Health Findings

Obesity, overweight stigma harms health

People who are overweight face negative experiences that can harm their physical and mental health, new research finds.

Two recent studies published in June in PLOS One and the International Journal of Obesity compared the experiences of thousands of adults in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. to learn more about the link between weight stigma and negative health care encounters.

Researchers found that at least half of adults surveyed in each country reported experiencing weight stigma. Those who engaged in self-stigma and self-blame for their weight were more likely to avoid health care, had fewer regular checkups and felt they received less respect from their doctors.

High percentages of respondents in each country said they experienced weight stigma from family members, classmates, doctors, co-workers and friends. In all six nations, weight stigma experiences were most frequent in childhood and adolescence, with associated distress highest during those periods as well.

Stigma could impact tens of millions of people in the U.S., given that two-thirds of the population are overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Our results also provide a compelling reason to step up international efforts to reduce weight biases held by medical professionals,” said Rebecca Puhl, PhD, MS, deputy director of the Rudd Center, in a news release. “We must prioritize efforts to establish a health care culture free of weight stigma, and we also need to work collaboratively to develop supportive interventions to help people when they do experience this stigma.”

Telemedicine may expand reach for screening dementia symptoms in older people, according to a study published in June.

Photo by Maurian Soares Salvador, courtesy iStockphoto

Dementia screening lacking for seniors

Many more older adults may have dementia than are officially diagnosed, finds a study in June’s Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Using data from the Health and Retirement Study to create a representative sample of about 6 million Americans ages 65 and older, researchers found that 91% of people with cognitive impairment consistent with dementia did not report a formal medical diagnosis of either dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. When proxy responders such as family members provided answers, the prevalence dropped from 91% to about 75%.

Researchers said the data point to troubling gaps in dementia screening during routine clinical visits for older adults.

“We recommend that health care providers screen for low-cognitive functioning during routine health assessments when possible,” said study coauthor Ryan McGrath, PhD, an assistant professor at North Dakota State University, in a news release. “A telemedicine option may reduce clinic time and expand reach.”

Among the study’s other findings, Black people and men were more likely to report that a formal diagnosis was lacking. Receiving no diagnosis was more prevalent among those without a high school degree, compared to people with at least a high school education.

Temperature change killing millions

Five million extra deaths each year can be attributed to climate-related changes in temperatures — both hot and cold.

In a July study in The Lancet Planetary Health, researchers examined mortality and temperature data from around the world from 2000 to 2019, when global temperatures rose by 0.26 degrees Celsius per decade. They found that more than 9% of global deaths could be attributed to cold and hot temperatures, representing 74 excess deaths for every 100,000 people. Most deaths were cause by cold exposure.

Between 2000 and 2019, however, cold-related deaths decreased a half of a percent, while heat-related deaths increased by 0.21%. Eastern Europe and sub-Saharan Africa had the highest heat- and cold-related excess death rates.

The study found that more than half of global deaths due to abnormal cold and heat happened in Asia. Europe had the highest excess death rates per 100,000 people due to heat exposure, while sub-Saharan Africa had the highest death rates per 100,000 due to cold exposure.

“Our findings call for decisive and coordinated action to raise public awareness of temperature as a health risk,” the study said. “The variation in regional and local mortality burden associated with nonoptimal temperature warrants in-depth exploration to design adaptive strategies against both excess heat and cold that protect health.”

A study links higher rates of heart disease among transgender and gender-diverse people to stress caused by discrimination.

Photo by JohnnyGreig, courtesy iStockphoto

Gender bias linked to poor heart health

Discrimination-related stress is linked to higher rates of heart disease among transgender and gender-diverse people, according to the American Heart Association.

An association scientific statement published in Circulation in July examined research on heart health disparities among transgender and gender-diverse people, pinpointed research gaps, and offered recommendations for improvement.

Overall, authors found that while higher rates of cardiovascular prevalence and deaths among transgender and gender-diverse people were related to traditional risk factors, they were exacerbated by psychosocial stressors such as structural violence, discrimination and lack of access to health care. Among their recommendations, authors suggested increased training across health professions to foster more compassionate care for transgender and gender-diverse patients.

“Heart health of transgender and gender-diverse people is an important and understudied topic, and it’s critical we highlight what we know and what we need to know about heart health among these populations,” said Carl Streed Jr., MD, MPH, chair of the writing group for the statement and research lead at the Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery at Boston Medical Center, in a news release.

Chidldhood depression can last into the teen and adult years, according to new research.

Courtesy KatarzynaBialasiewicz, iStockphoto

Youth depression lasts into adulthood

Depression in youth can impact a person’s health long into the future, according to new research.

Published in August in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the research study analyzed data from the Great Smoky Mountains Study of about 1,400 people who were followed for more than a decade. The study found that a diagnosis of depression in childhood was associated with a broad range of poorer well-being indicators in adulthood, even after researchers accounted for factors such as early exposure to adversities such as abuse and bullying.

The link was the strongest for children who displayed high levels of depressive symptoms across their childhoods rather than for those that reported symptoms at a single point in time. The good news was that children who received mental health services were less likely to have worsening mental health problems into adulthood.

“The literature is clear that we have effective treatments to help children who are dealing with depression,” said study co-author William Copeland, PhD, a professor at the University of Vermont, in a news release. “The problem is that in the real world, the majority of children with depression never receive any treatment at all and have to cope with this challenge on their own.”

Birthday parties spread COVID-19

Birthday parties may have helped spread COVID-19 during the peaks of the pandemic, according to a new study.

Published in June in JAMA Internal Medicine, the study found that in counties with high rates of COVID-19, households with recent birthdays were 30% more likely to have a COVID-19 diagnosis, compared to households that did not have birthdays.

The researchers did not confirm whether birthday celebrations were held, instead they compared birth dates to COVID-19 case rates. Specifically, during the first 45 weeks of 2020, researchers found that in counties with high COVID-19 transmission, households with recent birthdays averaged 8.6 more cases per 10,000 people than households in the same counties without a birthday.

The risk also varied depending on the age of the person celebrating a birthday. For example, in households with a child’s birthday, the study found an increase in COVID-19 cases of 15.8 per 10,000 people in the two weeks following the birthday, compared to cases in families without a child’s birthday.

In households with an adult birthday, the increase was 5.8 additional cases per 10,000 people. Among households in counties with low COVID-19 prevalence, researchers did not detect an increased rate of infection in the weeks after birthdays.

“We were only able to examine a single kind of event that likely leads to social gatherings, but given the magnitude of the increased risk associated with having a birthday in the household, it’s clear that informal gatherings of all kinds played a significant role in the spread of COVID-19,” study co-author Christopher Whaley, PhD, an assistant adjunct professor at the University of California-Berkeley, said in a news release.

Photo by Rez-art, courtesy iStockphoto

Flu risk higher for employed people

Unemployment is not usually considered beneficial. But when it comes to catching the flu, it may be.

Published in August in the Journal of Public Economics, the study found that employed people are, on average, about 35% more likely to be infected with the flu virus.

Not all occupations faced the same risk. For example, people working in sales had a more than 40% higher probability of catching the flu than farmers. Sectors such as education, health and social services had significantly higher chances of infections than mining. Overall, having more human contact at work was positively associated with higher contagion rates, found the study, which used data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

“These results shouldnrs’t surprise anyone,” said study co-author Dongya Koh, PhD, assistant professor of economics at the University of Arkansas, in a news release. “The fact that contagion risk varies across occupations and industries opens the door for an assessment of nonpharmaceutical policies to combat contagion and possibly pandemics. In this sense, we think these results provide a basis for an organizational policy that both protects workers and optimizes production and efficiency.”