Tag Archives: Librarian Created

Stress and Weight

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stress

The following is a transcript of a Research That Matters piece on stress and weight. Listen to this segment and the rest of the show “The Heart: Past, Present and Future.”

Dr. Adam Goldstein: The next Research That Matters is actually about some issues relating to weight gain, but it’s actually this time tied to employment. What are we talking about?

Dr. Cam Coleman: So this was a study out of Sweden, a study of almost 4,000 people that looked at the relationship between stress on the job and changes in weight.

Dr. Adam Goldstein: We should back up by saying, we know from our own experience, in the training of being physicians, which can be stressful, and sometimes the eating can go two different ways, you might say you don’t have to eat, you might just say you don’t have time to exercise. You don’t have time to exercise you’re probably going to gain weight in that stress, and of course, if you don’t have time to eat, you may not gain weight but, in this particular one, they were looking at the men and women who really were looked at, their work pace, pressures they had at work, the time they had for their work and how many of the demands were kind of contradictory, you gotta work harder and faster, but oh, by the way, you don’t have much time. And they followed these men and women three times over twenty years.

Dr. Cam Coleman: I thought it was really interesting, they had almost 4,000 participants in the study, so a pretty hefty group. But the way that they measured stress was essentially asking these people, how do you feel are your job demands? So this was all self-reported data on levels of stress.

Dr. Adam Goldstein: And they found that the stress seemed to have this impact on the women that they, the higher, the women were actually more likely to gain weight. They didn’t see it in men, they didn’t have really good reasons for it. I think there’s a lot more to this story than just the high stress of work. There’s a lot more going on here that I don’t think they teased out.

Dr. Cam Coleman: And you know they speculated that why it is that women might be more sensitive to changes in weight as opposed to men. And one of the things that they mentioned in this article was some of the differences in gender roles that they found in their culture and expectations for the women to be spending more time at home. And so that’s certainly something that enters into the public conversation often, what should be the norms, what should be the expectations, and to what degree should men and women be really sharing some of this other work if that’s contributing to these weight changes.

Provided by librarians at the University of North Carolina Health Sciences Library.

Low-income Women Unable to Afford Feminine Hygiene Products

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Women's feet and legs

The following is a transcript of a recent Research That Matters piece on feminine hygiene products and low-income women.  Listen to this segment and the rest of the show “Rise in Opioid and Amphetamine Use in Pregnancy.”

Dr. Adam Goldstein: Our last Research That Matters is what my grandmother might have called, a Yiddish word, a shonda disgrace. Its the social inequities of care and this is how it relates in healthcare. This was a major study in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, we’ll probably talk with our guest today about this, and it was about how poor people in the United States, poor women specifically, can’t afford tampons and pads; can’t afford the menstrual hygiene products. And it wasn’t just they can’t afford them occasionally, during the year, many can’t afford them every month and they’re making do with toilet paper or cloth or rags or diapers or paper towels. And half the women who were surveyed in a low-income, St. Louis, a low-income large city, half the women said there were times when they couldn’t afford to buy both food and these menstrual products. So clearly they went for food. And it turns out these products aren’t covered by most of the things that most low-income women might get help with such as programs like WIC, women’s and children’s assistance, they have a difficult time getting transportation to get these, buying them in bulk and products are distributed to shelters and other places for these women to get these. But it’s just really, I think, a disgrace, and this is even as early as last year, 64% of the women couldn’t afford these products, couldn’t afford them in the previous year and 21% were on a monthly basis. We must and we can do better.

You can help by donating feminine hygiene products to your local shelter or donate to the organizations below. Let us know if you have other suggestions.

What You Need to Know Before Giving to a Charity

Provided by librarians at the University of North Carolina Health Sciences Library.

Smoke-free Policies May Improve High Blood Pressure

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Cigarette

New research finds a connection between laws which ban smoking in public indoor areas and lower blood pressure. Listen to Dr. Goldstein and Dr. Battle discuss on Research that Matters.

If you’re ready to quit smoking, here are some helpful resources.

Provided by librarians at the University of North Carolina Health Sciences Library.

Healthy Holiday Eating

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Fruits and vegetables

Learn how to make healthier choices this holiday season.

Healthy Eating Tips

Healthy Recipes

Provided by librarians at the University of North Carolina Health Sciences Library.

Toy Safety

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teddy bears

December is Safe Toys and Celebrations Month. Consult these resources to select safe toys this holiday season and all year.

Recalled Toys and Products

Provided by librarians at the University of North Carolina Health Sciences Library.

Election Day Stress

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Vote button

The following is a transcript of a Research that Matters piece from YOUR HEALTH Radio “Tiny Changes Can Have a Big Impact” November 3, 2018.

Adam Goldstein: Actually something that’s really critically important to what’s happening in society today. How results of presidential elections affect health, and boy, this is a loaded topic.

Stephen Hooper: Yeah, the last election created enormous distress and just anecdotally, I’m sure you’ve heard, Adam, that there were lots of families, they were arguing at the dinner table about this one and the amount of stress was probably enormous afterwards.

Adam Goldstein: And you know it’s interesting because it may be presumed, well if you were supporting a particular candidate then you were more or less happier with that candidate and if you weren’t supportive you were unhappy. What I wonder, and that’s what this research is going to show, let’s just kind of give the punchline, what I don’t know is has this been like this forever. In this particular study among 769 college students followed after the election, they were looking at whether or not there were depressive symptoms, avoidance of certain people and situations and intrusions associated with this stress.

Stephen Hooper: Correct and the population was college students, rather a large sample about 769 and the findings was that quarter of those students 25% reported clinically significant stress symptoms related to the election. So what did they do about that? In many ways, you sit there and you say, well do these students need some help for those symptoms on one side of the equation and the other side is wow, what a number.

Adam Goldstein: Whether that translates into anger and frustration and depression, it turns out that this was found higher in sexual minorities and African Americans, perhaps not surprising given what’s happening in the country. And there was less stress by registered Republicans and males. Even 25% said that the election had a negative impact on relationships. Regardless, this is so concerning and I think as a healthcare provider the willingness to, when you know people are at risk, who may be at risk, you have to ask the question and be willing to listen and maybe refer for therapy if needed.

Stephen Hooper: Additionally I would add it also impacts and suggests the importance of that college age population in the voting world. It does have an impact.

Provided by librarians at the University of North Carolina Health Sciences Library.

On-again, Off-again Relationships

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Holding hands in front of ocean

Image https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Holding_hands_2.jpg

The following is a transcript of a Research that Matters piece from Oral Historians Collect “Stories to Save Lives” YOUR HEALTH Radio October 20, 2018

Dr. Adam Goldstein: Our very first research is about relationships that are on-again and off-again and does that lead to higher rates of adverse bad mental health? Were you ever in a relationship that was on-again or off-again?

Dr. Jamila Battle: Yeah, when I was young and in high school, you know.

Dr. Adam Goldstein: Young and reckless.

Dr. Jamila Battle: Young love.

Dr. Adam Goldstein: I kind of like, one year, then two years, then three years and all of a sudden, I got married. And I’ve been married 33 years, so I didn’t have too many of those on-again, off-again. But apparently it’s pretty frequent and the question is, from the researchers at the University of Missouri, is there something more to it that could actually be bad for your health?

Dr. Jamila Battle: Well prior research has estimated that more than 60% of adults have been involved in these on and off relationships and more than 1/3 of cohabiting couples report breaking up and later reconciling at some point. And that these relationships are often associated with higher rates of abuse, poor communication and lower levels of commitment.

Dr. Adam Goldstein: And this current study, they actually looked at data from 500 individuals who are currently in relationships and interviews and looking at their breaking up and getting back together. And they’re looking at how those events may be related and found that they were significantly associated. The more you had those type of episodes, the more you had psychological distress like anxiety and depression. It didn’t really matter if it was same-sex or heterosexual relationship. And that, I guess, is concerning, though I’m not fully certain what to make of it.

Dr. Jamila Battle: And I don’t think they really knew what to make of it either. But they did say that partners that break up and reunite for a number of reasons. And the common ones were necessity or practicality and that partners should get back together based on dedication not obligation.

Dr. Adam Goldstein: Yeah, I like that, though, I think it’s complicated, right? And certainly there’s lots of factors going into it, which is probably why they’re getting back together and breaking up and getting back together and breaking up. There. I think the key point is, and I like what they say, it’s okay to end a toxic relationship. I like that. If it’s not working, it’s not working. This is in the journal Family Relations. “Coming out and getting back in: relationship cycling and distress in same and different sex relationships.” I like the research even though I don’t understand it, fully.

Provided by librarians at the University of North Carolina Health Sciences Library.

Diet and Depression: What You Eat Affects Your Mental Health

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Fruits and vegetables

The following is a transcript of a Research that Matters piece from A History of Vaccines and Human Immunity, YOUR HEALTH Radio October 12, 2018

Dr. Adam Goldstein: A recent study in the journal, Molecular Psychiatry, that was looking at junk food and mental health. Do those foods actually increase the level of inflammation in the body? And this is what this particular study was looking at. Eating the junk food appeared to increase the risk of becoming depressed and the reason they thought that might occur is because these types of foods actually lead to inflammation. Foods that contain a lot of fat, sugar, processed foods. Systemic inflammation and in that case they argued that these types of foods are very similar to what you might from smoking, obesity, lack of exercise; things we talk a lot about on Your Health. And the question was, was this a causal relation or an association? And they looked at actually multiple studies, we call these sometimes systematic reviews, they put all these things together including reviewing five studies that looked over periods of time almost 33,000 adults from five different countries including the United States. They believe that these results are causal. So it wasn’t like, that people were depressed and then they started eating these foods, which one could see. But that the eating of these foods occurred before people became depressed and the more one ate of these foods the more one became depressed. This is certainly food for thought, pun intended. But it also suggests, perhaps as doctors and patients come together and mental health providers and really talk about depression, that maybe, diet becomes an important consideration. Maybe we talk about and share data that one of the ways to cut down on chances of depression or to get over depression is by eating foods that do not cause systemic inflammation. I’d encourage Your Health listeners to talk with your doctor about this type of research and what it may mean for your health.

TERMS

Provided by librarians at the University of North Carolina Health Sciences Library.

Fatty Liver Disease and Cirrhosis

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Illustration of the liver with surrounding anatomical areas depicted

Don Bliss, illustrator https://bit.ly/2NBSMyU

The following is a transcript of a House Calls from The Role of the Community Pharmacy, YOUR HEALTH Radio October 6, 2018

House Calls Question: My mother has suffered from fatty liver disease and cirrhosis for 10 years. She will probably pass away in the next few years because of the liver problems. Am I at risk of these same problems and if so, what can I do to prevent it from ever happening to me?

Dr. Adam Goldberg: You know, fatty liver disease, such a difficult disease, it’s really one of the top causes of cirrhosis or really end stage, ultimately, liver disease in the United States and worldwide. And you know, we are beginning to know more than we ever have known about it and it is strongly associated with obesity. Its associated with inflammation in the liver and just as obesity has lots of genetic causes, so that if you are obese and your parents are obese, it’s a good chance that your children will be obese and we have to intervene and really work at kind of changing some of those underlying genetic tendencies. Fatty liver disease has very similar, but again a lot of it may well be due to obesity, so how we can intervene to prevent the obesity or to lose weight would really be one of the most important things. I think talking with your doctor, getting tested to see, do you have any inflammation in your liver that could cause these kinds of problems, that would be something that would be really important to try to pick up on at the earliest as possible and do your best to prevent it. Medications that could cause liver disease, you’d probably be more likely to want to avoid those.

Provided by librarians at the University of North Carolina Health Sciences Library.

Happy Physician Assistants Week

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Paul ChelminskiOctober 6-12 is Physician Assistant Week. Listen to Dr. Paul Chelminski talk about the UNC Physician Assistant Studies Program and learn more about what physician assistants do.

Provided by librarians at the University of North Carolina Health Sciences Library.