Cardiac arrest may lead to mental illness

A quarter of cardiac arrest survivors suffer long-term psychological problems such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, a new review of research estimates.

The researchers reviewed 11 studies published between 1993 and 2011 that looked at mental health issues after cardiac arrests experienced outside of hospital. They found problems plaguing anywhere from 15 per cent to 50 per cent or more of patients.

Months to years after surviving cardiac arrest, about one-third of patients were depressed and nearly two-thirds were experiencing anxiety. Even post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms were common, afflicting 19 per cent to 27 per cent of survivors, the literature showed.

PEOPLE LIVING LONGER, BUT QUALITY OF LIFE WORSE

The world has made huge progress fighting killer infectious diseases, but as a result we now lead longer and sicker lives.

This “devastating irony,” as researchers describe it, is the main conclusion of a five-year study that forms the most comprehensive assessment of global health in the history of medicine, according to the journal publishing the research.

The research found that of 52.8 million deaths globally in 2010, chronic diseases took the highest toll. About 12.9 million deaths were from stroke and heart disease and 8 million from cancer.

While malnutrition has dropped down the rankings as a cause of death and illness, the effects of excessive eating are taking its place.

Smoking and alcohol use have also overtaken child hunger to become the second and third leading health risks, behind high blood pressure.

SOY SUPPLEMENTS DON’T HELP MENOPAUSAL OVERALL

Menopausal women who took soy supplements during a twoyear trial reported no differences in quality of life compared to their counterparts taking placebo pills, U.S. researchers reported.

In the new report, published in the journal Menopause, researchers looked at overall quality of life measures among healthy women, mostly in their 50s and six years or more into menopause. They found that two years after taking either a placebo, one 80 mg soy protein tablet a day or one 120 mg soy protein tablet a day, all three groups scored similarly.

It’s possible soy could still offer women some benefits through menopause, said the study’s lead author Dr. Paula Amato, from Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.