news & views compiled by beth cooney
Could a Mantra a Day
Keep the Doctor Away? Science continues to shed light on the importance
of the mind-body connection. A new study suggests regular meditation can ease loneliness and dangerous inflammation responses in older adults. Researchers affiliated with Carnegie Mellon University and UCLA made the connection during a study that looked at ways to ease loneliness in aging adults. Study subjects who participated in an eight-week regimen of meditation reported fewer feelings of loneliness and isolation than they did at the study’s inception. Blood tests also demonstrated a decrease in the expression of inflammatory genes that can trigger disease. The study appeared in the online journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity. More info at tinyurl.com/nov12mantra
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Bone Health
While osteoporosis and its
precursor, osteopenia, are a growing — and serious — public health concern for women in middle-age and beyond, the time to really focus on promoting bone health comes much sooner. So says the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, which has issued a public statement urging its member doctors to educate women patients on the threat of these bonedeteriorating conditions beginning at the onset of puberty. It’s teens, ACOG says, who have the best opportunity to take the right nutritional and lifestyle steps to maximize bone-building. The teen years are also a critical time to address known risks to their skeletal health, such as smoking, excessive exercise and eating disorders. To decrease their future fracture risk, ACOG also recommends women between the ages of 19 and 50 get at least 1,000 IU of calcium per day. Get a bigger dose at tinyurl.com/nov12bones
Music for Their Ears! Here’s news that’s sure to sound good, especially if you’ve been plunking down the big bucks for your child’s piano (any other kind of music) lessons: You’re helping their brains for the long haul. A new study out of Northwestern University has concluded that childhood musical training improves brain function in adults, making them better listeners. Even a little musical training seems to go a long way, the researchers suggest. “Based on what we already know about how music shapes the brain, the study suggests that short-term music lessons may enhance lifelong listening and learning,” Nina Kraus, the Hugh Knowles Professor of Neurobiology, Physiology
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healthylife
and Communication at Northwestern, says in a university press release. The research, which focused on adults who did and did not take music lessons as children, concluded even adults with a little musical training scored higher in the areas of executive function, auditory perception and communication skills. Kind of makes the sounds of a novice violinist a little more tolerable, doesn’t it? The research is also a potent weapon for parents advocating for music education programs in their schools. More info at tinyurl.com/nov12music