Giving trauma patients with severe blood loss the hormone arginine vasopressin (AVP) cut the volume of blood products required to stabilize them by half, according to results of a new, first-of-its-kind clinical trial from Penn Medicine. The finding, published online this week in JAMA Surgery, suggests that administering AVP to trauma patients with severe bleeding could become standard practice in trauma care, reducing the use of blood products and their adverse side effects. The authors say the study is particularly important for the treatment of patients with gun-related injuries. Each year, there are over 100,00 firearm-related injuries with over 36,000 deaths.

Discussion in the US hinges on the rights of the mother and foetus but rarely the would-be fathers.

Using “synthetic pot” is rolling the dice with your health, experts warn, pointing to a healthy 26-year-old woman who ended up in the ER after smoking a batch laced with rat poison.

Synthetic pot is created in a lab. It’s supposed to safely mimic marijuana by targeting the same cannabinoid receptors as the real thing.

‘Pretty rare’ experience

But the unregulated chemical composition of fake weed can be a toxic crap shoot, experts say. And for the 26-year-old Illinois woman who took that gamble, luck was not on her side.

“This woman’s specific experience was pretty rare in the grand scheme of things,” said study lead author Dr Arkady Rasin, a toxicology fellow with the Toxikon Consortium in Chicago.

The synthetic pot she smoked – branded “Matrix” – was laced with a rat-killing blood-thinner more powerful and longer-lasting than warfarin, a medication prescribed to prevent blood clots in heart patients. Smoking Matrix triggered two days of heavy mucous membrane and menstrual bleeding that required a transfusion, costly medication and six days in hospital.

“It is unclear why this happened, who laced the drugs, and where in the manufacturing and distribution step this occurred,” Rasin said.

But this was not an isolated incident, he added. The woman was part of a nationwide outbreak of about 300 cases that started in Illinois in 2018 and spread to other states. Five people died.

How rat poison found its way into synthetic pot is still being investigated.

No guarantee of quality control

“There is no clear reason that we can identify,” Rasin noted. “There is no evidence that it actually makes the drugs stronger or different, and we have never had an outbreak like this.”

These synthetics share a big risk with most illicitly produced drugs: A customer never knows what he or she is actually buying, if products may be tainted or errors were made during manufacturing.

And Rasin said that’s the case with fake pot, despite efforts to foster brand loyalty with hip names like “Spice”, “Bliss”, “Skunk” and “K-2”.

“Users cannot even rely on a certain brand or dealer, because dealers change their suppliers, there is no guarantee of any quality control, and the brand on the packaging seems to be random and not indicative of the specific product inside,” he said.

Ultimately, he said, synthetic pot fails to deliver on its purpose – and its promise. Fake weed was developed for pharmaceutical research – created to mimic effects of marijuana in the hope of finding a legitimate therapeutic use. That never panned out.

And illegal manufacturing has led to an ever-changing menu of chemical recipes. The upshot: While some people use fake pot to skirt workplace drug testing, the pot-like high that they are chasing is also unlikely to pan out, Rasin said.

Made in factories

That thought was seconded by Dr Eric Lavonas, a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Medicine.

“Pot is a plant,” he said. “Synthetic pot is not. People have a decent idea where marijuana is grown. Synthetic pot is just chemicals made in factories, typically in China.”

The compounds vary from batch to batch, and often look and act “a lot more like meth or cocaine than marijuana”, Lavonas said.

“Sometimes you’ll get a mellow high, and other times you’ll end up running down the street screaming naked,” he said.

As for the young woman, her doctors were aware of the local outbreak and were able to diagnose and stop her bleeding within 24 hours, using high doses of a pricey and often hard-to-come-by clotting supplement.

The rat poison she consumed can thin blood for months, doctors said, requiring prolonged treatment and outpatient monitoring. Unfortunately, the patient moved out of state two months after the incident and her current condition is unknown.

Rasin and his colleagues reported on her case in the online edition of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

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HealthDay

Seventeen cases of abnormal hair growth are reported across Spain after wrong medication given.

This article originally appeared on InStyle.com. 

When you’re following a workout plan, eating healthy, and even setting aside time in your schedule for some much needed self-care, it’s easy to get hung up on numbers as a way to measure if you’re on your way to meeting your fitness goals.

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Especially scrolling through Instagram where all you see are before-and-after photos documenting just how many pounds were shed to get those toned stomachs and sculpted arms. But, some women have set out to prove that a healthier body doesn’t depend on what the scale reads by posting before-and-after photos of their fitness journeys that only show less than a 10 pound difference from start to finish.

The following 9 women show us that a healthy, strong body isn’t in the numbers on the scale.

"And for anyone just seeing this for the first time YESSS really 2 lbs, the scale doesn't measure fat vs muscle! Keep going girls," wrote powerlifter and mom of four Adrienne Osouna. With this side-by-side photo of the progress she made with weightlifting, she makes an important point: The number on the scale doesn't measure muscle gain and definition.

Fitness 'grammer Teagen says "screeewwwwww the scale" and we agree. Instead of obsessing over the fluctuating number on her scale, she prioritizes eating a balanced diet of healthy carbs, fat, and protein.

What good is smaller number on the scale, if you can't do a single full push-up? Instagrammer Vicki may currently weigh 3kg more than the beginning of her fitness journey, but thanks to her training she's more toned and can do 26 full push-ups.

Health coach Katie Koch makes an important point about weight: Everyone, including health coaches can get hung up about it, but at the ends of the day, it's not about the number, but how you feel. "Yes, coaches are human too! I struggle just like the rest of you. I knew I needed to revamp my nutrition and get back to my daily workouts, that is when I feel my best!…And isn't it crazy that there is only a 3 lb difference between these two pics?" she wrote in her photo's caption.

Kelsey Wells just slammed that smaller numbers equal success with a single 'gram. In the trio of photos, the fitness blogger proved that your weight doesn't measure progress. "…there is only a 5 lb difference between my starting and current weight, but my body composition has changed COMPLETELY. I have never had more muscle and less body fat than I do now. I have never been healthier than I am now. I have never been more comfortable in my own skin than I am now. And if I didn't say #screwthescale long ago, I would have gave up on my journey," she said.

Registered dietician Kaila Johnson's weight may have stayed constant in the past year, but that doesn't mean her body composition did, too. "On the left (current) I have more muscle mass with less body fat, whereas on the right (10 months ago) I'm holding more body fat and less muscle mass."

"I weighed myself this morning out of curiosity and guess what? I GAINED 1kg since I last checked during my regular check up, which means there's only 1kg difference between the two pictures: the left is the day I started #BBG and the right is today after 71 weeks of @kayla_itsinces kicking my butt and eating better. But in terms of strength, mental and emotional wellbeing, happiness and body composition, there's a massive difference between the two. This goes to show, once again, that the number on the scale is not a real measure of the progress we've made in our journeys." Preach Asphaire.

Throughout her fitness journey that she documents on Instagram, Katie Lolas has shown us that progress doesn't depend on the scale.

"Although I haven't lost significant inches, I'm still happy with my progress. I've completely transformed my body and mindset, and that's a win in my book!" We agree, Ashley!

We track our heart rate, exercise our muscles, and protect our skin with sunscreen as best we can. Yet despite all the thinking our brain does for us, we rarely stop and think about it. Our small but mighty command center can simultaneously rehearse a PowerPoint, manage digestion, dive to catch a teetering coffee mug, and contemplate whether perfect love is actually attainable. Just ponder that for a minute.

But exactly how the brain gets all that done is a mystery. However, our understanding of this three-pound wonder has exploded in the past two decades. Once upon a time, we thought we were born with all our brain cells, or neurons. Now, research is showing us evidence that we continue to make more as we age. We can also build new connections between existing neurons, a phenomenon called neuroplasticity that helps our brain hum along at high efficiency.

RELATED: Six Healthy Habits to Be Happier and More Positive

Experts are learning more about how our daily choices can benefit the brain, too. "Changes that lead to Alzheimer's start decades before the first symptoms of forgetfulness," says Marwan Sabbagh, MD, director of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, Nevada. "You can take steps in early and middle adulthood to protect your brain, for right now and down the road."

While your mother always said eating right and exercising would do nothing but benefit our health, those aren't the only ways to keep our brains in tip-top shape. Read on for more ways you can help yours be its very best.

RELATED: 6 Simple Tricks to Keep Your Brain Young

Connect with Friends

Whether it happens at book club or weeding in the community garden, what can seem like small talk does a world of good. "Social engagement is one of the most important things you can do for brain health," says Jessica Langbaum, PhD, associate director of the Alzheimer's Prevention Initiative at the Banner Alzheimer's Institute, in Phoenix, Arizona. And it doesn't just give you a long-term advantage. Social ties also buffer us from the effects of the stress hormone cortisol. That's good news, since a 2018 study in Neurology found that middle-aged adults—women in particular—with high levels of it scored lower on memory and attention tests than subjects with moderate levels.

RELATED: Mom Applauds Her Teen Daughter for Recognizing the Warning Signs of a Toxic Friendship

Avoid Multitasking

"Multitasking is as bad for your brain as smoking is for your lungs," says Sandra Bond Chapman, PhD, author of Make Your Brain Smarter, professer and founder of University of Texas at Dallas's Center for BrainHealth. A surefire by-product is an elevated cortisol level can dim your recall and focus powers. When you multitask—texting during a meeting, say—you ask your brain to do two competing things. "It overloads the brain and makes you less efficient," Bond Chapman says. "It's like having your feet on the gas and the brake simultaneously." Instead, try focusing on just one thing in its turn, and step away from what you're doing for three to five minutes a few times a day.

RELATED: Here's How You Can Tame Your Distracted Mind

Feed Your Mind

Researchers at Chicago's Rush University Medical Center and Harvard University developed a way to eat that keeps the brain stoked with what it needs now and staves off future cognitive decline. Meet the MIND diet, a combo of the Mediterranean and DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) regimens. "Nutrients in the MIND (or Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) diet have been shown to reduce inflammation, prevent neuron death, and reduce oxidative stress, which can harm neurons," says Martha Clare Morris, ScD, a Rush University Medical Center researcher and nutritional epidemiologist.

RELATED: What Is Mindful Eating?

Keep It Balanced

The key players are omega-3 fatty acids, from at least one three-ounce serving of fish a week; polyphenols, from berries (two half-cup servings or more a week—wild blueberries are especially potent); and plenty of olive oil's healthy fat. The diet also calls for a daily minimum of a cup of raw or a half-cup of cooked leafy greens (spinach is particularly rich in protective vitamin E) and five weekly one-ounce servings of nuts, which are chock-full of the B vitamins neurons love. "Eating this way gives your brain all the macro-and micronutrients it needs for peak performance, period," says Maggie Moon, a registered dietitian and author of The MIND Diet.

RELATED: This Diet Could Cut Your Risk of Dementia, Heart Disease, and Cancer—and Help You Lose Weight, Too

Find Your Exercise Regimen

All the busy experts in this story make fitness a top priority. "I started running after I noticed the top brain researchers do it—and I hate running," says Sabbagh. But in truth, any exercise helps manage blood pressure and lower stroke risk. It also increases blood flow to the brain, ups its oxygen supply, and reduces inflammation. In addition, "a chemical called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, increases," Sabbagh says. "It regenerates neurons and helps them work better."

RELATED: The Best Time To Work Out Is Actually In The Morning—Here's Why

Take Small (Slow) Steps

In a 2018 review in Neurology Clinical Practice, people in their 70s who logged at least 52 hours total (about three times a week) over six months improved most in vital areas like problem-solving and mental speed. "It didn't have to be high- or moderate-intensity, either. Tai chi and yoga count," says lead researcher Joyce Gomes-Osman, PhD, a clinical neuroscientist and assistant professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

RELATED: These Are the Best Walking Workouts, According to Fitness Experts

Learn New Things

"The brain craves novelty," says Tracey Shors, PhD, a distinguished professor of psychology and neuroscience at Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. And it doesn't get it from a sudoku or brain-training app, which recruits the same skills repeatedly. "It's like exercising one muscle—that one gets stronger, but your overall fitness doesn't change," says Langbaum. She and Shors agree it's best to pick up interests that command your full attention and keep developing your skills, like playing a new instrument or learning a foreign language.

RELATED: 6 Ways to Practice Lagom, the Swedish Secret to a Balanced, Happy Life

Prioritize Deep Sleep

When we nod off, the brain's nighttime janitors come out and mop up the day's mess. "Cognitive activities require energy and create waste that builds up in the brain," explains Jessica Payne, PhD, a sleep researcher at the University of Notre Dame. Among the refuse is beta-amyloid, a protein that forms plaques and tangles in the brains of people with Alzheimer's. "During deep, slow-wave sleep [which gets logged mostly in the first few hours], this gunk gets flushed out," Payne says. That said, indiviudals who suffer from chronic sleep problems are often as higher risk of developing dementia.

RELATED: Could This Be the Key to a Better Night’s Sleep?

Create a Bedtime Routine

To get more of that good rest, establish a wind-down routine: Stretch, read, or take a sip some soothing tea a half hour before bed. And if you have symptoms like daytime fatigue or freight-train snoring, get checked for sleep apnea, which affects an estimated 22 million Americans. "Long-term sufferers have been shown to have less white matter, the fibers that help send signals between brain cells," says Sabbagh. "Patients come in complaining of memory impairment. Treatment improves it in days. They often say they feel clearer." In other words, their brains light right back up.

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This article originally appeared on MarthaStewart.com

Happiness is our holy grail and our measure of a life well lived—not to mention the topic of countless books, TED Talks, and apps. But what exactly are we searching for? Scientists devoted to answering that question define happy people as those who have a positive temperament, social confidants, and the resources to make progress toward the goals they value. Put plainly, "it's the joy we feel as we move toward our potential," says Michelle Gielan, the author of Broadcasting Happiness and founder of the Institute for Applied Positive Research, in Dallas.

The good news is we're generally content as a country, but there's room to grow. In the 2018 United Nations World Happiness Report, which asked people in more than 150 countries to assess their life on a scale of 1 to 10 (based on markers like life expectancy, GDP, and social support), Americans rated their lives at a not-too-shabby 6.8. But that's nearly a point behind the top three—Finland, Norway, and Denmark—which rated theirs over 7.5. (PSA: No one, not even Norwegians, can maintain a 10; that would be exhausting!) According to experts, there are clear obstacles in our way of feeling deeper fulfillment every day. Learn how to surmount them.

RELATED: Seven Stress-Fighting Foods to Add to Your Diet

Happiness Hurdle: Our Primal Brain

There's a little thing called the negativity bias. Thousands of years ago, it gave humans an advantage: We were ever-ready to dodge life-and-death danger. Now it means we're hardwired to notice and store negative experiences more than positive ones. A single critical comment can knock the wind out of an otherwise great day.

Pausing for a minute to appreciate something sweet or beautiful helps us override the negativity bias. To get in the habit, Gielan suggests taking a photo each day of something that makes you smile and laugh, or feel lucky and loving: your sleeping child, an incredible meal, a pink sunset, your funniest old friend. Then, at the end of the week, look at them again all together. Doing so "trains your brain to watch for moments to capture," Gielan writes in Broadcasting Happiness. "It refocuses your attention on the positive, meaningful parts of the day, and shifts it away from stress and negativity." Soon you won't even need to snap pictures to feel that pleasant sensation.

Happiness Hurdle: Going It Alone

Isolating yourself is a surefire way to feel down. The happiest people have rich and satisfying relationships, according to 2002 and 2018 studies by Martin Seligman, Ph.D., a professor and director of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania; and Ed Diener, Ph.D., a psychology professor at the University of Virginia and the University of Utah. While it's a bit of a chicken-and-egg conundrum (do joyful people naturally invite more meaningful bonds, or vice versa?), a strong social network is a win-win.

You can overcome this hurdle by reaching out to others. That doesn't mean you have to cram your calendar full. An easy starting point is to try opening conversations with an optimistic comment, a tactic Gielan calls a "power lead." Greet a coworker with "I just listened to a great podcast" instead of "I'm so tired," or ask your kids, "What was the best part of your day?" rather than the rote "How was your day?" The shift is subtle but can foster an immediate positive connection.

RELATED: Healing Crystals That'll Make You a Believer

Happiness Hurdle: Living in 2021

The ring. The raise. The last seven pounds. We can all fall into the trap of thinking we'll be happy the minute X, Y, or Z happens. "The problem is that this pushes happiness into the future," Gielan says. "When you focus in the present instead, you get your brain to concentrate on what is working in your life."

Instead of constantly thinking ahead, try to stay in the moment. The idea of centering yourself is at the core of mindfulness meditation, which has been shown to increase activity in the left part of the frontal region of the brain, the area responsible for positive emotions like optimism. Ralph De La Rosa, a therapist and mediation teacher, and author of The Monkey Is the Messenger , suggests waking up with a "5-3-1-1" practice. While still in bed, take five big, deep breaths. Think of three things you're grateful for. Smile one real smile, and set one intention for your day. Habits like this pay big dividends. Not only can being more present give you a sunnier outlook, Gielan says, it also may help improve your energy level and your performance at work; it's even been shown to up students' test scores. The other bonus might be the world's best-kept career secret: When you zero in on the good happening now, Gielan notes, you're more likely to excel.

Happiness Hurdle: The Social-Media Vortex

"Compare and despair" is no joke. It's easy to look up from a long scroll thinking that everyone's life is a party but yours. We don't need experts to tell us this habit is eroding our self-esteem, though a 2014 study published in Psychology of Popular Media Culture proved just that. Newer research has pinpointed just how destructive it can be. A 2017 study published in Journal of Affective Disorders found that the more time 18-to-22-year-olds spent on social media, the more likely they were to have symptoms of anxiety.

Set aside time daily to disconnect each day. Start with small increments; even 10 minutes counts. Then work up to being phone-free for the first half-hour of the morning, at meals, and during the last hour before bed, since both your phone's lighting and its irresistible pull detract from quality sleep—a must-have for combating anxiety and stress.

RELATED: Eight Ways to Have a Healthier Relationship with Social Media

Happiness Hurdle: Incoming Worries

Speaking of stress, Americans report feeling more fried than ever. In January 2017, the American Psychological Association found a statistically significant increase in stress levels for the first time in its annual survey's 10-year history. A 2018 follow-up found that we're as anxious about the future of our country (63 percent) as we are about evergreens like money (62 percent) and work (61 percent).

Still haven't put down your phone? Step away: It's one big reason we're all hopped up on headlines. Then think of tangible ways to diffuse what's vexing you, whether it's having a heart-to-heart with your mom or using an app to monitor your spending. If you're still reeling, take a deep breath. Research shows that when our exhale is even a few counts longer than our inhale, the vagus nerve, which runs from the brain down through the neck to the diaphragm and abdomen, tells our nervous system to chill out. Our heart rate drops, our blood pressure lowers, the blood vessels relax, and the whole body physically calms down. Inhale slowly through your nose, then exhale with a soft haaaaaaa sound, until your lungs feel completely empty. (Repeat this 10 times, with a three-second pause between breaths, for an even more satisfying release.)

Happiness Hurdle: Spinning Our Wheels

We all feel stuck sometimes—in an unfulfilling job, a draining relationship, or just a "meh" state of mind. It turns out that means we might be striving for the wrong things. People who shoot for personal pleasures (or extrinsic goals), such as fame and wealth, are demonstrably less happy than those who seek personal growth, relationships, and community (intrinsic goals), per a 2009 University of Rochester study. Researchers asked graduating college students about their aspirations, and followed up two years later. Those who pursued extrinsic goals reported greater anxiety and poorer physical health despite their accomplishments, while the group with intrinsic ones cited greater well-being and self-esteem as well as fewer physical signs of stress.

Topple this hurdle by finding a purpose. Actually, make that plural: purposes. Think of what drives you in various areas of your life—your personal, family, work, and community roles. "We have complex lives," says Victor J. Strecher, Ph.D., a health-behavior and health-education professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, and the author of Life on Purpose. "We don't care about just one thing." A multipurpose mind-set helps us prioritize and find balance, he says. When we catch ourselves glued to our email and ignoring our family, we can think, Is this really serving my purpose here? Then we can turn back to things that do—the stuff that truly makes us feel happy.

Kelly DiNardo is the coauthor of Living the Sutras: A Guide to Yoga Wisdom Beyond the Mat.

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This article originally appeared on MarthaStewart.com

While absence may make the heart grow fonder, studies are now suggesting that being in the presence of a loved one may reduce pain.

A new study has confirmed that social support can result in pain relief – with or without physical contact. 

‘Social support by romantic partners’

The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology (UMIT) in Austria and the University of the Balearic Islands in Spain was titled “Dispostional empathy is associated with experimental pain reduction during provision of social support by romantic partners” and was published in the Scandinavian Journal of Pain. 

Researchers in the study looked at the sensitivity to pressure pain in 48 heterosexual couples. Each participant was tested alone and in the presence of their partner. Dispositional empathy, defined as the tendency for people to imagine and experience the feelings and experiences of others, was measured by means of a questionnaire. 

When individuals were in the presence of their partner, both men and women showed higher pain thresholds and pain tolerance as well as lower sensory and affective pain ratings on constant pressure stimuli. The empathy of their partner was positively associated with pain tolerance and negatively associated with sensory pain experiences. 

Professor Stefan Duschek of UMIT spoke on behalf of the authors and said that “repeatedly, talking and touching have been shown to reduce pain, but our research shows that even the passive presence of a romantic partner can reduce it and that partner empathy may buffer affective distress during pain exposure”. 

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Deeanne Daniels

How would “traffic light” labels affect food choices? Positively, according to a two-year study involving more than 5 000 people.

A US hospital tracked the food choices of more than 5 000 of their employees, by tracking their cafeteria purchases.

Healthy foods were given a green label, less healthy a yellow label, and the least healthy a red label.

The results showed that over the two year span, there were significantly more “green label”purchases, and “red label” purchases dropped.

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The information on Health24 is for educational purposes only, and is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. If you are experiencing symptoms or need health advice, please consult a healthcare professional. See additional information.