Health Briefing

A round-up of this week's other stories in brief

A round-up of this week's other stories in brief

Weight gain not linked to stress for most people

DESPITE THE common belief that stress causes people to pack on weight by reaching for junk food or avoiding exercise, it appears that it has only a small long-term impact at most, a study has found.

A review of 36 previously published studies on stress and weight gain, led by Jane Wardle, at University College London, found the majority showed no association between stress levels and their weight gain over several years.

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When the study, which appears in the journal Obesity, combined the results of the research, there was only a modest association overall between stress and weight gain.

“We assumed that there would be a substantial association between stress and obesity, since the popular view is that stress contributes to weight gain,” said Andrew Steptoe, who also took part in the study. “But when we looked carefully at well-controlled scientific studies, effects were surprisingly small.”

The research analysed 32 international studies conducted mainly in the 1990s and 2000s. All assessed participants stress levels, then followed the subjects over time to see whether there was a relationship between stress and subsequent weight gain.

Some focused on work stress, while others covered general life stress – anything from major traumas such as a serious illness or a divorce, to feeling overwhelmed by daily issues.

Overall, 69 per cent of the studies found no clear association between stress levels and weight gain, while 25 per cent linked higher stress levels to greater weight gain. The remaining 6 per cent found that greater stress was related to less weight gain over time.

Being under pressure may help women get pregnant

WOMEN WHO are stressed out when undergoing IVF may have a higher chance of falling pregnant, new US research suggests.

Those reporting higher stress levels had up to double the chance of a positive pregnancy test when compared with those who were more relaxed, according to a study of 217 women.

They were asked on their first appointment how much fertility-related stress they were experiencing on a scale from one to 10. Those who scored one to three had a pregnancy rate of 30 per cent while those who scored seven to 10 had a rate of 50-60 per cent.

Dr Robert Hunter, from Staten Island University Hospital in New York, which carried out the study, expressed some surprise at the finding as other studies have discovered that stress can negatively affect IVF.

“We were a little surprised by the outcome of the study – we were expecting the opposite result,” Dr Hunter said. “It highlights the complexity of stress.

“There’s a very complex relationship between stress pathways and the reproductive pathways.

“This is something that we’re still struggling to understand and more work needs to be done.”

Dr Hunter said there was good evidence, however, that stress could actually improve how the body functions, such as the “fight or flight” response.

Levels of key hormones rise when a person is under stress, including the adrenal hormones adrenaline and cortisol.

The team is now planning further studies, including looking at these markers of stress in the body.

Pharmacy private area rules in effect 

ALL PHARMACIES in the State must now have private consultation areas available for discussing medication requirements with patients, under new regulations which came into effect yesterday.

Dr Ambrose McLoughlin, chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, said these facilities would make it much easier for patients to get the information and advice they need. It would also enhance the safe use of medicines. The requirement to have such facilities already exists in many countries.