(SNS)- Dating has never been easy.
It is hard because it involves navigating a complex mix of emotions, expectations, and external pressures. From high standards and fear of rejection to miscommunication and cultural influences, the challenges vary from person to person and relationship to relations.
Add into the mix social isolation created by technology, pandemic lockdowns and potential partners’ unrealistic expectations from movies and TV shows that show failling in love as effortless and magical, setting unrealistic expectations for real-life relationships. Yeah, finding the love your life is hard.
Pop culture critiques tend to regard today's dating ritual as "broken".
Two studies performed a decade apart found that college students' ideas about romantic relationships have largely remained unchanged over time, according to study leader Brian Ogolsky, a professor of human development and family studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Photo: Unsplash/Anthony Tran
"College students in our study did not share this perception of dating as a broken system, despite many massive cultural shifts during this decade," Ogolsky said, dispelling the popular myth that today's singles are unability to find a romantic partner because dating culture is 'broken'. "Their perspectives on relationships today aren’t that different from what they were 10 years ago — or even 10 years before that. Instead, young adults are taking more diverse and multifaceted pathways through romantic partnering and considering a broader range of outcomes."
The study asked 250 college students between the ages 18-29 to "describe their thoughts and experiences about the typical initiation and progression of romantic relationships." The initial research started in 2012 and it was ran again in 2021.
Based upon participants’ responses, the researchers identified four stages in relationship development: flirtationship, testing relationship potential, being in a relationship, and commitment.
Commitment or Bust, is the point where a couple agrees to a long-term commitment
Flirtationship is the initial stage where attraction begins, often through flirting and shared interests, either online or in person.
The next step is Testing Relationship Potential, where the couple spends more time together, engages in deep conversations, and determines if they want to pursue a serious relationship, with friendship playing a key role.
When a couple reaches the third stage, their romantic needs have been met and their status as a couple is made official. The "In a Relationship" level usually denotes that mutual boundaries have been defined, such as a commitment to exclusivity and supporting each other emotionally, financially, and in their individual careers. At this point, couples are introducing their partner into their social circles and family.
“Young adults clearly distinguish dating from being in a relationship,” Ogolsky told the Illinois News Bureau. “In our study, we used the term ‘relationship development’ to describe the activities we were investigating, but it became clear that participants did not view early behaviors as part of being in a relationship per se. Instead, they viewed flirting and even dating as part of a broader pattern of interpersonal interaction that may or may not eventually lead to the formation of a relationship.”
Depending on external pressure from family, friends, or their cultural background, the final stage, Commitment or Bust, is the point where a couple agrees to a long-term commitment, either living together or getting married. Or, in the worst case for one or both partners, they may choose to move on in search of their happily ever after with someone else.
Ogolsky speculated that during the ten year period, the rapid growth in social media and dating apps would greatly affect how today's students approached dating.
"When we ask people about relationship prototypes, they’re not talking about technology," he explained. "They’re thinking about relationships in broad strokes. And we found it interesting that the centerpiece of relationships was not dating apps, artificial intelligence or robots or all the other things we may have predicted 25 or 40 years ago."
Traditional relationship milestones like engagement and marriage are no longer seen as necessary next steps these days.
Today, more young adults value the freedom and flexibility of being single, enjoying the ability to make decisions without considering a spouse or partner. Many prioritize bucket lists - travel, personal development, and reaching career goals - before settling into a lifelong commitment.
Observing failed marriages among friends or family members, especially a messy one or two, is powerful deterant. According to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), the current divorce rate nationwide is around 42%. The average first marriage lasts about eight years.
Financial instability due to changing career changes, debt, inflation, and student loans payback often delay couples entering into marriage. The cost of a modest wedding for two hundred guests is eye-opening.
Traditional relationship milestones like engagement and marriage are no longer seen as necessary next steps these days. Couples are choosing alternative paths such as cohabitation or long-term partnerships without marriage. While the steps to long-term commitmment may have not deviated that much in the past decade, navigating to that point certainly has.
CHICAGO - Data show troubling disparities on the number of justice-involved individuals within the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Pew Research figures show Black people remain over-represented in jail populations and receive longer sentences.
The John Howard Association is a non-partisan prison watchdog group that monitors the treatment of justice-involved individuals and says change needs to happen at many levels.
Executive Director Jennifer Vollen-Katz said the population of Black people in Illinois is around 14%. For white people, that number is around 68%.
"But when you look at the racial makeup of the population in the Illinois Department of Corrections," said Vollen-Katz, "we find somewhere between 52% and 54% of the individuals inside IDOC are black - and about 32% of the people inside our prisons are white."
Conversations with IDOC workers and administrators are part of JHA's research, and pair with inmates' perspectives and experiences.
Katz said she wants equal treatment in the justice system - regardless of background or race - and a deeper look at law enforcement's relationships with different communities.
She said prosecutors wielding enormous power in making legal decisions is a huge problem in the early stages of the criminal justice system, and said she feels discrimination should be identified at its source.
"The disproportionate representation in our prison system is reflective of the lack of equity throughout our criminal legal and law enforcement systems," said Vollen-Katz, "and so we can't look at any one system to solve the problem. We need to start at the very beginning and do things quite differently if we're going to address this problem."
Katz affirmed that differences in the outcomes of charges, trials, and plea deals in sentencing are additional areas for reform.
She said more information is needed to improve the back end of the justice system - mandatory supervised releases, parole, and early discharge.
A May 2023 study from the anti-mass criminalization group The Prison Policy Initiative shows 28,000 Illinois residents are in state prisons, 17,000 are in local jails, and 6,100 are in federal prisons.
NORMAL - Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa recently suffered his third confirmed concussion in 25 months – just another reminder that football and other contact sports pose the threat of a traumatic brain injury. Research indicates it’s important to accurately and immediately diagnose a concussion because the consequences of misdiagnosis or faulty management can lead to major disability or death.
Illinois State University senior Cyerra Hibbert knows about concussions. She’s had multiple ones while playing soccer in high school and at ISU, the most recent just a month ago. Hibbert is one of the first athletes to test a new FlightPath concussion app. The lead app developer is *Adam Cross, MD, a pediatric hospitalist and clinical informaticist for OSF HealthCare and director of the OSF Children’s Innovation Lab at Jump Simulation & Education Center in Peoria, Illinois. He is working with co-lead Inki Kim, of the Health Care Engineering Systems Center at the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
The concussion assessment app is a grant-funded project through Jump ARCHES, a research collaborative that partners teams of clinicians and engineers working together to improve patient outcomes and reduce health care costs. The FlightPath app is being tested at Illinois State, Illinois Wesleyan and Bradley Universities as part of a clinical trial and research coalition. Hibbert used the FlightPath app after receiving instructions from her athletic trainer six days after she received a blow to the head during a game.
Cyerra Hibbert has suffered multiple concussions while playing soccer in high school and for the ISU Redbirds. Hibbert is one of the first athletes to test a new FlightPath concussion app.
Photo provided
Hibbert was able to finish the test. It only takes about two minutes to collect more than a million data points as a person tries to catch a hummingbird within a 3D space on a screen.
“After a while it did bring a little confusion or if I wasn’t aware of where the bird flew on or off the screen, that did trick a little bit of my memory and concentration skills, so I do think it’s definitely approachable," Hibbert explains. “It’s definitely doable. I think just based on your outcome will determine where you are in your concussion level.”
Photo provided
Dr. Adam Cross
Dr. Cross says the single biggest risk factor for prolonged time to recovery is delayed diagnosis, so FlightPath is his answer with its ability to diagnose a concussion within minutes. His research team has done some internal testing.
“Regarding how well it detects differences in impairments with people – how well they can determine if someone is functioning, acting appropriately, or if there's if there's something else going on. The challenge has been really doing that with individuals that have true concussion,” says Dr. Cross.
Athletes with a suspected concussion are challenged by FlightPath to walk in their environment while trying to keep a hummingbird in a bubble on the screen.
“The players themselves are trying out this app while concussed after having been consented earlier on in the year so that we can get data around how they perform with this app while concussed versus not concussed, and comparing that to the normal, typical present-day evaluation techniques that the trainers perform.”
Photo provided
Dr. Karan Rai
Dr. Cross stresses, right now, the clinical trial does not involve trainers using the app to help make decisions. He says the research is not that far along and data collection needs to happen first. But, Karan Rai, MD, a sports medicine physician with OSF HealthCare who also serves as the team doctor for ISU Athletics, says eventually, the data from FlightPath could help beyond diagnosis.
“It in turn can help us with making prognoses, coming up with recovery timelines, implementing certain vestibular therapy. Other than diagnostic purposes, we can extrapolate that data to help us come up with a better treatment plan as well.”
Takes the pressure off
Both Hibbert and Dr. Rai are excited to be part of what they consider ground-breaking research that has the potential for helping athletes in the future. Hibbert, who plans to go into medical sales, says it’s helpful to have an objective tool for an evaluation. She thinks it takes the pressure off athletes.
“Because as athletes, we’re always eager to be on the field or play the game and to have that mindset to be better and get back on your feet as quickly as you can. I think this app will allow you to really settle and to really take your time with your symptoms.”
The clinical trial is looking at whether FlightPath can do as good or better as traditional methods in diagnosing a concussion. So far, Dr. Rai says nearly 15 athletes who have suffered a concussion have completed a FlightPath assessment and it’s been performing well.
“Results are early so far but in our sample size we found some associations at least where FlightPath has shown some abnormalities similar to what other examinations have found as well, whether that’s the SCAT test or the ImPACT test.”
There are other concussion applications commercially available, but Dr. Cross suggests none are as robust as FlightPath.
“There aren't any, as far as I've seen, that use this mixed reality approach to gather the kinds of data that we're gathering. This is very rich data in a very short time in our app. One of the things that makes it so unique and sets it apart is that we get so much data about so many different manifestations of concussion in such a short time.”
Testing is expected to take at least two years. After testing, the app will be submitted to the FDA for clinical approval.
SNS - University of Illinois researchers found that flexible, personalized diet plans were crucial for weight loss in a regimen high in protein and fiber. Participants in a 25-month study within a self-directed dietary education program achieved the most success when they devised their own plans.
An ideal addition to your diet if you are trying to lose weight is raw pears because they are high in fiber. An average, medium-sized piece usually contains about 5.5 grams of dietary fiber.
Photo: David Trinks/Unsplash
At the one-year mark, successful dieters — 41% of participants — had shed 12.9% of their body weight, compared with the remainder of the study sample, which lost slightly more than 2% of their starting weight, according to a paper published in Obesity Science and Practice.
The dieters were enrolled in the Individualized Diet Improvement Program (iDip), which employs data visualization tools and intensive dietary education sessions to enhance participants' understanding of essential nutrients. This approach allows them to create personalized, safe, and effective weight-loss plans, said Manabu T. Nakamura, a professor in Nutrition Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the study's leader.
The main goal of the iDip program is centered around boosting protein and fiber intake while consuming 1,500 calories or less daily.
The iDip team created a one-of-a-kind, two-dimensional quantitative data visualization tool that plots foods’ protein and fiber densities per calorie and provides a target range for each meal. Starting with foods they usually ate, the dieters created an individualized plan, increasing their protein intake to as much as 80 grams and their fiber intake to close to 20 grams daily.
A total of 22 people finished the program, including nine men and 13 women. Most of them were between 30 and 64 years old. They said they had tried to lose weight at least twice before. Many of the participants had other health problems—54% had high cholesterol, 50% had bone or joint issues, and 36% had high blood pressure or sleep problems. Some of them also had suffered from diabetes, liver disease, cancer, or depression.
Throughout the program, participants experienced significant body transformations. They reduced their fat mass from an average of 42.6 kilograms to 35.7 kilograms after 15 months. Additionally, their waistlines shrank by about 7 centimeters after six months and a total of 9 centimeters after 15 months.
Tracking participants' protein and fiber intake, the team identified a strong link between higher consumption of these nutrients and weight loss at three and 12 months.
"Flexibility and personalization are key in creating programs that optimize dieters’ success at losing weight and keeping it off," Nakamura said. "Sustainable dietary change, which varies from person to person, must be achieved to maintain a healthy weight. The iDip approach allows participants to experiment with various dietary iterations, and the knowledge and skills they develop while losing weight serve as the foundation for sustainable maintenance."
DALLAS — The impact of particulate matter air pollution on death and disability is on the rise worldwide, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.
Previous research established the association of particulate matter (PM) pollution to CVD death and disability. However, questions remain about the worldwide impact from this type of pollution and how it has been changing over time, the study authors noted.
“We focused on examining the burden globally because particulate matter pollution is a widespread environmental risk factor that affects all populations worldwide, and understanding its impact on cardiovascular health can help guide public health interventions and policy decisions,” said Farshad Farzadfar, M.D., M.P.H., D.Sc., senior author of the study and a professor of medicine in the non-communicable diseases research center of the Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Institute at Tehran University of Medical Sciences in Iran.
The researchers analyzed PM pollution as a risk factor for death and disability using freely available data from 204 countries collected between 1990 and 2019 and detailed in the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. Exposure to PM pollution was estimated using a tool from the 2019 update to the GBD study that incorporated information from satellite and ground-level monitoring, computer models of chemicals in the atmosphere and land-use data.
Among the many types of heart disease, the current analysis of cardiovascular disease is restricted to stroke and ischemic heart disease (a lack of blood and oxygen supply to portions of the heart, usually due to plaque build-up in the arteries) because the 2019 GBD study on the global burden of disease attributed to PM pollution only examined these two diagnoses. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), which provides the GBD estimates, only reports data for a certain risk factor if there is a large body of evidence about its association with a disease, Farzadfar noted.
“Until now, only the association of PM pollution with ischemic heart disease and stroke has been demonstrated in a large number of studies,” Farzadfar said. “The IHME may include other CVDs in the future. Moreover, ischemic heart disease and stroke contribute to a significant majority of CVDs, and our estimates, despite having limitations, may be used as a good estimate of PM pollution burden on CVDs.”
The investigators analyzed changes over time in years of life lost due to premature death (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs) and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). DALYs is a measure that considers both the loss of life and the impact on quality of life to assess the full impact of a health condition on a population. The cardiovascular disease burden was assessed both overall and with age standardization, which compares health outcomes across a population with a wide range of ages.
The analysis found:
The total number of premature deaths and years of cardiovascular disability from cardiovascular diseases attributable to PM air pollution rose from 6.8 million in 1990 to 8.9 million in 2019, a 31% worldwide increase.
The increase in overall deaths was unevenly distributed, with a 43% increase among men compared to a 28.2% increase among women.
Between 1990 and 2019, there was a 36.7% decrease in age-standardized premature deaths attributed to PM pollution, meaning that while fewer people had died from cardiovascular disease, people are living longer with disability.
Regions with higher socioeconomic conditions had the lowest number of lost years of life due to cardiovascular disease attributed to PM pollution, yet also the highest number of years lived with disability. The opposite was true in regions with lower socioeconomic conditions, with more lives lost and fewer years lived with disability.
Between 1990 and 2019, changes in the cardiovascular impact of PM pollution differed between men and women. In all measures, increases in disability and death from ambient PM air pollution were higher in men than women, while declines in disability and death from household PM air pollution were lower in women than men.
“The declines in deaths may be considered positive news, as they indicate improvements in health care, air pollution control measures and access to treatment. However, the increase in disability-adjusted life years suggests that although fewer people were dying from cardiovascular disease, more people were living with disability,” Farzadfar said.
The researchers also found that between 1990 and 2019, age-standardized CVD death and disability attributed to outdoor PM pollution rose by 8.1%, while age-standardized cardiovascular death and disability attributed to household PM pollution, which is produced by solid cooking fuels such as coal, charcoal, crop residue, dung and wood, fell by 65.4%.
“The reason for the decrease in the burden of household air pollution from solid fuels might be better access and use of cleaner fuels, such as refined biomass, ethanol, liquefied petroleum gas, solar and electricity. Moreover, structural changes, such as improved cookstoves and built-in stoves, chimney hoods and better ventilation, might be effective in reducing pollution exposure to solid fuels. Finally, the effects of educational and behavioral interventions should be considered,” Farzadfar said. “The shifting pattern from household air pollution due to solid fuels to outdoor, ambient PM pollution has important public policy implications.”
In a 2020 scientific statement and a 2020 policy statement, the American Heart Association details the latest science about air pollution exposure and the individual, industrial and policy measures to reduce the negative impact of poor air quality on cardiovascular health. Reducing exposure to air pollution and reversing the negative impact of poor air quality on cardiovascular health, including heart disease and stroke, is essential to reducing health inequities in Black and Hispanic communities, those that have been historically marginalized and under-resourced, and communities that have the highest levels of exposure to air pollution.
The study has several limitations. Because the assessment of exposure to particulate matter pollution in the study is based on regional estimates, it may not accurately reflect individual exposure. In addition, results from this analysis of the association between particulate matter pollution and cardiovascular outcomes may not be generalizable to other health conditions or other pollutants.
Sleeping on your back contributes to snoring and blockages, especially as you age and the muscles in the throat become looser. Sleeping on your side could help improve your sleep quality.
by Jay Hancock Kaiser Health News
I woke up in a strange bedroom with 24 electrodes glued all over my body and a
plastic mask attached to a hose covering my face.
The lab technician who watched me all night via video feed told me that I had
“wicked sleep apnea” and that it was “central sleep apnea” — a type that
originates in the brain and fails to tell the muscles to inhale.
As a journalist — and one terrified by the diagnosis — I set out to do my own
research. After a few weeks of sleuthing and interviewing experts, I reached
two important conclusions.
First, I had moderate apnea, if that, and it could be treated without the
elaborate machines, mouthpieces, or other devices that specialists who had
consulted on my care were talking about.
Second, the American health care system has joined with commercial partners to
define a medical condition — in this case, sleep apnea — in a way that allows
both parties to generate revenue from a multitude of pricey diagnostic
studies, equipment sales, and questionable treatments. I was on a conveyor
belt.
As a journalist who spent years covering the business of health care, I found
there was more motivating my expensive testing cascade than concerns about my
health.
It all began with a desire for answers: I had been feeling drowsy during the
day, and my wife told me I snored. Both can mean obstructive sleep apnea. With
obstructive sleep apnea, the mouth and throat relax when a person is
unconscious, sometimes blocking or narrowing the airway. That interrupts
breathing, as well as sleep. Without treatment, the resulting disruption in
oxygen flow might increase the risk of developing certain cardiovascular
diseases.
So I contacted a sleep-treatment center, and doctors gave me an at-home test
($365). Two weeks later, they told me I had “high-moderate” sleep apnea and
needed to acquire a continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, machine, at
a cost of about $600.
Though I had hoped to get the equipment and adjust the settings to see what
worked best, my doctors said I had to come to the sleep lab for an overnight
test ($1,900) to have them “titrate” the optimal CPAP air pressure.
“How do you treat central sleep apnea?” I worriedly asked the technician after
that first overnight stay. She said something about an ASV (adaptive
servo-ventilation) machine ($4,000). And one pricey lab sleepover wasn’t
enough, she said. I needed to come back for another.
(Most procedures and devices mentioned in this article were covered or would
have been covered by insurance — in my case, Medicare, plus a supplemental
plan. Unnecessary care is a big reason Americans’ insurance costs — premiums,
copays, and deductibles — tend to rise year after year.)
As a journalist who spent years covering the business of health care, I found
there was more motivating my expensive testing cascade than concerns about my
health.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine, or AASM, a nonprofit based near
Chicago, decides what is sleep apnea and how to treat it. Working with sleep
societies around the world, it publishes the International Classification of
Sleep Disorders, relied on by doctors everywhere to diagnose and categorize
disease.
But behind that effort lie considerable conflicts of interest. Like so much of
U.S. health care, sleep medicine turns out to be a thriving industry. AASM
finances its operations in part with payments from CPAP machine manufacturers
and other companies that stand to profit from expensive treatments and
expansive definitions of apnea and other sleep disorders.
Corporate sponsors for Sleep 2022,
a convention AASM put on in Charlotte, North Carolina, with other professional
societies, included many of those companies, plus
Philips Respironics
and ResMed, two of the biggest
CPAP machine makers.
In a statement, AASM spokesperson Jennifer Gibson said a conflict-of-interest
policy and a non-interference pledge from industry funders protect the
integrity of the academy’s work. Industry donations account for about $170,000
of AASM’s annual revenue of about $15 million, she said. Other revenue comes
from educational materials and membership and accreditation fees.
Here’s what else I found. Almost everybody breathes irregularly sometime at
night, especially during REM sleep, characterized by rapid eye movement and
dreams. Blood oxygen levels also fluctuate slightly.
But recent European studies have shown that standards under the International
Classification of Sleep Disorders would doom huge portions of the general
population to a sleep apnea diagnosis — whether or not people had complaints
of daytime tiredness or other sleep problems.
A
study in the Swiss city of Lausanne
showed that 50% of local men and 23% of the women 40 or older were positive
for sleep apnea under such criteria.
Such rates of disease are “extraordinarily high,” “astronomical,” and
“implausible,” Dr. Dirk Pevernagie, a scientist at Belgium’s Ghent University
Hospital,
wrote with colleagues two years ago
in a comprehensive study in the Journal of Sleep Research.
“Right now, there is no real evidence for the criteria that have been put
forward to diagnose obstructive sleep apnea and rate its severity,” he said in
an interview.
Likewise, 19% of middle-aged subjects in a
2016 Icelandic study
appeared to have moderate to severe “apnea” under one definition in the
International Classification of Sleep Disorders even though many reported no
drowsiness.
“Most of them were really surprised,” said Erna Sif Arnardóttir, who led the
study and is running a
large European program to
refine detection and treatment of apnea.
Nevertheless, the official
AASM journal recommends
extremely broad screening for sleep apnea, looking for patients who have what
it defines as illness. Everybody 18 and older should be screened every year
for apnea if they have diabetes, obesity, untreated high blood pressure, or
heart disease —
even if they have never complained
about sleep problems, the group says.
AASM “continually evaluates the definitions, criteria and recommendations used
in the identification of sleep apnea and other sleep disorders,” Gibson said
in the statement. Meanwhile, routine screening by primary care doctors “is a
simple way” of gauging whether a high-risk patient may have obstructive sleep
apnea, the statement said.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an authoritative body that reviews
the effectiveness of preventive care, takes a conservative view, more like
that of the European researchers, concluding there is
“insufficient” evidence
to support widespread screening among patients with no symptoms.
After all my reporting, I concluded that my apnea is real, though moderate. My
alarming reading in the overnight lab — diagnosed quickly as central sleep
apnea — was a byproduct of the testing machinery itself. That’s a
well-described phenomenon that occurs
in 5% to 15% of patients.
And when I looked closely at the results of my at-home diagnostic test, I had
an epiphany: My overall score was 26 breathing interruptions and blood-oxygen
level declines, on average, per hour — enough to put me in the “high-moderate”
category for apnea. But when I looked at the data sorted according to sleeping
positions, I saw that I scored much better when I slept on my side: only 10
interruptions in an hour.
So I did a little experiment: I bought a $25 pulse oximeter with a smartphone
app that records oxygen dips and breathing interruptions. When I slept on my
side, there were hardly any.
Now I sleep on my side. I snore less. I wake up refreshed. I’m not daytime
drowsy.
None of my specialists mentioned turning on to my side — known in medical
parlance as “positional therapy” — though the intervention is recognized as effective by many researchers.
“Positional patients … can sleep in the lateral position and sleep quite
well,” said Arie Oksenberg, a sleep researcher formerly at Loewenstein
Hospital in Israel.
But it’s not easy to find this in
the official AASM treatment guidelines, which instead go right to the money-making options like CPAP machines,
surgery, central apnea, and mouth appliances.
“Positional therapy is an effective treatment option for some patients,” said
the AASM’s Gibson. But she said there are concerns about whether patients will
sleep on their sides long term and whether trying to stay in one position
might cause sleep interruptions itself.
It’s true that And it often takes
practice. (Some people tape a tennis ball to their pajamas to keep them off
their backs.) Even conservative sleep doctors say CPAP machines are the best
solution for many patients.
But there is a largely overlooked alternative.
“Are we missing a simple treatment for most adult sleep apnea patients?” was
the name of a
2013 paper
that Oksenberg and a colleague wrote about positional therapy.
In my case, the answer was “yes.”
Jay Hancock is a former KHN senior correspondent.
KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a
national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues.
Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major
operating programs at KFF (Kaiser
Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing
information on health issues to the nation.
Cancer survivors are more like to quit as part of their recovery
Photo courtesty American Heart Association
Stroke survivors were more likely to continue cigarette smoking than cancer survivors, raising the risk that they will have more health problems or die from a subsequent stroke or heart disease, according to new research published today in Stroke, a journal of the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association.
"The motivation for this study was the National Cancer Institute (NCI)’s Moonshot initiative that includes smoking cessation among people with cancer. We were curious to understand smoking among people with stroke and cardiovascular disease," said Neal Parikh, M.D., M.S., lead author of the study and a neurologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City. "In part to assess whether a similar program is necessary for stroke survivors, our team compared smoking cessation rates between stroke survivors and cancer survivors."
The investigators analyzed data collected between 2013 and 2019 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a national health survey that collects information regarding chronic health conditions and health-related behaviors annually.
Researchers analyzed data from 74,400 respondents who reported having a prior stroke and a history of smoking (median age of 68 years; 45% women; 70% non-Hispanic white), and 155,693 respondents who identified as cancer survivors with a history of smoking (median age of 69 years; 56% women; 81% non-Hispanic white). Previous smoker status was defined as having smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime.
After adjusting for demographic factors and the presence of smoking-related medical conditions, researchers found that:
Stroke survivors were found to be 28% less likely to have quit smoking compared to people with cancer.
61% of stroke survivors reported that they had quit smoking.
Stroke survivors under the age of 60 were far less likely to have quit smoking (43%) compared to stroke survivors ages 60 and older (75%).
Photo courtesty American Heart Association
"If you told a stroke neurologist that 40% of their patients don’t have their blood pressure controlled or weren’t taking their aspirin or their cholesterol-lowering medication, I think they would be very disappointed,” said Parikh, who is also an assistant professor of neurology in the Department of Neurology and of neuroscience in the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute at Weill Cornell Medicine. “These results indicate that we should be disappointed – more of our stroke patients need to quit smoking. We can and should be doing a lot better in helping patients with smoking cessation after stroke."
The researchers also found that stroke survivors who live in the Stroke Belt – 8 states in the southeastern United States with elevated stroke rates (North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana) – were around 6% less likely to have quit smoking than stroke survivors in other areas of the U.S. Increasing smoking cessation is one factor than can be addressed to reduce the disproportionately high rates of strokes and stroke deaths in the Stroke Belt.
"Important next steps are devising and testing optimal smoking cessation programs for people who have had a stroke or mini-stroke," said Parikh. "Programs for patients with stroke and cardiovascular disease should be as robust as smoking cessation programs offered to patients with cancer. At NCI-designated sites, smoking cessation programs often include a dedicated, intensive counseling program, a trained tobacco cessation specialist, and health care professionals with specific knowledge about the use of smoking cessation medications. Hospital systems could also adjust care protocols so that every stroke patient receives a consultation with a tobacco cessation specialist and is enrolled in a smoking cessation program with the option to opt out, as opposed to having to seek out a program."
A limitation of the study is that the data in the survey was self-reported – it relied on individuals to indicate if they have ever smoked or are currently smoking. The study population is also limited because it included only people who live independently in the community, rather than those living in a nursing home or other living facility.
Co-authors are Melvin Parasram, D.O., M.S.; Halina White, M.D.; Alexander E. Merkler, M.D., M.S.; Babak B. Navi, M.D., M.S.; and Hooman Kamel, M.D., M.S.. The study was supported by the New York State Department of Health Empire Clinical Research Investigator Program and the Florence Gould Endowment for Discovery in Stroke.
Has the pandemic got you or your parents a little out of shape?
Dr. Neha Gothe, a Doctor in Kinesiology and Community Health at the University of Illinois Department of Kinesiology, is conducting a research based study on the benefits of Yoga, Stretching-Toning, and Aerobic exercises on brain health. Gothe is the Director of the Exercise Psychology Lab where she explores the bio-psycho-social health benefits of physical activity across the lifespan.
Darice Brooks, who is coordinating the project, is looking for adults between the ages of 55 and 79 who would like to participate in the free 6-month exercise program.
"Each participant will be a part of one of the three groups and earn up to $240," Brooks said. "Along with the $240, participants will get a physical activity tracker and exercise equipment that they will get to keep at the end of the study."
Brooks said the COVID precautions will be observed with all exercise sessions. Participants and staff are required to wear face masks and all exercise spaces will be cleaned and disinfected following University protocol. Group size is limited to just 10 people at a time and everyone will have "adequate space (6ft or more) between them during the in-person exercise sessions". All research staff members are tested 2x a week via the UIUC Shield program.
The project is seeking participants 55–79 years old, right-handed, desire a more active lifestyle, and exercise less than a couple hours a week. Interested adults also must have no past or current diagnosis of cognitive impairment, have no health conditions that may be exacerbated by exercise, will be in the community for the duration of the study as well as have no MRI contraindications.
The project is funded by a grant from the National Institute on Aging and is called "S.A.Y. Exercise". There are three PhD students and two students working towards their masters also working on the project.
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B.O. basics
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My boyfriend, aged 32, embodies the quintessential extrovert—gregarious, enamored with nightlife, and perpetually surrounded by a coterie of approximately twenty friends who reside in close proximity and convene incessantly. Initially, I admired his vivacity and character.
