Category: Mental Health

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Extensive Study Refutes the Notion that Statins Have Antidepressant Effect

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Lipid-lowering medicines, known as statins, are prescribed in cases of high cholesterol levels, to reduce the risk of atherosclerosis, heart attack and stroke. The results of some small studies suggest that statins could also have an antidepressive effect. Researchers from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have now conducted an extensive study to investigate this claim. However, they could not verify that statins cause any additional antidepressive effects. As a result, the researchers suggest following the general guidelines and prescribing statins to help lower cholesterol, but not to manage depression. The study has now been published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Cholesterol-lowering drugs are the most commonly prescribed medicines globally. They have anti-inflammatory effects and lower the production of cholesterol in the liver, which in turn reduces the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. In the past, numerous small studies have suggested that statins may also have antidepressive effects, alongside these more common properties. “If statins really did have this antidepressive effect, we could kill two birds with one stone,” says study leader Prof Christian Otte, Director of the Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences on the Charité Campus Benjamin Franklin. “Depression and adiposity, or obesity, are among the most common medical conditions globally. And they actually often appear together: Those who are obese are at a higher risk of depression. In turn, those with depression are at a higher risk of obesity.” Obese patients often have higher cholesterol levels, so statins are administered to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. But could they also alleviate depression?

An extensive, controlled study

Led by Christian Otte, the research team conducted a comprehensive study to investigate the potential antidepressive effects of statins that have been suggested. A total of 161 patients took part in the study, all of whom suffered from both depression and obesity. During the 12-week study, all participants were treated with a standard antidepressant (Escitalopram). Half of the participants also received a cholesterol-lowering drug (Simvastatin), while the other half were given a placebo. It was decided at random who would receive statins and who would be given the placebo – the recipients of each were unknown to both the medical team and the participants. This ensured a randomized and double-blind study that would produce reliable results. “This method should show us whether we can observe a stronger antidepressive effect among participants treated with statins, compared to those in the placebo group,” explains co-lead author Dr. Woo Ri Chae, Charité BIH Clinician Scientist at the Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences.

The researchers used established clinical interviews and self-completed questionnaires to record the severity of depression in the patients at the beginning and end of the study. Blood samples were taken from the participants to determine their blood lipid levels and level of the C-reactive protein (CRP), which are known indicators of inflammatory processes in the body. “People with obesity and/or depression commonly exhibit slightly raised inflammatory markers in the blood. For some of those affected, this can actually be the cause of depression,” explains Christian Otte. “And this is precisely where we began with our hypothesis on the potential antidepressive effect of statins: If administering statins leads to an improvement in inflammatory markers, could this also possibly be accompanied by an antidepressive effect for some of the study participants?”

Traditional antidepressants remain the gold standard

At the beginning of the study, the participants ranged from moderately to severely depressed. Over the course of the 12-week study, the depression symptoms in all patients showed clear improvement – there was, however, no difference between those who received statins and those in the placebo group. “Administering the cholesterol-lowering drug improved blood lipid levels, as expected, and the inflammatory marker CRP also displayed a marked reduction,” says Woo Ri Chae. “So, unfortunately, this does not point to an additional antidepressive effect.” Christian Otte adds: “When it comes to treating depression, statins therefore have no additional benefit. To our present knowledge, traditional antidepressants remain the gold standard.” According to current guidelines, statins should be prescribed to reduce the risk of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. The researchers recommend that the same should naturally also apply for patients suffering from depression.

In further studies, Christian Otte’s team will conduct a more thorough analysis of the blood samples taken as part of this research on a cellular and molecular level, to reveal potential differences and correlations. The researchers are also continuing to work at full speed on improved strategies for treating patients with depression who also suffer from other conditions.

Categories : Mental Health NeurologyTags :

Extending Ketamine’s Relieving Effect on Depression

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For 30% of people with major depressive disorder (MDD), antidepressants don’t work. When infused at a low dose, ketamine shows remarkable efficacy as a rapidly acting antidepressant, with effects observed within hours even in patients who have been resistant to other antidepressant treatments. One drawback is that consistent infusions of ketamine are needed to maintain symptoms at bay, which could result in side effects, such as dissociative behaviours and the possibility of addiction, and stopping treatment can result in relapse.

In a new study published in Science, Lisa Monteggia’s and Ege Kavalali’s labs show that it is feasible to substantially extend the efficacy of a single dose of ketamine from its current duration of up to a week to a longer period of up to two months.

“The premise of this study, which was led by Zhenzhong Ma, a fantastic research assistant professor, was based on a testable mechanistic model that we developed that accounts for ketamine’s rapid antidepressant action,” Monteggia said.

Previously, researchers in the field had determined that ketamine’s antidepressant effect requires the activation of a key signalling pathway called ERK, but only ketamine’s long-term effects – not its rapid effects – are abolished when ERK is inhibited. As a fast-acting antidepressant, ketamine relies on ERK-dependent synaptic plasticity to produce its rapid behavioural effects. Ma and colleagues hypothesised that they could maintain ketamine’s effects for longer periods by enhancing ERK activity. 

In the recent paper, Ma discovered that ketamine’s antidepressant effects could be sustained for up to two months by using a drug called BCI, which inhibits a protein phosphatase and results in increased ERK activity. By inhibiting the phosphatase, the authors retained ERK’s activity and augmented the synaptic plasticity that drives ketamine’s prolonged antidepressant effects. 

lthough the use of BCI makes the application of these results to the clinic difficult, Monteggia said that the results provide a proof of principle that ketamine’s antidepressant action can be sustained by targeting intracellular signaling. She and Kavalali, the William Stokes Professor of Experimental Therapeutics and the chair of the Department of Pharmacology, have worked on the project since its inception and hope that it will foster other studies looking to identify specific molecules to enhance and sustain the action of a single dose of ketamine.

Ultimately, this work will be a stepping stone toward improving MDD patients’ lives by reducing the burden of treatment.

Source: Vanderbilt University

Categories : Mental HealthTags :

Social Connection is Still Underappreciated as a Medically Relevant Health Factor

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Research confirms that social isolation and loneliness significantly impact health and mortality, even if not listed on death certificates. Brigham Young University psychology and neuroscience professor, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, has published extensively on the topic, including a landmark 2010 meta-analysis and a 2023 framework on assessment and treatment. She also served as lead scientist on the 2023 Surgeon General Advisory and is advising the World Health Organization on an upcoming report that addresses the pressing health threat of loneliness and isolation and a global agenda on social connection.

Social connection is now a legitimate health factor, but Holt-Lunstad and doctoral student, Andrew Proctor, recently published two studies showing that most of us (the general population and medical providers) still don’t think social connection affects physical health. And even the professionals who recognise the importance report that they don’t have time or tools to help patients address social concerns.

Proctor, who authored a study recently published in Springer Nature, explained that before the study, they had been watching how the pandemic was influencing internet searches around the topics of isolation and loneliness.

“I have a marketing background, so I thought that maybe the public perception had changed since COVID. Social distancing, isolation and loneliness were huge buzzwords on the internet as seen through Google Trends and BuzzSumo (an online trend analyzer). Everything around these search terms was super viral during that time, and so we wondered if perceptions about social connection had changed,” said Proctor.

With loneliness and isolation trending on the internet, the researchers set up a study. In a nationally representative sample of US adults, as well as samples from the UK and Australia, they surveyed 2,392 people about their perceptions of health risks associated with isolation and loneliness. The data showed that, despite the pandemic and other campaigns, people still underestimate the importance of social connection for physical health. And the underestimation exists equally among the lonely and the socially connected.

“The study identified blind spots in medical care,” said Proctor. “Social connection is like a vital sign. What if we didn’t care about high blood pressure? Or what if we never knew smoking was bad for us? Social connection is like a key vital sign. We just don’t tend to recognize it.”

In a closely connected study, Holt-Lunstad and Proctor, along with coauthors from top research medical centers, surveyed 681 healthcare providers (primarily doctors) about perceptions of health risks associated with poor social connection. Similar to the general population from the first study, healthcare providers underestimated social connection as a medically relevant health factor.

The researchers gleaned some unexpected insights due to an unintentional time lag in data collection in the second study.

“We completed the data collection at two different time points because we were waiting for institutional approvals. Our first cohort was healthcare providers through the University of Utah Health System. Slightly later, we had a second major cohort of University of California San Francisco (UCSF) physicians,” said Holt-Lunstad. “What was interesting is that the perceived importance of social factors was a bit higher among the UCSF group.”

Source: Brigham Young University

Categories : Cancer Mental HealthTags :

SSRIs Could Help the Immune System Fight Cancer

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Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) could help the immune system fight cancer, according to recent UCLA research. The study, published in Cell, found that SSRIs significantly enhanced the ability of T cells to fight cancer and suppressed tumour growth across a range of cancer types in both mouse and human tumour models.

“It turns out SSRIs don’t just make our brains happier; they also make our T cells happier – even while they’re fighting tumours,” said Lili Yang, PhD, senior author of the new study. “These drugs have been widely and safely used to treat depression for decades, so repurposing them for cancer would be a lot easier than developing an entirely new therapy.”

According to the CDC, one out of eight adults in the US takes an antidepressant, and SSRIs are the most commonly prescribed. These drugs increase levels of serotonin the brain’s “happiness hormone” by blocking the activity of a protein called serotonin transporter, or SERT. 

While serotonin is best known for the role it plays in the brain, it’s also a critical player in processes that occur throughout the body, including digestion, metabolism and immune activity. 

Dr Yang and her team first began investigating serotonin’s role in fighting cancer after noticing that immune cells isolated from tumours had higher levels of serotonin-regulating molecules. At first, they focused on MAO-A, an enzyme that breaks down serotonin and other neurotransmitters, including norepinephrine and dopamine. 

In 2021, they reported that T cells produce MAO-A when they recognise tumours, which makes it harder for them to fight cancer. They found that treating mice with melanoma and colon cancer using MAO inhibitors, also called MAOIs – the first class of antidepressant drugs to be invented – helped T cells attack tumours more effectively. 

However, because MAOIs have safety concerns, including serious side effects and interactions with certain foods and medications, the team turned its attention to a different serotonin-regulating molecule: SERT. 

“Unlike MAO-A, which breaks down multiple neurotransmitters, SERT has one job – to transport serotonin,” explained Bo Li, PhD, first author of the study and a senior research scientist in the Yang lab. “SERT made for an especially attractive target because the drugs that act on it – SSRIs – are widely used with minimal side effects.” 

The researchers tested SSRIs in mouse and human tumour models representing melanoma, breast, prostate, colon and bladder cancer. They found that SSRI treatment reduced average tumour size by over 50% and made the cancer-fighting T cells, known as killer T cells, more effective at killing cancer cells. 

“SSRIs made the killer T cells happier in the otherwise oppressive tumour environment by increasing their access to serotonin signals, reinvigorating them to fight and kill cancer cells,” said Dr Yang, who is also a professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics and a member of the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

How SSRIs could boost the effectiveness of cancer therapies 

The team also investigated whether combining SSRIs with existing cancer therapies could improve treatment outcomes. They tested a combination of an SSRI and anti-PD-1 antibody – a common immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy – in mouse models of melanoma and colon cancer. ICB therapies block immune checkpoint molecules that normally suppress immune cell activity, allowing T cells to attack tumours more effectively. 

The results were striking: the combination significantly reduced tumour size in all treated mice and even achieved complete remission in some cases. 

“Immune checkpoint blockades are effective in fewer than 25% of patients,” said James Elsten-Brown, a graduate student in the Yang lab and co-author of the study. “If a safe, widely available drug like an SSRI could make these therapies more effective, it would be hugely impactful.”

To confirm these findings, the team will investigate whether real-world cancer patients taking SSRIs have better outcomes, especially those receiving ICB therapies. About 20% of cancer patients are already taking the medication, Dr Yang said.

Dr Yang added that using existing FDA-approved drugs could speed up the process of bringing new cancer treatments to patients, making this research especially promising.

“Studies estimate the bench-to-bedside pipeline for new cancer therapies costs an average of $1.5 billion,” she said. “When you compare this to the estimated $300 million cost to repurpose FDA-approved drugs, it’s clear why this approach has so much potential.”

Source: University of California – Los Angeles Health Sciences

Categories : Mental HealthTags :

Differences in Object Grasping may Offer Simpler Diagnosis for Autism

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Getting a timely diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder is a major challenge, but new research out of York University shows that how young adults, and potentially children, grasp objects could offer a simpler way to diagnose someone on the autism spectrum.

The team, part of an international collaboration, used machine learning to analyse naturalistic hand movements – specifically, finger motions during grasping – in autistic and non-autistic individuals. Surprisingly, none of the simpler measures, such as time to grasp (reported to be slower in autistic adults), proved to be a reliable predictor.

“Our models were able to classify autism with approximately 85 per cent accuracy, suggesting this approach could potentially offer simpler, scalable tools for diagnosis,” says lead author, Associate Professor Erez Freud of York’s Department of Psychology and the Centre for Vision Research.

“Autism currently affects about one in 50 Canadian children, and timely, accessible diagnosis remains a major challenge. Our findings add to the growing body of research suggesting that subtle motor patterns may provide valuable diagnostic signals – something not yet widely leveraged in clinical practice.”

In addition to social and communication challenges, autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder, can include motor abnormalities which often show up in early childhood. The researchers say testing for these motor movements early could lead to faster diagnoses and intervention.

“The main behaviours markers for diagnosis are focused on those with relatively late onset and the motor markers that can be captured very early in childhood may thus lower age of diagnosis,” says Professor Batsheva Hadad of the University of Haifa, an expert in autism research and a key collaborator in this study.

Autistic and non-autistic young adult participants were asked to use their thumbs and index fingers, which had tracking markers attached, to grasp different blocks of varying size, lift each one and replace it in the same spot, and put their hand back in the starting position. The researchers used machine learning to analyse the participants’ finger movements as they made grasping motions.

Both groups of participants had normal IQ and were matched on age and intelligence. Young adults were used instead of children to rule out any differences in the findings due to delayed development.

The research found that subtle motor control differences can be captured effectively with more than 84% accuracy. The study also showed there were distinct kinematic properties in the grasping movements between autistic and non-autistic participants.

Analysis of naturalistic precision grasping tasks has not typically been used in previous studies, says Freud. Machine learning, however, provides researchers with a powerful new tool to analyse motor patterns, opening new ways to use movement data in the assessment of autism spectrum disorder.

The findings, says Freud, could lead to the development of more accessible and reliable diagnostic tools as well as timely intervention and support that could improve outcomes for autistic individuals in the future.

The paper, Effective autism classification through grasping kinematics, was published in the journal Autism Research.

Source: York University

Categories : Mental Health Metabolic DisordersTags :

Metabolic Syndrome Linked to Increased Risk of Young-onset Dementia

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Having a larger waistline, high blood pressure and other risk factors that make up metabolic syndrome is associated with an increased risk of young-onset dementia, according to a study published on April 23, 2025, online in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Young-onset dementia is diagnosed before the age of 65. The study does not prove that metabolic syndrome causes young-onset dementia, it only shows an association.

Metabolic syndrome is defined as having excess belly fat plus two or more of the following risk factors: high blood pressure, high blood sugar, higher than normal triglycerides, which are a type of fat found in the blood, and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, or “good” cholesterol.

“While most dementia is diagnosed in older age, young-onset dementia occurs while a person is still working and perhaps raising a family,” said study author Minwoo Lee, MD, PhD, of Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital in Anyang, South Korea. “Our study found having metabolic syndrome in middle age is a risk factor for young-onset dementia.”

For the study, researchers reviewed national health insurance data in South Korea to identify nearly two million people between the ages of 40 and 60 who had a health check-up. The check-up included measurements of waist circumference, blood pressure, blood sugar, triglyceride and cholesterol levels. Of all participants, 25% had metabolic syndrome.

Over an average follow-up period of eight years, 8921 people, or 0.45% of all participants, developed dementia. For those with metabolic syndrome, the incidence rate was 0.86 cases per 1000 person-years, compared to 0.49 cases for those without metabolic syndrome. Person-years represent both the number of people in the study and the amount of time each person spends in the study.

After adjusting for age, education and health factors such as level of physical activity, depression and stroke, researchers found metabolic syndrome was associated with a 24% higher risk of dementia. When looking at specific types of dementia, it was associated with a 12% increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease and a 21% increased risk of vascular dementia.

Researchers found female participants with metabolic syndrome had a 34% increased risk of dementia compared to male participants who had a 15% increased risk. People in their 40s had a greater risk than people in their 50s.

Researchers found each component of metabolic syndrome was associated with an increased risk of dementia, which was cumulative. People with all five components had a 70% increased risk of dementia.

“Our findings suggest that lifestyle changes to reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome, such as eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight, quitting smoking and reducing stress, may help reduce the risk of young-onset dementia,” said Lee. “Future research that follows people over longer periods of time and uses brain scans to look for biomarkers of dementia is needed to confirm and expand upon our findings.”

A limitation of the study was that researchers did not review genetic risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease.

The study was supported by the Korean National Research Foundation.

Source: American Academy of Neurology

Categories : Mental HealthTags :

Setting and Mental Health Shape Ayahuasca’s Longer-term Psychological Effects

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Some acute post-ayahuasca “adverse effects” like visual distortions and hallucinations were associated with better reported mental health at a later date, while other adverse effects like feeling isolated or energetically attacked were associated with worse mental health later on

Ayahuasca being gathered. ICEERS, CC-BY 4.0

Mounting evidence supports ayahuasca’s potential to improve mental health, but its long-term effects are shaped by both individual mental health history and the context in which the psychedelic is used, according to a study published on April 30, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS Mental Health by Óscar Andión from Research Sherpas, Spain; José Carlos Bouso from the International Centre for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Services (ICEERS) and the University of Rovira i Virgili, Spain; Daniel Perkins from the University of Melbourne and Swinburne University; and colleagues.

Ayahuasca, a psychedelic medicine traditionally used by Indigenous communities in South America, has received increasing interest from Western researchers and clinicians for its potential mental health benefits, but its potential risks and adverse effects remain understudied. In a previous review of adverse effects reported in a global survey of ayahuasca ceremony participants, José Carlos Bouso, Andión, and colleagues found that over half reported adverse mental states after ayahuasca use, with greater adverse experiences associated with a history of mental illness and using the drug in non-traditional settings. Importantly, potential adverse effects reported ranged from visual distortions or hallucinations to “feeling down, depressed, or hopeless”, “feeling disconnected or alone”, and “feeling energetically attacked”. 

In their new analysis, the authors applied machine learning and classical statistical approaches to the same dataset to better understand the mediating factors shaping the relationship between adverse events and mental health outcomes in ayahuasca users. The survey included 10 836 participants, of whom 5400 with complete data were included in the final analysis. Among these, 14.2% had a prior anxiety disorder and 19.7% a prior depressive disorder.. Although the Global Ayahuasca Survey reflects a large, diverse population of users, it was voluntary and administered potentially years after an individual’s ayahuasca experience, introducing self-selection and recall biases. 

The researchers found that participants with a history of anxiety or depression, as well as those using ayahuasca in non-traditional settings, were more likely to report adverse mental states after use. Some “adverse effects” like visual distortions, however, were associated with significantly better mental health outcomes reported in the present. Adverse effects like “feeling down”, “feeling disconnected”, and “feeling energetically attacked” however, were associated with poorer mental health in participants in the longer term. The authors suggest that the context in which ayahuasca is used, as well as factors like age and mental health history, influence whether an individual experiences psychological benefits following an ayahuasca experience, and note that “adverse” effects of ayahuasca may be subjective. 

Their findings appear to indicate that it would be more beneficial to use ayahuasca under the supervision of experienced users who can provide additional support to those with a history of depression, who may otherwise face a higher risk of negative outcomes. They propose that, while psychedelics are becoming increasingly medicalised, ayahuasca is most often consumed in group or community settings. Therefore, future studies should examine the effects of ayahuasca use in these real-life communal contexts. 

Dr José Carlos Bouso notes: “What stood out most to us was the significant difference in mental health outcomes between users who had supportive environments [during their use] and those who didn’t. This emphasises the importance of a responsible and well-prepared setting for those seeking healing through ayahuasca.”

On the role of spirituality, Dr Buoso says: “Our research also highlights that the spiritual significance of ayahuasca ceremonies plays a protective role, reducing adverse emotional states like anxiety, depression, and disconnection, thus contributing to overall mental health improvement.

 The authors add: “Our study reveals that the post-ayahuasca mental states, traditionally seen as adverse, can contribute to improved mental health, especially in individuals with previous anxiety and depressive disorders. This suggests the need for a more nuanced understanding of these states as potentially beneficial experiences.”

Provided by PLOS

Categories : Mental Health PaediatricsTags :

Study Links Teen Girls’ Screen Time to Sleep Disruptions and Depression

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The association between screen time and depression may be mediated by poor sleep, the new findings suggest.

Photo by Steinar Engeland on Unsplash

Excessive screen time among adolescents negatively impacts multiple aspects of sleep, which in turn increases the risk of depressive symptoms – particularly among girls. That is the conclusion of a new study published in the open-access journal PLOS Global Public Health by Sebastian Hökby of Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, and colleagues.

Recently, the Swedish Public Health Agency published recommendations that adolescents use no more than two-to-three hours of daily leisure screen time, partly to promote better sleep. Previous studies have suggested associations between screen time, sleep disruptions, and depression in teens. However, sleep problems and depression often coincide, and the direction of these associations has been unclear.

In the new study, researchers tracked 4,810 Swedish students aged 12-16, collecting data on sleep quality and quantity, depressive symptoms, and screen usage at three timepoints over the course of a year.  

The researchers found that increased screen time led to deteriorated sleep within three months, impacting both the duration and quality of sleep. Screen time was also found to postpone sleep times towards later hours – disrupting multiple aspects of the human sleep-wake cycle at once. Among boys, screen time had a direct adverse effect on depression after twelve months, while among girls the depressive effect was mediated through sleep disturbances. Sleep could explain about half (38%-57%) of the association between screen time and depression in girls. Boys who spent more time on screens also experienced sleep disruptions, but these were not strongly associated to later depression.

The authors summarize: “In this study, we found that adolescents who reported longer screen times also developed poorer sleep habits over time. In turn, this led to increased depression levels, especially among girls.”

They add: “Our results do suggest that less[…] screen time seems healthier, in line with previous World Health Organization statements…if screen times were somehow reduced, for example through public health policies, our results imply that the high burden of depressive states among young Swedish women, and maybe young men, would likely decrease.”

Provided by PLOS

Categories : Mental Health OphthalmologyTags :

Genetic Schizophrenic Susceptibility Could Show up in the Retina

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Photoreceptor cells in the retina. Credit: Scientific Animations

Could the eyes, which are directly connected to the brain, hold clues to brain changes? An international team of researchers led by the University of Zurich and the University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich has now tackled this very question. In their study, published in Nature Mental Health, the researchers examined whether changes in our nerve connections are linked to a genetic risk for schizophrenia, as impaired neural information processing is one of the main characteristics of the disorder.

Previous studies suggest that schizophrenia not only reduces volume of grey matter in the brains of those affected, but that it also leads to loss of retinal tissue. But whether these changes are the cause of schizophrenia or a consequence of the disorder has remained unanswered. Retinal health could also be affected by schizophrenia itself, for example, through antipsychotic medication, lifestyle factors or diabetes.

Extensive use of data from healthy individuals

“To investigate whether the risk of developing schizophrenia has an effect on the central nervous system, we examined tens of thousands of healthy individuals,” says Finn Rabe, first author of the study and postdoc at the University of Zurich. “We then calculated polygenic risk scores for each individual.”

The researchers were able to use extensive genetic and retinal data taken from the UK Biobank, a large biomedical database containing data from over half a million people. “You could say that the scale of the UK Biobank’s data has revolutionised biomedical research,” the researcher adds.

Thin retina, elevated risk

The study shows that higher genetic susceptibility to schizophrenia is indeed associated with thinner retinas. The effects are small, though, and can only be reliably demonstrated in large-scale studies. One of the study’s findings is that, unlike changes in the brain, changes in the retina are easy to detect using non-invasive and inexpensive retinal measurements. Thanks to optical coherence tomography, which can be described as a kind of ultrasound for the eye, retinal thickness can be measured in minutes.

This offers a promising outlook for prevention. “Our study shows the potential of using optical coherence tomography in clinical practice. But large-scale longitudinal studies are needed to examine how useful it will be for prevention,” says Finn Rabe.

Perspectives for new therapies

Another key finding of the study concerns genetic variants associated with inflammatory processes in the brain. These may also contribute to structural changes in the retina. The study thus offers further support for the inflammation hypothesis of schizophrenia, ie, the idea that inflammatory processes contribute to the development or progression of the disorder. “If this hypothesis is confirmed, inflammation could be interrupted by medication, potentially enabling us to improve treatment possibilities in the future,” says Rabe.

Source: University of Zurich

Categories : Environmental Effects Mental HealthTags :

Nature-based Activity is Effective Therapy for Anxiety and Depression, Study Shows

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A prescription of gardening an allotment in the UK has shown promise as a means of improving health and well-being outside of conventional medical treatments. 

Green social prescribing is a practice whereby a healthcare professional refers a patient to community-based nature activities to help improve health and well-being beyond medical treatments. Currently these programmes are in a testing phase, but evidence is now pointing to the need for investment in this area to make it an additional option for patients across the country.

More than 220 participants were included in the programme, and their mental health status was evaluated before and after exposure to an organised programme of nature-based activities, such as horticultural and care farming, sport and exercise, and outdoor mindfulness and craft-based activities.

The majority of participants took part in the programme weekly between one and four weeks, five to eight weeks, and others between nine and 12 weeks.  The team used the Office of National Statistics  measures of personal well-being, as well as the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) to understand if participants had made improvements.

Horticulture

Across the board, participants reported improvements in well-being and mental health. But participants in longer programmes – typically nine to 12 weeks – or took part in activities related to horticulture and care farming, showed greater improvements in mood and anxiety levels compared with those involved in shorter programmes – one to four weeks – or in activities such as outdoor crafts, creative and mindfulness-based sessions, or sport and exercise.

The signs of improvement were similar to those seen in short-term cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), where someone might meet one-to-one with a therapist over a period ranging from six weeks to a year or more.

Professor Peter Coventry, Director of the University’s Mental Health and Addiction Research Group, said: “We have known for some time that nature has a positive impact on health and wellbeing, but in more recent years, a stronger evidence-base has grown that proves this to be true for mental health in particular.

“The fact that activities such as gardening, tending allotments, and care farming had the most impact on the participants in our study, demonstrated that it is not just about being passive in nature, but connecting with it in a meaningful way.  

“There is also something to be said for connecting with nature in the company of other people who live in the same place as you.  Anxiety and depression can often be born out of loneliness and feelings of disconnectedness, so it makes sense that taking part in shared activities close to home  – especially those that involve caring for and improving your local environment – can help lift mood and reduce anxiety.”

All ages

The study showed that these positive impacts were seen in all ages, which ranged from age 18 to age 85, and across genders.  Researchers are now calling for more investment to be made to support these community activities and the employment of green social prescribers that GPs and other health and social care professionals can refer their patients to.

Trish Darcy, research associate from the University’s Mental Health and Addiction Research Group, said: “This intervention might not work for everyone, but through an initial exploratory conversation a social prescriber will discuss with a patient or user of the service if nature-based activities would be suited to them, and for that choice to happen we need more investment to support these community-based activities”. 

“In our study 65% of participants were from low socioeconomic groups and we now know that not only can it help improve their mental health, but participation was high for  horticultural based activities in particular, meaning that not only is it good for the individual, but for the local community environment too.”

Test and learn

The evaluation, published in the journal Health & Social Care in the Community, was conducted in partnership with The HEY Smile Foundation and NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB).

Dr Hannah Armitt a Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Lead for the Humber and North Yorkshire ‘test and learn’ programme said: “The research conducted in our region has the potential to enhance service delivery by connecting statutory services with local providers of nature based and outdoors activities. 

“It is important to evidence the potential of green space and nature to ensure clinicians and patients alike can harness the benefits of this wonderful free natural resource we have in abundance in Yorkshire and Humber.”

Positive outcomes

Anthony Hurd, Humber and North Yorkshire Green Social Prescribing Programme Manager, said “This work has not only shown the positive outcomes that nature-based activities have on mental health, it has also highlighted the role that community-based organisations play in supporting the health and wellbeing of communities. 

“As healthcare begins to move more into the community, and with a focus on prevention, the community-based organisations delivering activities such as gardening, care farming and walking groups need to be recognised as key players in our national health service and be resourced appropriately.”

Source: University of York