Dr. John's Health Matters
Welcome to Dr. John's Health Matters blog.
The articles posted here are from various sources who are duly acknowledged. I would appreciate being immediately notified, if any copywritten material needs to be removed. This blog is not intended to replace the qualified advice of a licensed health practitioner. Readers should exercise their own judgment. Enjoy, subscribe, participate and tell others :)
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Posts tagged "behaviour"
Tuesday, Sep 1st, 2009 ↓Tags: workplace job work stress bullying bully sleep disturbance disorder suicide prevention risk violence harassment behaviour hostile
Study Shines Light On Night-time Alertness →
Aug 29, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—The circadian system is not the only pathway involved in determining alertness at night. Research described in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience showed that red light, which does not stimulate the circadian system, is just as effective at increasing night-time alertness as blue light, which does.
Mariana Figueiro worked with a team of researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York, supported by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), to study the effects of the different lighting conditions. She said, “It is now well accepted that the circadian system is maximally sensitive to short-wavelength (blue) light and is quite insensitive to long-wavelength (red) light. We’ve shown that a moderate level of red light impacts alertness, an effect that must occur via a pathway other than the circadian system”.
Circadian rhythms are roughly 24-hour cycles in various biological processes, such as core body temperature, melatonin synthesis and sleep–wake behavior, that repeat approximately every 24 hours and are synchronized most strongly by the light–dark cycle in the environment. Bright light is known to increase alertness at night, but it has never been completely clear whether this light-induced alertness can arise from neural pathways other than those involved in the circadian system.
According to Figueiro, “There is previous compelling evidence that light-induced stimulation of the circadian system increases alertness at night, but our results suggest that this effect is mediated not only by the circadian system, but also through other mechanisms”.
Journal reference:
- Mariana G Figueiro, Andrew Bierman, Barbara Plitnick and Mark S Rea. Preliminary evidence that both blue and red light can induce alertness at night. BMC Neuroscience, 2009; (in press) [link]
Tags: light alertness night sleep red blue behaviour stimulation cycle light-dark circadian system
7% of 5th graders unhappy with body size: study →
Aug 27, 2009 (Cbc.ca)—Canadian children as young as 10 years old may benefit from programs to improve satisfaction with body shape, say researchers who studied the relationship between body size and happiness.
The study of 4,254 Nova Scotia fifth graders suggests girls were happiest when thinnest while boys were unhappy when they were too skinny or too fat.
“With the substantial prevalence of poor body satisfaction, public health initiatives designed to improve body satisfaction along with promotion of healthy eating and active living in children as young as 10 and 11 years are appropriate and warranted,” researchers from Harvard University in Boston and the University of Alberta concluded in Thursday’s issue of BMC Public Health.
The relationship between poor body satisfaction and increased risk of eating disorder behaviours such as use of vomiting, laxatives and diet pills is well established.
For full article, see link above.
Tags: body size self confidence body image happiness children child kid satisfaction promotion healthy eating active living risk eating disorder behaviour vomiting laxative diet pill weight
Antidepressant Commonly Prescribed for Autism Found Utterly Useless →
Aug 26, 2009 (NaturalNews.com)— The antidepressant Celexa, commonly prescribed to alleviate some symptoms of autism in children, has no medical benefit in such patients, while exposing them to a significant risk of side effects.
Researchers treated 149 autistic children between the ages of five and 17 with either Celexa (generic name citalopram) or a placebo for 12 weeks. While one third of the patients who took Celexa showed improvement in symptoms over the study period, just as many patients showed improvement on the placebo. Children who took Celexa were twice as likely to suffer from side effects, including insomnia and impulsiveness, as children who took a placebo.
Lead researcher Bryan King noted that doctors prescribing drugs for “off-label” uses not approved by the FDA — often uses for which few studies of effectiveness or safety have been done — may think the treatment is actually working because of strong placebo effects like that seen in this study.
Celexa is an antidepressant in the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. Because many SSRIs have shown some effectiveness in treating the symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder in adults, growing numbers of pediatricians are turning to the drugs to treat obsessive, repetitive behaviors in autistic children. Many autistic children are prone to carry out repetitive behaviors like counting or arm flapping almost uncontrollably, often flying into a tantrum if interrupted.
For full article, see link above.
Tags: autism symptom side effect risk danger childrem behaviour celexa insomnia impulse antidepressant serotonin aggression risperidone
Young Women Exercise Less Than Young Men →
Aug 25, 2009 (Mercola.com)—Despite mounting public health concerns about obesity, young women in their 20’s consistently exercise less than young men, according to a new study.
The disparities in health behaviors the study reveals are consistent with disparities in the prevalence of obesity, particular among women.
The study is based on data obtained every two years from more than 17,000 men and women. The researchers looked at trends in several different health behaviors. They measured how often participants reported eating breakfast, how often they exercised vigorously, how often they got at least seven hours of sleep, and how much television they watched.
Sources:
Eurekalert August 21, 2009Tags: exercise women woman prevention physical activity men man obesity behaviour breakfast consumption vigorously sleep television prevention risk
Tags: nap sleep memory stress longevity behaviour efficiency nerve survival energy metabolic rate protection
Family Quarrels Can Promote Headaches In Children, Study Finds →
Aug 21, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Family quarrels and a lack of free time can promote headaches in children. This is what Jennifer Gassmann and her coauthors concluded in their study on risk factors, which appears in the current issue of the Deutsches Ärzteblatt International.
This investigation was a component of a large-scale study entitled “Children, Adolescents, and Headache” (Kinder, Jugendliche und Kopfschmerz—KiJuKo), in which data were collected in four annual “waves” from 2003 to 2006. Out of a multitude of variables tested in the larger study, the authors chose to look at the ones that concerned the children’s family and leisure time. Up to 30% of all children around the world complain of headache symptoms arising at least once per week.
Boys who experienced more than one family quarrel per week had a 1.8 times higher risk of developing headaches. The amount of free time available to them seemed to be even more important: boys who only sometimes had time to themselves had a 2.1 times higher risk of developing headaches.
Parents’ behavior when their child complains of headache also seemed to play a major role. Either positive or negative reinforcement from the parents teaches the child that he or she can gain certain advantages from headache symptoms. The parents’ responses had a particularly strong effect on the frequency of symptoms in girls: reinforcing parental responses raised their risk of recurrent headaches by 25%.
The sexes also differed with respect to the frequency of headache. Twice as many girls as boys had their symptoms at least once a week. The children’s age, however, seemed to have no more than a minor effect on headache manifestations.
Journal reference:
- Jennifer Gaßmann, Nuria Vath, Hester van Gessel, Birgit Kröner-Herwig. Risk Factors for Headache in Children. Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, 2009; 106 (31-32): 509-16
Tags: headache family arguement fighting quarrel risk children child adolescent parent behaviour
Omega-3, vitamin E mix shows potential for autistic speech →
Aug 19, 2009 (Nutraingredients.com)—A combination of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E may lead to speech improvements in autistic children with verbal disorders, suggests a new study.
Verbal apraxia is a speech disorder common in autism, and an estimated 50 per cent of children with autism have apraxia. Furthermore, many thousands more are reported to have apraxia but are not autistic.
According to new research published in the journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, daily supplements of omega-3 and vitamin E were associated with improvements in speech, imitation, eye contact, and behaviour.
Claudia Morris from the Children’s Hospital and Research Center Oakland (CHRCO) and Marilyn Agin from the Saint Vincent Medical Center in New York recruited families with experiences of omega-3 fatty acid and vitamin E supplementation. The majority of families used doses of 800 IU of vitamin E, while the average omega-3 consumption was 280 to 840 mg DHA and 695 to 2,085mg EPA.
The ratios and dosages determined through the work with the study led to a patent for Dr Morris through the CHRCO (US patent # 2008/002216). The patented formulation is licensed exclusively to Illinois-based NourishLife from CHRCO.
Kate Bolton, VP of speech nutrients at NourishLife, told NutraIngredients: “The results of the study are significant in that 97 per cent of the participants with apraxia and/or on the autism spectrum reported dramatic improvements while taking a combination of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E.
“The study represents the largest summary of children with apraxia to date,” she added.
“Antidotal evidence had previously shown that omega-3 can help children with apraxia and those known as ‘late talkers’. The researchers discovered that they symptoms presented by children with apraxia mirror those of vitamin E deficiency,” said Bolton. “The addition of high dose vitamin E with omega-3 fatty acids is the breakthrough.”
For full article see link above.
Tags: vitamin e omega 3 fatty acid speech improvement autistic children child kid verbal disorder apraxia imitation eye contact behaviour supplement
Tags: suicidal drug abuse substance victimization LGBT social stigma lesbian gay bisexual transgender sexual behaviour eating disorder youth teen adolescent gender identity treatment healthcare
Tags: personality trait worrying smoking risk premature death mortality behaviour negative stress drinking alcohol neuroticism anxiety depression drug use
Certain Behavioral Traits And Feeding Practices May Increase Risk For Weight Gain In Children →
Aug 14, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Many clinicians and public health officials view parental involvement as an essential part of solving the current childhood obesity epidemic. However, it’s important for parents to use the right approach when trying to combat childhood obesity. Restrictive feeding practices, or forbidding certain foods, may not always be the best solution. A child’s inhibitory control, a behavior similar to self-control, may be more important than parental restrictions.
An article and related editorial soon to be published in The Journal of Pediatrics, explore the relationship between a child’s low inhibitory control, parental restrictive feeding practices, and childhood weight gain.
Stephanie Anzman, MS, and Leann Birch, PhD, of the Center for Childhood Obesity Research at Pennsylvania State University studied 197 non-Hispanic white girls. They collected information from the girls and their parents over a 10-year period, beginning when the girls were 5 years old. In addition to recording their body mass index (BMI), the researchers asked the girls whether their parents restricted or forbade certain foods. The researchers also recorded the parents’ BMI, income, and education level. Additionally, mothers were asked to describe their child’s level of self-control.
Anzman and Birch found that girls with lower self-control had higher BMIs and gained more weight than those girls who demonstrated better self-regulation. Girls with lower self-control were almost twice as likely to be overweight by the age of 15. The authors also noticed a relationship between a child’s perception of parental restrictive feeding practices and weight gain. In other words, the combination of high parental restriction and low self-control put girls at the highest risk for weight gain among the group studied.
According to Ms. Anzman, “Parental attempts to help children with lower self-control by restricting their access to favorite snack foods can make the forbidden foods more attractive, thereby exacerbating the problem.” She suggests that parents can help their children learn to control their eating habits by allowing them to choose between healthy options. She adds that it is often better to not keep restricted foods in the house. “That way,” she explains, “it is not necessary to constantly tell children they cannot have the foods they want.”
For full article see link above.
Tags: behaviour risk eating pattern weight gain children child kid obesity control overweight restrictive feeding access food forbidden prevention
Healthy Lifestyle Habits May Be Associated With Reduced Risk Of Chronic Disease →
Aug 12, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Four healthy lifestyle factors—never smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly and following a healthy diet—together appear to be associated with as much as an 80 percent reduction in the risk of developing the most common and deadly chronic diseases, according to a report in the August 10/24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes—chronic diseases that together account for most deaths—are largely preventable, according to background information in the article. “An impressive body of research has implicated modifiable lifestyle factors such as smoking, physical activity, diet and body weight in the causes of these diseases,” the authors write.
To further describe the reduction in risk associated with these factors, Earl S. Ford, M.D., M.P.H., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, and colleagues assessed data from 23,513 German adults age 35 to 65. At the beginning of the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition–Potsdam (EPIC-Potsdam) study—between 1994 and 1998—participants completed an assessment of their body weight and height, a personal interview that included questions about diseases, a questionnaire on sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics and a food frequency questionnaire.
Their responses were assessed for adherence to four healthy lifestyle factors: never smoking, having a body mass index lower than 30, exercising for at least three and a half hours per week and following healthy dietary principles (for example, having a diet with high consumption of fruits and vegetables while limiting meat consumption). Follow-up questionnaires were administered every two to three years.
Most participants had one to three of these health factors, fewer than 4 percent had zero healthy factors and 9 percent had all four factors. Over an average of 7.8 years of follow-up, 2,006 participants developed new cases of diabetes (3.7 percent), heart attack (0.9 percent), stroke (0.8 percent) or cancer (3.8 percent).
After adjusting for age, sex, education level and occupation, individuals with more healthy lifestyle factors were less likely to develop chronic diseases. Participants who had all four factors at the beginning of the study had a 78 percent lower risk of developing any of the chronic diseases during the follow-up period than those who had none of the healthy factors. The four factors were associated with a 93 percent reduced risk of diabetes, 81 percent reduced risk of heart attack, 50 percent reduced risk of stroke and 36 percent reduced risk of cancer.
The largest reduction in risk was associated with having a BMI lower than 30, followed by never smoking, at least 3.5 hours of physical activity and then adhering to good dietary principles.
“Our results reinforce current public health recommendations to avoid smoking, to maintain a healthy weight, to engage in physical activity appropriately and to eat adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables and foods containing whole grains and to partake of red meat prudently,” the authors write. “Because the roots of these factors often originate during the formative stages of life, it is especially important to start early in teaching the important lessons concerning healthy living.”
Journal reference:
- Earl S. Ford; Manuela M. Bergmann; Janine Kroger; Anja Schienkiewitz; Cornelia Weikert; Heiner Boeing. Healthy Living Is the Best Revenge: Findings From the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition-Potsdam Study. Arch Intern Med., 2009; 169 (15): 1355-1362 [link]
Tags: lifestyle behaviour prevention smoking cigarette exercise activity physical vegetable fruit diet nutrition chronic disease
Tags: heart cardiovascular blood mood behaviour optimistic positive women woman pessimistic death dying prevention optimism
Smoking, Binge Drinking: Double-threat To Teen Health →
Aug 11, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—As teens head back to school, health teachers may want to revise their lesson plans. Temple researchers have found that kids who engage in heavy drinking will more than likely also engage in heavy smoking, and they say educators can help combat the trend by addressing both topics as one health risk.
“These are important findings because they emphasize the need for education and intervention programs that target the co-occurrence of these two health risks,” said Brian Daly, assistant professor of public health in the College of Health Professions and Social Work.
Daly and colleagues in the department of public health and psychology determined rates of smoking and binge drinking through the collection of anonymous survey data from 2,450 African-American, Hispanic and Caucasian students in grades 9-12 at Philadelphia public high schools. Students’ responses were compiled from the 2007 Philadelphia Youth Behavioral Risk Survey (YRBS).
Respondents were asked how many cigarettes they’d had per day over 30 days, and how many days over a 30 day period they’d had 5 or more drinks in a row. Data was broken down by race/ethnicity and gender. Researchers found that while Caucasian adolescents were more likely than African-Americans to engage in either binge drinking or smoking, both groups were equally likely to engage in both at the same time.
For full article see link above.
Tags: smoking cigarette drinking alcohol adolescent teen teenager binge risk behaviour
TV And Computer Screen Time May Be Associated With High Blood Pressure In Young Children →
Aug 4, 2009 (Sciencedailycom)—Sedentary behaviors such as TV viewing and “screen time” involving computer use, videos and video games appear to be associated with elevated blood pressure in children, independent of body composition, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
The recent trend in obesity is a major public health concern and its effect on blood pressure is of particular concern, according to background information in the article. “The clustering of cardiovascular disease risk factors in overweight youth suggests that risks may be immediate and not just indicative of potential future problems,” the authors write. Although elevated blood pressure is associated with genetic factors, healthy physical, dietary and sleep habits seem to be relevant contributors to blood pressure levels in children. However, there have not been any clear links between sedentary behavior and elevated blood pressure in children younger than age 9.
For full article see link above.
