Day: April 25, 2025

Categories : Mental Health PaediatricsTags : Leave a comment

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 : Diet and NutritionTags : Leave a comment

Cinnamon Could Affect Drug Metabolism in the Body

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Rens D on Unsplash

Cinnamon is one of the oldest and most commonly used spices in the world – but a new study from the University of Mississippi indicates a compound in it could interfere with some prescription medications.

In a recent study published in Food Chemistry: Molecular Sciences, the researchers found that cinnamaldehyde, a primary component of cinnamon, activates receptors that control the metabolic clearance of medication from the body, meaning consuming large amounts of cinnamon could reduce the effects of drugs.

“Health concerns could arise if excessive amounts of supplements are consumed without the knowledge of health care provider or prescriber of the medications,” said Shabana Khan, a principal scientist in the natural products centre. “Overconsumption of supplements could lead to a rapid clearance of the prescription medicine from the body, and that could result in making the medicine less effective.”

Aside from its culinary uses, cinnamon has a long history of being used in traditional medicine and can help manage blood sugar and heart health and reduce inflammation. But how the product actually functions in the body remains unclear.

Sprinkling cinnamon on your morning coffee is unlikely to cause an issue, but using highly concentrated cinnamon as a dietary supplement might.

“Despite its vast uses, very few reports were available to describe the fate of its major component – cinnamaldehyde,” Khan said. “Understanding its bioaccessibility, metabolism and interaction with xenobiotic receptors was important to evaluate how excess intake of cinnamon would affect the prescription drugs if taken at the same time.”

Not all cinnamon is equal. Cinnamon oil – which is commonly used topically as an antifungal or antibacterial and as a flavouring agent in food and drinks – presents almost no risk of herb-drug interactions, said Amar Chittiboyina, the center’s associate director.

But cinnamon bark – especially Cassia cinnamon, a cheaper variety of cinnamon that originates in southern China – contains high levels of coumarin, a blood thinner, compared to other cinnamon varieties. Ground Cassia cinnamon bark is what is normally found in grocery stores.

“In contrast, true cinnamon from Sri Lanka carries a lower risk due to its reduced coumarin content,” he said. “Coumarin’s anticoagulant properties can be hazardous for individuals on blood thinners.”

More research is needed to fully understand the role that cinnamon plays in the body and what potential herb-drug interactions may occur, said Bill Gurley, a principal scientist in the Ole Miss center and co-author of the study.

“We know there’s a potential for cinnamaldehyde to activate these receptors that can pose a risk for drug interactions,” he said. “That’s what could happen, but we won’t know exactly what will happen until we do a clinical study.”

Until those studies are complete, the researchers recommend anyone interested in using cinnamon as a dietary supplement to check with their doctor first.

“People who suffer from chronic diseases – like hypertension, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, asthma, obesity, HIV, AIDS or depression – should be cautious when using cinnamon or any other supplements,” Khan said. “Our best advice is to talk to a health care provider before using any supplements along with the prescription medicine.

“By definition, supplements are not meant to treat, cure or mitigate any disease.”

Source: University of Mississippi

Categories : General Interest Injury & TraumaTags : Leave a comment

Roman-era Skeleton from Britain is Rare Evidence of Human–animal Gladiator Combat

On By ModernMedia

The bones show evidence of bite marks from a large cat such as a lion, used in some gladiator shows

Although most Roman-era gladiators are believed to have mostly fought animal as well as human opponents, to date there has been little archaelogical evidence of this. Photo by David Cruz asenjo

A skeleton from Roman-era England has bite marks consistent with those of a large cat like a lion, suggesting that this individual may have died as part of a gladiator show or execution, according to a study published April 23, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Tim Thompson from Maynooth University, Ireland, and colleagues.

Records of gladiator combat in the Roman Empire have been well-documented, with evidence of both human-human conflicts and fights between humans and animals such as lions and bears. But actual gladiator remains are relatively scarce in the archaeological record – and in Britain specifically, which was occupied by the Romans from the first through fifth centuries, there has so far been no confirmed evidence of human-animal combat.

Puncture injuries by large felid scavenging on both sides of bone. Credit: Thompson et al., 2025, PLOS One, CC-BY 4.0

The skeleton described in the new paper was likely buried sometime between 200-300 CE, near the Roman city of Eboracum, which is now York. This site contains the remains of mostly younger men, often with evidence of trauma, which has led to speculation that it could be a gladiator burial site. This specific skeleton has a series of depressions on the pelvis, which had previously been suggested as possible evidence of carnivore bites. By creating a three-dimensional scan of these marks, the researchers on this new study could compare these marks to bites from a variety of different animals.

They determined that these marks were likely bite marks from a large cat, possibly a lion. Since they were on the pelvis, they note it’s possible that these bites came as a result of the lion scavenging on the body around the time of death.

This skeleton is the first direct, physical evidence of human-animal combat from Europe during the Roman Empire. By demonstrating the possibility of gladiatorial combat or similar spectacles in modern York, this finding also gives archaeologists and historians new insight into the life and history of Roman-era England.

Lead author Prof Tim Thompson, of Maynooth University, adds: “The implications of our multidisciplinary study are huge. Here we have physical evidence for the spectacle of the Roman Empire and the dangerous gladiatorial combat on show. This provides new evidence to support our understanding of the past.”

Co-author Dr John Pearce, of King’s College London, adds: “As tangible witnesses to spectacles in Britain’s Roman amphitheatres, the bitemarks help us appreciate these spaces as settings for brutal demonstrations of power. They make an important contribution to desanitising our Roman past.”   

David Jennings, CEO of York Archaeology, adds: “One of the wonderful things about archaeology is that we continue to make discoveries even years after a dig has concluded, as research methods and technology enable us to explore the past in more detail; it is now 20 years since we unearthed 80 burials at Driffield Terrace. This latest research gives us a remarkable insight into the life – and death – of this particular individual, and adds to both previous and ongoing genome research into the origins of some of the men buried in this particular Roman cemetery. We may never know what brought this man to the arena where we believe he may have been fighting for the entertainment of others, but it is remarkable that the first osteo-archaeological evidence for this kind of gladiatorial combat has been found so far from the Colosseum of Rome, which would have been the classical world’s Wembley Stadium of combat.”

Provided by PLOS