Last Updated:
2006-5-19
:: Social Roles and Women’s Health in Mid-life
Women who are employees, mothers, and wives enjoy the best health status among women in mid-life, according to an article in the May 15, 2006 edition of the
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, while career homemakers have the worst health and high rates of obesity. This research indicates that social roles have an impact on women’s health as they age.
Last Updated:
2006-5-19
:: Moderate Stress During Pregnancy Does Not Hinder, and May Help, Child Development
For a pregnant woman in this high-paced, multi-tasking world, can the stress of daily life interfere with her child’s development? No, according to a study in the May/June 2006 issue of
Child Development; in fact, moderate stress during pregnancy was associated with advanced motor and mental development in children at age two.
Last Updated:
2006-5-19
:: Early Detection of Childhood Hearing Impairment Improves Language Ability Later in Childhood
In the United States, all newborns are screened for hearing impairment within their first three months of life. But do children whose hearing impairments are detected early have better speech and language skills later in childhood? A study published in the May 18, 2006 issue of the
Journal of the American Medical Association
indicates that early detection of hearing impairment was associated with significantly higher language abilities, but appeared to have no effect on speech skills.
Last Updated:
2006-5-19
:: Study Suggests Nutritional Supplement, Policosanol, Does Not Improve Cholesterol Levels
Policosanol, a nutritional supplement extracted from sugar cane wax, is widely believed to reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or “bad”) cholesterol. But a new study in the May 17, 2006 issue of the
Journal of the American Medical Association
found that policosanol was no more effective than a placebo in improving cholesterol levels.
Last Updated:
2006-5-11
:: Misrepresentations of Coma in Movies Influence Real-life Decisions
What most people know about comas is based on what they’ve seen in the movies. In an article published in the May 2006 issue of Neurology, researchers report that the vast majority of movies portray comas inaccurately. In this study, viewers could not identify important inaccuracies one-third of the time. And yet, they reported that what they had seen in the movies would influence their decision-making if a family member was in a coma.
Last Updated:
2006-5-11
:: Inhaled Corticosteroids Do Not Prevent Asthma in High-risk Children
Inhaled corticosteroids are effective in reducing symptoms of asthma. Due do their effectiveness, scientists have longed hoped that the use of these drugs in young children may help prevent the development of asthma in the first place. Research published in the May 11, 2006 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine report that corticosteroids do not prevent the development of asthma in high-risk children.
Last Updated:
2006-5-11
:: Enhanced Healthcare Program Benefits Alzheimer’s Patients and Their Caregivers
Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia can result in severe behavioral and psychological problems that affect the health and well-being of both patients and their caregivers. A new study in the May 10, 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association found that, compared with usual care, a collaborative care program improved behavioral and psychological symptoms in Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers.