Tag: Illinois News Bureau

News Bureau: How social media promotion and ease of access increase risks of adolescent inhalant misuse

May 2, 2026 | Diana Yates, News Bureau

Rachel Hoopsick, Assistant Professor in the Department of Health and Kinesiology, studied teens’ misuse of inhalants in two recent papers. (Photo by Michelle Hassel)

Two new studies co-authored by Health and Kinesiology Assistant Professor Rachel Hoopsick offer insights into the spread of nitrous oxide misuse among adolescents.

What Hoopsick found in two studies: Millions of Americans were exposed to content about recreational nitrous oxide use from just 30 social media videos uploaded in early 2025. And younger teens were more likely to engage in inhalant misuse than older adolescents, with teenage girls being more likely to develop inhalant misuse disorder than boys.

Hoopsick led the two studies with University of Mississippi public health professor Andrew Yockey, who will join the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty in August.

“Inhalant use can cause serious harm, including neurologic damage, hearing loss, liver and kidney dysfunction, cardiac arrhythmias, psychological dependence and even sudden death after a single episode of use,” said Hoopsick.

The researchers shared more about their findings with the Illinois News Bureau. Read the story online.

Editor’s note:

To reach Rachel Hoopsick, email hoopsick@illinois.edu
To reach Andrew Yockey, email rayocke1@olemiss.edu
 

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News Bureau: Nature videography replicates the mental health benefits of outdoor activities

April 15, 2026 | Sharita Forrest

A study on nature-based videography took this Recreation, Sport and Tourism doctoral student to parks and forest preserves in Florida

RST graduate student Darcy Lu visited several parks and forest preserves in Florida to record video and sounds as part of a study on nature-based videography’s impact on mindfulness and well-being. Lu, who collected the samples while studying at the University of Florida in 2022, recently published her findings in the Journal of Sustainable Tourism. (Photo by Fred Zwicky / University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)

New research led by a scholar at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign suggests that watching and creating videography of scenic locations cultivates nature-based mindfulness — conveying the same cognitive and emotional benefits as outdoor activities and fostering a deep sense of connection with nature.

Yue (Darcy) Lu, an Illinois doctoral student in Recreation, Sport and Tourism at the College of Applied Health Sciences, conducted a two-phase study that began with an ethnographic exploration of her experiences with mindfulness while she was recording audio and video of scenic destinations in Florida for another project.

Lu text-mined more than 3,000 reviews — which included videography of cherry blossoms and forest bathing in Japan, a live wildlife safari in South Africa and a sunset hike with a geologist in Thailand — to explore whether immersive digital experiences offered the same benefits as physical engagement with nature.

Read the full story online by Illinois News Bureau research editor Sharita Forrest.

Editor’s note:

To reach Yue (Darcy) Lu, email yuel12@illinois.edu

The paper “Videography-facilitated nature-based mindfulness at natural destinations” is available online.

DOI: 10.1080/09669582.2026.2614551
 

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News Bureau: Seven pain-related risk factors that magnify risk for postpartum depression

Feb. 16, 2026 | AHS Staff

In the last decade in the U.S., the highest rates of postpartum depression were among racial and ethnic minority women.

Prof. Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo, center, worked with fellow researchers Melany Romero, left, and Sudhamshi Beeram on a study investigating links between postpartum depression and pain during and after childbirth in racial/ethnic minority women.

(Photo by Fred Zwicky / University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)

A woman’s risk of developing postpartum depression is influenced by several pain-related factors before and after childbirth, including poor pain management, their prenatal mental health and the quality of patient-provider communication, researchers at the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign say.

Health and Kinesiology Associate Professor Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo and her co-authors, graduate students Sudhamshi Beeram and Melany E. Romero, spoke to the Illinois News Bureau’s Sharita Forrest to share the findings of their analysis of postpartum literature: they identified seven interrelated risk factors of postpartum depression in racial and ethnic minority women.

Read the full story on the News Bureau website.

Editor’s note:

To reach Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo, email laracini@illinois.edu.
 

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Khan’s R01 grant aimed at measuring lutein effect on cognitive function

Sept. 15, 2021 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Can spinach and other leafy, green vegetables improve cognitive function? (Fred Zwicky)

Whether you’re a parent or Popeye, you’ve been extolling the virtues of spinach for decades. Now, one of AHS’ researchers is prepared to study the effects of the leafy green vegetable.

KCH Associate Professor Naiman Khan has received an R01 grant from the NIH’s National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for his project titled “Enhancing Children’s Cognitive Function and Achievement through Carotenoid Consumption.” The five-year project has a budget of approximately $3 million.

The overall aim for Dr. Khan and his collaborators—KCH Associate Professor Sean Mullen and Professor Neal Cohen, director of the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Initiative—is to conduct a randomized-controlled clinical trial to test the effects of daily lutein supplementation over nine months on children’s cognitive function and academic achievement.

Lutein is in most fruits and vegetables, but green and yellow foods have the highest amounts. Loaded with iron, vitamin K, and magnesium, spinach is an all-in-one source of many essential vitamins and minerals. It is also high in antioxidants such as lutein, with eight milligrams in one cup. The same serving of cooked spinach has up to 16 milligrams. Kale, corn, bell peppers and parsley are also excellent sources of lutein.

Khan’s research has linked macular pigment optical density (MPOD)—a noninvasive measure of retinal and brain lutein—to greater childhood cognitive function. However, the cognitive implications of lutein and zeaxanthin intake in children have not been directly investigated.

The goal, Khan said, is to provide important knowledge on potential dietary recommendations for supporting achievement and cognitive function in childhood. In other words, can eating spinach help a child excel in school?

Khan’s collaborators also include Charles Hillman at Northeastern University and Lisa Renzi-Hammond at the University of Georgia, with data collection taking place at the Illinois.

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College of Applied Health Sciences
110 Huff Hall
1206 South 4th Street
Champaign, IL 61820
(217) 333-2131