Author: healthtost

“Me time” could be referred to as a period when you allow yourself to sit with your own company. You remove your focus and mind from the daily demands and distractions and allow yourself to slow down. It is your time to think or focus on self-care, relaxation and personal activities that bring you joy and satisfaction. My time is important for several reasons. It provides a break from the pressures and responsibilities of everyday life, allowing for relaxation and a sense of calm. Spending some time alone with your thoughts can help develop a deeper understanding of situations and…

Many teenagers today are not OK — that’s the gist of both government data and the observations of Talkspace therapists. According to the CDC, 42% of high school students reported feeling very sad or hopeless, and 22% had seriously considered trying to kill themselves. In a research Talkspace providers who work with teenagers, 63% report that they believe the mental health of high school students has worsened over the past two years (and only 8% say it has improved). It is not easy for teenagers to get mental health support. School counselors are often severely overworked, treatment is out of…

CW: This post discusses suicide and suicide. Suicide Prevention Awareness Month is extremely important for many reasons, but one of the most important is that it is an opportunity to have open discussions about suicide and suicide prevention. It’s also a good time to share resources for those who may need them, as well as for people who want to share information with their loved ones and communities. Over the years, I’ve managed to amass an extensive list of suicide prevention resources, which I’d like to share again this year. Below are some links and descriptions to some of the…

One of us is a national health behavior advocate whose peer support work sparked a decade-long journey to reform the system. As a peer advocate, I have worked with a number of youth and young adults who have been involved in insurance nightmares. One person’s therapist stopped getting insurance after two years because she wasn’t getting paid on time and was losing money from low reimbursement. They were unable to pay and went without care for the remainder of their college education. Another young adult turned 26 and found that his therapist of six years was suddenly out of network…

I’ve spent years of my life on bipolar medication that doesn’t work — or, at least, bipolar medication doesn’t work as much as one would like. I know this isn’t the common refrain around medication – the common refrain is, take bipolar meds and get better – but it’s a reality many of us live with. So the question is, what do you do when the bipolar medication doesn’t work? What do you do when you have treatment-resistant bipolar disorder? Why doesn’t bipolar medication work? Why are some people resistant to treatment? I don’t know why bipolar medication sometimes doesn’t…

University of BC researchers have discovered surprising links between micronutrient deficiencies and the composition of gut microbiomes in early life that could explain why antibiotic resistance has increased around the world. The team investigated how deficiencies in critical micronutrients such as vitamin A, B12, folate, iron and zinc affected the community of bacteria, viruses, fungi and other microbes living in the digestive tract. They found that these deficiencies led to significant changes in the gut microbiome of the mice—notably an alarming expansion of bacteria and fungi known to be opportunistic pathogens. Importantly, the micronutrient-deficient mice also showed higher enrichment of…

A team of scientists from the Institut Pasteur used the database of the National Meningococcal Reference Center to trace the evolution of cases of invasive meningococcal disease in France between 2015 and 2022, revealing an unprecedented resurgence of the disease after the relaxation of control measures imposed on the of the COVID-19 outbreak. The newly reported cases were mainly caused by meningococcal serogroups that were less common before the pandemic, and there was a particular increase in cases in people aged 16 to 24 years. The results, published in Journal of Infection and Public Health on October 12, 2023, should…

What question were you researching? Despite the increased risk for substance use disorder and overdose death in the homeless population, benzodiazepine prescribing for this population has not been examined. Therefore, our team decided to answer the questions: What is the rate of benzodiazepine prescribing in homeless versus non-homeless veterans with mental illness in the VA system? Are homeless veterans more likely to receive dangerous and potentially inappropriate prescriptions? What methods did you use? We used logistic regression to compare the likelihood of benzodiazepine prescribing and tests to compare indicators of risky and potentially inappropriate benzodiazepine prescribing patterns for homeless…

A migraine is more than just a headache. Often the pain is accompanied by nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light and sensitivity to sound. Chronic migraine can be disabling and can prevent many, especially women, from contributing to working life. However, it often takes a long time for migraine sufferers to find a treatment that works well for them. Researchers at the Norwegian Center for Headache Research (NorHead) used data from the Norwegian Prescription Register to examine which medicines best prevent migraine in people in Norway: A lot of research has now been done on this topic in the past.…

This year’s European Antibiotic Awareness Day (EAAD) focuses on the objectives outlined in the 2023 Council Recommendation to strengthen efforts in the European Union (EU) against antimicrobial resistance in a One Health approach. These recommendations set a 2023 target to reduce overall antibiotic consumption (community and hospital sector combined) by 20%, using consumption data from 2019 as a baseline. Antibiotic consumption in the community accounts for approximately 90% of total use. This means that a substantial and consistent reduction in antibiotic use in this area will be crucial to achieving the set 2030 targets aimed at preventing and reducing antimicrobial…