geoffrey modest medical blogs

  a recent meta-analysis found that using bright light therapy (BLT) as an adjunctive therapy is associated with decreased depression symptoms even in individuals without seasonal affective disorder (see depression bright light in nonseasonal JAMApsych2025  in dropbox, or doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.2871). thanks to Talya Salant for bringing this to my attention.   Details : --11 unique randomized controlled trials were found from 2000-2024 with 858 patients assessing the effect on depression response with vs without added BLT     -- 7 of these studies were in patients with major depressive disorder: one study of patients with severe MDD, most others had patients with moderate or severe depression; 3 had patients with bipolar disorder, and 1 had both     -- intervention group: 9 studies exposed the intervention group to 10,000 lux bright light therapy (BLT) for 30-60 minutes, one study used 7000 lux, and 1 study 2...

  A recent article assessed the impact of moderate alcohol consumption in people on long-haul airplane flights (see alcohol dec ox sat in plane thorax2024  in dropbox, or doi:10.1136/thorax-2023-220998).   Details : -- two groups of healthy individuals spent two nights with a 4-hour sleep opportunity in a sleep laboratory     -- control group: 23 individuals, under conditions of normobaric normoxia at 53 m altitude corresponding to air pressure of 1010 hPa     -- In-Flight Group: 17 individuals, in simulated crew-rest compartment in the altitude chamber corresponding to air pressure decreased to 753 hPa, simulating the minimal pressure inside an airplane cabin at cruising altitude; there was also realistic noise that had been recorded in a prior flight (70 db(A)) -- these two groups were assessed one night without any alcohol consumption and one night with recent alcohol consumption     -- the amount of alcohol wa...

  A recent study found that sleep quality was the strongest predictor of sleep-related indicators affecting quality-of-life ( see  sleep quality assoc with QOL Plos2023 in dropbox, or   https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0282085   )   Details : -- longitudinal data from the Czech Household Panel Study of 4523 respondents in 2155 households, from 2018-2020 -- no information provided on the demographics, comorbidities, or medications taken -- definitions:     -- sleep duration: assessing the number of hours of sleep both on free days as well as on workdays, specifically the time respondents usually fell asleep and woke up     -- sleep quality: a subjective 4-point response to how patients would rate their quality of sleep, from very bad to very good     -- social jetlag: the mid-sleep time on free days versus workdays (ie sleep changes related to social arrangements o...