Category: 8. Health

A study of young people in Hong Kong found that individuals with higher levels of depressive symptoms and those prone to impulsive reactions were slightly more likely to skip breakfast. Breakfast skipping was also associated with anxiety, but the strength of this association was negligible. The research was published in Frontiers in Psychiatry.

Breakfast is the first meal of the day, typically eaten in the morning after a night’s sleep. People around the world eat different foods for breakfast depending on culture, tradition, and availability. In many Western countries, breakfast includes eggs, toast, cereal, fruit, or yogurt. In East Asia, breakfast often consists of rice, soup, pickled vegetables, or steamed buns. Some people prefer a light breakfast like a smoothie or coffee, while others opt for a hearty meal.

Breakfast is considered important because it helps replenish energy and provides essential nutrients after a long overnight fast. Studies have shown that eating breakfast can improve concentration, memory, and academic performance in children. It may also help regulate metabolism and support healthy weight management. Skipping breakfast has been associated with an increased risk of overeating later in the day and poorer overall diet quality. For many, breakfast is also a time to begin the day with a moment of calm or connection with family.

Study author Stephanie Ming Yin Wong and her colleagues aimed to explore patterns of breakfast consumption among youth in Hong Kong and to investigate the associations between breakfast skipping, impulsivity, and symptoms of depression and anxiety.

They analyzed data from the Hong Kong Youth Epidemiological Study of Mental Health (HK-YES), the first territory-wide household-based mental health study in Hong Kong specifically targeting young people aged 15 to 24. Data were collected between 2019 and 2022. Fifty-eight percent of participants were female.

This analysis included data from 3,154 participants, with an average age of 20 years. Participants answered questions about their breakfast habits and completed assessments of impulsivity (using the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale–11), depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire–9), anxiety symptoms (Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale–7), and overall functioning (measured by self-reported productivity loss due to mental health problems and an interviewer-rated Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale).

Results showed that 85% of participants consumed breakfast either daily or intermittently, while 15% regularly skipped breakfast. Individuals who skipped breakfast tended to be slightly more impulsive, particularly in terms of attentional control and self-control. They also reported slightly more severe depressive symptoms and marginally higher anxiety symptoms. Compared to peers who ate breakfast, those who skipped it reported just under one additional day of reduced productivity per month and slightly poorer social and occupational functioning.

“Breakfast skipping is associated with elevated depressive symptoms in young people, with impaired attentional control being an important mechanism in this relationship. Encouraging young people to build regular breakfast habits may be incorporated as part of future lifestyle interventions for mental disorders and be further emphasized in public health policies,” the study authors concluded.

The study sheds light on the links between breakfast-related habits and mental health. However, it should be noted that the reported associations were all very weak and detectable only because the sample was very large. Additionally, the study was exclusively conducted on residents of Hong Kong. Results on other cultural groups may differ.

The paper, “Breakfast skipping and depressive symptoms in an epidemiological youth sample in Hong Kong: the mediating role of reduced attentional control,” was authored by Stephanie Ming Yin Wong, Olivia Choi, Yi Nam Suen, Christy Lai Ming Hui, Edwin Ho Ming Lee, Sherry Kit Wa Chan, and Eric Yu Hai Chen.

Neurogenesis — a process whereby new neurons are created — is said to continue throughout one’s life, even as the rate is considered to slow down with age | Image used for representational purpose only
| Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

In an interview on vaccine recommendations, health care professionals expressed growing concerns about the changing landscape of medical information dissemination. Laura Knockel, PharmD, BCACP, clinical associate professor at Iowa College of Pharmacy, emphasized the critical importance of relying on professional organizations and trusted health care providers for accurate vaccine information, stressing the rigorous safety testing of vaccines and the potential risks of misinformation. She warned that changes in vaccine recommendations could impact insurance coverage, patient access, and ultimately public health, particularly for vulnerable populations like low-income children. Further, she underscored the need for continued patient education, transparent communication, and a commitment to evidence-based medical guidance in an increasingly complex health care environment.

Drug Topics®: How will the trust of federal health entities be impacted for health care providers?

Laura Knockel, PharmD, BCACP: I think health care providers are going to struggle with where to go for accurate information. The first place we always looked was the CDC and the ACIP pages for that accurate information, but if we think just recently the COVID-19 recommendations changed, it was by done by a couple individuals on a video via a social media post rather than the traditional committee discussion, very transparent decision, and I’m really kind of concerned that that’s going to continue that way. So we need to find where to go to get that actual, accurate information. So I think leaning on professional organizations, the American Academy of Pediatrics [and] Infectious Diseases Society of America, are 2 good examples. A lot of these organizations have started to bulk up their vaccine resources or create specific vaccine resources for their clients, and it does seem to be accessible to the public. There may be some things behind a firewall, but I do think that their concern for getting out that correct, accurate, evidence-based recommendation is overriding their want to have it for their members only. So I really think that’s going to be one of the places that I’m going to lean on are those organizations.

Drug Topics: How can a pharmacist explain these changes to a patient worried about vaccine safety, especially if they heard conflicting messages?

Knockel: I’m encouraging patients to talk to trusted health care professionals and to not get their advice from social media or the internet or other strangers, focusing on the fact that vaccines have been studied before, during, and after FDA approval. I mean, they’re more rigorously tested than any other medications because we give them to healthy people, so we have a very, very low tolerance for risk for adverse events. So just really focusing on the fact that our vaccine safety program in the US is very robust even after FDA approval, and so hopefully that will help override some of the conflicting messages that they may be hearing.

Drug Topics: How do ACIP recommendations affect broader aspects of vaccine access and utilization, such as insurance reimbursement or public health programs?

Knockel: So right now, insurers are required to provide ACIP recommended vaccines at no cost to their patients, but if we narrow or remove a vaccine recommendation, that could lead to patients having to pay out of pocket for vaccines, which can cost hundreds of dollars per vaccine, and if a vaccine isn’t covered by insurance, a patient may be less likely to receive it. So if there’s not that demand from patients to have it, manufacturers may choose to stop making that vaccine, and so there’s just a real, huge vaccine access issue there if they aren’t even making the vaccine anymore, more of a public health look. If we look at Vaccines for Children, or VFC, it’s a federal program that provides free vaccines to low-income, underinsured children, and the ACIP specifically makes recommendations, and they vote on what vaccines should be covered by this VFC program. So if they change their recommendations for that, that’s only going to exacerbate these health inequalities that we have. So those are just 2 examples of putting up barriers to vaccination, when really we should be doing the opposite, making them more accessible and making them more convenient for our patients to receive.

Drug Topics: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Knockel: I guess my one piece would be what’s happening with vaccine policy at the federal level is irresponsible at best, and I would say extremely dangerous at worst, and can be overwhelming, especially when pharmacists have so many other demands on their time to try to keep track of all these updates that keep coming out. It’s almost like drinking from a fire hose, but I really think we need to stay up to date. Focus on educating the public and letting the patient, our patients, know the value of vaccines, and hopefully we can continue to keep our patients healthy.

READ MORE: Immunization Resource Center

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Stockholm County [Sweden], July 6 (ANI): People who have survived cancer as children are at higher risk of developing severe COVID 19, even decades after their diagnosis.

This is shown by a new study from Karolinska Institutet.

With medical science development in terms of research and technology, more and more children are surviving cancer. However, even long after treatment has ended, health risks may remain. In a new registry study, researchers investigated how adult childhood cancer survivors in Sweden and Denmark were affected by the COVID 19 pandemic.

The study included over 13,000 people who had been diagnosed with cancer before the age of 20 and who were at least 20 years old when the pandemic began. They were compared with both siblings and randomly selected individuals from the population of the same gender and year of birth.

The results show that childhood cancer survivors had a lower risk of contracting COVID 19, but were 58 per cent more likely to develop severe disease if they did become infected. Severe COVID 19 was defined as the patient receiving hospital care, intensive care or death related to the infection.

“It is important to understand that even though these individuals were not infected more often, the consequences were more serious when they did become ill,” says Javier Louro, postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet and first author of the study.

The differences in risk were particularly clear during periods of high transmission, such as when new virus variants such as Alpha and Omicron spread rapidly. In Sweden, where pandemic management was based more on recommendations than restrictions, the increase in risk was greater than in Denmark, which introduced early and strict measures.

“Our results suggest that childhood cancer survivors should be considered a risk group in future pandemics or other health crises. This could involve prioritising them for vaccination or offering special protection during periods of high transmission,” said Javier Louro. (ANI)

(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)

Parkinson’s disease is a “brain disorder that causes unintended or uncontrollable movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination,” according to the National Institute on Aging. Symptoms worsen over time, and people may eventually have trouble walking or talking. People with the disorder may also notice “mental and behavioral changes, sleep problems, depression, memory issues, and fatigue.”

Researchers at Lawson Research Institute (Lawson), the research arm of St. Joseph’s Health Care London, are investigating whether Ambroxol — a cough medicine used safely for decades in Europe — can slow dementia in people with Parkinson’s disease.

Published on June 30 in the prestigious JAMA Neurology, this 12-month clinical trial involving 55 participants with Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD) monitored memory, psychiatric symptoms and GFAP, a blood marker linked to brain damage. Parkinson’s disease dementia causes memory loss, confusion, hallucinations and mood changes. About half of those diagnosed with Parkinson’s develop dementia within 10 years, profoundly affecting patients, families and the health care system.

Led by Cognitive Neurologist Dr. Stephen Pasternak, the study gave one group daily Ambroxol while the other group received a placebo. “Our goal was to change the course of Parkinson’s dementia,” says Pasternak. “This early trial offers hope and provides a strong foundation for larger studies.”

Key findings from the clinical trial include:

• Ambroxol was safe, well-tolerated and reached therapeutic levels in the brain
• Psychiatric symptoms worsened in the placebo group but remained stable in those taking Ambroxol.
• Participants with high-risk GBA1 gene variants showed improved cognitive performance on Ambroxol
• A marker of brain cell damage (GFAP) increased in the placebo group but stayed stable with Ambroxol, suggesting potential brain protection.

Although Ambroxol is approved in Europe for treating respiratory conditions and has a long-standing safety record — including use at high doses and during pregnancy — it is not approved for any use in Canada or the U.S.

“Current therapies for Parkinson’s disease and dementia address symptoms but do not stop the underlying disease,” explains Pasternak. “These findings suggest Ambroxol may protect brain function, especially in those genetically at risk. It offers a promising new treatment avenue where few currently exist.”

Ambroxol supports a key enzyme called glucocerebrosidase (GCase), which is produced by the GBA1 gene. In people with Parkinson’s disease, GCase levels are often low. When this enzyme doesn’t work properly, waste builds up in brain cells, leading to damage. Pasternak learned about Ambroxol during a fellowship at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, where it was identified as a treatment for Gaucher disease — a rare genetic disorder in children caused by a deficiency of GCase.

He is now applying that research to explore whether boosting GCase with Ambroxol could help protect the brain in Parkinson’s-related diseases. “This research is vital because Parkinson’s dementia profoundly affects patients and families,” says Pasternak. “If a drug like Ambroxol can help, it could offer real hope and improve lives.”

Funded by the Weston Foundation, this study is an important step toward developing new treatments for Parkinson’s disease and other cognitive disorders, including dementia with Lewy bodies. Pasternak and his team plan to start a follow-up clinical trial focused specifically on cognition later this year.

Tokyo [Japan], July 6 (ANI): Gut bacteria are considered to be a key factor in many health-related issues. However, the number and variety of them are vast, as are the ways in which they interact with the body’s chemistry and each other.

For the first time, researchers from the University of Tokyo used a special kind of artificial intelligence called a Bayesian neural network to probe a dataset on gut bacteria in order to find relationships that current analytical tools could not reliably identify.

The human body comprises about 30 trillion to 40 trillion cells, but your intestines contain about 100 trillion gut bacteria. Technically, you’re carrying around more cells that aren’t you than are. Food for thought. And speaking of food, these gut bacteria are, of course, responsible for some aspects of digestion, though what’s surprising to some is how they can relate to many other aspects of human health as well.

The bacteria are incredibly varied and also produce and modify a bewildering number of different chemicals called metabolites. These act like molecular messengers, permeating your body, affecting everything from your immune system and metabolism to your brain function and mood. Needless to say, there’s much to gain by understanding gut bacteria.

“The problem is that we’re only beginning to understand which bacteria produce which human metabolites and how these relationships change in different diseases,” said Project Researcher Tung Dang from the Tsunoda lab in the Department of Biological Sciences, adding, “By accurately mapping these bacteria-chemical relationships, we could potentially develop personalized treatments. Imagine being able to grow a specific bacterium to produce beneficial human metabolites or designing targeted therapies that modify these metabolites to treat diseases.”

There are uncountably many and varied bacteria and metabolites, and therefore far more relationships between these things. Gathering data on this alone is a monumental undertaking, but unpicking that data to find interesting patterns that might betray some useful function is even more so. To do this, Dang and his team decided to explore the use of state-of-the art artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

“Our system, VBayesMM, automatically distinguishes the key players that significantly influence metabolites from the vast background of less relevant microbes, while also acknowledging uncertainty about the predicted relationships, rather than providing overconfident but potentially wrong answers,” said Dang. “When tested on real data from sleep disorder, obesity and cancer studies, our approach consistently outperformed existing methods and identified specific bacterial families that align with known biological processes, giving confidence that it discovers real biological relationships rather than meaningless statistical patterns.”

As VBayesMM can handle and communicate issues of uncertainty, it gives researchers more confidence than a tool which does not. Even though the system is optimized to cope with heavy analytical workloads, mining such huge datasets still comes with high computational cost; however, as time goes on, this will become less and less of a barrier to those wishing to use it. Other limitations at present include that the system benefits from having more data about the gut bacteria than the metabolites they produce; when there’s insufficient bacteria data, the accuracy drops. Also, VBayesMM assumes the microbes act independently, but in reality, gut bacteria interact in an incredibly complex number of ways.

“We plan to work with more comprehensive chemical datasets that capture the complete range of bacterial products, though this creates new challenges in determining whether chemicals come from bacteria, the human body or external sources like diet,” said Dang. “We also aim to make VBayesMM more robust when analyzing diverse patient populations, incorporating bacterial ‘family tree’ relationships to make better predictions, and further reducing the computational time needed for analysis. For clinical applications, the ultimate goal is identifying specific bacterial targets for treatments or dietary interventions that could actually help patients, moving from basic research toward practical medical applications.” (ANI)

(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)

People who breeze through multiplication often chalk it up to good teachers or hard study. New evidence shows that some brains start the race to learn math with stronger internal wiring.

Researchers also found that a tiny dose of brain stimulation, an electrical buzz, can narrow the gap for those born with weaker brain wiring.

For the study, a five‑day experiment was led by Roi Cohen Kadosh at the University of Surrey, working with colleagues in Oxford, Toronto, and Stanford.

The research centered on 72 right‑handed adults who trained on calculation or memorization tasks while researchers watched activity in the frontoparietal network and applied gentle current to specific sites.

Brain stimulation may boost math skills

Long before electrodes enter the picture, studies show that robust traffic between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and posterior parietal cortex (PPC) predicts sharper arithmetic gains in school‑age children and adults.

These front and back hubs share data with the hippocampus to shift a learner to quick fact retrieval.

People whose signals are faint across this route often stall at the procedural stage, echoing the classic Matthew effect in education, where early advantages snowball over time.

Testing brain stimulation for math education

Participants sat for baseline scans that gauged connectivity strength and local levels of the messenger chemicals GABA and glutamate, a well‑known marker pair for plasticity.

They then solved novel two‑operand problems either by learning an algorithm or by rote rehearsal. During practice, half received sham stimulation, a third received current over the left and right dlPFC, and the remainder over the PPC.

The team used transcranial random noise stimulation, a method introduced in 2008 that sprinkles high‑frequency currents over the scalp and temporarily boosts cortical excitability.

Random noise is thought to raise the signal‑to‑noise ratio for neurons that hover just below firing threshold, giving sluggish circuits a clearer pulse without overshooting in healthy tissue.

The device delivered less than a milliamp, about the tingle you feel from a nine‑volt battery on your tongue, and participants were blind to the condition.

Stimulation aids weak brain connections

Learners who started with feeble dlPFC‑PPC links but received frontal stimulation shaved reaction times on calculation problems by roughly six percent over five sessions, an edge the sham group never matched.

Those with naturally strong links showed no extra benefit and, in rare cases, slight interference when current was added.

The boost also hinged on neurochemistry. Improvement tracked with a drop in local GABA, hinting that the brain shifted into a plastic phase where change beats stability, but only when connectivity stayed modest rather than surging.

Efforts to improve math education

Drill trials, where answers were simply rehearsed, showed little or no gain from stimulation.

The authors suggest that memorization leans less on executive control and more on localized storage, so frontoparietal tuning adds limited value once the answer is locked in.

“So far, most efforts to improve education have focused on changing the environment, training teachers, redesigning curricula, while largely overlooking the learner’s neurobiology,” said Cohen Kadosh.

He added that addressing brain constraints directly could broaden access to diverse career pathways and reduce long‑term inequalities in income, health and well-being.

Brain stimulation may help math struggles

The results revive the idea that brief, well‑timed stimulation could pair with instruction to help stragglers close arithmetic gaps rather than languish under cumulative deficits.

Importantly, the benefit was selective, underscoring the need for screening tools that flag students with weak network strength before any device is applied.

Safety remains favourable at these intensities, but researchers warn against DIY use; stimulating the wrong region or at the wrong time could impair other skills or harden circuits prematurely.

Regulators are still drafting guidelines for non‑medical cognitive devices, and large‑scale school trials have yet to clear ethics boards. 

Broader implications of the research

Past work links higher math fluency in children to elevated parietal GABA, but the relation flips in adulthood, showing that the plasticity window moves with age.

This developmental switch reminds educators that interventions may need age‑specific dosing and targeting.

Animal studies and computational models further suggest that random noise can stabilize synapses once learning consolidates, offering a route to lock in gains without chronic stimulation.

Future projects will watch how long the boost lasts and whether repeated cycles can replace expensive tutoring for some learners.

The future of math education

While electrodes will never replace good teaching, they may act as scaffolds, lifting under‑connected brains so that practice sticks.

If larger trials replicate these findings and prove durable benefits, policy makers could consider targeted neuro-support alongside curriculum reform to help close the widening achievement gap that still defines math education.

The study is published in the journal PLOS Biology.

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• A new study linked daily coffee consumption to a potentially longer life.
• We asked experts to explain how the morning delicacy can have such an impact.
• There are a few catches.

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The ritual of brewing and sipping fresh coffee each morning is one many of us look forward to, and a new study’s findings may give you the push to pour another cup. Researchers connected coffee consumption to mortality among a large population of participants and found that coffee may actually help you live longer, with a few caveats.

Meet the Experts: David Perlmutter, M.D., a neurologist and fellow of the American College of Nutrition and Michelle Routhenstein, M.S., R.D., a cardiology dietitian at Entirely Nourished.

Keep reading to learn more about how your daily cup of joe may offer you more than a jolt of energy and happiness.

What did the study find?

Researchers tracked the self-reported coffee drinking habits of over 46,000 U.S. adults for nearly a decade. Participants disclosed how they drank their java. Regular or decaf? With sugar and milk or without? If with, how much? They then compared that information to National Death Index data to deduce how coffee consumption could have impacted mortality from all causes, including cancer and heart disease.

After examining the data, researchers found that drinking one to three cups of coffee per day was linked to a reduced risk of death from all causes, “especially when the coffee is black or has minimal added sugar and saturated fat,” explains David Perlmutter, M.D., a neurologist and fellow of the American College of Nutrition. Specifically, they found that drinking black coffee or coffee with less than 2.5 grams (or a little more than a half-teaspoon) of sugar and less than a gram of saturated fat from milk or cream per 8-ounce cup was associated with a 14% lower risk of dying from any cause compared to not drinking coffee at all, Dr. Perlmutter adds.

The catch here is, the study also found that most Americans add around 3.2 grams of sugar and a half-gram of saturated fat to each mug, which means the majority of coffee drinkers are less likely to get its life-extending benefits. “This is the problem with so many coffee specialty drinks that seem to be so popular,” Dr. Perlmutter says.

Benefits of coffee

There is plenty of existing research that purports coffee’s health boost. Without added sugar or fat, it’s a naturally good source of antioxidants like polyphenols and chlorogenic acid, explains Dr. Purlmutter. “These components and others help fight inflammation and oxidative stress,” he adds, both of which are contributors to chronic disease. That’s how coffee may help reduce risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and congnitive decline, “all of which influence lifespan,” he concludes.

Side effects of coffee

Coffee’s caffeine content can even exhibit perks by improving alertness, metabolism, and brain health, Dr. Pelrmutter says. However, there is such a thing as overdoing it and reaping negative side-effects such as anxiety, increased blood pressure, heart palpitations, digestive issues, and insomnia, says Michelle Routhenstein, M.S., R.D., a cardiology dietitian at Entirely Nourished.

She adds that a “very high coffee intake may also slightly reduce calcium absorption, potentially affecting bone health.”

How to drink coffee for good health

The study supports drinking one to three cups of black or minimally altered coffee per day. Dr. Perlmutter recommends keeping sugars below 2.5 grams and saturated fats below 1 gram per cup by using low-fat milk or plant-based creamer alternatives. Routhenstein adds that if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or have otherwise been prescribed a specific caffeine intake, follow your doctor’s recommendations.

Lastly, to avoid over-caffeination, Dr. Perlmutter suggests enforcing a “coffee curfew” that marks the time of day after which you turn off the pot. “I generally recommend 2 p.m. to minimize coffee’s impact on sleep,” he concludes.

For the project, a high-quality 360° VR video was produced in Europe’s largest Douglas fir forest, the Sonnenberg nature reserve near Parchim – complete with original sounds and the scent of essential oils from the Douglas fir. The participants experienced the virtual forest scenery either as a full sensory experience (with images, sound and scent) or in a reduced form whereby forest stimuli appealing to just a single sense – visual, auditory or olfactory – were used. In variants where only hearing or scent was activated, participants were placed in a neutral virtual environment to minimize visual stimuli and the influence of VR technology.

Significantly better effect with sensory combination

More than 130 participants were first put into an acute stress situation using stress-inducing images. Then, equipped with VR glasses, they experienced one of the four forest stimulation/ bathing variants. The results show that the combination of all three sensory stimuli led to a significantly greater improvement in mood and a stronger feeling of connection with nature compared to when individual sensory stimuli were presented. In addition to positive effects on mood, there were also limited improvements in working memory – the cognitive function that enables us to store, process and retrieve information in the short term.

However, the researchers point out that the effects are area-specific and cannot yet be considered universally valid. Further studies with larger samples are needed to confirm the results and provide a better understanding of the mechanisms behind the restorative effects of virtual nature experiences.

“We can already say that digital nature experiences can absolutely produce an emotional effect – even if they don’t replace actual nature,” reports Leonie Ascone, lead author of the study and researcher in the Neuronal Plasticity working group at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE).

Potential for clinics, waiting rooms and urban spaces

Simone Kühn, head of the study and Director of the Center for Environmental Neuroscience at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, adds: “Especially in places with limited access to nature – such as clinics, waiting areas or urban interiors – multisensory VR applications or targeted nature staging could support mental well-being. The images, sounds and scents of nature offer previously underestimated potential for improving mood and mental performance in everyday situations.” Kühn conducts intensive research into the effects of the environment on the human brain and, together with colleagues from universities in Vienna, Exeter and Birmingham, was recently able to prove that just from watching nature videos, patients perceive physical pain as less intense (Steininger et al., 2025).

In brief:

• Forest bathing in Virtual Reality improves emotional well-being and increases connectedness to nature, particularly when several senses (sight, hearing, smell) are simultaneously engaged
• The study used a 360° VR forest video complete with original sounds and the scent of Douglas fir essential oils
• There is potential for application especially in clinical, urban and other environments with limited access to nature