New Hampshire Health News Digest

Social Skills, Extracurricular Activities In High School Pay Off Later In Life According to a University of Illinois professor who studies the sociology of education, high school sophomores who were rated by their teachers as having good social skills and work habits, and who participated in extracurricular activities in high school, made more money and completed higher levels of education 10 years later than their classmates who had similar standardized test scores but were less socially adroit and participated in fewer extracurricular activities. Christy Lleras, a professor of human and community development, says that “soft skills” such as sociability, punctuality, conscientiousness and an ability to get along well with others, along with participation in extracurricular activities, are better predictors of earnings and higher educational achievement later in life than having good grades and high standardized test scores. “That’s not to say that academic achievement in high school d...

Lack Energy? Maybe It's Your Magnesium Level : "A study by ARS physiologist Henry C. Lukaski and nutritionist Forrest H. Nielsen reveals important findings on the effects of depleted body magnesium levels on energy metabolism. He and Nielsen, with the center's clinical nutrition support staff, showed that inadequate magnesium is associated with a need for increased oxygen during exercise. They found that during moderate activity, those with low magnesium levels in muscle are likely to use more energy—and therefore to tire more quickly—than those with adequate levels."

Peer Victimization In Middle And High School Predicts Sexual Behavior Among Adolescents According to Gallup, peer aggression and victimization during adolescence is a form of competition for reproductive opportunities. Female college students who were frequently victimized during middle and high school reported having sex at earlier ages and more sexual partners than their peers, while males reported just the opposite. In a sample of over 100 college students, surveys showed that over 85 percent of all victimization occurred between members of the same sex, and that indirect victimization (e.g., teasing, demeaning, isolating) predicted sexual behavior, while physical aggression did not. According to the researchers, the relevance of victimization and sexual behavior may be embedded in our evolutionary past. "Aggression may resolve intrasexual competition for the same resources, often including members of the opposite sex" said Gallup. "Adolescence serves as a premier age...

Don't Like Broccoli? A Receptor Gene's Variation Suggests An Evolutionary Excuse : "Compounds known as glucosinolates are present in a variety of vegetables included in the human diet (especially Cruciferous vegetables), but these compounds can block the formation of organic iodine and the transport of iodine into the thyroid. Iodine is necessary for proper thyroid function, and in geographic regions where inorganic iodine levels are low, endemic goiter (enlarged thyroid) can arise in response to the need to maintain levels of thyroid hormone. In such circumstances, thyroid toxins such as glucosinolates can exacerbate problems with thyroid function. Deficiencies in thyroid function can result in retarded sexual maturation and mental retardation in low-iodine regions (typically, remote areas far from the sea)." New research indicates that children containing certain genes are more sensitive to the bitter taste in various vegetables and avoid them. This paper argues tha...

Personality Influences Reproductive Success : "The study findings showed that male and female teens with socially dominant personalities were more likely to have children as adults. [...] Markus Jokela and Liisa Keltikangas-Jarvinen examined whether four subcomponents of type-A personality, including leadership, being hard-driving, eagerness, and aggressiveness, assessed among adolescents predicted the likelihood of having children in later life. Adolescents who scored high on personality traits assessing leadership tendencies were more likely to have children as adults 18 years later, regardless of education level. The findings suggest that status striving may be important for reproductive success even in modern humans when the relevant traits are measured at the right level – not as educational diplomas or high-status occupations, but as having a dominant personality."

This is from a letter to the editor of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, 1997: A 1974 study by Maurice Bowerman found that 75% of U.S. prison inmates were considered hyperactive as children. There have been numerous studies in the years since suggesting that the behaviour we now call ADHD may be a result of certain nutritional deficiencies which can affect the child in utero. Because learning ability is involved, the problems associated with ADHD are often confused with those which may result from insufficient oxygen before or during birth. They are not the same. The principal symptoms of ADHD appear to come from impaired development of the fetal brain as opposed to damage related to hypoxia or perinatal asphyxia. We know that drinking during pregnancy can affect fetal development in this manner, but there is also evidence implicating the processed foods many women consume while pregnant, particularly women in low income situations. Fetal brain development involves “biom...

globeandmail.com: Attention-deficit disorder linked to obesity "ADHD is a primary cause of failing to lose weight for tens of thousands of people," said Dr. Levy, who is with the Nutritional and Eating Disorders Clinic. "Obese people are three to five times more likely to have it than the regular population. And if you treat them, you will see a significant weight loss."Dr. Levy and his co-authors - psychologist John Fleming and dietitian Doreen Klar - have just published their groundbreaking research in the International Journal of Obesity, a peer-reviewed scholarly journal. Their study of 242 obese patients found that 32 per cent had ADHD, compared with 4 to 7 per cent in the general population. When treated for ADHD, the patients were able to lose 12 per cent of their body weight within 14 months. These patients, who were given psycho-stimulants to increase the dopamine in their brains, had tried and failed to lose weight for at least a decade. Obese people with ...

Family History Of Alcoholism Linked To Love Of Sweets Among Women : "More than 250 million women worldwide smoke tobacco. Compared to men, women have a greater risk of smoking-related diseases, and also have more difficulty quitting. A new study, the first of its kind, has found that cigarette smoking and having a family history of alcoholism have different effects on sweet-taste perception and food cravings. [...] According to Kampov, the second finding -- that women with a family history of alcoholism preferred higher levels of sweetness and craved sweet-tasting foods more often -- is also noteworthy He said it confirms earlier reports that hedonic -- or pleasurable -- response to sweet taste is associated with a genetic risk for alcoholism. "We may now use this knowledge to, one, identify individuals at high risk for alcoholism and two, study biological mechanisms involved in the development of alcohol-use disorders," said Kampov. Mennella and Pepino recommended that ...

Sweet Tooth, Personality Traits Diagnose Alcoholism : "'So far, the combination of a 'sweet test' and a written survey called the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire which evaluates the levels of novelty seeking, harm avoidance, and reward dependence, allowed an accurate diagnosis of alcoholism in 85 percent of the subjects studied,' says research fellow and study leader Dr. Alexey Kampov-Polevoy. 'Actually, the word alcohol is never mentioned throughout this testing routine, which takes about 15 to 20 minutes. No other diagnostic test for alcoholism shows such results.' [..] Kampov-Polevoy says a strong liking for sweets alone is not enough to accurately indicate the presence of alcoholism. Only those sweet-liking individuals who have a certain personality profile are vulnerable to the development of alcoholism. In the new study, 52 men who had never been diagnosed with alcoholism and 26 recovering alcoholics took the sweet preference test and complet...

Love Me; Love My Jokes That sought-after trait in a mate -- “good sense of humour” -- is more complex than originally thought. In fact, men and women define it differently. Eric Bressler, a graduate student at McMaster University who is studying the role of humour in personal attraction, discovered in a survey of 150 students that to a woman, "sense of humour" means someone who makes her laugh; to a man, a sense of humour means someone who appreciates his jokes. "There's a difference between producers (those who make you laugh) and receptors (those who laugh when someone cracks a joke)," said Bressler. "Women choose men who produce humour 62 per cent of the time; conversely, men choose women who appreciate their humour 65 per cent of the time." Bressler also found a marked difference when he looked at different relationships: "When it comes to friendships, men like to be around women who produce humour; when it comes to sexual relationships, they ...

Arch Intern Med -- Abstract: Association Between Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Level and Upper Respiratory Tract Infection in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, February 23, 2009, Ginde et al. 169 (4): 384 Can Vitamin D Cure the Common Cold? vitamin D, colds, flu, influenza, sun, sunlight, sunshineIn the largest study yet of the association between vitamin D and respiratory infections, people with the lowest blood vitamin D levels reported having significantly more recent colds or cases of the flu. The risks were even higher for those with chronic respiratory disorders such as asthma. Vitamin C has been used for the prevention of colds for decades, but little scientific evidence supports its effectiveness. In contrast, evidence has accumulated that vitamin D plays a key role in the immune system. The wintertime deficiency of vitamin D, which the body produces in response to sunlight, has been implicated in the seasonal increase in colds and flu, and previous small...

Brain Abnormality Found In Boys With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Researchers trying to uncover the mechanisms that cause attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder have found an abnormality in the brains of adolescent boys suffering from the conditions, but not where they expected to find it. The research focused on two brain areas, the striatum and anterior cingulate cortex. The striatal region is a network of structures in the mid brain that motivates people to engage in pleasurable or rewarding behavior. The anterior cingulate is higher in the brain and normally activates when an expected reward stops. However, this process, called extinction, doesn't occur, at least as quickly, in boys with attention deficit hyperactivity or conduct disorders. Instead, the striatal region continues to be activated, said Theodore Beauchaine, a UW associate professor of psychology and senior author of the paper. "When children engage in impulsive behavior they...

A Concentration Killer: Study Shows Brain Chemistry Defect Is Key To Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder In Adults : "For the first time, research directly points to a dopamine production defect in adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The brain chemical findings could lead to more effective treatments for these patients who are inattentive, impulsive, and hyperactive. Previous evidence suggested that a dopamine malfunction occurs in those with ADHD. For example, drugs that enhance dopamine function appear to quell the disorder's symptoms. "Our finding, however, is the first direct evidence of a targeted dopamine deficit in adults with ADHD," says the study's lead author, Monique Ernst, MD, PhD, Senior Staff Fellow at the National Institutes of Health. "We found that the activity of an enzyme involved in the production of the chemical dopamine is lower than normal in a specific brain area." [...] In the study, the researchers...

Not Enough Vitamin D In The Diet Could Mean Too Much Fat On Adolescents : "Too little vitamin D could be bad for more than your bones; it may also lead to fatter adolescents, researchers say." A Medical College of Georgia study of more than 650 teens age 14-19 has found that those who reported higher vitamin D intakes had lower overall body fat and lower amounts of the fat in the abdomen, a type of fat known as visceral fat, which has been associated with health risks such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and hypertension. The group with the lowest vitamin D intake, black females, had higher percentages of both body fat and visceral fat, while black males had the lowest percentages of body and visceral fat, even though their vitamin D intake was below the recommended levels. Only one group – white males – was getting the recommended minimum intake of vitamin D. “This study was a cross-section so, while it cannot prove that higher intake of vitamin D caused the lower body fa...

Low Vitamin D Levels Associated With Several Risk Factors In Teenagers Low levels of vitamin D were associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure, high blood sugar and metabolic syndrome in teenagers, researchers reported at the American Heart Association’s 49th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention. After adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, body mass index, socioeconomic status and physical activity, researchers found the adolescents with the lowest levels of vitamin D were: * 2.36 times more likely to have high blood pressure; * 2.54 times more likely to have high blood sugar; and * 3.99 times more likely to have metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk factors including elevated waist circumference, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL or “good”) cholesterol and high fasting glucose levels. The presence of three or mo...

Waking up Teens -- Scientists Show Blue Light Can Help Reset Sleep Cycle Lighting scientists have found a quick fix to the internal and external alarm clock miscommunication -- a blue light. "If you apply the light after your minimum core body temperature, you're going to advance the clock so you're going to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier the next cycle," Figueiro says. The minimum core body temperature is reached about two hours before a person naturally wakes up. "When you get the teenager up, outdoors, waiting for the school bus at 7 o'clock in the morning, they may be getting light at the wrong phase," Figueiro says. This exposes teens to natural blue light too early. By wearing the goggles when teens wake up, blue light is blocked out. Then, later in the morning -- after their minimum core body temperature is reached -- teens can reset their internal clocks by being out in the light. Blue light exposure worked quickly for Erin. She's now ...

Are You Male and Going Bald? STOP the Grains and Sugar!! - articles - articles.mercola.com Are You Male and Going Bald? STOP the Grains and Sugar!! There exists a proven association between male-pattern baldness and serious cardiovascular events, but the mechanism of action is unknown. Now, a new study has shown a strikingly increased risk of insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, and insulin-resistance-associated disorders in men with early onset of male-pattern baldness (alopecia), supporting the theory that early male-pattern baldness could be a clinical marker of insulin resistance. * Researchers performed a practice-based case-control study on 154 subjects (aged 19-50 years) with early-onset male-pattern baldness (onset prior to 35 years of age) and age-matched controls. * Men were only selected whose hair loss was significant, using an accepted classification method. * Information on diagnoses of chronic diseases and data on current medication, weigh...

Salt Might Be Nature's Antidepressant Most people consume far too much salt, and a University of Iowa researcher has discovered one potential reason we crave it: it might put us in a better mood. UI psychologist Kim Johnson and colleagues found in their research that when rats are deficient in sodium chloride, common table salt, they shy away from activities they normally enjoy, like drinking a sugary substance or pressing a bar that stimulates a pleasant sensation in their brains. "Things that normally would be pleasurable for rats didn't elicit the same degree of relish, which leads us to believe that a salt deficit and the craving associated with it can induce one of the key symptoms associated with depression," Johnson said. The UI researchers can't say it is full-blown depression because several criteria factor into such a diagnosis, but a loss of pleasure in normally pleasing activities is one of the most important features of psychological depression. And, ...