Welcome to the Center for Health Innovation’s Weekly Health Roundup, where we’ll take a look at what’s making news in the world of health.
Autism appeared on the international agenda this week when the United Nations 67th General Assembly heard a resolution that “calls for greater participation of the U.N. in recognizing autism as a public health crisis and encourages Member States to tackle developmental disorders at the local, national and international levels.” World leaders also attended Autism Speaks Fifth Annual World Focus On Autism, and further emphasized the importance of raising awareness.
Meanwhile, collection sites across the United States are getting ready for Saturday’s National Take Back Drugs Day, which helps in the safe disposal of expired prescription drugs. The improper disposal of expired or unused medications can pose health risks to children and pets.Adelphi will have a collection site open on Saturday, September 29, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm in the Ruth S. Harley University Center Lobby, and has an early drop off box available today, in the Public Safety Office, Levermore Hall, lower level.
If you are catching up on the latest fall TV premieres, you may be interested to know that a new study in the Journal of Communication finds that “social bullying is common on TV, even in shows made for kids.” Researcher Nicole Martins, PhD, used Nielsen Media Research data to determine the 50 most popular shows for viewers aged 12 and younger, and watched 3 episodes of each show. Dr. Martins found that “a total of 92% of the viewed episodes included incidents of social aggression, with verbal aggression accounting for about four out of five of these incidents.” She identified this as an opportunity for parents to talk about social bullying with their children.
And finally, we all know it’s rude to “eat and run,” but this week, researchers at the University of Copenhagen discovered that there may be benefits to people who “learn and run.” They asked a group of healthy males to repeatedly complete a complicated motor skill task on a computer, with some of the men exercising before they began, others after they had tried the task several times, and others still not at all; all participants came back a week later to repeat the task. Researchers found that the group who had exercised after learning the task “were noticeably better at remembering the task…which suggests…that physical exercise may help the brain to consolidate and store physical or motor memories.”
See you for next week’s Roundup!
