Creativity in Veganism, and Discovering a Healthy Life Balance

“My sense of creativity has prevented me from ever really struggling on a vegan diet.” 

— Evette Eweka

Episode 7 of MedShadow’s Power to the Patient Podcast welcomes Evette Eweka, a recent college graduate on her pre-medical school path. Eweka, born and raised in New York, grew up in a Nigerian immigrant household, where the majority of her food was plant-based. When she would fall ill, her mother, a registered nurse, would often opt for natural, home remedies before turning to a doctor’s visit or prescription medicines. This in-home health culture would come to define her passions much later in life.

A pivotal point in Eweka’s health journey occurred while studying in Spain, where she was introduced in depth to the Mediterranean diet. The diet, plant-based and rich in healthy fats from olive oil and omega-3 fatty acids, has long been touted to improve one’s overall well-being, from cardiovascular to mental health. When comparing it to the typical American diet and lifestyle, Eweka pointed out, “how the widespread development of chronic diseases [has] mirrored the transition from our hunter-and-gatherer ancestors.” The process of wandering to gather food burned significant calories and provided vitamin D from exposure to the sun, while their primarily fruit- and plant-based diet would keep vital systems functioning optimally. Society today exists well beyond such a simplistic forage-and-eat model. Struggles with disease and wellness could be due to our poor, processed diet and sedentary lifestyle.

From a vegan perspective, Evette never truly has to struggle to stay excited about her food. A seemingly normal complaint from those starting a purely plant-based diet, the perception of inflexibility and lackluster vegan meals can cause people to give up. During the podcast with host Lillie Rosenthal, DO, a New York City-based physical medicine and rehabilitation physician, Evette illustrates some of her creative twists on vegan food that stem from the most simple grocery items. She explains, “I am so good at improvising. If there’s no more food in the fridge and I want to make something, in a matter of minutes, I’m able to pull things from different parts of the kitchen to make a meal that ends up being delicious.”

Check out Evette’s vegan instagram page at www.instagram.com/herveganvoice.

Tune in to the full episode of the podcast here.

Power to the Patient explores the challenges, choices, and barriers that influence people to traverse their way toward better health and quality of life. These personal stories have the power to not only inform, but also to bring communities together over shared experiences with health and wellness. The podcast, says host Rosenthal, “not only informs and inspires, it also ignites us to rethink and transform our perceptions of how we can take back our health and live our best lives.”

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COVID-19 Vaccine for Kids: Should I Be Worried About Myocarditis?

As more of the teenage population gets vaccinated against COVID-19, reports of myocarditis—a type of heart inflammation that can cause symptoms like chest pain and shortness of breath—have emerged.

Pfizer recently reported that at an adjusted dose (⅓ of that given to adults) of its vaccine was 91% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID in 5-to-7-year-old children. The few vaccinated that did get sick in the trial had less severe symptoms than their counterparts who received a placebo. The kids experienced similar side effects as adults, such as fever, arm pain and chills, but many parents worried about the vaccine triggering myocarditis.

On Oct. 26, an advisory committee recommended that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorize Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11, saying that the vaccine’s benefits outweigh the heightened risk of myocarditis. It’s still up to the FDA to make the final decision, but the agency usually follows the advisory committee’s recommendations. 

MedShadow reached out to Jennifer Su, MD, an attending physician of pediatric cardiology at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, to help us understand what myocarditis is and the risks associated with vaccination and COVID-19 for kids and teens. 

 

MedShadow: What’s the experience like for a kid or teenager who does get myocarditis?

Su: For myocarditis in general, the symptoms are notoriously vague. Looking at population studies, the most consistent symptoms would be palpitations, difficulty breathing and chest pain. There’s a whole host of other potential presenting symptoms, including abdominal pain, fatigue [and] things that could also encompass other sorts of disease processes. But the three that we have been more focused on recently are palpitations, chest pain and difficulty breathing. And if [the case is] mild, you may just feel those symptoms and move on with your life and maybe never get diagnosed with myocarditis. If you seek medical attention, go to the ER and are actually diagnosed, oftentimes, especially if there’s evidence of a breakdown of heart muscle, we would admit you to the hospital for observation. Many of these patients end up being observed for a day or two to make sure that the process isn’t getting worse quickly or severely, and they go home. There is a very unlucky subset of the patients who end up getting worse and having heart function decline and actually even needing mechanical support to get them through this acute illness.

 

MedShadow: Do they recover from this? Is it a long-term issue?

Su: Most of them [the symptoms] go away. For the ones [who] we’ve diagnosed with myocarditis in general, and we’re not talking about vaccine-related myocarditis, we typically would get an MRI or an exercise stress test about six months after the event, just to establish a normalization and recovery.

 

MedShadow: How common is myocarditis in teens without being vaccinated for COVID-19 or having had COVID?

Su: The natural occurrence is about 1 to 3 in every 100,000 children per year, and that varies throughout the year because myocarditis is often thought to be viral-induced, even though we may not necessarily be able to find the specific virus. It does have seasonality to it. [Case numbers rise and fall with flu and cold season.]

And in younger patients, there’s no actual gender or sex difference. But as the kids grow in[to] older childhood and adolescence, about 75% of adolescent myocarditis is male-driven.

 

MedShadow: What is the prevalence we’re seeing with the vaccination? And is there a difference among the J&J, Pfizer or Moderna vaccines?

Su: The myocarditis related to vaccines has actually only been shown in the mRNA vaccines, which are [the] Moderna and Pfizer [ones]. It has not been shown to be linked with J&J. And for patients who received the vaccines, for every million patients, about 21 post-vaccine myocarditis cases are seen

 

MedShadow: And what is the prevalence of myocarditis in patients that contract COVID?

Su: With COVID, myocarditis occurs in adolescents about 30 times more than with the general population. This also tends to be more severe myocarditis. It tends to be myocarditis that’s related to other systemic symptoms. Let’s just be clear, myocarditis is actually not one of the main presenting symptoms of COVID in children and adolescents. It’s actually something called MIS-C, which I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about as well. That being said, myocarditis still occurs 30 times higher than it does in the baseline population, and these cases, because they are occurring in conjunction with other problems with COVID, tend to be a lot more severe, and they tend to last a lot longer as well.

 

MedShadow: What are the risks for teens who contract COVID beyond myocarditis?

Su: Large population studies have shown that about 67% of patients, and this [includes] kids and adults, will have symptoms of COVID about two to four months after their initial infection. That number goes down to about 25% at four to six months, and about 5% of patients will still have long-term symptoms after six months of infection. This would include symptoms like fatigue, muscle pain, joint pain, headaches, insomnia, breathing difficulties and palpitations. These symptoms are not specifically related to myocarditis. The heart is actually only one of many different organ systems affected by COVID, but they can be debilitating to lifestyle and also affect mental health. [Editor’s note: studies have shown a varying prevalence of long COVID specifically in children.]

 

MedShadow: What would you say to a parent who is coming to you and worried about vaccinating their kids, due to the possibility of myocarditis?

Su: I do think that the benefits of the vaccine in younger-age children seem to greatly outweigh the potential side effects.

A lot of the population who is actually concerned about the vaccine perhaps has reason to be worried about the medical system and [its] transparency. And there is some healthcare inequity baked into this conversation. Rather than just presenting cold, hard facts, which are useful, sometimes, I try to acknowledge that there’s an emotional layer and that can be unique to every different person who has this vaccine concern.

[It’s important to me to] first just to start a conversation and not to have it be black and white, but to make room for that gray area. That being said, though, we’re unfortunately at a point in the pandemic in which the chances are we’re either going to get COVID or we’re going to get the vaccine. There is really not going to be a lot of opportunity for that in between of escaping without either at this point, because it’s becoming an endemic issue in which COVID is just everywhere now, and many people have gotten it.

Looking at the numbers between who has gotten symptoms, who has been hospitalized, who’s gotten myocarditis between both of the populations [those who’ve gotten vaccines and those who’ve contracted COVID]. I think that the facts pretty much stand on their own that your likelihood of getting long-term side effects or even short-term severe side effects from the vaccine are incredibly low when you compare it to the risk of getting the same sorts of complications with contracted COVID.

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Aromatherapy Room Spray Recalled

The CDC found a deadly bacterium, Burkholderia pseudomallei, which causes the disease melioidosis in a spray called “Better Homes & Gardens Lavender & Chamomile Essential Oil Infused Aromatherapy Room Spray with Gemstones.” So far, four patients have been identified in Georgia, Kansas, Texas and Minnesota. Two of those patients have died.  The sprays were sold at Walmart between February and October of 2021. The store has pulled them from the shelves, the manufacturer has issued a recall on this and five other scented sprays that might be contaminated, including:

• Better Homes and Gardens (BHG) Gem Room Spray Lavender & Chamomile
• Better Homes and Gardens (BHG) Gem Room Spray Lemon and Mandarin
• Better Homes and Gardens (BHG) Gem Room Spray Lavender
• Better Homes and Gardens (BHG) Gem Room Spray Peppermint
• Better Homes and Gardens (BHG) Gem Room Spray Lime & Eucalyptus
• Better Homes and Gardens (BHG) Gem Room Spray Sandalwood and Vanilla

If you have this spray at home, the CDC recommends the following:

1. Stop using this product immediately. Do not open the bottle. Do not throw away or dispose of the bottle in the regular trash.
2. Double bag the bottle in clean, clear zip-top bags and place in a small cardboard box. Return the bagged and boxed product to a Walmart store.
3. Wash sheets or linens that the product may have been sprayed on using normal laundry detergent and dry completely in a hot dryer; bleach can be used if desired.
4. Wipe down counters and surfaces that might have the spray on them with undiluted Pine-Sol or similar disinfectant.
5. Limit how much you handle the spray bottle and wash hands thoroughly after touching the bottle or linens. If you used gloves, wash hands afterward.
6. If you have used the product within the past 21 days and have fever or other melioidosis symptoms, seek medical care and tell your doctor you were exposed to the spray. If you do not have symptoms but were exposed to the product in the last 7 days, your doctor may recommend that you get antibiotics (post-exposure prophylaxis) to prevent infection.

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Flu Shot 2021: Should You Get One?

Last year we experienced a record-low flu season, at least partly due to limited indoor gatherings and continued hand-washing and mask use. That proved to be a relief to scientists who warned of hospitals overflowing with both COVID-19 and influenza patients to the point where healthcare professionals wouldn’t have the resources to properly care for either group.

“The big concern is that we are going to see what could be a perfect storm of accelerated COVID-19 activity, as more people gather inside … become fatigued with social distancing, mask-wearing and hand hygiene and then are exposed to seasonal influenza,” Jeanne Marrazzo, MD, director of the division of infectious diseases at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, said at a Sept. 10, 2020 media briefing sponsored by the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

While the “perfect storm” Marrazzo warned about didn’t happen in 2020-2021, there’s more reason to be cautious for the 2021-2022 season. “The flu this year could be more severe for a few reasons. First, there were only about 3000 cases last year so there wasn’t much exposure for natural immunity to occur,” says Peter Gulick, MD, an associate professor of medicine at Michigan State University. He adds that thanks to COVID-19 vaccination, fewer people are taking precautions like wearing masks and social distancing this year, which “will contribute to a more serious flu season. We’re also seeing more RSV [respiratory syncytial virus], adenovirus and parainfluenza already, which may be a predictor for the flu season.” He encourages flu shots for everyone who can get them.

Keep Up to Date on Influenza Spread

The Centers for Disease Control post weekly updates on the spread of the flu throughout the season. You can find the weekly FluView updates here. While circulation is low as of late October 2021, the CDC says you should not wait until there are more cases to get the shot. The best time to get vaccinated is now. “Everyone she be vaccinated by the end of October,” the website states.

Last year, the organization states that cases of influenza remained low “despite high levels of testing,” suggesting that it was unlikely the low caseload was due to doctors mistaking flu for COVID-19. The CDC agrees with Gulick that social distancing and mask-wearing played a role in low numbers of influenza cases last year, but the agency adds that a record-high number of people in the U.S. received their flu vaccines during the 2020-2021 season, which also likely played a role in minimizing harm.

Benefits of the Flu Vaccine

Even though the flu shot is not a perfect vaccine and offers only 40% to 60% protection from infection, it can provide enormous benefits. 

Scientists say that that’s enough to minimize the disease’s spread throughout the population. If you do contract the disease, having had the vaccination may render any flu you do contract less severe, preventing the most serious complications, like pneumonia and even death. In 2019, between 24,000 and 62,000 Americans died from the flu and between 410,000 and 740,000 were hospitalized because of it. Flu is rarely listed as cause of death on death certificates. Instead, the cause is more often called pneumonia or another affliction the flu can lead to. 

What’s In a Flu Vaccine

To come up with a new flu vaccine each year, researchers make educated guesses as to which strains of flu are most likely to cause the illness based on what circulated the previous year.  

“They can never know exactly which strains are going to happen. Each flu shot that we get has at least three or four strains of flu from the preceding season,” says Daren Wu, MD, chief medical officer at Open Door Family Medical Center in New York City.

The main ingredients in influenza vaccines are either dead or weakened flu viruses. These viruses cannot replicate and wreak havoc on your body like a normal flu virus, but their purpose is to prompt your immune system to mount an immune response. This response prepares your body to recognize and respond faster if it does encounter the actual influenza virus later in the season. 

The Vaccine’s Possible Side Effects

The flu vaccine can cause side effects, which, while not generally not dangerous, can mimic the types of symptoms you might get from a mild influenza infection. “Once in a while, people have very uncomfortable reactions. Your body aches, [you can experience] chills, headaches. I’ve had those at least twice in the last 20 years of getting flu shots since I became a doctor. And I felt terrible,” says Wu.

It is concerns about side effects that a third of parents cited as the reason for not having their children receive the flu vaccine, according to a survey.

“In the process of mounting that immune response, making the antibodies to be able to battle the real flu, people can feel terrible because it feels like you’re fighting off the flu” Wu says. He adds, “It’s a one, two-day reaction that’s completely different from actually getting the flu, which is a seven-day or more process. One is an immune reaction that is temporary, and the other is you are infected.” 

Aside from brief, flu-like symptoms lasting a day or two, patients also report pain or soreness at the injection site. Wu says this reaction is common. He recommends  keeping the arm moving to alleviate the pain. If the pain is acute, Wu suggests you taking Tylenol, Advil or Motrin. He cautions, however, that you should only do so if you feel very sick, because it can interfere with the immune system response to the flu shot, which lowers the effectiveness of the flu shot. 

Lastly, there are some other possible side effects, depending on the type of vaccine you get. Most vaccines do not not contain thimerosal, a preservative that was once considered controversial, but has since been shown to be safe in vaccines. It does, however, contain egg, which can be a problem for patients with severe egg allergies. 

If you or your child has such an allergy, know that most doctors and pharmacists stock a few eggless vaccines, says Wu. These vaccines, known as cell culture vaccines, are made using animal cells and recombinant vaccines that are synthetic and don’t have egg products.

Seniors should get the higher-dose vaccines, which were designed for patients over age 65 to ensure their immune systems respond adequately.

For those who can’t tolerate needles, there are nasal spray flu vaccines. To find out where you can get your flu vaccine, check out this vaccine finder.

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Our Readers Report Long COVID Symptoms

A few months into the pandemic, researchers learned that some patients—now dubbed “long-haulers”—were reporting that symptoms like shortness of breath, brain fog, diabetes and heart problems that persisted long after they’d tested negative for COVID-19.

When COVID-19 first emerged, doctors identified it as a respiratory virus—one that primarily affects the nose, throat and lungs, causing coughing and shortness of breath. Over time, physicians found that the virus seemed to produce many other symptoms not at all associated with breathing: patients had blood clots; they had diarrhea; their blood sugar was out of control; their blood pressure rose; they were confused.

Then, patients like Amanda, founder of the COVID-19 Long Haulers Discussion Group on Facebook, started reporting that the symptoms of group members continued, or even emerged, long after they tested negative for the disease. Dubbed “long COVID” or “long-hauler syndrome,” researchers are finding more and more patients who experience symptoms for months or even a year after they had recovered from the virus. Many patients had severe cases of the illness, leading to hospital stays, but some didn’t know they had it until the longer-term symptoms emerged.

“I didn’t realize for a while,” says MedShadow reader Margo, who had a severe case of COVID. At first, she thought she had made a full recovery. “It took a while for the odd symptoms to show up. I had long COVID for over a year, just about exactly a year, and I don’t have it anymore.”

Symptoms of long COVID are just as diverse as symptoms of the initial disease. Patients report kidney and heart problems, diabetes, muscle and joint pain, extreme fatigue and brain fog. Some say they have gastrointestinal disorders and dermatological ailments.

Realizing that treating the syndrome would take coordination of many specialist doctors, clinics around the country have brought together teams of physicians at specialized long COVID clinics.

“Since there is no single unifying cause for the variety of symptoms, there is no one specific treatment, and accordingly, we target the treatments based on what symptoms or health effects a particular person has,” says John Baratta, MD, a founder of the COVID Recovery Clinic at the University of North Carolina. “We do see a number of more frequent types of effects, and those often will include fatigue, shortness of breath or discomfort when breathing, cognitive difficulties, which a lot of people call brain fog, headaches, and joint, muscle and nerve pains.”

MedShadow reached out to our readers to talk about some of the most common long COVID symptoms they are experiencing as well as what has helped them and what hasn’t. We’ve also spoken with two physicians who are focused on treating long COVID patients.

Lungs and Heart

Symptoms: Second to your nose and mouth, your lungs are one of the first areas that COVID-19 is likely to affect. Many patients find that their lungs take a long time to heal from the damage the virus causes. “I could barely walk four or five steps,  and I had to stop,” says Margo. It’s not as bad as it used to be, but, she adds, “I still get short of breath sooner than I’d like.” 

The virus is also known to damage blood vessels and can invade the heart. “Many people with long Covid have heart-rate issues,” says Baratta.

Treatments patients have used: After years of suffering from asthma, Amanda says her usual rescue inhalers didn’t help at all to relieve shortness of breath, following her bout with COVID-19. Eventually, she found that a different type of inhaler helped. “Advair was my game changer,” she adds. Advair contains an airway-relaxing beta-2 agonist commonly used to treat asthma plus a corticosteroid to target inflammation. 

Thelma, a MedShadow reader, explains that her pulmonologist told her that her lungs were clear, but did prescribe Symbicort, another type of inhaler that uses two active ingredients to relax airways and reduce inflammation. “I felt it helped some,” she says. “I didn’t notice any side effects.”

What doctors say: David Putrino, PhD, a specialist in rehabilitative medicine at Mount Sinai’s Center for Post-COVID Care, says that for some patients who still have coughs that produce mucus, “We may consider prescribing inhalers.” 

If a person is experiencing elevated blood pressure, her doctor might prescribe beta blockers.

 

MedShadow Resources:

COPD Treatment Options

Singing and Long Covid

Beta Blockers

Brain Fog, Depression (Neurological)

Symptoms: “[I] don’t remember what all happened this summer. I haven’t driven since May. I can’t tell you how many times I was so dizzy I couldn’t even walk to the bathroom,” says Amanda.

Brain fog is one of the most often cited long-term effects of COVID-19. Some research has found evidence that the virus invades blood vessels in the brain. Depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can also emerge after a hospital stay for any reason.

 Amanda says one member of her group discovered she had had two small strokes without knowing it. Margo says she spent entire days unable to finish a single sentence. She adds that she has experienced depression and anxiety attacks. “I’d never had them before. It was not fun.”

Treatments patients have used: Thelma says nothing she tried made much of a difference, though virtual meditation classes may have helped her focus a little bit. Several patients said that after six months to a year, the brain fog finally seems to be lifting on its own. 

What doctors say: Baratta has, in some instances, prescribed stimulants like Ritalin to help people with severe brain fog, but, he warns, that these are only useful for a select few patients. He says, “We use medicines as a last resort,” for brain fog. Other long-hauler symptoms might limit the drug options you have. For example, many long COVID patients experience elevated and irregular heart rates and are prescribed beta blockers to slow them down. “The stimulant [Ritalin] could counteract the effect of the beta blocker,” he says.

Putrino says that at his clinic, doctors aren’t prescribing any medication for the cognitive issues. “Although brain fog is one of the longest lasting symptoms,” he says they do see improvement over time with rehabilitation instead. 

Caffeine has been used by long haulers to try to increase focus. Putrino tells patients  to be very cautious with use of caffeine. “We found that some people need it. Some people need it to increase their energy levels to reduce their levels of fatigue, and they notice an improvement in their cognitive function.” But for others, he adds, “It can trigger a dysautonomic attack [which can lead to fainting or cardiovascular and breathing problems] very, very severely.”

 

MedShadow Resources:

Breathing Exercises

PTSD Treatments

Anxiety Disorder Fast Facts

ADHD Medications

 

Fatigue

Symptoms: Extreme fatigue is a common complaint after having had COVID-19. Patients report being unable to walk more than a few steps, but it’s not just physical. It often gets worse after both physical and mental activity. “I find that if I’ve invested too much of myself, even if I have been sitting in bed all day, I’ve invested too much [in] one day. I’m probably going to feel it the next,” says Amanda.

Treatments patients have used: In addition to making both physical and mental rest a major priority, Amanda says taking a Hydroxycut supplement made her feel more energetic. She says she gave it a try, knowing “it was crazy,” but now “I can actually get up and function.” She emphasizes the importance of keeping your healthcare providers in the loop about any supplements you try out. “I’ve been talking to researchers about it,” she adds.

MedShadow reader, Anna ended up turning to a community project to help motivate her to get her mind and body moving. She says, “Get involved! I became involved with a clean-up project near our vacation home. . . Involvement keeps one moving and connected to progress.”

What doctors say:

In August, the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, an organization to which Baratta belongs, published guidelines for managing post-COVID fatigue.

One of the most important things patients do is learn how to conserve their energy. Many patients experience post-exertional malaise. Essentially, if they push themselves mentally or physically, they may find it especially difficult to bounce back. “They’ll have that experience of [the] symptom worsening afterwards,” says Putrino. Engaging in very gradual physical and occupational therapy can help people regain strength and energy.

Baratta emphasizes that it’s also important to rule out any other causes of fatigue, which may or may not be related to COVID recovery. Your physician should do blood and thyroid tests. He or she should assess your sleep as many patients are having difficulty sleeping. “Additionally, we look at mood,” he says. “Depression, for example, can also lead to poor energy.”

 

MedShadow Resources:

Guided Meditations to Help You Sleep

Foods that Fight Insomnia

Pain

Symptoms: Margo and Thelma both described joint and muscle pain. Margo, who had already been diagnosed with arthritis prior to contracting COVID, says, “The aching all over, the pain [affecting] all your joints and muscles…I didn’t realize at the time how bad COVID reacted with the arthritis. It just accelerated.”

Treatments patients have used: For Thelma, yoga, when she had the energy for it, did help lessen some of the muscular pain. For Margo, anything that reduced inflammation seemed to help, at least temporarily. She received cortisone shots and a prescription for meloxicam, a long-acting NSAID. On her own, Margo also tried a supplement, methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), which she says helped “for a while,” but eventually stopped working for her.

What doctors say: Inflammation is thought to be one of the driving factors of long COVID pain, and supplements may play a role in dampening it. Putrino suggests using cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) products may help some patients. “That’s a supplement we’re starting to collect some data around,” says Putrino. “Magnesium is another one that can help with pain or discomfort,” says Baratta. Both doctors urged patients first to discuss any supplements they want to take with their healthcare providers.

“There could be interactions [between supplements and your medicines] or adverse effects from the supplement,” says Baratta. “Secondly, I do have hesitation with supplements because they do not have the same type of regulations as prescribed medications do. And there can be significant variability in the type and quantity of active ingredients.

 

MedShadow Resources:

Vitamins and Supplements

CBD Interactions with Medicines

Anti-Inflammatory Recipes and Tips

Pain Treatments

Guide to NSAIDs

 

A Note About Ivermectin

About a year of experiencing long COVID, Margo asked her physician to prescribe ivermectin. After taking the drug, she says, her symptoms rapidly improved. Baratta says that many of his own patients have tried the drug, and that “most have not seen any notable improvements [from it].” He emphasizes that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its manufacturer, Merck, do not recommend using the drug to treat long COVID. “At this time, there is not sufficient evidence to show that it is helpful,” he says.

 

Tips for Finding Doctors and Support 

Use only a doctor you feel comfortable talking with and who listens.

Margo postponed treatment because her local doctor didn’t appear interested in hearing about her symptoms. “She rolls her eyes when you mention long-haulers,” recounts Margo. 

Amanda recommends asking other people with long COVID in support groups or through friends for referrals to doctors who they’ve found helpful. Amanda adds, “Don’t just go look at a list of post-COVID clinics online. Talk with people and ask them, ‘What kind of luck did you have with this doctor?’”

Write Down Your Symptoms

“A lot of times when people come into the clinic and start trying to talk about the symptoms they’re experiencing with long COVID, they can become overwhelmed because there are so many different dimensions of the syndrome,” says Baratta. Plus, brain fog is one of the more common symptoms, and “that can affect the person’s ability to relay this picture of the problem to the provider.” Writing down your symptoms can help ensure you don’t skip over any, and your provider is likely to understand what you’re going through.

Putrino adds that this habit can be useful at any checkup, not just the initial exam. Long COVID symptoms are often “invisible,” meaning that they are “happening in spite of normal-seeming physiological testing.” That means that having a detailed description of symptoms, and even having a good understanding of things that make symptoms better or worse, can go a long way toward helping your physician build you a personalized care management plan.

Try One Thing at a Time

If you sample different supplements or even test out lifestyle changes, try one thing at a time, explains Amanda. That way, you’ll be able to tell what’s helping and what isn’t. “It’s hard to tease out what is genuinely helping versus what might be a placebo effect or just being taken in combination with five or 10 other therapies, and therefore [discover] that something’s working, but we don’t know what,” says Putrino.

Join a Support Group

Along with emotional help, a support group is a great way to get information about healthcare providers in your area and also resources that might be available to help you pay for treatment. “There are a lot of people throughout the country who are experiencing similar symptoms,” says Baratta. “Getting connected with the support groups, such as Survivor Corps, is a good way to find out about resources in your area for long COVID treatment, as well as ways to manage the symptoms, to some degree, on your own at home.”

A Note About Finances

One of the biggest risks of having ong COVID is running out of money, says Amanda, who now lives in a tent at a campsite because she can’t afford a permanent home. Her group has scraped together funds in the past to help patients pay for their medicines, but, she says, some have died while waiting for Medicaid to approve disability payments. Others have had to ration insulin, even when COVID can trigger or exacerbate diabetes. Amanda’s support groups include researchers who moderate discussions in an effort to “do no harm.” Part of that includes removing posts from people trying to sell unproven treatments. She tells MedShadow,  “It’s not just the medical harm, there can be very real financial harm.”

The post Our Readers Report Long COVID Symptoms appeared first on MedShadow.

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How to Manage Sensitive Skin

Seventy percent of adults say they have sensitive skin, according to a 2019 study. Erum Ilyas, MD, a dermatologist at Schweiger Dermatology, explains that sensitive skin is not a medical condition in and of itself. The self-diagnosed condition can mean different things to different people. “Usually when people say they have sensitive skin, they are implying that their skin gets irritated really easily,” he says.

Your skin can get irritated for a variety of reasons, from dryness to allergies and even because of products designed to irritate it with the goal of creating a youthful appearance.

The Culprits 

Contact Dermatitis

According to Ilyas, contact dermatitis is the most common cause of his patients’ skin concerns. The skin becomes red, itchy or swollen after using certain products. In most cases, he does a patch test, in which he applies a small amount of a common allergen to a patch and presses it against the skin to see how the skin reacts. There are 35 such everyday allergens that he uses to test such ingredients as preservatives and dyes found in many products“It is always fascinating to see what comes up as reactive on these tests, and it is so helpful to know what to look for and avoid in ingredient labels. [It] takes away the guessing game or trial-and-error.”

Rosacea

Scientists don’t yet know the cause of rosacea, which is characterized by redness, bumps and visible blood vessels on the skin. Many people mistake it for acne. Ilyas says that if you have rosacea, “less is more,” in terms of skincare, as you’re likely sensitive to many products.

Sun Damage

If your skin is only sensitive in certain consistent spots, it could be due to sun damage. Over time, you can develop pre-cancerous spots called actinic keratoses. Ilyas says applying products may sting or burn these areas. A dermatologist can use liquid nitrogen or prescription creams to treat these spots.

Seborrheic Dermatitis

Rather than a sensitivity to products, people with seborrheic dermatitis have skin that reacts to the yeast normally living on our body. Your skin may feel irritated after exposure to heat, sweat or stress. Even though it may sting when you apply products, Ilyas explains that this response is not from an allergic reaction to the product. It’s due to “skin being very sensitive at [the] baseline.”

Common Skincare Ingredients That Cause Irritation

Whether or not you have an underlying skin condition, there are many ingredients in common skincare products that can aggravate your skin. And it’s not always cleansers and moisturizers that are to blame. Sometimes you even find ingredients in shampoos and hair dyes that can hurt your skin. 

Active Ingredients

Many anti-aging ingredients are designed to slightly irritate the skin to plump it up and mask wrinkles. Acne treatments often work by drying the skin. Some ingredients you may be sensitive to are:

• lanolin
• alpha hydroxy acid (AHA)
• beta hydroxy acid (BHA)
• salicylic acid
• vitamin C
• retinol

Sometimes, explains Sejal Patel, PharmD and founder of Plantkos, it’s not just one ingredient that causes a problem  but a combination of them or the time of day you use them. If you use vitamin C and retinol, she says, consider using vitamin C in the morning and retinol at night, since retinol can increase your skin’s reactivity to the sun. Using both alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) and beta hydroxy acid (BHA) is usually fine, but synthetic BHAs contain salicylic acid, which can raise your sensitivity to AHA. She recommends insteads willow-bark extract, which has BHAs, but not salicylic acid, and is less likely to cause a reaction when used with AHA.

Preservatives

Preservatives are chemicals added to products that help the product stay safe over time. They prevent the growth of microbes and keep the cleanser or cream the right consistency. However, some preservatives that can irritate your skin are:

 

• paraphenylenediamine (PPD). Liz Jane, MD, says this ingredient,  found in permanent hair dyes, can cause a rash at the hairline, nape of the neck and around the ears.
• parabens
• methylisothiazolinone
• quaternium

Essential Oils

Companies add essential oils to skincare products to help kill microbes, exfoliate your skin or add fragrance. Some that can cause reactions are:

• tea tree oil
• vitamin C or citrus extracts
• peppermint

What Else Can You Do?

In some cases, your dermatologist may suggest cortisone creams, antihistamine treatments or acne medicines to help manage skin irritation, but there are many at-home remedies that can help as well, says Ilyas.

• use daily moisturizer
• sleep with a humidifier on
• wash with cool water
• keep warm showers short
• use only clean makeup applicators
• avoid products with added fragrances
• regularly apply a mild lotion and use a humidifier at night to alleviate reactions caused by dry skin

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Herbal Supplements: 3 Risks for Women

Holistic health is big business in the US, in large part because many companies claim to have health benefits.  This is cause for concern, because in 2012, nonvitamin, nonmineral natural products remained the most popular complementary health approach used by American adults and children, according to the National Health Interview Survey.

In a separate review, most reported reasons for taking supplements is to “improve” (45%) or “maintain” (33%) overall health. While less than a quarter of supplements adults used came from a the appeal of plant-based medicine is not unfounded. “Some people may dismiss herbal remedies as quackery, but the use of botanicals is well rooted in medical practice,” says Stacey Chillemi, an herbal educator and co-author of The Complete Herbal Guide and Natural Remedies for Common Conditions

“More than a quarter of all modern drugs use ingredients derived from plants.” Still, natural does not automatically mean safe. These potions and remedies “can have significant, even fatal interactions with prescription drugs,” according to the FDA. Women may have adverse reactions to supplements more often than men simply because more women use them overall,” according to a 2014 study.

A 2015 study that Ian Musgrave, Phd. of University of Adelaide co-authored found that women more frequently reported negative reactions to St. John’s Wort, a supplement that some research suggests may help ease depression. 

Here three reasons women have adverse reactions, often due to and female-specific reproductive issues:

1. Birth Control

St. John’s Wort can interfere with the effectiveness of oral contraceptives, says Musgrave. Other herbs, including Vitex, Black cohosh and Red clover may help manage symptoms related to menstruation and menopause, for example, because they can influence levels of female hormones like estrogen, according to a 2017 review of effective herbal medicines. For that same reason, they should generally be avoided by women using hormonal birth control methods because the herbs may make them less effective.

2. Pregnancy

“The FDA urges pregnant women not to take any herbal products without talking to their health care provider first,” says Chillemi, and they should also seek guidance from an experienced herbalist or other professional familiar with herbal medicine. “Herbs may contain substances that can cause miscarriage, premature birth, uterine contractions or injury to the fetus,” she says.

Sprinkling herbs in your cooking is still safe. Other herbs used medicinally, however, are likely to be unsafe to use during pregnancy or breastfeeding, or if at higher risk of hormone-related cancers: saw palmetto, dong quai and goldenseal (only a risk for pregnancy and breastfeeding). Certain culinary herbs, such as rosemary, garlic, sage, ginger, and turmeric are safe to use in foods in the amounts normally used for cooking, but might be unsafe in large, concentrated doses during pregnancy.

3. Menopause

Herbs that influence hormones may also be helpful in managing problems related to menopause. “Black cohosh, red clover, chaste-tree berry, dong quai, evening primrose, ginkgo, ginseng and licorice are among the most popular herbs for women experiencing problems with menopause,” says Chillemi. But again, because of these effects, they could also interfere with hormone therapy. “Some of these herbs have powerful hormone-like effects, and women should not assume they are harmless,” she says. 

Approximately 51% of women use complementary or alternative medicine (CAM) and more than 60% perceive it be effective for menopausal symptoms. However, most women using CAM do not discuss it with their health care providers –

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health offers a comprehensive resource of safety information and other data on various supplements. “Always tell your medical practitioner of your herbal medicine use to ensure you are not taking them with drugs that could potentially interact, and so that side effects can be monitored,” he adds.

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Can I Take This Drug While Pregnant?

In the last week of September 2021, a group of more than 90 doctors and researchers published a call to action, cautioning against the liberal use of Tylenol (acetaminophen) during pregnancy. The studies suggested that exposure to the drug could increase the risk of a baby having neurodevelopmental, reproductive and urogenital disorders.

The authors added, however, that Tylenol has long been considered one of the few safer options to treat pain in pregnancy, since Advil (ibuprofen) and opioids are considered riskier. They pointed out that, in some cases, a woman’s condition (fever and pain, for example) could be worse for her fetus than exposure to Tylenol. Until the research is more clear, talk to your doctor before taking Tylenol while pregnant and take the lowest possible dose for the shortest time period.

Definitive advice on the use of medications during pregnancy is hard to come by. Researchers generally won’t enroll pregnant people in clinical trials because, as Lauren Demosthenes, MD, an OB-GYN with Babyscripts, says, “When a drug comes out, they’re not going to say, ‘’Let’s experiment with this on pregnant women all the time.’” Physicians and patients must piece together information from animal and pharmacological studies and data gathered after the drug is approved.

For years, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) supported a simple categorization strategy. It labeled each drug A, B, C, D or X, based on how safe it was thought to be, in descending order, for a fetus. Over time, doctors noted that while the system was easy-to-use, its simplicity could at times be misleading. Rankings often had more to do with how long a drug has been on the market than how safe it was during pregnancy. 

In 2014, the FDA rolled out a new strategy. Now each drug’s label is required to list findings (or lack thereof) from clinical trials, animal studies and more in a specialized format, allowing doctors and patients to weigh the information together for themselves. Physicians say that while the new strategy can’t be interpreted as quickly as the previous letter-based categories, it better supports the doctor-patient shared decision-making process.

“Even though there used to be categories, the process has always been the same. So even if a drug was in one of the in-between categories, it’s still required that you just sit down and have a conversation about it,” says Demosthenes.

Nicole Derish, MD, who runs a private psychiatry practice specializing in working with perinatal, child and adolescent patients, explains that the decision is more complicated than avoiding any drug that can raise the risk to a fetus. “You have the risk of being exposed to the medication versus the risk of being exposed to [an] untreated illness. Just because a medication has some risk doesn’t mean it’s not the safest option for a pregnant woman and their baby,” she says. “Every woman I’ve ever treated – every single one – says, ‘Well, I don’t care. It’s nine months. I can white-knuckle it. I just want what’s best for my baby. I don’t care if my life is miserable.’ I have to say, ‘No, no. I hear you, but this is what’s good for the baby. What’s good for you is good for the baby.”

History of Drugs in Pregnancy

Pregnant people have good reason to be wary of using medications in pregnancy. In the 1950s, thalidomide was prescribed to expecting mothers for a variety of ailments, from morning sickness to pneumonia. About five years later, researchers made the connection between fetal exposure to the drug and birth defects that left about 10,000 babies with deformities in limbs, ears and other organs. The FDA never approved thalidomide despite incredible pressures from manufacturers (and the fact that most European countries were using it widely).  As a result, very few babies were harmed in America. Even so,  his tragedy led to increased scrutiny on drug approvals, and thalidomide is still the classic example of why a strong, independent FDA is crucial for everyone’s safety.

Thalidomide Is not the only regulatory catastrophe for drugs in pregnancy. DES (diethylstilbestrol), which was developed before thalidomide and used in pregnancy for years after, resulted in less visible but more insidious effects on growing fetuses. DES, which was prescribed until 1971 to prevent preterm births, is now known to have caused elevated risks of cancer, infertility and more, not only to one generation, but even to their children and grandchildren. (See our sister website and member organization, DES Action, for more information.)

Even though the FDA removed DES’s approval for use in pregnancy, similar drugs have taken its place. (See our article on Makena.)

New Labeling Guidelines

The FDA gradually phased out the letter-naming program,which ended in June 2020. Drug labels now must list available information under several consistent headings.

Pregnancy Risks Label

Under Section 8.1 of the drug label, the drug must have four headings.

The first is Pregnancy Exposure Register: Here, the drugmaker lists whether there is a registry where doctors must report outcomes in pregnant patients using the drug, and where to find it. Derish says, “You have to report any potential adverse reaction, even if you think it’s still unrelated, like, [for instance, if] somebody starts the medication and they start to get more mosquito bites. That goes on the registry. So one of the ways that these medications collect data is just by being on the market.”    

The next section is Risk Summary. This is the crux of the label’s information. Here, the manufacturer lists what’s known about whether the drug can cross the placental barrier and if animal studies or human studies have identified any risks to the fetus. If data is unavailable, the company states this explicitly. This section also contains background information, such as how likely a baby is to be born with a birth defect in the general population and how likely they are to be born with a birth defect if the disease the drug addresses goes untreated during their mother’s pregnancy. 

For example, if “the baseline rate [for a particular birth defect] is 1% of the general population, [research on a drug may indicate that using it in pregnancy] might raise the rate to 2%. And that is a big increase, right? From 1 to 2[%],” says Derish. “But even with that medication, 98% of the time, your baby’s going to be fine.”

The third section is Clinical Considerations, which lists information about dose adjustments during pregnancy or breastfeeding, and risks to the mother and the fetus.

The final section is Data, which lists more detailed information about the studies supporting the clinical guidelines.

Common Medicines: What’s Known

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 70% of women say they take at least one prescription drug while pregnant.  

There are some drugs, explains Demosthenes, like the acne drug Accutane (isotretinoin), that are known to be dangerous to a fetus. “There are certain medicines that even [have] requirements. You are asked to sign a form to say you understand the risk and you commit to being on birth control and [will] do everything you can not to get pregnant,” she says. “If you’re a teenager and you [are prescribed] Accutane, they will want you to be on some kind of contraception if sexually active.”  

Some other drugs that are contraindicated before and during pregnancy in most instances are:

Methotrexate (Trexall): This rheumatoid arthritis drug blocks the action of folic acid, a crucial component to a fetus’ development.

Leflunomide (Arava): This is an immunosuppressant used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. It takes some time to leave your system, so physicians suggest getting a blood test first and stopping about a month before trying to conceive. Studies have shown an increased risk of miscarriage, and mixed results on birth defects.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS): The FDA recommended using Tylenol instead of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), because NSAIDs, like Advil, can cause kidney problems in the fetus.

Most drugs fall into gray areas. Some of the most common questions, according to both doctors, are about psychiatric medications.

Stimulants in Pregnancy

Heather has been taking the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication Adderall since her late 20s. She’s now 36 and pregnant. When her physician said she needed to stop taking the drug during pregnancy, she was offered an alternative, but decided to forgo it. It’s been a struggle, she says, to get through her day and her work, but she’s managing with the help of counseling and meditation. The CDC states that stimulants used to treat ADHD may increase the risk of certain birth defects of the limbs and digestive system, though the organization maintains that the risk remains small.

SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) in Pregnancy

“We actually have a ton of data on SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) and pregnancy, the most common antidepressant, in pregnancy. And it’s very robust,” says Derish. “They’re very safe. They’re very well-tolerated.”

Untreated mental illness can be dangerous. Health Affairs published a study in October 2021 showing that women with mental health disorders had more expensive deliveries ($458 higher) and were 50% more likely to experience severe complications while giving birth, than others. Those with stress or trauma-related disorders had the most expensive deliveries. Those with untreated depression are more likely to experience preterm birth and have babies with low birth weights. This risk is especially high among Black women.

Pregnancy comes with a lot of stress and physical changes. If she diagnoses a mother with new depression during her pregnancy, “I try as hard as I can to try a nonpharmacological intervention. Protecting sleep is a very big one,” Derish says. But sometimes an SSRI makes more sense. For some, medications are more effective. For others, lifestyle changes during pregnancy aren’t practical. “I can recommend yoga. If I have a single mom who has three other kids, it’s not that yoga hasn’t occurred to her, it’s just [that] it’s not going to happen for her because she’s already so taxed.”

Benzodiazepines in Pregnancy

“Benzodiazepines are a little bit more iffy [than SSRIs],” explains Derish, because they’re more likely to cross the placental barrier, meaning that your baby can be exposed to and hurt by them. She adds that, in many cases, untreated anxiety is a bigger risk to the fetus. “We have a lot of data showing that women that have very high levels of anxiety have more complications of pregnancy and poorer outcomes.” Untreated anxiety during pregnancy has been linked to increased risk of preterm birth, for example.

Derish explains that that’s one of the benefits of the new labeling system. It allows for doctors and physicians to weigh the risks of untreated conditions versus those of exposures to their treatments, rather than just identifying some drugs as safe and others as dangerous.

MotherToBaby.com offers a series of factsheets on commonly used medications like ACE (angiotensin-converting-enzyme) inhibitors, proton pump inhibitors and statins in pregnancy. The FDA also maintains a searchable database with drug labels and  pregnancy information.

Supplements

In addition to talking with your physician about any medications you’re prescribed, you should also tell your doctor about any supplements or herbal remedies you’re using . Many of these are safe during pregnancy, but some do come with the risk of complications. For example, ginger may interact with other medicines you’re taking to increase the risk of bleeding.

Most herbal supplements have not been well-studied in pregnancy. Additionally, many supplements contain different combinations of ingredients that make it difficult to compare one brand to another. Bring any herbal supplements you use with you to the doctor to review the ingredients.

“Just because it’s ‘natural’ and it’s over-the-counter doesn’t necessarily mean that it would be advised to take in pregnancy,” says Demosthenes.

You should always discuss the risks and benefits of your medications and supplements with your healthcare provider, but during pregnancy is an especially important time to do so. The new labeling system ensures that you’re able to have an open conversation regarding what is and isn’t known about anything you may expose yourself or your fetus to. 

“Everybody has an opinion of what pregnant women should do… So you really need to believe, at the end of the day, you can make good choices and you have to surround yourself with a team that you trust and that trusts you,” says Derish. “That way, when a relative or friend says, ‘You shouldn’t be taking that in pregnancy,’ you can definitively say, ‘My OB-GYN says I should, and I’m going to listen to them because they’re my doctor.’ ”

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Dance and movement therapy holds promise for treating anxiety and depression, as well as deeper psychological wounds

A few years ago, framed by the skyline of Detroit, a group of about 15 children resettled as refugees from the Middle East and Africa leapt and twirled around, waving blue, pink and white streamers through the air.

The captivating scene was powerfully symbolic. Each streamer held a negative thought, feeling or memory that the children had written down on the streamers. On cue and in unison, the children released their streamers into the air, then sat down nearby. Then they gathered up the fallen streamers, which carried their collective struggles and hardships, threw them in a trash can and waved goodbye.

The children were participating in a dance therapy activity as part of our team’s research program exploring body-based approaches to mental health treatment in people resettled as refugees.

In 2017, our lab – the Stress, Trauma and Anxiety Research Clinic – began piloting movement therapies to help address trauma in refugee families. We are learning that movement may not only provide a way to express oneself, but also offer a path toward healing and lifelong strategies for managing stress.

Dance and movement therapy offers a self-empowering mind-body approach to mental health treatment.
David Dalton, CC BY-ND

On average, every year about 60,000 children are resettled as refugees in Western nations. Now, the refugee crisis resulting from the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan is bringing renewed attention to their needs. The UN Refugee Agency estimates that 6 million Afghans have been displaced over the past 40 years, and a new wave of tens of thousands are now fleeing from Taliban rule.

I am a neuroscientist who specializes in understanding how trauma reshapes the nervous system of developing youth. I use this information to explore creative arts and movement-based therapies to treat stress and anxiety. The instinct to move the body in expressive ways is as old as humanity. But movement-based strategies such as dance therapy have only recently been given much attention in mental health treatment circles.

As a dancer myself, I always found the nonverbal emotional expression offered through movement to be incredibly therapeutic – especially when I was experiencing significant anxiety and depression in high school and college. Now, through my neuroscience research, I am joining a growing number of scholars working to bolster the evidence base supporting movement-based interventions.

One mind and body

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the incidence of anxiety and depression doubled in youth. As a result, many people are searching for new ways to cope with and handle emotional turmoil.

On top of the pandemic, conflicts around the world, as well as climate change and natural disasters, have contributed to the growing global refugee crisis. This demands resources for resettlement, education and occupation, physical health and – importantly – mental health.

Interventions that offer physical activity and creativity components at a time when children and people of all ages are likely to be sedentary and with reduced environmental enrichment can be beneficial during the pandemic and beyond. Creative arts and movement-based interventions may be well-suited to address not just the emotional but also the physical aspects of mental illness, such as pain and fatigue. These factors often contribute to the significant distress and dysfunction that drive individuals to seek care.

With outstretched arms, neuroscientist Lana Ruvolo Grasser performs a tension-and-release exercise with her study participants.
David Dalton, CC BY-ND

Why dance and movement therapy?

Body movement in and of itself is known to have a multitude of benefits – including reducing perceived stress, lowering inflammation in the body and even promoting brain health. In fact, researchers understand that the majority of our daily communication is nonverbal, and traumatic memories are encoded, or stored, in nonverbal parts of the brain. We also know that stress and trauma live in the body. So it makes sense that, through guided practices, movement can be leveraged to tell stories, embody and release emotions and help people “move” forward.

Dance and movement therapy sessions place an emphasis on fostering creativity and adaptability in order to help people develop greater cognitive flexibility, self-regulation and self-direction. This is especially important because research shows that early-life experiences and how children learn to cope with them can have a lasting impact on their health into adulthood.

According to the Child Mind Institute Children’s Mental Health Report, 80% of children with anxiety disorders are not receiving the treatment they require. This might be due to barriers such as clinician availability and cultural literacy, cost and accessibility, and stigma surrounding mental health conditions and treatment.

In this ice-breaker exercise, study participants created a dream catcher by tossing strings of yarn to one another, introducing themselves and then tossing the string to another child across the room.
David Dalton, CC BY-ND

We are finding that dance and movement therapy and other group behavioral health programs can help fill important gaps. For instance, these strategies can be used in combination with services people are already receiving. And they can provide an accessible and affordable option in school and community settings. Dance and movement therapy can also instill coping skills and relaxation techniques that, once learned, can last a lifetime.

But does it work?

Our research and that of others are showing that dance and movement therapy can build up children’s sense of self-worth, improve their ability to regulate their emotions and reactions and empower them to overcome obstacles.

Much like yoga and meditation, dance and movement therapy has, at the root of its practice, a focus on deep breathing through the diaphragm. This intentional breathing movement physically pushes on and activates the vagus nerve, which is a large nerve that coordinates a number of biological processes in the body. When I work with kids, I call this form of breathing and nerve activation their “superpower.” Whenever they need to calm down, they can take a deep breath, and by engaging their vagus nerve, they can bring their bodies to a more restful and less reactive state.

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An analysis of 23 clinical research studies indicated that dance and movement therapy may be an effective and appropriate method for child, adult and elderly patients experiencing a wide array of symptoms – including psychiatric patients and those with developmental disorders. And for both healthy individuals and patients, the authors concluded that dance and movement therapy was most effective for reducing the severity of anxiety compared with other symptoms. Research from our team has also shown promise for the benefits of dance and movement therapy in reducing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety in youth who resettle as refugees.

We have scaled up these programs and brought them into the virtual classroom for six schools throughout the metro Detroit region during the pandemic.

Perhaps the most promising evidence for dance and movement therapy isn’t, as the saying goes, what the eyes cannot see. In this case, it is what the eyes can see: children releasing their streamers, their negative emotions and memories, waving goodbye to them and looking ahead to a new day.

Lana Ruvolo Grasser, Ph.D. Candidate and Graduate Research Fellow, Wayne State University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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