FIDGETING

I'M FINDING SMALL THINGS OF INTEREST, SO I'M PASSING THEM ALONG. "Fidgeting" helps minimize adverse effects of sitting too long APASep 25, 2015 Individuals who sit long but fidget have a similar mortality risk to those who are physically more active. People who fidget when sitting may be considered somewhat impolite, but they are behaving in a way that's beneficial for their health: A British study published in the "American Journal of Preventive Medicine" suggests that the movements involved in fidgeting may counteract the adverse health impacts of sitting for long periods. Researchers at the University of Leeds analyzed data of 14,000 women aged 35 to 69; the surveyed data included questions on health behaviors, chronic disease, physical activity levels and fidgeting. The data showed that an increased risk of mortality from sitting for long periods was only found in those women who consider themselves very occasional fidgeters. No increased risk of mortality, on the other hand, was found from longer sitting times, compared to more active women, in those who considered themselves moderately or very fidgety. "While further research is needed, the findings raise questions about whether the negative associations with fidgeting, such as rudeness or lack of concentration, should persist if such simple movements are beneficial for our health," said study co-lead author Professor Janet Cade.

State of Mind Just published

Newest in the Brier Hospital Series. Will send link soon. Dr. Kimberly Powell, a Ph.D. in neuropsychology, works in a research lab trying to understand the roots of violence by stimulating the brains of aggressive rats to reduce their savagery. Her successes lead to phase I safety trials in volunteers and prisoners, and then to phase II and III studies in patients. Soon it becomes clear that Kim’s brain stimulating techniques, besides controlling aggression, offer the potential to cure a number of medical problems including Parkinson’s disease, depression, PTSD, and many others. When the court instructs her to treat a psychopathic killer, she’s appalled. What would such a killer, if cured, still owe to his victims and to society? The ethical implications of the research and especially its application on humans are substantial, but so, too, is her altruistic desire to help. Where is the balance and how far and how fast should these trials proceed—and, at what cost?