Fixing depression, boosting vitamin D aid the heart — studies

MIAMI, United States — Taking steps to recover from depression and boost vitamin D levels may improve heart health, according to new research out Saturday.

The findings were contained in two studies presented at the American College of Cardiology conference in Chicago.

The first focused on depression, a known risk factor for heart attack, stroke and even death.

Researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City studied a registry of more than 7,500 people, and found when depressed patients get effective treatment, they can lower their risk of heart damage to the same level as a person who never suffered from depression.

“Our study shows that prompt, effective treatment of depression appears to improve the risk of poor heart health,” said Heidi May, a cardiovascular epidemiologist with the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute.

However, those who remained depressed had higher rates of heart problems — at a rate of about six percent, compared to around four percent of people without depression.

“The key conclusion of our study is: If depression isn’t treated, the risk of cardiovascular complications increases significantly,” May said.

A second study, also led by May, focused on two measures of vitamin D, which when too low can predict the likelihood of heart attack, stroke, heart failure or death.

Some 4,200 people aged 52 to 76 were studied. Most already had coronary artery disease (70 percent) and one quarter were diabetic.

For doctors who treat these patients, the most important measures of vitamin D are known as total vitamin D and bioavailable vitamin D, since both were “the most accurate in predicting harmful cardiovascular events,” said the findings.

“Our study found that low levels of both total vitamin D and bioavailable vitamin D appear to be associated with poor cardiovascular outcomes,” said May.

“And evaluating usable vitamin D could mean the difference on the amount of vitamin D prescribed, if it’s prescribed at all.”

May added that more research was needed to examine Caucasian and African-American patients, since these groups are known to be affected differently by vitamin D.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Allergies may boost chances of anxiety or depression symptoms

Kids who have allergies at an early age are more likely than others to also have problems with anxiety and depression, according to a new study.

As the number of allergies increase, so do internalizing behavior scores, the researchers found.

Internalizing behaviors include disorders, like anxiety or depression, that develop when people keep their problems to themselves, or "internalize" them.

“I think the surprising finding for us was that allergic rhinitis has the strongest association with abnormal anxiety/depression/internalizing scores compared to other allergic diseases,” said lead author Dr. Maya K. Nanda of the division of Asthma, Allergy, and Immunology, at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri.

Rhinitis includes the “hay fever” symptoms of runny nose, sneezing and itchy, watery eyes.

The researchers studied 546 children who had skin tests and exams at age one, two, three, four and seven and whose parents completed behavioral assessments at age seven. They looked for signs of sneezing and itchy eyes, wheezing or skin inflammation related to allergies.

Parents answered 160 questions about their child’s behaviors and emotions, including how often they seemed worried, nervous, fearful, or sad.

Kids who had allergic sneezing and itchy or watery eyes or persistent wheezing at age four tended to have higher depressive or anxiety scores than others at age seven, the researchers reported in Pediatrics.

Anxiety and depression scores increased as the number of allergies increased.

“This study can't prove causation. It only describes a significant association between these disorders, however we have hypotheses on why these diseases are associated,” Nanda told Reuters Health by email.

Children with allergic diseases may be at increased risk for abnormal internalizing scores due to an underlying biological mechanism, or because they modify their behavior in response to the allergies, she said.

Like other chronic diseases, allergic diseases may trigger maladaptive behaviors or emotions, she said, but some prior studies support a biologic mechanism that involves allergy antibodies triggering production of other substances that affect parts of the brain that control emotions.

Earlier studies have found links between allergies and anxiety disorders such as panic attacks or generalized anxiety disorders, Nanda said.

The new study took race, gender and other factors into account, “so the strong association between allergic disease and internalizing disorder we found is definitely present,” she said.

The severity of mental health symptoms varied in this study. Some children had anxiety and depression that needs treatment, while others were at risk and required monitoring, she said.

“We think this study calls for better screening by pediatricians, allergists, and parents of children with allergic disease,” she said. “Too often in my clinic I see allergic children with clinical anxiety [or] depressive symptoms; however, they are receiving no care for these conditions.”

“We don't know how treatment for allergic diseases may effect or change the risk for internalizing disorders and we hope to study this in the future,” Nanda said. — Reuters

Heart attacks often misdiagnosed as anxiety in women: study

OTTAWA - Women are more likely to die of heart attacks because their symptoms are often misdiagnosed as anxiety so they do not get vital swift treatment, said a study Monday.

Researchers at McGill University in Montreal set out to understand sex differences in mortality rates for men and women with acute coronary syndrome.

They asked 1,123 patients aged 18 to 55 to fill out a survey after being admitted to one of 24 hospitals in Canada, one in the United States and one in Switzerland.

The women in the study, the researchers found, generally came from lower income brackets, were more likely to have diabetes, high blood pressure and a family history of heart disease.

They also had substantially higher levels of anxiety and depression than the men.

The researchers noted that the men received faster access to electrocardiograms (ECGs) to check heart rhythms and fibrinolysis to prevent blood clots than the women.

Early treatment for a heart attack can prevent or limit damage to the heart muscle, while saving the person's life.

On average it took 15 minutes and 28 minutes, respectively, for men to be given ECGs or fibrinolysis from the time they arrived at an emergency room.

In contrast, it took 21 minutes and 36 minutes for women.

The researchers pointed to the women's higher levels of anxiety as the primary reason for the discrepancy.

"Patients with anxiety who present to the emergency department with non-cardiac chest pain tend to be women, and the prevalence of acute coronary syndrome is lower among young women than among young men," said lead researcher Louise Pilote.

"These findings suggest that triage personnel might initially dismiss a cardiac event among young women with anxiety, which would result in a longer door-to-ECG interval."

The findings were published in the current issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Battling Alzheimer’s in US, TOYM awardee Alberto Florentino thought of suicide

Exclusive of the Filipino Reporter, a content partner of GMA News Online

Alberto S. Florentino, one of the Philippines’ surviving literary treasures, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in early 2012 and has been suffering from depression ever since, according to his wife, Eva San Jose Florentino.

Formerly based in New York City, he is now residing at an assisted-living facility in Portland, Oregon.

Eva lives in a nearby apartment and regularly checks on him.

Born in Nueva Ecija on July 28, 1931, Florentino, now 81, is a prolific author and playwright who shot to fame in the 1950s with his work, “The World is an Apple,” one of the most performed plays in the Philippines to this day and which also gave him his first Carlos Palanca Award in 1954 when he was just 23 years old.

He is a contemporary of Nick Joaquin, Jose Garcia Villa and NVM Gonzalez.

Also known as the main scriptwriter of the award-winning TV drama series in the 60s and 70s “Balintataw,” he has written 100 plays for television and cinema, and more than 50 for stage, besides having published several collections of his own plays and more than 70 titles by other Filipino authors.

He became a TOYM (Ten Outstanding Young Men) awardee for literature in 1960, an honor he shared with then Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., (for public service).

In 2008, Florentino was given a Presidential Medal of Merit for being a distinguished literary giant.

Today, the former University of the Philippines (U.P.) professor is no longer writing and spends most of his time reading books at Laurelhurst Village, a senior care community in Portland.

“He loves to buy books on sale and get the old ones thrown out by libraries,” Eva told the Filipino Reporter in an exclusive interview on Christmas Day.

“Yun na lang ang kaligayahan niya sa ngayon.”

“He has no friends here because we just moved here and most of his surviving friends are either in New York or Manila,” said Eva, herself a writer, art curator and retired university professor.

The couple relocated to Portland to be close to their daughter Lisa, a voice teacher who has a private studio there.

Eva recalled that her husband’s depression came upon when his doctor told him he’s in the early stages of Alzheimer’s.

The diagnosis was a result of a medical test after Florentino got lost twice and couldn’t find his way home from his regular trip to a coffee shop.

“Bert couldn’t accept the fact that he has Alzheimer’s which he knows is a progressive disease that has no cure,” shared Eva.

“He used to be so good at computers but he couldn’t write anymore and his depression only worsened. He started acting strange and even became suicidal, threatening to jump from a building.”

At one point, Florentino reportedly requested for an assisted suicide, which is legal in Oregon, as long as it is self-administered.

But Eva said the doctor told him he’s not qualified to receive it since he has Alzheimer’s which, by definition, robs its victims of good judgment and the capacity to understand consequences — and ultimately the ability to carry out their own deaths.

Florentino’s condition has taken its toll on their family, according to Eva, which was aggravated by the sudden passing of one of their daughters, Sonya, 52, who was found dead in her Manhattan apartment in November.

The cause of death was pneumonia.

“We all try to be strong for each other,” Eva said, “especially me, I already had quadruple bypass. I cannot die. Not now. Hindi ako puwede mamatay because my husband needs me.”

“I thank God we’re holding up well and my whole family is my source of strength,” she added.

“Like this Christmas, all of our children and grandchildren are here with us. Even our daughter Leila, who is based in Paris, flew in with her daughter Tess to be with us again.”

The Florentinos’ have a fourth daughter, Angeli, who is a social worker in New York City.

At present, Florentino is under medication and has been seeing a psychologist every other week.

“He’s okay as long as he taking his medication religiously,” Eva said.

“Aside from reading, he goes to concerts and watches movies. Like the the other day we watched the movie ‘Lincoln’ and he loved it. We talked about the movie.”

“He hasn’t lose cognition,” she added.

“He still remembers people and events. He stays in my apartment during weekends, but it’s better that he’s in the assisted-living facility where he is closely monitored.”

When the Reporter got a chance to talk to Florentino on the phone recently, he sounded coherent and even talked about his illness.

“The doctor told me I have Alzheimer’s...and I’m battling this terrible depression,” he said.

“But I’m aware of what’s going on around me. I feel fine and I feel normal. I know you...and I know all of my friends. Just pray for me.”

For those who want to get in touch with Bert Florentino, e-mail Eva at evasjflorentino@aol.com

To send him a card or letter, e-mail it to Eva’s apartment at 333 NW 4th Avenue, Apt. 327, Portland, Oregon 97209. - Filipino Reporter

 

source: gmanetwork.com