DECRIMINALIZE DRUGS

Illicit drugs are used by one in ten intensive cardiac care unit patients

Reports and Proceedings

EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF CARDIOLOGY

Barcelona, Spain – 26 Aug 2022: Illicit drug use is associated with a nearly nine-fold greater risk of death or life-threatening emergencies in intensive cardiac care unit (ICCU) patients, according to research presented at ESC Congress 2022.1

Study author Dr. Theo Pezel of Hospital Lariboisiere, Paris, France said: “Our study shows that patients with acute cardiovascular conditions who take illegal drugs are more likely to die or experience cardiac arrest or cardiogenic shock while in hospital compared with non-users. Multiple drug users had an 11-fold risk of a poor in-hospital prognosis compared with those taking one drug.”

Illicit drug use has increased by 22% in the past decade to an estimated 275 million people worldwide.2 In the EU, approximately 83.4 million (29%) of 15 to 64 year-olds have ever used an illicit drug.3 Cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine; MDMA), amphetamines, and heroin or other opioids are the most commonly used substances. Illicit drugs have been linked with acute cardiovascular events including heart attacks and aortic dissection4,5 but the prevalence of drug use in ICCU patients, and the short-term consequences, remain unknown.

The Addiction in Intensive Cardiac Care Units (ADDICT-ICCU) study assessed the prevalence of illicit drug use and the association with in-hospital major adverse events in consecutive patients admitted for acute cardiovascular events. From 7 to 22 April 2021, all consecutive patients admitted to ICCU in 39 centres throughout France provided a urine sample which was tested for illegal drugs. The primary outcome was the prevalence of illegal drug use. The secondary outcome was in-hospital major adverse events, defined as death, resuscitated cardiac arrest or cardiogenic shock.

A total of 1,499 patients were screened, of which 70% were men. The average age was 63 years. Reasons for admission included myocardial infarction, acute heart failure, arrhythmias, myocarditis and pulmonary embolism. Some 161 patients (10.7%) had a positive test for at least one illicit drug. Regarding the types of drugs, 9.1% tested positive for cannabis, 2.1% for opioids, 1.7% for cocaine, 0.7% for amphetamines and 0.6% for MDMA.

Patients who used illicit drugs tended to be young: one-third (33%) of patients under 40 years of age were users compared with just 6% of those aged 60 years or above. Some 12% of men were users compared to 8% of women. All patients completed a questionnaire in which they were asked if they currently used illicit drugs. Of those with a positive urine drug test, just 56.5% reported current use while 43.5% claimed they did not use drugs.

During a median hospitalisation of five days, 61 patients (4.1%) had a major adverse event. Illicit drug use was associated with an almost nine-fold odds of major adverse events after adjusting for comorbidities (odds ratio [OR] 8.84; 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.68–16.7; p<0.001). After adjustment for age and sex, cannabis use was associated with a three-fold odds of major adverse events (OR=3.53; 95% CI 1.25–9.95; p<0.001) while cocaine was associated with a five-fold odds (OR=5.12; 95% CI 1.48–17.2; p=0.004).

Of those using drugs, 28% took more than one type of drug. Multiple drug use was associated with a higher incidence of major adverse events than single drug use, with an odds ratio of 11.4 (95% CI 4.31–32.7; p<0.001).

Dr. Pezel said: “Illicit drug use was common in ICCU patients but under-reported. Users admitted for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and acute heart failure had particularly high risks of death, cardiac arrest or cardiogenic shock with odds ratios of 28.8  and 12.8, respectively. Our results suggest that patients admitted to ICCU should be tested for drugs to identify those with an increased likelihood of detrimental outcomes.”

 

ENDS

Notes to editors

Authors: ESC Press Office
Mobile: +33 (0)7 85 31 20 36
Email: press@escardio.org

The hashtag for ESC Congress 2022 is #ESCCongress.

Follow us on Twitter @ESCardioNews 

 

Funding: Institutional grant from the ‘Fondation Coeur et Recherche’, Paris, France.

Disclosures: None.

 

References and notes

1The abstract “Prevalence of illicit drugs use and association with in-hospital major adverse events in patients hospitalised for acute cardiac events: the ADDICT-ICCU Trial” will be presented during the session Acute cardiac care and COVID on Monday 29 August at 15:15 to 16:00 CEST at Station 5.

2World Drug Report 2021. United Nations: Office on Drugs and Crime. //www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/wdr2021.html

3European Drug Report 2022: Trends and Developments. European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/2d48883c-ed1f-11ec-a534-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-PDF/source-search

4Havakuk O, Rezkalla SH, Kloner RA. The cardiovascular effects of cocaine. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2017;70:101–113.

5Jouanjus E, Lapeyre-Mestre M, Micallef J, Cannabis use: signal of increasing risk of serious cardiovascular disorders. J Am Heart Assoc. 2014;3:e000638.

 

About the European Society of Cardiology

The European Society of Cardiology brings together health care professionals from more than 150 countries, working to advance cardiovascular medicine and help people lead longer, healthier lives.

About ESC Congress 2022

It is the world’s largest gathering of cardiovascular professionals, disseminating ground-breaking science both onsite in Barcelona and online – from 26 to 29 August. Explore the scientific programme. More information is available from the ESC Press Office at press@escardio.org.

Good sleepers have lower risk of heart disease and stroke

Reports and Proceedings

EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF CARDIOLOGY

Barcelona, Spain – 26 Aug 2022: Nine in ten people do not get a good night’s sleep, according to research presented at ESC Congress 2022.1 The study found that suboptimal sleep was associated with a higher likelihood of heart disease and stroke. The authors estimated that seven in ten of these cardiovascular conditions could be prevented if everyone was a good sleeper.

“The low prevalence of good sleepers was expected given our busy, 24/7 lives,” said study author Dr. Aboubakari Nambiema of INSERM (the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research), Paris, France. “The importance of sleep quality and quantity for heart health should be taught early in life when healthy behaviours become established. Minimising night-time noise and stress at work can both help improve sleep.”

Previous studies on sleep and heart disease have generally focused on one sleep habit, such as sleep duration or sleep apnoea, where breathing stops and starts while sleeping. In addition, prior studies have often assessed sleep at baseline only. The current study used a healthy sleep score combining five sleep habits. The researchers investigated the association between the baseline sleep score, and changes over time in the sleep score, and incident cardiovascular disease.

This study included 7,200 participants of the Paris Prospective Study III (PPP3), an observational community‐based prospective cohort. Men and women aged 50 to 75 years and free of cardiovascular disease were recruited in a preventive medical centre between 2008 and 2011. The average age was 59.7 years and 62% were men. Participants underwent a physical examination and completed questionnaires on lifestyle, personal and family medical history, and medical conditions.

Questionnaires were used to collect information on five sleep habits at baseline and two follow up visits. Each factor was given 1 point if optimal and 0 if not. A healthy sleep score ranging from 0 to 5 was calculated, with 0 or 1 considered poor and 5 considered optimal. Those with an optimal score reported sleeping 7 to 8 hours per night, never or rarely having insomnia, no frequent excessive daytime sleepiness, no sleep apnoea, and an early chronotype (being a morning person). The researchers checked for incident coronary heart disease and stroke every two years for a total of 10 years.

At baseline, 10% of participants had an optimal sleep score and 8% had a poor score. During a median follow up of eight years, 274 participants developed coronary heart disease or stroke. The researchers analysed the association between sleep scores and cardiovascular events after adjusting for age, sex, alcohol consumption, occupation, smoking, body mass index, physical activity, cholesterol level, diabetes, and family history of heart attack, stroke or sudden cardiac death. They found that the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke decreased by 22% for every 1 point rise in the sleep score at baseline. More specifically, compared to those with a score of 0 or 1, participants with a score of 5 had a 75% lower risk of heart disease or stroke.

The researchers estimated the proportion of cardiovascular events that could be prevented with healthier sleep. They found that if all participants had an optimal sleep score, 72% of new cases of coronary heart disease and stroke might be avoided each year.

Over two follow ups, almost half of participants (48%) changed their sleep score: in 25% it decreased whereas in 23% it improved. When the researchers examined the association between the change in score and cardiovascular events, they found that a 1 point increment over time was associated with a 7% reduction in the risk of coronary heart disease or stroke.

Dr. Nambiema said: “Our study illustrates the potential for sleeping well to preserve heart health and suggests that improving sleep is linked with lower risks of coronary heart disease and stroke. We also found that the vast majority of people have sleep difficulties. Given that cardiovascular disease is the top cause of death worldwide, greater awareness is needed on the importance of good sleep for maintaining a healthy heart."

 

ENDS

Notes to editors

Authors: ESC Press Office
Mobile: +33 (0)7 85 31 20 36
Email: press@escardio.org

 

The hashtag for ESC Congress 2022 is #ESCCongress.

Follow us on Twitter @ESCardioNews 

 

Funding: The PPS3 was supported by grants from the National Research Agency (ANR), the Region Ile de France (Domaine d’Intérêt Majeur), the Research Foundation for Hypertension (RFHTA), the Research Institute in Public Health (IRESP), Horizon 2020 ESCAPE-NET, and FRM Team grant.

 

Disclosures: Nothing to declare.

 

References and notes

1The abstract “Healthy sleep score and incident cardiovascular diseases: the Paris Prospective Study III (PPS3)” will be presented during the session Sleep disorders and apnoea, physical inactivity on Saturday 27 August at 14:15 to 15:00 CEST at Station 4.

 

About the European Society of Cardiology

The European Society of Cardiology brings together health care professionals from more than 150 countries, working to advance cardiovascular medicine and help people lead longer, healthier lives.

About ESC Congress 2022

It is the world’s largest gathering of cardiovascular professionals, disseminating ground-breaking science both onsite in Barcelona and online – from 26 to 29 August. Explore the scientific programme. More information is available from the ESC Press Office at press@escardio.org.

Natural climate solutions help mitigate climate change in China

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES HEADQUARTERS

Natural climate solutions (NCS), which comprise various land stewardship options, are approaches to trapping carbon in terrestrial pools and/or reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. They are critical for slowing down the rate of global warming over the next few decades.

An international research group led by Prof. FU Bojie from the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has now quantified China's NCS and their contribution to climate change mitigation. Results were published online in Natural Climate Change on Aug. 18.  

The researchers used data from the literature, forestry inventories, public databases and policy documents to estimate the climate mitigation associated with China's 16 NCS pathways, including conservation, restoration, and improved management of forest, grassland, cropland and wetland ecosystems. Results were: 0.6 Pg (or 8% of industrial CO2 emissions) per year for 2000–2020; 0.6 Pg (or 6% of industrial CO2 emissions) per year for 2020–2030; and 1.0 Pg CO2 equivalent (CO2e) per year for 2020–2060. If the post-2020 carbon sink from previous NCS activities is included, China's NCS would counterbalance 11-12% of industrial CO2 emissions by 2030. The researchers also calculated that 26–31%, 62–65%, and 90–91% of the future potentials can be achieved at the cost thresholds of 10, 50 and 100 US$ per Mg of CO2e, respectively.  

The modest proportion of China's industrial CO2 emissions that can be counterbalanced by NCS shows that transforming energy use and rapidly applying low-carbon technologies are urgent priorities for climate mitigation. However, Prof. FU pointed out that when it comes to achieving steep reductions in emissions, the potential of technology continues to narrow and costs continue to rise. For this reason, Prof. FU said that "strengthening natural climate solutions will play an important role in China's Nationally Determined Contribution and carbon neutrality."

The researchers also found that different regions and provinces have distinct NCS options and mitigation potentials, due to regional heterogeneity in natural conditions, ecosystem characteristics, and management methods. The researchers suggested that in order to realize the maximum potential of NCS along with the co-benefits of biodiversity and ecosystem services, it is necessary to formulate a multilevel governance strategy that captures regional differences in various NCS pathways. 

Prof. FU said that realization of maximum mitigation potential of future ecosystems depends on "multipath management of large land areas." He also noted that "comprehensive upgrading of the nation's ecosystem management strategy" is needed.  

To meet this goal, the researchers said that overall investment in ecosystem management should be ensured and efficiency improved. Due to limited natural resources and economic capital, it's necessary to carefully plan forestation, enclosing grasslands and reclaiming farmland, in order to avoid blind expansion. The researchers also noted the critical importance of protecting the existing ecosystem, and seeking diversified management pathways through technological innovation and achieving synergies. 

Researchers from Boston College and Auburn University in the U.S., Peking University and Beijing Normal University in China, CEA, CNRS and UVSQ in France, and the University of Aberdeen in the United Kingdom participated in the study, which was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the National Key R&D Program of China.

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JOURNAL

Nature Climate Change

DOI

10.1038/s41558-022-01432-3 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Meta-analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Biophysical and economic constraints on China’s natural climate solutions

Oldest case of a rare genetic condition discovered

A group of international researchers has uncovered evidence of a super rare genetic condition that gives men an extra X chromosome, reporting the oldest clinical case of Klinefelter Syndrome to date.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE SKULL SHOW ANTERIOR (A) AND LATERAL (B) VIEWS WITH A PROBABLE MALOCCLUSION AND MAXILLARY PROGNATHISM DENOUNCED BY ATYPICAL DENTAL WEAR. view more 

CREDIT: THE LANCET

A group of international researchers has uncovered evidence of a super rare genetic condition that gives men an extra X chromosome, reporting the oldest clinical case of Klinefelter Syndrome to date.

The evidence comes from a 1,000-year-old skeleton from Portugal.

Klinefelter Syndrome is a rare genetic condition where individuals are born with an extra copy of the X chromosome, occurring in approximately one in 1,000 genetic-male births.

The study coordinated by Dr João Teixeira, an ARC DECRA Fellow at The Australian National University (ANU), brought together a multidisciplinary team that combined genetic, statistical, archaeological and anthropological information to establish a definitive diagnosis.

The team began by analysing genetic information obtained from a skeleton found in northeastern Portugal that had been radiocarbon dated to the 11th century by researchers from the University of Coimbra in Portugal.

“We were immediately excited the first time we looked at the results,” Dr Teixeira said. “However, ancient DNA, is often degraded and of low quality and abundance, meaning we were initially cautious.”

The researchers say the findings will help establish a historic record for Klinefelter Syndrome, as well as enhance understanding of its prevalence throughout human history.

“Our research shows the immense potential of combining different lines of evidence to study the human past, and the frequency of different health conditions through time,” Dr Teixeira said.

Associate Professor Bastien Llamas, Head of Molecular Anthropology at the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, said: “In recent years, ancient DNA helped rewrite the history of worldwide human populations. Our study demonstrates it is now a valuable resource for biomedical research and the growing field of evolutionary medicine”.

The DNA was extracted by PhD student at the University of Adelaide, Xavier Roca-Rada, who said “genetic analysis was undertaken to computationally map the degraded DNA fragments of the X and Y chromosomes to the reference human genome”.

Given the well preserved state of the specimen, the researchers were also able to determine physical traits in the skeleton compatible with Klinefelter Syndrome.

“Given the fragile state of the DNA, we developed a new statistical method that could take into account the characteristics of ancient DNA, and our observations to confirm the diagnosis,” Dr Teixeira said.

“While the study offers compelling evidence for the genetic history of Klinefelter Syndrome, no sociological implications can be drawn from this diagnostic."

The researchers suggest their new method to analyse this particular skeleton can be further improved to study different chromosomal abnormalities in other archaeological specimens, including Down Syndrome. 

This research is published in The Lancet. An image is also available for download.

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JOURNAL

The Lancet

DOI

10.1016/S0140-6736(22)01476-3 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Human tissue samples

ARTICLE TITLE

Oldest case of a rare genetic condition discovered

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

26-Aug-2022

Slugs, snails are not alone in causing rat lungworm disease in humans

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA

 

IMAGE: PLATYDEMUS MANOKWARI, AN INTRODUCED FLATWORM PRESENT IN HAWAI‘I, WHICH CAN ACT AS A PARATENIC HOST OF THE RAT LUNGWORM PARASITE AND THAT HAS BEEN IMPLICATED IN CAUSING RAT LUNGWORM DISEASE IN OKINAWA. view more 

CREDIT: SHINJI SUGIURA.

A review of decades of research revealed more than a dozen kinds of animals in addition to slugs and snails have caused rat lungworm disease in people around the world.

Researchers from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and the University of London (UK) combed through nearly 140 scientific studies published between 1962 and 2022 and found 32 species of freshwater prawns/shrimp, crayfish, crabs, flatworms, fish, sea snakes, frogs, toads, lizards, centipedes, cattle, pigs, and snails can act as carriers of the rat lungworm parasite (Angiostrongylus cantonensis). Of these, at least 13 species of prawns/shrimp, crabs, flatworms, fish, frogs, toads, lizards, and centipedes have been associated with causing rat lungworm disease in humans.

This work was the master’s degree thesis research of the first author, Helena Turck, as part of a graduate program in One Health jointly run by the Royal Veterinary College and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, both part of the University of London, UK. Robert Cowie, senior author on the study and faculty member in the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), supervised Turck’s research remotely during the pandemic and co-authored the new publication. Professor Mark Fox of the Royal Veterinary College is also a co-author of the study.

Cowie explained that the rat lungworm has a complex life cycle that involves slugs and snails as so-called “intermediate” hosts and rats as “definitive” hosts in which the worms reach maturity and reproduce. Rats become infected when they eat an infected snail or slug. People also become infected when they eat an infected snail or slug, and this can lead to serious illness and occasionally death.

Humans, accidental hosts

“But people can also get infected if they eat so-called paratenic hosts, which are also known as carrier hosts,” said Cowie, who is a research professor in the Pacific Biosciences Research Center at SOEST. “These are animals that become infected by eating infected snails or slugs, but in which the worms cannot develop to maturity as they do in a rat. However, in such hosts the worms become dormant, but still infective. And if one of these hosts, or part of one, is then eaten raw by a person – an accidental host – development can continue, but only up to a point.”

That point is when they are in the person’s brain, where they are moving around, feeding, and growing. But then the worms die. The damage to the brain and the massive inflammation that results when they die is primarily what causes the symptoms of rat lungworm disease.

“It is important to know not only that snails and slugs can transmit rat lungworm parasites to humans but also which other animals – which paratenic hosts – can also do so,” Cowie said. “So the goal of the study, was to pull all the information on paratenic hosts and their role in transmission of rat lungworm disease, previously scattered in diverse publications and obscure reports, together into one place and develop a global understanding of their diversity and role in disease transmission.”

Rat lungworm disease around the globe

Rat lungworm disease is at present confined largely to the tropics and subtropics, notably parts of South and Southeast Asia, where it probably originated, southern China, Taiwan, southern Japan, various Pacific islands and archipelagos, and more recently Brazil, Caribbean islands, and Australia. The parasite has also been reported from the Canary Islands and Balearic Islands of Spain, as well as southeastern parts of the United States, where there have been a handful of cases of rat lungworm disease. Climate change may lead to its further spread into currently more temperate regions.

Hawai‘i is a global center of the incidence of rat lungworm disease, and indeed it was in Hawai‘i where the connection between the parasite and the disease was first discovered, by University of Hawai‘i and US government scientists in the early 1960s.

“Several species capable of acting as carriers (paratenic hosts) are present in Hawai‘i, including flatworms, centipedes, coqui frogs, and cane toads,” said Cowie. “While people in Hawai‘i are unlikely to eat these animals, it is not unknown for people to do so on a dare, and become seriously ill. Elsewhere, certain paratenic hosts are eaten for supposed health reasons – frogs in Taiwan and Japan, or to enhance virility – lizards in Thailand.”

Domestic animals, especially dogs and horses, can also become infected by the rat lungworm parasite, including in Hawai‘i, probably mostly from accidentally or deliberately eating snails or slugs.

Preventing infection

There are several things people can do to prevent infection by rat lungworm.

“Awareness of which species may harbor the parasite is critically important both in Hawai‘i and more widely,” said Cowie. “These animals should not be consumed raw. Additionally, wash all fruits and vegetables well under running water and inspect them for slugs, snails and possible other hosts such as flatworms so as to avoid inadvertently eating them or parts of them.”

CAPTION

Puerto Rican coqui frog

CREDIT

US Department of Agriculture

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JOURNAL

One Health

DOI

10.1016/j.onehlt.2022.100426 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Literature review

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Paratenic hosts of Angiostrongylus cantonensis and their relation to human neuroangiostrongyliasis globally

Distress leads to higher COVID vaccine rates, less adherence to distancing guidelines

Peer-Reviewed Publication

WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS

People who were more distressed — showing signs of anxiety or depression — during the COVID-19 pandemic were less likely to follow some best practice recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a new study by Washington University in St. Louis researchers. 

They found, however, that those same people were more likely than their non-distressed peers to get vaccinated. The authors refer to this as differential distress: when people act safely in one aspect while disregarding safety in another, both in response to the same psychological distress. This creates a conundrum for those trying to determine how best to communicate risks and best practices to the public.

The research comes from the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences in Arts & Sciences. It was led by professors Leonard Green and Joel Myerson. The team included professors Michael Strube and Sandra Hale and Bridget Bernstein, a research technician. 

Their study of 810 people revealed that distress was less likely to affect older people either way, despite their higher risk for severe outcomes if infected with SARS-CoV-2. The findings, published July 27 in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, suggest that fear messaging, which is intended to scare people and can increase their levels of distress, may not be the most effective way to encourage people to change behaviors.

“These findings do not point to a straightforward public health messaging campaign,” Myerson said. “Instead, officials may have to consider more finely tailored messages for different populations in order to achieve best outcomes: more attention to CDC recommendations as well as more people getting vaccinated.”

This is the second study from this team to analyze the ways people changed behaviors during the pandemic. The first study, published in November in the journal PLoS One, looked at social distancing and hygiene behaviors across a range of demographics. The results suggested that distress was closely tied to the way people responded to recommendations about social distancing. People who were more distressed were less likely to observe social distancing recommendations, perhaps as a way to maintain social connections that can ease anxiety and depression.

In the latest work, researchers again asked people about their adherence to the latest CDC recommendations, including newer recommendations outlining when to wear a mask and suggesting that people avoid spending lots of time inside with others. The results showed similar correlations to the previous study among age, distress and behavior changes.

In terms of public health and effective messaging, one of the most pressing issues to arise after publication of the first study was the introduction of vaccines — and the myriad ways people felt about them. Looking at four categories — fully vaccinated; partially vaccinated; unvaccinated but likely to get one; unvaccinated and unlikely to get one — several findings stood out:

• People who had been fully vaccinated were more likely than those who were partially vaccinated to have close interactions with others following their shots.
• Relative to those who said they were unlikely to get vaccinated, those who said they were likely to do so thought their chance of infection was higher.
• Depending on the person’s age, they responded differently to the same level of stress. Overall, for example, the higher level of distress someone had, the less likely they were to social distance, but the more likely they were to get vaccinated. Both of these correlations became weaker, however, as people aged.

Fear messaging that tries to scare people into following guidelines tends to be useful only for a one-time event, Green said. “Ostensibly, getting vaccinated should count as such an event.” But as breakthrough cases increase and boosters add up, vaccinations are no longer one and done; they are instead a series of events, spread out over more than a year. 

Although fear-based messaging may encourage younger people to get vaccinated, it also diminishes their resolve to stick to mitigation behaviors like social distancing. Without doing both, the risk of breakthrough infections could continue to rise.

And, the research shows, messaging becomes less effective as people age — and become more susceptible to severe illness if they’re infected.

“Part of the solution to the problem of differential distress may be to avoid the distress altogether,” Green said, by forgoing the fear campaign. Instead, a gentler approach may be warranted. “Our previous work suggests that what really motivates many people to change behaviors for the better is considering how their actions can benefit, or harm, other people.”

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JOURNAL

Frontiers in Psychology

DOI

10.3389/fpsyg.2022.923056 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Differential effects of psychological distress on mitigation and vaccination: A public health conundrum

Current warming is recorded as the strongest of the last 7,000 years

This observation emerges from the analysis of annual growth rings from Yamal’s subfossil trees

Peer-Reviewed Publication

URAL FEDERAL UNIVERSIT

VIDEO: EXPEDITION TO THE YAMAL PENINSULA FOR SAMPLES OF SUBFOSSIL TREES view more 

CREDIT: VLADIMIR KUKARSKIH / URAS

The north of Western Siberia is recording the warmest summers of the last 7,000 years. While for several millennia the temperature of the region was following a general cooling, in the 19th century there has been an abrupt change with rapidly rising temperature that has reached its highest value in the recent decades. These findings were published today in Nature Communications.

Thanks to multiple field expeditions aimed at collecting subfossil wood performed over the last 40 years, dendrochronologists of the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), and the Ural Federal University (UrFU), have eventually been able to create a unique and extraordinary-long tree-ring width chronology from the Yamal region allowing to track the course of summer temperature over the past 7,638 years. With support from colleagues of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, and of the University of Geneva, they have been able to perform analyses to confidently reconstruct and characterize the temperatures over the full period and with annual resolution.

CAPTION

Over 40 years, dendrochronologists have collected more than 5,000 samples of subfossil trees in Yamal

CREDIT

Vladimir Kukarskih

“Due to changes in the Earth's orbit we would have expected a continuous, slow and gradual decrease of incoming summer solar energy and thus temperature at the subpolar latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere during last 8-9 millennia. However, how recorded by the trees growing in Yamal, this cooling trend has been interrupted in the middle of the 19th century, when temperature began to rise very quickly and reached the highest values in recent decades,” says Rashit Hantemirov, Leading Researcher of the Laboratories of Dendrochronology of the Ural Branch of the RAS and Natural Science Methods in the Humanities of UrFU.

Independently of the period length considered (from 30 to 170 years), the most recent period was the warmest. Not only the temperature has reached unprecedented warm levels, but also the rate of temperature increase (i.e. since the last 160-170) hasn’t been as fast as after the middle of the 19th century.

“The exceptionality of the modern warming is corroborated by observations that the last century was characterized by a total lack of cold extremes contrasted by the occurrence of 27 extreme warm years, 19 of which have fallen in the last 40 years,” specifies Rashit Hantemirov.

The authors of this research are confident that the human activities not only is influence climate change, but has become its major determinant, at least for the north of Western Siberia.

Research on tree-ring based climate reconstruction will continue. There is realistic possibility to extend the tree-ring chronology into the past for another 2,000 years.

“Thank to international cooperation it will also be possible to use other tree-rings parameters to further precise the climate reconstructions. With colleagues from Switzerland, we are working on the analysis of the tree rings cellular structures, and together with the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, we intend to perform a climate reconstruction based on the analysis of the oxygen-18 isotope in the annual rings”, adds Rashit Hantemirov.

Reference

Stepan Shiyatov, a pioneer of dendrochronology in Russia, was the first who recognized the value of the ancient trees found on the Yamal Peninsula. Together with colleagues from the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, he began 40 years ago with the systematic collections of the subfossil wood. Since then, more than two dozen expeditions have been carried out; with a current collection of more than 5,000 samples, which tree-ring widths have been measured, and which samples are currently archived at the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology.

Approximately 2,000 samples of larch and spruce subfossils have also been dated (with the cross-dating method).  This allowed to assign with absolute accuracy the year of formation of each annual ring over the last 8,800 years, being now the longest tree-ring chronology of the polar regions.

Tree rings are one of the best natural archives of past growing conditions (including air temperature). Trees growing in subpolar regions and at high elevation are usually the most sensitive to temperature changes. Remains of such trees that lived thousands of years ago, as in the Yamal Peninsula, provide the access to understand the past, which is the best foundation to assess the future.

CAPTION

The researchers set slices of the tree trunks up to dry

CREDIT

Vladimir Kukarskih

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JOURNAL

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-022-32629-x 

ARTICLE TITLE

Current Siberian heating is unprecedented during the past seven millennia

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

25-Aug-2022

Feeling anxious or blue? Ultra-processed foods may be to blame

Researchers find U.S. adults who consume more ultra-processed food report more adverse mental symptoms

Peer-Reviewed Publication

FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: MORE THAN 70 PERCENT OF PACKAGED FOODS IN THE U.S. ARE CLASSIFIED AS ULTRA-PROCESSED FOOD AND REPRESENT ABOUT 60 PERCENT OF ALL CALORIES CONSUMED BY AMERICANS. view more 

CREDIT: FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY

Do you love those sugary-sweet beverages, reconstituted meat products and packaged snacks? You may want to reconsider based on a new study that explored whether individuals who consume higher amounts of ultra-processed food have more adverse mental health symptoms. 

Although ultra-processed foods are convenient, low cost, quick to prepare or ready-to-eat, these industrial formulations of processed food substances (oils, fats, sugars, starch, protein isolates) contain little or no whole food. They result from extensive ‘physical, biological, and chemical processes’ that create food products that are deficient in original and natural food. Ultra-processed foods typically include flavorings, colorings, emulsifiers and other cosmetic additives.

While there is some evidence regarding ultra-processed food consumption and depression, data are sparse regarding other adverse mental health symptoms including anxiety and mentally unhealthy days.

Researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine and collaborators explored a nationally representative sample of the United States population to determine if individuals who consume high amounts of ultra-processed foods report significantly more adverse mental health symptoms including depression, anxiety and mentally unhealthy days.   

They measured mild depression, number of mental unhealthy days and number of anxious days in 10,359 adults 18 and older from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Results of the study, published in the journal Public Health Nutrition, showed that individuals who consumed the most ultra-processed foods as compared with those who consumed the least amount had statistically significant increases in the adverse mental health symptoms of mild depression, “mentally unhealthy days” and “anxious days.” They also had significantly lower rates of reporting zero “mentally unhealthy days” and zero “anxious days.” Findings from this study are generalizable to the entire U.S. as well as other Western countries with similar ultra-processed food intakes.

“The ultra-processing of food depletes its nutritional value and also increases the number of calories, as ultra-processed foods tend to be high in added sugar, saturated fat and salt, while low in protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals,” said Eric Hecht, M.D., Ph.D., corresponding author and an affiliate associate professor in FAU’s Schmidt College of Medicine. “More than 70 percent of packaged foods in the U.S. are classified as ultra-processed food and represent about 60 percent of all calories consumed by Americans. Given the magnitude of exposure to and effects of ultra-processed food consumption, our study has significant clinical and public health implications.”

Researchers used the NOVA food classification for the study, which is a widely used system recently adopted by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. NOVA considers the nature, extent and purpose of food processing in order to categorize foods and beverages into four groups: unprocessed or minimally processed foods, processed culinary ingredients, processed foods and ultra-processed foods.

“Data from this study add important and relevant information to a growing body of evidence concerning the adverse effects of ultra-processed consumption on mental health symptoms,” said Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., Dr.PH, co-author, the first Sir Richard Doll Professor of Medicine, and senior academic advisor, FAU Schmidt College of Medicine. “Analytic epidemiologic research is needed to test the many hypotheses formulated from these descriptive data.”

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly 1 in 5 adults live with a mental illness. Mental illnesses, including depression and anxiety, are leading causes of morbidity, disability and mortality.

Co-authors of this original research are Anna Rabil, Institute of Etiological Research; Euridice Martinez Steele, Ph.D., University of Sao Paolo; Gary A. Abrams, M.D., University of South Carolina School of Medicine; Deanna Ware, M.P.H., Georgetown University Medical Center and Institute of Etiological Research; and David C. Landy, M.D., Ph.D., University of Kentucky College of Medicine.

This research was funded in part by the Bertarelli Foundation.

- FAU -

About the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine:

FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine is one of approximately 155 accredited medical schools in the U.S. The college was launched in 2010, when the Florida Board of Governors made a landmark decision authorizing FAU to award the M.D. degree. After receiving approval from the Florida legislature and the governor, it became the 134th allopathic medical school in North America. With more than 70 full and part-time faculty and more than 1,300 affiliate faculty, the college matriculates 64 medical students each year and has been nationally recognized for its innovative curriculum. To further FAU’s commitment to increase much needed medical residency positions in Palm Beach County and to ensure that the region will continue to have an adequate and well-trained physician workforce, the FAU Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine Consortium for Graduate Medical Education (GME) was formed in fall 2011 with five leading hospitals in Palm Beach County. The Consortium currently has five Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited residencies including internal medicine, surgery, emergency medicine, psychiatry, and neurology. The college’s vibrant research focus areas include healthy aging, neuroscience, chronic pain management, precision medicine and machine learning. With community at the forefront, the college offers the local population a variety of evidence-based, clinical services that treat the whole person. Jointly, FAU Medicine’s Primary Care practice and the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health have been designed to provide complete health and wellness under one roof.

 

About Florida Atlantic University:
Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students across six campuses located along the southeast Florida coast. In recent years, the University has doubled its research expenditures and outpaced its peers in student achievement rates. Through the coexistence of access and excellence, FAU embodies an innovative model where traditional achievement gaps vanish. FAU is designated a Hispanic-serving institution, ranked as a top public university by U.S. News & World Report and a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.

 

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JOURNAL

Public Health Nutrition

DOI

10.1017/S1368980022001586 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Meta-analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Cross-sectional examination of ultra-processed food consumption and adverse mental health symptoms