new every month

Eating healthy and exercising is considered the key to healthy lifestyle and also thought to be a reliable way to natural weight loss. There seem to be other aspects that matter, according to some thought provoking research that comes out of the Food and Brand Lab at the University of Illinois.
One of the lab's more recent experiments looked at mindless eating: people snack totally oblivious to the fact that they are not really hungry. The researchers looked at the most common venue for this habit and investigated 158 moviegoers in Philadelphia with an average age of 28.7 years. They gave them 120g pails and 240 g pails of fresh and stale popcorn. Those who received the large size pails consumed more popcorn (45.3 % more when it was fresh and 33.6 % more of the old and stale product.) When it comes to overeating, the researchers suggest, that portion size is more important than taste! The study appeared in the September/October edition of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. It also confirms the results of similar research. One member of a family who had been given a bulky 900g bag of candy to munch on during a film reported, that between four people they consumed a pound-and-a-half of M&Ms during the show. They just could not stop!
The shape of drinking glasses can also fool even veteran bar tenders. The "vertical-horizontal illusion" is an innate human sensory deficiency, and people think that a tall, skinny glass holds more than a squat tumbler, even though they both hold the same volume.
The founder of the Food and Brand Lab, Professor Brian Wansink, PhD is aiming his research at helping consumers to become more responsible in eating small quantities of more nutritious foods.

National Review of Medicine, September 15,2005, page 1,5.

Early Treatment For Stuttering Children Is Better

Stuttering is a frustrating problem for kids and their parents, and about 5% of all preschoolers are found to stutter. The onset of the problem usually occurs between the ages 3 and 4. Opinions about intervention have been divided so far. Some voices called for early treatment, but there was no research to back up a better success rate. Others suggested that kids would outgrow the problem and it was early enough to seek treatment, if the stuttering persisted once the children were entering school.
Researchers tested a new behavioral program (the Lidcombe program) to establish whether early treatment intervention would show a better success rate as opposed to natural recovery. They conducted a study in which 54 children in the age group of 3 and 4 years were enrolled. All of them had a stuttering problem. 29 of them received the Lidcombe program, and 25 were a control group who did not receive the program.

At the end of the study the children of the control group had reduced their stuttering by 43 %, but only 15% had reached a minimum level of stuttering. The results of the children who had received the Lidcombe program were impressive: they had reduced their stuttering by 77%, and over half of them (52%) had reached a minimum level of stuttering.
The experts concluded that the Lidcombe approach is more successful than the normal discovery, and initiating the program early is crucial for the following reasons: it works best in preschoolers. Also it is more beneficial to intervene early, as in school a child with a stuttering problem has to face frustration and social problems among classmates.

BMJ 2005; 331:659 (24 September)

Men Expected to Catch Up On Life Expectancy

Life expectancy between the sexes has always been different: females generally outlive males by several years, but close observation from the Office of Health Economics in Great Britain shows a shift in Life expectancy. Males have been catching up, and their life expectancy rates have been rising faster than those of females. There is still a difference for a boy born in 2002. He will have a life expectancy of 76 years, whereas his sister will live to age 81.

Researchers believe that the reason for the shift is lifestyle change in females. Many of them now face the same workplace stress that has been traditionally shouldered by males. Detrimental habits are also more common in females. Heavy drinking in young females has more than tripled in the last 17 years, and 10% of young females exceed the recommended drinking limit (compared to 12% males). Non-smoking campaigns are less successful in women. Males have cut their smoking habits. 51% smoked in 1974, and by 2002 only 28 % were smokers. Female smokers amounted to 41 % in 1974, but by 2002 there were still 26 % smokers. The results show most dramatically in cancer statistics. Since 1973 lung cancer rates in men have been reduced to half and the lung cancer survival rate has increased. In comparison lung cancer in females during the same time period has increased by 45%. As a result of sedentary lifestyles the body mass index has also shown an increase.
Estimates showed that by the year 2010, life expectancy will likely converge for both sexes at an age of 81.

BMJ 2005; 331:656 (24 September)

Olive Oil Combats Inflammation

The health benefits of the Mediterranean diet have received a lot of positive press, and so far the benefits have been credited to fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as olive oil. It has been pointed out that the bioflavonoids in fruit and vegetables are the positive forces at work. Also, the monounsaturated fatty acids of olive oil are part of a heart healthy diet.
Researchers from the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Galveston, Texas have found yet another piece of evidence that olive oil has positive effects on heart health. They have found a natural occurring chemical in extra-virgin olive oil which they named oleocanthal. This substance is a non-steroidal inflammatory, a so-called COX inhibitor. The pharmacological action is the same as in the anti- inflammatory ibuprofen. Dr. Gary Beauchamp (PhD) stated, "Some of the health-related effects of the Mediterranean diet may be due to the anti-COX activity of oleocanthal from premium olive oils".

The Medical Post,September13,2005,page5

More Education Needed About Ovarian Cancer

Campaigns that inform about breast cancer are abundant in the media, but the one cancer which may be the most fatal of gynecologic cancers is silently at work, killing more than 60% of women diagnosed - ovarian cancer.
It is also the cancer women know shockingly little about, and most women cannot identify its symptoms. Dr. Barbara Vanderhyden from the University of Ottawa, Canada confirmed in a study, that there are a lot of misconceptions about the disease. One in three women falsely believe that a Pap test screens for ovarian cancer. Remarkably, 12% of Canadian women claim that they have never heard about the disease, and only 35% consider themselves well informed. Even more problematically, women 50 years and older-those with the highest risk for ovarian cancer- are significantly less likely to be aware of their risk for disease than their younger counterparts. 71% of women think that ovarian cancer mainly affects women under 50 years of age.
In the view of the findings that 96% of the women could not identify a combination of the most common symptoms of ovarian cancer, it is of great importance that more education and information is needed. Women as well as their health care providers have to be vigilant about early warning signs and symptoms. The most common warning signs and symptoms for ovarian cancer are bloating, abdominal pain, changes in urinary frequency, weight fluctuation and nausea. Diagnostic tests involve a bimanual examination by a physician, which is needed for all women, including those who did have a previous hysterectomy. The other test to consider would be an abdominal ultrasound.

The Medical Post, September20, 2005, page 47

Health Newsletter

Home page

Nethealthbook