• THIS STUDY randomly assigned 69 youths, 10 to 17 years old, who had been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome to undergo 10 talk-therapy sessions over five months or to be placed on a waiting list for the therapy. Therapy included challenging the youths' beliefs about the disorder as well as gradually increasing their activity level. About 60 percent of the therapy recipients reported feeling less-severe fatigue, compared with 21 percent of those on the waiting list. Sixty-three percent of those in the therapy group showed improvement in physical functioning, compared with 24 percent of the others.
• WHO MAY BE AFFECTED BY THESE FINDINGS? Young people with chronic fatigue syndrome. An estimated half-million Americans have this disorder; how many of them are younger than 18 is not known.
_____The Heart_____
•
Asking Your ASC (The Washington Post, Dec 21, 2004)
•
Aleve Ingredient Joins Painkillers Linked to Risks (The Washington Post, Dec 21, 2004)
•
Head of Cleveland Clinic Is Attacking Big Mac (The Washington Post, Dec 15, 2004)
•
Merck Looks Ahead Despite Vioxx Suits (The Washington Post, Dec 15, 2004)
•
A Weekly Shot of News and Notes (The Washington Post, Dec 14, 2004)
•
More Heart News
|
| |
|
• CAVEATS Results of the study are based on self-reporting by the participants. The number of participants was relatively small.
• BOTTOM LINE Parents of a child with this disorder may want to talk with a therapist about cognitive behavior therapy.
• FIND THIS STUDY Dec. 14 online issue of the British Medical Journal; article available by clicking "Online First" at www.bmj.com.
• LEARN MORE ABOUT chronic fatigue syndrome at www.kidshealth.org and www.mayoclinic.com.
MYOPIA
Hard contacts may be better than soft for young people.
• THE QUESTION More and more children are abandoning their glasses for contact lenses. What effect might different types of lenses have on nearsightedness, or myopia, which typically develops in adolescence?
• THIS STUDY randomly assigned 116 children, averaging 11 years old, to wear either rigid, gas-permeable contact lenses or soft contacts for three years. Based on annual eye examinations, myopia progressed 29 percent more slowly in children who wore hard contacts than in those who wore soft lenses. The eye became more oval-shaped -- one of the causes of nearsightedness -- among the soft lens wearers than among the others.
• WHO MAY BE AFFECTED BY THESE FINDINGS? Children with myopia, which generally develops between ages 8 and 14.
• CAVEATS The study did not determine how many hours a day rigid lenses should be worn to slow myopia. Most of the benefit came during the first year, which suggests that the effect may not be permanent. Contact lens manufacturers Menicon, CIBA Vision and SOLA Optical helped fund the study.
• BOTTOM LINE Parents of children considering contacts may want to talk with an eye doctor about the benefits of gas-permeable rigid lenses.
• FIND THIS STUDY December issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology; abstract available online at www.archophthalmol.com.
• LEARN MORE ABOUT contact lenses and myopia at www.mayoclinic.comand www.aoa.org.
-- Linda Searing
