Lowering your body’s inflammation level can help fight depression.
When Tom Robbins penned the hippie novel “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues,” little did he know that protagonist Sissy Hankshaw’s oversize thumbs could have been the source of inflammation that caused her unhappiness. “When I was younger,” she says, “I hitchhiked 127 hours without stopping — across the continent twice in six days, and cooled my thumbs in both oceans.”
That salty dip may have made her digits feel better, but it’s not enough to quell the inflammation that causes some symptoms of depression. Seems fatigue, reduced appetite, withdrawal from interaction with others and a general lack of motivation may result from inflammation in your body.
Here’s how you can lower your level of inflammation and ease some depressive symptoms with smart lifestyle changes.
1. Increase your intake of omega-3 fatty acids, found in salmon (Coho salmon has 523 mg per ounce) and ocean trout. Eat four servings of those fish weekly or take 900 mg of algalbased DHA omega-3 oil daily.
2. ID sources of your body’s cranked-up inflammation. Have bleeding gums? Floss daily; get regular dental care. Overweight? Excess belly fat is highly inflammatory. Shed it by cutting red meat, processed and sugar- and syrup-added foods from your diet.
3. Manage your stress response. Excess stress hormones are inflammatory, so take 10,000 steps daily (exercise is a stressreliever) and practice daily meditation.
If you suffer from even occasional depression, these antiinflammatory lifestyle changes may ease some symptoms while protecting your heart, brain and sex life from problems, too. How overweight dads make overweight kids
In 2014-15, “Hangover” star Zach Galifianakis shed 50-60 pounds to star in “Birdman,” and social media lit up with negative buzz: “The jolly fat man lost his jolly,” was one retweeted sentiment. But he’s on the right track — for his own health and happiness and that of any kids he may have.
Turns out it isn’t just overweight moms who put their children at risk for health problems. Fat dads’ sperm carry messages that signal their offspring to pack on pounds, too. Seems Dad’s extra fat triggers epigenetic switches in his RNA and DNA that control brain development, function and appetite. Those epigenetic changes are passed down through sperm to your offspring.
But dads and future dads, there’s good news. You don’t have to pass along the health debits that come from being overweight (sexual dysfunction, heart disease, dementia, diabetes). According to a recent study in Cell Metabolism, losing weight through bariatric surgery flips those gene switches back to healthy-weight messages. (Losing weight through upgraded lifestyle habits works too, and everyone should adopt them.)
So if you’re thinking about becoming a dad, cut out processed foods, foods with added sugars and syrups, all trans and most saturated fats and any grain that isn’t 100 percent whole; get more exercise; sleep seven-eight hours nightly; and de-stress with daily mindful meditation.
Q: New info on prostate cancer screening and “active surveillance” is confusing. Do I get a PSA test every year or not? And what do I do if I have an elevated PSA score?
Lamar P., Baltimore
A: This complex topic has no easy answers. In late 2016, a radically new, highly specific prostate cancer test should become available. For now, let’s examine the effect of the 2012 recommendation against PSA testing, and look at the results of a new study on the risks and benefits of active surveillance if you’re diagnosed with low- and very-low-risk prostate cancer.
First, since the no-PSA-test recommendation came out, PSA tests have dropped by about 20 percent, and the number of early prostate cancer diagnoses has declined 23 percent. That means some men who would have been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer aren’t getting that life-saving diagnosis, and it’s estimated by some researchers that the one-year drop in testing will lead to more than 1,200 additional deaths from prostate cancer down the road.
However, because of fewer PSA tests, fewer men went under the knife. That spared some who didn’t have prostate cancer and some who had slow-moving, low-risk prostate cancer that didn’t call for immediate treatment.
Our advice to you: Talk with your doctor about your risk factors for prostate cancer; then go ahead and have the PSA test. But if you get a significantly elevated reading, repeat the test at least once before you start thinking about next steps. Then, if you’re diagnosed with low-risk or very-low-risk prostate cancer, consider active surveillance.
The latest study out of Johns Hopkins University finds that, for low-risk prostate cancer, regular monitoring via the current PSA test, digital rectal examination and repeat prostate biopsy, is safe and effective. Tracking almost 1,300 men (mean age of 61) who did active surveillance for 10 years, the survival rate was 99.9 percent; metastasis survival rate, 99.4 percent.