Wholistic News Reviews: Traditional, Complementary, Alternative, and Psycho-Social Modalities of Treatment

by Larry Lachman, PsyD

Download PDF

Return to Master Table of Contents

Socializing in older adulthood and the impact on motor function

Dr. Aron Buchman and colleagues at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago report from a longitudinal cohort study of 906 people for almost five years, they found that with each one point decrease in social activity there was an associated 33% more rapid decline in motor function which was also associated with more than a 40% increased risk of death and a 65% increased risk of disability.  Dr. Buchman and colleagues conclude, “…The differences in rate of decline we're talking about are not trivial… The fact that we've found this means that we need additional research to figure out what the biology is and to be clearer about what it is about social activity that's driving this association to be able to use it from a public-health point of view…”

Archives of Internal Medicine 2009; 169:1139-1146

Cancer and schizophrenia? 

Dr. Frederic Limosin and colleagues of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Reims in France, found that people diagnosed with schizophrenia have a 50% higher risk of dying from cancer – especially breast and lung cancer - -than the general population. In a prospective study of 3,470 schizophrenia patients beginning in 1993, it was found after 11 years that 74 patients had died of cancer, making it the secondmost  frequent cause of death after suicide for this sample. Dr. Limosin and colleagues conclude, “…our results emphasize the necessity for psychiatrists, but also general practitioners, to assess risk factors of cancer in schizophrenic patients (especially smoking) and to detect cancer occurrence as early as possible…”

Cancer 2009; 10.1002/cncr.24383 DOI

A screening test for early Alzheimer’s Disease

Dr. Jeremy Brown and colleagues at the Adenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, UK, report on a cross-sectional study with 139 patients with dementia or amnesic mild cognitive impairment and 540 control subjects. All the subjects were asked to write 10 answers on a double-sided card assessing semantic knowledge, ability to calculate, name objects and recall. They were able to detect 93% of cases of Alzheimer’s disease which was even more sensitive than using a mini-mental status exam, which detected only 52% of Alzheimer’s disease. Nurses could be trained in 10 minutes to accurately administer and evaluate the test. Dr. Brown and colleagues conclude, “…If a patient completes the test while in the waiting area supervised by the receptionist, it can be scored and analyzed by the doctor in 2 minutes… If there is time during the consultation to observe the patients filling in the test, this can also be a useful aid to diagnosis…”

British Medical Journal(2009; 338, b2030

Moving to a new home increases suicide risk for teens

Dr. Ping Qin and colleagues at the University of Aarhus in Denmark report from a study of Danish national registries of children born between 1978 and 1995 that 4,160 children aged 11 to 17 attempted suicide and 79 successfully completed suicide. Compared to the controls, 55.2% of suicidal children and 32% of the controls had moved from their homes three or more times and 7.4% of the suicidal children had moved more than 10 times compared to 1.9% for controls. Thus, the risk for attempted suicide is doubled in adolescents aged 11 to 17 if they have moved three to five times. Dr. Qin and colleagues conclude, “…this is not only because we have found a strong association between mobility and children's suicidal behavior, but also because change of residence, either for positive or negative reasons, is common in contemporary society, and many children are distressed from such experiences, in particular those with suicide attempts….”

Archives of General Psychiatry 2009; 66, 628-632

Amino acids help to improve weight with pre-term infants

Dr. C.J. Valentine and colleagues at the Department of Pediatrics, Neonatal Nutrition Team, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Ohio State University, found that if they gave infants early amino-acid supplements before a pre-term infant’s first post birth 24 hours went by, their weight significantly improved. This prevented them from falling below the 10th percentile at 36 weeks post birth compared to pre-term infants not receiving the early amino-acid supplements. Dr. Valentine and colleagues conclude, “…Early administration of amino acids has been shown to be safe and promotes nitrogen balance and glucose tolerance in preterm infants…we found an association between EAA administration and less growth failure at term than in infants given amino acids later. Additional studies to determine the effects of EAA administration on protein kinetics and evaluation of even more aggressive nutritional interventions are warranted….”

Journal of Perinatology 2009; 29(6), 428-432

Larry Lachman, PsyD, is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist based in Monterey, California, who is the co-author of a book on coping with cancer entitled, “Parallel Journeys.” Dr. Lachman is a Psychology Instructor at Chapman University and Monterey Peninsula College in Monterey, California and Hartnell College in Salinas, California. Dr. Lachman maintains a private practice with a health psychology emphasis in Monterey, California.  Dr. Lachman can be reached through his website   www.DrLarryLachman.com

Return to Master Table of Contents