Spirit of Women magazine is a national publication presented to women by hospitals and their physicians. The magazine provides up-to-date, evidence-based healthcare information and promotes our hospitals as leaders in women's health excellence.
Issue link: https://spiritofwomen.epubxp.com/i/694653
5 w w w. s p i r i t o f w o m e n . c o m S U M M E R 2 016 S P I R I T O F W O M E N SHUTTERSTOCK H E A L T H C E N T R A L N E W S The relaxation response Baby talk Electronic baby toys with all the bells and whistles may seem like fun to you, but they might not be the best option for your child. In fact, high-tech toys may slow a baby's ability to acquire verbal skills, according to a recent study in JAMA Pediatrics. To see how different types of toys affect parent/child communications, researchers had 26 parent/infant (ages 10 to 16 months) duos play with electronic toys or traditional toys or read books. During play sessions with electronic toys, parents spoke the least and babies were the least vocalizing. Parents offered more verbal responses with traditional toys, and both parents and babies were most responsive when sharing a book. • I f you often feel under siege, you may be concerned that it's affecting your health. But it turns out that your reaction to the stress has a greater impact on your wellbeing than how frequently you're stressed, say researchers who reported their findings in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine. The new study looked at stress and heart rate variability in more than 900 volunteers over eight days. Having higher heart rate variability is preferable because it indicates an ability to respond to challenges; lower heart rate variability is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, according to the researchers from Penn State and Columbia University. The frequency of stress didn't influence heart rate variability, but those who perceived the events in their lives as more stressful, or who had a greater spike in negative emotions, had lower heart rate variability. Tried-and-true stress relievers such as exercise, meditation and professional counseling can help improve how you cope with stress, say experts. • Adding life to your years The adage "You're as young as you feel" may hold a clue to your future health: People who feel older than their peers are more likely to be hospitalized as they age, regardless of their actual age, suggests research in the journal Health Psychology. Using data from studies including more than 10,000 U.S. adults ages 24 to 102, researchers found that those who reported a sense of being older had a 10 to 25 percent increased likelihood of being hospitalized during the next two to 10 years when controlling for age, gender, race and education. Having comparatively poor health and more depressive symptoms could be the link between feeling old and being hospitalized, according to researchers. People who feel older may benefit from physical activity and exercise programs to reduce their risk of depression, chronic disease and hospitalization. • Get physical for your heart Being physically fit may reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, and if you do suffer a heart attack, your exercise regimen could improve your chances of survival. That's the conclusion of researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Henry Ford Health System, who looked at medical records of more than 2,000 women and men who had taken a treadmill stress test before their first heart attacks. They compared the patients' metabolic equivalent scores (MET), a measure of energy consumption at rest and during physical activity, with how well they recovered from a heart attack. Those with MET scores of 10 to 12 (the highest possible) had about 40 percent fewer deaths after a first heart attack compared with the rest of the patients. A MET score of 1 is equivalent to the energy used to sit on a couch, while a 12 score is equivalent to sprinting. •