bmj.com -- Press Releases

Press Releases Saturday 19-26 December 1998
No 7174 Volume 317

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(1) THE EARLY BIRD DOESN�T NECESSARILY CATCH THE WORM!

(2) FLY FISHING COULD BE COSTING THE NHS

(3) CHOCOLATE AND SWEETS - EATEN IN MODERATION -
CAN MAKE YOU LIVE LONGER!

(4) GRANDMOTHERS CAN REDUCE NHS COSTS!

(5) PATIENTS� SUPERSTITIONS IN JAPAN ARE COSTING THE HEALTH SERVICE

(1) THE EARLY BIRD DOESN�T NECESSARILY CATCH THE WORM!

(Larks and owls and health, wealth and wisdom)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7174/1675

There is no justification for early risers to affect moral superiority over
those who like to stay in bed a little longer, say Catharine Gale and
Christopher Martyn from the University of Southampton in this week�s
Christmas issue of the BMJ. In a study of 1229 men and women over 65 years
of age the authors tested the validity of Benjamin Franklin�s maxim �early
to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise�. They
found no evidence to suggest that those who are �late to bed and late to
rise� suffer any socioeconomic, cognitive or health disadvantage. If
anything owls were wealthier than larks!

Gale and Martyn do, however, suggest in their findings that a longer time
spent in bed may be bad for you. They say that those spending 12 or more
hours in bedhad a risk of death one and a half times greater than those
spending nine hours in bed.

Contact:

Dr Christopher Martyn,
Clinical Scientist,
MRC Environmental Epidemiology
Unit, Southampton University,
Southampton General Hospital,
Southampton
email: c.martyn{at}mrc.soton.ac.uk

(2) FLY FISHING COULD BE COSTING THE NHS

(Does the fly matter? The CRACKPOT study in evidence based
trout fishing)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7174/1678

Ineffective trout fishing flies may be costing the NHS valuable resources,
say a team of researchers from Oxford in this week�s issue of the BMJ. In
a study conducted on the River Kennet in Berkshire Julian Britton from the
John Radcliffe Hospital and colleagues from the Radcliffe Infirmary and
Wadham College in Oxford, find that doctors are poor predictors of which
fly to use when fishing. They extrapolate this finding and suggest that
doctors who fish trout as a hobby may be spending uncessarily lengthy
periods of their leisure time on the river rather than reading Department
of Health circulars and composing letters of helpful advice to Mr Dobson.

The authors concede that their study may be regarded as nothing more than a
fishing expedition as it is not based on an agreed hypothesis and conclude
that their findings call for the urgent funding of a definitive, large
multiriver trial.

Contact:

Mr BJ Britton,
Consultant Surgeon,
John Radcliffe Hospital,
Oxford

(3) CHOCOLATE AND SWEETS - EATEN IN MODERATION
- CAN MAKE YOU LIVE LONGER!

(Life is sweet: candy consumption and longevity)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7174/1683

Indulging in goodies a few times a month can help you to live longer,
suggest I-Min Lee and Ralph Paffenbarger from Harvard School of Public
Health in this week�s BMJ. In a study of 7841 men who commenced their
studies at Harvard between 1916 and 1950, the authors found that those who
ate chocolates or sweets lived almost a year longer than those who
abstained. Consumption of goodies was asessed in 1988, when men were aged
65 years on average.

Over the next five years, mortality rates were lowest among those indulging
one to three times a month and hightes among those who abstained, even
after accounting for confounding factors. The authors found that those
who indulged three or more times a week did not reap as much benefit as men
eating chocolates or sweets one to three times a month and therefore
caution that �as with most things in life, moderation seems to be
paramount�. However those eating goodies three or more times a week still
did better than abstainers.

Lee and Paffenbarger attempt to explain this phenomenon. They say that the
presence of antioxidant phenols in chocolate, which are also present in red
wine, could be helping to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.they
also speculate that cacao, from which chocolate in made, can inhibit
oxidation of low density lipoprotien cholesterol as well as enhance immune
funtion, leading to decreased risks of heart disease and cancer.

PLEASE NOTE: The authors stress that there may be a conflict of interest
with their study, as they each tend to be partial to a chocolate bar a day!

Contact:

Dr I-Min Lee,
Assistant Professor Department of Epidemiology,
Harvard School of Public Health,
Boston
email: I-min.lee{at}channing.harvard.edu

(4) GRANDMOTHERS CAN REDUCE NHS COSTS!

(Grandmothers� role in preventing unnecessary accident and emergency
attendances: cohort study)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7174/1685

Grandmothers can provide reassurance for families with young children,
thereby reducing the likelihood of parents taking children to accident and
emergency (A&E) departments unnecessarily. So say Dr Emma Fergusson and
colleagues from the Royal Free Hospital, London in this week�s BMJ. The
authors found that children who have a grandmother involved in their care
are less likely to visit A&E with minor or trivial conditions. They
suggest that as extended family ties loosen, the need for health
professionals to fill the traditional role of a grandmother may increase,
yet current training and standard textbooks include little on such
subjects.

Contact:

Dr Emma Fergusson,
Department of Child Psychiatry,
Maudsley Hospital,
London
email: E.Fergusson{at}iop.bpmf.ac.uk

(5) PATIENTS� SUPERSTITIONS IN JAPAN ARE COSTING
THE HEALTH SERVICE

(Influence of superstition on the date of hospital discharge and
medical cost in Japan: retrospective and descriptive study)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7174/1680

The superstition of some patients in Japan about �lucky� and �unlucky� days
influence when they leave hospital and may be contributing to higher
medical care costs, suggest Dr Kenji Hira and colleagues from Kyoto
University in Japan, in this week�s BMJ. Belief in Taian-Butsumetsu, which
is superstition relating to the six day lunar calender, is common among
Japanese people (Taian is a day of good fortune and Butsumetsu means bad
luck). The authors found that significantly more patients were discharged
on lucky days, in particular older patients and especially women.

Hira et al conclude that although hospital stays need to be kept as short
as possible to minimise costs, doctors should not ignore the possible
psychological effects on patients� health caused by ignoring their
superstitions.

Contact:

Dr Kenji Hira,
Postgraduate Student,
Department of General Medicine and
Clinical Epidemiology,
Kyoto University,
Japan
email: ken{at}kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp

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