Dr. John's Health Matters
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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 "car"
Wednesday, Sep 2nd, 2009 ↓People Who Don't Own A Car And Live Near Fast Food At Greater Risk For Obesity →
Sept 2, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Living without a car in close proximity to fast food restaurants is associated with excess body mass index and weight gain, according to a University of Pittsburgh study available online and published in the September issue of the Journal of Urban Health. Indeed, adults in areas with high fast food concentration who didn’t have a car were as much as 12 pounds heavier than those who lived in neighborhoods that lacked such restaurants.
“Owning a car is generally associated with a more sedentary lifestyle and excess weight gain because people spend more time in their cars and less time walking,” said Sanae Inagami, M.D., study lead author and assistant professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Yet, when Inagami and her colleagues looked at whether a high concentration of fast food restaurants impacted this association, they found that not owning a car in areas where fast food was more readily available increased the risk of obesity.
“Fast food may be specific to weight gain in particular populations and locations,” she said. “People who are less affluent don’t own cars and can’t go distances for healthier foods. As a result, they may end up opting for the lower-priced and high caloric foods available at fast food chains.”
For full article see link above.
Tags: car driving food fast fat obesity restaurant lifestyle sedentary weight gain walking risk overweight neighbourhood
Older Drivers Unaware Of Risks From Medications And Driving →
Aug 13, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Most older drivers are unaware of the potential impact on driving performance associated with taking medications, according to new research from the Center for Injury Sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The findings, released by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, indicate that 95 percent of those age 55 and older have one or more medical conditions, 78 percent take one or more medications, and only 28 percent have an awareness of the risks those medications might have on driving ability.
The researchers surveyed 630 drivers ages 56 to 93. Only 18 percent reported receiving a warning from a health-care professional about potential driver-impairing (PDI) medications such as ACE inhibitors, sedatives and beta-blockers. The study found that such warnings do not increase with increasing numbers of medications used or increasing numbers of medical conditions.
“These findings indicate that health-care professionals need to take a more active role in educating their patients about the risks of PDI medications,” said Paul MacLennan, Ph.D., assistant professor of surgery at UAB and the study’s lead author. “Society needs to understand that PDI medications are a driving-safety issue, and there is a need for increased education geared at older drivers, their families and health professionals.”
For full article see link above.
Tags: elderly older senior education driving car vehicle medication drug prescription awareness safety ACE inhibitor sedative beta-blocker
Risky Driving Puts Young Drivers At High Danger Of Crashing →
July 25, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Australia’s largest study of young drivers has shown that risky driving habits are putting young drivers at a significantly increased risk of crashing, irrespective of their perceptions about road safety. The study surveyed 20,000 young drivers and examined their crashes reported to police. Young drivers involved in the study who said they undertook risky driving were 50% more likely to crash.
Previous research has confirmed risky, dangerous driving behaviour is more prevalent among younger drivers than older drivers. Researchers at The George Institute investigated the relationship between risky driving behaviour, risk perception and the risk of crash. They report that young drivers who had a poor risk perception or an inability to recognise driving risks were more likely to crash. However, those who did have a good understanding, but undertook risky driving behaviour when they were behind the wheel, still had a much greater likelihood of crashing.
“Our study shows that if young drivers engage in a range of risky driving behaviours, regardless of their perceptions, their crash risk escalates significantly. Risky driving behaviours included speeding, carrying multiple passengers, listening to loud music and text messaging while driving. The research evidence shows that these behaviours are significant contributors to road crashes, particularly among young drivers who are still building their road skills in the first year of driving”, said report author, Associate Professor Rebecca Ivers at The George Institute.
“The key finding in our study was that we discovered the main contributor to crashes is actual behaviours when young drivers are behind the wheel – not their perceptions or attitudes about safety”, Associate Professor Ivers added.
For full article see link above.
Popular Culture May Depict Car Surfing As Cool -- Journal Article Uncovers The Truth About This Potentially Deadly Activity →
July 19, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Why do people engage in stupid and potentially deadly activities, and why do teens in particular have a propensity for this behavior? An intriguing article published in the July 2009 online issue of Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics answers these questions in the context of the reckless “sport” known as car surfing. The article not only analyzes the neurosurgical injuries associated with car surfing, but delves into the cultural and regional trends behind this dangerous recreational activity.
“As pediatric neurosurgeons working at a Pediatric Level 1 trauma center, we treat children for head injuries all too often, and as such, we are greatly committed to finding solutions to help prevent these often devastating injuries,” remarked Drs. Robinson and Cohen. “There have been very few studies that have analyzed car surfing, which inspired us to investigate this activity from a neurosurgical and popular culture perspective, both in our community and nationally,” said Dr. Robinson.
Car surfing or “ghost riding” as it is referred to in some regions of the country, originated in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1980s as a product of the Hyphy cultural movement. The activity has since swept the United States, propelled by detailed depictions of the act through movies, video games, and song lyrics. With the introduction of the video sharing Web site YouTube in 2005, children and adolescents started to share their car surfing experiences with others around the country.
For full article see link above.
Higher Speed Limits Cost Lives, Researchers Find →
July 18, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—The repeal of the federal speed control law in 1995 has resulted in an increase in road fatalities and injuries, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.
The research is published in the September issue of the American Journal of Public Health. It is the first long-term study to evaluate the impact of repealing the National Maximum Speed Law on road fatalities and injuries in fatal crashes between 1995 and 2005.
The law, which restricted the maximum speed limit to 55 mph on all interstate roads in the United States, was initiated in 1974 in response to the oil embargo and had an immediate impact.
“During the first year there was a drop of almost 17 percent in fatalities after the speed laws were reduced to 55 miles per hour,” said Lee Friedman, assistant research professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at UIC and lead author of the study.
For full article see link above.
Seat Belt Plus Air Bag Protect Against Spinal Fracture in Accident →
MILWAUKEE, Jan. 23 09 (medical news) — The combined use of a seat belt and an air bag decreases the risk of suffering a fractured spine in a car accident by 33%, a retrospective cohort study showed.
In an analysis of more than 20,000 motor vehicle accidents in Wisconsin, the risk of a severe spine fracture was reduced even further, by 59%, when using both devices (OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.76, P<0.01), Marjorie Wang, M.D., M.P.H., of the Medical College of Wisconsin here, and colleagues reported in the February issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine.
For full medical article, see link above.
