Feeling trapped behind a desk, a counter or on the factory floor does no favours for the mind. Now, research helps confirm that women with jobs that demand long hours may be more prone to depression.

Researchers found that compared with women who worked a standard 40-hour week, those who were on the clock 55 hours or more typically reported more depression symptoms.

The same was true of women and men who usually worked weekends as well as weekdays.

The findings, based on thousands of British adults, do, however, not prove that long work hours were the culprit.

It’s complicated

“Workers are complicated creatures,” said lead researcher Gillian Weston, of University College London. “And it’s not possible to [account for] every potential influence when looking for associations in an observational study.”

Still, she said, her team was able to factor out a number of factors that affect depression risk – such as income and education, and whether people were married or had children.

And still, long work weeks remained linked to a higher risk of depression symptoms.

Technology reducing personal time

The findings have implications in a world where people are increasingly expected to work outside the traditional nine to five window, according to Weston’s team.

Theresa Nguyen is a licensed clinical social worker and vice president of policy and programmes for the nonprofit Mental Health America.

She said that in recent years technology has sharply reduced workers’ “safe spaces” of personal time.

“Our smartphones have created an expectation that you’ll always be available. You’ll answer emails even when you’re on vacation,” said Nguyen, who was not involved in the study.

Work-life balance

For women – who have always borne the stress of balancing work and family life – the added time demands can be especially daunting.

“There’s the pressure that society puts on us, and that we put on ourselves,” Nguyen said. “As women, we worry about being at work and away from family.”

In most countries, Weston said, women typically work less than men do, and those who are married with children often cut down their work hours.

So, women who work long hours are essentially “bucking” the societal trend, Weston said – and that might create more conflicts.

Those women might “feel the strain of greater time pressures and responsibilities due to a double ‘burden’ of paid and unpaid work,” Weston said. They may also have to deal with less-than-supportive attitudes from the people around them, she added.

“That may exacerbate any feelings of conflict or distress,” Weston said.

Interesting findings

The findings, published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, are based on more than 23 000 employed UK adults who took part in a national health survey.

They answered a standard questionnaire on depressive symptoms, which asked about issues such as self-confidence and self-worth, enjoyment of daily activities, sleep loss over “worries”, and the ability to concentrate and deal with life’s problems.

A score of 12 or higher may signal cases of depression, according to Weston. On average, the study found, women who worked 55 hours or more per week scored 11.8, versus 11 among women who worked a standard 35- to 40-hour week.

There was no difference between men who worked long or standard workweeks. But men who worked weekends tended to report more symptoms, versus those who worked only weekdays, once job satisfaction was taken into account.

In general, the study found, people with extra-long work weeks had high household incomes and the most freedom on the job.

Increasingly, Nguyen said, employers are letting people work “remotely” – which has clear upsides, but also downsides. There’s freedom, but there’s also isolation, she noted.

Blurred lines between work and home

Plus, Nguyen said, “Your work and your home aren’t separate anymore.” And people can find themselves working at all hours, weekends included.

So it’s important, Nguyen said, to set boundaries: Decide that you’re not going to answer emails after a certain hour, or on weekends, for example.

Nguyen also recommended dedicating time to things that recharge you, whether it’s taking a walk every afternoon or just getting some rest.

Some people, she said, may need to talk with their manager about logging fewer hours or making other adjustments at work.

In a recent survey of US workers, Mental Health America found that certain workplace qualities boosted people’s job satisfaction – including flexible work arrangements and feeling supported and recognised by their employer.

Workers who are more satisfied and less stressed, Nguyen noted, will also be more productive – which serves everyone better.

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The boy and girl are identical on their mother’s side but share only a proportion of their father’s DNA.

Naturally occurring antioxidants have been of great interest in recent years due to their recognizable health benefits. A study out of Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana in Mexico has clarified differing antioxidant levels by focusing on eight tomato genotypes with different-color fruit.

Corresponding with the three-year anniversary of their announcement hypothesizing the existence of a ninth planet in the solar system, Caltech’s Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin are publishing a pair of papers analyzing the evidence for Planet Nine’s existence.

Sugary drink consumption has been slashed by more than half, three years after the city of Berkeley introduced a levy on these products.

Residents of Berkeley, a city in the United States (US), are drinking 52% fewer servings of sugary beverages than they did before a tax on these products was introduced in November 2014, according to a new study conducted by the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley).

Increase in water consumption

“This just drives home the message that soda taxes work,” said UC Berkeley’s Professor Kristine Madsen.

Published this month in the American Journal of Public Health, the study found a corresponding increase in water consumption, which went up by 29%, over the same period.

The study “provides strong evidence that soda taxes are an effective tool for encouraging healthier drinking habits, with the potential to reduce sugar-linked diseases like diabetes, heart disease and tooth decay”, noted a UC Berkeley press release.

South Africa’s own version of a soda tax, called the Health Promotion Levy, will turn one-year-old in April and was similarly introduced to fight soaring rates of costly health conditions like obesity and diabetes.

According to the Healthy Living Alliance’s (Heala) Sbongile Nkosi, excessive consumption of sugary beverages is “a major cause of obesity” and “also increases the risk of diabetes, liver and kidney damage, heart disease and some cancers”.

“In 2017, there were around 180 000 new diabetes cases in South Africa’s public sector alone,” she said.

Behaviour in low-income communities

Nkosi also criticised the beverage industry which, she said, “have specifically targeted poor communities who have the least access to quality health services”.

Similarly concerned about the health impacts of sugary drinks in poorer settings, the Berkeley study focused on how the tax influenced behaviour in low-income communities, surveying 2 500 residents each year since the legislation came into effect.

“Importantly, our evidence comes from low-income and diverse neighbourhoods, which have the highest burden of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, not to mention a higher prevalence of advertising promoting unhealthy diets,” said Madsen.

Following Berkeley’s lead, a number of other US cities introduced similar taxes including Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), which officially recommends taxes on sugary drinks, this intervention has effective at fighting obesity and saves governments and health systems money with young people and those from low-income settings receiving the “greatest health benefit”.

Message about societal values

In his budget speech, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni announced that the local tax on sugary drinks would be increased slightly in order to account for inflation.

But Heala is pushing for the taxation rate to be increased, and effectively doubled, which would bring the country in line with WHO guidelines.

While the Berkeley researchers admit that “people are still very much affected by what hits their pocketbooks”, they suggest that “taxes also send a message about societal values, which can have a big impact on consumer behaviour”.

“We want to end this epidemic of diabetes and obesity, and taxes are a form of counter-messaging, to balance corporate advertising,” said Madsen.

And, according to Nkosi, a similar counter-narrative is needed in South Africa.

“We all know that many of our schools and spaza shops are covered with Coca-Cola adverts, and for decades many of us didn’t know the truth about how much sugar there is in cold drinks,” she said. “While Coca-Cola makes millions, the queues at our clinics grow longer.” – Health-e News

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Amy Green

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have developed a recycling process that transforms single-use beverage bottles, clothing, and carpet made from the common polyester material polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into more valuable products with a longer lifespan. Their research, published February 27 in the journal Joule, could help protect oceans from plastic waste by jumpstarting the recycled plastics market.

This couple decided to shed a few pounds ahead of their big day.

Mary Jane and now husband Alex O’ Toole from Florida, US, embarked on their weight loss journey after a trip to Disney’s Animal Kingdom two years ago, Pop Sugar reports.

“It’s an amazing adventure,” Mary Jane said. “We saw the photos and made a decision to change our eating habits.”

The couple used their upcoming wedding as motivation to lose weight and tracked everything they ate.

Alex reportedly lost 75 pounds (around 34 kg) in his first year and Mary Jane, whose main motivation was to fit in her wedding dress, lost 135 pounds (61 kg) in two years.

“I decided a long time ago that I was going to buy a ‘straight’ sized wedding dress.

“I was determined to not have to pay more for fabric,” she said.

The newlywed told WKMG News6 that she manages her diet by focusing on the number of portions she eats daily.

“I just make sure to log what I’m eating, whether it’s rice cakes or Rice Krispy treats, into the Lose It app to help keep my portion sizes under control and help me stay on track to achieve my goals,” she said.

Mary started the Instagram page called Then and Now to encourage people not to give up and persist with their weight loss Journey.

“It’s never too late nor are you too busy to take control of your body,” she captioned one of her posts.

“No one can make you change. It was a conscious choice every day to keep going.

“Also! I was already logging my calories in the left picture, change takes time. Be patient with yourself.”

Sources: Pop Sugar, WKMG, Instagram

Robyn Lucas

A prostatectomy is a surgical procedure that involves the removal of the prostate to treat prostate cancer. This is a common treatment option with a good prognosis. Radiation can also be used to treat the condition.

Urinary incontinence — a common side-effect

Unfortunately, these two treatments can have a significant side-effect – urinary incontinence. When the prostrate is removed through surgery, or the cancerous cells are zapped with either an external beam or radioactive seed implants, it can disrupt the way urine is held in the bladder.

Surgery can damage the nerves that provide control over the bladder, while radiation decreases the amount of urine that the bladder can hold. It may also cause spasms that can lead to urine leakage.

Surgeons try their best to preserve as much of the area around the urethra and sphincter as possible to limit the effect of urinary incontinence, but it remains likely that urinary incontinence will occur after treatment.

According to the Continence Foundation of Australia, men who’ve had a prostatectomy often say that urinary incontinence is the biggest challenge they have to cope with during recovery. Most men, however, will regain bladder control within six to twelve months after the surgery.

Why does this happen?

The prostate gland is roughly the size of a walnut and sits at the base of the bladder. The urethra is the thin tube that carries semen and urine and this runs directly through the prostate gland. The bladder neck sphincter is the ring of muscles where the urethra and bladder join. When the sphincter is damaged during surgery or through radiation treatment, urine can involuntarily leak out of the bladder, because the sphincter can no longer close properly.

How to manage urinary incontinence

While incontinence will usually improve over time, it’s important to learn how to control your pelvic floor muscles to be able better to manage urinary incontinence. You can also contact your medical professional or urologist for help.

Here are some further tips:

• Reduce the number of drinks that you consume during the day, especially alcohol and caffeine, as these can irritate the bladder.
• While it’s important to control fluid intake, it’s also vital not to become dehydrated, as more concentrated urine will also irritate the bladder.
• Avoid fluids before you go to bed to help reduce the number of times you need to go to the bathroom during the night, or to avoid leakage while you sleep.
• A catheter will be fitted after surgery. When the catheter is removed, you might, however, start dripping urine. Take control by stocking up in urinary incontinence pads. 
• There are medications that may help the muscles of the bladder or the nerves regain control of the urine flow. Speak to your doctor about this. 

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Marelize Wilke

Doctors said the baby, born weighing just 268g, is the smallest newborn ever to have been successfully treated and sent home.

A father must wait years to discover if his children have a cancer gene that led to his wife’s death.