One Researcher’s Battle With Schizophrenia
Brandon Chuang was working with patients who were diagnosed with schizophrenia when he suffered a psychotic break of his own. His path since has been strewn with dark days, but now he's back in the lab and talking openly about his illness to help others. Meanwhile, a study finds that young Americans have a significantly weaker hand grip than those in 1985, dangerous chemicals are in public schools across the country and teens who vape are more likely to take up smoking.
Stat:
A Journey Through Schizophrenia, From Researcher To Patient And Back
The patients who came into the schizophrenia research lab grew easily confused. They struggled to complete simple tasks. Brandon Chuang, a research assistant just out of college, liked working with them, but found them a bit odd. Within a year, he would turn out to be one of them. (McFarling, 6/14)
NPR:
Millennials May Be Losing Their Grip
Millennials, the thoroughbreds of texting, may lag behind previous generations when it comes to old-fashioned hand strength. In a study of Americans ages 20-34, occupational therapists found that men younger than 30 have significantly weaker hand grips than their counterparts in 1985 did. The same was true of women ages 20-24, according to the study published online by the Journal of Hand Therapy a few months back. The findings suggest that it's time to update what constitutes normal hand strength. The norms are used to assess the severity of injuries and how well people are recovering. (Jacewicz, 6/13)
Center for Investigative Reporting:
Poison Lurking In Schools
Across the country, tens of thousands of public schools could be contaminated with toxic polychlorinated biphenyls – compounds more commonly known as PCBs, which were used widely in building materials such as window caulk. PCBs have been linked to everything from skin conditions to cancer. (6/11)
Cleavland Plain Dealer:
Vaping Teens More Likely To Start Smoking Cigarettes, Study Says
A study published Monday says teenagers who use electronic cigarettes are far more likely to begin smoking the real thing than teens who don't try "vaping." "We're concerned that kids who experiment with e-cigarettes may be moving on to other types of tobacco products, like combustible cigarettes, which are arguably a lot more dangerous," University of Southern California researcher Jessica Barrington-Trimis tells Reuters. (Pinckard, 6/14)
And in other public health news —
Reuters:
New Sleep Guidelines For Kids Stress Need For More Zzzs
Updated sleep recommendations for children and teens point to the benefits of getting enough sleep and the dangers of getting too little. "At least 25 percent of 12-year-olds get less than the recommended nine hours of sleep per night and there is increasing evidence that this impacts learning and memory," said Dr. Stuart F. Chan of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, who helped write the new American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) guidelines. (6/13)
CNN:
Are You Addicted To Work?
The difference between enthusiasm for work and addiction to it can sometimes be difficult to discern, especially when it's so easy to take work home on a smartphone or laptop. To find out how many people are true workaholics, researchers from the University of Bergen surveyed thousands of people in Norway using the Bergen Work Addiction Scale, which uses diagnostic criteria for several kinds of addiction. (East, 6/13)
Fox News:
Long-Term Marijuana Use Linked To Changes In Brain's Reward System
People who use marijuana for many years respond differently to natural rewards than people who don't use the drug, according to a new study. Researchers found that people who had used marijuana for 12 years, on average, showed greater activity in the brain's reward system when they looked at pictures of objects used for smoking marijuana than when they looked at pictures of a natural reward — their favorite fruits. (6/13)
