Weekly Health Digest: Sleeping with Socks, Shingles Vaccination, “Electroceutical” Treatments

Socks could really improve your sleep, experts say

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN

Experts at the Cleveland Clinic found that sleeping while wearing socks may improve quality of sleep. 

A study published in 2018 suggested that men who slept wearing socks on average fell asleep 8 minutes faster, slept 32 minutes longer, and woke up in the middle of the night less often than non-sock wearers. Wearing socks to bed warms feet, but it actually lowers overall body heat rather than raises it. As such, maintaining an overall cool body temperature might allow individuals to fall asleep faster. 

During the day, the average core temperature of an adult fluctuates between 97 and 99 degrees Fahrenheit (36.1 C and 37.2 C). That core temperature decreases in the evening as the body prepares to sleep. The body cools down by enlarging blood vessels in the hands and feet, increasing heat loss through the skin. A pair of cozy socks would promote blood circulation through those limbs as they experience heat loss and allow the core of the body to cool. 

For those that prefer not to sleep in socks, researchers have found that a bedroom temperature of about 65 F (18.3 C) follows the same principle, and can keep core temperature low during the night. Additionally, taking warm showers or baths before bed can achieve this same goal.

— by Merom Arthur

Shingles Vaccine Can Decrease Risk of Dementia, Study Finds

By Pam Belluck, The New York Times

A new study published in Nature found that getting vaccinated against shingles might reduce the risk of developing dementia. Specifically, those who received the vaccine were 20 percent less likely to develop dementia in the following seven years than those who did not. 

The same virus responsible for childhood chickenpox, varicella zoster, produces shingles infections, as it typically remains in nerve cells for many years. The virus can reactivate and cause shingles as people grow older and their immune systems become weaker. Shingles patients may experience symptoms like burning, tingling, painful blisters and numbness, which can become chronic and disabling. 

This study’s key finding is not novel; previous studies have also suggested that shingles vaccinations might reduce dementia risk. The authors also noted that people who get vaccinated might also have other dementia-protective characteristics, ranging from healthier lifestyles and better diets to more years of education. 

What makes this study exciting is that its researchers were able to rule out these other factors. They tracked the health records of 280,000 people, aged 71-88 and without dementia, starting when a shingles vaccination rollout began in Wales in 2013. One possible mechanism the researchers proposed as to why the shingles vaccines might be protective against dementia is that, by preventing shingles, the vaccine is also reducing neuroinflammation caused by the reactivation of the virus. 

Experts believe that the findings from this study are important for its health implications in reducing dementia risk, but they note this does not mean that all cases will be prevented. More research is needed to explore the long-term effects of the shingles vaccine on reducing dementia risk. 

— by Alexa Morales

‘Electroceuticals’ are expanding psychiatry’s toolbox

By Katherine Ellison, The Washington Times

People with treatment-resistant depression and OCD are finding relief with deep brain stimulation, or DBS. The treatment uses a device similar to a pacemaker, implanted deep inside the brain, which pulses frequently within areas that regulate mood. 

Electroceuticals are high-tech therapeutic approaches including DBS, transcranial magnetic stimulation, vagus nerve stimulation, and focused ultrasound. These techniques have cultivated both new hope and doubts since their debut over 20 years ago. 

As many as 30 percent of those with major depressive disorder and 60 percent of those with OCD can be classified as “treatment-resistant.” These electroceuticals are promising in being able to treat what was once thought of as impossible cases of neuropathologies. 

Movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease have been successfully treated in many cases using electroceuticals, and new research has found that Parkinson’s, OCD, and depression have similar neurological mechanisms. This sort of therapy can help patients regulate their mood to be more situationally appropriate, which OCD and depression can inhibit. 

DBS, however, still has some time before it becomes widely available. Neurologists, facing limited data and access and surgery risks, are racing to find safe and cost effective electroceuticals to treat psychiatric illness. 

— by Justine Borgia

Items summarized by: Merom Arthur, Alexa Morales, Justine Borgia