Study: Gobbling food may harm your waistline, heart
For a state which has set an ambitious target to bring down suicide rate from 24.9 to 16/lakh population by 2030, the ground reality sets alarm bells. The suicide risk in Kerala is more than double the national average and even high suicide risk is the highest among all states. Though the state witnessed a noticeable dip in suicide rate over the past one and a half decades from 28.8 in 2001 to 24.9 in 2016, the mental health of Kerala society continues to face a host of challenges that need to be addressed on priority.
According to experts, depression is the most untreated and undertreated mental health malady. If untreated, nearly 15 per cent people might develop suicidal tendencies at a later stage.
Dr R. Jayaprakash, additional professor paediatrics and child psychiatry SAT hospital, said there was an urgent need to address the high prevalence of mental illness. “Depression especially in adolescent age and among middle aged persons is easily identifiable. The focus needs to be on middle-aged women, men, adolescents and children,” he said.
In adult depression, the affected person might send out suicidal notes to close friends or relatives. “I don’t want to live. I am trying to find my own way,” are some of the common statements made by people who are depressed. "Such statements should be taken as cry for help. But in the midst of hectic, fast-paced life people tend to take such notes lightly," he said.
A 30-minute chat with people sending out such distress calls can actually bring down their suicidal tendency. “This is called ventilation. I think awareness needs to be created about ventilation process among different groups, offices, kudumbasree and sensitisation is required,” said Dr Jayaprakash. Psychiatrists say there is also a tendency among people with depression to show reluctance for psychiatric help, counselling and medication. In many cases people on medication tend to stop medicines midway and even refuse to see the doctor again once they feel better.
The reluctance could be because of various factors: hopelessness, sense of isolation, lack of cordial atmosphere in family, conflict among couples and even an element of psychosis. There are other psychological and social factors as well.
In such cases medicines are not enough, psycho-education, family counselling, strengthening of family relations, opting for short interval reviews (if it was once a month make it once every fortnight) are some of the positive interventions required. Partners and family members will have to make extra effort to show compassion and empathy towards the affected person.
“In many cases the underlying depression goes unrecognised. Depression can happen without any particular reason. Even in cases which are reported to be due to financial problems, trigger for suicide could be financial issues. But in depression family and societal support is very important”, said Dr Anish N.R.K, psychiatrist mental health centre Peroorkada .
Among men, alcoholism is seen as a major cause of depression which often leads to suicides. Alcoholism–depression-suicide should be read together as alcohol dependence syndrome leads to impulsive behaviour.
Experts say adolescent depression is a peculiar problem. “I came across a case recently where an 18-year-old girl just refused to step out of the house fearing that something bad might happen to her mother if left alone. This was a case of depression and anxiety coming together. The poor mother couldn’t go for work. The girl was given antidepressant and after regular medication, she became alright. Now mother goes to work. This issue was brought to my notice by her teacher. Had it not been the case, she could even have taken extreme step,” said Dr Jayaprakash.
It is in this context that sensitisation and training programmes are needed for teachers so that they can monitor behavioural issues of children closely. The government initiative, Ashwash Clinics, for detecting minor and major mental ailments at the level of Primary Health Centres need to be expanded across the state. As of now only 170 family health centres are using diagnostic criteria known as PH Q 9 questionnaire. WHO-approved questionnaire objectifies and assesses the degree of depression severity.
Experts believe the expansion of Ashwash is required to ensure first line of treatment of mental ailments reach across the state. On the policy front, they say the government should announce a comprehensive State Depression Control Programme to combat the challenges posed by mental health problems. Tokyo: People who eat slowly are less likely to become obese or develop metabolic syndrome, a cluster of heart disease, diabetes and stroke risk factors, according to a study.
Metabolic syndrome occurs when someone has any of three risk factors that include abdominal obesity, high fasting blood sugar, high blood pressure, high triglycerides and/or low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Researchers at Hiroshima University in Japan evaluated 642 men and 441 women, average age 51.2 years, who did not have metabolic syndrome in 2008. They divided the participants into three groups depending on how they described their usual eating speed: slow, normal or fast.
After five years, the researchers found that fast eaters were more likely (11.6 per cent) to have developed metabolic syndrome than normal eaters (6.5 per cent) or slow eaters (2.3 per cent). Faster eating speed was associated with more weight gain, higher
blood glucose and larger waistline, they found.
“Eating more slowly may be a crucial lifestyle change to help prevent metabolic syndrome,” said Takayuki Yamaji, cardiologist at Hiroshima University.
“When people eat fast they tend not to feel full and are more likely to overeat. Eating fast causes bigger glucose fluctuation, which can lead to insulin resistance,” said Yamaji, author of the preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2017.