HEALTH : Activity Is Antidote to Kids’ Stress
While children and adults experience many of the same pressures, some stressful situations are unique to childhood and are best relieved by physical activity, a Denver researcher reports.
In her study of 681 junior high school students, ages 11 to 14, Jeanne Dise-Lewis, chief of psychology and rehabilitation medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, found that death of a parent, death of another close family member and parental divorce were the top three sources of stress. Results of her study are published in the current issue of Psychosomatic Medicine.
Also seen as stressful: school suspension, repeating a grade, family financial problems, being forced by other children to do something against their will, feeling rushed, homework backlogs, being sent to the principal’s office, worrying about looks and concern about hurting their parents. Last on the list: having to take gym class.
Querying the children about handling stress, Dise-Lewis found they were aware of many strategies but were most likely to rely on physical activity. High on the list: riding bikes with a friend and playing basketball. Physical activity was also the most effective strategy, she found, after correlating the type of coping behavior with measures of anxiety, depression, behavior and psychosomatic symptoms.
Her advice to parents and teachers? “Forget about teaching kids adult-oriented stress-reduction techniques like relaxation training. Give kids a chance to blow off steam. But then give them a chance to talk things out, too.”
STRESS SOURCES
Items are in order of decreasing rate of stressfulness. The list was developed by interviewing 681 seventh and eighth grade students.
1--One parent dies.
2--Close family member dies (grandparent, sister, brother).
3--Parents decide to divorce.
4--One parent jailed.*
4--Being picked up by police.*
6--One parent moves out of home.
7--Being caught stealing.
8--Moving in with relatives or a foster home.
9--Someone close (like a friend) dies.*
9--Being kept back in the same grade.*
* Tied
Source: Psychosomatic Medicine journal. Cosmetics and Allergies
Considering the widespread use of cosmetics, serious adverse reactions are infrequent, report researchers in the current Archives of Dermatology.
But when inflammation and other problems do occur, skin-care products are usually to blame, the researchers found after reviewing the records of 119 patients. Other common offenders: nail cosmetics, perfumes, hair preparations (shampoos, creams, conditioners), deodorants and facial makeup.
Two of the most common allergenic ingredients: a preservative system containing methylisothiazolinone and methylchloroisothiazolinone found in shampoos and facial makeup preparations, and toluenesulfonamide/formaldehyde resin, found in nail polishes.
For the allergy-prone, even so-called hypoallergenic cosmetics are not necessarily foolproof, said Dr. Carl S. Korn, an assistant professor at the USC School of Medicine and a Sherman Oaks dermatologist. Even those with no history of allergy problems can develop a sensitivity to a product, he added.
“The most frequent cosmetic allergy I see occurs around the eyes,” Korn said. And it’s not always due to eye makeup. Patients with rashes and other skin problems around the eyelid might be reacting to ingredients in nail polishes and hardeners that make contact when the eye area is touched by the hand, he noted.
“If you develop a sensitivity to a cosmetic, check and compare ingredients,” Korn advised. If the rash or other skin problem doesn’t clear up within a couple of days, get professional help, he added.
Weight and Infertility
Underweight women unable to conceive might try gaining weight before beginning traditional fertility treatment, suggests a South Carolina researcher.
Though it may seem too simple a remedy, weight gain can work for some, said Dr. William Bates, professor of obstetrics and gynecology and dean of the college of medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Bates studied 29 women with unexplained infertility who weighed an average of 91% of their ideal body weight. Twenty-six agreed to gain weight in their efforts to become pregnant; 24 conceived after gaining an average of 8.2 pounds. Pregnancy occurred, on the average, six months after the weight gain, but sometimes took up to 15 months.
Why weight gain works isn’t known, but researchers speculate that body fat plays a vital role in the production and storage of estrogen, the female hormone crucial for ovulation. Bates, who has investigated weight gain as an infertility remedy for several years, said many of his colleagues are just now taking the idea seriously.
Hypertensive Smokers
Cigarette smoking can reduce the effectiveness of treatment for high blood pressure, according to a review of two studies reported in this month’s Archives of Internal Medicine.
In one study, smokers responded less than nonsmokers to propranolol, a commonly prescribed anti-hypertension drug known as a beta-blocker. The authors speculate that smoking induces liver enzymes, which in turn increase the metabolism of propranolol and shortens the time it remains in the body. The effect was seen in black patients but not in whites. The authors speculate it may be due to the type of hypertension that commonly afflicts blacks.
In another study, smokers and nonsmokers reacted the same to nadolol, another type of beta-blocker, or to a diuretic. But in both studies, smokers did not do as well in long-term blood-pressure control and were more likely than nonsmokers to discontinue treatment.
Hypertension patients should not smoke, the authors note. If they won’t quit, an alternative to propranolol should be prescribed.
