Is Your Fido Really a Furry Baby?

Study found dog's bond to owner mirrors child's connection with parent

By Mary Brophy Marcus

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, June 26 (HealthDay News) -- Dogs may bond as tightly with their owners as young children do with their parents, a new Austrian study suggests.

Researchers from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna wanted to explore a human bonding behavior called the "secure base effect," to see if a similar behavior existed between dogs and their owners.

"A secure base is the consistent, reliable and dependable ground that the primary caretaker provides for the infant so that he or she [can] move away and explore, knowing that the parent will stay there when the child returns," explained Dr. Joanne Sotelo, division director of psychiatry at Scott & White Healthcare in Round Rock, Texas. Sotelo was not involved in the study.

According to the study authors, who published their findings online in the scientific journal PLOS One, dogs and humans have hung tight for the last 15,000 years, and domesticated pups are so well-adapted at this point that many a dog's main social companion is his owner.

For their study, the researchers recruited 20 adult dogs and their owners from the Clever Dog Lab of the Messerli Research Institute and the Family Dog Research Programme at the Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, Hungary. Fourteen of the dogs were purebred, and six were mixed-breeds (the dog owners were provided with study details ahead of time and given the option to leave the study at any time).

Three different scenarios were set up to help the researchers observe dog-human behaviors: "absent owner"; "silent owner" (owner was present, but quiet and wore an eye covering); and "encouraging owner." In each setting, the dogs could earn a food reward by playing with dog toys.

The study authors reported that the animals were much less likely to work for food when their human companions were not present. When an owner was in the room, it did not seem to make a difference whether he encouraged the dog or not; the animal's level of motivation was the same.

When a stranger replaced the owner, the dogs barely interacted with the human, the researchers noted.

"The key finding of this study is that the mere presence of the caregiver can provide security for the dog. This security depends on the relationship that the dog has with the person. This we can see in the fact that replacing the owner with an unfamiliar person does not increase the dog's sense of security much," said lead researcher Lisa Horn, a postdoctoral fellow at Vetmeduni's Messerli Research Institute.

"We were mainly surprised by the fact that the owner's encouragement did not increase the dog's motivation to manipulate the interactive toys much compared to when the owner was completely silent," Horn added. "In my opinion, this is a strong indication that the dogs' motivation in our task was intrinsic and depended on their sense of security, not on whether they were "told" to do the task."

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Amber Atherton at the F&F fashion show

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David Beckham says he owes everything to Victoria

David Beckham has admitted that he owes everything to his wife Victoria and their four children.

"I wouldn't have achieved what I have done today without my family," said Beckham. 

"I'm grateful for my parents' sacrifice, which made me realise my dreams. I owe everything to Victoria and the kids, who have given me the inspiration and support to play at the highest level for such a long period."

The footballer also thanked his management team and Simon Fuller for their "continued support".

David and Victoria Beckham met in 1997 and married in 1999. Since then, they have become one of the most famous couples in the world and count Hollywood stars Tom Cruise and Will Smith among their friends.

David Beckham announced that he would end his professional career in two games' time with a final match with current team Paris Saint-German.

SOURCE: DIGITAL SPY

On 16 May, 2013, we wrote...

David Beckham is set to retire from football at the end of the current season.

The 38-year-old is currently playing for Paris St-German, under a five-month contract, but said in a statement: "I feel now is the right time to finish my career, playing at the highest level."

"If you had told me as a young boy I would have played for and won trophies with my boyhood club Manchester United, proudly captained and played for my country over 100 times and lined up for some of the biggest clubs in the world, I would have told you it was a fantasy," he said.

He added: "Nothing will ever completely replace playing the game I love. However, I feel like I'm starting a new adventure and I'm genuinely excited about what lies ahead.

"I'm fortunate to have been given many opportunities throughout my career and now I feel it's my time to give back."

"To this day, one of my proudest achievements is captaining my country," he added.

The world's most famous footballer joined Manchester United at the age of 14. During his time at the team, they won six Premier Leagues titles and the Champions League. He went on to play for Real Madrid and LA Galaxy.

During that time, he's become the richest athlete in British sport, with an estimated net worth of £165m, and the Beckham brand, which he built up over the years alongside his wife Victoria Beckham.

SOURCE: DAILY MAIL

« Back to more Celebrity News

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no gym, no equipment for 2-3 weeks. suggestions to keep my muscle and gain??

As the title says! I will move and have basically nothing for about 2-3 weeks, I have workout DVDs and like running. I can do "real" push ups which I will be doing, what else will help me keep my muscle? Body weight squats, push ups and.... I hate losing muscle and it happens far too easily for me :/

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Drop 10 With Ashley: Second-Week Slump (That Ended Up OK!)

Are you on our Drop 10 Diet and need a lil' more inspiration? Follow along with our Drop 10 blogger, Ashley, as she works her way towards losing those extra pounds.

Ugh, you guys, I gained a pound this week. Bummer. But, I do have a confession to make.

Truth? I committed diet adultery this week. The temptations of date night, girl's night and my mother's desire to try fried pickles for the first time (which just happen to be my all-time fave snack) beat out my beloved Drop 10 choices. Week two was tough, but thanks to the forgiveness (and killer skills) of the Tone It Up girls, I still managed to drop an inch each from my waist, hips and thighs!

Putting aside my food sins, I had a great week in the gym. I caught back up with yoga, felt even better after each weight training set and jogged without feeling like I was gonna pass out at any given moment. Because if we're talking about confessions, I have another -- I am an AWFUL runner. Seriously, I'm the type that can't breathe after a quarter mile. I mentioned this to a few friends (who are petitioning me to run a half-marathon this spring), and they asked how fast I was going. I try to "run" at 6.0 mph on the treadmill if at all possible, which I now realize is too fast for my body (I'm 5'1'', with very short legs). So I took their advice and set out for an outdoor jog with my dachshund (also cursed with short legs), and you know what? We did great! We went about 3Å¿4 a milebefore stopping for water. It really helped to get off the "dreadmill" and take it outside -- I felt way prouder of my work, and wasn't honing in on an exact pace.

You know the feeling when you come across a crazy good sale and realize you have a reward card to use? That's how the Drop 10 work out plan feels for me. But the diet? Well, I'll get back to you guys next week on how I pick it back up.

BTW, are you graduating with the Freshman 15? [Ed. note: I did! #NoJudgment] See how seven college students are slimming down and toning up on Drop 10.

Image Credit: Courtesy of Food Network

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Isla Fisher at Heathrow Airport

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Can I lower my blood pressure without taking medication?

Posted June 28, 2013, 2:00 am

My blood pressure medication has side effects that are difficult to tolerate. What else can I do to lower my BP?

If you’re a regular reader of this column, you’ve heard me say more than once that diet and exercise sometimes can eliminate the need for medications for a variety of conditions. That’s true — and it surely is true for high blood pressure.

However, sometimes diet, exercise and stress management lower blood pressure only part of the way. Medications may still be necessary. Every medicine ever invented can cause side effects in some people. But the other side of that coin is that medicines often do not cause side effects. And just because one medicine causes side effects does not mean that another will.

Fortunately, there are many different medicines to treat high blood pressure. In my experience, you can usually find a blood pressure medication that is both effective and free of side effects. But even when that’s true, it’s still important to get back to basics: a healthy lifestyle.

A healthy lifestyle is the cornerstone for preventing and treating hypertension. It may allow you to lower your medication dose or stop taking medication altogether. At the very least, you’ll feel better:

First and foremost, if you smoke, quit. Your blood pressure will start to decrease within hours after your last cigarette. Your doctor can recommend resources to help you quit.Another important step is to reach and maintain a healthy body weight. Being overweight or obese itself raises your blood pressure.Even if you don’t need to lose weight, eating the right foods can make a difference. The key features of a blood-pressure-friendly diet include plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains; several servings daily of low-fat dairy products; some fish, poultry, dried beans, nuts and seeds; and minimal red meat, sweets and sugar-laden beverages. Also try to limit your sodium intake to less than 1.5 grams of sodium per day. You can find the sodium content of prepared foods on the Nutrition Facts label.Limiting alcohol can help. Have no more than two drinks per day if you’re male, or one drink per day if you’re female. That’s drinking in moderation. Drinking in moderation may even help lower blood pressure, while drinking more can definitely raise blood pressure.Regular exercise lowers high blood pressure. Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise on all or most days of the week. Examples include walking or riding a stationary bike. Regular exercise is a potent tonic for lowering your blood pressure — even if you don’t lose weight.Finally, relax. Ongoing stress raises your blood pressure. Learn relaxation techniques, such as meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing or yoga. I have a patient who took up tai chi several years ago and does it daily. I can’t prove there’s a connection, but I can tell you that her blood pressure has never been so low, and she says she feels great. window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({appId: "199616670120169", status: true, cookie: true, xfbml: true});}; (function() { var e = document.createElement("script"); e.async = true; e.src = document.location.protocol + "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js"; document.getElementById("fb-root").appendChild(e);}());

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Noisy Operating Rooms May Jeopardize Patient Safety

WEDNESDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- Background noise in the operating room -- such as the sounds of surgical equipment, chatter or music -- can affect surgeons' ability to understand what is being said to them and might result in a breakdown of communication among surgical team members, according to a new study.

This is particularly worrisome since miscommunication is cited as a common reason for medical errors that could have been prevented, the study authors said. Surgeons have critical conversations during operations, and information on medications, dosing and blood supply could sound similar. The researchers emphasize that clear communication during surgical procedures is essential to ensure the safety of patients.

The study was published in the May issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

"The operating room is a very fast-paced, high-demand, all-senses-running-on-all-cylinders type of environment," study co-author Dr. Matthew Bush, an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Kentucky Medical Center, in Lexington, said in a journal news release. "To minimize errors of communication, it is essential that we consider very carefully the listening environment we are promoting in the operating room."

The researchers gave an example of a possible miscommunication: A request for heparin might be heard as "Hespan," an entirely different drug.

In conducting the study, the researchers simulated a noise environment similar to the noise levels found in an operating room. Fifteen surgeons with between one and 30 years of experience were tested on their ability to understand and repeat words under four different conditions: quiet, noise filtered through a surgical mask, background noise without music and background noise with music.

The surgeons were tested while performing a specific surgical task as well as when they were not engaged in a task.

Noise interfered with the surgeon's speech comprehension when the words spoken to them were unpredictable, the study showed. This interference with speech comprehension was worse when there was noise in the operating room.

Background music also impaired the surgeons' ability to understand what was said to them while they were performing a surgical task.

The researchers concluded that background noise in operating rooms could impair surgeons' ability to process what they hear, particularly when music is being played. The situation becomes even more problematic when surgical teams are trying to communicate critical and unpredictable information.

"Our main goal is to increase awareness that operating room noise does affect communication and that we should foster the best environment in which we can communicate better," Bush said. "This effort means that the surgical team needs to work diligently to create the safest environment possible, and that step may mean either turning the music off or down, or limiting background conversations or other things in the environment that could lead to communication errors and medical mistakes."

The researchers plan to continue their research on a larger scale and also examine the effects of operating room noise on anesthesiologists, nurses and surgeons who are hearing impaired.

"I think it's important to demonstrate the effect of environmental operating noise on communication on a variety of different players in the operating room setting," Bush said. "Another step from here is to not only see how noise affects our understanding of speech, but how it affects our tasks and how it affects our ability to perform surgical procedures efficiently and effectively."

-- Mary Elizabeth Dallas
Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: Journal of the American College of Surgeons, news release, May 10, 2013

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What to eat when working out

I´ve been going to the gym for about a month and i think im not eating enough, because last week while i was doing cardio y felt really dizzy and i thought i was going to faint. what shoul di be eating during the day, my friend tells me im eating too little (i eat about 900 calories per day) and i workout 4 to 5 days a week 2 or 2.5 hrs. I think that what i eat is enough for me, so i would like to know your opinions. 

Edited Jun 28 2013 13:10 by coach_k
Reason: Moved to fitness as more appropriate, I think...

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Doctors Reluctant to Expand Nurse Practitioners' Role: Survey

By Amy Norton
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- The United States has a shortage of primary care doctors, and some policymakers want to fill the gap by expanding the role of nurse practitioners. But the two professions are engaged in a turf war over who can do the job better, a new survey finds.

The results of the survey were reported in the May 16 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Experts expected some controversy, but said they were surprised at how far apart doctors and nurse practitioners were in their opinions.

The nearly 1,000 doctors and nurse practitioners surveyed were most divided on the question of who gives the higher quality of care: Two-thirds of physicians said if a doctor and nurse practitioner provided the same service, the doctor would do it better.

Perhaps predictably, few nurse practitioners agreed with that. And although 82 percent of nurse practitioners felt nurse practitioners should lead their own practices, only 17 percent of doctors did.

"We weren't surprised that there were differences in their opinions, but we were surprised by the magnitude of the difference," said lead researcher Karen Donelan, a senior scientist at the Mongan Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston.

Dr. David Blumenthal, co-author of an editorial published with the study, agreed.

"It's striking how different their perceptions are, even though they work in the same physical environment," said Blumenthal, president of the Commonwealth Fund, a New York-based foundation that supports research on health policy.

So what does all of that mean? Blumenthal and Donelan said the divide between doctors and nurse practitioners has implications for how U.S. health care looks in the future.

Based on a number of studies, Americans' demand for primary care providers is straining the limited supply. The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that by 2015 the United States will face a shortage of more than 33,000 primary care practitioners.

A Commonwealth Fund survey found that 16 percent of U.S. adults have to wait at least six days for a doctor's appointment when they have a health problem that needs attention. And experts expect the shortage to worsen with health care reform, which will extend insurance coverage to about 30 million more Americans.

Some policymakers think nurse practitioners offer a way to address the problem.

Nurse practitioners go through advanced education and training beyond the requirements to become a registered nurse. In about 16 states, they can do most of what doctors do -- including heading their own primary care practices, prescribing drugs and performing medical procedures unsupervised.

In other states, nurse practitioners may be required to work with a doctor.

On paper, it makes sense to expand the role of nurse practitioners in primary care because their education and training is shorter -- an average of six years versus 11 or 12 years for doctors, including residency training. By some estimates, anywhere from three to 12 nurse practitioners can be educated for the price of producing one doctor.

Donelan said there also is evidence that nurse practitioners do just as well as doctors when it comes to primary care -- and that patients needing urgent care actually give nurse practitioners better marks on communication.

But what is not known, she said, is how well nurse practitioners measure up against doctors when things get more complicated, such as in cases in which a patient's diagnosis is unclear or a patient has multiple chronic health conditions.

In those cases, Blumenthal said, "there's no literature as to the superiority of one profession over the other."

If nurse practitioners are to gain an expanded role in primary care, laws in many states will have to change, Blumenthal said.

In 2010, the Institute of Medicine, an independent panel that advises the federal government, issued a report saying that many states' regulations on nurse practitioners were "overly restrictive" and based on politics.

The two professions' national societies see the issue differently. Some doctors' groups, including the American Medical Association and American Academy of Family Physicians, have said that nurse practitioners should be able to practice only under the supervision of a doctor.

But the trend seems to be going against those groups. According to the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, bills have recently been introduced in 10 states to expand nurse practitioners' scope of practice.

Donelan said both sides need to "be at the table" in figuring out what primary care will look like in the future. "Achieving collaboration will take a lot of work, and it needs to be based on data rather than rhetoric," she said.

Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCES: Karen Donelan, Sc.D., senior scientist, Mongan Institute for Health Policy, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; David Blumenthal, M.D., president, Commonwealth Fund, New York City; May 16, 2013 New England Journal of Medicine

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Exercising and recovery

Right now i'm trying to recover from anorexia.
i'm a 20 year old female with a BMI of 16 ish.
I feel like if i dont exercise everyday then i shouldn't be eating as much.
is exercising with a BMI this low actually super dangerous? should i completely stop exercising until i reach a healthy BMI? 

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Tom Odell at the BBC Radio 1 Studios in London

Daft Punk day finally arrives… But does it live up to its astronomical hype? Plus, the latest from Maya Jane Coles, London Grammar, Laura Marling, Eddie Berman and a special Virgin Records announcement »

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ADHD, Food Dyes, and Additives: What's the Link?

Reviewed by Patricia Quinn, MD

You might have read that artificial food colorings can worsen ADHD symptoms such as inattentiveness and hyperactivity. And if you have a child with ADHD, you may have considered cutting out dyes and other additives from their diet.

Before you make any dietary changes, here are a few things you should know about the link between food colorings and ADHD.

The possible connection between ADHD symptoms and food dyes started with San Francisco pediatrician and allergist Benjamin Feingold. In the early 1970s, Feingold noted that hyperactive kids became calmer when they ate a diet free from artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives.

Since then, several studies have tried to confirm the link. What they've found is that, although dyes don't cause ADHD, a small percentage of kids with ADHD do seem to be sensitive to the effects of food dyes and other additives.

After looking at 34 different studies, "We concluded that there is a small association of food dyes with ADHD," says Joel Nigg, PhD, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at Oregon Health & Science University and author of What Causes ADHD?

In Nigg's review, about 8% of children showed symptoms related to food dyes, and about 30% responded well to a dye-free diet.

Yet Nigg says there are still some open questions. The studies that have been done so far have mostly included small numbers of children: in some cases, just 10 or 20 kids. Plus, many of the children ate foods that had both dyes and other additives, making it hard to pinpoint the exact cause of their behaviors.

Researchers also aren’t sure exactly how artificial food colorings might impact ADHD symptoms. It could be that these substances affect children's brains. Or, it's possible that some kids are hypersensitive: They have a kind of allergic reaction when exposed to dyes and additives, Nigg says. Many of the kids who are sensitive to dyes are also sensitive to other foods, like milk, wheat, and eggs.

In 2007 study linked six different food dyes to increased hyperactivity in children. After the study's release, the European Union started requiring warning labels on foods containing the dyes tested in the study:

quinoline yellow (yellow #10)ponceau 4R (not available in the U.S.)allura red (red #40)azorubine (not approved for food in the U.S.)tartrazine (yellow #5)sunset yellow  (yellow #6)

The U.S. didn't set similar requirements. In 2011, an FDA Food Advisory Committee concluded there isn't enough evidence to prove food dyes cause hyperactivity in children.

Although the link between food dyes and ADHD symptoms is still not clear, some parents say they have seen an improvement after eliminating these and other additives from their children's diet.

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Fitness in Middle Age May Help Shield Men From Cancer Later

By Kathleen Doheny
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- Men who are physically fit in middle age have a lower risk of developing and dying from certain cancers, new research indicates.

"Fitness is a huge predictor of [cancer] risk," said Dr. Susan Lakoski, an assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Vermont, in Burlington. "You need to be fit to protect yourself against a cancer diagnosis in older age."

Men who were fit in their 40s, 50s and 60s were less likely decades later to get lung or colorectal cancer, she found. Those who were fit were also less likely to die from prostate, lung or colorectal cancers.

She is scheduled to present her research, supported by the U.S. National Cancer Institute, on June 2 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago.

While other studies have found physical activity protects against certain cancers, Lakoski said fewer studies have looked at the importance of fitness to predict whether men would develop or die from cancers.

For the study, Lakoski and her colleagues evaluated more than 17,000 men who had a single cardiovascular fitness assessment as part of a preventive health checkup at the Cooper Clinic, in Dallas, when they were 50, on average.

The men walked on a treadmill under a regimen of changing speed and incline. Their results were categorized into five groups, from lowest fitness level to highest.

Later on, the researchers analyzed Medicare claims data to identify the participants who had developed three common cancers among U.S. men -- lung, colorectal or prostate.

The average follow-up period was 20 to 25 years. During that time, 2,332 men developed prostate cancer, 276 developed colorectal cancer and 277 developed lung cancer.

During the follow up, 769 men died -- 347 of cancer, 159 of heart disease and 263 of other causes.

The men who were most fit on the treadmill test, when compared to the least, had a 68 percent lower risk of lung cancer and a 38 percent lower risk of colorectal cancer. Their prostate cancer risk didn't decline with increasing fitness, but the risk of death from it did.

Even a small improvement in fitness helped, the researchers found. For instance, a 50-year-old man who increased fitness so he could last three more minutes on the treadmill, Lakoski said, could reduce cancer death risk by 14 percent and heart disease death risk by 23 percent.

Low fitness levels increased the risk of cancer and heart disease even in men who weren't obese, the researchers found.

They also took into account other factors that could increase risk, such as age and smoking habits.

The good news, Lakoski said, is that, "You don't have to be highly fit to get protection." The most protection against cancer and heart disease was found in moving out of the least fit group.

And how unfit were those men? The men in the least fit group who were 40 to 49 when they took the test could walk on the treadmill less than 13.5 minutes. Those who were 50 to 59 lasted less than 11 minutes. Those 60 and older in the least fit group only lasted less than 7.5 minutes.

The findings make sense, said Colleen Doyle, director of nutrition and physical activity for the American Cancer Society.

"While you can't tell just how much activity these guys were doing over time, it makes sense that the most fit would have better cancer-related outcomes -- because they are likely the most active." While the new research did not find a link between fitness levels and a diagnosis of prostate cancer, a recent review of other published studies did show a modest reduction in that risk, Doyle said.

Lakoski can't explain the protective effects of fitness for sure, but can speculate. "We know that fitness modulates several important pathways also related to cancer risk," she said. These include, among other pathways, reducing inflammation and oxidative damage in the cells, she said.

Doyle agreed that many mechanisms are probably at work. Activity can improve immune function, for instance, and help control weight, and that in turn can decrease inflammation, she said.

To achieve cardiovascular fitness and reduce cancer risk, be moderately active 150 minutes a week or vigorously active for 75 minutes, or some combination, Doyle advised.

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

Lakoski found a link between fitness and cancer protection, not cause and effect. She also can't say whether the findings would apply to women. She hopes to study that next.

Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCES: Susan Lakoski, M.D., assistant professor, internal medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington; Colleen Doyle, M.S., R.D., director, nutrition and physical activity, American Cancer Society; June 2, 2013, presentation, American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting, Chicago

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