HEALTH : The Best Homework Isn’t Always Done by the Book
Children don’t necessarily need total peace and quiet to do their homework well, two experts say. “A lot of kids study best when there are other people around, and many, especially adolescents, study just fine with (background) music,” said Edwin Gerler Jr., associate professor of counselor education at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, who bases his observations on a study of 900 students.
“Like adults, children have different learning styles,” said Myron Dembo, professor of educational psychology at USC. “Some need music; others need quiet.”
But Lee Canter, a Santa Monica educational consultant and co-author of “Homework Without Tears” (Harper & Row: 1988), said: “Any kind of serious studying requires quiet.”
On one point all agree: Students don’t always need to sit up straight at a desk to do homework.
One common problem, dawdling, may indicate a child’s lack of time-management skills. “Help kids set up a schedule, a time and a place for studying,” Dembo said. And teach them how to schedule a long-term project like a term paper. “If a paper is due by Friday, for example, help him decide what needs to be done when. Suggest library research be done early in the week, not the day before it’s due.”
“Homework is more important than people realize,” Canter said. “It’s the key link between home and school.”
Crowning Glory
With the advent of new dental adhesives, some fractured dental crowns can be repaired for a fraction of the cost of a new one.
In the last year, at least two dental supply manufacturers have introduced adhesives that create a strong bond between the tooth and the composite, or cover-up material.
To repair a crown that is fractured but still functionally sound, a dentist slightly roughens the tooth surface and brushes on the adhesive, said Dr. Nelson Gendusa, director of research for Parkell, a New York manufacturer of a dental adhesive system. The composite material is then applied, allowed to dry and is contoured, a process that takes about 15 minutes and costs about one-tenth the fee charged for a full crown, he said. The adhesives and composites also can be used to cover unsightly metal fillings and to obscure the clasps of dentures, Gendusa added.
Noting the lack of long-term follow-up studies, Wayne Wozniak, assistant secretary of the American Dental Assn.’s Council on Dental Materials, Instruments and Equipment, advised: “Look at (the adhesives) as an interim kind of repair (for crowns).”
Senior Scams
Free medical tests. No deductible. More insurance coverage for less money. The promises sound too good to be true. And usually are.
Health scams continue to proliferate, say experts, and the elderly are the most likely to be duped. About 60% of victims are age 60 or older, according to Ann Sorenson of the U.S. National Institute on Aging.
In Southern California, recent health-fraud complaints from seniors have involved mobile laboratories that offer medical tests and so-called “medigap” insurance policies that claim to cover what Medicare doesn’t, said Sue Giesberg, consumer liaison officer with the California Attorney General’s Office in Los Angeles. Mobile labs often promise no deductible and full insurance coverage, “when in fact that may or may not be,” she said. “Often, the senior is left holding the bag.” And seniors who buy medigap policies often end up with duplicate coverage, she added.
William Jarvis, president of the National Council Against Health Fraud and a professor of health education at Loma Linda University, cautions the elderly about self-treatments for male impotence, arthritis and “immune-system enhancers.”
Scams can be difficult to recognize, but they most often include “an overinflated promise, the use of testimonials and an attack on conventional medicine to create a market for the alternative,” Jarvis said.
The California Attorney General’s Office maintains an ongoing task force on health fraud, Giesberg said. Complaints should be sent in writing to the Consumer Law Section, California Attorney General’s Office, 3580 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles 90010.
A Way-Out Workout
Picture a hammock frame with an empty door frame in the middle. You step on, strap in your ankles, stand up, grab the appropriate bar and choose your poison: sit-ups, push-ups or dozens of other maneuvers, made more difficult by the need to maintain your balance.
It’s the Equinox 2000 “gyrofitness” sports-exercise trainer, displayed last weekend at the Health and Fitness Show in Anaheim. Now under study at the Behavioral Sciences and Leadership Department Laboratories of the U.S. Air Force Academy, the machine is being evaluated to see if it “might desensitize individuals susceptible to air sickness,” said Stephen Armstrong, who is conducting preliminary studies.
Invented by a Japanese gymnast/engineer, the Equinox 2000 promises simultaneous cardiovascular conditioning and muscle toning, said Leonard Raines, president of Team Equinox USA.
Said Dr. Michael Horwitz, a Beverly Hills internist who has used the machine three times a week for three months: “It gives a good aerobic workout and tones muscles. It’s fun, a way to get good exercise and have a ball.”
On the downside, exercisers need some coordination just to climb on. One user says the cardiovascular benefits may be overrated--that maintaining movement for the 20 continuous minutes often recommended is difficult even for the physically fit. The cost: $2,395, which includes delivery, installation and initial training.
