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New research shows that mental flexibility can influence our approach to vaccinations

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Making decisions about our health is a posh and sometimes difficult process.

In addition to our own attitudes, experiences, and perspectives, we’re inundated with information from others (friends, family, health care professionals) and from external sources (news or social media) about what it means to be healthy.

Sometimes this information is consistent with what we take into consideration our own health. Other times it could go against our beliefs. To complicate matters further, sometimes this information is intentional misinformation.

How can we make sense of all this when making decisions about our health? What determines whether we stick to our attitude or change our mind?

Most of us can probably relate to this. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we now have had to change a lot of our behaviors to slow the spread of the virus. This meant working from home, wearing a mask, staying in our bubbles, and ultimately getting the vaccine.

Although for many individuals the choice to get vaccinated was obvious, for others it was not so easy. Tests from the period immediately before the Covid vaccine was available in New Zealand showed that a big minority were unsure or unlikely to be vaccinated.

They were mostly young, women and fewer educated, and their concerns were mainly about unknown future unwanted effects. Our latest research suggests that cognitive (mental) flexibility may have something to do with attitudes towards vaccinations.

Flexible mind

Previous research suggests that mental flexibility plays a very important role in decision-making. Imagine changing the best way you do something at work, having a discussion with someone who has a unique opinion, or being told that you must make healthier decisions (e.g. exercise more).

Some people handle these situations with ease. Others have a harder time adapting. Mental flexibility describes this ability to adjust our attitudes, thoughts, and behaviors within the face of recent or changing information.

Research shows that mental flexibility affects how our opinions are extremewhat’s the probability that we’ll do that consider in disinformation or “fake news,” whether or not we do it pro-ecological decisions or get entangled health-promoting behaviors (for instance, sun protection or exercise).

To increase vaccination coverage, governments often use educational campaigns that emphasize the security, effectiveness and importance of vaccinations. However, these campaigns it doesn’t all the time work out in reducing the sensation of uncertainty about vaccinations.



We wanted to know why and thought mental flexibility might play a job. To discover, we surveyed 601 New Zealanders about their opinions and experiences of vaccination.

Some questions asked about external aspects, resembling how easy they thought it was to access vaccines or whether or not they could purchase vaccines. Other questions focused on internal aspects, resembling personal beliefs about vaccinations, perceptions of their very own health, and the way necessary or secure they think vaccines are.

Overall, our participants reported few external barriers to vaccination, and 97% said vaccines were available or inexpensive. These percentages are promising and should reflect government values further efforts to make it easier to get the vaccine.

In comparison, internal aspects played a bigger role in vaccine uncertainty or hesitancy. Specifically, almost 1 / 4 (22%) of participants reported concerns about health risks related to vaccines. And 12% said they didn’t trust the processes or individuals who developed the vaccines.

Health information campaigns aren’t all the time effective in reducing anxiety and uncertainty.
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Testing adaptive behavior

We also asked our participants to play a game designed to measure mental flexibility.

It involved matching cards based on a certain rule – for instance, match cards with the identical variety of objects. This rule modified randomly throughout the sport, which meant that participants had to adjust their behavior throughout the sport.

Interestingly, individuals who found it harder to adapt to regulatory changes (meaning they’d lower levels of mental flexibility) also reported more internal barriers to vaccination.

For example, after we divided participants into two groups based on their mental flexibility, the low flexibility group was 18% more likely to say that vaccinations were inconsistent with their beliefs. They were 14% more likely to say they didn’t trust vaccines and 11% more likely to report concerns about negative unwanted effects of vaccines.

This didn’t apply to external aspects. Mental flexibility didn’t predict whether people believed that vaccines were available and inexpensive.

Information is usually not enough

These results suggest that making decisions about our health – including whether or not to get vaccinated – is dependent upon greater than just receiving the “right” information.

Simply talking in regards to the importance of vaccinations will not be enough to change attitudes or behaviors. It also is dependent upon every person’s unique cognitive style – the best way they perceive and process information.

Since then, falling vaccination rates have been an issue all over the world, including in New Zealand long before the pandemic. Our findings suggest that health education campaigns could also be more practical in the event that they consider the role of cognitive flexibility.

One technique is to change the best way information is framed. For example, as a substitute of simply presenting facts in regards to the safety or importance of vaccinations, educational campaigns can encourage us to query our own perspectives or to imagine alternative realities by asking “what if?” questions.

Tests shows that any such framing can engage our deliberative thought processes (those that help us think deeply and critically), increase mental flexibility, and ultimately make us more open to change.

This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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Health and Wellness

Prostate cancer organization launches website for personalized treatment

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The Prostate Health Education Network (PHEN), whose mission is to eliminate racial disparities related to prostate cancer amongst African Americans, announced the launch of this system PHENPM.coma brand new online portal dedicated to precision medicine care for prostate cancer patients. Precision medicine is medical care aimed toward improving the treatment of specific groups of patients, especially through molecular and/or genetic profiling. This progressive website includes information on personalized prostate cancer treatment, patient genomic testing, targeted therapy for the disease, precision medicine clinical trials and molecular diagnostics.

“Our goal in creating this portal is to help prostate cancer patients learn about the many benefits of precision medicine therapies, such as expanded treatment options, improved targeted therapies, better cancer detection tools, immunotherapies with fewer side effects and improved quality of life,” he said Dr. Keith Crawford, director of patient education and clinical research at PHEN.

Patients also can study genomic testing for prostate cancer, which involves determining genetic history and predisposition to cellular mutations. Additionally, the Precision Medicine Portal offers insight into patients’ lives through stories of how precision medicine and personalized prostate cancer treatments saved their lives.

One of PHEN’s goals is to diversify clinical trials by including more African Americans. PHENPM.com also deals with personalized treatment through participation in clinical trials. Clinical trials tailored to individual patient needs can revolutionize prostate cancer treatment, save lives and improve the standard of life for every patient.

“There’s no way around it. Black men have a significantly higher risk of prostate cancer and mortality. That’s why genetic testing is crucial,” Crawford said. One in six black men are diagnosed with prostate cancer, almost 80% more often than white men. To achieve its mission of eliminating this disparity in prostate cancer, PHEN provides free online resources for African American prostate cancer patients, survivors and high-risk individuals. Together with PHENPM.comyou can learn about prostate treatment by visiting PHENPath.com.

For information regarding clinical trials, PHENTrials.com invites patients to take part in personalized prostate cancer research. Information about early detection screening could be found on the website PHENPSA.com.


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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Health and Wellness

6 things to do if your baby’s weight is outside the ideal range – and 1 thing to avoid

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One of the most significant challenges we face as parents is ensuring that our kids develop at a healthy pace.

To combat this, we take them to regular check-ups with our GP or nurse, where vital measurements, including weight and height, are recorded and compared to the ‘ideal’ range.

But how accurate are these measurements? What to do if your baby’s weight is outside the ideal range?

How is kid’s weight measured?

It is vital to help our kids maintain a healthy weight. Around 80% of kids People who’re obese during adolescence will struggle with their weight throughout their lives.

GPs and nurses frequently measure your baby’s height and weight and use growth charts to visualize your baby’s growth over time. They often use two charts covering:

  1. birth to two years of age, which it assumes World Health Organization standards. They were developed based on studies in six countries that measured the growth of healthy breastfed infants

  2. from two to 18 years old, which takes the charts from US Center for Disease Control for kids and adolescents, body weight, height and body mass index (BMI).

These charts use percentile lines to plot a toddler’s measurements in the type of a growth curve, which is then compared to the expected – or ideal – range of weight and height taken from children of the same age and sex.

A baby’s development is considered healthy if his or her measurements consistently follow percentile lines. Poor growth is characterised by a bent for a toddler’s weight or height to decline at each percentile.

For children under two years of age, a body weight above the eighty fifth percentile is considered extent of obeseand weight-for-age above the 97th percentile is included in the obesity range.

In children over two years of age, a BMI above the eighty fifth percentile is taken into consideration overweight and a BMI above the ninety fifth percentile is classified as obesity.

But height and BMI charts are usually not perfect

Growth charts provide a straightforward yet effective indication of our child’s growth and development. They may help healthcare employees detect potential health problems early in order that they might be examined by a specialist.

However, growth charts could cause parents numerous anxiety and stress because they do not understand that every child grows and develops at a unique rate.

That’s why it is so vital to assess trends and changes in body weight over time and not react to measurements that will show outliers.

1 thing to avoid if your child is above the ideal range

NO limit your child’s food intake or restrict your eating regimen if they fall outside the ideal range. Although this may increasingly help them lose weight initially, it’s going to be harmful later.

Putting a eating regimen on a young child affects their ability to metabolize food and their innate ability to regulate their food intake as they grow and develop. This may have an effect their relationship with food and over time they speed up the weight problem.

Holding on to your child’s weight may also lead to anxiety, low self-esteem, and eating disorders body image problems.

6 things you may do

If your child’s weight is outside the ideal range, proceed to monitor his or her growth over time and deal with allowing her or him to “grow” to a healthy weight. You can do this by:

1. Focus on health, not weight

Each of us has a predetermined weight: a set value that our body protects. It is programmed in the early years of life – especially in the first 2,000 days of life – from conception to age five.

Our genes play a task in programming our weight setpoint. Just as DNA determines whether we’re shorter or taller than others, this is what it is be born with a bent to be slimmer or larger. But our genetic makeup is only a predisposition, not an inevitable fate.

Developing healthy habits and a positive approach to eating, exercise and body image in the family home will help your child achieve an optimal body weight throughout their life.

This includes:

  • teaching your child about nutrition by discussing the importance of the foods we eat and why certain foods are only eaten sometimes

  • finding time for each day activity that focuses on having fun with movement moderately than exercising to lose weight or change your appearance

  • being attentive to how we discuss our bodies and avoiding negative comments about weight and appearance.

2. Reach for nature first

Provide your child with loads of “nature delicacies” – for instance, fresh fruit and vegetables, honey, nuts and seeds. In their natural state, these foods trigger the same pleasure response in the brain as highly processed junk and fast food, and additionally they provide the nutrition your body needs.

3. Eating a full rainbow

Offer your child a large range of foods with different colours and textures. Cook your family’s favorite dishes in alternative ways, e.g. spaghetti bolognese with lentils as a substitute to spaghetti bolognese with beef.

Being a more adventurous eater helps kid’s development palate and provides them with the nutrients their bodies need for healthy growth and development.

4. Making meals relaxing and enjoyable

Involve the whole family in meals. Improve your baby’s innate characteristics appetite regulation slowing down and eating together at the table. Slowing down your eating means there is enough time for appetite hormones to be sent to your brain and signal that you’ve got had enough.

Meals which are calm and enjoyable also help create positive associations with healthy eating and help overcome dietary problems.

5. I play day-after-day

Consider (*1*)national business guidelines to understand your child’s movement needs at every stage of its development. For most age groups, this is about 60 minutes of physical activity or vigorous play, which might be divided into several smaller series.

Schedule regular time for activities that involve movement and play, resembling lively games, sports, and family walks and bike rides.

6. Back to screen time rules

Ensure your child has a healthy exposure to screens and a very good night’s sleep by developing healthy technology habits and implementing easy rules, resembling setting screen-free zones at mealtimes and in the bedroom.

Create positive entertainment alternatives that bring the family together.

This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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Health and Wellness

Car exhaust fumes can be linked to autism, a developmental disorder increasingly diagnosed in black children

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Autism, ASD, car exhaust, autism risks, autism in Black children, theGrio.com

New research has found that exposure to automotive exhaust fumes in utero or in the early stages of a child’s development may cause autism.

According to a study published Tuesday, November 12 in the journal Brain medicineexposure to nitric oxide (NO) – produced during fuel combustion – while pregnant or in the primary months of the mother’s life may pose a “significant risk” of developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the kid.

“NO is a common air pollutant, produced mainly by vehicle emissions and the combustion of fossil and industrial fuels. Exposure to NO and its NO2 derivatives while pregnant and early childhood may disrupt normal brain development,” the study authors wrote.

The authors added that “the timing of exposure is key.”

According to the researchers, exposure to these pollutants while pregnant and early development “constitutes a significant risk of ASD because these periods are essential for brain development.”

The study also found that folks with a family history or genetic history of autism spectrum disorder may be at increased risk of developing the condition, affecting the best way individuals communicate, learn, interact and behave.

It’s not nearly automotive exhaust fumes. The study examined other air pollutants, including ozone, wonderful particles and other emissions, and located that every one of those toxins combined increased the danger of developing autism.

In particular, it listed benzene as a “volatile organic compound commonly found in vehicle exhaust, industrial processes and tobacco smoke” that, when combined with NO2, can also increase the danger of ASD.

Air pollutants may promote the event of ASD because they cause inflammation. Experiencing neuroinflammation brought on by exposure to NO over an prolonged time frame may “impact” brain activity related to social and cognitive functions which might be typically impaired by ASD.

“Exposure to air pollution during pregnancy may activate the mother’s immune system, leading to inflammation and abnormalities in fetal brain development,” the authors wrote, adding: “Elevated concentrations of inflammation-related cytokines in maternal serum in utero and early infants have been associated with their lives. with poorer neurodevelopmental outcomes.”

One sec nearly 40% of Americans live without healthy airautism disproportionately affects black and Latino children in the US. This condition can be on the rise in this country.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention1 in 36 children were diagnosed with ASD – a rise from 1 in 44 just two years earlier. Predominantly, the condition still affects boys more often than girls, although this too has been established girls are frequently diagnosed with ASD later in life.

Holly Robinson Peete was

For generations, white children seemed to have the disease at higher rates than other children, but in recent years this risk has modified as more black and brown families gain access to quality health care and earlier diagnoses .

As increasingly black families select to live with an autistic member of the family, several organizations have emerged to help spread awareness, advocate and supply support. These organizations include The color of autismthat gives families with culturally competent support and care; Autism in blackwhich offers educational and counseling services to Black parents raising autistic children; and Black Autism Support Societywhich goals to fill gaps in support for the black community.


This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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