Wellness Influencers Blur the Line Between Advice and Misinformation

by LifestyleNews and Information

Wellness Influencers Blur the Line Between Advice and Misinformation

Claremont Colonic Center
There are a lot of self‑billed “wellness influencers” on social media who claim, in one form or another, to be health care professionals. And many of them are passing themselves off incorrectly, it turns out, according to a new report.
A little context first. This is a moment when the head of the Department of Health and Human Services has no formal background in medicine or health care. And that has opened the door for a whole slew of so‑called wellness influencers who want to influence your wellness.

A new report from the Pew Research Center finds that many of these influencers, like the current head of HHS, have no background in health care.

According to the study, about 41% of health‑related influencers describe themselves in their profiles as medical professionals. But that’s a loose description because it can include everyone from licensed doctors and nurses to massage therapists.

Meanwhile, 31% of these so-called wellness influencers describe themselves in their bios as coaches. Another 28% call themselves entrepreneurs, or some combination of the two. And another 16% offer no credentials at all.

The Wall Street Journal notes that concern is growing over misinformation spread by wellness influencers, with consequences that include falling vaccination rates, extreme diets, and other health risks.

A separate study out of Australia found that nearly half of Instagram posts from wellness influencers contained inaccurate information.

Put it this way. It’s one thing to seek fashion tips from someone online with a snappy sense of style. It’s quite another to seek health care advice from someone who isn’t qualified to advise you on a headache.

Fashion influencers are everywhere. If you have a good eye and a strong sense of style, that will be apparent to your audience, and maybe they’ll be influenced, and rightly so.

Health care is different. You cross a line. There’s a reason doctors spend years becoming credentialed to practice medicine. Because it’s not easy. And the stakes are very, very high.

So when anyone can go online, hang a digital shingle, and say, “I’m going to influence your health,” be wary.


Contributor: David Lazarus – KTLA.com

Why We Have Nightmares and How to Stop Them

by HealthLifestyleNews and Information

Why We Have Nightmares and How to Stop Them

Claremont Colonic Center
We leave behind our fears of monsters under the bed as we say goodbye to our childhoods, but one can follow us into adulthood and loom over our heads.
Nightmares are more common in childhood, but anywhere from 50% to 85% of adults report having occasional nightmares.

Almost everyone can experience nightmares.

“Dreams do usually incorporate things that happened during the day, leading some researchers to hypothesize that dreams and rapid eye movement sleep is essential for memory consolidation and cognitive rejuvenation,” said Joshua Tal, a sleep and health psychologist based in Manhattan.

“Nightmares are the mind’s attempts at making sense of these events, by replaying them in images during sleep.”

Nightmares are what the American Academy of Sleep Medicine call “vivid, realistic and disturbing dreams typically involving threats to survival or security, which often evoke emotions of anxiety, fear or terror.”

If someone has frequent nightmares — more than once or twice weekly — that cause distress or impairment at work or among people, he or she might have nightmare disorder. Treatments include medications and behavioral therapies.

Addressing frequent nightmares is important since they have also been linked to insomnia, depression and suicidal behavior. Since nightmares can also cause sleep deprivation, they are linked to heart disease and obesity as well.

Trying out these 10 steps could help you ease your nightmares and improve your sleep and quality of life.

1. Establish a sleep routine

Nightmares occur during rapid eye movement sleep, the phase during which our muscles relax and we dream. Waking up during REM sleep enables recollection of the dream and resulting distress, said Jennifer Martin, a professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s board of directors.

“One of the most effective ways to treat nightmare problems in adults is actually to get them sleeping more soundly (so) they wake up less often,” Martin said.

A healthy sleep routine begets sound sleep. Develop one by exercising, setting regular sleep and waking times, ensuring your room is dark and cool, avoiding stimulating beverages after midafternoon and engaging in relaxing activities.

2. Cut back on alcohol

Alcoholic beverages can induce restlessness and awakenings throughout the night — potentially helping you remember nightmares, Martin said.

“A lot of people use alcohol as a way to wind down and feel sleepy at the end of the day, but it’s really not the right solution,” she added. Instead, try herbal teas and other beverages conducive to sleep. If drinking was the only part of your relaxation routine, chat with your partner or read instead.

One drink more than three hours before bedtime is OK, Martin said. Just pay attention to whether it causes a post-dinner nap and alertness at bedtime, and eliminate that drink if it does.

3. Don’t eat before bed

Snacking can boost metabolism, which causes your brain to be more active and could lead to nightmares, according to the National Sleep Foundation.

While some people sleep better after eating a light snack, you should stop eating two to three hours before bedtime. If you notice that you have nightmares afterward, try avoiding nighttime snacking or heavier meals before bed.

4. Review your medications

Some medications can prompt nightmares by interrupting REM sleep.

“If people can identify that their nightmares either started or increased when they had a change in their medication, that’s definitely a reason to talk to their doctor” about their medication schedule or alternatives, Martin said.

Melatonin, while a popular sleep aid, influences our circadian rhythm that regulates REM sleep, and can lead to more or fewer nightmares. If you want to take melatonin for better sleep, work with a sleep specialist to ensure you’re taking it at the right time and not compounding the problem, Martin said.

5. Practice stress-relieving activities

Progressive muscle relaxation — tensing muscle groups as you inhale and relaxing them as you exhale — has been effective for reducing nightmares.

“Nightmares activate the sympathetic nervous system, the ‘fight or flight system,’ the body’s natural response to imminent danger,” said Tal via email.

“The body also has an innate relaxation system: the parasympathetic nervous system, aka the ‘rest and digest’ system.” Progressive muscle relaxation and other relaxation activities can help activate that system.

6. Journal your worries

Write down your worries to get them all out ahead of time, lest they rear their disquieting heads at night. Journaling can be helpful for alleviating nightmares and stress in general, Tal said.

7. Don’t watch or read scary content before bed

Since our nighttime observations can appear during sleep, “spend some energy engaging with things that are more emotionally neutral or even positive” before bedtime, Martin suggested.

During the pandemic, our everyday lives are looking pretty scary, too. “Reading the news media and then hopping into bed is more likely to trigger disturbing and upsetting dreams than looking through pictures from your last vacation with your family,” she added.

8. Rewrite the ending

Imagery rehearsal therapy is effective “when the chronic nightmares are showing similar themes and patterns,” Tal said.

Since nightmares can be learned behavior for the brain, this practice involves writing down in detail the narrative elements of the dream. Then rewrite the dream so that it ends positively. Just before falling asleep, set the intention to re-dream by saying aloud, “If or when I have the beginnings of the same bad dream, I will be able to instead have this much better dream with a positive outcome.”

“By practicing a rewrite during the daytime, you increase your chances of having them at night while you’re sleeping instead of your nightmare,” Tal said.

9. Use a white noise machine

Silence is key in a sleep routine, but “for people who either don’t like it to be completely quiet or who are awakened by noises they can’t control during the night,” background noise “is a good strategy,” Martin said.

Try a fan or a white noise machine or app for several consecutive nights to help your brain adapt, she added.

10. Check up on your mental health

If nothing works and you’re still having nightmares, talk with a therapist or sleep specialist.

“Nightmares might be a sign of a larger issue, such as PTSD or a mood disorder,” Tal said. “It is possible to treat the nightmares without treating the underlying disorder, but it may also be helpful to treat both the symptom and the disorder.

“There has been great progress on psychological treatments for nightmares, insomnia, anxiety and mood disorders,” Tal added. “Do not be afraid to ask for help; psychotherapy works and it is often short term and accessible.”


Contributor: Kristen Rogers, CNN Health

Your Internal Signal to Stop Eating is More Complex Than Previously Thought

by HealthLifestyleNews and Information

Your Internal Signal to Stop Eating is More Complex Than Previously Thought

Claremont Colonic Center
But how that signal works is more complex than scientists have understood — and they hope their discovery that it comes from an unexpected source could lead to new treatments for eating disorders and obesity.
“This research changes how we think about these communication circuits,” said researcher Ricardo Araneda, a professor of biology at the University of Maryland.

He is part of a team that recently published its findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Scientists have long thought that the brain knows it’s time to push the plate away almost entirely because of signaling cells called neurons.

The new study suggests that it’s far more complicated than that, involving other types of cells in the brain.

“What surprised us was the complexity of it,” Araneda said in a news release. “To put it simply, we found that tanycytes ‘talk’ to astrocytes, and then astrocytes ‘talk’ to neurons.”

Tanycytes are specialized brain cells that monitor a body-fueling sugar called glucose as it moves through the fluids that cushion the brain and spinal cord.

After you eat, glucose levels rise. And that release prompts tanycytes to release lactate into nearby brain tissue. Researchers used to think lactate directly signaled neurons involved in appetite control. “But we found that there was an unexpected middleman in that conversation, astrocytes,” Araneda said.

Among the most common cell types in the brain, astrocytes have long been seen as helper cells for neurons. The new study shows they take on a more direct role.

That’s because astrocytes detect lactate. In turn, that prompts release of a chemical messenger that signals neurons to suppress appetite. Simply put, this cellular communication is what tells you you’re full.

Araneda thinks it could be a promising avenue for treating appetite-related conditions.

That’s some time off, however.

This research was conducted in animal models, and results of animal studies often differ in humans.

But there’s reason for hope. Because tanycytes and astrocytes exist in all mammals, the same mechanism could be at work in people, researchers say.

Next step: Investigating whether altering the receptor that allows astrocytes to detect lactate influences eating behavior. No existing drugs directly target this pathway.

“We now have a different mechanism where we might be able to target astrocytes or specifically this … receptor,” Araneda said. “It would be a novel target that may complement existing therapies like Ozempic, for example, and improve the lives of many who suffer from obesity and other appetite-related conditions.”

Contributor: Carole Tanzer Miller – HealthDay News

Are Women’s Overdriven Brains Causing Anxiety?

by HealthLifestyle

Are Women’s Overdriven Brains Causing Anxiety?

Claremont Colonic Center
Are women working too hard for their money? According to Michigan State University scientists, women tend to experience more anxiety daily, which causes their brain to work in overdrive.
Are Women’s Overdriven Brains Causing Anxiety?

Researchers measured electrical activity in the brains of a group of college men and women as they completed an easy task of identifying letters. The subjects were also asked to fill out a form asking them questions about how much they worried.

The studies revealed that women, who were anxious throughout the testing process, had more activity in their brains as compared to men, who proved to not show signs of worry. It also showed that women are twice as likely as men to suffer from anxiety disorders. Although the questions were very easy and straightforward at first, the women’s brains seemed to be working in overdrive as compared to the men. When the test got harder, it turned out that the women’s scores decreased, suggesting that their worries stood in the way of them succeeding.

Despite the fact that striving for perfection can sometimes be a good thing, if you are one of these women who stress out as you go the extra mile, it might be more beneficial to slow down.

Suggested methods to ease your anxiety include getting regular exercise, and practicing meditation and yoga. Avoiding caffeine is also a good idea given the fact that it provokes an adrenaline response. Take a step back and enjoy what life has to offer.


Contributor — The Alternative Daily