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Geneva (dpa) – Sugary drinks and alcoholic beverages are too cheap because they are not taxed enough, leading to higher rates of obesity, diabetes and other diseases, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. Children and young adults are especially affected, the WHO says in a statement after releasing two global reports. There should be taxes on such drinks or higher taxes if they are already in place, says the WHO. This would make them more expensive and therefore less likely to be consumed, while also generating more money for health care. Worldwide, 116 countries now tax soft drinks and other sugary beverages, according to WHO figures, many other high-sugar drinks remain untaxed, such as 100% fruit juices, sweetened milk drinks and ready-made coffees or teas. "Health taxes are one of the strongest tools we have for promoting health and preventing disease," says WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The WHO also noted out that at least 25 countries, mainly in Europe, including Germany, do not have excise taxes on wine. Unlike wine, spirits such as fruit brandy, cognac, vodka, whisky or Korn are subject to alcohol tax, and beer is subject to a beer tax. Alcohol consumption can lead to violence, injuries and illness, says WHO director Etienne Krug. “While industry profits, the public often carries the health consequences and society the economic costs,” Krug says. The following information is not intended for publication dpa oe xxde mew mlm arw

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Berlin (dpa) –  British scientists have made a potentially important discovery related to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease that could pave the way for the development of drugs to treat the conditions. In a paper published by npj dementia, a Nature journal, University College London (UCL) researchers point to a gene called APOE as “probably” linked to half of all dementia cases and “potentially” 90% of those of Alzheimer’s. According to UCL, the findings suggest that the gene and a related protein could be an “under-recognised target for drug development, which could have the scope to prevent or treat a large proportion of all dementia.” While APOE has long been linked to the diseases, according to the UCL team, their findings suggest that the connection has been “underestimated.”  The key to preventing dementia onset, according to UCL’s Dylan Williams, could be to figure out a way to stop the gene’s effects in their tracks and in turn to figure out how the gene interacts with other potential contributors to onset, such as isolation or even cholesterol levels. “We may be able to prevent most disease from occurring,” Williams says, following the team’s research into datasets covering over 450,000 people. ““Nonetheless, we should not overlook the fact that without the contributions of APOE, most Alzheimer’s disease cases would not occur, irrespective of what other factors are inherited or experienced by carriers of these variants throughout life,” Williams adds. Published on January 9, the UCL findings came shortly after a University of Exeter and Banner Health team said they had found that Alzheimer's indications can be picked up in a routine finger-prick blood sample. In early January, the University of Rochester announced findings shedding more light on why women appear more vulnerable to dementia onset than men, with brain immune cells fingered as the likely cause. The following information is not intended for publication dpa spr arw

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Berlin (dpa) –  People who gnaw like beavers on fingernails, idle when given work to do or “ghost” friends and dates can come across as skittish, lazy to the point of being sackable, or obnoxiously narcissistic. But such self-vandalism could well be rooted in survival instincts. So says psychologist Charlie Heriot-Maitland, who in his newly-published "Controlled Explosions in Mental Health" seeks to explain why people seemingly cannot help but engage in reputation-damaging “small harms" and "self-sabotaging." “Someone may procrastinate starting a project, causing themselves harm, but trying to prevent a higher-stakes harm of failure or rejection,” publisher Taylor & Francis says in a press release promoting the book. According to Heriot-Maitland, a possible explanation lies in how human instinct leans more towards self-preservation than it does to rolling the dice on success or failure – particularly when the outcome depends on the whims and moods of others as much as it does on the merits of one’s own efforts. “Our brain would rather we were the arbiter of our own downfall than risk being floored by something external. It would rather we were well-rehearsed in receiving internally-created hostility than risk being unprepared for it from others,” Heriot-Maitland says. “Our brain is a survival machine. It is programmed not to optimize our happiness and well-being, but to keep us alive,” the psychologist says. Deep down, people do not like surprises and want to sidestep being caught on the hop. The following information is not intended for publication dpa spr arw

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From limited attention spans to moodiness, there are a number of cognitive effects from excessive screen time, research shows. London (PA Media/dpa) – New government research indicates that increased screen time may be linked to poorer vocabulary development in toddlers. Findings came from The Children of the 2020s (COT20s) study where primary caregivers were asked to complete an online survey when their child was around two years old (between 24 and 28 months), between October 2023 and February 2024. In total, 4,758 surveys were completed. Results from the surveys found that children in the highest screen time group – averaging around five hours a day – were able to say, on average, 53% of the 34 test words, compared with 65% among children in the lowest screen time group, who averaged just 44 minutes per day. Here are five ways that screen time could affect your child’s brain… Are children more vulnerable to the effects of screen time than adults? “Children’s brains are like sponges that are soaking up experiences at an incredible rate,” says Dr Samir Shah, consultant psychiatrist and medical director at Priory Hospital Altrincham. “Key developmental periods particularly before the age of five and during the pre-teen years are when the brain undergoes the most rapid growth. “Too much screen time during these stages could have longer-lasting effects compared to adults.” Torkel Klingberg, professor of cognitive neuroscience at the Karolinska Institutet and founding scientist at memory training app Nuroe, agrees and adds: “The development of cognitive abilities during childhood and adolescence is absolutely crucial. It’s a time of neuroplasticity, and it’s crucial for education and adult performance.” 1. Impacts attention span and focus “We [at the Karolinska Institutet] recently published results from a large study following more than 8,000 children between the ages of 10 and 14 and mapped the amount of time they either spent on social media or gaming or TV, and we found that it was specifically social media time that was associated with increased symptoms of inattention,” says Klingberg. “For example, they reported problems focusing for a longer period of time, getting easily distracted and had problems completing homework.” 2. Negative impact on mood and mental health “Research has shown us that teenagers and children who spend more than four hours per day on screens are more likely to experience higher levels of anxiety and depression,” highlights Shah. “The constant and persistent stimulation of digital screens can leave young minds feeling overstimulated with higher dopamine levels but emotionally unfulfilled. “Children who spend a lot of time on screens can also sometimes find it harder to manage frustration and irritation.” It could also impact their ability to pick up on social cues. “Less face-to-face and direct interaction means fewer opportunities and chances to practise important social and executive skills like empathy and resolving conflicts,” explains Shah. 3. Sleep deprivation “Another big aspect of this is that screen time and social media is crowding out time for other things such as sport, in-person interactions and importantly sleep,” highlights Klingberg. “There’s so much research showing the importance of sleep for both psychological wellbeing and cognitive performance, and this is especially important in young growing brains. “Lack of sleep can affect long-term memory, attention memory and working memory.” 4. Impacts problem-solving skills and memory “Constant distractions online means that children are often deprived of the ability to focus for a longer time and are missing out on the cognitive challenges that drive and benefit cognitive development, which includes both attention and working memory,” says Klingberg. “We know that working memory is something that can be developed by training, so I think part of it is trying to reduce children’s use of social media and to instead spend time on more focus-demanding activities, such as reading or homework, for example.” 5. Disrupts reward systems “Regular screens trigger the release of dopamine which is the brain’s ‘feel-good’ chemical. This then creates a cycle of craving more screen time to get that same buzz or effect,” explains Shah. “It’s a bit like checking the door repeatedly and hoping for an exciting visitor. Over time, real world and realistic activities can start to feel less rewarding by comparison. This is why children and teenagers who use screens regularly struggle to maintain or build meaningful social connections.” The following information is not intended for publication pa dpa coh

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Beijing (dpa) – Schoolchildren subjected to the strain of competition are at risk of blunting their inventiveness and imagination compared to peers who are allowed to develop without the pressure of overbearing parents pushing for top-of-the-class results. Psychologists at Hong Kong’s Lingnan University and Baptist University have found that stress arising from factors such as "competition, noise, confined environments, and engaging in challenging tasks" could be behind reduced "creative performance." In a paper published in the journal Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, the researchers found that strains related to exams and pushy parents bent on beating the neighbours "trigger anxiety" and leave children less inclined to "express creativity." Everyone feels the effects of such stress, the team said, explaining that it can "increase cognitive load, which reduces the cognitive resources available for creative thinking." However, the effect is "moderated by the type of stressor and the individual’s age," the team said, noting that adolescents, whose brain regions controlling "higher order thinking" are more developed than those of children, tend to perform better under pressure. Teenagers are primed by least “moderate” competitive pressure and in turn show some improvements in their “innovative ability,” the team asserted. "From a psychological perspective, creativity is one of the core abilities that people rely on to solve problems in daily learning, life, and work," said Lingnan psychology professor Huang Yi, asserting that creativity not only "helps to connect new things with existing knowledge" but also helps when there is a need to come up with "alternative solutions" to life’s difficulties. The following information is not intended for publication dpa spr coh

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Beijing (PA Media/dpa) – People who are trying to stop smoking could benefit from using a mobile phone app to assist their quit attempt, a study has found. Researchers found that apps designed to help smoking cessation are particularly effective when used alongside stop smoking medication. But even when used as a single tool they can be effective as a quit aid, the study suggests. Academics from China examined data from all studies ascertaining the effectiveness of stop smoking apps. The new review pooled the information from 31 studies involving 12,800 people. They found that smartphone apps used alone may improve the odds of a person kicking the habit for six months compared with no or minimal support. When combined with “traditional interventions”, smartphone apps increased the odds of people steering clear from cigarettes for six months. And when combined with medicines to stop smoking, the apps appeared to enhance a person’s ability to quit for six months compared with medicines alone, though the research team said that this finding was based on “low-certainty evidence”. Apps based on psychological-behavioural theories increased abstinence compared with “traditional behavioural apps”, they added. “Smartphone apps may be effective for smoking cessation compared with no or minimal support,” the authors wrote in the journal BMJ Evidence Based Medicine. “When combined with traditional interventions – especially pharmacotherapy – they may result in large increases in abstinence rates over traditional methods alone.” They added: “Smartphone apps provide a scalable, low-cost option for clinical resource-limited settings. “This systematic review provides actionable evidence for clinicians seeking to tailor digital tools and policymakers aiming to scale cessation services. “Should future evidence confirm lasting benefits and pinpoint key features, rigorously validated apps could become a cornerstone of global tobacco control efforts.” The following information is not intended for publication pa dpa coh

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London (dpa) – The estimated 280 million people worldwide who suffer from depression could have a treatment option that is not only cheaper than therapy and antidepressents, but that also makes them fitter and stronger. That’s according to researchers from the UK's University of Lancashire, who have concluded that exercise has "a similar effect on depressive symptoms" to therapy, following an examination of 73 randomized control trials involving around 5,000 patients. Moderate-intensity exercise appears to be the best option for patients who want to use working out as a substitute for therapists or meds. But the rigor needed depends in turn on the patient's level of fitness. "Our findings suggest that exercise appears to be a safe and accessible option for helping to manage symptoms of depression," said Andrew Clegg of the University of Lancashire. "This suggests that exercise works well for some people, but not for everyone, and finding approaches that individuals are willing and able to maintain is important," Clegg explained. The mental health benefits of exercise have already been extensively demonstrated by research, leading to calls for walking, jogging, yoga and strength training to be considered alongside psychotherapy and antidepressants as treatments for depression. The trials were less conclusive when it came to comparing exercise with medication, the team found getting fitter to have a "similar effect" to antidepressants. Not all of those who are diagnosed as depressive opt for medication or therapy, but it appears such cases could do worse than hit the gym or go for a run. Exercise has at least a "moderate impact" on symptoms "compared with no treatment or a control intervention," the researchers found, in thepaper published by the Cochrane Review in January. Whether fitness works long-term remains difficult to assess, however, as there is little by way of data to assess. The following information is not intended for publication dpa spr coh

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Los Angeles (dpa) – Tests on mice have shown that paternal exposure to microplastics can lead to health problems for their offspring, including an increased risk of diabetes among females. The findings have "implications for humans," according to the University of California, Riverside, where scientists carried out the tests. The research is only the latest to illustrate the harms of ingesting tiny particles shed by plastic, which have already been found in various human organs and unborn children. "Men planning to have children should consider reducing their exposure to harmful substances like microplastics to protect both their health and that of their future children," the researchers warned. Published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society in late December, the results showed microplastics alter sperm "cargo," in turn "contributing to metabolic dysfunction" in newborn mice, with females more likely to feel the effects. "We found that paternal [microplastics] exposure had sex-specific effects on diet-induced obesity including altered body compositions," the researchers said, adding that female descendants of males exposed to the plastics showed "exacerbated insulin resistance." US doctors last year found that microplastics are more likely to show up in the placentae of premature babies than those born full-term. The following information is not intended for publication dpa spr coh

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London (PA Media/dpa) – In a sign that weight-loss jabs could be influencing both eating habits and food marketing, an online grocer in the UK has launched a “small steak” aimed at customers on weight-loss jabs seeking smaller portions while maintaining a healthy nutrient-rich diet. The new “weight management” aisle from internet grocer Ocado includes products from a new “nutrient dense” from supermarket chain Marks & Spencer’s range – also designed for those on GLP-1 weight loss medications – as well as meals containing less than 600 calories while remaining high in protein. Other than the Turf and Clover small extra lean steak 100g, products in the aisle include the M&S high protein cottage cheese, only 3 ingredients two beef burgers and nutrient dense Romesco chicken, as well as the Huel ready to drink black edition chocolate 500ml and press chicken teriyaki and turkey lentil bolognese meals. Ocado follows retailers including Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and Greggs in recently advertising new ranges catering for those taking GLP-1 drugs. Estimates suggest as many as 2.5 million adults in the UK were using weight-loss injections by July last year while Ocado’s own study found more than one in five (22%) had considered using them – rising to more than a third (37%) of 25 to 34-year-olds. Despite the growing uptake, the survey for Ocado found just 40% of consumers understood how GLP-1 drugs, commonly known by brand names such as Mounjaro or Wegovy, help users to lose weight. Some 73% of respondents said it would be helpful to know which foods and meals could support lean muscle preservation during weight loss. Charlie Parker, senior nutritionist at Ocado Retail, said: “As weight loss medications become more widely used, it’s crucial that diet and nutrition remain part of the conversation. “Preserving lean muscle mass plays an important role in long-term health, metabolism and overall wellbeing. “We’re seeing customers actively seek out high-protein, high-fibre foods and balanced meal options to support healthier weight loss journeys and with reduced appetites.” The following information is not intended for publication pa dpa coh

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If you ran out of time for breakfast or can't make it to a cafe for lunch, are fluids good enough instead? You may find later on, you regret substituting liquids for solids so try to make space to eat. Berlin (dpa) – Sometimes your schedule may be so tight that you can't even squeeze in a sandwich. So what do you do when your stomach growls in protest? Why not simply down a meal replacement drink or shake? They're filling and supply your body with all the important nutrients – or so say their manufacturers. Is this true?  The German consumer watchdog Stiftung Warentest examined six liquid meal replacements based either on milk, peas or oats. Its conclusion in a nutshell: "If you're in a hurry, they're better than currywurst [a popular German fast food consisting of a sausage covered in sauce made from ketchup and curry powder] with chips and mayonnaise."  As regards vitamins and minerals, most of them roughly met recommendations made by professional associations, the product testers say. Total fat content was acceptable too. Nevertheless, the testers say the liquid meals are unsuited as regular substitutes for conventional, balanced meals. Why? For one thing, all of the meals tested were too high in protein, the testers say. While this isn't a problem for healthy people, it could overstrain the kidneys of those with renal insufficiency. What's more, although the liquid meals have no added sugar, their ingredients themselves have up to 30 grams of sugar per millilitre. This means they contain quickly digested, short-chain carbohydrates that cause a spike in blood sugar levels, which is problematic for people with diabetes or prediabetes. A rapid drop in blood sugar that follows can trigger food cravings. On top of that, some of the meal replacement drinks contain the artificial sweetener sucralose, which is suspected of stimulating appetite. Another, perhaps counterintuitive, drawback: You don't have to chew a meal replacement drink. Chewing is important though: Food you need to crush with your teeth into smaller pieces that you can swallow generally makes you feel full longer. And liquid meal replacements can induce you to ingest more than necessary – particularly considering their calorie content, which is considerably higher than in a typical snack. The products tested contained between 400 and 515 kcals, according to the testers, about as many as in a conventional main meal. The following information is not intended for publication dpa/tmn rid tsn xxde ob arw

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