Healthcare must count costs of climate-driven mental illness and eco distress
(Justine Alford, Simon Levey/ Imperial College News) — Suicides, heatwave deaths for mentally ill, increased care needs and eco-anxiety among the uncounted costs of climate change, says a new expert report. Climate change and mental health are two of the most significant and pressing challenges facing societies across …
COVID-19 survivors may experience loss of brain tissue, according to new data
(Zahra Taheb/ Science Alert) — A new study that drew on data gathered by UK Biobank suggests COVID-19 survivors may suffer from a loss of gray matter over time.
The long-term experiment, which involved 782 volunteers, compared brain scans of individuals before the pandemic. For an analogy between pre-pandemic …
‘There are women out there not getting help’ for perinatal depression
(Susan Schwarz/ Healthing) — Dr. Vi Nguyen understands more than most about perinatal depression and anxiety.
As a reproductive psychiatrist at the McGill University Health Centre, she specializes in diagnosing and supporting women with depression and anxiety related to pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum …
New research adds to calls for better support for long COVID patients
(Elizabeth Payne/ Healthing) — New UK research showing loss of grey matter in the brains of people who had COVID-19 is being called the most definitive evidence yet of the serious long-term impact of the virus on the brain.
Using brain scans done prior to the pandemic as part of a massive UK health imaging study, researchers …
Drinking coffee cuts risk for liver problems, study says
(Sandee Lamott/ CTV News) — Drinking up to three or four cups of caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee a day reduces your risk of developing and dying from chronic liver diseases, a new study found.
Coffee drinkers were 21 per cent less likely to develop chronic liver disease, 20 per cent less likely to develop chronic or fatty …
How to make sense of the new findings on ‘forever chemicals’ in makeup
(Emily Chung, Alice Hopton, Inayat Singh/ CBC Health) — People who wear makeup such as lipstick or mascara may be absorbing or licking up potentially harmful ingredients that hang around for decades in the environment, according to a new study by researchers in the U.S., Canada and Switzerland.
Those ingredients, known as polyfluoroalkyl …
Canadian study looks at using radiation to treat Alzheimer’s
(Avis Favaro, Elizabeth St. Philip. Alexandra Mae Jones/ CTV News) — A CT scan is usually used to diagnose a problem, not treat it.
But Canadian scientists are using CT scans to test out a provocative theory: could low doses of radiation from the scans actually help treat Alzheimer’s?
Results from a small pilot study …
Can virtual reality help seniors? Study hopes to find out
(Terry Spencer/ CTV News) — Terry Colli and three other residents of the John Knox Village senior community got a trip via computer to the International Space Station in the kickoff to a Stanford University study on whether virtual reality can improve the emotional well-being of older people.
Donning 1-pound (470-gram) headsets …
Zoom fatigue: how to beat stress and anxiety at work
(Daniel Bardsley/ The National News) — When the coronavirus hit, one of the biggest upheavals was swapping office life for home-working.
But rather than the dream scenario some expected, it has brought new stresses and strains.
Back-to-back online meetings create feelings of exhaustion called “Zoom fatigue”. …