1 / 11   Boost Your Mood With Seasonal Bounty
It’s winter, and depending on where you live, it could be very cold and gray, with sunshine in short supply. The winter doldrums plus holiday high anxiety make this season especially stressful and depressing for many people. But you might be able to eat your way to a better mood. Load your plate with these winter foods for depression to lift your spirits.

Strawberries, lemons, blueberries, and onions – sounds like your average grocery list, right? Just as they are nutritious and important for a well-balanced diet, these ingredients can give your skin and hair a major boost, too.
Strawberries, lemons, blueberries, and onions – sounds like your average grocery list, right? Just as they are nutritious and important for a well-balanced diet, these ingredients can give your skin and hair a major boost, too.

Read on to learn these six expert-recommended at-home treatments that can help combat your biggest beauty woes.

Strawberries, lemons, blueberries, and onions – sounds like your average grocery list, right? Just as they are nutritious and important for a well-balanced diet, these ingredients can give your skin and hair a major boost, too.

Read on to learn these six expert-recommended at-home treatments that can help combat your biggest beauty woes.

Diagnosing irritable bowel syndrome isn’t like diagnosing other diseases. Your doctor can’t take a swab or a vial of blood and test it to determine the problem. There is no single test that can point to IBS as the cause of your symptoms.

Instead, when you go to your doctor about IBS symptoms like diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, and stomach cramps, he has to rule out other conditions and then pay careful attention to your symptoms before giving you a diagnosis.

Diagnosing IBS “For years, anyone who had gastrointestinal symptoms that couldn’t be explained was told they had IBS,” says Steven Field, MD, a gastroenterologist and clinical assistant professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine in New York City. But now doctors use the "Rome criteria," which are a specific set of symptoms that have to be present in order to give a diagnosis. In addition, the criteria designate red-flag symptoms that don’t point to IBS, he says.

Giving your doctor detailed information about your symptoms and when you experience them will go a long way toward getting an accurate diagnosis. Here’s what your doctor considers before he makes a diagnosis:

Laboratory tests to rule out other conditions. To make sure something other than IBS isn’t causing your symptoms, your doctor may run blood tests, test your stool sample, order an X-ray, or perform a colonoscopy (a procedure in which your doctor uses a small flexible camera to look inside your colon).

Your symptoms. Under the Rome criteria, a diagnosis of IBS can be made if you have had abdominal pain during at least 12 weeks during a 12-month period, even if those 12 weeks aren’t consecutive, and if you experience two of these three things:

• A bowel movement that causes the abdominal pain to go away
• A change in the frequency of your bowel movements
• A change in your stool’s appearance (it becomes hard and lumpy or loose and watery

Other signs of IBS include mucus in your stool, a swollen abdomen, an urgency to have a bowel movement, having trouble passing stool, or a feeling that your bowel isn’t empty after going to the bathroom.

If you have red flag symptoms. Your doctor will also be looking for red-flag symptoms that aren’t associated with IBS, Dr. Field says. Those include: 

• Blood in your stool
• Fever
• Unexplained weight loss
• Pain or diarrhea that’s so intense it wakes you up when you’re asleep
• What triggers your symptoms. The factors that bring on your symptoms are another clue as to whether or not you have IBS. Eating such items as fried and greasy foods, caffeine, dairy products, chocolate, alcohol, and carbonated drinks often trigger symptoms, but the exact food triggers are different for everyone. Large meals may also trigger IBS symptoms.

Stress — which can result from major life changes such as getting married or getting a new job — is also a major trigger for IBS symptoms, Field says. And for women, symptoms are usually more severe during their menstrual period, possibly because of the effect of hormones on IBS.

The bottom line: Giving your doctor detailed information about your symptoms and knowing what triggers them will help with your diagnosis. Many doctors recommend keeping a food diary to determine exactly what brings on your symptoms and sharing that information with your doctor to make a better diagnosis and get you the right treatment.

By Marie Suszynski | Medically reviewed by Cynthia Haines, MD

Treatment and recovery from an addiction to drugs or alcohol are steps in a lifelong journey. Unfortunately, 40 to 60 percent of drug addicts and almost half of all alcoholics will eventually go through a substance abuse relapse.

If someone dear to you has been in addiction treatment, it is important for you to be able to recognize if that person is relapsing as early as possible. This way, the problem can be addressed before it spirals out of control. Just because your loved one relapses does not mean that their addiction treatment has failed, however; it just means that the current treatment regimen probably needs to be reevaluated.

Addiction Relapse: Obvious Signs

"Most of the time the signs are so obvious," says Thomas Kosten, MD, Jay H. Waggoner chair and founder of the division of substance abuse at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

According to Dr. Kosten, the following are common indicators of a drug or alcohol addiction relapse:

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• Alcohol is missing from the house.
• Bottles of alcohol are found around the home.
• Your loved one comes home obviously intoxicated.
• Money is missing from bank accounts or stolen from friends or family member.
• Medicine is missing from the house.

Addiction Relapse: Early Indicators

There are also signals from the addict that a relapse is just around the corner, when steps can be taken to prevent the relapse or at least address it in its earliest stages. Your loved one may exhibit the following emotions and behaviors:

• Anxiety
• Anger
• Impatience
• Extreme sensitivity
• Moodiness
• Not wanting to be around people
• Refusing help
• Not complying with treatment recommendations
• Problems with sleeping
• Appetite changes
• Reminiscing about the past
• Lying
• Seeing friends that they've used drugs or alcohol with in the past
• Talking about relapse

Addiction Relapse: Stepping in

When you suspect that your loved one has relapsed, Kosten says the best thing to do is tackle the issue head-on. He suggests that you start the conversation in the following way:

• First, say to your loved one, “I think you’re using.”
• If the person admits he is using again, then say, “We need to do something about this."
• Kosten suggests that at this point you start setting limits by saying something such as, "Unless you get help, you will have to leave the house."

If your loved one is showing signs of an impending relapse but hasn’t yet relapsed, Kosten says that it is important to confront him first. Otherwise it is very unlikely that you are going to be able to convince him to get back into addiction treatment. Then you should encourage him to continue with treatment, talk to an addiction counselor or sponsor, and practice good self-care — that is, get enough sleep, eat well, and take steps to relieve stress.

If the addict refuses to talk with a professional or you feel that you need anaddiction expert to help you learn how to confront him, contact your local Council for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse. Or if you have access to the person’s doctor, addiction counselor, or sponsor, speak to that person about how you might deal with the situation.

Strawberries, lemons, blueberries, and onions – sounds like your average grocery list, right? Just as they are nutritious and important for a well-balanced diet, these ingredients can give your skin and hair a major boost, too.

Read on to learn these six expert-recommended at-home treatments that can help combat your biggest beauty woes.

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Influenza, commonly known as "the flu," is a viral infection of the respiratory tract that affects the nose, throat, and sometimes lungs.

 tend to happen annually, at about the same time every year. This period is commonly referred .

However, each outbreak may be caused by a different subtype or strain of the virus, so a different flu vaccine is needed to prevent the flu each year.

For most people, a bout of flu is an unpleasant but short-lived illness.

For others, however, flu can pose serious health risks, particularly if complications such as pneumonia develop.

Every year, thousands of Americans die from the flu. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of deaths caused annually by flu in the United States ranged from 3,000 to 49,000 between 1976 and 2006, with an annual average of 23,607 flu-related deaths.

The best way to avoid getting the flu is to get an annual flu vaccination, encourage the people you live and work with to do likewise, stay away from people who are sick, and wash your hands frequently.

The drug ketamine -- known as Special K on the party scene -- shows promise as a depression treatment. But researchers aren't ready to recommend it because its long-term effects remain unknown.

That gap in knowledge must be filled before ketamine can be widely used to treat depression, said Colleen Loo, co-author of a new research review. She's a professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

Ketamine, an anesthetic drug, is increasingly being used off-label to treat severe and treatment-resistant depression. And some preliminary findings suggest rapid-acting effectiveness, Loo said.

But "this has not been effectively explored over the long term and after repeated dosing," she added in a university news release.

RELATED: 10 Diseases That Make Depression Feel Worse

Loo and her colleagues examined 60 published studies of ketamine treatment for depression, involving a total of nearly 900 patients. The investigators found few studies reported on the safety of repeated doses or sustained use of the drug.

"As ketamine treatment will likely involve multiple and repeated doses over an extended time period, it is crucial to determine whether the potential side effects outweigh the benefits to ensure it is safe for this purpose," she explained.

Past research has linked longer-term ketamine use to bladder inflammation, liver damage, memory loss and addiction. These potential troubles "may limit the safe use of ketamine as a long-term antidepressant treatment," the review authors wrote.

The review was published July 27 in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Many adults under 40 may not need to have routine cholesterol screenings, a new study suggests.

To come to this conclusion, the researchers looked at the real world implications of two conflicting sets of guidelines on cholesterol testing.

One, from the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA), says that all adults older than 20 should have a cholesterol screening. They also suggest a repeat test every four to six years.

The other guidelines come from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a government-funded, independent panel of medical experts. They say many adults can go longer before their first cholesterol test -- until age 35 for men, and age 45 for women.

The exception would be people with a major risk factor for heart problems -- such as high blood pressure, smoking or a family history of early heart disease.

Those patients can start cholesterol testing at age 20, the task force adds.

The new findings support the "more targeted" approach the task force uses, according to lead researcher Dr. Krishna Patel, of Saint Luke's Health System in Kansas City, Mo.

Why? The study, Patel explained, tried to estimate the impact of the two different guidelines in the "real world."

To do that, the researchers used data on 9,600 U.S. adults aged 30 to 49 who were part of a government health study.

The study team found that among nonsmokers with normal blood pressure, very few were at heightened risk of suffering a heart attack in the next 10 years. That means very few would be considered candidates for a cholesterol-lowering statin -- even with elevated LDL (so-called "bad" cholesterol) levels.

"So, screening cholesterol early doesn't bring much actionable information," Patel said. "If we're not going to treat, there's no point in doing it."

The study was published May 15 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Others disagreed with Patel's point.

The point of screening younger adults is not so doctors can put them all on statins, said Dr. Neil Stone, one of the authors of the ACC/AHA guidelines.

Instead, there are two central reasons, Stone explained.

One is to spot younger adults who may be heading down a path toward heart disease later in life.

Once they know their LDL is high, they and their doctors can have an "all-important discussion" about diet and lifestyle changes, said Stone, who is also professor of medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

READ MORE: 9 Things Dietitians Wish You Knew About High Cholesterol

The other reason is to catch cases of familial hypercholesterolemia, a genetic condition that causes very high LDL levels (above 190 mg/dL), he said.

People with the condition have a much higher-than-average risk of heart disease, and often develop it at a young age.

Because of that, the condition should be treated with statins, according to the ACC/AHA.

There is "strong and compelling evidence," Stone said, that catching the condition in younger adults makes a difference.

Dr. Paul Ridker, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study, had a similar view.

"Familial hypercholesterolemia is a common disorder, and it's easy to detect," said Ridker, of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "Why delay something as simple and inexpensive as a cholesterol test?"

Plus, he said, catching even "run-of-the-mill" high LDL is important.

"Knowing about it early in life can be a good motivator to make lifestyle changes," Ridker said.

What if a young adult has healthy LDL levels? Ridker said he'd be "fine" with that patient forgoing further tests until later in life.

For her part, Patel agreed that a one-time check, to catch familial hypercholesterolemia, is a wise move for young adults. But she questioned the value of repeat testing.

According to Stone, the ACC/AHA guidelines say it's "reasonable" to repeat cholesterol testing every four to six years. "It's not mandatory," he noted.

But people's lives, and heart disease risk factors, change as they move through adulthood, Stone said. So, a periodic cholesterol check can be useful when it's done as part of a "global risk assessment" where doctors look at blood pressure, smoking habits and other major risk factors for heart disease.

Motivating younger adults to get those risk factors under control is critical, according to Stone. "We know it's a big deal if you can have optimal risk factor [control] by age 45 or 50," he said.

In the study, very few people were at elevated risk of heart attack -- as long as they didn't smoke or have high blood pressure. ("Elevated" meant a greater than 5 percent chance of having a heart attack in the next 10 years.)

In the absence of those two risk factors, only 0.09 percent of men younger than 40 were at elevated risk of heart attack. And only 0.04 percent of women younger than 50 were.

But smoking, in particular, changed everything: Among male smokers in their 40s, one-half to three-quarters were at elevated risk of a heart attack.

"Smoking had a huge effect," Patel said. Smokers, she stressed, should "definitely" have their cholesterol tested -- and, more importantly, quit the habit.

For those of you who’ve been with HealthTalk for some time, my name is probably familiar. I’m the founder of this health education company that creates and publishes free audio programming on the latest treatments and quality of life innovations for chronic illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, asthma and various types of cancer.

And also, more recently, I’m a patient treated successfully for chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Quite frankly, I stumbled into the healthcare arena by accident some 20-plus years ago. And I’m glad I did, because I’ve become fascinated with the improvements to treatment and patient care over the years.

And it may have saved my life.

When I was diagnosed with CLL in 1996, I had been doing this for more than a decade. I carefully researched my options and found a doctor at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center who recommended what was then an experimental treatment (today, it’s the standard of care). Now I’m in molecular remission.

At HealthTalk, I’m responsible for partnering with advocacy groups and major hospitals (including M. D. Anderson) and I still host many programs, including the upcoming Crohn’s webcast on November 10.

Getting back to my broadcasting roots, I also just launched a radio program called This blog will feature my perspective on the news of the day and other interesting nuggets of useful knowledge that I come across in my work exploring the world of patient empowerment.

This is a very exciting time in medicine. I hope you’ll join me as we travel down the path toward better care together.

Report highlights need for accurate screening.

More than one-tenth of professional airline pilots may suffer from depression, and a small percentage might experience suicidal thoughts, a new survey reveals.

The findings come in the wake of the Germanwings air crash in 2015. In that tragedy, a co-pilot with depression deliberately crashed an airliner in the French Alps, killing all 150 people onboard.

"We found that many pilots currently flying are managing depressive symptoms, and it may be that they are not seeking treatment due to the fear of negative career impacts," said senior study author Joseph Allen. He is an assistant professor of exposure assessment science at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.

"There is a veil of secrecy around mental health issues in the cockpit. By using an anonymous survey, we were able to guard against people's fears of reporting due to stigma and job discrimination," he explained in a Harvard news release.

In the online survey, conducted between April and December of 2015, the researchers asked just over 1,800 pilots in the United States, Canada and Australia about their mental health.

RELATED: 6 Depression Symptoms You Shouldn't Ignore

The findings showed that 12.6 percent of the pilots met the criteria for likely depression and 4 percent reported having suicidal thoughts within the previous two weeks.

Male pilots were more likely than female pilots to report that they had instances "nearly every day" of loss of interest, feeling like a failure, difficulty concentrating and thinking they would be better off dead.

Meanwhile, compared with male pilots, female pilots were more likely to have had at least one day of poor mental health in the previous month, and were more likely to have been diagnosed with depression, according to the researchers.

In addition, depression was more common among pilots who used more sleep aid medications and those who were subjected to sexual or verbal harassment, the investigators found.

According to study first author Alex Wu, the study "hints at the prevalence of depression among pilots -- a group of professionals that is responsible for thousands of lives every day -- and underscores the importance of accurately assessing pilots' mental health and increasing support for preventative treatment." Wu is a doctoral student at Harvard.

The study was published online Dec. 14 in the journal Environmental Health.

About 350 million people worldwide suffer from depression, the researchers said. But less than half receive treatment, partly because of the social stigma, according to the World Health Organization.

Depression often feeds a substance abuse problem, but the opposite may also be true. Find out just how intertwined these two conditions are.

Mood disorders, like depression, and substance abuse go together so frequently that doctors have coined a term for it: dual diagnosis. The link between these conditions is a two-way street. They feed each other. One problem will often make the other worse, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA).

About 20 percent of Americans with an anxiety or mood disorder, such as depression, also have a substance abuse disorder, and about 20 percent of those with a substance abuse problem also have an anxiety or mood disorder, the ADAA reports.

Compared with the general population, people addicted to drugs are roughly twice as likely to have mood and anxiety disorders, and vice versa, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

The Shared Triggers of Depression and Substance Abuse

When it comes to substance abuse and depression, it isn't always clear which one came first, although depression may help predict first-time alcohol dependence, according to a study published in 2013 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

The conditions share certain triggers. Possible connections between depression and substance abuse include:

The brain. Similar parts of the brain are affected by both substance abuse and depression. For example, substance abuse affects brain areas that handle stress responses, and those same areas are affected by some mental disorders.
Genetics. Your DNA can make you more likely to develop a mental disorder or addiction, according to research published in 2012 in Disease Markers. Genetic factors also make it more likely that one condition will occur once the other has appeared, NIDA reports.
Developmental problems. Early drug use is known to harm brain development and make later mental illness more likely. The reverse also is true: Early mental health problems can increase the chances of later drug or alcohol abuse.
The Role of Environment

Environmental factors such as stress or trauma are known to prompt both depression and substance abuse.

Family history is another factor. A study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders in 2014 found that a family history of substance abuse is a significant risk factor for attempted suicide among people with depression and substance abuse.

These types of dual diagnosis may also be traced back to a time in early life when children are in a constant process of discovery and in search of gratification, according to David MacIsaac, PhD, a licensed psychologist in New York and New Jersey and president of the New York Institute for Psychoanalytic Self Psychology.

RELATED: 6 Depression Symptoms You Shouldn’t Ignore

Any interruption or denial of this natural discovery process can manifest clinically and lead people to believe that everything they feel and think is wrong, he explains.

This idea, which Dr. MacIsaac says is based on the work of Crayton Rowe, author of the book Empathic Attunement: The 'Technique' of Psychoanalytic Self Psychology, challenges the idea that people dealing with depression try to self-medicate using drugs or alcohol. In fact, people with a dual diagnosis may be doing just the opposite, MacIsaac suggests.

"Individuals who are severely depressed drink to feed this negativity," he explains. "Initially it's soothing, but only for about 15 minutes. After that individuals sink deeper and deeper and feel worse than they did before."

For these people, MacIsaac points out, negativity is "where they get their oxygen." Any inclination that treatment is working will trigger a need to go back into the black hole of negative discovery, and alcohol will intensify their depression, he adds.

Why Simultaneous Treatment Is Important

Successful recovery involves treatment for both depression and substance abuse. If people are treated for only one condition, they are less likely to get well until they follow up with treatment for the other.

If they are told they need to abruptly stop drinking, however, depressed people with a substance abuse problem may be reluctant to undergo treatment, MacIsaac cautions. "They cling to drinking because they are terrified of losing that negativity," he says.

People with dual diagnoses must understand the root of their issues on a profound level, MacIsaac says. Once they understand, he says, they may have the ability to change. Treatment for depression and substance abuse could involve therapy, antidepressants, and interaction with a support group.

If you think you need treatment but are unsure where to start, the American Psychological Association provides the following suggestions:

Ask close friends and relatives whether they have recommendations for qualified psychologists, psychiatrists, or other mental health counselors.
Find out whether your state psychological association has a referral service for licensed mental health professionals.

All Diet and Nutrition Articles

Herbal remedy isn't regulated, and can have side effects and serious drug interactions.

St. John's wort is a popular herbal therapy for depression, but a new Australian study highlights the fact that "natural" does not always equal "safe."

Using reports filed with Australia's drug safety agency, the researchers found that adverse reactions to St. John's wort were similar to those reported for the antidepressant fluoxetine -- better known by the brand name Prozac.

Those side effects included anxiety, panic attacks, dizziness, nausea and spikes in blood pressure, the researchers reported in the July issue of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology.

"It's concerning to see such severe adverse reactions in our population, when people believe they are doing something proactive for their health with little risk," lead researcher Claire Hoban, of the University of Adelaide, said in a university news release.

Research has shown that St. John's wort can help ease mild to moderate depression. But the fact that it works also means there is a risk of side effects, said Dr. Samar McCutcheon, a psychiatrist at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus.

"Even if the bottle says 'natural' or 'herbal,' it still has ingredients that are active in your body," said McCutcheon, who was not involved in the study.

It has long been recognized that St. John's wort can have significant side effects and interact with certain medications, McCutcheon pointed out.

But many consumers may not know that, she noted, largely because dietary supplements are not regulated in the way that drugs are.

"I definitely think this [lack of awareness] is still an issue," McCutcheon said. "People think St. John's wort is safe because they can buy it at a health food store."

In the United States, dietary supplements do not have to be studied for safety and effectiveness before they reach the market.

"Plus," McCutcheon said, "you're relying on companies to make sure these products include the ingredients they're supposed to, and keep out ingredients that they shouldn't."

The situation is similar in Australia, and many consumers there are unaware that supplements are largely unregulated, according to Hoban's team.

RELATED: 7 Supplement Risks Every Woman Should Know About

The researchers based their findings on doctors' reports to Australia's national agency on drug safety. Between 2000 and 2013, there were 84 reports of adverse reactions to St. John's wort, and 447 reports on Prozac.

But since those are voluntary reports, they do not reflect the actual rate of side effects from either therapy, according to the researchers. And, Hoban said, bad reactions to St. John's wort are particularly likely to go unreported, since the herb is often not even considered a drug.

According to McCutcheon, it's important for people with depression symptoms to see a health professional before self-medicating with St. John's wort. "That will help ensure you have the right diagnosis," she said.

If your symptoms are actually part of a different disorder, St. John's wort may be ineffective -- or possibly even risky. For example, McCutcheon said that in people with bipolar disorder, the herb might fuel a manic episode.

But possibly the biggest concern, she said, is the potential for St. John's wort to interact with commonly used medications.

The herb can dampen the effectiveness of birth control pills, blood thinners and heart disease drugs, along with some HIV and cancer drugs, according to the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.

What's more, it can interact with antidepressants. It's not clear exactly how St. John's wort works, McCutcheon said, but it's thought to boost levels of the brain chemical serotonin -- which is how the most commonly used antidepressants work.

"If you use the two together, you run the risk of having too much serotonin," she said. And that raises the risk of a potentially fatal condition called serotonin syndrome, whose symptoms include confusion, tremors, diarrhea and a drop in body temperature.

Some side effects of St. John's wort are caused by the herb itself, such as skin rash that's worsened by sunlight, said Dr. John Reed, director of inpatient services at the University of Maryland's Center for Integrative Medicine in Baltimore.

But the main concern is still its potential for interacting with other medications, he said. "Compared with other herbs, St. John's has more drug interactions," Reed explained. "So if you're using it, don't take other medications unless it's under medical supervision."

He added that anyone on any medication should do some homework before starting an herbal product. "Go online and do a search for drug interactions. Ask your pharmacist or doctor," Reed advised.

"Unfortunately," he said, "this type of information [on drug interactions] doesn't have to be printed on product labels."

The bottom line, according to McCutcheon, is that people with depression should talk to their providers about any supplements they take, or want to take. And those providers, she said, should be willing to have nonjudgmental discussions.

"I want all my patients to be comfortable enough to bring up anything with me," McCutcheon said.

All U.S. adults, including pregnant and postpartum women, should be screened for depression by their family doctor, the nation's leading preventive medicine panel recommends.

Further, doctors need to follow through and get treatment for anyone who tests positive for depression, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force concluded in an update of its depression screening guidelines.

This is the first time the panel has specifically advocated depression screening in pregnancy and shortly after giving birth. It cited a U.S. study that found that 9 percent of pregnant women and more than 10 percent of postpartum women exhibited signs of major depression.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) applauded the recommendation.

"Because fewer than 20 percent of women in whom perinatal depression is diagnosed self-report their symptoms, routine screening by physicians is important for ensuring appropriate follow-up and treatment," said ACOG president Dr. Mark DeFrancesco in a statement.

Depression can harm both the child and mother, interfering with their interactions and affecting social relationships and school performance, the panel noted. Risk factors during pregnancy and after delivery include poor self-esteem, child-care stress, prenatal anxiety and decreased social support, the report said.

The new report -- published Jan. 26 in the Journal of the American Medical Association -- updates a similar recommendation the panel issued in 2009 that called for routine screening of adults.

In general, primary care physicians should be able to treat most cases of uncomplicated depression, and refer more complex cases to a psychiatrist, said Dr. Michael Pignone, a member of the task force and director of the University of North Carolina's Institute for Healthcare Quality Improvement.

"That's part of our job," Pignone said.

Options for treatment include therapy with a psychologist or licensed clinical social worker or antidepressant medications.

The task force is an independent, volunteer panel of national experts in preventive medicine. It issues recommendations, and revisits them on a regular basis to make sure that medical evidence still supports the guidelines.

RELATED: 9 Depression Types to Know

Depression is among the leading causes of disability in persons 15 years and older, the panel noted.

Millions of adults suffer from depression and don't know it, said Dr. Michael Thase, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

At any given time, between 5 percent and 10 percent of U.S. adults suffer from a depressive disorder, but half receive no treatment for their depression, Thase said.

The task force's depression guidelines are aimed at detecting and helping those adults who unknowingly have depression, Pignone said.

"This is about screening, not about diagnosing people who come to a doctor's office saying, 'I feel depressed.' The potential value of screening is in those people who would not be found as part of regular clinical care," he said.

Some people may not want to acknowledge they are depressed because there is a stigma around mental illness, Pignone said. Others might just think they are feeling blue, and will get over it.

"In some people, their symptoms may seem more physical to them," he added. For example, depression might cause stomach pain, headaches or sleeping problems.

The task force did not recommend any particular questionnaire for depression screening, because "there are many good tools and there's no single tool that should be recommended above others," Pignone said.

The most common screening tool, the Patient Health Questionnaire, consists of 10 simple questions that can be answered in minutes, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The task force also could not recommend how regularly people should be screened, because not enough research has been done in that area, Pignone said.

"The task force recommendation is that people should be screened at least once," he said. "For the meantime, clinicians should use their judgment about the risk of depression in their patients, in deciding how often to screen."

However, the task force did emphasize the need to follow up a positive screening with treatment.

Dr. Michelle Riba, a former president of the American Psychiatric Association, agreed that primary care doctors should be able to treat most patients with depression.

However, Riba added that doctors should develop a relationship with a psychiatrist they can consult on cases of depression. The psychiatrist could talk with the practitioner on the phone, review patient charts, and help decide the best course of action.

Doctors also should be open to other forms of treatment for depression, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy or light therapy, said Elizabeth Saenger, a psychologist in private practice in New York City.

Light therapy affects the body's production of the hormone serotonin, and studies have shown it can help alleviate depression symptoms, Saenger said.

It makes sense for primary care doctors to lead the way on depression screening because they see patients most often, said Dr. Alan Manevitz, a psychiatrist with Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

Treating depression can help patients face other health problems with which they are struggling. "As depression gets worse, so many other chronic illnesses also get worse," Manevitz said. "People don't take care of their health as well when they are depressed."

Spending time in nature eases depression, and could be a good supplement to medicine and therapy.

Remedies for depression abound, from medications to psychotherapy, or talk therapy. Having a range of treatment options is a good idea because no single treatment works equally well for each of the millions of U.S. adults with depression. Now researchers say a new therapy, proven to relieve depression, should be added to the mix as a supplement to established treatments. It's called nature.

Interacting with nature can have replenishing effects for those with depression, says Ethan Kross, PhD, associate professor of psychology at the University of Michigan and one of many experts who has studied the nature-depression link.

A little dose of nature helps us all recharge, but it may have special benefit for those who are depressed. "It seems that, from our work, the restorative effect of nature seems to be stronger for individuals diagnosed with depression," says Marc Berman, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Chicago. That might be because they feel mentally fatigued, and being in nature re-energizes them. However, Dr. Berman has a strong caveat: "We're not arguing that interacting with nature should replace clinically proven therapies for depression," he says. Nor should those with clinical depression try to treat themselves.

RELATED: How to Create a Depression Treatment Plan

However, Berman and others say, interactions with nature could serve as a very effective supplemental treatment.

What Nature-Depression Research Shows

Among the studies finding nature helps with depression:

Adults with depression who took a 50-minute walk in a natural setting for one research session and then a 50-minute walk in an urban setting for another research session were less depressed and had better memory skills after they took the nature walk.
Adults who moved to greener urban areas, compared to less green, had better mental health during follow-up three years after the move.
Those who took group nature walks reported less depression, less stress, and a better sense of well-being than those who didn't take nature walks, according to a study that looked at more than 1,500 people in a walking program.
Being outdoors and in nature boosts vitality, which experts define as having physical and mental energy. Those with depression often report fatigue and decreased energy. Researchers found the energy-boosting effect of nature was independent of the physical activity or social interaction experienced while outdoors.
How Nature Works Its Magic

The phenomenon of how nature helps improve depression is still being analyzed fully, Dr. Kross says.

One possibility, Berman says, is that interacting with nature helps due to the attention-restoration theory. "We have two kinds of attention," he says. "One is top-down (also called directed), the kind we use at work." Directed attention can be depleted fairly quickly, as you can only focus and concentrate for so long.

Another type of attention is bottom-up, or involuntary. "That's the kind automatically captured by things in the environment, such as lights or music." Involuntary attention is less susceptible to depletion. "You don't often hear people say, 'I can't look at this waterfall any longer,'" Berman says.

Why does nature hold this special effect? In a natural environment, we can choose to think or not, Berman says, and this choice is believed to help us rest our brains. You can then pay attention later, when you need to. "It is giving people more ability to concentrate, which is a big problem for those with depression," Berman says. Nature provides an effective setting for resting our brains, unlike urban settings. Even in the most peaceful urban environment, you have to pay attention to such things as traffic and stoplights.

Nature's replenishing effect is fairly instantaneous, Berman says. So if you're depressed and having an especially bad day, a quick dose of nature might help.

However, Berman cautions that anyone with clinical depression needs to be under a doctor's care, with supervision of all their treatments.

A new study cast doubts on the existence of seasonal depression -- a mood disorder linked to reduced sunlight in the winter months.

This form of depression -- known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and recognized by the mental health community for nearly 30 years -- "is not supported by objective data," the new study claims.

Depression comes and goes, said study lead researcher Steven LoBello. If someone experiences depression in the fall and winter, "it doesn't mean that seasonal changes have caused the depression," added LoBello, a professor of psychology at Auburn University at Montgomery, Ala.

For the study, LoBello and colleagues used data from a telephone survey of more than 34,000 U.S. adults asked about depression and then gathered information on time of year, latitude and more when measuring depression.

LoBello noted the study found no evidence that symptoms of depression were season-related and said, "If this seasonal pattern of depression occurs at all, it may be fairly rare."

Dr. Matthew Lorber, acting director of child and adolescent psychiatry at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, also said that seasonal affective disorder may not be a "legitimate diagnosis."

Big drug companies, Lorber said, pushed to have SAD recognized as a standard diagnosis. "It then allowed them to market to a new population to use their medications. That was a motivating factor in creating this disorder," said Lorber, who wasn't involved in the new study.

LoBello thinks the seasons have no place in the diagnosis of depression, and he would like to see these criteria discontinued.

His reasoning? Assuming a cause that isn't accurate may lead patients to pursue treatments that won't deliver relief, LoBello said.

According to the new report, published Jan. 20 in Clinical Psychological Science, seasonal affective disorder was added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) -- the bible of psychological diagnosis -- in 1987.

RELATED: Why Depression Is Underreported in Men

LoBello isn't the first to explore the validity of this diagnosis.

Kelly Rohan, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Vermont, has done her own research on seasonal depression and found "no season differences in reports of depressive symptoms."

"I certainly did not argue that this means SAD does not exist," she said. "However, only a minority of depression cases are actually SAD."

So, how come other research has found that a significant percentage of the public suffers from this condition? (The American Academy of Family Physicians says up to 6 percent of U.S. adults have winter depression, and as many as one in five have mild SAD symptoms).

It all depends on how the studies are done and how the questions are asked, Rohan said. "Also, SAD depressive symptoms tend to be less severe than in nonseasonal major depression and mood tends to be back to normal in the spring and summer," she said. "So when you take all the depressed people in this sample -- including the minority that claims to be SAD -- and look at seasonal differences in their depression scores, I am not surprised that it is a wash."

For the study, LoBello and colleagues used the 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. The 34,000-plus respondents had been asked about the number of days they felt depressed in the past two weeks. The researchers matched these responses with the location of each person and the day, month, latitude and amount of sun exposure when interviewed.

People who responded to the survey in the winter months, when sunlight exposure was low, had no greater levels of depressive symptoms than those who responded to the survey at other times, the researchers said.

In addition, the researchers found no evidence for seasonal differences in mood when they zeroed in on more than 1,700 participants with clinical depression.

The mass production of the Ford Model T sparked a new love affair – one between people and their cars. We carve out time to wash them, cringe at the sight of a dent or scratch, and even name them (although, the nameChristine for a car has yet to make a comeback).

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Our car–caregiver behavior is strange, especially when you consider that a 2011 study found that 40 percent of men said they’re more likely to resolve car problems than their own health problems. Where does your health rank? Are you taking better care of your car than your health? 

Check out our article to see which gets more TLC – your car or your body.

Mechanic Vs. Doctor

If you have a trusted mechanic but not a trusted doctor, you may care more about your car than your health. Choosing a doctor you trust and feel comfortable asking questions fills a critical piece of the health puzzle. In fact, a 2012 study showed that people spend more time researching car purchases than they do selecting a physician. 

Maybe you're new to insurance because you've just signed up for Obamacare. While insurance plans can limit which primary care providers you can choose, there are other factors to consider when picking a PCP. For example: Is the office staff friendly and helpful, is the doctor easy to talk to, and does the doctor’s approach to testing and treatment suit you? Still unsure which PCP to pick? Ask co-workers, friends and family members for their recommendations.

RELATED: 5 Worst Celebrity Health Bloopers 

Engine Health Vs. Heart Health

It’s a familiar situation. Your check engine-light pops up and you call your mechanic or hightail it to your nearest car dealership. But can you spot symptoms of heart disease — the No. 1 killer of both men and women in the United States — when they strike?

In addition to having regular cholesterol and blood pressure tests, look for these check-engine lights for your heart, and see your doctor promptly if you have any of them:

• Shortness of breath
• Chest pain
• Swelling of your feet and lower legs, also known as peripheral edema
• Yellow bumps on the skin called xanthomas
• Swollen, sore or bleeding gums

Americans spend more time researching car purchases than they do selecting a physician.

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Car Weight Vs. Your Weight

Packing your car to the gills with stuff isn’t the best idea. Extra weight kills your gas mileage, makes your car work harder, and causes premature wear and tear. 

The same concept applies to your own body! If you’re still carrying extra pounds around your waist, you’re at greater risk for health conditions like stroke,hypertension, diabetes, cancer, sleep apnea, gout,depression, and even fatty liver disease. The extra weight also puts stress on your joints and can lead to arthritis.

Changing Your Oil Vs. Checking Your Blood Pressure

You should probably get an oil change every 3,000 to 5,000 miles, depending on the make and model of your car. But how often do you get your blood pressure checked?

High blood pressure is a serious health condition that can put you at risk for heart attack, stroke and other illnesses, and every healthcare visit should include a blood pressure reading. But if you're dodging the doctor altogether you're missing out on this vital checkpoint. The American Heart Association recommends that you get your blood pressure checked at least every two years if your blood pressure stays below the healthy standard 120/80 mm Hg — more often if it's inching up.

RELATED: The Hurt Blogger: How I Became a Runner With RA 

Brake Check Vs. Flu Shot

If you get your brakes checked at least once a year, but don’t get a flu shot every year, you're putting yourself at risk for infections caused by particular flu season's bugs. For the 2012-2013 flu season, the flu vaccine prevented an estimated 6.6 million flu-associated illnesses and 3.2 million flu-associated medical visits,according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Still, more than half of Americans didn’t get a vaccination for the most recent season. Make the flu shot a yearly habit and you'll not only cut your risk of getting the flu, you'll also lower your risk of death if you have heart disease, according to research conducted by Jacob Udell, MD, and colleagues at the University of Toronto, published in JAMA. 

Add Flavor, Texture, and Zest with Heart-Healthy Ingredients

If you have high cholesterol and blood pressure, your doctor has probably advised you to start following a healthy diet as part of your treatment plan. The good news is that delighting your taste buds while sticking to a heart-healthy meal plan is easy — and many of the foods you enjoy most likely aren’t off limits. Healthy herbs and spices lend robust and savory flavor, hearty nuts add texture and a buttery taste, and teas infuse a bright flavor and antioxidants. Michael Fenster, MD (also known as Dr. Mike), a board-certified interventional cardiologist and gourmet chef, shares his cooking tips for preparing delicious meals that will boost your heart health. These choices are part of a healthy lifestyle that may reduce your risk for heart conditions like high blood pressure, heart attack, or stroke down the road.

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The legendary talk-show host is helping raise awareness about heart health and the importance of staying on drug treatment.

Regis Philbin has been entertaining us for more than 50 years — from his legendary morning show with Kathie Lee Gifford and Kelly Ripa to . With his carefree personality and love of the sharp, off-the-cuff one-liner, at age 86 he remains one of America’s favorite television personalities. Seemingly forever young, he got a wake-up call in 1992, when he faced a major health scare that spurred him to lead a more .

Philbin was away from the TV studio and on a trip in Florida when he started to experience sharp chest pains.

“My heart was driving me crazy, I couldn’t believe it, I had these chest pains,” Philbin says. “We did an down there in Florida and my doctor told me my cholesterol levels were at 300. Are you kidding me? Three hundred!”

High blood cholesterol is one of the major markers of heart disease. According to the , a healthy total cholesterol level is less than 200 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL). Any levels at 240 mg/dL or above — like the levels Philbin had — would be considered significantly high.

Once Philbin was back in New York, his doctor put him on his first , and Philbin, with his wife, Joy, by his side, decided that he would make significant to fight off the progression of his heart disease.

“I think things changed in a hurry,” Philbin says about his approach to his health.

“It shook us both up, it was a wake-up call,” Joy recalls of her husband’s health scare. “Quite frankly, I didn’t give cholesterol a thought myself. I mean, Regis didn’t have the best diet, but I never thought it was that bad. It kind of set him on a new regimen. You really start to feel your mortality. He was only 61 when he had his first event.”

This wouldn’t be his only heart health scare. Philbin had triple bypass surgery in 2007 because of a buildup of .

The ‘Take the Cholesterol to Heart’ Campaign

Right now, the Philbins are raising awareness about heart health through the “” campaign, which they launched in October 2017 in cooperation with Kowa Pharmaceuticals and the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation. The campaign aims to encourage people to remain on a heart-healthy routine while also seeking out better information and asking questions before considering stopping their . Philbin, who has shared almost everything about his life over decades of being on air, has always been very open about his experiences with and was approached by the campaign to be its public face.

Joy says that what was most stunning to her about being part of the campaign was learning that 50 percent of people who are on statins stop taking the drugs after one year of use. She adds this shocked her because of how helpful the drugs were for her husband’s health.

Statins are drugs that lower blood cholesterol levels by blocking an enzyme that produces cholesterol in the liver. Getting people to maintain their drug regimen is one of the big challenges of treating high cholesterol, says , the president of the Utah Lipid Center and a fellow at the American Heart Association and the National Lipid Association.

“The big question is, why do these people stop taking their statins? One issue is you don’t necessarily feel better or worse when you take a statin; you have to go through testing to know your cholesterol is lower, so you don’t necessarily have a daily reminder every morning telling you you’re getting better,” Brinton says. “Another thing is that some patients will experience , like muscle pain or weakness. They might have stomach pain or a skin rash.

"There’s also a lot of negative and sometimes factually inaccurate information on the web. However, reputable medical sites cite evidence that highlight the positive health benefits of statins and show that these side effects do not occur in anywhere near the high numbers some of these other sites might lead you to believe.”

Reasons to Stay on Your Statins

A looked into the effectiveness of both statin and non-statin therapies for lowering cholesterol. The study reviewed 49 trials from 1966 to 2016 that involved 312,175 people in total. The report’s authors assert that statins should remain at the front of the line in treating cholesterol, but alternative therapies could be just as helpful if a person can’t tolerate statins or is looking for a different source of treatment. These could involve bile acid sequestrants or even a simple .

“I’ll say this up front, . They prevent heart attack and can prevent stroke. But a statin can’t work if you don’t take it,” Brinton stresses.

Brinton says there are a few things people should keep in mind when looking to lower their cholesterol with statin treatment:

Stay informed. To help counter some potentially inaccurate information out there, Brinton says the first person to turn to is your doctor. Beyond that, he says there’s useful information at places like the , the American Heart Association, and the National Lipid Association website, .

Know your options. Brinton says that people who are discouraged by one drug should know that there are multiple statin drugs out there. “A lot of people who stop their statin for whatever reason didn’t talk to or consult their doctor, who then doesn’t have a chance of helping them decide what to do,” he adds. “There are several statins out there, and people need to realize that there are other options if what they try first doesn’t work out.”

Be vigilant. If you’re having a bad experience, your statin medication could be reacting with other medications you are taking. Brinton says it is important that people tell their doctor about other medications or supplements they're on. They could then be prescribed a different statin.

How Regis Stays Healthy in Retirement

This all rings true for the Philbins. After his scare in the early '90s, Philbin started seeing a cardiologist, , and became even more of a “fitness freak,” Joy says.

“When you’re in your thirties, for example, you aren’t running to a doctor. But when you hit your sixties, you become a little more proactive about your health,” Joy says. “If your diet is wrong, you start looking into it. You become more aware.”

Echoing Brinton, Joy says that communication between you and your doctor is key in maintaining the best possible heart health.

“Some people avoid going to the doctor; they’re afraid of bad news,” she adds. “It’s important to maintain that [relationship]. You get closer to your doctor as you age, it’s one of the things you do. That’s crucial. It was so important for Regis.”

For his part, Philbin is doing everything he can to stay healthy in retirement. The talk-show host with the gift of gab is more than happy to share his heart health journey.

“I’ve been dealing with this for 25 years. It’s been a long time,” Philbin says. “I'm always more than happy to talk about this. For me, it’s everything.”

Getting picked on at age 13 tied to raised odds of poor mental health at 18, U.K. researchers report.

Young teens who are bullied appear to be at higher risk of depression when they reach early adulthood, according to new research.

"We found that teenagers who reported being frequently bullied were twice as likely to be clinically depressed at 18 years," said Lucy Bowes, a researcher at the University of Oxford in England, who led the research.

The researchers found an association, not a definitive cause-and-effect relationship, Bowes said. "In our type of study, we can never be certain that bullying causes depression," she explained. "However, our evidence suggests that this is the case."

To explore the possible link, the investigators used data on nearly 4,000 teens in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a community-based group born in the United Kingdom. At age 13, all completed a questionnaire about bullying. At 18, they were assessed for depression.

The study found that nearly 700 teens said they had been bullied "often" -- more than once a week -- at age 13. Of those, nearly 15 percent were depressed at age 18. More than 1,440 other teens reported some bullying -- one to three times over a six-month period -- at age 13. Of these, 7 percent were depressed at age 18. In comparison, only 5.5 percent of teens who weren't bullied were depressed at age 18.

RELATED: Living With the Scars of Bullying

Bowes also found the often-bullied teens tended to stay depressed longer than others. For 10 percent of those often-bullied who became depressed, the depression lasted more than two years. By comparison, only 4 percent of the never-bullied group had long-lasting depression.

Among the bullying tactics, name calling was the most common type, experienced by more than one-third of the teens. About one of four had their belongings taken. About 10 percent were hit or beaten up. Most never told a teacher and up to half didn't tell a parent. But up to three-quarters did tell an adult if the bullying was physical, according to the study published in the June 2 online edition of the BMJ.

Bowes noted that other studies have found the same bullying-depression link. If it does prove to be a causative factor, she added, bullying may account for 30 percent of those who develop depression in early adulthood.

In addition, the link held even when factors such as mental and behavioral problems and stressful live events were taken into account, Bowes said.

The research did not look at why bullying might increase the risk of depression or why some teens appear more vulnerable.

The study findings ring true in practice, said Gilda Moreno, a clinical psychologist at Nicklaus Children's Hospital and Baptist Hospital in Miami, who reviewed the findings.

Children who are bullied over time may develop a ''learned helplessness," she said. "It's not having the skills to stand up to the bullying. That's what may lead to the depression."

Because bullied children often don't tell their parents or teachers, Bowes said that parents need to be aware of potential signs. If a child is reluctant to go to school, parents should talk about why and ask about their relationships with friends, she suggested.

Bowes said parents should also believe their child if he or she complains about bullying, and follow up with the school administrators.

Loners are more likely than others to get picked on, Moreno added. Parents can encourage their kids to develop friendships, she said, to foster a kind of core support group.

Type 2 Diabetes Complications: More Than Just Heart Disease

Having diabetes isn’t a death sentence. In fact, an article published in September 2017 in the journal BMJ suggests that, with proper management and weight loss, you can effectively reverse symptoms of the disease. But on the flip side, poorly managed type 2 diabetes can lead to certain complications that can altogether result in increased medical costs, more stress, and potentially a reduced life expectancy. 

If you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes, you likely know the major complications for which having diabetes may leave you at risk: heart disease, kidney disease, neuropathy (or nerve damage), and amputations. But complications associated with poor blood sugar control can affect other parts of the body as well.

"When we talk about diabetes complications, we talk about it from head to toe," says Cathy L. Reeder-McIntosh, RN, MPH, a certified diabetes educator at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. "Even if you don't have perfectly controlled blood sugar, lowering your A1C level — which measures your average blood sugar level over the past two to three months — even a small amount helps reduce your risk of complications."

The A1C test is the most common diagnostic tool for type 2 diabetes, but its function doesn’t end there — for managing diabetes, these test results are crucial, too. The Mayo Clinic recommends getting the A1C test twice per year if you have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, don’t use insulin, and your blood sugar is within the goal range that you and your doctor have set.

But if you are on insulin or your blood sugar is poorly controlled, the Mayo Clinic recommends you receive the test four times per year. A normal A1C level is below 5.7 percent, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

To help lower your A1C and reduce your risk for type 2 diabetes complications, you can follow tried-and-true diabetes management advice, like adhering to your medication regimen, practicing portion control while eating a diabetes-friendly diet, and exercising regularly.

But even if you’re meeting your blood sugar level and A1C goals, it’s important to be aware of the potential diabetes complications that may affect you should your situation change. That’s because although taking certain steps to manage diabetes well can potentially lead to reversal, for many people, diabetes remains a progressive disease. Knowing how to spot the signs of all diabetes complications, regardless of their commonality, can be crucial for getting the proper treatment.

For one, your age and ethnicity may play a role in your risk for developing these issues, research suggests. According to a study published in September 2016 in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, people diagnosed with diabetes in midlife may be more prone to complications such as vision loss and kidney disease compared with people diagnosed with the disease while they are elderly, as middle-age people have more time to develop these problems than those who are diagnosed later in life.

And a review published in Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research suggested minorities may be at a greater risk for amputations.

Whether it’s signs of neuropathy, heart disease, kidney disease, or other issues, like digestive problems, skin infections, or the like, some people won't make changes until they see signs of complications caused by years of high blood sugar, Reeder-McIntosh points out. To keep that from happening, you should be aware of all the potential diabetes complications. Following are nine you may not already know. 

Yale University researchers looked at more than 1,600 students at middle schools in one urban school district in Connecticut. Their average age was around 12 years.

Boys were more likely to consume energy drinks than girls. The researchers also found that among boys, black and Hispanic students were more likely to drink the beverages than white students.

Children who consumed energy drinks were 66 percent more likely to be at risk for hyperactivity and inattention symptoms, according to the study in the current issue of the journal Academic Pediatrics.

RELATED: Energy Drinks Pack a Deadly Punch

Energy drinks have high levels of sugar and also often contain caffeine, the researchers noted. For the study, the investigators took into account the number and type of other sugar-sweetened drinks consumed by the students.

"As the total number of sugar-sweetened beverages increased, so too did risk for hyperactivity and inattention symptoms among our middle-school students. Importantly, it appears that energy drinks are driving this association," study leader Jeannette Ickovics, a professor in the School of Public Health, said in a Yale news release.

"Our results support the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation that parents should limit consumption of sweetened beverages and that children should not consume any energy drinks," she added.

The students in this study drank an average of two sugary drinks a day. The number of daily sugary drinks ranged from none to as many as seven or more such drinks. Some sugar-sweetened beverages and energy drinks contain up to 40 grams of sugar each. Depending on how old they are, children should only have about 21 to 33 grams of sugar a day, according to the researchers.

Along with causing problems such as hyperactivity and inattention, sugary drinks increase children's risk of obesity, Ickovics noted. About one-third of American children are overweight or obese, according to the latest estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Efforts by HealthDay to reach out to the beverage industry for comment were unsuccessful.

Twelve disease-modifying medications are FDA-approved to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). Specifically, these drugs help prevent relapses and slow progression of the disease.

The newest disease-modifying medications are called “immunomodulators” because they affect the functioning of your immune system. 

“All these therapies highlight the increased choices and options for patients living with MS, and the ability of physicians to select a therapy based on individual characteristics,” says Ari Green, MD, assistant clinical director of the UCSF Multiple Sclerosis Center and director of the UCSF Neurodiagnostics Center in San Francisco.

But all drugs can have adverse side effects, and those associated with MS medications range from mild (such as flu-like symptoms or irritation at an injection site) to serious (such as progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy [PML], a viral disease in the brain).

One of the challenges of MS treatment is balancing risk and benefit, says Dr. Green. Stronger medications might be more effective at slowing progression of the disease, but they may also be associated with more risks.

Discussing Medication Side Effects With Your Doctor

"A doctor has to have a frank and open discussion to find out what is tolerable for patients," says Green. "Some side effects go away as the body gets used to MS medications, but others, such as irritation where the injection takes place, do not."

Because people experience side effects differently, each individual has to decide which side effects he or she can live with, he adds.

In some cases, what are thought to be drug side effects may actually be MS symptoms. Fatigue and headache, for example, may be either.

Keeping a detailed log of your symptoms can help your doctor determine whether you are experiencing a symptom of multiple sclerosis or a medication side effect.

Make a note of when your symptom began, how long it lasted, what might have triggered it, and whether anything you did eased the symptom.

“The more patients are engaged in keeping track of things, the more they can be positively and appropriately engaged in directing their own care,” says Green. This information can also help your provider select appropriate therapies in the future.

Managing MS Medication Side Effects

Some simple steps can often help you manage the most common side effects of MS medications:

Infection risk Some of the immunomodulatory medications increase your risk of common infections, so it’s important to practice prevention strategies such as washing your hands frequently and limiting your contact with people who are ill.

Flu-like symptoms Fever, chills, achiness, and feeling generally under the weather are not uncommon following interferon beta injections, leading some users to stop the medication. Interferon beta medications include Betaseron, Extavia, Avonex, Rebif, and Plegridy.

According to nurses with expertise in MS care, the following steps can help to manage these side effects:

Staying hydrated
Eating healthfully
Taking medications before sleep
Warming injectable medicines up to body temperature before injecting
You can also take a small dose of Advil, Motrin, or Nuprin (ibuprofen) an hour before and an hour after your injection. Tylenol (acetaminophen), Aleve (naproxen), or Benadryl (diphenhydramine) may also help ease these side effects, Green says.

RELATED: 7 Side Effects of MS Steroid Treatment

Injection-site irritation Applying ice to your injection sites before injections, and a warm compress afterward, can help ease any irritation.

Some people may also benefit from some retraining on the finer points of giving themselves injections, notes Green. This is especially true because most people learn how to give self-injections right after their diagnosis — a period when they’re undoubtedly absorbing lots of information about the disease.

If you’re having trouble injecting your MS medication, speak to your healthcare provider about working with an MS nurse for training in self-injections.

Heart health The medication Gilenya (fingolimod) is known to slow some users’ heart rate within the first six hours after the first dose. Because of this, your doctor may advise you to have your first dose in a clinical setting, where your pulse and blood pressure can be monitored.

Distinguishing Side Effects From Symptoms

The immediate side effects of MS medications may be more apparent once you experience them. Immediate side effects, such as flu-like symptoms and chills, are easy to discern, says Green. Even the muscle aches and pains that can occur immediately after taking disease-modifying MS medications differ from the pain associated with multiple sclerosis.

The one rare medication side effect that might be hard to distinguish from an MS symptom is PML, which has been related to use of the drug Tysabri (natalizumab). PML, however, will progress much more quickly than multiple sclerosis — a good reason to stay on top of your medical checkups.

Ongoing Medication Monitoring

Most of the medications prescribed for MS require regular blood tests to keep track of the treatment’s effect on your body, including your liver.

The drug Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) requires blood and urine monitoring before, during, and for four years after treatment is given to watch for serious autoimmune conditions associated with the drug.

In addition to monitoring for side effects, you and your doctor should monitor for positive effects of drugs as well. Green says that a change in therapy is needed if you are having more than one MS relapse a year, if multiple new brain lesions are seen on your MRI, or if your symptoms are progressing despite treatment. Switching medications is a decision you and your doctor should make together.