MONEY MAY BUY HAPPINESS FOR DISABLED
Research shows wealthier people tend to have higher levels of happiness and wellbeing after being disabled than those with less money. The study, published in the journal Psychological Science, looked at how financial health affects mental health when physical health fails. The researchers at the University of Michigan Health System and the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System found people with large financial assets reported greater wellbeing and less sadness and loneliness after becoming disabled than did those of lesser financial means. Although the difference eased after a few years, the researchers say the finding has important implications for personal savings, retirement planning and "safety net" government programs for the seriously ill and disabled.
ONIONS MAY HELP FIGHT OSTEOPOROSIS
A compound in onions may help fight osteoporosis, the bone thinning condition that can lead to fractures, especially in older women, a study shows. The research, reported in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry by scientists at the University of Bern in Switzerland, identified a compound in the popular vegetable that decreased bone loss in laboratory rat studies. Although further studies are needed, the experiments suggest eating onions might help prevent bone loss and osteoporosis, a disease with a $17 billion annual medical care cost in the United States, the scientists say. They found an active chemical component of white onions, called GPCS, inhibited the loss of bone minerals, including calcium, in rat bone cells, compared to cells not exposed to GPCS.
HEAVY DRINKERS HAVE HIGHER BLOOD PRESSURE
Chinese men who drink more than 30 alcoholic drinks a week have twice the risk of high blood pressure than those who do not drink, scientists say. The Tulane University researchers report in the Journal of Hypertension, "Our study is among the first to closely examine the relationship between the number of alcoholic beverages a person drinks and high blood pressure in a Chinese population." Most previous studies were conducted on Western populations, and research suggests Western and Asian populations do not necessarily respond the same way to risk factors for heart disease, says epidemiologist Rachel Wildman. "Heart disease is the leading killer of adults in China today," she says. "Limiting alcohol intake has to be a part of efforts to prevent and manage high blood pressure in China."
LIGHT THERAPY LIGHTENS MOOD
Scientists have found light therapy can treat mood disorders, including seasonal affective disorder and other depressive disorders. The study, commissioned by the American Psychiatric Association and published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, also found the effects of light therapy, known as phototherapy, are comparable to those found in clinical studies of antidepressant drug therapy, say psychiatrists at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, School of Medicine. "We found that many reports on the efficacy of light therapy are not based on rigorous study designs. This has fueled the controversy in the field as to whether or not light therapy is effective for SAD or for non-seasonal forms of mood disorders," says lead author Dr. Robert Golden, professor and chairman of psychiatry and vice dean of the medical school. "But when you throw out all the studies that are methodologically flawed and then conduct a meta-analysis of those that are well-designed, you find that light therapy is an effective treatment not only for SAD but also for depression."
(Editors: For more information about MONEY, contact Kara Gavin at 734-764-2220. For ONION, Michael Bernstein at 202-872-6042 or [email protected]. For DRINKERS, Madeline Vann at 504-988-6017 or [email protected]. For LIGHT, Kerianne Priehs at 312-558-1770 or [email protected].)
