Health crisis for Britain's middle-aged
Originally added on Sat, 10/09/2011 - 05:46Last updated on Sat, 10/09/2011 - 06:18
Ouch, a very interesting international health survey, that has just been released, reports:
"Middle-aged Britons are experiencing a mid-life health crisis, according to new research from Bupa, which shows that those aged 45-54 are more likely to be obese, more likely to smoke and more likely to suffer from depression than their peers around the world.
The international Bupa Health Pulse study, which asked more than 13,000 people in 12 different countries questions about their health and lifestyles has shown that late-middle age is the toughest time health-wise for Britons. No other country in the survey - which included Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Asia and Australasia showed such a consistent range of unhealthy results for this age group.
The study, which questioned more than 2,000 people in the UK, found:
Recent research: six lifestyle & health studies - two on sleep, two on smoking, one on diet & one on weight
Originally added on Thu, 13/01/2011 - 06:40Last updated on Fri, 28/01/2011 - 06:45
Strong relationships improve survival as much as quitting smoking
Originally added on Sun, 05/09/2010 - 15:37Last updated on Sat, 10/09/2011 - 06:16
Recent research: six studies on management, health messages, behavioural activation, ACT, expressive writing, and wellbeing
Originally added on Thu, 18/02/2010 - 06:25Last updated on Tue, 30/03/2010 - 08:04
Here are mixed bag of psychotherapy-relevant studies. Foy & colleagues' meta-analysis highlights the value to patients/clients of having good communication between their primary care physician and their mental health professional. The second paper I mention - free full text - by Mollen et al is a bit of a wake-up call for me. The authors write " ... we will discuss why people conform to social norms and then extend this knowledge to the field of health communication and behaviour change. We will elaborate on the advantages and disadvantages of using social norm messages, and then offer alternatives for the use of social norms in health communication messages ... Clearly, there is a substantial evidence suggesting that, when unhealthy behaviour is highly prevalent, descriptive norms should not be conveyed in health promotion campaigns.
Handouts & questionnaires for outcome tracking: depression, mania, side-effects, anxiety, worry, alcohol, sleep, gambling & more
Originally added on Mon, 21/12/2009 - 06:47Last updated on Thu, 24/12/2009 - 06:35
Well, well, well ... what a lot of amazing information there is out there on the internet. I was trawling to try to find the copyright position of the Panic Disorder Severity Scale (more on this soon in a future post) when I tumbled into Mark Zimmerman's "Outcome Tracker" website. Mark is "Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University, the Director of Outpatient Psychiatry at Rhode Island Hospital, and Principal Investigator of the Rhode Island Methods to Improve Diagnostic Assessment and Services (MIDAS) project."
NHS LifeCheck: online health checks for three age groups - babies, teens & mid-life
Originally added on Sun, 11/10/2009 - 05:40Last updated on Thu, 22/10/2009 - 06:51
Preventing cancer through life style choices
Originally added on Sun, 12/04/2009 - 06:03Last updated on Mon, 13/04/2009 - 06:33
In 2001 the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) WCRF/AICR set themselves the task of systematically assessing all good research on diet, physical activity and cancer and publishing a report that would be the largest study of its kind with conclusions that would be best the evidence could demonstrate. Over 100 scientists from 30 countries were involved. An expert panel of 21 of these scientists worked for 5 years to produce the report "Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective." The follow-up companion Policy Report "Policy and Action for Cancer Prevention" was published a little over a month ago and has recommendations for a series of different groups and organizations including government, industry, the media, schools, and work places.
Recent research: seven studies on diet, supplements & smoking
Originally added on Thu, 27/11/2008 - 06:58Last updated on Sun, 30/11/2008 - 06:48
Here are a couple of studies on smoking, a couple on B vitamins, a couple on vitamin D, and an intriguing study on iron. The smoking papers underline the varieties of damage this habit produces. So the Pasco et al study shows that, for women, being a smoker is associated with double the risk of developing subsequent major depression. The Strandberg research challenges any notion of "Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die". This study of 1658 men reports that "During the 26-year follow-up of this socioeconomically homogeneous male cohort, HRQoL (quality of life) deteriorated with an increase in daily cigarettes smoked in a dose-dependent manner.
Vegged out & fruitless: lifestyle & health
Originally added on Sat, 18/10/2008 - 05:12Last updated on Sun, 19/10/2008 - 05:21
Last month's BMJ published another in the long line of research articles that highlight the huge importance of lifestyle choices for our health:
Dam, R. M. v., T. Li, et al. (2008). "Combined impact of lifestyle factors on mortality: prospective cohort study in US women." BMJ 337(sep16_2): a1440- [Free Full Text]
Would you like to be 14 years younger – it’s largely a matter of choice!
Originally added on Fri, 03/10/2008 - 05:38Last updated on Sat, 10/09/2011 - 06:17
Back in January I wrote a blog post entitle "Does a healthy lifestyle really make a difference? " I highlighted that it makes a hell of a lot of a difference. At around that time another major study was published that hammered this point home even more thoroughly and I've been meaning to mention it in a post ever since. The recent publicity on poor fruit and veg intake in the UK population triggered me into looking the earlier study out.
