Sweetened Beverages, Linked To Depression

If you drink sweetened beverages, in any forms that is, may be linked to a higher risk for depression. However, taking coffee may have a lower risk. This is the result of a new study which is to be presented in March in the American Academy of Neurology in San Diego.

According to the said study, those who took sweetened beverages both regular and diet sodas and other forms like fruit punch and sweetened iced tea had a higher risk for depression. The researchers say that their findings suggest that decreasing sweetened drinks and totally replacing them with non-sweetened beverages may help in lowering the risk of depression. Click here for more.


However, an expert who tried to review the study said it failed to convince him that drinking sweetened beverages can really raise the risk for depression. “There is much more evidence that people who are depressed crave sweet things than there is to suggest that sweetened beverages cause depression,” says Dr. Kenneth Heilman, a neurologist and a professor of neurology at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville.

The said study gathered about 264, 000 people aging 50 and are enrolled in AARP diet and health study. The moment they entered the study, participants were asked regarding their habits of drinking beverages. This is a part of a detailed dietary survey. After 10 years, they were asked again if they had been diagnosed with depression during the previous decade. When the analysis was released, it showed that people who took more than four cans or cups of diet soda in a single day had 30% higher risk of having depression as compared to those who drank nothing.  Those who had regular soda only had 22% risk.

On the other hand, those who drank coffee had 10% reduction in risk for depression. As figures show, diet beverages appear to be more associated with higher risk for depression as compared to regular sugar-sweetened beverages.

The researchers of this study have noted that more research is needed to make some confirmations. They have also warned people who have depression to continue in taking all their medications as prescribed by their doctors. “While our findings are preliminary, and the underlying biological mechanisms are not known, they are intriguing and consistent with a small but growing body of evidence suggesting that artificially sweetened beverages may be associated with poor health outcomes,” says Honglei Chen a researcher and a doctor of the National Institutes of Health in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

Heilman, who is a member of the American Academy of Neurology, says that the mere fact that carbonated and non-carbonated sweetened beverages are linked to the increase of depression risk as did drinks sweetened with sugar and non-calorie sweeteners make him questions the research itself.

He emphasizes that there’s huge evidence that suggests people who are undergoing depression or having higher risk seek to take sweet foods and drinks to make themselves comfortable. He says, “The main point is that you can never show cause and effect in a study like this one, by telling people to cut down on sugar-sweetened drinks you may be reducing depression risk or having no impact or having the opposite effect and making depression worse.”

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Pain, Is Chronic Or Acute?

Pain, it’s very much normal. It can be in form of skinned knee, headache or even a bone fracture. However, at times, pain can become chronic and this is a problem that should be looked by your doctor. Let’s take a look at the difference of acute and chronic pain.


The pain that we normally feel and a sensation that tells you that you are hurt is called acute pain. Dr. Frafield, the president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine says that "When you break your leg, when you hit your thumb with the hammer, when you put your hand on the hot plate and you burn yourself … that's good pain. It tells you that you have an injury." The moment you touch a hot food, you immediately react and pull your hand away.

Acute pain usually starts fast and it does not last long. Pain stops when the injury heals. A broken leg will hurt as it heals but as time goes by, it will become better and better. On the other hand, chronic pain, Frafield says that, "the pain itself becomes a disease, when the injury heals and you continue having pain beyond the time of expected recovery, that's chronic pain."

Chronic pain can last for weeks, months or even years. In general, it’s usually diagnosed about six months after the pain started. There are cases that pain comes and goes. In chronic pain, our nervous system becomes altered and will become more sensitive to pain. In the end, painful feelings can become more severe and will last a lot longer.

There are some chronic diseases that are accompanied by chronic pain. "Arthritis is the easiest example that I can think of,” says Fraifeld. Examples of these diseases are cancer, diabetes and fibromyalgia. All of these diseases are really painful.

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Doctors don’t usually get the cause of pain. The cause is really unclear. . "There are cases in which you just cannot come up with an absolute diagnosis," says Fraifeld. If the pain lasts for more than what you are expecting, you should already see your doctor. Guidelines say that chronic pain lasts more than three to six months. However, the experts say that these conditions are random. That’s the only rule you have to remember, when pain lasts longer than your expectations, have it treated already.

Don’t forget to talk to your doctors and to have your pain managed. Treatments usually involve the use of pain relievers and other medications. Learn more how you can manage your pain by visiting this site.

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On Backpacks And Pain

Our children are going to school and as parents we should consider their workload. A lot of students are experiencing back, neck, shoulder and low back pain. The main cause of these pains is our kid’s backpacks. Statistics say that 14, 000 children aging 5-18 are required hospitalization because of backpack related injuries. Injuries in the early age can affect their future. Therefore, proper fit, distribution and low weight can get rid of these back pains. 

Backpacks that are too heavy might cause stress on the muscles of a growing child. The longer this weight stays, the period of recovery or the spine’s correction will also take longer. As a result, they will encounter different kinds of pain. In one particular study, 60% of a certain group of children experienced pain as a result of heavy backpacks.

Another study and this time using MRI to measure the effect of heavy backpack on the intervertebral discs in the lumbar area found out that the discs are compressed and causing pain among children. There are kids carry backpacks around 20-30 pounds in weight. However, weight isn’t the factor that causes pain, there are actually more.

Improper fit can also lead to imbalance and more pain. The right fitting for a backpack is as equal as taking care of the weight. For example, if a child carries his backpack using only one shoulder, it creates torsion in the spine that may lead to muscular imbalances and postural abnormalities. Using both straps should really be done. But you should ensure that the backpack does not hang more than 5 inches below the waistline. Children whose backpacks are hanging below their waist usually complain of shoulder and neck pain.

You should also take note that if the pain of your child isn’t normal anymore, you should visit your doctor for checkup. Hootan Melamed says, “Pain isn’t something you should just carry around. If it’s not managed by simple remedies, let the experts take care of it.”

Pain is a natural experience but it should not stop our children from growing the right way. Prevention is better than cure so learn to prevent circumstances that will really cause them a lot of trouble.

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