Jeff Cassman

Omega-3 fatty acids in the diet can prevent this serious disorder.

Problems with vision can be a sign of omega-3 deficiency, research suggests.

Age-related macular degeneration disorder is an eye disease which is linked to omega-3 fatty acids deficiency.

Macular degeneration is a common medical condition, affecting a large group of the population at age 40 and older.

Deterioration of the macula, an area of the retina, can result in losing central vision but not complete blindness.

A review of nine studies on 90,000 people found that a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids was associated with a 38 percent reduction in the risk of age-related macular degeneration.

Omega-3 fatty acids are polyunsaturated fats considered to be essential as our body cannot produce them and so they are obtained from the diet.

These type of fats are mostly found in oily fish (fatty fish) and have many health benefits, therefore they known as “good” fats.

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) are the main types of omega 3 fatty acids.

Fatty fish such as salmon, trout, herring, sardines, and fish oils, including cod liver oil, are high in EPA and DHA.

ALA is found in fats from plant foods such as nuts and seeds — walnuts and rapeseed are good sources of this nutrient.

Age-related macular degeneration is a leading cause of sight loss which affects about 3 million people in the U.S. and more than 600,000 people in the UK.

Early signs of macular degeneration includes fuzzy, blurry and impaired vision, difficulty reading or seeing details like recognising faces or watching television.

A study found that having one or more servings of fish per week reduced the risk of age-related macular degeneration by 42 percent.

The authors said:

“This lower risk appeared to be due primarily to consumption of canned tuna fish and dark-meat fish.”

Dark-meat fish in this study included salmon, sardines, bluefish, mackerel, and swordfish.

Knowing how dietary essential omega-3 fatty acids work can be useful in treating and prevention of different disorders.

It appears that DHA is the key since it generates signaling molecules called docosanoids where there is a disruption within cells due to a disease or an injury.

Docosanoids can protect neurons by controlling specific genes in the brain and retina and asking the genes how to respond.

Moreover, DHA from the liver is concentrated in photoreceptors, a type of cell in the retina that responds to light.

Retinal degeneration including macular degeneration occurs when photoreceptors cannot get enough DHA.

When a gene that controls the DHA uptake is turned off then photoreceptors die and mutation of an amino acid in these cells leads to a disorder of the eyes that causes loss of vision known as retinitis pigmentosa.

Two studies were published in Arch Ophthalmol (Chong et al., 2008); (Christen et al., 2011); the other study was published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry (Asatryan et al., 2017).

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One in five suicides around the world is caused by this and the figure is rising.

Unemployment is linked to 45,000 suicides around the world each year, a new study finds.

This represents around one in five of the total number of global suicides.

The research, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, gathered data from 63 countries between 2000 and 2011 (Nordt et al., 2015).

They found that the risk of suicide due to unemployment had risen between 20 and 30 per cent across all regions of the world.

Also, since the period included the start of the recession in 2008, they were able to look at its effect.

Dr. Carlos Nordt, who led the study, said:

“After the crisis year in 2008, the number of suicides increased short-term by 5,000 cases.

Therefore, suicides associated with unemployment totaled a nine-fold higher number of deaths than excess suicides attributed to the most recent economic crisis.”

It’s not just the unemployment itself that is linked to suicide, it’s the period leading up to it when employees can face an uncertain and stressful few months, or even longer.

Suicide and unemployment

In some countries the impact of unemployment is worse, as the team explains:

“…our data suggest that not all job losses necessarily have an equal impact, as the effect on suicide risk appears to be stronger in countries where being out of work is uncommon.

It is possible that an unexpected increase in the unemployment rate may trigger greater fears and insecurity than in countries with higher pre-crisis unemployment levels.”

Dr Wolfram Kawohl, one of the study’s authors, said:

“The development on the job market was obviously anticipated and the uncertainty regarding the development of the economic situation already seems to have negative consequences.

Training for specialists such as those in the human resources department is needed to recognize this increased suicide risk in people both in and out of work more effectively and to help deal with the problem.”

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The way of thinking about relationship sacrifices that is linked to satisfaction.

People who make sacrifices in their relationship because they want to are more satisfied, research finds.

Those who make sacrifices because they feel pressured into it are less satisfied.

The difference could help to explain why some relationships work, and others don’t.

Sometimes couples appear to be working well together, but underneath the story is different.

Dr Heather Patrick, the study’s first author, said:

“It’s important to understand what makes positive relationships positive and what might undermine positive experiences.”

The conclusions come from a study in which 266 men and women documented their own and their partner’s pro-relationship behaviours for two weeks.

Pro-relationship behaviours are any sacrifices made out of consideration for the other person.

Partners who carried out more of these selfless behaviours because they wanted to felt closer to their mate and were more committed and more satisfied.

The study was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Patrick et al., 2007).

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How to reduce the damage done by this depressive personality trait.

The personality trait of perfectionism is linked to higher depression risk, a review of ten different studies finds.

People who are perfectionists are worried about making mistakes and they tend to be heavily critical of themselves.

They feel pressure from society to perform to a high standard and they think others are continually judging their performance.

When perfectionists fail to meet their lofty standards, they tend to get depressed.

Practicing self-acceptance or self-compassion is one of the best ways of dealing with perfectionist tendencies (see my ebook).

The conclusions come from research collecting together the results of 10 separate studies including 1,758 people.

The results showed that neuroticism, or ‘negative emotionality’ is the personality trait most strongly linked to depression.

However, being a perfectionist is associated with an additional risk.

The authors explain their results:

“In our meta-analysis of 10 longitudinal studies composed of undergraduate, community member, psychiatric patient, outpatient and medical student samples, neuroticism was the strongest predictor of change in depressive symptoms.

Even so, all seven perfectionism dimensions still predicted change in depressive symptoms beyond neuroticism.”

One aspect of perfectionism is feeling societal pressure.

The authors write:

“…socially prescribed perfectionism, concern over mistakes, doubts about actions, self-criticism, and perfectionistic attitudes add incrementally to understanding change in depressive symptoms beyond neuroticism.”

Perfectionism is problematic because high standards are so hard to reach consistently.

The authors write:

“…people high in perfectionistic concerns appear to think, feel and behave in ways that have depressogenic consequences [causing depression].

Such people believe others hold lofty expectations for them, and often feel incapable of living up to the perfection they perceive others demand.

They may agonize about perceived failures and have doubts about performance abilities because they experience their social world as judgmental, pressure-filled and unyielding.”

The study was published in the European Journal of Personality (Smith et al., 2016).

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