Investigators pooled survey data on 1,319 people, between the ages of 16 and 51 years. According to the report, “three scales were included: the IA Test, the Internet Function Questionnaire and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).” A total of 18 (1.2%) of participants met criteria for IA.

“Across the whole data sample, there was a close relationship between IA tendencies and depression, such that IA respondents were more depressed; there were also significant differences between the sexes, with men showing more addictive tendencies than women. In addition, young people were significantly more likely to show addictive symptoms than were older people.”

“The concept of IA is emerging as a construct that must be taken seriously,” conclude the study’s authors.

Psychopathology – February 2010;43:121-126.
content.karger.com

Specifically, 4-year-olds living in homes with all three routines had an almost 40% lower prevalence of obesity than did children living in homes that practiced none of these routines.

“The routines were protective even among groups that typically have a high risk for obesity. This is important because it suggests that there’s a potential for these routines to be useful targets for obesity prevention in all children,” notes lead study author, Sarah Anderson.

Among 4-year-old children whose households practiced all three routines, the prevalence of obesity was 14.3%. In contrast, 24.5% of children living in households without any of the routines were obese.

“We chose these routines to study because in addition to their potential to protect against obesity, other research has shown that they promote children’s social, emotional and cognitive development. That’s important when we think about the implications of our study,” adds Anderson .

Pediatrics – March 2010;125(3).
www.pediatrics.org

Mark Pereira, Ph.D., senior author on the study, explains that “the high levels of sugar in soft drinks may be increasing the level of insulin in the body, which we think contributes to pancreatic cancer cell growth.”

As part of the study, the researchers tracked 60,524 men and women in the Singapore Chinese Health Study for 14 years. During that time, there were 140 pancreatic cancer cases. Those who consumed two or more primarily carbonated sugar-sweetened soft drinks per week (averaging five per week) had an 87% bolstered risk, compared with people who refrained from soft drinks.

In contrast, no link was found between fruit juice consumption and pancreatic cancer.

Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention – February 2010;19:447-455.
cebp.aacrjournals.org

According to the article, participants “were exposed to low and moderate thermal pain pulses during paced breathing at their normal rate and one-half their normal rate. Thermal pain pulses were presented in four blocks of four trials. Each block included exposure to both mild and moderate pain trials, and periods of both normal and slow paced breathing.”

Slow breathing lessened pain and emotional discomfort in both groups of women, “particularly for moderately versus mildly painful thermal stimuli.” However, the findings were greater and more reliable among healthy women versus those with fibromyalgia.

Pain – January 15, 2010;Epub.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03043959

Dr. Timothy Neuschwander of University of California , San Diego , used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), to study the spines of eight children, with a mean age of 11 years. They scanned the youngsters first with an empty backpack, then with increasing weights of 9, 18, and 26 lb. These weights represented about 10%, 20%, and 30% of the children’s body weight.

Heavier weights caused intervertebral discs depression and decreased disc height. Heavier loads were also associated with increased curvature of the lumbar spine, either to the right or the left. Half of the children had a significant spinal curve even with the 18 lb weight, with Cobb angles greater than 10°. Most of the children had to adjust their posture to bear the 26 lb backpack load.

As backpack weight increased, so did the amount of pain reported by the children.

Although the children were wearing the backpack straps over both shoulders when the MRI scans were performed, the researchers note that spinal curvature could be even greater if the backpack was carried over one shoulder.

“Low back pain in children may be worsened by discogenic or postural changes,” Dr. Neuschwander and colleagues write. This could have long-term implications, as children with back pain are at increased risk of having back pain as adults.

Spine – January 1, 2010 ;35:83-88.
www.spinejournal.com

Investigators compared the expense of managing LBP by medical providers (both primary care and other providers) with the expense of managing LBP by chiropractors.

According to the report, “allowed costs of chiropractic treatment were 12% greater than medical primary care and 60% less per case than other types of medical care combined, on a per-case basis: median cost of medical primary care was $365.00, chiropractic care was $417.00, and medical nonprimary care was $669.00.”

“This study suggests chiropractic management as less expensive compared with medical management of back pain when care extends beyond primary care. Primary care management alone is virtually indistinguishable from chiropractic management in terms of costs.”

JMPT – November 2009;32:734-9.
www.jmptonline.org

“This is a dramatic increase in the number of kids classified as autistic or documented on the spectrum of similar disorders,” explains study co-author Beverly Mulvihill, PhD. “It is not entirely clear what is causing the rise, but we know major collaborative efforts are needed to improve the understanding and lives of people and families impacted.”

The study also found that boys are 4.5 times more likely than girls to have ASD, a finding that confirms earlier studies, says co-author Martha Wingate, Dr.PH.

“It still is not clear why males more frequently are affected. One thing we know for sure is that more research is needed to quantify the effects of single or multiple factors such as diagnosis patterns, inclusion of milder cases and other components.”

MMWR – December 18, 2010.
www.cdc.gov/mmwr/

The authors found that 10% of adolescents sleep only five hours and 23% sleep only six hours on an average school night. More females than males have sleep deficits as do more African-Americans and whites compared to Hispanics. Nearly 20% more 12th-grade students have sleep deficits than do those in ninth grade.

“The natural sleep-wake pattern shifts during adolescence, making earlier bed time and wake times more difficult. The result for students with early school start-times is a chronic sleep deficit,” notes lead study author Danice Eaton, PhD, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

National Sleep Foundation research shows that delaying school start-times by an hour or more increases the amount of sleep adolescents get and improves their performance in school. However, to promote optimal sleep, Dr. Eaton said that adolescents should have set bedtimes before 10 pm. on school nights and consistent wake-sleep times every night.

Journal of Adolescent Health – January 4, 2010;Epub.
www.jahonline.org

“Coffee has effects on insulin and glucose metabolism as well as sex hormone levels, all of which play a role in prostate cancer,” explains lead author Kathryn M. Wilson, Ph.D.

In a prospective investigation of nearly 50,000 men, Dr. Wilson and colleagues found that men who drank the most coffee had a 60% lower risk of aggressive prostate cancer than men who did not drink any coffee.

“Few studies have looked prospectively at this association, and none have looked at coffee and specific prostate cancer outcomes,” says Dr. Wilson. “We specifically looked at different types of prostate cancer, such as advanced versus localized cancers or high-grade versus low-grade cancers.”

AACR – December 9, 2009.
www.aacr.org

“It is known that vitamin E provides a degree of protection against certain forms of cancer. Higher intakes of gamma-tocopherol, which is a form of vitamin E, may reduce the risk of lung cancer,” explains chief investigator, Ladia M. Hernandez, MS, RD, LD.

The study included 36 healthy participants divided into two groups. Over six weeks, the intervention group ate about 2 ounces of pistachios per day. The control group continued with their normal diet.

Hernandez and colleagues found a significant increase in energy-adjusted dietary intake of gamma-tocopherol at weeks three and four in those on the pistachio diet, compared with those on the control diet. The similar effect was seen at weeks five and six among those on the pistachio diet compared with those on the control diet. For those on the pistachio diet, cholesterol-adjusted serum gamma-tocopherol was significantly higher at the end of the intervention period compared to baseline.

“Pistachios are a good source of gamma-tocopherol. Eating them increases intake of gamma-tocopherol so pistachios may help to decrease lung cancer risk,” notes Hernandez.

“Because epidemiologic studies suggest gamma-tocopherol is protective against prostate cancer, pistachio intake may help,” she adds. “Other food sources that are a rich source of gamma-tocopherol include nuts such as peanuts, pecans, walnuts, soybean and corn oils.”

AACR – December 9, 2009.
www.aacr.org