An examination of vaccination trends in Denmark shows just how damaging vaccine misinformation can be.

From 2013 to 2016, negative information about the HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine spread widely through Danish media outlets. As a result, thousands of girls did not receive the vaccine.

Misinformation scare

For the study, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill looked at four different time periods to study HPV vaccination rates in Denmark: the vaccine reaching uptake levels of other vaccines (2009); beginning of negative media information on the vaccine (2013); widespread negative media coverage (2015), and a national campaign to assure the public about the vaccine’s safety (2017-2019).

They found that after the misinformation scare, there was a 50% drop in vaccinations, and about 26 000 Danish girls were unvaccinated. From this, an estimated 180 avoidable cases of cervical cancer and 45 deaths are expected, researchers said.

“Denmark is a good case study to see how a country deals with vaccine misinformation,” said study author Peter R. Hansen, a professor of economics at UNC. “By using anecdotal stories, media can create a false equivalence between outrageous claims and scientific facts.”

So, how effective was the subsequent campaign to correct the misinformation and promote vaccination?

The 2017 initiative slightly increased vaccination uptake, but the numbers are still below the level before the misinformation wildfire. The study highlights the difficulty of undoing the damage of misinformation.

Unsubstantiated safety concerns

“Recovery has been slow and costly,” Hansen said in a university news release. “Resources are being used to combat misinformation instead of being used for health care benefits.”

HPV vaccinations are safe and can prevent up to 90% of cervical cancers. Girls are urged to receive the vaccine between 11 and 12 years of age, when it is most effective.

“The main threat to the resilience of vaccination programmes globally is vaccine misinformation,” said researcher Noah Brewer, a UNC professor of health behaviour. “When there’s a large drop in vaccination coverage, it’s almost always because there’s an unproven vaccine safety scare. … This has happened in several other countries, and all were due to unsubstantiated safety concerns.”

The findings were published recently in the journal Vaccine.

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The university says the risk of the infection being passed on to other people on campus is “low”.

Women and men have a much higher risk of dangerous heart problems soon after their first stroke compared to people without stroke, even if they don’t have obvious underlying heart disease, a study has found.

Researchers investigated data on more than 93 000 people age 66 or older in Ontario, Canada. The group included more than 12 000 women and 9 500 men who had an ischaemic stroke, the most common type.

Shared risk factors

None of the subjects had apparent heart disease. But after having a first stroke, the risk of having a major heart incident – such as a heart attack, heart failure or cardiovascular death – 30 days later was 25 times higher in women and 23 times higher in men.

One year after a stroke, men and women still had twice the risk of a major cardiac event compared to their peers who had not had a stroke, found the study, published in the American Heart Association journal Stroke.

“We already knew that patients with stroke have more frequent cardiovascular complications than other people,” said lead author Dr Luciano Sposato, an associate professor and head of the stroke programme at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University in London, Ontario.

Doctors had suspected the connection was related to risk factors shared between heart disease and stroke, such as hypertension, diabetes or smoking.

But seeing the connection in people without underlying heart disease suggests other mechanisms are involved and need more research, Sposato said.

Level of risk ‘astounding’

Although the study found no differences in post-stroke risk between women and men, previous studies have shown men are eight times more likely than women to have hidden heart disease, Sposato said. That suggests different mechanisms might be at work in men than in women, he said.

Dr Cheryl Bushnell, professor of neurology at Wake Forest School of Medicine and vice chair of research at Wake Forest Baptist Health in North Carolina, called the level of risk uncovered by the study “astounding”.

It means those who treat stroke patients need to emphasise follow-up care even more than they do now, said Bushnell, who was not involved in the new research.

The nature of the study limited what could be extrapolated about the links between stroke and heart risks, she said, and further research would be helpful.

Speculating about those possible links, Sposato said the heart and brain share deep neurological connections. Previous research shows brain damage from strokes and other causes can lead to heart damage.

Another way of preventing cardiovascular events

Sposato, in fact, contributed to a 2019 study in rats showing a stroke in a part of the brain known as the insular cortex led to inflammation and other fibrosis in the heart.

“So now we know for sure that there’s a clear relationship between stroke and new heart disease, but we don’t know how it happens,” he said. If scientists could unlock the ways a stroke triggers heart problems, it could eventually lead to new ideas for how to prevent them.

Meanwhile, he said, health care providers should be aware of the risk and “very actively” watch for coronary symptoms or hidden heart disease in people who recently had strokes, “because that might be another way of preventing cardiovascular events.”

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The drug is aimed at protecting against accidental exposure, but may cause a fatal reaction.

The US and Australia are among the countries that have implemented rare travel restrictions.

Many mothers-to-be feel overwhelmed by stress, and it might have implications for their babies’ brain development in the womb, a new study suggests.

The researchers found that even in a group of highly educated, healthy pregnant women, stress and anxiety were common. More than one-quarter reported higher-than-average levels of “perceived stress”, while a similar number had anxiety symptoms. Another 11% had depression symptoms.

Smaller foetal hippocampus

And on average, the study found, mothers’ mental health symptoms correlated with differences in foetal brain structure and chemistry.

Using specialised MRI scans, researchers saw that the foetal hippocampus tended to be smaller when moms-to-be were distressed. That part of the brain is involved in forming new memories, and facilitating learning and emotional control.

There were also signs of increased “gyrification” in the brain’s surface. That refers to the formation of the characteristic “folds” that mark the outer layer of the brain. The way that folding plays out may affect the ultimate amount of brain matter that develops – the number of neurons and connections among them, explained Dr Rahul Gupta.

Gupta, who was not involved in the study, is chief medical and health officer for the nonprofit March of Dimes.

He said the findings offer new insight into the importance of mental well-being during pregnancy, and have “potentially huge implications for moms-to-be”.

“This suggests psychological distress may be as important as the physical disorders we monitor for in pregnancy,” Gupta said.

Psychological distress

There are still key questions to be answered, though: Do the foetal brain differences linked to moms’ distress necessarily persist after birth? Do they manifest as problems later in childhood?

Past research has shown that impairments in these same foetal brain areas may be linked to difficulties with learning, attention, memory and emotional control, said Catherine Limperopoulos, the senior researcher on the study.

But, she added, “long-term follow-up is needed to confirm whether these developmental problems emerge in our population during infancy and childhood.”

Limperopoulos directs the Center for the Developing Brain at Children’s National Hospital, in Washington, D.C. She said her team became interested in studying prenatal stress because when they were recruiting pregnant women for their research, “many readily discussed feeling psychological distress”.

She noted that, when asked, “these women spoke freely about the anxiety and stress they were feeling”.

To dig deeper, the researchers recruited 119 healthy pregnant women who agreed to have two foetal brain MRI scans during the third trimester. At both visits, the women also completed standard questionnaires on perceived stress, and anxiety and depression symptoms.

Brain differences

The stress scale asked them about their feelings over the past month – including how often they’ve felt overwhelmed by daily responsibilities or unable to handle personal problems.

As a group, the women were highly educated, with higher-income, professional jobs. But that did not buffer them against distress, it turned out.

Overall, 27% scored above-average on that scale. Nearly as many (26%) scored above the cutoff for anxiety symptoms, while one in 10 scored that high on the depression measure.

In general, the researchers found, those maternal symptoms correlated with differences in foetal brain structure. There were also signs that brain biochemistry differed: Moms’ depression symptoms were associated with lower levels of creatine and choline in the foetal brain.

Normally, levels of those chemicals shoot up late in pregnancy, as new cells form at an increasing rate, the study authors noted.

Whether any of those brain differences will mean trouble ahead remains to be seen.

Dispel lingering stigma

But, Gupta said, the findings raise questions about whether doctors should be doing more to assess mental well-being in pregnant women.

Limperopoulos agreed. “The validated screening tools are there,” she said. “We need to make it simple and routine to have these essential conversations and dispel lingering stigma attached to mental health concerns, so moms and their babies will be healthier.”

For now, Gupta encouraged pregnant women to discuss any mental health issues with their doctor. “If you’re suffering from these symptoms, work with your provider to figure out what you can do,” he said.

The findings were published online in JAMA Network Open.

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In a new study published in Science, LSU chemistry professor emeritus George Stanley and fellow LSU researchers from the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Biological Sciences discovered a new cationic cobalt bisphosphine hydroformylation catalyst system that is highly active and extremely robust.

After a night of drinking a little too much, you may experience the pounding headache, the unbearable nausea, and/or an aversion to bright lights. But sometimes when you overdo it on the adult bevs you are also overcome by a feeling of uneasiness and anxiousness, or your mind’s flooded with panicky thoughts (uh, did I text my ex last night?).

The term for a hangover with a side of anxiety has now been dubbed “hangxiety,” and you can find discussions of hangover anxiety all over the interwebs and forums, like on Reddit. While hangxiety isn’t necessarily a new concept, it could be that society’s finally started buzzing about the phenomenon because we’re more open about mental health in general (which is a good thing!).

Studies show that it’s a real thing that people are experiencing. A 2019 study published in Personality and Individual Differences found that hangover anxiety after a day of drinking was most prevalent in highly shy people, or people with deal with social anxiety.

We talked to psychology and alcohol experts to get the lowdown on the anxiety that often comes with a nasty hangover — here’s everything you need to know about how to move past hangover anxiety to get on with your day.

There’s a physiological reason you might feel anxious after a night of drinking.

Although we don’t tend to think of it this way, a hangover is basically a form of withdrawal from alcohol. “What goes up must come down — alcohol makes you feel good — and it tends to reduce tension. But when the alcohol wears off, the brain and the body have a ‘rebound’ process,” explains Dr George Koob, director of the American National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). This one- to two- day “withdrawal” period is often coupled with the typical acute hangover symptoms (fatigue, headache, dry mouth, nausea), as well as anxiety and even depression in some cases.

This typically doesn’t happen after one glass of pinot grigio, by the way; this is more likely to be the case after a night of taking a few shots, or maybe finishing off a full bottle of wine. “If you are a heavy drinker, over time, your central nervous system adjusts to having alcohol around all the time. Your body works hard to keep your brain in a more awake state, but when the alcohol level suddenly drops, your brain stays in this keyed-up state,” says Dr Sanam Hafeez, a New York City-based licensed clinical neuropsychologist. Your brain continues to be hyped up is what makes you feel the effects of anxiety, Hafeez points out.

Hormonal fluctuations from drinking may also play a role in hangxiety. When you’re drinking, the alcohol releases mood-boosting hormones known as endorphins. But then the next morning, you’re coming down from those endorphins, so that’s why you might feel low, Hafeez explains. Also, when your brain is working hard to return the body to its usual state after heavy drinking, the neuropeptide CRF (which triggers the stress-hormone cortisol) spikes, leaving you feeling more panicky than usual, says Koob.

READ MORE: Is There A Way To Stop A Hangover In Its Tracks? (Because I Just Can’t Deal)

But there are psychological reasons for feeling anxiety post-drinking, too.

“For some drinkers, the hangover anxiety is almost as predictable as the pounding headache and queasy stomach,” says Hafeez. The heart-racing, sweaty-palmed, antsy-stomach feeling is often related to worrying about the consequences of a blackout, or of being in a state of mind where there are holes in your memory and fears about things you said or did.

Thoughts of, what did I say to my boss?, or, did I approach the person I like? come flooding into your mind, and the anxiety surrounding what you said or did to embarrass yourself might be the culprit. Other times, Hafeez says, the hangxiety might not be related to anything specific, and might just be an overall feeling of uneasiness.

Sometimes, because people tend to use alcohol as a social lubricant, the anxiety comes creeping back in as soon as the alcohol starts to wear off. “Anxiety and depression are often related to alcohol abuse, because the person has more anxiety when they’re not drinking rather than drinking,” Koob notes.

In other cases, someone may still have anxiety when they are drinking, but according to Hafeez, just two drinks is enough to relax the brain — at least temporarily, anyway.

Just because you’re feeling the hangxiety hardcore doesn’t necessarily mean you have an anxiety disorder.

The more you drink, generally the more likely you are to experience the anxiety-like effect of alcohol. Hafeez adds that if you already deal with anxiety, you’ll likely feel the effects of hangover anxiety even more than people who do not have an anxiety disorder. Koob adds that whether or not you feel hangover anxiety may also depend on whether you have a family history of anxiety.

There’s no direct proof that drinking in excess and getting hungover directly causes anxiety issues. However, Koob points out, drinking to cope with social phobias (and the resulting withdrawal from that drinking) can be intertwined with an anxiety disorder, so it’s not always easy to spot when your post-drinking anxiety is a sign of a larger emotional/mental issue.

Avoiding hangover anxiety is about more than just drinking less.

The obvious answer to avoiding hangovers (and, therefore, hangover anxiety) in the first place is to drink less, which is easier said than done for some people. What’s super important is awareness of your personal tolerance — not only regarding how much is your limit, but what kinds of alcohol tend to send you over the edge or leave you feeling worse emotionally.

This may mean, for some people, you avoid mixing drinks and stick to one thing all night, or you avoid hard liquor, Hafeez suggests. You also want to tune into how you’re pacing yourself when you drink, and consume water with your alcoholic beverages to stay in control.

Along with self-regulation, try to practice mindfulness as you drink. Have a convo with yourself in which you predict how you will feel the next day, both physically and emotionally, and go from there. Chances are you don’t want to feel wired, grouchy, or sad the next day, and if you remind yourself of this as you’re imbibing, you may be more likely to go slow and not overdo it.

Doing a dry January or other abstinence period may also be a helpful experiment; if you find that you feel better mentally, or less groggy, anxious, or that you sleep better without drinking, it may be worth reducing your alcohol intake.

Koob recommends doing everything you’d do to avoid physical hangover symptoms, because they’re connected. “That can be anything from getting a good night’s sleep to making sure you’re hydrating properly to eating food with drinks,” he says.

If you’re already hungover and anxious, pop your usual aspirin and drink plenty of fluids, but the best medicine, according to Koob, is getting some exercise. Now, if you’ve just been throwing up or feel very sick, you’re likely not in the shape to go for a long run or powerlifting session, but a short walk around the block or some time on a stationary bike will do the trick. Plus, research has shown that any kind of aerobic exercise can help calm heightened anxiety.

READ MORE: “I Took On The OcSober Challenge — And It Totally Changed My Relationship With Alcohol”

If you think you feel more worked up than you should the day after drinking, it’s worth bringing up to a mental health provider.

To reiterate, having a bout of hangover anxiety is not a direct sign of anxiety disorder. “It is simply the symptom of drinking too much alcohol and causing the mind and body to experience anxiety as a result of alcohol withdrawal,” says Hafeez.

But if you feel so anxious or low after drinking that it’s interfering with your day to day or you can’t seem to snap out of it, evaluate your relationship with alcohol and examine how it impacts your mental health. The questions Hafeez suggests you ask: What’s the motive for drinking enough alcohol to cause hangxiety in the first place? Are you over-drinking because of social anxiety, depression, or general anxiety, or to escape?

Everyone’s tolerance and response to alcohol is different, but most importantly, Dr Koob says, it shouldn’t be interfering with a healthy existence.

^{This article was originally published on www.womenshealthsa.co.za}

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Mara Santilli

US citizens returning from Hubei province, where the coronavirus outbreak began, face quarantine.