Category: CULTURE

New evidence that brain and body health influence mental wellbeing

The study, published in Nature Mental Health, analysed UK Biobank data from more than 18,000 individuals. Of these, 7,749 people had no major clinically-diagnosed medical or mental health conditions, while 10,334 had reported a diagnosis of either schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression or anxiety.

Using advanced statistical models, the researchers found a significant association between poorer organ health and higher depressive symptoms, and that the brain plays an important role in linking body health and depression.

The organ systems studied included the lungs, muscles and bones, kidneys, liver, heart, and the metabolic and immune systems.

Dr Ye Ella Tian, lead author of the study from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne, said. “Overall, we found multiple significant pathways through which poor organ health may lead to poor brain health, which may in turn lead to poor mental health.

“By integrating clinical data, brain imaging and a wide array of organ-specific biomarkers in a large population-based cohort, for the first time we were able to establish multiple pathways involving the brain as a mediating factor and through which poor physical health of body organ systems may lead to poor mental health.

“We identified modifiable lifestyle factors that can potentially lead to improved mental health through their impact on these specific organ systems and neurobiology.

“Our work provides a holistic characterisation of brain, body, lifestyle and mental health.”

Physical health was also taken into account, as well as lifestyle factors such as sleep quality, diet, exercise, smoking, and alcohol consumption.

Professor James Cole, an author of the study from UCL Computer Science, said: “While it’s well-known in healthcare that all the body’s organs and systems influence each other, it’s rarely reflected in research studies. So, it’s exciting to see these results, as it really emphases the value in combining measures from different parts of the body together.”

Professor Andrew Zalesky, an author of the study from the Departments of Psychiatry and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Melbourne, said. “This is a significant body of work because we have shown the link between physical health and depression and anxiety, and how that is partially influenced by individual changes in brain structure.

“Our results suggest that poor physical health across multiple organ systems, such as liver and heart, the immune system and muscles and bones, may lead to subsequent alterations in brain structure.

“These structural changes of the brain may lead to or exacerbate symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as neuroticism.”

 

Find more : https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2024/aug/new-evidence-brain-and-body-health-influence-mental-wellbeing?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=vpee_linkedin_newsletter&utm_content=bodyhealth_aug24

Digital and digital non-clinical solutions

➡️What will be the digital and digital non-clinical solutions for people with cancer in the future 🧐
This post aims to consider some possible digital solutions to bring medical resources and information to patients in the future.

➡️📱Mobile Apps: Mobile cancer apps can play a crucial role in patient education, symptom management and treatment monitoring.
These apps could provide information about cancer, medications, side effects, proper diets, as well as reminders for medications and medical appointments.

➡️⌨️Connected objects and wearables:
Wearable devices such as smart watches, bracelets and monitoring sensors could be used to monitor the vital signs of cancer patients in real time.

➡️Artificial Intelligence
(Al) and Data
Analytics: Al can be used to analyze large amounts of medical data and help identify patterns, correlations and predictions. This could contribute to a better understanding of risk factors,
treatment responses and patient
outcomes.

➡️Virtual Reality (VR):
Virtual reality can be used to help cancer
patients manage pain, anxiety and stress. Calming and interactive virtual environments can be created to distract patients during medical treatments or to help them relax during difficult times

For more just read: E-Health4Cancer : Sharing good practices in the use of nonclinical e-health solutions for cancer patients and their caregivers in Europe. Non-profit Organizations

https://www.linkedin.com/company/ehealth4cancer/

Depression Is Often Overlooked in Cancer Patients

When Carly Flumer was a teenager, she was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. She saw a psychiatrist and a therapist regularly, and got medication and counseling. She managed her mental health well for over a decade. But in January 2017, she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of thyroid cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes by the time it was diagnosed.

That’s when things got complicated again.

Flumer, then 27, underwent surgery to remove her thyroid. She also received intensive radiation. To all observers, she got a clean bill of health — at least with regard to her cancer. But, she says, her mental health had suffered.

“People absolutely do not understand the panic a cancer diagnosis can cause,” Flumer says. “My depression and anxiety got worse when I got diagnosed. I also have had more suicidal thoughts because of the cancer,” she says. “The side effects of treatment are real. So is the stress of waiting to see if the cancer comes back again.”

The Economics of Health for All and the Transformative Power of the Arts

In the first-ever report of its kind, the WHO Council on the Economics of Health for All has outlined a bold new path to reorient economies to deliver what matters – health for all.

The Council has put forward a bold new narrative grounded in new economic wisdom to reorient economies to deliver health for all across four interrelated themes:

  1. Value – valuing and measuring what matters through new economic metrics;
  2. Finance – how to finance health for all as a long-term investment, not a short-term cost;
  3. Innovation – how to advance health innovation for the common good;
  4. Capacity – how to strengthen dynamic public sector capacity to achieve health for all.

Meet the new WHO Goodwill Ambassadors for Arts and Health

The appointments of Fleming and Yende underscore the profound link between arts and health. Engagement in creative activities, such as music, art, and dance, positively impacts physical, mental health, social well-being, and overall quality of life.

Through their roles as Goodwill Ambassadors, Fleming and Yende will promote the integration of arts into healthcare systems, advocate for access to creative arts therapies, and champion the importance of artistic expression in improving health outcomes globally.

Health for All Film Festival

A shortlist of 93 films has been selected for the 4th Health for All Film Festival out of more than 780 entries received.

Watch the shortlisted films here. Winners will be announced on 6 June.

Key highlights from the Seventy-sixth World Health Assembly

As the world faces ongoing health and humanitarian emergencies, the Seventy-sixth World Health Assembly focuses on driving forward health for all. This year’s session of the World Health Assembly determines the immediate and longer-term future of WHO, starting with the program budget for the next two years, key decisions about the sustainable financing of the Organization and changes put in place to improve WHO’s processes and accountability. Delegates also deliberate about the critical role that WHO has in the Global Health Emergency Architecture.
Read more :

World Health Organization

3 Ancient Greek Words That Will Help You Lead a Happy, Successful Modern Life

Having lived in Cyprus for the last decade, I’ve invested an incredible amount of time into learning to speak Greek–with, I am sad to report, only modest success. All those hours conjugating verbs and wondering why one language could possibly need 12 versions of “the” definitely helps me communicate with friends, family, and supermarket checkout clerks. But I sometimes wonder, given there are only 12 million Greek speakers in the world and the fact that I have a business to run, was this really the best use of so much of my energy and time?

And then I come across something like newsletter Classical Wisdom’s rundown of 12 ancient Greek words that should make a comeback and remember the value of striving to master even a relatively little-spoken language.

Linguists and psychologists insist that learning foreign terms broadens the array of words we can use to describe the world around us and our reactions to it. Which isn’t just handy for communication. Being able to more accurately describe your feelings and experiences actually helps you understand and control your emotions. A richer vocabulary leads to more emotional and practical smarts.

“Emotional granularity [aka having the exact right term for a feeling] helps your brain figure out when to act … and what to do,” neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett explains. So which ancient Greek terms help us pinpoint and respond to important aspects of modern life? Classical Wisdom lists a dozen, but three struck me as particularly useful.

1. Eudaimonia 

In English we lean heavily on the word “happiness” when we want to convey an overall sense of contentment. But psychologists say the word is problematic; there are several different types of happiness. There is the momentary joy of pleasant sensations–the kind of happiness you get from eating a slice of cake. And then there is the overall feeling of accomplishment that comes from a life well lived, which researchers–if not laypeople–generally distinguish by using the term “life satisfaction.”

As Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman has pointed out, these two types of happiness are often in tension. You need to give up a lot of cake and leisurely days to experience the broader life satisfaction that comes from completing your first marathon or building a successful business.

This might be a distinction everyday English struggles to express, but ancient Greek provided a word to convey the larger sense of overall life satisfaction. “Eudaimonia is regularly translated as happiness or welfare; however, ‘human flourishing or prosperity’ and ‘blessedness’ have been proposed as more accurate translations. In Aristotle’s works, eudaimonia was used as the term for the highest human good,” explains Classical Wisdom.

Having a word that conveys the idea of this higher happiness — the sum total of a life well lived and the peace and satisfaction it brings — and reminds us of the sacrifices it generally takes to achieve could help us all navigate the complex tradeoffs of modern life.

2. Arete 

“Arete in its basic sense, means ‘excellence of any kind.’ The term may also mean ‘moral virtue.’ In its earliest appearance in Greek, this notion of excellence was ultimately bound up with the notion of the fulfillment of purpose or function: the act of living up to one’s full potential,” explains Classical Wisdom.

Why might this be a useful word to know even if you’re not planning to translate Homer anytime soon? People throughout the ages have wondered what to chase in life. Many today strive to be “successful.” But how do you measure success? Usually by looking at whether you’re doing better than your neighbor or work rival. And there is always someone with a bigger bank balance or fancier title than you. You can never get off the treadmill, and the constant running makes a lot of people miserable.

So how about chasing arete instead? Aiming for excellence and making the most of your talents, is a more surefire route to outer impact and inner peace than chasing success.

3. Aidos 

I don’t think I’m going to have to say a lot to convince you that aidos is a concept the modern world is in desperate need of.

Aidos is “that feeling of reverence or shame which restrains men and women from wrong. It also encompassed the emotion that a rich person might feel in the presence of the impoverished, that their disparity of wealth, whether a matter of luck or merit, was ultimately undeserved. Ancient and Christian humility have some common points, they are both the rejection of egotism and self-centeredness, arrogance and excessive pride, and is a recognition of human limitations. Aristotle defined it as a middle ground between vanity and cowardice,” says Classical Wisdom.

Less ego and a greater appreciation for the role of luck in success would make for a more pleasant and compassionate society. But even if you’re not interested in a kinder world (and you really should be), intellectual humility helps you learn faster, listen better, and be smarter. Aidos, which encompasses both the precariousness of good fortune and the possibility of error, is a quality that’s in conspiculously short supply in our divided society.

If you’re fascinated by these ancient Greek concepts and how they illuminate modern life, check out Classical Wisdom for many more.

https://eefam.gr/3-ancient-greek-words-that-will-help-you-lead-a-happy-successful-modern-life/?idU=1&utm_source=newsletter_1460&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=

Πηγή: inc.com