given current international recommendations.
Even though the 2024 review didn’t highlight any new risks, to align with international recommendations, and help address consumer concerns, the advisory committee recommended a boxed warning be added to drug information sheets.
If you have asthma and take montelukast (or your child does), you should not just stop taking the drug, because this could put you at risk of an attack that could be life threatening. If you’re concerned, speak to your doctor who can discuss the risks and benefits of the medication for you, and, if appropriate, prescribe a different medication.
If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Nial Wheate, Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Macquarie University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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