Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/pRc6Gy_ICQE

Don’t have the time or money for commercial weight loss schemes with their complicated diet plans, pre-packaged food, and embarrassing group weight-ins?   Downloading any one of a number of free apps for your smartphone will help you lose weight and keep it off simply and cheaply.

Psychologists at Duke studied one hundred plus eager young and middle-aged adults.  They showed them how to use their phones and a free app called MyFitnessPal to track their food intake and weight on a daily basis for a three month period.  The app kept the participants engaged by prompting them to record their data and to read transmitted emails detailing tips for healthy eating.

Those who were diligent lost about a half pound a week over the 12 weeks.  The best part is that they were able to keep the weight off.   Although the half pound a week is only half the maximum recommended maximal rate of weight loss, the method is easy, free, and effective.

If you let your phone be your Jiminy Cricket, you can lose those extra pounds and maintain a healthy weight without emptying your wallet.

#dieting #smartphone #phoneapp #calorietracking #weight #weightloss, healthnews

Michele L Patel, Christina M Hopkins, Taylor L Brooks, Gary G Bennett. Comparing Self-Monitoring Strategies for Weight Loss in a Smartphone App: Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 2019; 7 (2): e12209 DOI: 10.2196/12209

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/pRc6Gy_ICQE

Don’t have the time or money for commercial weight loss schemes with their complicated diet plans, pre-packaged food, and embarrassing group weight-ins?   Downloading any one of a number of free apps for your smartphone will help you lose weight and keep it off simply and cheaply.

Psychologists at Duke studied one hundred plus eager young and middle-aged adults.  They showed them how to use their phones and a free app called MyFitnessPal to track their food intake and weight on a daily basis for a three month period.  The app kept the participants engaged by prompting them to record their data and to read transmitted emails detailing tips for healthy eating.

Those who were diligent lost about a half pound a week over the 12 weeks.  The best part is that they were able to keep the weight off.   Although the half pound a week is only half the maximum recommended maximal rate of weight loss, the method is easy, free, and effective.

If you let your phone be your Jiminy Cricket, you can lose those extra pounds and maintain a healthy weight without emptying your wallet.

#dieting #smartphone #phoneapp #calorietracking #weight #weightloss, healthnews

Michele L Patel, Christina M Hopkins, Taylor L Brooks, Gary G Bennett. Comparing Self-Monitoring Strategies for Weight Loss in a Smartphone App: Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 2019; 7 (2): e12209 DOI: 10.2196/12209

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/KHm3dFfwBBc

You and I have talked many times about the fact that exercise, almost any exercise other than reaching for a donut, will help you live longer.  Now a study from Denmark published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings pinpoints just which forms of exercise will add extra years to your life.

The investigators reviewed data from more than 8500 participants in the Copenhagen City Heart Study.  Although 12% of that group were total couch potatoes, 75% of those remaining participated in at least one form of physical activity.

When the data was tallied, it turns out that playing tennis seems to add the most extra years to your life at nearly 10 years.  Following that we have badminton at 6 years, soccer at nearly 5 years, cycling at nearly 4 years, swimming, jogging, and calisthenics at 3 years.   Bringing up the rear was health club exercise at 1.5 years.  Remember that this study merely reports an association between longer life and different types of recreational activity.

It appears that social interaction as well as aerobic activity adds the most years.  Exercising with others may well be the most beneficial as it not only burns calories but it may curb stress.

#exercise #sports #longevity #tennis #badminton #soccer #cycling #swimming #jogging #healthnews

https://www.mdlinx.com/internal-medicine/article/3433

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/KHm3dFfwBBc

You and I have talked many times about the fact that exercise, almost any exercise other than reaching for a donut, will help you live longer.  Now a study from Denmark published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings pinpoints just which forms of exercise will add extra years to your life.

The investigators reviewed data from more than 8500 participants in the Copenhagen City Heart Study.  Although 12% of that group were total couch potatoes, 75% of those remaining participated in at least one form of physical activity.

When the data was tallied, it turns out that playing tennis seems to add the most extra years to your life at nearly 10 years.  Following that we have badminton at 6 years, soccer at nearly 5 years, cycling at nearly 4 years, swimming, jogging, and calisthenics at 3 years.   Bringing up the rear was health club exercise at 1.5 years.  Remember that this study merely reports an association between longer life and different types of recreational activity.

It appears that social interaction as well as aerobic activity adds the most years.  Exercising with others may well be the most beneficial as it not only burns calories but it may curb stress.

#exercise #sports #longevity #tennis #badminton #soccer #cycling #swimming #jogging #healthnews

https://www.mdlinx.com/internal-medicine/article/3433

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/DZstc_1Yoaw

It’s generally thought that background music stirs creativity.  Not so says a study from several universities in the UK and Sweden just published in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology.

A total of 84 university students and staff were presented with tests of creative ability, so-called Compound Remote Associate Tasks or CRAT for short.  Subjects were exposed to instrumental music only, songs with completely unfamiliar foreign language lyrics, or hit songs with familiar lyrics.  The control sounds were library background buzz and absolute quiet.

The study results showed that the familiar songs with lyrics negatively impacted creativity the most followed by instrumentals and then foreign language songs.  Test performances were the same in absolute silence and in the low din of the library.

The researchers hypothesize that the changing state of sound is most responsible for reducing creativity as the music reduces the performance of verbal working memory.  I personally love listening to music while writing.  If you do too, we may both be blunting our creative energies.  Some sacrifices are worth making, but knowledge is power.

#creativity #distraction #insight #music #quiet #healthnews 

Emma Threadgold, John E. Marsh, Neil McLatchie, Linden J. Ball. Background music stints creativity: Evidence from compound remote associate tasks. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2019; DOI: 10.1002/acp.3532

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/DZstc_1Yoaw

It’s generally thought that background music stirs creativity.  Not so says a study from several universities in the UK and Sweden just published in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology.

A total of 84 university students and staff were presented with tests of creative ability, so-called Compound Remote Associate Tasks or CRAT for short.  Subjects were exposed to instrumental music only, songs with completely unfamiliar foreign language lyrics, or hit songs with familiar lyrics.  The control sounds were library background buzz and absolute quiet.

The study results showed that the familiar songs with lyrics negatively impacted creativity the most followed by instrumentals and then foreign language songs.  Test performances were the same in absolute silence and in the low din of the library.

The researchers hypothesize that the changing state of sound is most responsible for reducing creativity as the music reduces the performance of verbal working memory.  I personally love listening to music while writing.  If you do too, we may both be blunting our creative energies.  Some sacrifices are worth making, but knowledge is power.

#creativity #distraction #insight #music #quiet #healthnews 

Emma Threadgold, John E. Marsh, Neil McLatchie, Linden J. Ball. Background music stints creativity: Evidence from compound remote associate tasks. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2019; DOI: 10.1002/acp.3532

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/2bMiR9-TgNM

If a parent constantly corrects an infant, that child’s brain becomes more sensitive to angry vocalizations.  Investigators at Britain’s University of Manchester studied 40 six month old infants and their mothers utilizing the novel neuroimaging technique of Near Infrared Spectroscopy.  This permits the study of a baby’s brain activation by maternal vocalizations without the noise of MRI.

Infants as young as 6 months can differentiate happy and unhappy vocal rhythms.  The researchers found that those babies whose mothers repeatedly corrected them developed nerve networks that preferentially respond to angry vocalizations.

This study underscores the exquisite sensitivity of infant humans.  Parents need to monitor their own and each other’s interactions with their children and realize how much their behavior imprints their offspring in both negative as well as positive ways.  

Good parenting is creating a safe, happy environment for your child by constructing boundaries in a playful and positive manner.

#anger #parentalcorrections #happy #helicopterparenting

Chen Zhao, Georgia Chronaki, Ingo Schiessl, Ming Wai Wan, Kathryn M. Abel. Is infant neural sensitivity to vocal emotion associated with mother-infant relational experience? PLOS ONE, 2019; 14 (2): e0212205 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0212205

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/2bMiR9-TgNM

If a parent constantly corrects an infant, that child’s brain becomes more sensitive to angry vocalizations.  Investigators at Britain’s University of Manchester studied 40 six month old infants and their mothers utilizing the novel neuroimaging technique of Near Infrared Spectroscopy.  This permits the study of a baby’s brain activation by maternal vocalizations without the noise of MRI.

Infants as young as 6 months can differentiate happy and unhappy vocal rhythms.  The researchers found that those babies whose mothers repeatedly corrected them developed nerve networks that preferentially respond to angry vocalizations.

This study underscores the exquisite sensitivity of infant humans.  Parents need to monitor their own and each other’s interactions with their children and realize how much their behavior imprints their offspring in both negative as well as positive ways.  

Good parenting is creating a safe, happy environment for your child by constructing boundaries in a playful and positive manner.

#anger #parentalcorrections #happy #helicopterparenting

Chen Zhao, Georgia Chronaki, Ingo Schiessl, Ming Wai Wan, Kathryn M. Abel. Is infant neural sensitivity to vocal emotion associated with mother-infant relational experience? PLOS ONE, 2019; 14 (2): e0212205 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0212205

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/fypNmBVBoTc

Deep sleep, the slow wave, non-REM variety, is the best sleep for literally cleansing your brain according to a new study from the University of Rochester.  The scientists studied the effects of deep sleep in a mouse model inducing that state with the unique combination of general anesthetics ketamine and xylazine.

The combination of deep slow wave sleep and the low level cardiovascular activity that accompanies it triggers the so-called glymphatic system, the brain’s unique plumbing apparatus that flushes waste from our brain cells.  This essential purging fails to occur during sleep deprivation and is also less likely to occur as we age when it becomes more difficult to achieve deep sleep.   

Other studies suggest that the onset of Alzheimer’s is associated with less deep sleep and this may be due to poor glymphatic system activity.

You can help yourself get deep sleep at any age with the following tips.  Before bedtime: no eating, caffeinated beverages, exercise, blue light exposure.  While you sleep: keep room cool @ 60-68 degF; keep your nose clear with saline mist; keep air humidified.  Always: maintaining a regular wake-sleep schedule.

#deepsleep #nonREMsleep #slowwavesleep #braincleansing #sleepdeficit #glymphatic

University of Rochester Medical Center. "Not all sleep is equal when it comes to cleaning the brain." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily #27 February 2019. .

https://www.sleepscore.com/extend-deep-sleep/

https://www.alexfergus.com/blog/how-to-increase-deep-sleep

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/fypNmBVBoTc

Deep sleep, the slow wave, non-REM variety, is the best sleep for literally cleansing your brain according to a new study from the University of Rochester.  The scientists studied the effects of deep sleep in a mouse model inducing that state with the unique combination of general anesthetics ketamine and xylazine.

The combination of deep slow wave sleep and the low level cardiovascular activity that accompanies it triggers the so-called glymphatic system, the brain’s unique plumbing apparatus that flushes waste from our brain cells.  This essential purging fails to occur during sleep deprivation and is also less likely to occur as we age when it becomes more difficult to achieve deep sleep.   

Other studies suggest that the onset of Alzheimer’s is associated with less deep sleep and this may be due to poor glymphatic system activity.

You can help yourself get deep sleep at any age with the following tips.  Before bedtime: no eating, caffeinated beverages, exercise, blue light exposure.  While you sleep: keep room cool @ 60-68 degF; keep your nose clear with saline mist; keep air humidified.  Always: maintaining a regular wake-sleep schedule.

#deepsleep #nonREMsleep #slowwavesleep #braincleansing #sleepdeficit #glymphatic

University of Rochester Medical Center. "Not all sleep is equal when it comes to cleaning the brain." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily #27 February 2019. .

https://www.sleepscore.com/extend-deep-sleep/

https://www.alexfergus.com/blog/how-to-increase-deep-sleep