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February 28, 2006
The annual Hasbro Children’s Hospital Gala will be held on April 1. The gala is the premier fundraiser for the hospital, raising more than four million dollars since its inception in 1994.
Proceeds from this year’s “Twister Gala” will benefit pediatric diabetes at Hasbro Children’s Hospital and the “Get on with Your Life” program in intensive diabetes care. Each year, the theme for the event is based on a different toy from Hasbro, Inc. This year’s theme is “Bending over backwards for pediatric diabetes” and is based on Hasbro, Inc.’s popular Twister game.
The event is open to the public with advance registration and will feature live and silent auctions, dinner and dancing.
The event is presented by Hasbro, Inc., KPMG, The Beacon Mutual Insurance Company, and Bank of America.
For more information or to purchase tickets, please call 401- 444-6888, email ldevereaux@lifespan.org.
February 28, 2006
The Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders Center at Rhode Island Hospital is currently recruiting patients and their caregivers to take part in a national study on the effectiveness of an investigational medication for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease.
Potential study volunteers must:
- Be between the ages of 50 and 90
- Have a clinical diagnosis of probably Alzheimer’s Disease
- Have experienced a decline in memory and cognition for at least six months
Participation involves six visits to a local physician’s office over a period of up to 27 weeks. Qualified participants will receive study-related medical care, which includes study-related examinations, assessments, lab tests and echocardiograms, as well as the investigational study medication at no cost.
The Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders Center at Rhode Island Hospital is the largest memory assessment program in Rhode Island and offers a full range of diagnostic and treatment services including cutting edge brain imaging, genetic tests and neuropsychological evaluations. For more information on the study, please call Teresa Erbozkurt at 401-444-6922.
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February 28, 2006
Some overweight teens may have new hope for shedding pounds. A new study suggests that weight-loss programs that encourage peer-support, and focus on building confidence through challenges are effective in helping some adolescents lose weight. This is the finding of a research paper appearing in the January 2006 issue of the International Journal of Obesity by researchers at the Bradley Hasbro Children’s Research Center (BHCRC) and The Miriam Hospital.
“Since weight gain in adolescence has been associated with a number of health problems in adulthood, we wanted to find a program that could offer teens an effective weight-loss strategy,” says lead author Elissa Jelalian, PhD, a child psychologist with the BHCRC and Brown Medical School.
Seventy-six overweight adolescents (ages 13 to 16) were randomly assigned to one of two treatment plans for 16 weeks: cognitive-behavioral group treatment with Adventure Therapy based on Outward Bound (an educational program that promotes adventure and peer-building activities), or cognitive-behavioral group treatment in conjunction with aerobic exercise.
“We found that the older teens in our sample lost more weight through the Adventure Therapy regimen, and many kept it off at the 10 month follow-up,” says Jelalian.
While average weight loss was similar for both groups, the authors saw significant differences between the groups six months after completion of the active intervention. Over twice as many adolescents in the Adventure Therapy group maintained their weight loss. Even more impressive, they found that older adolescents in the adventure therapy group demonstrated more than four times the weight loss of their counterparts in the aerobics group at follow-up.
“This study supports the idea that at ages 15 and 16, adolescents may benefit significantly from peer support. The Adventure Therapy model embraces positive peer encouragement which is why it’s so effective,” says Jelalian.
Rather than participating in a supervised exercise session together, adolescents assigned to the Adventure Therapy group were asked to work together in cooperative games, trust-building exercises, and problem solving challenges. The final challenge was for adolescents to participate in a ropes course.
Obesity in children and adolescents is a significant public health concern, the authors write. Data from the most recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data (NHANES 1999-2000) indicate that approximately 15 percent of children and adolescents are overweight. The recent Surgeon General’s “Call to Action” describes overweight and obesity as a public health epidemic, with specific focus on the impact of overweight for children and adolescents.
“The obesity epidemic our country is facing has created a tremendous need for innovative, effective weight loss strategies for overweight teens,” says co-author Elizabeth Lloyd-Richardson, PhD, psychologist at The Miriam Hospital and Brown Medical School.
The rise in prevalence of pediatric obesity has been associated with a rise in the diagnosis of non-insulin-dependent diabetes, as well as risk factors for heart disease. Weight increases during adolescence have also been associated with fasting insulin, HDL-cholesterol, and systolic blood pressure in young adulthood.
“Evidence suggests that losing even small amounts of weight (5 to 10 percent of body weight) can have a significant impact on health,” says co-author Rena Wing, PhD, director of the Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center at The Miriam Hospital and Brown Medical School.
Furthermore, childhood and adolescent obesity are significant predictors of overweight status in adulthood and pose a risk factor for adult morbidity and mortality, particularly for males, the authors write.
Healing Moves is a new research study investigating the role of physical activity in regaining quality of life after colorectal cancer diagnosis and treatment. The purpose of Healing Moves is to examine the feasibility and benefits of a home-based exercise program.
Men and women, who have been diagnosed with Stage 0-III colorectal cancer and have completed treatment within the past two years, are invited to participate. Volunteers must be in overall good health, over 18 years of age and not participating in regular physical activity.
Eligible volunteers will receive one of two programs, both of which are telephone-based. One focuses on health information, while the other focuses on helping survivors to become more physically active. Everyone will receive telephone support from a trained health educator and informational materials.
Volunteers will be asked to meet with researchers five times over the course of a year, be willing to participate in a tread mill walk test, complete questionnaires and receive periodic telephone calls.
Benefits of participating in the study include:
- The ability to work at your own pace, and on your own time.
- Home delivery of health and wellness information at no cost.
- Personal attention from a trained health educator.
- No weekly classes to attend.
- Participants will receive incentives for their time.
The study is funded by the National Cancer Institute.
Call 401-793-8855 or email Ysantanacespedes@Lifespan.org for more information.
February 23, 2006
While many urban children suffer from asthma, those who have high self-esteem and good problem-solving skills may be less likely to have their asthma symptoms interfere with school, a new study finds.
“Our results suggest that in spite of facing asthma symptoms, stressors related to urban residence, as well as family life stressors, children’s individual characteristics such as higher levels of problem-solving beliefs and self-esteem were associated with fewer school absences, more participation in activities, and less missed sleep,” says lead author, Daphne Koinis Mitchell, PhD, with the Bradley Hasbro Children’s Research Center (BHCRC) and Brown Medical School.
This study, published in the December 2005 issue of the Journal of School Health, is an important step towards identifying ways in which school systems can develop plans to help students with asthma improve their academic performance.
Asthma can influence school absences, increase emergency room visits, limit physical activities, and account for sleep loss. If not properly treated, asthma can negatively impact children’s ability to learn when in school, the authors write.
But are there are factors that might mitigate these effects? The authors studied a group of urban, school-aged children (and their mothers) with asthma from minority backgrounds.
They found that self-esteem and children’s beliefs about their problem-solving abilities functioned as “resource factors”, or personality characteristics, that helped counter the negative effects of asthma and urban living. In fact, more positive problem-solving beliefs were associated with more participation in activities and less missed sleep.
Research shows that urban living and its associated family stressors like poverty and exposure to violence can also compromise children’s school functioning. In addition, as one of the most prevalent childhood chronic illnesses in the US, asthma is overrepresented in children from urban, low socioeconomic and ethnic minority backgrounds.
“Pediatric asthma should be a focus of attention in school systems due to its increased prevalence in urban areas and its association with difficulties in children’s psychosocial and academic functioning,” says Koinis Mitchell.
Given the heightened risks that urban children face, it is imperative for research to identify factors that might contribute to optimal asthma-related, psychological, and school functioning. An enhanced understanding of these issues may allow health providers and educators to promote children’s academic and asthma-related functioning despite exposure to illness-related and urban stresses, the authors conclude.
“Enhancing children’s self-esteem and problem-solving beliefs may be important targets for future school-based interventions with urban children who have asthma,” says Koinis Mitchell.
The Childhood Asthma Research Program at the Bradley Hasbro Children’s Research Center (BHCRC), has numerous NIH-funded research projects to investigate factors that contribute to variations in asthma management behaviors in children. A recent initiative involves understanding what type of protective factors may help promote asthma-related resilience and minimize school-related asthma morbidity in urban children.
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