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 "injury"
Tuesday, Sep 1st, 2009 ↓Daylight-saving Time Leads To Less Sleep, More Injuries On The Job, Study Finds →
Sept 1, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Every March, most Americans welcome the switch to daylight saving time because of the longer days, but also dread losing an hour of sleep after they move their clocks forward. Now a new study shows that losing just an hour of sleep could pose some dangerous consequences for those in hazardous work environments.
The findings are reported in the September issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology, which is published by the American Psychological Association.
“One hour of lost sleep may not seem like a lot. But our findings suggest it could have an impact on people’s ability to stay alert on the job and prevent serious injuries.” said the article’s lead author, Christopher Barnes, PhD. Barnes and co-author David Wagner, PhD, were both doctoral students in organizational behavior at Michigan State University when they conducted this research.
For full article, see link above.
Tags: daylight savings sun sleep day danger hazard work environment injury alert risk
Seizures up premature birth: Study →
Aug 24, 2009 (Presstv.com)—Women experiencing seizure attacks when pregnant are more likely to give birth to a premature or small infant, a new study finds.
Despite controversial studies regarding the impact of seizures on the newborn, the new study revealed that seizures are what contribute to the increased risk of complications in infants.
According to the study published in the Archives of Neurology, babies born to have low birth weight (weighing less than 2,500 grams) and be small for gestational age (having a birth weight below the 10th percentile for age).
Scientists claim seizures lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes through various mechanisms. Trauma caused by the attacks may rupture fetal membranes, increasing the risk of infection and early delivery.
Seizure attacks may also result in contractions in the uterus, leading to tension and acute injury, and subsequently to premature birth.
“Neonates born pre-term, of low birth weight and small for gestational age may be predisposed to diseases during infancy and later life, highlighting the significance of proper intervention strategies for prevention,” the authors stressed.
Scientists therefore urged physicians to control seizure attacks before pregnancy, improve sleep quality in women and teach them required strategies for coping with stress.
Tags: premature infant baby seizure mother small newborn complication birth weight pregnancy infection risk uterus tension injury sleep stress
Tags: underage drinking teen teenager alcohol advertising television ad beer spirit viewership programming appeal injury violence crime drinking abuse risk
Health Tip: Your Child Must Wear a Bike Helmet →
Aug 20, 2009(Therapytimes.com) — A well-made bike helmet is as important to your child’s safety as the bike’s brakes or well-inflated tires.
The American Academy of Pediatrics offers this advice about beginning the helmet habit at the earliest age possible:
- Make helmets a rule as soon as your child is on a bike, either as a passenger or the driver.
- Make sure you set a good example and wear a helmet, too.
- Explain to your child why it’s important to wear a helmet, including the protection it provides.
- Talk about how a bike must be used safely and properly.
- Offer praise or a little treat when your child wears a helmet.
- Don’t ever allow your child to go for a ride without a helmet.
- Encourage your child’s playmates also to wear helmets.
— Diana Kohnle
Football Injuries In US High School Athletes More Severe During Kickoff, Punting →
Injuries can occur during a sporting competition at any time. However, new research finds that during football, injuries sustained at the beginning or middle of a game are more severe compared to injuries sustained during the end or in overtime. This finding suggests that the changes of intensity throughout competition influence risk of severe injury.
The beginning of a football game accounted for 16 percent of injuries, with 54 percent occurring during the middle of the game. The end of the game or during overtime accounted for 30 percent of injuries, according to the study published in Research in Sports Medicine and conducted by researchers in the Center for Injury Research and Policy (CIRP) in The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. This is the first study to assess the effects of competition intensity on injury severity in high school football.
“Not only does the time in competition affect injuries but also the phase of play,” explained one of the study’s authors, Dawn Comstock, PhD, principal investigator in CIRP at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “During kickoff and punting, a greater proportion of severe injuries occurred compared to all other phases of play. Thirty-three percent of injuries occurring during kickoff and punt were severe and 20 percent were concussions.”
For full article see link above.
Tags: football injury sport kickoff punti competition timing phase play severe concussion high school
Can Running Actually Help Your Knees? →
Aug 15, 2009 (Mercola.com)—An article in the journal Skeletal Radiology created something of a sensation in Europe last year. It reported that researchers examined the knees of marathon runners using MRI imaging over a ten-year period.
The results were striking. “No major new internal damage in the knee joints of marathon runners was found after a 10-year interval,” the researchers reported.
Despite entrenched mythology to the contrary, runners don’t seem prone to degenerating knees. Instead, recent evidence suggests that running may actually shield somewhat against arthritis, in part because the knee develops a kind of motion groove. By moving and loading your knee joint, as you do when walking or running, you “condition” your cartilage to the load.
If you’ve injured your knee in the past, particularly if you’ve ever torn an ACL, talk to your physician before running. But for most runners, you can ignore the predictions of doom you are likely to hear regarding your knees.
Sources: 
New York Times August 11, 2009
Older Cancer Patients Have More Frailty Than Other Seniors →
Aug 8, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Older people with a history of cancer are more likely to have disabilities and be frail and vulnerable than older adults who have not had cancer, according to a study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, published online July 29.
The prevalence of frailty and vulnerability among older cancer patients will pose an increasing challenge for physicians as the population ages. By the year 2030, persons who are older than 65 years are projected to make up 70% of cancer patients and have 65% of cancer deaths.
Supriya Gupta Mohile, M.D., from the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center at the University of Rochester in N.Y., and colleagues used data in the 2003 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey to evaluate whether non-skin cancer was independently associated with vulnerability and frailty. They found that survey respondents with a history of non-skin cancer had statistically significantly more limitations in the activities of daily living and other measures of frailty and vulnerability than those who had not had cancer.
For full article see link above.
Positive Expectations Help Patients Recover From Whiplash Three Times Faster →
Aug 6, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Positive thoughts bring positive things to people and it’s well documented these expectations have helped people recover from a number of health conditions. But until now, not much was known about the correlation between that belief and the recovery from injuries like whiplash.
Two University of Alberta researchers and a colleague from Sweden have found some answers to that question in three different studies on expectations for recovery.
Linda Carroll, in the School of Public Health, looked at a cohort of over 6,000 adults with traffic-related whiplash injuries. She found that those that had positive outlooks towards their recovery actually recovered over three times faster than those who did not.
Dejan Ozegovic, also in the School of Public Health, looked at predications around returning to work, using the same cohort. Positive return-to-work assumptions meant people rated themselves as “recovered” 42 per cent faster than those who had more negative expectations.
For full article see link above.
School-based Program Helps Prevent Dating Violence Among Teens, Especially Boys →
Aug 4, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—A school-based program that integrates information about healthy relationships into the existing ninth-grade curriculum appears to reduce adolescent dating violence and increase condom use two and a half years later, according to a report in the August issue ofArchives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. The effects of the low-cost intervention appear stronger in boys.
Approximately one in 10 to one in five high school–aged teens are hit, slapped or beaten by an individual they are dating each year, according to background information in the article. Dating violence among adolescents often leads to intimate partner violence in adulthood and also is associated with injuries, unsafe sex, substance use and suicide attempts.
David A. Wolfe, Ph.D., of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Centre for Prevention Science, London, Ontario, and the University of Toronto, and colleagues in 2004 to 2007 conducted a randomized trial of a 21-lesson curriculum delivered by teachers with special training in the dynamics of dating violence and healthy relationships.
The program, known as the “Fourth R: Skills for Youth Relationships,” was taught to 968 students at 10 randomly selected high schools. “Dating violence prevention was integrated with core lessons about healthy relationships, sexual health and substance use prevention using interactive exercises. Relationship skills to promote safer decision making with peers and dating partners were emphasized,” they continue. Another 754 students at 10 different schools were assigned to a control group, where similar objectives were targeted but without training or materials.
For full article see link above.
Tags: dating teen teenager adolescent violence prevention injury sex relationship partner substance abuse peer
Same blue dye in M&Ms linked to reducing spine injury →
July 28, 2009 (Cnn.com)—The same blue food dye found in M&Ms and Gatorade could be used to reduce damage caused by spine injuries, offering a better chance of recovery, according to new research.
Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center found that when they injected the compound Brilliant Blue G (BBG) into rats suffering spinal cord injuries, the rodents were able to walk again, albeit with a limp.
The only side effect was that the treated mice temporarily turned blue.
The results of the study, published in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,” build on research conducted by the same center five years ago.
In August 2004, scientists revealed how Adenosine triphosphate, which is known as ATP and described as the “energy currency of life,” surges to the spinal cord soon after injury occurs.
Researchers found that the sudden influx of ATP killed off healthy cells, making the initial injury far worse. But when they injected oxidized ATP into the injury, it was found to block the effect of ATP, allowing the injured rats to recover and walk again.
“While we achieved great results when oxidized ATP was injected directly into the spinal cord, this method would not be practical for use with spinal cord-injured patients,” said lead researcher Maiken Nedergaard, professor of Neurosurgery and director of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
For full article see link above.
Knee Injuries May Start With Strain On The Brain, Not The Muscles →
July 24, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—New research shows that training your brain may be just as effective as training your muscles in preventing ACL knee injuries, and suggests a shift from performance-based to prevention-based athletic training programs.
The ACL, or anterior cruciate ligament, is one of the four major ligaments of the knee, and ACL injuries pose a rising public health problem as well as an economic strain on the medical system.
University of Michigan researchers studying ACL injuries had subjects perform one-legged squats to fatigue, then tested the reactions to various jumping and movement commands. Researchers found that both legs—not just the fatigued leg—showed equally dangerous and potentially injurious responses, said Scott McLean, assistant professor with the U-M School of Kinesiology. The fatigued subjects showed significant potentially harmful changes in lower body movements that, when preformed improperly, can cause ACL tears.
“These findings suggest that training the central control process—the brain and reflexive responses—may be necessary to counter the fatigue induced ACL injury risk,” said McLean, who also has an appointment with the U-M Bone & Joint Injury Prevention Center.
For full article see link above.
Tags: acl sport injury prevention anterior cruciate ligament leg knee movement fatigue training
Indoor Lightning Injuries On the Rise →
July 20, 2009 (Therapytimes.com)—While making the most of long summer days, keep in mind that lightning activity peaks during the hot-weather months — and don’t assume you’re safe just because you’re indoors.
On average, about 50 people are killed by lightning in the United States each year, according to the National Weather Service. Lightning strikes caused 28 deaths in 2008 and there have been 23 lightning-related deaths so far this year.
“Follow the rule: ‘When thunder roars, go indoors,’” Dr. Mary Ann Cooper, director of the lightning injury research program at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said in a news release.
Once inside, don’t use landline phones, wired computers or video games.
“We are seeing an increasing proportion of people injured indoors using PlayStations and other hard-wired video games, even though they knew to unplug their computers to prevent lightning damage,” Cooper said
For full article see link above.
Young Men Living At Home With Parents Are More Violent, Study Suggests →
July 20, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Young men who stay at home with their parents are more violent than those who live independently, according to new research at Queen Mary, University of London.
The new study indicates that men still living at home in their early twenties have fewer responsibilities and more disposable income to spend on alcohol.
This group makes up only four percent of the UK’s male population but they are responsible for 16 per cent of all violent injuries in the last five years.
Delaying social independence and remaining in the parental home have become more common over the past 40 years in both the UK and the USA.
Professor Jeremy Coid and Dr Ming Yang surveyed over 8000 men and women. Participants answered questions about violent behaviour over the past 5 years and mental health problems.
Their results showed for the first time that staying in the parental home is a stronger risk factor for young men’s violence than any other factor.
Professor Coid said: “Young adult men living at home in Britain are no longer influenced by parents to conform to standards of behaviour expected of previous generations.
“Violence outside of the home, mainly involving strangers, is the most common scenario and just one of a series of hedonistic and negative social behaviours such as hazardous drinking, drug misuse, sexual risk taking, and non-violent antisocial behaviour.
For full article see link above.
Tags: violence men man parent violent independently alcohol drinking responsibility male income injury
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.
Electronic Pager Aids Caregivers of Brain-Injured Patients →
July 17, 2009 (Medscape.com)—The electronic NeuroPage system (Cambridgeshire Primary Care Trust Corporation) reminds brain-injured patients to perform routine tasks and thus eases the strain on the people who care for them, UK and Danish researchers report in the July issue of the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry.
Dr. Barbara A. Wilson of the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, and colleagues explain that the device is preprogrammed to provide reminders for tasks such as taking medicine, feeding pets and attending appointments. Earlier studies have confirmed its usefulness in compensating for memory and planning dysfunctions in stroke and head trauma patients, the authors note.
For full medical article see link above.
