A timely reminder: The Great Recession and Mental Health in the United States

Posted on April 15, 2024 by Maurice Preter MD

Socioeconomic distress and decline of emotional health. Narrow focus but worth reading.

Public source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7413622/

“This study provides the first comprehensive look at how Americans’ mental health changed as a function of hardships during The Great Recession. While population-level mental health generally improved over the course of the study, each recession hardship experienced by an individual was associated with higher odds of long-lasting and transdiagnostic declines in mental health. These relationships were stronger for some sociodemographic groups, suggesting the need for additional support for people who suffer marked losses during recessions and for those without a strong safety net. The transdiagnostic findings and the similarity of effects across financial, job-related, and housing impacts also indicate that broadband public health interventions—rather than targeted interventions for specific symptom domains or recession impacts—may be an effective approach to providing mental health support for individuals who experience hardships during recessions. Ultimately, the adverse effects of The Great Recession on individuals’ mental health likely compounded and prolonged its economic costs. These findings thus highlight that government-funded mental health support in future recessions would not only ease individuals’ burdens, but could be a sound financial investment that may act to stimulate faster economic recovery.”

Posted in Events, Forensic Neuropsychiatry, Health |

Lung Microbiota: Its Relationship to Respiratory System Diseases and Approaches for Lung-Targeted Probiotic Bacteria Delivery

Posted on March 8, 2024 by Maurice Preter MD

Really interesting topic and paper (well illustrated too).

Eat more kimchi!

Source:

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.3c00323

Abstract

Microorganisms that make up the local microbiota (such as Lactobacillus sp. and Bifidobacteriumsp.) play a crucial role in the modulation of diseases and health states by taking place not only in the gut but also in many parts of our body. There is also interference between the gut and the lung via the gut–lung axis. The relationship between respiratory diseases and lung microbiota, which become more of an issue of particular importance in recent years, shows that probiotics play an essential role in maintaining the balance of microorganisms in the respiratory tract. However, studies on probiotics’ prophylactic or therapeutic application in chronic lung diseases are limited. In this review, the literature between 1977 and 2022 was surveyed. General information about human microbiota was accessed in earlier sources, and especially in the past decade, research on lung microbiota has been reached. The relationship between lung microbiota and important respiratory diseases such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia, cystic fibrosis, allergy-asthma, influenza, lung cancer, and COVID-19 infection, was scrutinized after mentioning human microbiota, the gut–lung axis, and respiratory tract microbiota. The mechanism of action of probiotics and the formulation approaches of probiotics in terms of pharmaceutical technology were reviewed. Finally, future perspectives on lung-targeted administration of probiotic bacteria with prophylactic or therapeutic potential, or both, were presented.

Posted in Affective Neuroscience, Aging, Complementary - Alternative Medicine, dietary, epigenetics, Health, metabolic, new treatments, News | Tagged , , , |

Phosphodiesterase Type 5 Inhibitors in Men With Erectile Dysfunction and the Risk of Alzheimer Disease

Posted on March 6, 2024 by Maurice Preter MD

A typical silly research paper title:

The point the authors are making is sildefanil and such compounds (ViagraR etc.) may be protective against Alzheimer Disease-type neurodegeneration. Or is it that the desire for, and frequency of intercourse are protective? 

Source: https://www.neurology.org/doi/full/10.1212/WNL.0000000000209131

Either way, this is one of the more interesting drug explorations in the world of “dementia drugs”. And repurposing a compound adds years of post-marketing surveillance.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Aging, Fifth Avenue Concierge Medicine, Health, keto, News, Psychiatry/Neurology, Sex |

Tamsulosin and the risk of dementia in older men with benign prostatic hyperplasia

Posted on December 8, 2020 by Maurice Preter MD
 
Comparative Study

 

2018 Mar;27(3):340-348.

 doi: 10.1002/pds.4361. Epub 2018 Jan 9.

Tamsulosin and the risk of dementia in older men with benign prostatic hyperplasia

 
Yinghui Duan 1 2, James J Grady 1 2, Peter C Albertsen 3, Z Helen Wu 2 4
Affiliations 

Abstract

Purpose: Clinicians use tamsulosin, an α1-adrenoceptor antagonist, to manage symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Because α1-adrenoceptors are also present in the brain, the potential exists for adverse effects on cognitive functions. We explored the association between tamsulosin use and dementia risk.

Methods: We used Medicare data (2006-2012) to conduct a cohort study among patients aged ≥65 years and diagnosed with BPH. Men taking tamsulosin (n = 253 136) were matched at a 1:1 ratio using propensity-scores to each of 6 comparison cohorts: patients who used no BPH-medication (n = 180 926), and patients who used the following alternative-BPH-medications: doxazosin (n = 28 581), terazosin (n = 23 858), alfuzosin (n = 17 934), dutasteride (n = 34 027), and finasteride (n = 38 767). Assessment began following the first fill of BPH-medication to identify incident dementia by ICD-9 diagnosis codes. We estimated hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for dementia using Cox proportional hazard regression for each of the 6 propensity-score-matched cohort-pairs.

Results: The median follow-up period for all cohorts was 19.8 months. After propensity-score matching, the tamsulosin cohort had an incidence of dementia of 31.3/1000 person-years compared with only 25.9/1000 person-years in the no-BPH-medication cohort. The risk of dementia was significantly higher in the tamsulosin cohort, when compared with the no-BPH-medication cohort (HR [95% CI]: 1.17 [1.14, 1.21]) and each of the alternative-BPH-medication cohorts: doxazosin (1.20 [1.12, 1.28]), terazosin (1.11 [1.04, 1.19]), alfuzosin (1.12 [1.03, 1.22]), dutasteride (1.26 [1.19, 1.34]), and finasteride (1.13 [1.07, 1.19]). The significance of these findings persisted in sensitivity analyses.

Conclusion: Tamsulosin may increase the risk of dementia in older men with BPH.

Keywords: benign prostatic hyperplasia; claims database; dementia; pharmacoepidemiology; propensity score matching; retrospective cohort study; tamsulosin.

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Posted in Aging, Fifth Avenue Concierge Medicine, Health, Psychiatry/Neurology | Tagged , , , |

LED strobe lights clear Alzheimer plaques?

Posted on October 25, 2020 by Maurice Preter MD

Integrative neuroscience…. A rare species indeed.

Very interesting and well written article on potential new treatments:

https://www.quantamagazine.org/stimulated-brain-waves-offer-a-possible-treatment-for-alzheimers-20200527/

 

 

Posted in Aging, Fifth Avenue Concierge Medicine, Health, keto, News, Psychiatry/Neurology | Tagged |