Increased Well-Being May Be Associated With Increased Empathy in Medical Trainees By Thea Swenson, MD

Increased Well-Being May Be Associated With Increased Empathy in Medical Trainees By Thea Swenson, MD

Navigating the Difficult World of Supplements

The Impact of Supplements on Sports Performance for the Trained Athlete: A Critical Analysis

Internet Inventions

Twitter-based social support group vs Fitbit only to decrease sedentary behavior in women

A Twitter-delivered intervention for promoting physical activity among inactive women from a heart clinic was feasible, acceptable, and demonstrated preliminary efficacy in increasing daily active hours, daily total steps, and the ratio of sitting-to-moving from pre to post for the intervention compared with the control. Lessons learned from this pilot suggest that the next study should expand the recruitment pool, refine the intervention to increase group engagement, and select active hours, total steps, and ratio of sitting-to-movement as primary sedentary behavior measures.

World phychiatry

The Lifestyle Psychiatry project of the WPA Section on Medicine, Psychiatry and Primary Care

The importance of psychiatry and behavioral health in the delivery of overall health care and optimization of health is widely acknowledged. However, the stigma related to mental illness in society and the separation of psychiatric care from tra­ditional medical settings has resulted in significant challenges in integrating all aspects of care necessary in maintaining op­timal health and well-being

JMIR Publications

Digital Care for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: 10,000 Participant Longitudinal Cohort Study

A total of 10,264 adults with either knee (n=3796) or low back (n=6468) pain for at least three months were included in the study. Participants experienced a 68.45% average improvement in VAS pain between baseline intake and 12 weeks. In all, 73.04% (7497/10,264) participants completed the DCP into the final month. In total, 78.60% (5893/7497) of program completers (7144/10,264, 69.60% of all participants) achieved minimally important change in pain. Furthermore, the number of ET sessions and coaching interactions were both positively associated with improvement in pain, suggesting that the amount of engagement influenced outcomes. Secondary outcomes included a 57.9% and 58.3% decrease in depression and anxiety scores, respectively, and 61.5% improvement in work productivity. Finally, 3 distinct clusters of pain response trajectories were identified, which could be predicted with a mean 76% accuracy using baseline measures.

Impacts of COVID-19 on Professional Athletes: A Study by Strava and Stanford University

Impacts of COVID-19 on Professional Athletes: A Study by Strava and Stanford University

As the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts every element of daily life, professional athletes – who typically travel globally, train in close quarters, and rely on their physical health for their livelihoods – have been uniquely affected. To better understand the challenges professional athletes have faced, Strava partnered with Stanford University for a study of 131 professional athletes.

The results offer a lens into the disruptive nature of COVID-19 in the athletic community. While many of the professional athletes surveyed suffered new mental, financial and physical challenges, the study ultimately offers a picture of perseverance.

Sports Medicine

Vitamin D for Improved Bone Health and Prevention of Stress Fractures: A Review of the Literature

Vitamin D is a vital nutrient and hormone needed for many essential functions in overall health. There is growing literature examining the role of vitamin D not only in the general population but also in athletes. The most predominantly studied area of vitamin D pertains to bone health. Recently, there has been increased investigation into the relationship of vitamin D and stress fractures, including genetic polymorphisms, levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, and bioavailable vitamin D. This review will address the most recent developments of vitamin D research and its important role in bone health in athletes.

Lifestyle Psychiatry

Lifestyle Psychiatry by Douglas L. Noordsy, M.D.

Therapeutic Potential of Physical Exercise

Therapeutic Potential of Physical Exercise in Early Psychosis

Onset of psychosis is believed to be associated with neuronal dysregulation and degeneration. Reductions in brain volumes have been related in part to neuronal loss but more substantially to loss of neuronal connectivity, loss of dendritic spines, and reductions in supporting glial cells. These changes have been associated with alterations in neurotrophic factors in the brain. Recent evidence suggests that aggressive synaptic pruning may underlie onset of psychosis for some individuals (1). While reductions in regional brain volumes have been demonstrated in individuals in their first episode of schizophrenia, further deterioration has been shown to occur even after initiation of treatment (23). The disruption of myelination has been proposed as one mechanism underlying these effects (45). Duration of untreated psychosis is associated with both symptom severity and poor functional outcomes (6). Therefore, the time around onset of psychosis is considered a critical period when neuronal systems in the brain are vulnerable to deterioration, fragile, unstable, and in need of protection and, possibly, regeneration.

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Stanford School of Medicine’s Lifestyle Medicine Course Is Spearheading the Promotion of Health and Wellness in Medicine