HEALTH

News in brief - Jan. 28, 2008

4 behaviors can lengthen life by 14 years - Psychosis risk factors identified - Grades go down as kids sleep less - NIH seniors' Web site adds Q&A on clinical trials

4 behaviors can lengthen life by 14 years

Exercising regularly, imbibing moderately, eating at least five fruit or vegetable servings per day and not smoking can add 14 years to an individual's life, according to a study published online in January in PloS Medicine. Researchers at the University of Cambridge's School of Clinical Medicine in England followed 20,244 people between the ages of 45 and 79 who had no known cardiovascular disease or cancer at the baseline survey, which was taken from 1993-97.

As of 2006, 1,987 had died. Those who practiced none of the four healthy behaviors had four times greater risk of dying during the study period than did those who participated in all of them. Those who engaged in two behaviors had double the mortality risk of people who practiced all of them.

Psychosis risk factors identified

Among adolescents at high risk for a psychotic illness, a handful of characteristics can differentiate those who will develop this problem from those who most likely will not, according to a study in the January Archives of General Psychiatry.

The authors followed 291 adolescents presenting for early symptoms that could indicate the development of a psychotic illness. Those who spent increasing amounts of time alone doing nothing and had a family history of mental illness combined with recent declines in ability to function were at increased risk. Other factors that upped the chance of psychosis included increases in unusual thoughts, such as believing strangers are talking about you; paranoia; and past or current drug abuse.

"When teens have a dive in grades or drop out of the school band, and it happens against a backdrop of family history of schizophrenia and recent troubling changes in perception, ... more often than not it indicates that psychosis is fairly imminent," said Tyrone D. Cannon, PhD, lead author and director of the Staglin Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of California, Los Angeles. Researchers are planning studies to confirm the results.

Grades go down as kids sleep less

Research shows that children and teens are not getting enough sleep and that their grades are negatively impacted as a result, according to information from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Over the past decade, young people have been going to bed later and sleeping less, reports the AASM.

The association's guidelines recommend that teens get nine hours of sleep each night and that they try to wind down and relax before bedtime, which means putting aside the video games and computer earlier. Teens need more sleep than adults because their circadian rhythm is easily disrupted, said William Kohler, MD, medical director of the Florida Sleep Institute and director of pediatric sleep services at University Community Hospital in Tampa.

NIH seniors' Web site adds Q&A on clinical trials

In an effort to encourage more elderly people to enroll in clinical trials, the National Institutes of Health has added information on its Web site for seniors that addresses basic questions and concerns about medical research. It is the latest of 33 topics to be added to the Web site, (www.nihseniorhealth.gov).

"Clinical trials are a critical part of medical research," said Richard J. Hodes, MD, director of the National Institute on Aging. "The risk of many diseases and conditions increases with age, and it is important that clinical trials include older participants who can help researchers find out if a drug, therapy, lifestyle change, device or medical test is safe and effective in the older population."