Press Releases Saturday 21 August 1999
No 7208 Volume 319
Please remember to credit the BMJ as source when publicising
an
article and to tell your readers that they can read its full text on
the
journal's web site (http://www.bmj.com).
If your story is posted on a website please include a link back to
the source BMJ article (URL's are given under titles).
(1) PHYSICAL
FITNESS ISN'T THE ONLY ACTIVITY TO HELP
PROLONG
SURVIVAL IN OLDER PEOPLE
(2) VERY
LOW ENERGY DIETS TOGETHER WITH NICOTINE
GUM BOOSTS
SMOKING CESSATION RATES
(1) PHYSICAL FITNESS
ISN'T THE ONLY ACTIVITY TO HELP
PROLONG SURVIVAL IN OLDER PEOPLE
(Population based study of social
and productive activities as
predictors of survival among elderly
Americans)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/319/7208/478
Social and productive activities, such
as playing cards or shopping, are
as effective as fitness activities in
lowering the risk of all cause mortality
in older people, claim researchers in
this week's BMJ. Professor
Thomas Glass, from Harvard University
School of Public Health along
with colleagues from Chicago and Conneticut,
found that activities that
required less physical exertion may complement
exercise programmes
or may be an alternative form of activity
for frail elderly people.
Glass et al studied over 2,800 people aged
over 65 years from New
Haven, Conneticut, over a 13 year period
and found that all three
types of activity (social, fitness and
productive) were independently
associated with survival. They define
social activities as including
church going; playing cards, games or
bingo; day trips and going to the
cinema. Productive activities include
gardening; preparing meals;
shopping and community work.
The authors conclude that social and productive
activities confer
equivalent survival advantages compared
with fitness activities. They
say that this observation is important
because it suggests that activities
that entail little or no physical exertion
may also be beneficial to older
people.
Contact:
Professor Thomas Glass, Assistant Professor,
Harvard University
School of Public Health, Department of
Health and Social Behaviour,
Boston, United States
Email: tglass{at}hsph.harvard.edu
(2) VERY LOW ENERGY
DIETS TOGETHER WITH NICOTINE
GUM BOOSTS SMOKING CESSATION RATES
(Open randomised trial of intermittent
very low energy diet together
with nicotine gum for stopping smoking
in women who gained weight
in previous attempts to quit)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/319/7208/490
(Commentary: results are unlikely
to be as good in routine practice)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/319/7208/490#resp1
Combining smoking cessation programme with
an intervention to
control weight can help women to stop
smoking without putting on
weight, report researchers from Sweden
in this week's BMJ. The
team, led by Tobias Danielsson from the
Karolinska Hospital in
Stockholm, found that half the women who
participated in a
programme of using nicotine gum as well
as eating a very low calorie
diet, had stopped smoking after 16 weeks
and their weight had fallen
by an average of 2.1kg. This compared
with a cessation rate of 35 per
cent and a weight gain of 1.6kg in the
control group who did not
participate in the diet.
The team studied 287 female smokers aged
between30 and 60 years
who had quit smoking before, but had started
again because of weight
concerns. After 12 months 28 per cent
of the diet group were still not
smoking, compared to 16 per cent in the
control group. However, of
the non-smokers, the mean weight increase
was 2.5kg among the
dieters and 3.8kg in the control group.
They say that their study shows that smoking
can be stopped for up to
a year with acceptable weight control
in a group of women selected
for their previous weight control problems
when attempting to stop
smoking.
In reality, such dramatic results may not
be practicable in primary care,
reports Dr Kevin Jones in an accompanying
commentary. For
example, he points out that the women
who participated in the
Swedish study attended eleven 45 minute
group sessions as part of
their 16 week programme, which would not
only be expensive but also
nearly impossible to provide in routine
practice. He also says that the
low energy diet was provided for free,
which would be unlikely to
happen outside a research setting.
Contact:
Tobias Danielsson, Obesity Unit, Huddinge
University Hospital,
Sweden Tel: +46 42 288 047 Professor Stephan
Rssner, As above
Email: tobias.danielsson{at}medhs.ki.se
or stephan.rossner{at}medhs.ki.se
Dr Kevin Jones, Senior Lecturer, Department
of Primary Health Care,
School of Health Sciences Medical School,
Newcastle upon Tyne
Email: k.p.jones{at}ncl.ac.uk
FOR ACCREDITED JOURNALISTS
Embargoed press releases and articles are available from:
Public Affairs Division
BMA House
Tavistock Square
London WC1H 9JR
(contact Jill Shepherd;pressoffice{at}bma.org.uk)
and from:
the EurekAlert website, run by the American Association for the
Advancement of Science
(http://www.eurekalert.org)
What's new
Keep updated
Services
Tools
Online poll
Resources
Print issues
