http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (HealthDay)—The overall health of Americans isn't improving much, with about six in 10 people either overweight or obese and large numbers engaging in unhealthy behaviors like smoking, heavy drinking or not exercising, a new government report shows. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-americans-unhealthy-choices-cdc.html Health Tue, 21 May 2013 15:50:02 EST news288368949 Poor mental health leads to unhealthy behaviors in low-income adults – not the other way around, according to a new study¹ by Dr. Jennifer Walsh and colleagues from the Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine at The Miriam Hospital in the US. In this study, stress and anxiety predicted subsequent health-compromising behaviors, such as smoking, binge drinking, illegal drug use, unprotected sex and unhealthy diets. One possible explanation for these findings is that health compromising behaviors may be used as coping mechanisms to manage the effects of stress and anxiety. The study is published online in the Springer journal, Translational Behavioral Medicine², and is part of an issue focusing on multiple health behavior change. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-poor-mental-health-unhealthy-behaviors.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 04 Feb 2013 01:00:01 EST news279118526 When it comes to losing weight, a popular New Year's resolution for many, people often focus on eating less and exercising more. But results of a new survey of psychologists suggest dieters should pay attention to the role emotions play in weight gain and loss if they hope to succeed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-poll-psychologists-cites-emotions-obstacle.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 09 Jan 2013 09:38:37 EST news276946693 Unhealthy behaviors like being overweight, smoking and heavy drinking explain almost half of the social inequalities in type 2 diabetes, finds a study published in the British Medical Journal today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-lifestyle-disadvantaged-groups-key-tackling.html Diabetes Tue, 21 Aug 2012 18:30:01 EST news264782916 (Medical Xpress) -- Many people, whether they know it or not, are philosophical dualists. That is, they believe that the brain and the mind are two separate entities. Despite the fact dualist beliefs are found in virtually all human cultures, surprisingly little is known about the impact of these beliefs on how we think and behave in everyday life. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-mind-body-dualist-beliefs-linked.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 25 Jul 2012 05:37:53 EST news262413456 Simply ejecting your rear from the couch means your hand will spend less time digging into a bag of chocolate chip cookies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-couch-equals-cookies-simple-health.html Health Mon, 28 May 2012 16:00:17 EST news257416458 Financial incentives work for doctors. Could they work for patients, too? Could they encourage them to change unhealthy behaviors and use preventive health services more? In some cases, yes, according to Dr. Marita Lynagh from the University of Newcastle in Australia, and colleagues. Their work, looking at why financial incentives for patients could be a good thing to change risky health behaviors, indicates that incentives are likely to be particularly effective at altering 'simple' behaviors e.g. take-up of immunizations, primarily among socially disadvantaged groups. Their article is published online in Springer's International Journal of Behavioral Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-healthier-financial-incentives-patients-health.html Health Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:08:25 EST news241099697 Previous studies have found that health outcomes improve during an economic downturn. Job loss means less money available for potentially unhealthy behaviors such as excessive drinking, according to existing literature on employment and alcohol consumption. A new study by health economist Michael T. French from the University of Miami and his collaborators has concluded just the opposite--heavy drinking and alcohol abuse/dependence significantly increase as macroeconomic conditions deteriorate. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-economy-alcohol-consumption.html Health Thu, 13 Oct 2011 09:58:39 EST news237718521 Stroke has generally been considered a disease of the elderly, but the incidence of stroke in children and teens has increased in recent years. The American Heart Association Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics 2011 Data indicate that the unhealthy behaviors that are the risk factors for stroke begin with school-aged children. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-teenage-trend.html Health Thu, 25 Aug 2011 10:08:50 EST news233485715 Teenagers are known for their angst-ridden ways, but those who remain happy and positive during the tumultuous teenage years report better general health when they are adults, according to a new Northwestern University study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-positive-teens-healthier-adults.html Health Tue, 19 Jul 2011 03:00:06 EST news230262799 just as long as they are doing something. That's one of the findings summarized in a new review article published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-rewards.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 29 Apr 2011 13:07:17 EST news223301212