Josep Maria Suelves

Avoiding social media for a week can reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and insomnia, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. The study measured the mental health of a group of 373 people aged 18 to 24 in the US before and after a week without using Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, or X. The authors caution that the durability of these results and their associations with behaviour require further research.

According to a study published in the journal JAMA Health Forum, the use of the benzodiazepine lorazepam by the character Victoria Ratliff in the series The White Lotus was associated in the United States with an increase in Google searches for this medication, including queries about how to obtain it online. The series generated 1.6 million more searches than usual over a 12-week period. Although the study reflects searches for information and not actual consumption, the abuse of anti-anxiety drugs is a fact: illegal sales of benzodiazepines have increased in the United States, and Spain leads the rankings in terms of consumption.

A man's exposure to second-hand smoke during childhood may increase his children's risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema, according to research published in the journal Thorax. Although this is an observational study from which no firm conclusions about causality can be drawn, the authors believe that their findings could be due, at least in part, to a type of epigenetic inheritance and ‘suggest that smoking may adversely affect lung function not only in smokers, but also in their children and grandchildren.’

A team from the United Kingdom has conducted an umbrella review, or review of reviews, on the risks of vaping among young people. After analysing 56 reviews including 384 studies, their conclusions are that vaping is subsequently associated with increased consumption of tobacco, marijuana and alcohol. It is also associated with an increased risk of asthma, coughing, injuries and mental health problems. The results are published in the journal Tobacco Control.

Coinciding with the World Conference on Tobacco Control - to be held June 23-25 in Dublin, Ireland - the World Health Organization (WHO) is releasing its report on the global tobacco epidemic, responsible for more than seven million deaths worldwide each year. The WHO warns that "action is needed to maintain and accelerate progress in tobacco control, as increasing industry interference calls into question tobacco control policies and efforts.

A paper published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine has analyzed new cases of lung cancer worldwide during the year 2022. While the incidence in women continues to approach that of men, the decrease in tobacco consumption in many countries causes the proportion of cases in non-smokers to increase. This increase is associated with air pollution, especially in countries such as China. 

Results from a cohort study of more than 100,000 people reveal the strong and persistent association of headache diagnoses with attempted and completed suicide. The authors suggest that behavioural health assessment and treatment may be important for these patients. The paper is published today in the journal JAMA Neurology. 

In a group of people at high cardiovascular risk, low to moderate wine consumption was associated with fewer cardiovascular events (cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke or heart failure), according to a study. The analysis uses urinary concentrations of tartaric acid, a substance found in grapes and grape derivatives, as a biomarker of wine consumption. It finds that consuming between three and 35 glasses per month was associated with fewer cardiovascular events than in people who consumed fewer than three or more than 35 glasses. The study, published in the European Heart Journal, included more than 1,200 participants from Spain's PREDIMED study with an average age of 68 years.

An international team with Spanish participation has analysed which day of the week has the highest risk of suicide mortality, and it is Monday. The research, published in The BMJ, includes more than 1,700,000 suicide cases registered in 26 countries - including Spain - from 1971 to 2019. The data also show a sharp increase in the risk of suicide on New Year's Day in most of the countries analysed. Taking these results into account, the authors propose that they should be used to define plans and awareness-raising campaigns.

If lifetime tobacco consumption were banned among young people currently aged 14 to 18, 1,200,000 lung cancer deaths worldwide could be prevented in the future, according to a study with Spanish involvement published in the journal The Lancet Public Health. The greatest impact would occur in low- and middle-income countries, but in higher-income regions, more than 60% of lung cancer deaths in that age group would also be avoided.