Active, Outdoor Teens Are Happier Teens

 And those who spend more time indoors in front of screens are more likely to feel lonely, shy Friday, June 22, 2012 FRIDAY, June 22 (HealthDay News) -- Teens who engaged in more moderate-to-vigorous outdoor activity reported better health and social functioning than their peers who spent hours in front of television and computer screens, a new study in Australia has found. The teens who had the highest perceived health in the study spent an average of 2.5 hours more per day playing sports or doing other high-intensity activity than their least-active counterparts, according to the researchers. The research, done at the University of Sydney, found that youths in the study overall spent an average of 3.3 hours a day playing video games, watching television or doing other sedentary activities, compared with only 2.1 hours in physical activity. The findings suggest that parents need to limit how much time their children spend using electronic media, the lead author said. "Parents should be conscious of the fact that outdoor physical activity is beneficial to their child's overall health and well-being, and should try to limit the time their child spends in front of the screen," said Bamini Gopinath, a senior research fellow at the university's Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research. Although no causal link was established, the study provides "another piece of evidence" that increasing physical activity and decreasing screen time "would be beneficial" to teens, said Gopinath, adding that "the impact of activity behaviors persists over the long term." The study, published in the July issue of Pediatrics, was conducted from 2004 to 2009. Study questionnaires asked how much time 1,216 teens spent on outdoor exercise compared to indoor activities including computer use for recreation and homework. Other sedentary activities such as reading were included. The data were collected at age 12, and again five years later. At that time, another group of 475 teenagers was recruited from the same schools in the Sydney area. Both groups responded to items about their health and general well-being. The questionnaire included 23 items about the teens' health and physical functioning, as well as self-esteem, peer relationships and school. Not surprisingly, more time spent reading and doing homework was associated with better school performance. The more-active teens had significantly better scores relating to social functioning, or getting along with peers. Teens "who rarely exercised" were more likely to report "feelings of loneliness and shyness." "Improved understanding of these relationships could help in developing interventions to promote general well-being among adolescents," the study authors concluded. Another expert said he wasn't surprised by the findings. "It makes sense that these kids who are getting outside, playing sports and running around are going to feel better than those kids who are sitting alone with a screen," said Dr. Michael Rich, director of the Center on Media and Child Health at Boston Children's Hospital. He cautioned against "over-interpreting" the results because other factors not looked at in the study "may have more influence." For example, he noted that the study did not show whether some teens avoided outdoor sports because they were less healthy to begin with. But the findings are "worth paying attention to," Rich said. It also makes sense that kids who spend their time "running around in the fresh air" and playing sports are going to be "not only physically healthier, but socially healthier because they're learning to work things through with other teens," he said. The study gave "more objective data that supports what your mom always said, which is 'go outside and play,' proving mom was right," Rich added. SOURCES: Bamini Gopinath, Ph.D., senior research fellow, Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research, University of Sydney, Australia; Michael Rich, M.D., director, Center on Media and Child Health, Boston Children's Hospital; July 2012, Pediatrics

 

Sleep May Ease Symptoms of Parkinson's Disease

Some patients experience a 'sleep benefit' after daytime naps and nighttime shuteye By Mary Elizabeth Dallas Friday, June 22, 2012This "sleep benefit" occurs for some patients even though they are without their medication while sleeping, the study authors said. However, how sleep helps patients' motor function remains unclear, and not all Parkinson's patients experience this improvement, according to the report, published in the June issue of the Journal of Parkinson's Disease. "If the subjective experience of sleep benefit is proven to be related to an objective improvement in motor function, this could have considerable clinical benefits," the study's lead investigator Dr. Sebastiaan Overeem, of the department of neurology, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in the Netherlands, said in a journal news release. In conducting the study, the researchers questioned 243 patients with Parkinson's disease about their motor and non-motor symptoms. They also assessed the patients' symptoms of depression, functioning and quality of life. The investigators found that nearly 47 percent of the patients experienced a sleep benefit, or a clear improvement in their Parkinson's symptoms after a night's sleep. Daytime naps were also taken by 98 of the 243 patients. Of these "regular nappers," 46 percent did not notice a sleep benefit at all. On the other hand, 20 percent of nappers said they experienced a reduction in their Parkinson's symptoms only after a night of sleeping, and 13 percent reported an improvement only after their nap. Meanwhile, 20 percent of nappers reported an improvement in their symptoms following both their naps and nighttime sleep. "It is tempting to speculate whether daytime naps might constitute a possible therapeutic application," noted Overeem. While the study uncovered an association between sleep and Parkinson's symptoms, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship. The researchers pointed out that there were no demographic or clinical differences -- such as age at onset of the disease and type of treatment -- between those who experienced the sleep benefit and those who did not. There were also no differences in depression, quality of life, memory, fatigue and sleep quality between these two groups. The study authors added that their findings are based on patients' perceptions of a sleep benefit, which are subjective. More research is needed to objectively assess changes in symptoms of Parkinson's disease after a period of sleep. "Further study is important to identify possible determinants and underlying mechanisms of sleep benefit, in order to identify those patients most likely to benefit from sleep," Overeem concluded. "Both our research and previous studies show it's important to renew research on this intriguing subject." SOURCE: Journal of Parkinson's Disease, news release, June 20, 2012 

Money Really Can't Buy Happiness, Study Finds

 Happiness tied to respect, influence, not wealth By Mary Elizabeth Dallas Friday, June 22, 2012 FRIDAY, June 22 (HealthDay News) -- Contrary to popular belief, happiness in life has more to do with respect and influence than status or wealth, according to a new study. Researchers said one possible reason money doesn't buy happiness is that people may get used to their higher income, but they never tire of being admired by others. The study recently appeared online in Psychological Science. "We got interested in this idea because there is abundant evidence that higher socioeconomic status -- higher income or wealth, higher education -- does not boost subjective well-being (or happiness) much at all. Yet at the same time, many theories suggest that higher status should boost happiness," said Cameron Anderson, a psychological scientist at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, in a journal news release. The study's authors said the respect people receive from their peers, such as friends, neighbors or teammates, has more to do with happiness than money. "Having high standing in your local ladder leads to receiving more respect, having more influence, and being more integrated into the group's social fabric," Anderson said. The researchers put their idea to the test in a series of studies. First, they surveyed 80 college students from 12 groups on campus. The amount of respect the students received from their peers, known as their sociometric status, was calculated based on peer ratings, self-reports and the number of leadership positions the students held. The researchers also took into account the students' household income and asked them about their social well-being. They found the admiration the students received from their peers predicted their social well-being. Their wealth or income did not. When the researchers expanded the group of participants in another study, they saw similar results. In a final study, the researchers followed graduate students in business school. They found the MBA students' social well-being was tied to changes in the admiration they felt from their peers before and after graduation. They noted respect had more to do with the student's well-being after graduation than how much money they made. "I was surprised at how fluid these effects were -- if someone's standing in their local ladder went up or down, so did their happiness, even over the course of nine months," Anderson said. "One of the reasons why money doesn't buy happiness is that people quickly adapt to the new level of income or wealth. Lottery winners, for example, are initially happy but then return to their original level of happiness quickly," he concluded. "It's possible that being respected, having influence and being socially integrated just never gets old." SOURCE: Association for Psychological Science, news release, June 20, 2012 

Diabetes Can Make a Comeback After Weight-Loss Surgery

For some, bariatric procedures banish the disease, but only for a while By Robert Preidt Monday, June 25, 2012 SATURDAY, June 23 (HealthDay News) -- Gastric bypass surgery reverses diabetes in many obese patients, but the disease returns in about one-fifth of them within three to five years, a new study finds. In gastric bypass surgery, the stomach is made smaller to help people lose weight. Researchers examined the medical records of 72 obese people with type 2 diabetes who had a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedure between 2000 and 2007, and had at least three years of follow-up visits. Sixty-six (92 percent) of the patients had a reversal of their diabetes after their surgery. However, diabetes returned in 14 (21 percent) of those 66 patients at some point during the five-year follow up. Those who did not have a recurrence of diabetes lost more weight immediately after the surgery and maintained a lower average weight throughout the follow-up period. There was no significant association between body mass index -- a measurement that takes weight and height into account -- before surgery and a higher diabetes recurrence rate after surgery. The researchers did find that the longer patients had diabetes before surgery, the more likely they were to have diabetes recurrence after surgery. Those who'd had diabetes for more than five years pre-surgery were 3.8 times more likely to have diabetes return than those who'd had diabetes for a shorter period of time. The findings suggest that the sooner obese people with diabetes have weight-loss surgery, the better, said lead author Dr. Yessica Ramos, an internal medicine resident at Mayo Clinic Arizona, in Scottsdale. The study was presented Saturday at the Endocrine Society's annual meeting, in Houston. "Providers and patients need to be aware of this information, to have a better idea of the expected outcome and be able to make an informed decision about pursuing gastric bypass surgery," Ramos said in an Endocrine Society news release. Because this study was presented at a medical meeting, the data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. SOURCE: The Endocrine Society, news release, June 23, 2012 

國光流感疫苗中國藥證2013到手 !

國光7月起大量出貨 2012-07-01 【時報-台北電】 國光生技（4142）挾著流感疫苗原液7月起將大量出貨給Crucell，加以下半年也是流感季節旺季，預期第3季業績將開始大幅成長，後市股價亦將隨基本面上揚。國光目前均線糾結於32.8元處，量能也萎縮到300張左右，在打底完成後，若近日成交量能放大，可視為攻擊訊號，上漲短壓先看36.4元。國光專攻疫苗，已開發的產品包括流感疫苗、H1N1新型流感疫苗、日本腦炎疫苗、H5N1禽流感疫苗、腸病毒71型疫苗。近日流感疫苗已拿到香港藥證，最快明年可進一步取得中國藥證。(新聞來源：工商時報─記者杜蕙蓉／台北報導)