[New Study] Couples & Blood Pressure

New research shows blood pressure in couples is often similar 😮

Most of us would think that blood pressure is an individual thing, but this was a fascinating study that showed it could be linked to your partner!

The study (published in the Journal of the American Heart Association) looked at blood pressure data from thousands of couples in the US, England, China, and India.

Overall, they found that if your partner has high blood pressure, you are more likely to have it too.

For example, wives whose husbands had high blood pressure were 9% more likely to also have high blood pressure in the US & England, 19% in India, and 26% in China.

The study didn’t look at WHY, but maybe it’s worth committing to some heart-healthy activities with your partner ❤️

Reference

Varghese JS, Lu P, Choi D, et al. Spousal Concordance of Hypertension Among Middle-Aged and Older Heterosexual Couples Around the World: Evidence From Studies of Aging in the United States, England, China, and India. J Am Heart Assoc. 2023;12(24):e030765. [link]

Psilocybin: Myths & Facts

🍄 Results from the largest clinical trial of psilocybin to date 🍄

Psilocybin is a psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms. 

But unlike magic mushrooms, which are used as a recreational drug for their hallucinogenic effects, psilocybin is being researched in the area of mental health. 

Now, the largest clinical trial of psilocybin to date has just been published in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

🌎 233 participants living in 10 different countries participated. They all had depression that was not responding to standard treatments. 

For the trial, participants received psychological support along with a single dose of a proprietary form of synthetic psilocybin (either 25 mg, 10 mg, or 1 mg as the control). 

Here were the results:

✅ Compared with the 1 mg dose, the 25 mg dose (but not the 10 mg dose) of psilocybin led to significant improvement in depression symptoms at week 3.

✅ 37% of the people in the 25 mg group met the criteria for response (more than 50% improvement) at week 3.

✅ 20% of the people in the 25 mg group maintained benefits by week 12. 

✅ Side effects occurred in a total of 77% of all participants and included headache, nausea, and dizziness.

What’s particularly interesting is the long-lasting effects of psilocybin. This study only tracked results for 12 weeks, but an earlier study found the effects of just 2 doses of psilocybin lasted up to 12 months. 

Most countries have some level of regulation or prohibition of psilocybin as an illegal drug, but some states in the US have recently legalized psilocybin mushrooms for medical use. 

It’s a hot controversy—what do you think?

Reference

Goodwin GM, Aaronson ST, Alvarez O, et al. Single-Dose Psilocybin for a Treatment-Resistant Episode of Major Depression. N Engl J Med. 2022;387(18):1637-1648. [link]