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Homophobic name-calling harms mental health of teens Homophobic name-calling whether as friendly banter or traumatic bullying has a damaging impact on the mental health of adolescents, says a research study led by Dr. Kai Lin, a sociologist and criminologist at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). “Those who experienced homophobic name-calling, regardless of intention, reported a range of negative psychological and behavioural outcomes. These include depressive symptoms and a decreased sense of belonging at school,” says Dr. Lin. The study, published in the Journal of School Violence (June), covered data from a large sample of students in 36 midwestern middle schools in the US. According to the study findings, 44 percent of teenagers reported being called names such as “homo” or “gay” with 17 percent of homophobic name-calling from friends, which though was not as damaging as when it was from a rival or stranger, it still adversely impacted mental health. Moreover male children who are seen as ‘unmasculine’, regardless of their sexual orientation, were more often the target of homophobic name-calling. Dental problems lead to brain shrinkage Poor dental health can lead to a decline in brain volume, and increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, says a study published in the journal Neurology (2023). The study found that gum diseases and tooth loss lead to shrinkage in the hippocampus, which is responsible for memory/retention. “Tooth loss and gum disease are very common, so evaluating a potential link with dementia is incredibly important. Our study found that these conditions may play a role in the health of the brain area that controls thinking and memory, giving people another reason to take better care of their teeth,” says Satoshi Yamaguchi of the Division of Aging and Geriatric Dentistry at Tohoku University, Japan. The study which evaluated 172 people found that people with mild gum disease and fewer teeth recorded a faster rate of brain shrinkage in the left hippocampus. However, people with severe gum disease but more teeth had a faster rate of brain shrinkage in the same area of the brain. The study concludes that for people with mild gum disease, the increase in the rate of brain shrinkage due to one less tooth was equivalent to nearly one year of brain ageing. Positive parenting protects children’s brain damage According to a study published in the medical journal PNAS Nexus (June), “positive” parenting — defined by researchers as warm, supportive, validating, and responsive — has a protective effect on children aged 10-17 years who experienced major stress as an outcome of illness, poverty, or the death of a loved one. Stress places children at higher risk of behaviour problems and decreased volumes of hippocampus — a vulnerable tissue in the brain that plays a critical role in learning and memory. Stressed youth, however, who experienced “high levels” of positive parenting didn’t suffer such consequences, according to researchers who surveyed 500 older children and examined MRIs of their brains. On the other hand, children who reported negative parenting didn’t experience any…