Archive: Focus

Older Americans Who Report Good Health More Likely to Be Sexually Active…and Sexual Activity Offers Health Benefits, Study Says
Cheree Cleghorn | March 10, 2010

Healthier people are more likely to be sexually active as they get older, says this examination of two American studies on aging.
However, almost half of older, sexually active adults have at least one “bothersome” sexual problem and one-third report two problems. Physicians rarely address sexual concerns in older adults—particularly in women.
The reason physicians talk to [...]

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Even Though Adults Still Need 8.5 Hours of Sleep Each Night, Most People Sleep 6.5
Cheree Cleghorn | March 8, 2010

At the risk of sounding like America’s mom, you have got to get a good night’s sleep.
This is a health issue of no small consequence. Sleep quality is important to health in too many ways to list here .
The right answer to sleep problems is not, “It’s just stress.” There is no “just” in stress. [...]

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Guilt or Shame + PSAs Hammering on Negative Consequences of Behavior = More of Negative Behavior
Cheree Cleghorn | March 5, 2010

This research shows that behavior like binge drinking among college students may actually be reinforced by PSAs.

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Patients Still Trust Doctors as Preferred Source of Information, National Cancer Institute Survey Shows
Cheree Cleghorn | March 4, 2010

In this Correspondence in the March 4, 2010, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, a research report shows patients are using the Internet and their physicians appropriately. The report covers 2006-2008.
Patients prefer their doctors more, not less, as their most important information source —even though they do use the Internet, with reservations. This [...]

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“What Is This Crisis If Not Some National Form of Child Abuse?”
Cheree Cleghorn | March 2, 2010

It would seem that nearly everyone has an opinion about the causes of children’s weight gains and obesity but no one has found a way to address it.
Food issues become more like food fights—who is right about the way to solve the problem?
Michele Obama has been criticized by a prominent nutritionist for saying that small [...]

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Is More TV and Computer Screen Time Risk for Teens’ Relationships with Parent and Friends? Study Says Yes
Cheree Cleghorn | March 2, 2010

This is a study worth knowing about but it worries me because too much can be made of it without thoughtfully considered how it applies to the teenagers in their own homes.
It was just published in theĀ  Archives and Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine and is reported in Medpage Today.
Please, if you are concerned about this, [...]

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Parents Popping Too Many Pills in Kids’ Mouths Due to Behavior Issues? Not So, Says New Book
Cheree Cleghorn | February 27, 2010

My friend’s child now is in her 30s. From the time she was little, she had rages. Not tantrums. Not hissy fits in the grocery store over candy denied. Rages.
She also had a lot of other medical problems, too, which kept her doctors busy.
However, doctors would tell this mother her child had behavior problems.
This sick [...]

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Expert Panel Explains Sex Addiction…Now, Let’s Go Back to Civics Class
Cheree Cleghorn | February 25, 2010

Bill Clinton. Mark Sanford. John Edwards. Tiger Woods. Sex addicts? The term “sex addiction” has been slung around casually — used in a way that seems to suggest that we are all attending the same medical conference.

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RX: Hand-Holding…No Adverse Side Effects…Take as Needed
Cheree Cleghorn | February 24, 2010

A new study says that patients who are touched by sympathetic doctors during their visits feel as if the visit was twice as long.
Patients who were massaged by a loved one reported less pain, less depression and have stronger relationships.
Benedict Carey writes the Mind column for The New York Times. This week’s is about touch [...]

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When “Fake” May Be for “Real”…Placebos Work in Complex Ways, Lancet Study Says
Cheree Cleghorn | February 22, 2010

Doctors in my grandmother’s era often gave women pills in different sizes, colors and shapes but the truth was that these were sugar pills — known as placebos. The grandfathers knew this — and did not care if it brought some peace and quiet. Everyone, in fact, but the patients knew this.

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