Amanda Guest Blogs: Somebody to lean on

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This Guest Blog Post is from Amanda Walbridge, one of Dr. T’s Health Psychology students:

Just how much of an effect can our peers have on our health? This research has shown that people with high levels of peer social support have a significantly lower risk of mortality than those who don’t. However, the extent of the effects of peer social support on risk of mortality varied based on age. Peer social support had greater effects for those who were between 38 to 43 years old; anyone who was below 38 or above 43 did not experience significant health benefits from high levels of peer social support.  Research has also shown an interaction between levels of control and risk of mortality between men and women.  Higher levels of control resulted in decreased risk of mortality for men, but resulted in increased risk of mortality for women.  These results suggest that optimal work environments vary based on age and gender.

Isaac Guest Blogs: Are final exams bad for our health?

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The Guest Blog Post is from Isaac Park, one of Dr. T’s Health Psych Students:

Finals are almost here at UCLA, and this is a hectic time when everyone’s diet, exercise regimen, and healthy lifestyle initiatives take a tailspin. This recent study investigated just this, looking at the effects of academic stress on health behavior in students. 180 students participated in either an exam stress group or a control group. Afterwards, they completed questionnaires about behaviors and stress. Results indicated that in the stress group smoking increased 54.7% and physical activity decreased. Also, alcohol consumption increased by 17% for individuals low in social support. This study ultimately shows how academic stress may play a major role in a student’s health behaviors, so for all of you preparing for the stressful week ahead, try to be conscious of your unhealthy stress management behaviors.

Nicole Guest Blogs: Too young to diet?

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This Guest Blog is from Nicole Praefke, one of Dr. T’s Health Psych students:

While it is obvious that childhood obesity is a rising problem in the United States, it is not so obvious what approach should be taken. There are parents that put their children on strict diets, there are parents that will do nothing because they believe their child will “grow out of it,” and there are many parents in between these two extremes. Dr. Keith Ayoob, as Liz Neporent points out in Childhood Obesity: Is 7 Too Young to Diet?, affirms that losing weight should always be about health and not weight especially in a child who is very vulnerable to acquiring body image issues. However, he emphasizes the importance of a child with obesity losing weight. Therefore, the most healthy way for a obese children to lose weight is to give them the healthy portions and make sure they get enough exercise through their play time. It is probably the case that this same suggestion applies to adults, so adults who strive to be healthy should eat right, control their portions, and exercise, but they should not extreme diet. Read more about this important debate here.

Haley Guest Blogs: A (mentally) healthy diet

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Haley McNamara, one of Dr. T’s Health Psych students, guest blogs again!:

Does your diet affect your mental health? In the scientific community, this is a difficult question to answer. Many studies on diet and nutrition rely upon notoriously inaccurate self-reporting measures. Furthermore, it is the minerals and nutrients found in food have an effect on the brain, not the food itself. All foods have an individual makeup, and it is therefore difficult to measure exactly what an individual consumes in their diet. Researchers have discovered that a “Mediterranean diet” high in fruits, vegetables, fish, and cereal is correlated with reduced risk of developing dementia, depression, and ADHD in children. The positive effects of a healthy diet on mental health may be due to substances in fruits and vegetables that decrease neuroinflammation. Another theory suggests that diets that are high in saturated fats can create “insulin resistance.” The inability to use insulin properly in turn has adverse consequences on neurological functioning. As it turns out, eating an apple a day really can keep the doctor, and psychiatrist, away. Read more about it here.

Take a deep breath

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Stress is a pivotal component of the DiSH Lab’s research (the “S” after all does stand for “stress”). Measuring physical stress, however, can be a complicated process, as the most common methods – saliva, blood, and hair – all involve biological sample collection, storage, and [oftentimes expensive] assays. Good news is that new research from Loughborough University and Imperial College London has made encouraging strides in identifying a way to measure stress through the breath. A new rapid breath test measurement was able to detect increases in two key compounds after experimental exposure to stress among 22 participants. Although this breath profiling technique is still in the early stages, it offers a really promising [and fast] alternative to current methods of stress measurement!

Izabel Guest Blogs: Green Tea and Chocolate Have Cognitive Benefits

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Izabel Khalili, one of Dr. T’s Health Psychology students, guest blogs again:

The research performed by Joseph Steiner and colleagues from John Hopkins University shows that green tea and cocoa may help in the prevention of neurocognitive impairments in patients with HIV. Patients with HIV have lower levels of brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF), the protein which leads to  survival and growth of brain cells responsible for learning, memory and higher thinking. Fortunately, it seems that the antioxidants in green tea and cocoa cross the brain’s blood barrier, and protect the brain neurons by producing BDNF. As a result, drinking tea and eating chocolate (moderately, of course) correlated with stronger cognitive activity.

Reed Guest Blogs: TED Talk on Eating and Exercise

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Reed Vierra, one of Dr. T’s Health Psychology students, guest blogs again!:

In this talk, AJ Jacobs, an editor at Esquire and author of “Drop Dead Healthy,” discusses the “extreme” methods he went through in order to become as healthy as possible. Many of these extreme methods include following typical medical advice that is more difficult to follow than he thought, such as dermatologists’ advice to apply a shotglass of sunscreen every 2 hours! One of the more interesting points he covers is that many individuals’ quest to optimize their health actually worsens their health in some regards–especially since they often reduce and neglect their social connections.

Ken Guest Blogs: Falling Can Be Fatal

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This Guest Blog Post is from Ken Huang, one of Dr. T’s Health Psychology students:

This New York Times article by Dr. Harley A. Rotbart, a professor and vice chairman of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, discusses falling and the heavy consequences that falling has for the elderly. We don’t usually tend to think of falling as that serious of an incident — we might get a scraped knee or a bruised elbow, but it’s not life threatening most of the time. However, for senior citizens, falling can be deadly. Reports from the CDC state that 1 in 3 people over the age of 65 will fall each year and “in that demographic, falls are the leading cause of injury death.” For women, who tend to have weaker bones at older ages, falls are twice as likely to lead to fractures than compared to men. However one-third more men die from falls than as compared to women. This isn’t just an issue for the elderly, but for the rest of us as well; injury from falls costs our society over $30 billion in medical treatment fees. The good news is that falls are largely preventable through a combination of approaches. Exercise, osteoporosis screening, properly house-proofing (installing stability bars in showers, removing tripping hazards, etc.), monitoring medications that can cause dizziness and motion problems, etc. are just some of the ways that falls or the dangerous affects of falls can be reduced.

Izabel Guest Blogs: Yoga for Caregivers

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This Guest Blog Post is from Izabel Khalili, one of Dr. T’s Health Psychology students:

When people become victims of prevalent diseases, their caregivers also become victims in a way, suddenly taking on stress and depression. According to a research done by the scientists in the University of California Los Angeles, it seems that a low-cost yoga program can improve the quality of life for caregivers and help them cope with their hardships. Researchers found out that meditation helps in reducing depression and increasing mental health. They also found that daily yoga practices, as short as 12 minutes per day, could reduce stress and improve cognitive functioning in caregivers. Meditation also increased caregivers’ telomerase activity and thus reduced cellular aging. These benefits, which only appeared in the researchers’ experimental group in eight weeks, suggest that incorporating a yoga program for the caregivers mentally help them deal with the difficulties they face in caring for the ill.

Julie Guest Blogs: Treatments for Back Pain Not Effective

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This Guest Blog Post is from Julie Nam, one of Dr. T’s Health Psychology students:

Epidural injections are often used to relieve back pain. However, a recent study under the guidance of Dr. Kris Radcliff found no significant differences between spine patients who had injections and the control group. Injected patients actually had less improvement than the control group. Although the study is small and may have outside factors, the unexpected results brings our attention of “what a pain” it is to treat pain.