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 "driving"
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.
Driving To Work Increases Risk Of Heart Attack, Swedish Study Finds →
ScienceDaily (May 12, 2009) — People who drive to work run a considerably greater risk of having a heart attack than those who are physically active on the way to work. This is shown in a new dissertation by Patrik Wennberg at Umeå University in Sweden.
For full article, see link above.
Heightened Impairment Risk Seen with Sleep Aids →
OSLO, Norway, March 30 09 (Medical News) — Supratherapeutic levels of hypnotic sleep aids caused driving impairment with the same frequency as elevated blood alcohol levels were associated with impairment, investigators here concluded.
Overall, 46% of impaired drivers taking zopiclone (Imovane), eszopiclone (Lunesta) or zolpidem (Ambien) had elevated blood concentrations of the drug, Ingebjorg G. Gustavsen, M.D., of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, and colleagues reported online in Accident Analysis and Prevention.
By comparison, 36% of alcohol-impaired drivers had blood levels of 0.05% to 0.15%.
Overall, 93% of impaired drivers taking sleep aids had elevated blood levels of the drug, suggesting a greater abuse potential than researchers had recognized with the new, benzodiazepine-like hypnotics.
For full medical article, see link above.
