4 new recommendations for adolescent health

4 new recommendations for adolescent health - The annual "check-up" is (perhaps only) perfect for not only how children develop and provide the necessary vaccines, but to see how they are generally time - and help ensure they turn into happy, healthy adults. After all, prevention is really what is pediatrics.

That's why the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has a checklist for pediatricians called "Recommendations for pediatric preventive health care." These recommendations, which are updated every few years, based on the update on child health research now - and in the future.

 

While the latest version which includes new recommendations for younger children, like putting fluoride varnish on the teeth of children under 5 years and make a simple test of heart defects in newborns, most changes this occasion relate to teenagers. Here is what the AAP thinks pediatricians should do with their pre-teen and adolescent patients:

 

Detection of the lipids. Sometimes high cholesterol runs in families - but parents and other family members can not have checked your own, or may not be aware of the results of other family members tests.

 

Because high cholesterol can cause real damage to blood vessels over time and lead to heart disease and stroke, it is recommended that all young people have their cholesterol between the ages of 9 and 11. Doctors can before or again it is based on risk, but the AAP wants to be sure that everyone is checked at least once.

The detection of drugs and alcohol. As we all know, teenagers usually experience with drugs and alcohol. For some young people, this may be difficult or even fatal consequences.

 

The AAP recommended six simple questions (called the CRAFFT screen) that the really important information became apparent - and allow important discussions.

 

Depression screening (eg, a questionnaire). Suicide is the leading cause of death among teenagers - and depression is a treatable illness. But to treat it, we know it's there.

 
HIV testing between the ages of 16 and 18. This is important because one in four new HIV infections occur among young people aged 13-24, and 60% of all young people living with HIV do not know that they are infected. 

 

If you do not know, they not only can not help, but they can pass the infection to others. 

 

I guess some parents say, "My son did not need these. - Our family is healthy and my son is a good boy, happy to know stay out of trouble" But the truth is that we never can Learn everything about the history of our family or our children - and when it comes to health and well-being of our children is always better to be safe than sorry.

If you have questions about these recommendations or whatever you do - or not - happening at the check-up of your child, talk to your doctor.

By: Claire McCharty,MD. 

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Computer guided CBT may improve treatment of depression?

Computer guided CBT may improve treatment of depression? - In the United States, depression is the leading cause of disability, but only 21% of patients diagnosed with major depression receive treatment that meets the guidelines of the American Psychiatric Association. 

Of people seeking treatment for depression who would be treated with psychotherapy Live outnumber those who would be treated with drugs three to one, but those who often want to live not a therapy they receive. 

Access to psychotherapy is limited by the number of professionals from the region itself, the cost and logistics - not to mention the stigma. And when people receive the therapy, therapists can not provide care based on evidence.

One way to get high quality psychotherapy to people in need is to automate and computerize the treatment process and provide via websites and applications. This could provide guidelines on the basis of everyone, everywhere, at any time, at a low cost treatment. 

Stand-alone computerized cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been found to be effective for treating depression, and is now available in a few entities. But it remains unclear how much, if anything, CCTB improve the treatment of depression in primary care, so that a group of UK researchers recently tested the benefits of adding CCTB to standard treatment. 

They randomly assigned 691 people with depression in three different groups. One group received standard care, and the others received standard care plus a two CCTB programs online.

CCTB over standard care for depression 

Consequently, the standard treatment of depression in primary care in the UK is pretty good. Citizens are routinely offered antidepressants, psychotherapy, and access to community mental health teams, psychologists, psychiatrists and counselors - a range of both rare resources available in primary care practices in the United States. 

There was a lot of crossover between the study groups. In the group "standard of care", 19% ended up using CBT although they are not specifically assigned to this treatment. Between 77% and 84% of the three groups used to treat depression and drugs "Live" mental health specialists were seen by 17% annually and 24% of the other group CARE. 

In this context - with many participants CCTB groups also receive specialized mental health treatment and 19% of the group receiving the usual practice CBT-- no significant differences in treatment outcomes of depression. However, the United States, the results might have been different, given the limited resources of mental health in most established primary care clinics. 

It would be more interesting and more importantly, know the advantage of using CCTB for patients receiving no more - without drugs and without access to specialists in mental health. It is for these patients that CCTB might be most beneficial.

Challenges to get people to use CCBT to treat depression 

The two sites of the CCBT has been tested in previous clinical trials, and both have proven to be effective treatments - but they are only useful if people use them. Although both independent sites CCTB were designed to be used on 6 or 8 "sessions", most people only used once or twice, although the study provided reminder calls to participants. 

People with depression may experience fatigue, impaired concentration, and feelings of hopelessness. Make websites use systematic CCTB on your own schedule is a challenge - even if these programs could be useful in the end. More structure may be needed to keep people using CCTB.

What is the take home? The biggest challenge is not building a CBT program that works; He built one that people will use. Just as you need to entertain while educating before CBT program must be extremely involving users - and provide immediate value of the first session. 

And while the concept of treatment anywhere, anytime is attractive, confident people to plan CCTB themselves in their own time, in their own homes, can lead to high levels of downhill; after all, you can always get around to it later. 
By: James Cartreine, Phd.

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Only overwork dying young

Only overwork dying young - Billy Joel was on to something. As the singer suggested in "Movin 'Out" working too hard can really give you a "heart-DCA crisis ..." And, as a recent study has also shown, stroke can be an even bigger problem than to a heart attack in people who are overworked. 

For the study, researchers at University College London compile data on the relationship between working hours and the risk of heart attack by more than 600,000 workers, and similar data on the risk of stroke more than 500,000 workers.

They adjusted their data to compensate for differences due to health behaviors of individual workers, such as smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity, and also adjusted for the presence of other cardiac risk factors, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol.

They found that those who worked more than 55 hours per week had an increased risk of suffering a heart attack by 13% and were 33% more likely to suffer a stroke compared to those who have worked 35-40 hours a week.

The high risk of heart attack with more hours of work was only seen among workers with low socio-economic status. The risk of heart attack in high-wage workers who worked long hours was similar to that of high-wage workers who had normal working hours. The risk of stroke was higher among those who worked long hours, regardless of their socioeconomic status.

Why overwork and cardiovascular risk are related is not entirely clear. Hormonal factors, such as high levels of hormones "stress" such as cortisol and adrenaline, may be involved. Overwork and stress at work are also associated with many cardiac risk factors.

Those who work long hours tend to have unhealthy lifestyles, with less exercise, the worst regimes, and increased consumption of alcohol and snuff. Type 2 diabetes is more common among workers with low socioeconomic status who work long hours, but not workers with a high socioeconomic level working similar hours.

Metabolic syndrome, a set of cardiovascular risk factors, including high blood pressure, high triglycerides, low levels of good cholesterol, high blood sugar and abdominal obesity "apple shape", is associated with a stressful job.

Death from overwork in Asia

In more developed countries, overdrive is not considered a public health problem. However, death from overwork is quite common in Japan there is a word for it: karoshi. Japanese, or employee, company workers have a tradition of job security for life. 

Unfortunately for them, the decline is expected to enter additional long hours without pay. The work addiction is so bad that the Japanese government has considered imposing a mandatory annual leave of five days. 

In China, death from overwork, known as guolaosi name, is also said to be widespread. A tobacco epidemic is probably a major contributing factor; 63% of middle-aged men in East Asia are regular smokers.

Staying healthy at work 

A number of strategies can help you avoid work habits that are bad for your health:

     *  Eat well and avoid "tension".
     *  Avoid sugary drinks and salty snacks in vending machines; bring a lot of nuts, fruits and vegetables of the house instead.

     *  Integrating physical activity into your workflow: hurry up the stairs instead of taking the elevator, or walking in an office colleagues for a while face rather than an email exchange.

     *  Prolonged sitting is associated with increased mortality from any cause; try to work whenever possible.

     * Joke; the mood is associated with better cardiovascular health and increased labor productivity.
     *  Make sure your major cardiac risk factors such as pressure and sugar levels in the blood and blood cholesterol are under good control. 

And if you're the boss, remember that a low stress, positive work environment is not only good for the health of employees, it is also good for business.
By: John Ross, MD,FIDSA

 

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Adolescents with optimistic friends can have better emotional health

Adolescents with optimistic friends can have better emotional health - Pediatricians and child behavior specialists who work with adolescents know that adolescence is an important time for social growth.

However, these years can be fraught with anxiety for parents of teenagers. How will you know if your teenager Moody is to be with the right people?

What friends could be a bad influence? How can you help your child develop healthy relationships? 

Recent research has addressed some aspects of these issues. A study entitled "Dissemination of healthy humor in social networks of adolescents" published this year in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, examined whether a teenager whose friends have a healthy atmosphere is less likely to be depressed.

He also discussed how emotionally healthy friends affect the recovery of adolescent depression. Basically, the researchers wanted to know: is a contagious good mood?

The study involved nearly 3,000 teenagers. Each study volunteers carried out two surveys, six months apart, in which he or she up to five male and five female friends listed. Then each teenager was monitored over time to see how it changes your mood. 

One of the interesting things about this study is that the researchers define depression as a behavior, not necessarily as a disease that we can get. This allowed them to make them slightly different from previous studies looking at the same statistical analysis of things, and discovered the potential power of positive thinking friends. 

The researchers found that have a social network of friends with a healthy atmosphere cut the likelihood of developing depression half of teenagers over a period of 6-12 months. It has also significantly improved the chances of recovery from depression in adolescents who have had it.

Although the data do not show a cause and direct effect, this study suggests that having friends with healthy mood can reduce the risk of depression and make it a little easier to recover from depression if it product.

Surprising findings in the survey on social networks

This study is a good example of a recent trend in epidemiology - the use of data on the social network from person to learn about this person. This research has led to many interesting discoveries, and given really is a whole new area of research.  

A 2007 study in the New England Journal of Medicine was one of the first of its kind. It has been shown that obese people who had friends and relatives were themselves more likely to be obese. 

Since then, additional research has studied how social networks influence the risk of developing the individual (or avoid) specific health conditions such as obesity, smoking and depression.

The results of these studies are sometimes surprising, giving valuable information to the new medical community. For example, I conducted a study in 2011 called me "The influence of social networks on patients' attitudes towards the type II diabetes." When I began this research, it is assumed that patients are less concerned about having diabetes, if several friends and family members had diabetes. 

I had imagined that these patients might have become so used to the idea that diabetes disease seems common and almost normal. But in fact, my team found the opposite! patients with a higher prevalence of diabetes within their social networks worried over their disease. This unexpected result gave me information that helped me take better care of my patients.

Using network data to improve the mental health of your child

This type of research is not only useful for doctors, but also provides important for anyone trying to improve their own health or that of informing the family of one. 

The study on the positive mood in the social networks of adolescents suggests that parents may be able to reduce their chances of developing adolescent depression - or improve your mood or depression if she has - just promote and support emotionally healthy friendships with their peers.

With much controversy over the use of antidepressants in adolescents, the results are, as they can give parents a simple way to promote the emotional health and well-being in their teens - no drugs involved.
By: Nandini Mani, MD

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The Alexander Technique can help (literally) to relax

The Alexander Technique can help (literally) to relax - In the 1890s a Shakespearean actor named F. Matthias Alexander started to discover why his voice is often lost when he performed. (Imagine yourself as a Shakespearean actor, totally dependent on his voice to pay your bills, find you, speechless when necessary to complete!) Needless to say, Alexander had to find out why this was happening.

He began by observing himself in multiple mirrors, while preparing to perform. In fact, it was discovered that something has changed before his speech: He contracted the muscles of the upper part of your body, especially the neck so hard that his whole attitude has changed. He theorized that the loss of voice may be the result of his interrupted position.

Fortunately, his hypothesis proved correct. When he was able to release the tension in your muscles with a variety of movements, not only did their loss of voice of determination, but was able to change the habit he had developed to obtain neck.  

While continuing to refine and improve its methods, Alexander realized they could help others improve their health and wellbeing. Their findings, which have already been codified in the Alexander Technique (AT), are still in use today.

What is the Alexander Technique used today?
 
Today, AT is considered a mental discipline that teaches people to let go of the tension in the body and how to allow the body to move with ease and minimal effort. AT is used to treat a variety of conditions, musculoskeletal pain and repetitive strain injury to breathing problems, loss of voice, and sleep disorders.  

Many artists, musicians, dancers, singers and actors use AT to help improve their performance. The purpose of the AT, ultimately, is to allow people who systematically unlearn maladaptive habits (negative) - which can occur in the way we sit, eat, walk or talk - and instead learn to return the body to a steady state relaxed alignment and balance. 

AT is for you?

But you need not be a musician or dancer for the benefit of AT. This is just an example: You, like most of us live in the world today, spend much of their time on a computer or check their e-mails and texts smartphones. This means that you spend much of their time looking down instead of forward, the way they were designed to support the head vertebrae. 

Keep your head tilted for long periods puts continuous pressure on the large muscles of the neck, which are normally intended to be lax. Conversely, small neck muscles (which are designed to keep the neck vertebrae) are not used and therefore are loose. The result is that the vertebrae lose their support if you find yourself not only with neck stiffness or pain, but perhaps some degeneration of the cervical spine, too.

AT can address this habitual contraction of the neck and teach you to keep your phone, how to position the head, and finally, how to restore a better posture and ease in your body.

Is there science to support?

A recent randomized controlled study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that Alexander Technique lessons led to significant reductions in long neck pain 12 months, compared to usual care. (Interestingly, the study also found that acupuncture reduces pain and compared with usual care.)

Another interesting study published in the medical journal BMJ in 2008 tried a variety of treatments for back pain. A total of 579 patients with chronic or recurrent low back pain were randomly divided into four groups. 

The first group received "usual care" of them (for example, they were the control group). The second group received massage. The third was six Alexander Technique lessons. The fourth group took 24 Alexander Technique lessons.  

Half of each group also received a prescription for exercise (especially walking) of a doctor, in addition to a nurse behavioral counseling. The results showed that patients who had lessons with an exercise plan improved more. In addition, the combined response was also the most cost-effective (in particular by taking six lessons combined with an exercise plan).

What does this mean for you?

Supporters of Alexander Technique would say start paying attention. Pay attention to your posture - the way you walk, talk, sit, stand, or generally anything, even lifting a piece of food in his mouth. If you are like most people, your body is probably trapped in tense muscular habits that can cause many problems, headaches back pain, perhaps even anxiety. It may behoove you to unlearn these blocked patterns that can pass through your life easier - and a lot less pain,.

If you are interested in the Alexander Technique, the American Society for the Alexander Technique can help you find an instructor.  
By: Eva Selhub,MD  

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Healing through Music

Healing through Music - The last time I had a mammogram, I have a big surprise - and it was good.  

A string quartet played just outside the gates of breast imaging center, and immediately changed my thoughts "What will they find mammography?" A "Do Schubert or Beethoven?" For when my name was called, he had almost forgotten why I'm here.

The concert was an unexpected work Chartrand and Holly Lorrie Kubicek, therapists and co-coordinator of the Environmental Music in Massachusetts General Hospital. But bring music into hospital rooms is a complementary activity for music therapists. Most of his time is devoted to the use of music to help patients to achieve specific objectives, such as the recovery of their speech after a stroke and reduce the stress of chemotherapy.

Chartrand is a singer and a graduate of the Berklee College of Music. He decided to become a therapist to music when he realized he could use music to help others as he had supported all his life. "The favorite part of my job is to see how big an impact music can have on someone who is not feeling well," she said.

What is music therapy?

Music therapy is a growing field. These certificates are therapists are accomplished musicians who have a deep understanding of how music can evoke emotional responses to relax or stimulate people, or help them heal. Combine this knowledge with his familiarity with a wide variety of musical styles to find the specific type that you can get through a difficult physical rehabilitation session or will guide you in meditation. And they can find their favorite music style, or electro pop and grand opera.

Music therapists know few limits. They can play music for you or with you, or even teach you how to play an instrument. On any given day, the tank can Chartrand carrying a drum, a ukulele or iPad and speakers in the room of a patient. "Technology gives us both access to all types of music that can find and read almost any type of music you like," she said.

Proof of music therapy

A growing body of research shows that music therapy is most appreciated. It can improve the performance and quality of life health in a variety of ways. Here is an example:

Improved invasive procedures. In controlled clinical trials of people with colonoscopies, cardiac angiography and knee surgery, listening to music before your procedure had reduced anxiety and a reduced need for sedatives. Those who listened to music in the operating room reported less discomfort during the procedure. Listening to music in the recovery room under the use of opioid analgesics.

Restore lost his speech. Music therapy can help people who are recovering from a stroke or head trauma that damaged the left area of ​​the brain responsible for speech. Because singing ability comes from the right side of the brain, people can avoid the injury on the left side of his brain thought of singing first and then gradually release the melody.  

Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords uses this technique so that you can testify before a congressional committee two years after a gunshot wound in his brain destroyed his ability to speak.

Reducing side effects of cancer therapy. Music reduces anxiety associated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. You can also relieve nausea and vomiting in patients receiving chemotherapy.

AIDS pain relief. Music therapy has been tested on patients from those suffering from severe acute pain in people with chronic pain of arthritis. In general, music therapy reduces the perception of pain, reduces the amount of necessary drugs against pain, helps relieve depression, and gives people a greater sense of control over their pain. 

Improving the quality of life for dementia patients. Because of the ability to interact with the music it remains intact until the disease process, music therapy can help you remember the memories, reduce agitation, communication aid, and improve physical coordination.
 
How to find a music therapist

If you face a procedure or disease, or just want relief from stress of everyday life and helps to stick to an exercise program of a music therapist may be able to help. You can find one on the website of the American Music Therapy Association. 
By: Beverly Merz 
 

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