INTROVERTS MORE TIRED
It apparently pays to be more out-going at work. Researchers in the Netherlands say introverts are more likely to become tired at work than their extravert co-workers. The study from Tilburg University followed 700 people over two years. It also finds workers who perceive themselves as very busy are more likely to get tired than those who don't think they have such a full plate. Employees who act as if problems don't exist are more likely to be tired than someone who deals with problems in a systematic way. Researchers also say there is a direct link between mental tiredness and physical tiredness. They say you can't have one without the other.
ANOTHER REASON FOR HELMETS
If the prospect of critical if not fatal head injuries does not sway motorcyclists to wear helmets, a pocketbook reality check might do the trick. University of Michigan researchers say hospital costs are much higher for motorcycle accident victims who do not wear helmets. Also, motorcyclists who ride sans helmet are less likely to find insurance that will even pay for their hospital bill, the study in the Journal of Trauma reports. Patients who had worn helmets had average hospital costs of $31,158. Those who didn't wear helmets ran up bills averaging $37,317 bill. Ninety-two percent of the helmeted riders were insured compared to 86 percent of unhelmeted riders.
TWINS OK FOR OLDER MOMS
A University of Kansas study finds twins born to older moms do not show a greater risk for birth complications. The team, which also included researchers from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, Md., part of the National Institutes of Health, also found triplets born to older mothers do even better than threesomes born to younger women. Twin and triplet pregnancies are riskier than singleton pregnancies at any age but the risks for older women are offset by the fact they generally conceive through the use of assisted reproductive technology. The study says using ART means babies are less likely to be identical and therefore have a lower risk of birth complications than identical siblings.
SURGERY BEST FOR CARPAL TUNNEL
Researchers who compared surgery to correct carpal tunnel syndrome with wrist splinting say surgery is a better bet. The clinical trial conducted from October 1998 to April 2000, at 13 outpatient clinics in the Netherlands, included 176 patients with CTS who were given either wrist splints at night for at least six weeks or open carpal tunnel release -- the surgery. After a three-month follow-up, 80 percent of the surgery group found the treatment successful, compared to 54 percent for the splint group. After six months, the success rate for the surgery group was at 90 percent, compared to a 75 percent rate for the splint group.
--
(EDITORS: For more information on INTROVERT, contact Michel Philippens, at 31-70-344-0784 or e-mail [email protected]. For HELMETS, contact Kara Gavin, 734-764-2220 or e-mail [email protected]. For TWINS, contact Contact, Robert Bock at NIH at 301-496-5133. For CARPAL, contact Annette A. M. Gerritsen, at the Institute for Research in Extramural Medicine, Amsterdam, at [email protected])
