Tag Archives: mental-health

Carvings October 15, 2025

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In the news

What are we doing to our children’s brains – and ours?

            In the course of doing some research for a PowerPoint presentation titled How the computer affects your brain and your health, I learned some disturbing facts about the effects of screen time and social media. Numerous studies have observed that heavy use of both – and note that the average adolescent spends 8.5 hours a day looking at one kind of screen or another – leads to memory problems, short attention span, decreased self-control and more negative behaviors.

            A Canadian study of pre- and barely-adolescents, 9 to 13 years of age, evaluated six measures of cognitive performance, including reading recognition, picture vocabulary, explicit memory and overall cognitive skills. In every category but one (pattern comparison processing speed) the more time spent on social media the greater the decline in these skills. Even the group with the lowest level of social media exposure showed poor cognitive performance. The authors of the study consider this a “pressing public health concern” and believe that the time has come for public policy action to address the issue.

            I believe that there is more for us to consider. First, the age range studied here is younger than the mid-teens, where social media activity is far greater than the 0.3 to 3.0 hours per day of these younger children. It is not a stretch to say that a similarly designed study among older children would reveal even worse outcomes.

            Second, the detrimental effect of many hours of screen time and social media participation is not limited to the young. The aging process does not shield us from harm. I would argue that we could all benefit from finding better ways to engage our brains.

            A couple of years ago I weaned myself from reading the daily newspaper, having asked if reading it really increased my font of knowledge, and if I felt uplifted by the time I put the paper down. I’m sure you know the answer. I no longer own a television for the same reason. Unfortunately, I still have a “smart” phone – is that an oxymoron? —  on which I had felt compelled to learn what’s going on in the world at least once a day. I recently decided to check the news on Sunday morning – period. I feel more calm already, and my book queue is getting shorter.  

Lifestyle

Exercise, the heart, the brain and the immune system

            It has been known for decades that regular exercise is necessary to maintain muscle mass. What is not known as widely is that persons who do not exercise lose heart muscle, not just the muscle that powers your arms and legs. This has two significant consequences. The first is that as we get older the heart cannot keep up with demand. The result is that fatigue comes quickly; the larger problem is that when the blockage of a coronary artery occurs there is less heart muscle reserve, so when a heart attack occurs there is less chance of recovery. The second is that the loss of muscle can eventually lead to chronic heart failure, a serious and common problem among the elderly.

            In regard to the brain, regular exercise keeps its blood vessel supple, better able to deliver nutrients and to remove accumulated waste products. But regular aerobic exercise such as walking, cycling, swimming, etc., also increases the volume of both gray and white matter in the brains of older persons.

            A third benefit of exercise is that it improves the responsiveness of the immune system to vaccines and to infectious agents, counteracting the gradual decline that most elderly persons experience.

            If you think that you don’t have time to exercise, consider these facts.

Carvings October 1, 2025

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In the news

Prescription drugs and fatal falls

            In the blog posted on June 15th I noted that some prescription drugs caused dizziness, resulting in falls. There is more to the story as noted in a recent publication in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

          About 40,000 people over the age of 65 die from falls every year, and many of these are directly related to four groups of drugs: benzodiazepines (e.g., Valium), opioids (e.g., hydrocodone, codeine), gabapentinoids (e.g., Gabapentin) and antidepressants, of which there is a wide variety.  They all have numerous side effects and all of them are associated with drowsiness, impaired balance and loss of coordination, conditions that lead directly to falls. 

          The authors of the study note that overprescribing of these drugs is a serious problem, that long-term use is to be avoided and that safer alternatives are available. In their opinion, more than 25,000 lives could be saved each year if these medications were used appropriately, i.e., that with rare exceptions they should not be used at all in persons over the age of 65.

          Persons taking these medications should consult with their physician to determine if their use justifies the risk.

Lifestyle

          I wrote about this topic three years ago but I’m repeating it here because I have recently talked with two persons in their 80s who have not yet had the shingles vaccine – Shingrix. That’s a serious mistake!

          Elderly persons are particularly at risk of shingles, a painful condition whose complications include severe chronic pain in affected areas, and even blindness when it involves the face. About 20 percent of persons over the age of 60 are going to get shingles. That number jumps to 50 percent at age 85

          The vaccine that was released in 2017 is 97 percent effective in preventing shingles and it probably will be protective for about ten years. (That is my personal opinion based on data to date but we’ll have to wait another few years to be certain.) Two doses are required and most recipients can expect some side effects such as a sore arm, headache, mild fever and feeling crummy for a day or two. These are insignificant when compared with blindness or pain that lasts for years. Those complications are not rare. They occur in about 15-20 percent of persons over the age of 80.

          It is strongly recommended for persons over the age of fifty, even those who have had shingles in the past or who have received the old vaccine (Zostrix).

Carvings July 15, 2025

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U.S. children’s health going downhill

            A very significant paper was published this month in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. It is the loudest wake-up call that I have heard yet, warning us of a deadly trend: American children from birth to age 19 years are nearly twice as likely to die as a cohort from 18 other high-income nations. Nearly half (!) – 45.7 percent — have a chronic health condition such as autism, sleep apnea, behavioral disorders and depression, among others. Nearly 21 percent of children are obese. (The figure was 5.2 percent in 1974.) The type 2 diabetes epidemic among children shows no slowing trend.

            It’s frightening to think what this scenario will be like two or three generations from now, knowing that the several causes of these conditions are unlikely to be reversed without severe, draconian regulations that no politician dares to propose. The multiple causes have been staring us in the face for decades but there is no national will to eliminate them.

            A major cause of the decline in our children’s health is the lack of outdoor exercise. Kid power is no longer needed for bicycles, skateboards or scooters. Team sports are over-organized, so that the kids expend minimal energy. A study of PE classes in schools revealed that the students were actually moving for only ten minutes out of an allotted hour.

            Processed foods high in salt and sugar have replaced vegetables. More than half of children are deficient in omega-3 fats that are crucial for brain development and function.

            The recent decision to remove artificial dyes from candy and other forms of junk food will have only a minuscule effect on children’s health. It is junk food, not just its coloring, that should disappear from grocery shelves. That is unlikely and so is the prospect that the nation’s children’s health issues will be reversed in this generation. The only hope is that individuals and their families will follow a healthy lifestyle.

Carvings May 1, 2024

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In the news

Walk, don’t run!

          “Running is not exercise; running is a sport.” I have repeated that comment over the years and I have taken a bit of flak as a result. No matter. I have thick skin and I can back up my statement. My follow-up: You can get hurt in a sport. You can’t hurt yourself exercising as long as you do it right.

            Runner’s knee is a common medical term. Walker’s knee not so much. Stress fractures and shin splints are much more common among runners.

            Several studies over the years have indicated that walking confers nearly the same health and longevity benefits as running does. Running is more efficient for humans than walking, since evolution has made humans excellent runners, but that’s where an advantage lies for walking as an exercise. Although it seems counterintuitive, walking, being less efficient than running, requires a greater expenditure of calories per mile. (Note: this is a much-argued issue and involves several factors that make comparisons difficult.)

             Not all studies account for the fact that runners usually have a different lifestyle than walkers. The former are more likely to have other good habits such as engaging in resistance exercise, i.e.., lifting weights and eating a better diet. Runners are less likely to be overweight and thus avoid its consequences, such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

            Although walking is an excellent exercise for the heart and lungs, it’s not enough. We need resistance exercises, especially for the upper body, in order to maintain strong bones.

            A caveat: do not carry hand weights while walking. That was a common practice in the 70s but it has been shown to lead to problems involving the elbow and shoulder joints, and the spine. Swinging hand weights also can throw you off balance, leading to falls.

            If you enjoy running, by all means do so. The endorphin rush adds a great deal to that enjoyment. But if your goal is to attain overall good health, walking about 2 ½ hours per week, the current recommendation, it means only 30 minutes a day, and it doesn’t have be done all at once.

Lifestyle

The return of the Saturday night bath?

            Stone Agers never bathed, except maybe by accident, just as animals don’t. (Ever try bathing a cat?) As the trend to bathe seldom or never picks up speed, especially among Californians (!) some serious research is being done to determine the advantages and disadvantages of bathing every day.

            I must admit that this question has been of interest to me since I began researching the lifestyles of Stone Agers, who were considerably healthier than those of us who live in the 21st century. (I can already visualize the raised eyebrows among you.) Consider that humans who lived 30,000 years or so ago had no coronary artery disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes or osteoporosis, nor were their lives shortened by alcohol, tobacco or drugs. We know that from studying modern hunter-gatherers who live as their Stone Age ancestors did, and who are entirely free of these diseases. It seems extremely unlikely that those ancient people bathed any more frequently than the animals that they ate – or who ate them.

            I didn’t take my first shower until I was seven years old when my parents moved to a house that had one. Until then my parents, my sister and I had a bath on Saturday night. (Yes, we did change the water!) I can’t recall that any of us had skin problems, nor do I recall that we smelled bad.

            Bathing every day does have some adverse effects but it isn’t clear that this is significantly detrimental to our health. No-bath proponents point out that nature coats our skin with natural oils and a layer of beneficial bacteria, both of which we remove with soap and hot water. The oils protect our skin from drying out and forming micro-cracks that allow harmful germs to enter. Those “good” bacteria ward off harmful ones and stimulate our immune system. Dermatologists have speculated for decades that harmful chemicals and heavy metals enter our bodies during a bath or shower.

            My personal opinion is that daily bathing is not necessary, that going shower-free two or three days a week might be of some benefit, and that a little deodorant on those days will eliminate the phew factor. Of course, showering is obviously needed after a sweaty workout or a busy day in the garden.

            A caveat: In contrast to a body wash, handwashing should be done several times a day, especially before eating anything and after elimination.