Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/n287C8md9t0   It’s generally thought that background music stirs creativity.   Not so says a study from several universities in the UK and Sweden just published in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology.   A total of 84 university students and staff were presented with tests of creative ability, so-called Compound Remote Associate Tasks or CRAT for short.   Subjects w...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/9_LxyguWH5U   Deep sleep, the slow wave, non-REM variety, is the best sleep for literally cleansing your brain according to a new study from the University of Rochester.   The scientists studied the effects of deep sleep in a mouse model inducing that state with the unique combination of general anesthetics ketamine and xylazine.   The combination of deep slow wave slee...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/md9yTWb2Jos   You and I have talked many times about the fact that exercise, almost any exercise other than reaching for a donut, will help you live longer.   Now a study from Denmark published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings pinpoints just which forms of exercise will add extra years to your life.   The investigators reviewed data from more than 8500 participants in the...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/Esf1lZ987dg   Microplastics from yoga outfits, sweat-wicking suits, and fleece vests are turning up in Pacific Ocean oysters and clams.   Marine biologists from Portland State University surveyed some 300 oysters and clams from 15 sites along the Oregon coast.   Plastic material was found in nearly all of the sampled marine organisms with an average of 11 microplastics...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/qw5OQrPXXHE   Sleep problems affect as many as 70 million Americans.   The problem is worsening over the past 4 years as 5 million more of us generally considered to be healthy sleepers have a problem falling asleep and nearly 8 million more of us cannot remain asleep.   Investigators at Iowa State University studied sleep pattern data from about 165,000 subjects.   Tho...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/B03-WxqRrVA   Competitive esport players face the same intense psychological pressure as professional athletes in other sports. Psychologists at Britain’s University of Chichester studied a group of elite gamers and uncovered some 51 stress factors that impact them.   The two most onerous are strategic communications with teammates and performances before a live audienc...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/ijN1YN_akxg   Your parents, siblings, and others hanging on your family tree may be more important to your health than your spouse or significant other.   With Thanksgiving just around the corner, think ahead!   UT Southwestern family medicine researchers studied some 2800 middle-aged adults over a 20 year period.   They tabulated the incidence of illness as a function of...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/MgE9ZDdOkJk   Just 20 minutes of open monitoring meditation can improve your ability to quickly catch errors while you can do something about them.   That’s true, even if you never meditated before.   Michigan State University psychologists report this finding after testing some 200 volunteers.   Half were taught an open meditation technique while the controls just rest...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/zqb0k0Jk2HY   You know vegetables are healthy, but you avoid their bitter tastes like the plague.   A freshly minted study from the University of Kentucky explains that your extreme aversion may be due to you having two copies of the bitter taste gene.   The researchers studied the food preferences and genetics of 175 participants.   Those with two copies of the bitter...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/n1nANeZkIcg   From the “use it or lose it department,” a University of Buffalo study credits physical activity with lowering the incidence of nasty hip and extremity fractures.   The investigators focused their interest on more than 77,000 post-menopausal women followed over a 14 year period.   Clocking at least 35 minutes a day of recreational and ordinary household mo...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/XDftX03kAT4   If you’ve been turning your home or apartment into a nursery in hopes of purifying the air you breathe, don’t bother.   Engineers from Philadelphia’s Drexel University critically reviewed the past 30 years’ literature on this topic.   It turns out that the very toxins that plants would be clearing from the air, so-called volatile organic compounds or VOCs,...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/yz3F48H3Qpo   Immersion in 360 virtual reality scenes of the frozen Arctic helps those exposed to painful stimuli cope with both the acute and continuing pain.   Surgical investigators from London’s Imperial College report these findings from a preliminary study of 15 participants.   Acute pain was produced by a small electric shock.   Continuing pain at the same site w...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/vQXDHE0Xdj0   The most pleasurable, emotion-evoking music contains unpredictable yet somehow expected chords and riffs that trigger primitive pleasure centers in our brains.   This from a German study of over 1000 chords taken from 745 pop songs and presented to nearly 80 subjects.     Each chord was computer rated for its uncertainty attributes and by the participants...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/LGnGfHSQUdg   Children without siblings are nearly 5 times more likely to demonstrate unhealthy eating patterns compared with those having brothers and sisters.   University of Oklahoma nutritionists reviewed food consumption diaries from 67 families to determine a Healthy Eating Index for each.   Healthy eating habits are not diminished by time away from home in daycar...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/X6LuNJS8iP0   A just published study from Pittsburgh’s Carnegie-Mellon University disproves the urban myth that boys surpass girls in mastery of mathematics or math-based science.   The psychologists studied 104 children 3 to 8 years of age .   Using MRI, the researchers determined the subjects’ math brain function while observing a video about counting and addition.  ...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/ea4aQpMgii8   We think of those with the anorexia eating disorder as skinny, undernourished teens and 20 somethings.   The latest research from UC-San Francisco shows that anorexics may have normal body weights, be overweight or obese.   They can also suffer profound metabolic disturbances that may be fatal.   Such patients suffer from so-called Atypical Anorexia.   The...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/og0ojToxMBs   Children with good self-discipline as preteens and adolescents are significantly more likely to be successful young adults either as students or in a satisfying job.   Psychologists at UC-Davis draw this conclusion from their longitudinal study of 674 youths.   The teens were assessed every 2 years from ages 10 through 16 with a final analysis at 19.   Tho...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/un_WL6Tg3xI   Just four hours of weekly exercise, any exercise, will reduce your chances of a depression episode by 17% even if you are genetically predisposed.   Harvard researchers now publish this result after studying 8,000 participants in a Boston database for whom they calculated a depression risk score based on family history and mood assessment by questionnaire....

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/h0W41ZdUB7c   Nutrition research at the University of Minnesota and Oxford University shows that a predominance of healthy foods in your diet has a very positive effect on your carbon footprint as well as on your weight, blood pressure, and lipid profile.   The researchers conclude that fruits, vegetable, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and olive oil drive both health and...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/jwQbczEC6CU   A Danish study just published in the British Medical Journal shows that cardiac patients who describe themselves as lonely are 3 times more likely to die from any cause.   Lonely men were 40% more likely to experience a repeat cardiac illness within one year after an initial event.   The researchers studied more than 13,400 subjects with coronary disease,...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/GRUEGIZLBAQ   A preliminary Johns Hopkins study shows that a person using a legal hemp product for its CBD content can test positive for the tiny amounts of the illegal THC and flunk a drug test.   Two of 6 study participants who only puffed cannabis from hemp ONCE did fail.   This cannabis that triggered positive tests contained 10.5% CBD and 0.39% THC.   Participants...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/0vBz4BMqjhc   If you’re older than 50 and younger than 75, you need colon cancer screening using an immunochemical stool test for blood traces every 2 years OR a colonoscopy every 10 years.   The American College of Physicians now makes straight-forward recommendations that smooth out confusing guidelines from other groups including the American Cancer Society.   This s...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/QI7ziMDZsi0   Any amount of running reduces your chances of death due to cardiovascular disease, cancer, and a variety of other causes.   Australian investigators draw these conclusions from their meta-analysis of 14 studies and over 232,000 participants.   Compared with those who did no running at all, those who did enjoyed a 30% reduced risk of cardiovascular death, a...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/SN1ALsZ2Uzs   Competitive electronic gamers risk eye, neck and back, wrist, and hand overuse disorders.   E-Sports medicine investigators at the New York Institute of Technology review current knowledge about the risks.   Esport athletes practice upwards of 10 hours a day.   Their eyes and hands make more than 10 moves a second.     Some 56% of gamers develop blurry vis...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/E0aK-eRGVF4   A large British study now proves the “old wives tale” that certain weather, specifically damp, windy days with low barometric pressure, can trigger more joint pain.   The increased risk is only 20%, but if it’s your body.........   The University of Manchester epidemiologists studied nearly 2700 subjects who reported their pain levels via smartphone app.  ...