The New York Times (9/9, Reynolds) reports, “Exercise makes it easier to bounce back from too much stress, according to a fascinating new study with mice.” The study “finds that regular exercise increases the levels of a chemical in the animals’ brains that helps them remain psychologically resilient and plucky, even when their lives seem suddenly strange, intimidating and filled with threats.” While “the study involved mice…it is likely to have implications for our species, too, as we face the stress and discombobulation of the ongoing pandemic and today’s political and social disruptions.” The study was published in August in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Related Links:

— “Exercise May Make It Easier to Bounce Back From Stress “Gretchen Reynolds, The New York Times, September 9, 2020

The Wall Street Journal (9/8, Kamp, Campo-Flores, Subscription Publication) reports the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the opioid crisis with deaths from opioid overdoses continuing to increase in many parts of the US.

Related Links:

— “The Opioid Crisis, Already Serious, Has Intensified During Coronavirus Pandemic “Jon Kamp and Arian Campo-Flores, The Wall Street Journal, September 8, 2020

NPR (9/8, Noguchi) reports “eating disorders are thriving during the” current COVID-19 pandemic. In recent months, “hotline calls to the National Eating Disorders Association are up 70-80%.” For some people, “eating is a form of control – a coping mechanism tied to stress.” Eating disorders also pose a “lethal threat,” having “the second-highest mortality rate of any psychiatric diagnosis – outranked only by opioid use disorder.”

Related Links:

— “Eating Disorders Thrive In Anxious Times, And Pose A Lethal Threat “Yuki Noguchi, NPR, September 8, 2020

USA Today (9/5, Ayres) reported, “During the pandemic, doctors in many parts of the country have connected with their patients online instead of in person for everyone’s safety.” Those “patients who had adapted to connecting to family and friends via video smoothly transitioned to seeing their physicians that way too, minimizing a lot of potential technical difficulties.” According to USA Today, “This situational advance of telemedicine has left many doctors and patients hoping it will continue to be an option even when life returns to ‘normal.’”

Related Links:

— “During COVID-19, many doctors and patients are using telehealth to keep connected “Amy Sinatra Ayres, USA Today, September 5, 2020

The New York Times (9/7, Goldberg) reports, “Early on in the pandemic, a pervasive myth among patients and some health authorities was the idea that Covid-19 was a short-term illness.” It’s only been “in recent months” that “more attention [has] been given to long-haulers.” For instance, the Times adds that “in online support groups like Body Politic and Survivor Corps, long-haulers have produced informal surveys and reports to study their course of illness,” and in one support group, “dozens wrote that their months of illness have contributed to anxiety and depression, exacerbated by the difficulties of accessing medical services and disruptions to their work, social and exercise routines.”

Related Links:

— “For Long-Haulers, Covid-19 Takes a Toll on Mind as Well as Body “Emma Goldberg, The New York Times, September 7, 2020