- Newfound Link Between Alzheimer’s and Iron Could Lead to New Medical Interventions Neuroscience News
- Activating Adult-Born Neurons: A Promising Approach for Alzheimer’s Treatment SciTechDaily
- Neuroscientists identify cells especially vulnerable to Alzheimer’s | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT News
- Neurons Vulnerable to Alzheimer’s Identified Neuroscience News
- Lateral mammillary body neurons in mouse brain are disproportionately vulnerable in Alzheimer’s disease Science
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Tag Archives: interventions
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey Announces Emergency Regulation on Gender Transition Interventions for Minors – Missouri Attorney General’s Office
- Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey Announces Emergency Regulation on Gender Transition Interventions for Minors Missouri Attorney General’s Office
- Missouri AG announces rule aimed as ending transgender care for minors St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- Missouri attorney general issues rules to restrict gender-affirming care for transgender kids St. Louis Public Radio
- Missouri Attorney General Bailey issues emergency regulation against gender transition interventi… KMOV St. Louis
- Missouri attorney general announces rule aimed at ending transgender care for minors St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Rouble heads away from 50 vs dollar as authorities flag interventions
A picture illustration shows Russian rouble banknotes of various denominations on a table in Warsaw, Poland, January 22, 2016. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
MOSCOW, June 29 (Reuters) – The rouble pared gains in volatile trade on Wednesday as Russia’s finance minister flagged possible interventions to ease upside pressure on the currency after it neared 50 against the dollar for the first time since May 2015.
The rouble has become the world’s best-performing currency this year, boosted by measures – including restrictions on Russian households withdrawing foreign currency savings – taken to shield Russia’s financial system from Western sanctions imposed after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24.
The strong rouble raised concerns among officials and export-focused companies as it dents Russia’s income from selling commodities and other goods abroad for dollars and euros.
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
Many Russian companies, primarily non oil-and-gas exporters, are already suffering financially, said Evgeny Suvorov, an economist at CentroCreditBank.
Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Russia could cut state spending and channel funds for foreign currency interventions to keep a lid on the rouble’s strengthening which threatens budget revenue. read more
The rouble pared gains after the comment and was 0.4% weaker on the day at 52.00 to the greenback at 1154 GMT after hitting 50.01.
Proceeds from commodity exports, a sharp drop in imports, and month-end tax payments in roubles by export-oriented Russian firms are further factors behind the currency’s gains.
“The rouble (is) set to retreat over the coming days… With the month’s main tax payments now in the rearview mirror, hard currency purchasers may begin to step in,” Sberbank CIB said in a note.
The rouble is up nearly 44% year-to-date on the Moscow Exchange but remains much weaker at banks. VTB (VTBR.MM), Russia’s No.2 bank, offered to sell cash dollars and euros at 63.45 and 67.85, respectively.
Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov said this month that industry would be more comfortable if it fell between 70 to 80 against the dollar.
Against the euro, the rouble was 0.6% stronger at 54.20, having earlier climbed beyond 53 for the first time since April 2015 .
Capital controls have enabled the currency to shrug off what the White House and Moody’s credit agency said on Monday was the first default by Russia in more than a century on its international bonds. read more
The Kremlin, which has hard currency from oil and gas revenue to make the scheduled payments on the debt, has rejected the designation, calling it artificial and engineered by Western sanctions.
Just before Russia embarked on what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, the rouble traded near 80 to the dollar and 90 against the euro. At that time it traded in free-float mode and, unsupported by capital controls, got hammered due to fears of sanctions.
On the stock market, the dollar-denominated RTS index (.IRTS) fell 1.1% to 1,449.1 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index (.IMOEX) was 1% lower at 2,384.5 points.
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
Reporting by Reuters; editing by John Stonestreet, Angus MacSwan and Emelia Sithole-Matarise
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Music Is Just as Powerful at Improving Mental Health as Exercise, Review Suggests
The next time you’re not able to get out to the gym, maybe spin some records instead: new research suggests the positive impact on mental health from singing, playing, or listening to music is around the same impact experienced with exercise or weight loss.
That’s based on a meta-analysis covering 26 previous studies and a total of 779 people. The earlier research covered everything from using gospel music as a preventative measure against heart disease to how joining a choir can help people recovering from cancer.
A growing number of studies are finding links between music and wellbeing. However, the level of the potential boost and exactly why it works are areas that scientists are still looking into – and that’s where this particular piece of research can be helpful.
“Increasing evidence supports the ability of music to broadly promote wellbeing and health-related quality of life (HRQOL),” write the researchers in their published paper.
“However, the magnitude of music’s positive association with HRQOL is still unclear, particularly relative to established interventions, limiting inclusion of music interventions in health policy and care.”
All of the 26 studies included in the new research used the widely adopted and well regarded 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36) on physical and mental health, or the shorter alternative with 12 questions (SF-12), making it easier to collate and synthesize the data.
The results of the studies were then compared against other research looking at the benefits of “non-pharmaceutical and medical interventions (e.g., exercise, weight loss)” on wellbeing and against research where medical treatments for health issues didn’t include a music therapy component.
According to the study authors, the mental health boost from music is “within the range, albeit on the low end” of the same sort of impact seen in people who commit to physical exercise or weight loss programs.
“This meta-analysis of 26 studies of music interventions provided clear and quantitative moderate-quality evidence that music interventions are associated with clinically significant changes in mental HRQOL,” write the researchers.
“Additionally, a subset of 8 studies demonstrated that adding music interventions to usual treatment was associated with clinically significant changes to mental HRQOL in a range of conditions.”
At the same time, the researchers point out that there was substantial variation between individuals in the studies regarding how well the various musical interventions worked – even if the overall picture was a positive one. This isn’t necessarily something that’s going to work for everyone.
The researchers hope that studies such as this one will encourage health professionals to prescribe some kind of music therapy more often when it comes to helping patients recover from illness or maintain good mental health.
For many of us, listening to music or singing are pleasurable activities and perhaps wouldn’t feel as challenging as getting out for exercise or sticking to a diet – further reasons why they could be helpful as forms of therapy.
“Future research is needed to clarify optimal music interventions and doses for use in specific clinical and public health scenarios,” write the researchers.
The research has been published in JAMA Network Open.
Alcohol consumption can be reduced through brief medical interventions: study
Short one-on-one discussions about alcohol consumption in a doctor’s office may reduce patients’ drinking levels, according to a study.
Findings published in the Addiction journal indicated that brief interventions, described as conversations lasting under an hour and targeted to motivate changes in a patient’s risky drinking behavior, resulted in a reduction of one drinking day per month.
“A reduction of one drinking day per month may not sound like much, but small individual reductions can add up to a substantial reduction in population level harms,” Emily Tanner-Smith, lead author and associate professor at the University of Oregon, said in a news release posted to EurekAlert on Thursday.
AMERICANS DRANK MORE TO RELIEVE STRESS AMID PANDEMIC, ESPECIALLY WOMEN
Study authors noted that the findings were inconclusive for brief interventions delivered in emergency department and trauma centers, but did take effect when conducted in general medical settings, like a primary care clinic.
“Brief interventions have been shown to help with lots of health issues,” Dr. D.J. Moran, director of psychological services at Long Island University (LIU) Post in New York, and who was not involved in the study, told Fox News. “Alcohol abuse can be influenced in primary care settings if the general practitioner takes the time to do this kind of intervention.”
Short one-on-one discussions about alcohol consumption in a doctor’s office may reduce patients’ drinking levels, according to a new study.
According to the study, general medical settings may be ideal because they present significant opportunity to screen for alcohol and drug use across non-treatment seeking patients of varying ages receiving services at the clinic for a wide array of other medical conditions.
The study involved a systematic review and meta-analysis of data from 116 trials and 64,439 total participants. It investigated the efficacy of brief interventions for alcohol and other drug use delivered in various types of medical settings.
According to the authors, the process behind the brief interventions involves screening patients to identify unhealthy use, followed by a discussion targeted to the identified level of substance abuse before a referral for treatment or other substance-related services.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE
“If effective, these interventions offer a potentially cost-efficient method for addressing unhealthy substance use, particularly among non-treatment-seeking patients,” study authors wrote.
The report did note however, there was limited evidence regarding the effects of drug-targeted brief interventions on drug use.
“Given their brevity, low cost, and minimal clinician effort, brief interventions may be a promising way to reduce alcohol use, one patient at a time,” Tanner-Smith wrote in the release.