The Benefits of Puppy Love

Pet ownership confers a sense of belonging and acceptance. Many studies have hypothesized that owning and caring for a pet has qualitative psychological and physical benefits, but recent studies are quantifying these advantages. Pet owners have long reported better overall well-being compared to peers without pets, including greater self-esteem, greater conscientiousness, less stress, less negativity, and less fear. They routinely report more exercise and physical activity, which itself is positively correlated to improved psychological and physical health. Additionally, pets often complement, rather than compete, with other forms of social support.

An recent study reports that pet ownership may have quantifiable cardiovascular benefits. Evidence suggests that pet ownership, specifically dog ownership, leads to lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol. Dog owners also have improved survival following a heart attack. The authors hypothesize that the link is due to the improved emotional state of pet owners, which leads to decreased autonomic activity and improved endothelial function, which, in turn, causes improved coagulation, immune function, and electrolyte balance, and related cardiovascular parameters. Collectively, these benefits lead to less cardiovascular dysfunction and disease.

In a related study, not owning a pet was a significant predictor of mortality in heart attack survivors. The link between not owning a pet and depression was significant, indicating that pet ownership improves survival by preventing depression, anxiety, and a lack of social support that contributes to post-heart attack deaths.

Luckily, this research does not apply only to adult pet owners. New research shows positive health benefits for adolescents who have a pet in their lives. Specifically, adolescents are more likely to engage in physical activity if their family has a dog. Improved physical activity for children and adolescents has innumerable psychological and physical benefits.

October is World Animal Month. Celebrate by thanking your pet for all he does for you. The long walks, the wet noses, the tennis-ball chasing, the purrs, and the fur on all your clothes and furniture are all making you happier and healthier.

References

Arhant-Sudhir K, Arhant-Sudhir R, & Sudhir K (2011). Pet ownership and cardiovascular risk reduction: Supporting evidence, conflicting data, and underlying mechanisms. Clinical and experimental pharmacology & physiology PMID: 21824172

Friedmann E, Thomas SA, & Son H (2011). Pets, depression and long term survival in community living patients following myocardial infarction. Anthrozoos, 24 (3), 273-285 PMID: 21857770

McConnell AR, Brown CM, Shoda TM, Stayton LE, & Martin CE (2011). Friends with benefits: On the positive consequences of pet ownership. Journal of personality and social psychology PMID: 21728449

Reeves MJ, Rafferty AP, Miller CE, & Lyon-Callo SK (2011). The impact of dog walking on leisure-time physical activity: results from a population-based survey of Michigan adults. Journal of physical activity & health, 8 (3), 436-44 PMID: 21487144

Sirard JR, Patnode CD, Hearst MO, & Laska MN (2011). Dog ownership and adolescent physical activity. American journal of preventive medicine, 40 (3), 334-7 PMID: 21335266

Image via AnetaPics / Shutterstock.

Is Giftedness Nothing More than Good Genes?

Most people want to believe that if they work hard, and practice, practice, practice, they can be the next great musician, artist, sports star, math genius, or whatever other fill-in-the-blank talented person they aspire to be. A new article discounts that egalitarian view of success and claims that hard work alone may not lead to greatness.

In the latest installment of the nature-versus-nurture discussion, psychologists claim that practice only accounts for half the success of great performance. Certain tasks and abilities, however, are defined by genetics, they posit. You either have gifted genes, or you don’t. And, if you don’t, practice can only take you so far.

For the study, published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, researchers evaluated 57 piano players with varying levels of experience — from virtual beginners to virtuosos. Each pianist was asked to sight-read of piece of music he or she had never seen before. Scoring a point for the

Economic Burden of Poor Mental Health

In today’s economy, workers across all sectors are seeking steady, gainful employment. Likewise, employers are seeking productive, consistent workers. For individuals with mental illness, this may be an impossible job description to fill. A recent report published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) claims that common mental health conditions lead to decreased workplace productivity and substantial economic losses.

The OECD is an organization of approximately three dozen developed nations that seeks to improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. The OECD recommends policies and business practices to address long-term challenges in worldwide productivity, innovation, and economic growth. In its latest report, the OECD addresses the substantial economic burden of mental illness around the world. According to data compiled from multiple sources, the OECD reports that, at any point in time, 20% of the population suffers from a mental illness and these conditions negatively affect workplace productivity. Primarily, people with mental illness are more likely than healthier coworkers to be absent from work, and each absence is longer for those with mental illness. Additionally, even when workers with mental illness are present at work, they struggle to be highly productive.

The total monetary cost associated with mental health is hundreds of billions of dollars annually in developed countries. Yet, most of these dollars are not spent in the health care sector. Most of the costs are incurred through a lost labor supply, high unemployment rates, frequent sick days, and lost productivity at work.  In the European Union (EU), the total cost of mental health is estimated to be 800 billion euros annually, which accounts for 3% to 4% of the gross domestic product of the EU. In Canada, the monetary cost of decreased productivity associated with poor mental health is more than $15 billion, one-third of the total cost associated with mental illness.

The overall employment rate for people with mental illness is 10% to 15% lower than people without mental illness; people with mental illness are two to three times more likely to be unemployed. In the United States alone, workers with mental health disorders are 50% more likely to experience involuntary job loss and 30% more likely to leave a job voluntarily than healthier counterparts.

Women, young adults, and individuals with low levels of education are the most likely to experience mental illness. Most mental health disorders are mild to moderate, with depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders being the most common conditions. However, many mental health conditions coexist with physical comorbidities, which also negatively affect productivity.

The occurrence of mental illness among young adults is particularly worrisome, according to the OECD report, since young adults are at increased risk for leaving the job market completely or never entering it at all. In OECD member nations, mental illness accounts for one-third to one-half of new disability claims for workers. Among young adults, the proportion is 70%.

Luckily, research also indicates that individuals with mental illness who receive treatment can increase productivity and performance in the workplace. However, more than half of the people who suffer from mental illness receive no treatment — a social and policy-based struggle around the world that has already gained attention in recent years.

Many factors influence how mental health affects workplace performance, including psychological demands of the job itself, job security (or insecurity), and family and social support. According to the OECD, interventions to improve the economic burden of mental health should focus on improved working conditions and support for non-work-related stress. Additionally, the OECD recommends an atmosphere of mental health prevention, rather than reacting to acute episodes of poor mental health. Prevention and early identification of mental illness will improve the chances of young adults entering the workforce and maintaining long-term employment.

The misconceptions and stigma associated with mental illness at work prevent sufferers from disclosing their condition and receiving proper treatment. Particularly in the current economy, workers are even less likely to reveal anything that would make them appear to be a less-than-ideal employee. But, also in this economy, employers would be wise to take care of their employees and ensure productivity and quality job performance by keeping workers secure, happy and (mentally) healthy.

References

Czaba?a C, Charzy?ska K, & Mroziak B (2011). Psychosocial interventions in workplace mental health promotion: an overview. Health promotion international, 26 Suppl 1 PMID: 22079937

Dewa CS, & Lin E (2000). Chronic physical illness, psychiatric disorder and disability in the workplace. Social science & medicine (1982), 51 (1), 41-50 PMID: 10817467

Dewa CS, Thompson AH, & Jacobs P (2011). The association of treatment of depressive episodes and work productivity. Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie, 56 (12), 743-50 PMID: 22152643

Marchand A, & Blanc MÈ (2011). Occupation, work organisation conditions and the development of chronic psychological distress. Work (Reading, Mass.), 40 (4), 425-35 PMID: 22130060

OECD. Sick on the job? Myths and realities about mental health at work. 2011.

Image via kwest / Shutterstock.

Does Personality Play a Role in the Stress of Caregiving?

Family caregivers are individuals who provide short-term, or long-term, unpaid care for family members with illnesses and/or impairments. Caring for a family member allows us to express love and concern for someone who cared for us. Yet caregiving for a family member can be strenuous, and not without negative consequences. For example, the average amount of time a family caregiver attends to the needs of another is four hours a day if the caregiver is cognitively impaired, nine hours a day if the care recipient has dementia, and both types of caregivers experience similar physical and emotional strains, such as poor health and depression.

So support for caregivers of family members should not be targeted solely to those who provide care to family members with dementia; caregivers of family members without dementia but other illness and impairments suffer as well. A variety of support services are available to caregivers though, including local support groups, magazines, newsletters, and conferences.

Many family caregivers must work for pay outside the home and/or care for their children. These responsibilities, in addition to family caregiving, can leave little time for caregivers to pay heed to their own health and well-being, with consequences that impair their ability to sleep, exercise, and cook healthy meals.

Intensive family caregiving can also mean the caregiver decreases his/her work hours, resulting in lost wages. And as we learned above, the emotional consequences of caregiving include depression, as well as anxiety. Depression, not surprisingly, tend to be especially high in caregivers of family members with dementia who are also accusative, suspicious, and/or wander away from home.

So Yes.

The consequences associated with being a caregiver are related to caregivers’ personalities. Caregivers who are extraverted and conscientious tend to show more signs of physical health and mental health, whereas caregivers who are Neurotic tend to show worse signs of physical health and mental health.

And when asked to report on their own physical health and mental health, caregivers who are open and agreeable tend to report the highest levels. Depression in particular is worse for neurotic caregivers, and least problematic for extraverted caregivers. So personality is clearly associated with the strain of being a family caregiver.

Yet these findings are based on correlational research, so it isn’t clear if personality traits cause health outcomes, health outcomes cause or at least magnify personality traits, or some other third variable, such as a person’s coping style, contributes to both health outcomes and personality. More experimental research is needed to determine such.

There is some longitudinal research on coping styles though, as they relate to caregivers’ personality traits and anxiety levels. Anxiety levels are related to the ways in which caregivers cope with the seemingly endless burdens placed upon them by the needs of an ill or impaired family member. Coping strategies take many forms, and three common types are described below:

Emotion-Focused (e.g., social support, humor, and finding meaning in the situation)Problem-Focused (e.g., help from others, advice, and planning)Dysfunctional (e.g., venting, denial, and substance abuse)

Problem-focused coping helps individuals feel in control of a stressful situation, but unfortunately, research indicates that Neurotic caregivers are less likely to engage in this type of coping strategy. And longitudinal research reveals that anxiety does not escalate over time for caregivers who use positive emotion-focused coping strategies, which is also used infrequently by Neurotic caregivers.

So caregivers may wish to change the way they cope with the stressors of caring for a loved one, for the sake of the family member’s well-being, as well as their own.

References

Chappell NL, & Dujela C (2009). Caregivers–who copes how? International journal of aging & human development, 69 (3), 221-44 PMID: 20041567

Cooper, C., Katona, C., Orrell, M., & Livingston, G. (2008). Coping strategies, anxiety and depression in caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s disease International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 23 (9), 929-936 DOI: 10.1002/gps.2007

Fisher, G., Franks, M., Plassman, B., Brown, S., Potter, G., Llewellyn, D., Rogers, M., & Langa, K. (2011). Caring for Individuals with Dementia and Cognitive Impairment, Not Dementia: Findings from the Aging, Demographics, and Memory Study Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 59 (3), 488-494 DOI: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2010.03304.x

Gaugler, J., Kane, R., Kane, R., & Newcomer, R. (2005). The Longitudinal Effects of Early Behavior Problems in the Dementia Caregiving Career. Psychology and Aging, 20 (1), 100-116 DOI: 10.1037/0882-7974.20.1.100

Löckenhoff, C., Duberstein, P., Friedman, B., & Costa, P. (2011). Five-factor personality traits and subjective health among caregivers: The role of caregiver strain and self-efficacy. Psychology and Aging, 26 (3), 592-604 DOI: 10.1037/a0022209

Melo, G., Maroco, J., & de Mendonça, A. (2011). Influence of personality on caregiver’s burden, depression and distress related to the BPSD International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 26 (12), 1275-1282 DOI: 10.1002/gps.2677

Image via tepic / Shutterstock.

Childhood Aggression Predicts Health Care Use Later in Life

Young children can be physically aggressive, owing to a combination of instinct, temperament, cultural and social influences, and (sometimes) not getting what they want. But, by the time most kids reach preschool age, they have learned to control their aggression with coping skills and relational techniques. However, children who do not learn to regulate aggressive behavior are at risk for physical and mental health issues, as well as serious patterns of aggression and violence, as adults. A new study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, shows that the more aggressive a young child is the more likely he or she is to use health care services as an adult.

The 15-year longitudinal cohort study examined nearly 4000 children who were in grades 1, 4, and 7 in the mid-1980s. Children were ranked by their peers on three attributes: aggression, withdrawal, and likeability. Researchers used Canadian databases to assess health care use when the subjects were, on average, 39 years old. They adjusted their results for socioeconomic status of the children in 1986 and educational level.

Overall, results indicate that each standard deviation in peer-rated childhood aggression accounted for an 8% increase in overall medical visits during the follow-up period. Additionally, aggressive children showed an 11% increase in medical visits for injuries, a 44% increase for lifestyle-related illnesses, which included obesity, type 2 diabetes, ulcers, alcohol dependence, and drug use, a 6% increase in visits to specialists, a 24% increase in visits to dentists, a 12% increase in visits to emergency rooms, and an 11% increase in hospital admissions. Childhood aggression was not associated with an increase in infections.

Children who were judged to be more socially withdrawn than their peers had a 15% increase in visits to dentists. Alternatively, likeable children had a 4% decrease in overall health care use, a 9% decrease in medical visits due to injuries, and an 11% decrease in visits to dentists.

It is difficult to clarify precisely what causes aggression, but associations have been identified between childhood aggression and poor peer relationships, having young siblings, mothers with antisocial behavior, young mothers, families with low income, mothers who smoked during pregnancy, mothers who exhibit coercive parenting behavior, and family dysfunction. Still, no matter the cause, aggressive children can grow into aggressive adults. And, aggressive adults can impose a burden on public health services owing to increased physical, mental, and emotional violence toward victims, increased violent crimes, and increased spouse and child abuse. And, perpetrators themselves are at increased risk for depression, suicide, alcohol and drug use, and injuries.

The authors do not go so far as to calculate the total monetary costs associated with health care use within this cohort, but the implication is that the increased use of health care imposes a significant economic burden on public health services. They claim that decreasing the aggression will lead to decreased expenditures and overall health care cost savings. Identifying problematic and aggressive childhood behavior, and teaching corrective or preventive strategies, might mitigate long-term health risks and economic burdens to the children themselves and the public at large.

References

Temcheff CE, Serbin LA, Martin-Storey A, Stack DM, Hastings P, Ledingham J, & Schwartzman AE (2011). Childhood aggression, withdrawal and likeability, and the use of health care later: a longitudinal study. CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal

Media Violence Leads to Real Violence

A few short decades ago, the most violent scenes we were exposed to in the media involved Wile E. Coyote and an anvil. The nightly news did not display graphic evidence of riots or murders or even war. Movies did not market themselves based on the amount of gunfire packed into two hours. Video games were little more than a bouncing ball controlled by a joystick. But, society has changed and, now, violence is everywhere. Children and adolescents are exposed to violent images everyday and the line between reality and fiction is blurred. Now, the consequences of such exposure are becoming evident and recent studies show neurological adaptations and desensitization that lead to aggression and violence in real life.

Adolescents spend a significant amount of time watching violent television programs and movies and playing violent video games. A recent neurological evaluation of adolescent brain function reported an association between violent media exposure and decreased brain activation in response to increasingly violent images and scenes. The adaptation was primarily seen in the fronto-parietal network, an area that has been associated with decreased control of aggressive behavior. Essentially, repeated exposure to violence blunts emotional responses to violence and decreases the association of consequences with aggression, leading to more aggressive attitudes and behaviors over time.

A similar study did report that the presence of innate aggressive personality traits or tendencies does moderate brain responses to media violence. Adolescents with diagnoses of aggressive behavior disorders with repeated exposure to media violence showed decreased brain activation in response to emotional stimuli compared to healthy controls with low violence exposure and compared to aggressive adolescents with low violence exposure. Still, another examination of adolescents showed that brain activation and emotional responses to violence were similar between healthy, non-aggressive adolescents with high exposure to media violence and adolescents diagnosed with aggressive behavior disorders.

Violence is everywhere. As a society, we are desensitized to viewing aggressive and brutal scenes every day. But, is it as simple as desensitization or does exposure to violence really change who we are? The findings of the neurological studies suggest that brain function is actually altered in response to violence and, as a result, individuals are less able to react emotionally to violence and control their own aggressive behavior. Our choices in entertainment are becoming self-fulfilling prophecies, of sorts, and the more violence we see, the more violent we are.

References

Kalnin AJ, Edwards CR, Wang Y, Kronenberger WG, Hummer TA, Mosier KM, Dunn DW, & Mathews VP (2011). The interacting role of media violence exposure and aggressive-disruptive behavior in adolescent brain activation during an emotional Stroop task. Psychiatry research, 192 (1), 12-9 PMID: 21376543

Kelly CR, Grinband J, & Hirsch J (2007). Repeated exposure to media violence is associated with diminished response in an inhibitory frontolimbic network. PloS one, 2 (12) PMID: 18060062

Mathews VP, Kronenberger WG, Wang Y, Lurito JT, Lowe MJ, & Dunn DW (2005). Media violence exposure and frontal lobe activation measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging in aggressive and nonaggressive adolescents. Journal of computer assisted tomography, 29 (3), 287-92 PMID: 15891492

Strenziok M, Krueger F, Deshpande G, Lenroot RK, van der Meer E, & Grafman J (2011). Fronto-parietal regulation of media violence exposure in adolescents: a multi-method study. Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 6 (5), 537-47 PMID: 20934985

Image via Phase4Photography / Shutterstock.

Mortgage Mess or Mental Health Matter?

The last decade has brought record-high home foreclosures as part of the economic crisis that has gripped the United States. It is evident that these mortgage failures have affected more than just the housing market, bringing widespread implications to the job market, education, and national levels of debt. Home foreclosures may also significantly impact mental health — a public health crisis in addition to an economic and financial one.

Recently, the American Journal of Public Health published a study linking mortgage delinquency and depressive symptoms in older Americans. The researchers used data from the Health and Retirement Study, a longitudinal survey of a nationally-representative sample of adults over 50 years old, to assess changes in health and health-related resources associated with mortgage delinquency over a 2-year period at the height of the housing crisis (2006-2008). Changes in health included incidence of depressive symptoms and major declines in self-reported overall health, and changes in health-related resources included access to affordable food and prescription medications.

Overall, individuals who fell behind on their mortgage payments were more than 8 times more likely to develop depressive symptoms, 7.5 times more likely to experience food insecurity, and nearly 9 times more likely to experience cost-related medication nonadherence than those who did not fall behind on payments. Notably, the mortgage-delinquent group of homeowners had worse health status at baseline, but the results accounted for this difference between the groups.

Home ownership is a sign of wealth and material resources and is associated with better health. Alternatively, financial strain is associated with worse health and higher mortality. These associations are due to several mechanisms: psychological stress, disrupted access to resources such as food and health care, and interruption of social ties and support systems. The implications to psychosocial well-being caused by a mortgage default or foreclosure are believed to be more substantial than other types of financial stress.

Previous studies of mortgage failures reported that individuals in foreclosure had higher rates of depression, hypertension, and heart disease and a higher prevalence of cost-related health care and medication nonadherence. Though, it is not clear if foreclosure causes poor health status or poor health is a risk factor for mortgage-related difficulties. In some studies, homeowners with existing health problems reported being forced to choose between paying medical bills, including prescription drug costs, and their mortgage at the height of financial strain.

The health outcomes in the current study have important implications for older adults, since each predicts further health declines and worse overall outcomes to major illnesses and health conditions. The impairments in physical functioning, social functioning, and employability worsen the cycle of financial strain. Not only are millions of Americans without safe and affordable housing now, millions of Americans are also at risk for or experiencing mental and physical health issues — a significant disadvantage to getting the country back on a healthy economic track.

While the study only addressed older Americans, the results are likely applicable to anyone facing mortgage foreclosure. It would be no surprise if losing one’s home resulted in psychosocial and physical stress. Homeowners in default of their mortgages are a group at high-risk for declines in health, and the authors of the current study assert that these homeowners may benefit from coordinated, affordable health services that includes mental health counseling along with financial counseling services.

References

Alley DE, Lloyd J, Pagán JA, Pollack CE, Shardell M, & Cannuscio C (2011). Mortgage delinquency and changes in access to health resources and depressive symptoms in a nationally representative cohort of Americans older than 50 years. American journal of public health, 101 (12), 2293-8 PMID: 22021301

Cannuscio CC, Alley DE, Pagán JA, Soldo B, Krasny S, Shardell M, Asch DA, & Lipman TH (2011). Housing strain, mortgage foreclosure, and health. Nursing outlook PMID: 22000689

Pollack CE, Kurd SK, Livshits A, Weiner M, & Lynch J (2011). A case-control study of home foreclosure, health conditions, and health care utilization. Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 88 (3), 469-78 PMID: 21491152

Pollack, C., & Lynch, J. (2009). Health Status of People Undergoing Foreclosure in the Philadelphia Region American Journal of Public Health, 99 (10), 1833-1839 DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2009.161380

Image via NotarYES / Shutterstock.

Dietary Trans Fat Linked to Aggression

If you are what you eat, then, apparently, trans fatty acids are aggressive and prone to depression. A new observational study links dietary trans fat intake to adverse behaviors that affect others.

Between 1999 and 2004, researchers evaluated the diets of nearly 1000 men and women. Their average age was 57 years, more than two-thirds of the group was male, and more than three-quarters was Caucasian. None of the participants had cholesterol extremes, diabetes, heart disease, or cancer at the time of enrollment. The average daily consumption of trans fatty acids reported by the participants was 3.49 grams.  Validated behavioral questionnaires were used to collect information regarding impatience, irritability, and aggression toward self, others, and objects. The study is available online at PLoS One.

Overall, participants who consumed more trans fats had higher scores on each adverse behavior measured. The association was true for both genders, all age groups, and all ethnic groups. The associations were stronger between trans fats and adverse behaviors than any other factor, including lifestyle and alcohol intake.

Trans fatty acids are also known as unsaturated fatty acids. They occur rarely in nature, though certain kinds are found in milk and meat from cows. In general, trans fats are the result of food production and are prevalent in snack foods, fast foods, fried foods, and commercially-prepared baked goods. Trans fatty acids, whether naturally or artificially produced, have essentially no nutritional value and are not necessary for human health. In the commercial food industry, trans fats provide a longer shelf-life for products.

Currently, most fast food sandwiches contain less than 2 grams of trans fat, but increasing regulation and public attention has significantly decreased the amount of trans fat used in the food industry. Prior to 2006, a fast food sandwich likely contained up to 10 grams of trans fat. According to labeling requirements, a product can be listed as containing

Are Your Friends Making You Fat?

Many factors contribute to the epidemic of overweight and obesity, but new research suggests that other people’s eating habits could be influencing your food intake more than you realize.

The study, published online by PLoS One, examined the eating habits of 70 pairs of female strangers sharing dinner in a lab setting made to look like a restaurant. The authors observed the meal and assigned codes to each bite taken, noting whether it was within 5 seconds of the other woman’s bite. (

Supersize Your Status

Americans tend to have a bigger-is-better attitude about nearly everything. (What stay-at-home mom needs a Humvee? And don’t even get me started on the McMansions taking over suburbia.) Anyone who has seen the documentary “Supersize Me” (or eaten in a restaurant in the last decade) knows that the bigger-is-better attitude is taking over the food industry and, arguably, causing the obesity epidemic that is plaguing this country. New research identifies the cause: people are buying giant servings of food because it makes them feel more powerful.

Currently, 32% of Americans are obese. By 2015, that percentage is expected to climb to 41%. One reason: portion size. Serving sizes in America have increased dramatically in the last 20 years: 52% for soft drinks, 27% for Mexican food, and 23% for hamburgers. We aren’t hungrier than we were a generation ago and it isn’t all due to bargain-hunting, though those factors could play a part. Researchers at Northwestern University recently reported in the Journal of Consumer Research that people choose larger portion sizes because it makes them feel important.

The authors conducted several experiments that evaluated selection of portion size of a variety of drinks and snacks. Under controlled lab experiments and field experiments that manipulated container size, hunger, and even beliefs about obesity, the authors concluded that consumers recognize a size-to-status relationship when making food choices. Almost invariably, the study participants viewed others as having a higher status when observing them choose the largest item in a set of choices, and people who felt less powerful were more likely to choose larger items than people who already felt powerful. Price was not a factor in participants’ decisions, but knowing that other people were watching their choice did enhance the need to choose a larger item.

Portion size offers cues, not only to status, but to satiety, food appeal, and food choice. Visual presentation of food alters palatability and desire for food, and these cues may be stronger among overweight individuals, thus perpetuating the obesity problem.

An interesting dichotomy exists, however, in our culture: we value size as an indicator of status, but we also value waif-like fashion models. Food disorders are rampant on both ends of the spectrum. The obesity epidemic, in particular, crosses all ethnic, income, and educational levels. And many factors contribute to the unhealthy eating habits of Americans. But, marketers know that we love a value meal. And, if supersizing makes us feel better about ourselves, it’s a win-win for the food industry. Still a lose-lose for consumers, though.

References

Burger KS, Cornier MA, Ingebrigtsen J, & Johnson SL (2011). Assessing food appeal and desire to eat: the effects of portion size & energy density. The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 8 PMID: 21943082

Dubois, D., Rucker, D., & Galinsky, A. (2012). Super Size Me: Product Size as a Signal of Status Journal of Consumer Research, 38 (6), 1047-1062 DOI: 10.1086/661890

van Kleef E, Shimizu M, & Wansink B (2012). Serving bowl selection biases the amount of food served. Journal of nutrition education and behavior, 44 (1), 66-70 PMID: 21982579

Image via Maree Stachel-Williamson / Shutterstock.

Foods to Avoid if You Want to Avoid Gout Attacks

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Gout Flare-ups Nearly 5 Times as Likely in People With Diets High in Some Meats, Seafood

By Cari Nierenberg
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD

May 30, 2012 -- If you have gout, you may want to pass on the liver and keep the anchovies off the pizza.

People who had the highest amounts of compounds called purines in their diets increased their risk of having a gout flare-up by almost five times compared to those eating the least purine-rich foods, a new study shows.

Foods with the highest purine content include liver, organ, and game meats, sardines, mussels, anchovies, herring, and beer.

Foods with moderate levels of purine include red meats, chicken, fish, asparagus, mushrooms, peas, beans, lentils, cauliflower, and spinach.

Although a purine-rich diet has long been considered a risk factor for recurrent gout attacks, this is the first large study to explore this connection and quantify it.

Gout is a type of inflammatory arthritis that affects up to 3 million Americans, according to the American College of Rheumatology. The condition occurs when too much uric acid builds up in the body, which can lead to crystal deposits of uric acid in the joints.

Uric acid comes from the breakdown of purines, which are substances found in all the body's tissues as well as in many foods.

It's not unusual for someone to have their first attack of gout in the big toe, which becomes red, warm, swollen, and extremely painful. Gout is also more likely to occur in men, in people who are overweight, or in those who drink too much alcohol or eat too many high-purine foods.

Purine Intake and Gout Attacks

For the study, which appears in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, scientists tracked 633 people with gout and monitored their health online for one year. More than three-quarters of the volunteers were men, and their average age was 54.

During the study period, each person was asked to submit information about any gout attacks they had. These details included any potential triggers and dietary information for the two days leading up to the attack, their symptoms, and what drugs they were taking to manage the condition.

As a comparison, participants also provided this same information over a two-day period every three months when they did not have a gout flare-up.

Purine-rich foods can trigger a gout flare-up relatively quickly -- often within two days of eating higher amounts of them, researchers found.

The odds of a gout flare-up were greater when purine came from animal food sources than from plant sources.

"Avoiding or reducing purine-rich foods intake, especially of animal origin, may help reduce the risk of recurrent gout attacks," the study concludes.

SOURCES: Zhang, Y. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, published online May 30, 2012. News release, BMJ Journals.National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases: "What Is Gout?" Arthritis Today: "Foods' Purine Content."

©2012 WebMD, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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Missing Teeth, Cavities Common in U.S.

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Ethnicity, Income Are Significant Factors in Getting Proper Dental Care, CDC Says

By Matt McMillen
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD

May 31, 2012 -- There are fewer cavities in the United States today than there were two decades ago, the CDC reports, but not every population group has shown the same amount of improvement.

According to new estimates released today, at least 1 in 5 Americans has one or more untreated cavities, and the poorer you are, the more likely you are to be one of the untreated 20%, at least among adults.

Non-Hispanic blacks and Mexican-Americans accounted for a large number of those not receiving care for their cavities, also known as dental caries. More than 60% of African-Americans had lost at least one tooth, compared to just under 50% of whites and Mexican-Americans.

"Dental caries both untreated and treated and tooth loss are key indicators of oral health and are used to monitor oral health status in the United States and internationally," the authors write.

The National Center for Health Statistics, a division of the CDC, prepared the report using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for the years 2005 to 2008. The annual survey involves a random sampling of about 5,000 Americans. Here are the report's key findings:

Oral Health by Age

20% of children aged 5 to 11 and 13% of teens between the ages of 12 and 19 had at least one untreated cavity.25% of adults between the ages of 20 and 44 had at least one untreated cavity.20% of adults over 65 had at least one untreated cavity.39% of children and 52% of teens had a dental restoration, such as a filling or root canal.Restoration rates were nearly 90% for adults over 65.

Oral Health by Ethnicity and Poverty Level

34% of non-Hispanic blacks and 31% of Mexican-Americans had untreated cavities compared to 18% of whites.Adults between 20 and 64 were more than twice as likely to have untreated cavities if they were living in poverty (42% vs. 17%).25% of children and teens living in poverty had untreated cavities.Among adults, nearly 90% of whites had had dental restoration, compared to 68% of Mexican-Americans and 73% of non-Hispanic blacks.Children and teens living in poorer households were much less likely to have sealants than children and teens in higher-income families (20%-22% vs. 32%).60% of adults in households living in poverty had lost at least one permanent tooth. 32% of non-Hispanic blacks over 65 had lost all their teeth, compared to 22% of whites and 16% of Mexican-Americans.SOURCES: NCHS Data Brief: "Selected Oral Health Indicators in the United States, 2005-2008," May 2012. CDC: "Dental Sealants." CDC: "National Health and Nutrition Survey, 2007-2008 Overview."

©2012 WebMD, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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Flame Retardant Found in Some Common Foods

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Researchers Test 36 Food Samples, Detect Flame Retardant in 15

By Kathleen Doheny
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD

May 31, 2012 -- A common flame retardant is found in many popular foods, including fish and turkey, according to new research.

Researchers tested foods such as meats, fish, and peanut butter.

Fifteen of the 36 food samples tested had detectable levels of hexabromocyclododecane, or HBCD, says researcher Arnold Schecter, MD, MPH, professor of environmental and occupational health at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Dallas.

HBCD is used in foams in thermal insulation, in electrical equipment, and consumer products. It is found in the environment and wildlife. People are exposed from products and dust in the home and workplace.

Some scientists are concerned that exposure could be related to developmental effects, hormonal interference, and alterations in the immune and reproductive systems.

"The levels we found are lower than what the government agencies currently think are dangerous," Schecter tells WebMD. "But those levels were determined one chemical at a time."

He and others are discovering in their research that we're exposed to multiple chemicals at the same time.

The industry took exception to the finding.

"Based on these findings, the real story is that HBCD was not detected in the majority of the samples, and in those where it was, it was well below levels where one might see adverse health effects," says Bryan Goodman, a spokesperson for the North American Flame Retardant Alliance of the American Chemistry Council.

The study is published in Environmental Health Perspectives.

HBCD in Foods: Study Details

The researchers bought the foods from Dallas supermarkets in 2009 and 2010. They tested all 36 samples for HBCD.

Fifteen of the 36 samples, or 42%, had detectable levels of HBCDs. Some of these 15 samples were the same foods, but from different stores.

The foods with detectable levels include:

Sardines in waterSmoked turkey sausages (three samples)Fresh salmon (two different samples)Sardines in olive oil (two samples)Fresh catfish (three samples)Fresh deli-sliced turkey (one of three)Fresh deli-sliced ham (one of two)Fresh tilapia (one of three)Chili with beans (one of three)

Twenty-one other samples tested that did not have detectable HBCD levels included:

Creamy peanut butter (three samples)Chili with beans (two of three samples)Bacon (three samples)Fresh deli-sliced beef (three samples)Fresh deli-sliced turkey (two of three samples)Fresh deli-sliced chicken (two samples)Fresh tilapia (two of three samples)Fish sticks (three samples)Fresh deli-sliced ham (one of two)Flame Retardants in Foods: Discussion

HBCD is viewed as a ''persistent organic pollutant," according to Schecter. That is because it accumulates, travels long distances, and stays in the environment for a long time.

It is often found in fatty foods such as high-fat meats and some fish.

It is on the European Chemicals Agency candidate list of substances of ''very high concern," he says. The U.S. EPA has developed an action plan for the chemical. It is considering adding it to the list of ''chemicals of concern."

"For HBCD, we really have very limited measurements," says Linda S. Birnbaum, PhD, a study co-researcher and director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and National Toxicology Program.

"These are the first and only measurements of the three types of HBCDs in the U.S. food supply," she says. The researchers measured alpha, beta and gamma forms.

"The levels are still very low," she says of their findings. "But this is a very small study looking at a limited number of foods.''

"We really don't know how broadly representative this might be of American foods in general. They are persistent chemicals. They are going to last in our bodies a long time."

Flame Retardants in Foods: Environmentalists' View

Environmentalists have expressed concern about HBCD for at least a decade, says Sonya Lunder, MPH, senior analyst at the Environmental Working Group.

"I think this

Men and Women With Cancer May Receive Different Fertility Information

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THURSDAY, May 31 (HealthDay News) -- When men are diagnosed with cancer they receive very different information about their future fertility than women, new Scottish research says.

"Our study has demonstrated significant gaps in the information provided to young women diagnosed with cancer and suggests the need for an early appointment with a fertility expert," study co-author Valerie Peddie, a fertility nurse specialist and research midwife at the School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Aberdeen, said in a news release.

Researchers interviewed 16 men and 18 women ranging in age from 17 to 49 who recently had been diagnosed with cancer. The participants were questioned about their understanding of their diagnosis, their prognosis and their future reproductive options, as well as their perceptions of the quality of their care.

In addition, 15 cancer-treatment professionals were asked their opinions of their patients' priorities, the information given to younger people with cancer and their patients' understanding of their treatment options and how each option might affect fertility.

The study, published May 30 in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, revealed that nearly all of the patients were provided with written information on their cancer treatment. This information included a small section on fertility preservation.

The researchers also found, however, that the information male patients were given regarding their future fertility was different than the information given to female patients.

All men -- even those with children -- were encouraged to consider storing their sperm, and most had a discussion about sperm banking, the study showed. In contrast, only a few women recalled any discussion about preserving their fertility.

The researchers found that the health professionals interviewed said treatment issues take precedence over future fertility issues. The health professionals also believed sufficient information regarding fertility was given at the time of the women's initial diagnosis, and their fertility wouldn't be affected if treatment with first-line drugs was successful.

"It has been widely argued that at the time of diagnosis, patients should be provided with accurate information about the potential risk of impaired fertility after treatment for cancer," Peddie said. "However, in reality, the immediate emphasis is often on treatment, with little time available to discuss future fertility or options for fertility preservation."

The study authors noted that more research involving a larger population is needed.

-- Mary Elizabeth Dallas

Serious Exercise May Benefit Middle-Aged Arteries

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THURSDAY, May 31 (HealthDay News) -- High levels of exercise help prevent stiffening of the arteries in middle-aged people, a small new study says.

Arterial stiffening, which has been shown to occur with age and inactivity, is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

This Indiana University study included 21 men and 28 women. Of those 49 participants, 33 were highly active U.S. Masters Swimmers who did more than 200 minutes of vigorous exercise a week. The other participants were either moderately or completely inactive.

The highly active people had far less arterial stiffness than the others. The researchers also found little difference between men and women in the highly active group, but considerable difference between men and women in the inactive and moderately active group. In that group, men had less arterial stiffness than women, according to a university news release.

"Oddly, women, particularly the inactive women, show the greatest risk for cardiovascular disease as compared with other groups," study author Maleah Holland, a graduate student in the university's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, wrote. "Thus, conversely, habitually high levels of physical activity may pose a greater benefit for women than for men."

This finding may be due to the fact that inactive women are more sedentary than inactive men, the researchers suggested.

The study was scheduled for presentation Thursday at the American College of Sports Medicine's annual meeting in San Francisco.

This research "reinforces the idea that activity could be more influential than aging on some health factors," Joel Stager, professor and director of the university's Counsilman Center, in the department of kinesiology, said in the news release.

Because this study was presented at a medical meeting, the data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

-- Robert Preidt

Health Tip: Traveling With Your Pet

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(HealthDay News) -- If you are planning a long road trip and taking Rover or Fluffy along, the ASPCA offers these suggestions to help keep you and your animal safe:

Acclimate your pet for a long trip by taking the animal on a series of short drives first, gradually lengthening time spent in the car. Start your pet on a travel-feeding schedule with a light meal of kibble two to three hours before departure. Never feed your pet in a moving vehicle. In addition to travel papers, food, bowls, leashes, a waste scoop, plastic bags, grooming supplies, medication, and a pet first-aid kit, pack a favorite toy or pillow to give your pet a sense of familiarity.Make sure your pet has a flat (never a choke) collar with an ID tag imprinted with home address, as well as a temporary travel tag with your cell phone and other relevant contact information.Harness, rather than leash, your dog inside the car. For smaller animals, a well-ventilated crate is recommended. Don't allow pets to ride with their head outside the window. This places them at risk of flying objects, inner-ear damage, and lung infections.If you travel frequently with your pet, consider waterproof seat covers or rubberized floor liners sold by auto product retailers.

-- Nancyann Rella

Health Tip: Help Prevent Colon Polyps

Latest Cancer NewsTreatments Aid Survival for Esophageal CancerObesity May Raise Odds for Painful Leg ConditionMen and Women With Cancer Get Different FertilityEmotional Woes Last for Childhood Cancer SurvivorsWant More News? Sign Up for MedicineNet Newsletters!

(HealthDay News) -- Colon polyps are abnormal growths that form inside the colon. Often discovered during an exploratory procedure called a colonoscopy, these growths can be either benign or cancerous.

The National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse says although there's no surefire way to prevent colon polyps, it offers these recommendations that may help reduce your risk:

Cut back on fatty foods, and load up on vegetables and fruits.Don't smoke.Avoid alcohol.Exercise most days of the week.Lose excess weight.Eat a diet rich in calcium.Talk with your doctor about possibly taking a daily low-dose aspirin.

-- Diana Kohnle

Obesity May Raise Odds for Painful Leg Condition

By Denise Mann
HealthDay ReporterLatest Cancer NewsTreatments Aid Survival for Esophageal CancerHealth Tip: Help Prevent Colon PolypsMen and Women With Cancer Get Different FertilityEmotional Woes Last for Childhood Cancer SurvivorsWant More News? Sign Up for MedicineNet Newsletters!

WEDNESDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- The health risks associated with being overweight and obese are well publicized, but new research may add another condition to this list: leg lymphedema, pain and swelling due to blockage of the lymph nodes in the groin area.

Lymphedema in the arms traditionally is associated with breast cancer surgery that involves removal of or damage to the lymph nodes. A blockage in the lymphatic system can prevent proper drainage of lymph fluid. As fluid builds up, pain and swelling can occur.

In a letter published in the May 31 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Arin Greene and colleagues at Children's Hospital Boston reported on 15 obese individuals with swelling in both legs. They diagnosed five of these individuals with leg lymphedema, and the cause of the condition was obesity.

"We now believe that obesity is a risk factor for lymphedema if the body-mass index becomes greater than 60," Greene said. "It only seems to affect the legs, but we have not investigated the arms."

Individuals in the study who had a body-mass index (BMI) lower than 54 had normal lymphatic function. The average BMI of the patients with lymphedema was 70; BMI of 30 or greater is considered obese. BMI is a measure of body fat based on an individual's height and weight.

Other risk factors for leg lymphedema include injury to the lymph nodes in the groin because of infection, surgery or radiation. In addition, people can be born with the condition. Regardless of the cause, leg lymphedema can cause pain, swelling and infections.

Although there is no cure for lymphedema, compression and significant weight loss may help relieve the pain and swelling, Greene said.

Lymphedema in the legs manifests itself as swelling, pain, discomfort, tightness in the skin, decreased flexibility and difficulty walking, said Cathy Kleinman-Barnett, a lymphedema specialist at the Lymphedema/Edema Management Program at Northwest Medical Center in Margate, Fla.

"Obesity causes lymphedema because the sheer additional weight puts too much pressure on the lymph nodes in the groin area, compromising the system," she said. "This causes a fluid backup like a clogged drain. Skin can thicken, harden and become red, dry and warm to touch."

It's important to treat the condition, she added, because "it can really interfere with a person's quality of life in a physical and a psychosocial way as people may be less inclined to go out and interact with others."

Kleinman-Barnett said lymphedema therapists can prescribe a program of manual lymphatic drainage, which helps direct lymph flow out of the congested areas. Recommendations on skin care, compression bandaging and exercises also can help, she said.

More than 35 percent of U.S. adults are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Obesity already is known to increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and certain types of cancer.

'Cooling' Helps Oxygen-Deprived Newborns: Study

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay ReporterLatest Healthy Kids NewsHealth Tip: Stay Safe at the PlaygroundSoy and Cow's Milk-Based Baby Formulas Face OffPhysical Education Is Good for Kids' GradesFriends Influence How Active Kids AreWant More News? Sign Up for MedicineNet Newsletters!

WEDNESDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- Children who suffered from a lack of oxygen during birth and who received whole-body cooling fared better than those who weren't given the treatment, a new study shows.

Although rare, the condition can result in brain damage and death. However, putting infants into a state of hypothermia by temporarily lowering their body temperature seems to help the brain repair itself, the researchers report.

"Children

Pre-op Treatments Boost Survival for Esophageal Cancer Patients: Study

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay ReporterLatest Cancer NewsTreatments Aid Survival for Esophageal CancerObesity May Raise Odds for Painful Leg ConditionHealth Tip: Help Prevent Colon PolypsMen and Women With Cancer Get Different FertilityEmotional Woes Last for Childhood Cancer SurvivorsWant More News? Sign Up for MedicineNet Newsletters!

WEDNESDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with esophageal cancer who receive chemotherapy and radiation before surgery have better outcomes, Dutch researchers report.

"We think that patients with esophageal cancer have the best chance to survive this cancer when they are treated with preoperative chemo-radiotherapy followed by surgery," said lead researcher Dr. Ate van der Gaast, from the medical oncology department at Erasmus University Hospital in Rotterdam. "By giving preoperative chemo-radiotherapy, more patients are cured than with surgery alone."

In the United States, more than 17,000 people will be diagnosed with esophageal cancer and more than 15,000 will die from it this year, according to the American Cancer Society.

For the study, published in the May 31 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, the Dutch team randomly assigned nearly 400 people with esophageal cancer either to surgery alone or chemotherapy and radiation before surgery.

The researchers found patients who received chemotherapy before surgery lived an average of four years, while those who went straight to surgery lived an average of two years. More patients in the chemotherapy group had a complete response to treatment and had more of the cancer removed during surgery than those who had surgery alone, the team also noted.

Complications after surgery were similar in both groups, and 4 percent of patients in each group died in the hospital after the procedure, the researchers added.

Dr. Raja Flores, chief of thoracic surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, said "these findings were what everyone expected, but not to the degree it came out."

With esophageal cancer, removing the cancer from the area around the tumor is key to treatment. Chemotherapy and radiation is performed before surgery to help contain the cancer so more of it can be removed during the operation, Flores explained.

This approach is becoming standard therapy, he said, "but this study gives the proof positive that that's the way it should go."

Flores said although the treatment adds initial cost, it can save money. "If it leads to more cures, it's going to save money," he said.

Patients need to make sure this approach is discussed with them "so they just don't run straight to surgery," Flores said.

Dr. Harvey Mamon is clinical director of the department of radiation oncology at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. He said: "This is an important and well-done study that will influence practice patterns. For all intents and purposes, the standard of care for locally advanced esophageal cancer was already preoperative chemo-radiation followed by surgery."

The significant improvement in the chemo-radiation portion in this trial confirms this current standard of care, he said. "I don't think we're likely to see further trials of surgery alone versus surgery following chemo-radiation."

'Thousands' of Infections from 1 Poultry Hatchery

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8-Year Salmonella Outbreak Traced to 1 Mail-Order Hatchery

By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD

May 30, 2012 -- A single mail-order poultry hatchery is responsible for an eight-year salmonella outbreak with 316 confirmed human cases in 43 states and thousands of likely infections.

Half of the cases were in children 5 years of age or younger.

The hatchery is identified only as "Hatchery C" in "the western United States" by CDC researcher Nicholas H. Gaffga, MD, MPH, and colleagues in their report in the New England Journal of Medicine. Previous CDC reports indicate that it's a large hatchery in New Mexico.

"During the 8-year period from 2004 through 2011, we identified 316 cases in 43 states as part of the outbreak," Gaffga and colleagues report. "Because only a portion of salmonella infections are laboratory confirmed, it is likely that thousands of additional unreported infections occurred in association with this outbreak."

Salmonella and Mail-Order Poultry

How could just one hatchery spread so much illness?

"Hatchery C" produces 4 million birds a year. It ships them to all 50 states. Many of the infected chicks and ducklings are given to children as Easter gifts. They are sold in feed stores and by direct mail. In states where it's not illegal, some of the baby birds are dyed to make them more attractive to children.

"During the spring, which is the peak shipping season, Hatchery C ships an estimated 25,000 birds in one week," Gaffga and colleagues note.

It's a big business. Some 20 U.S. mail-order hatcheries ship about 50 million live chickens, ducklings, and other poultry each year. In the first half of 2009, the U.S. Postal Service shipped about 1.2 million pounds of packages containing live poultry. These cardboard boxes carry up to 100 birds.

Other U.S. hatcheries have been linked to salmonella outbreaks. Even the CDC and the USDA can't always tell where shipped chicks and ducklings came from. That's because when one hatchery can't fill an order, another hatchery "drop ships" the order under the original label and invoice.

Salmonella infection is common in poultry. Infected birds don't always have symptoms and don't always shed salmonella bacteria. This makes it impossible to check individual birds for signs of infection. And poultry vaccines do not eliminate salmonella from a hatchery.

The USDA can ask hatcheries to clean up their acts, but they can't make them do it. Hatcheries are asked to follow the USDA's "National Poultry Improvement Program," as egg farms are required to do. For hatcheries, compliance is voluntary.

According to Gaffga and colleagues, Hatchery C has tried to clean up its act. They did this by "replacing, updating, and sealing old equipment and floors; changing airflow within the facility; implementing a quaternary ammonium egg-cleaning procedure; improving biosecurity; conducting routine biologic surveillance for salmonella on the hatchery premises; and contracting with a private company to develop

Do We Smell Our Age?

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Study: Older People Have Special Scent, but It's Not as Unpleasant as Stereotype Implies

By Kathleen Doheny
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD

May 30, 2012 -- If one of your concerns about getting older is that you'll have that so-called ''old people's smell" that is the butt of jokes and bad birthday greeting cards, here's some new, reassuring research.

Older people "do have a characteristic odor, but it's not a negative odor," says Johan Lundstrom, PhD, a sensory neuroscientist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, a research institute in Philadelphia.

"The negative association with old people's body odor seems to come from our negative association with old age," he tells WebMD.

In his new research, middle-aged men actually were evaluated as most stinky of three adult age groups. Middle-aged women smelled best.

The study is published in PLoS ONE.

Smell of Age: Research

In previous animal studies, Lundstrom tells WebMD, researchers have found that body odors carry age-related information. Animals can detect and process that information.

Doing so helps them with such tasks as picking suitable mates for reproducing.

In people, a unique "old person's smell" has long been talked about. In Japan, they have a special word for it -- kareishu.

As a child, Lundstrom says he sometimes visited his mother at her job as head nurse at a retirement community. Years later, he gave a talk at a retirement home.

"The odor hit me," he says. It was the same odor he had smelled as a young boy in Sweden, he says.

Lundstrom wanted to see if the animal odor findings might also hold true with people.

Sniffing Out Age: Study Details

For the study, Lundstrom first collected body odor from three age groups: 20 to 30, 45 to 55, and 75 to 95. Each group had 12 to 16 men and women.

Each person slept in an unscented T-shirt with underarm pads for five nights.

Next, they gave the pads to Lundstrom. He cut each pad into four pieces and put them in glass jars.

Next, 41 young evaluators, all aged 20 to 30, were given the jars with the pads. They were asked to identify which came from which age donor.

They also asked how intense they found the odor on the pads and how unpleasant.

Sniffing Out Age: Results

''The majority could categorize old body odor as old," Lundstrom tells WebMD. They were not as good at picking out the odor of younger people, he says.

"There is something with the body odor that is helping to associate age," he says.

Experts know that body odor changes with age.

However, the evaluators did not rate the old people's odor as unpleasant.

They did find the odor of middle-aged men particularly unpleasant. "The worst-smellers are middle-aged men," Lundstrom says. "The ones who smelled the most beautiful are middle-aged women."

From best to worst-smelling, here is how the people stacked up:

Middle-aged womenOld menYoung womenOld womenYoung menMiddle-aged men -- who lagged way behind other categories, Lundstrom says.'Old Person's Smell': Perspective

The study confirms there is an ''old person's smell," says Jane Mohler, PhD, MPH, associate director of the Arizona Center on Aging, University of Arizona. She reviewed the findings for WebMD.

"But it also says the older person's smell was less intense and less unpleasant

Personality Secrets to a Long Life

Researchers Find Centenarians Optimistic, Extroverted, Positive; Some Became That Way Later in Life

By Kathleen Doheny
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD

May 30, 2012 -- A new study may offer some tips to help you stick around for your 100th birthday.

Try to be optimistic, easygoing, sociable, and conscientious. Don't bottle up your feelings. Suppress the urge to talk ill of others, the new research suggests.

That combination of personality factors seems to describe the secrets of living to 100, says researcher Nir Barzilai, PhD, director of the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, N.Y.

Those findings are among the latest from Barzilai's ongoing Longevity Genes Project.

While Barzilai found that those personality factors offer more clues to longevity, he has a caveat: "Still the No. 1 predictor for being a centenarian is if you have parents who are centenarians."

Even so, he is trying to answer the question: "Are the genes that are longevity genes also personality genes?"

The new research is published in the journal Aging.

Longevity & Personality Study

Living to 100 years old is still rare. About 53,000 people in the U.S., or 0.2% of the population, are 100-plus. However, the number of centenarians has been increasing about 8% a year, Barzilai says.

And that has captured his research interest and that of others around the country. "There are several groups doing studies on centenarians," Barzilai says.

Some research has already suggested that centenarians share particular personality traits.

Among them: being extroverted and agreeable.

Barzilai decided to look more closely at genetically based personality characteristics.

He recruited 243 centenarians. He gave them and their family members questionnaires that asked if they had characteristics such as optimism.

He gauged how easygoing they were, how outgoing, and how much they laughed. He looked at how freely they expressed emotions.

He looked at characteristics like conscientiousness, such as a tendency to be self-disciplined.

He looked at neuroticism, a tendency to express negatives emotions such as anxiety, anger, or guilt.

He compared their scores to averages found in the U.S. population.

He also did a validation study to reduce the impact of any mental impairment. Nineteen centenarians and 26 of their children participated in the validation study.

In general, he found those who live to 100:

Are outgoingAre positive -- not the type to talk ill of othersLaugh oftenExpress emotionsAre conscientiousAre not neurotic

The link he found is just that, Barzilai says. "It doesn't mean there is a cause-and-effect relationship."

One problem, he says, is they don't have -- and can't have -- a comparison group. "Their friends died years ago, and younger people won't work

Men vs. Women: Whose Offices Are Germier?

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Study Finds Bacterial Contamination Common in the Workplace

By Matt McMillen
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Michael W. Smith, MD

May 30, 2012 -- If you're reading this at work, brace yourself. A new study shows that typical offices have hundreds of types bacteria in them, and men's offices have the most.

Researchers report finding more than 500 different types of bacteria on common surfaces in offices in three major U.S. cities. And, perhaps less surprisingly to some people, they found that men's offices are more contaminated than women's.

"Humans are spending an increasing amount of time indoors, yet we know little about the diversity of bacteria and viruses where we live, work, and play," says lead researcher Scott Kelley, PhD.

The San Diego State University biologist and his team swabbed five common office surfaces -- chairs, phones, desks, computer mice, and keyboards -- in 90 different offices, 30 each in San Francisco, New York, and Tucson.

The research team, which was partially funded by the Clorox Corporation, found bacteria on nearly every surface they tested. Most of it came from the office workers themselves. Coughing and sneezing accounted for a good deal of the bacteria, as did shedding from the skin. However, a substantial amount came from deeper inside the body.

"We also found a surprising number of bacterial genera associated with the human digestive tract," the researchers write in the study, which appears today in the online journal PLoS ONE.

If all this sounds rather alarming -- or simply gross -- the researchers point out that there is likely little cause for concern for the vast majority of people who spend eight hours a day in an office: "

More Families Seek Kidney Donations on Facebook

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WEDNESDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- More patients and families are using Facebook to seek kidney donations, but it's not clear if doing do improves the chances of obtaining a donor organ, a new study finds.

Researchers from Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill., examined 91 Facebook pages that were seeking kidney donations for patients aged 2 to 69 and found that 12 percent of the pages reported receiving a kidney transplant and 30 percent reported that potential donors had come forward to be tested for compatibility.

One page reported that more than 600 people had been tested as potential donors for a child, according to the study recently presented at a meeting of the National Kidney Foundation.

On kidney solicitation pages where identities could be determined, the researchers found that 37 percent of the pages were created by patients, 31 percent by patient's children, and 32 percent by other family members or friends of patients.

There was wide variation in the amount of personal information revealed on the pages. Some pages simply asked people to donate, without providing any other information. Other patients offered extensive details about patients who needed kidneys, including medical history, family photos and emotional stories about hospital stays, emergency room visits, financial problems and the difficulties of living on dialysis.

White patients and those with more than 50 posts by other people were most likely to succeed in having people agree to be tested to determine if they were compatible to donate a kidney, said kidney specialist Dr. Alexander Chang, a nephrology fellow at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, and colleagues.

They noted a number of ethical concerns. Three percent of the pages received offers to sell kidneys, mostly from people in Third World countries. Would-be donors typically asked for $30,000 to $40,000. Selling organs is illegal.

Only 5 percent of the pages seeking donations mentioned the risks of kidney donations, and only 11 percent mentioned the associated costs.

"Use of social media could be an effective way to solicit kidney donation, but more study is needed to determine how to do this safely and with enough knowledge to make informed decisions," Chang said in a Loyola news release.

-- Robert Preidt

U.S. Program Targets Antipsychotic Drug Use in Nursing Homes

By Steven Reinberg
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WEDNESDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. health officials said Wednesday that they're hoping to reduce the use of antipsychotic drugs among nursing home residents by 15 percent before year's end.

To achieve that goal, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said it's launching the Partnership to Improve Dementia Care. The partnership involves federal and state officials, nursing homes and other providers, advocacy groups and caregivers.

According to CMS, overuse of antipsychotic drugs in nursing home patients suffering from dementia is a significant problem. CMS statistics indicate that in 2010, more than 17 percent of nursing home patients had daily doses exceeding recommended levels.

"We seek to ensure that nursing homes provide the best resident-centered care by creating a familiar and comfortable home environment where residents' autonomy and choices in their personal lifestyle are honored," Dr. Shari Ling, CMS deputy chief medical officer, said during an afternoon news conference.

The goal of the program is to protect patients from unnecessary drug use, she said.

Use of antipsychotic drugs has grown and many of these drugs are used by patients diagnosed with dementia who can't always communicate their needs, Ling said.

Speaking at the news conference, Claire Curry, legal director of the Civil Advocacy Program at the Legal Aid Justice Center, said that "consumer advocates across the country are pleased to see CMS launch this initiative."

"The drugging of nursing home residents has long been a national disgrace," she said, adding that hundreds of thousands of long-term care residents are drugged inappropriately, costing hundreds of millions of dollars.

These drugs carry a black box warning from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that they cause death in dementia patients, Curry said.

"Advocates welcome every step taken to raise awareness about the dangers, to end unnecessary drugging and the harm it brings residents and to strictly enforce rules already in place to protect residents from unnecessary drugs, especially antipsychotics being used as chemical restraints," she said.

The CMS initiative includes:

Training that emphasizes high-quality care for nursing home patients.Making data on antipsychotic drug use at nursing homes available on the website Nursing Home Compare.Suggesting alternatives to antipsychotics such as exercise, outdoor time, pain management and planned activities for patients.

Brave New World of Genetics Requires Safeguards, Experts Say

WEDNESDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- Advancements in human genetic research could lead to improved patient care, but safeguards are needed to protect against the misuse of people's genetic data, the American Heart Association says.

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The association offers several policy recommendations, including U.S. government oversight of genetic tests to assure quality and expansion of anti-discrimination legislation.

While discoveries in recent years -- such as the mapping of the entire human genetic code and new accelerated gene-sequencing techniques -- have led to cheaper and more readily available genetic tests, regulations have not kept pace.

"The potential of the new technologies is incredible," Dr. Euan Ashley, chair of the genetics policy statement writing group, said in an association news release. Ashley is also an assistant professor of medicine and director of the Center for Inherited Cardiovascular Disease at Stanford University School of Medicine.

"Genetic testing provides a tremendous opportunity but also a challenge in being responsible with that information," Ashley said. "If the information is available, how best do we use it to really improve care for individual patients?"

The policy statement focuses on heart and blood vessel diseases. Along with the previously mentioned proposals, it also suggests:

Genetic testing and counseling in specialized centers.Increased funding for clinical research in genetics.More studies examining the association between genetics and heart and blood vessel disease risk.Genetic education for health care providers and patients.In-depth research of genetically influenced responses to drugs.Awarding no more patents on genetic discoveries.

"The safeguards are essential for patients in a new age of medicine. This is an unbelievable time in genetics," Ashley said. "The pace of change has been astounding. You can imagine a world now where every patient might have their genome in the medical record, and the doctor might be able to simply look it up when prescribing medication."

The recommendations are published May 29 in the journal Circulation.

-- Robert Preidt

Scientists Map the Tomato's Genome

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WEDNESDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists who were the first to fully sequence the tomato genome say their achievement is a critical step toward improving its yield, nutrition, disease resistance, taste and color.

The international group of researchers focused on a "Heinz 1706" tomato and found that it has about 35,000 genes arranged on 12 chromosomes.

"For any characteristic of the tomato -- whether it's taste, natural pest resistance or nutritional content -- we've captured virtually all those genes," James Giovannoni, the leader of the U.S. sequencing team and a scientist at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said in university news release.

The full genome sequence, as well as the sequence of a wild relative, will appear May 31 in the journal Nature.

"Tomato genetics underlies the potential for improved taste every home gardener knows and every supermarket shopper desires," Giovannoni said. "The genome sequence will help solve this and many other issues in tomato production and quality."

This genome sequence will make it easier and less costly for seed companies and plant breeders to sequence other tomato varieties for research and development, he noted.

The sequencing of the tomato genome also has implications for other plant species. Fleshy fruits such as strawberries, apples, melons and bananas share some characteristics with tomatoes. Information about tomato genes could potentially be applied to these species, helping to improve food quality and security and reduce costs, Giovannoni said.

On average, each American consumes more than 72 pounds of tomato products a year, according to the USDA. Tomatoes are a $2 billion market in the United States.

-- Robert Preidt

Summer's Heat May Enflame Hives

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WEDNESDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly one in four people develops hives at some time or another, and they can be triggered by hot summer weather.

Hives are itchy, red or white bumps, welts or patches on the skin. The condition can be acute or chronic, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

Acute hives, which can last less than a day or up to six weeks, are likely a reaction caused by contact with an allergen such as food, animal dander, insect bite, pollen or latex.

Other possible triggers included medications, heat, stress, exercise, chemicals or viral infection.

The academy says you should consult with your doctor to identify the cause of acute hives.

Most people with chronic hives have symptoms that last longer than a year. Allergies cause only a small percentage of chronic hives. In most cases of chronic hives, the exact cause can't be identified. This means that routine testing such as general blood counts or screens are not cost-effective and don't help in planning treatments to relieve symptoms, according to an academy news release.

Hives are not contagious, and most cases get better on their own. Doctors may advise patients to avoid hot baths and showers, wear loose-fitting clothing, or take antihistamines to reduce itching and swelling.

Corticosteroids are prescribed for people with severe flare-ups of hives. In rare cases, hives can be a symptom of a life-threatening allergic reaction called anaphylaxis. Call 911 if you or someone else experiences hives along with any of these symptoms: fainting, shortness of breath, tightness in the throat, tongue/face swelling, or wheezing, the academy said.

-- Robert Preidt

Personalized Blood Pressure Therapy May Help Diabetics

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WEDNESDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- Aggressive efforts to control blood pressure in people with diabetes may be leading to overtreatment with blood pressure drugs in some patients, a new study suggests.

Researchers examined data from nearly 1 million diabetes patients treated at Veterans Affairs health facilities across the United States and found that as many as 82 percent were receiving treatment to keep their blood pressure under control.

However, more than 8 percent of patients were possibly being overtreated to control their blood pressure, and 6 percent were not being treated as aggressively as they could be, the study found.

The findings, published online May 28 in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, suggest that the current one-size-fits-all method of blood pressure control needs to be reconsidered, the researchers said.

This personalized approach should be possible with the help of electronic health records, which can combine blood pressure, prescription and other health data on patients' individual risks such as heart disease or balance problems, the study authors explained in a University of Michigan Health System news release.

"Appropriately treating blood pressure in people with diabetes is extremely important, and good blood pressure control should still be the goal to reduce risk of heart attack, stroke and other conditions," first author Dr. Eve Kerr, director of the Center for Clinical Management Research at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and a professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School, said in the news release.

"But just treating to a blood pressure target in all patients may result in overtreating and harming some patients because their blood pressures actually fall too low," she added. "We need to find better ways to measure and incentivize appropriate blood pressure management to make sure that patients who need aggressive treatment are getting it, and to decrease the rate of inappropriate overtreatment."

-- Robert Preidt

High Blood Sugar May Make Pneumonia Deadlier

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WEDNESDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- Elevated blood sugar levels may help predict death in pneumonia patients, researchers say.

The new study included nearly 6,900 patients, average age 60, with community-acquired pneumonia who were admitted to hospitals and private practices in Austria, Germany and Switzerland between 2003 and 2009.

Community-acquired pneumonia, one of the leading infectious diseases in industrialized nations, is a major cause of illness and death, according to background information in the study published online May 29 in the journal BMJ.

Compared to patients with normal glucose levels at admission, those with elevated levels had a higher risk of death within 28 and 90 days. The higher a patient's glucose levels, the greater the risk of death, the investigators said in a journal news release.

The death rate within 90 days was 3 percent for patients without diabetes and normal glucose levels, 10 percent for those without diabetes but with elevated glucose levels, and 14 percent for patients with diabetes, regardless of their glucose levels on admission, the study revealed.

The findings show the necessity of glucose testing and close glucose monitoring after patients with community-acquired pneumonia are discharged from hospital, in order to diagnose diabetes and to prevent further complications, concluded Dr. Philipp Lepper, of the University Hospital of Saarland in Germany, and colleagues.

-- Robert Preidt