PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Weight loss programs via virtual reality

New study reports successful weight loss maintenance using Second Life

2013-04-26
(Press-News.org) Philadelphia, PA, April 25, 2013 – Weight loss is a topic of concern for nearly 36% of Americans who are considered obese. There are many barriers that can interfere with weight loss. For those attending face-to-face weight loss programs, barriers can include travel, conflict with work and home, need for childcare, and loss of anonymity.

In a new study released in the May/June 2013 issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, investigators from The University of Kansas Medical Center continue to explore alternative weight management delivery methods to eliminate some of these barriers. The solution they are investigating -- virtual reality for weight loss and weight maintenance.

Looking at the results from twenty overweight and obese individuals after 3 months of a weight loss program at a weekly clinic delivered via face-to-face or virtual reality and then 6 months of weight maintenance delivered via virtual reality, the investigators found virtual reality compares favorably with face-to-face for weight loss and may facilitate greater weight maintenance. Debra Sullivan, lead investigator, adds, "Although we found weight loss was significantly greater for face-to-face compared to virtual reality, weight maintenance was significantly better for virtual reality."

The virtual reality weight maintenance program was conducted using Second Life, a Web-based virtual reality environment available to the public. Participants in Second Life create virtual representations of themselves, called ''avatars,'' which can interact with other avatars and navigate through the virtual world of Second Life. Voice communication is accomplished via headset, which allows for person-to-person and group interaction. Education and training takes place on an ''island,'' which is purchased from Second Life and provides restricted group access to the nutrition education/training area.

To further explain how Second Life can be used in this capacity, Dr. Sullivan explains, "Individuals who want to participate in real-life scenarios without real-life repercussions can use virtual reality. For example, participants can practice meal planning, grocery shopping, and dietary control when eating at restaurants and holiday parties to a much greater extent with Second Life compared with the time-limited clinic meeting. Virtual reality may even be able to serve as a more feasible option to monitor individuals after completing a weight loss program."

### END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Competing pathways affect early differentiation of higher brain structures

2013-04-26
Sand-dwelling and rock-dwelling cichlids living in East Africa's Lake Malawi share a nearly identical genome, but have very different personalities. The territorial rock-dwellers live in communities where social interactions are important, while the sand-dwellers are itinerant and less aggressive. Those behavioral differences likely arise from a complex region of the brain known as the telencephalon, which governs communication, emotion, movement and memory in vertebrates – including humans, where a major portion of the telencephalon is known as the cerebral cortex. ...

ESC guide on new oral anticoagulant drugs

2013-04-26
Sophia Antipolis, 26 April 2013. A practical guide on the use of the new oral anticoagulants (NOACs) has been produced by the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). A guide was needed to summarise existing information on different drugs, to answer clinical questions that fall outside what drug companies can legally answer, and to make distinctions between the different drugs. ESC guidelines on atrial fibrillation recommend the NOACs as preferable to vitamin K antagonists for stroke prevention in patients with non-valvular ...

Cardio could hold key to cancer cure

2013-04-26
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Friday 26 April 2013: Regular exercise has been proven to reduce the chance of developing liver cancer in a world-first mice study that carries hope for patients at risk from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The research announced at the International Liver Congress™ 2013 involved two groups of mice fed a control diet and a high fat diet then divided into separate exercise and sedentary groups. The exercise groups ran on a motorised treadmill for 60 minutes per day, five days a week. After 32 weeks of regular exercise, 71% of mice on the ...

New 10-year risk predictors identified for liver related

2013-04-26
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Friday 26 April 2013: A study presented today at the International Liver CongressTM 2013 – which evaluated the relationship between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), early predictors of atherosclerosis and the 10-year Framingham risk score (FRS) – showed that NAFLD increases the risk of early atherosclerotic lesions independent of established cardiovascular (CV) risk factors. NAFLD is one of the most common causes of chronic liver disease. Patients with NAFLD have an excess prevalence of CV events and typically have an increase frequency ...

Developments in TACE and SIRT treatment in patients

2013-04-26
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Friday 26 April 2013: Data from a number of clinical trials presented today at the International Liver Congress™ 2013 shed new light on the use of TACE and SIRT in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is a technique in which small particles designed to block blood vessels mixed or coated with chemotherapeutic drugs are injected directly into an artery supplying the tumour; it has become a standard treatment in selected patients with HCC. New data presented today has identified a scoring system ...

Learning disabilities affect up to 10 percent of children and co-occur at higher than expected rates

2013-04-26
Up to 10 per cent of the population is affected by specific learning disabilities (SLDs), such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and autism, translating to two or three pupils in every classroom, a new study has found. Led by Professor Brian Butterworth, a Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne's School of Psychological Sciences and Emeritus Professor of cognitive neuropsychology at University College London, the study gives insight into the underlying causes of specific learning disabilities and how to tailor individual teaching and learning for individuals and education ...

Movement of pyrrole molecules defy 'classical' physics

2013-04-26
New research shows that movement of the ring-like molecule pyrrole over a metal surface runs counter to the centuries-old laws of 'classical' physics that govern our everyday world. Using uniquely sensitive experimental techniques, scientists have found that laws of quantum physics - believed primarily to influence at only sub-atomic levels – can actually impact on a molecular level. Researchers at Cambridge's Chemistry Department and Cavendish Laboratory say they have evidence that, in the case of pyrrole, quantum laws affecting the internal motions of the molecule ...

Fish win fights on strength of personality

2013-04-26
When predicting the outcome of a fight, the big guy doesn't always win suggests new research on fish. Scientists at the University of Exeter and Texas A&M University found that when fish fight over food, it is personality, rather than size, that determines whether they will be victorious. The findings suggest that when resources are in short supply personality traits such as aggression could be more important than strength when it comes to survival. The study, published in the journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, found that small fish were able to do well in contests ...

Forthcoming study explores use of intermittent fasting in diabetes as cardiovascular disease

2013-04-26
Los Angeles, CA (April 26, 2013) – Intermittent fasting is all the rage, but scientific evidence showing how such regimes affect human health is not always clear cut. Now a scientific review in the British Journal of Diabetes and Vascular Disease published by SAGE, suggests that fasting diets may help those with diabetes and cardiovascular disease, alongside established weight loss claims. Intermittent fasting –fasting on a given number of consecutive or alternate days – has recently been hailed as a path to weight loss and improved cardiovascular risk. A team led by ...

Flu and bacteria: Better prognosis for this potentially fatal combination

2013-04-26
This press release is available in German. The flu is caused by an infection with the influenza virus, which mainly attacks the upper respiratory tract – the nose, throat and bronchi and rarely also the lungs. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around five to 15 percent of the population are affected by upper respiratory tract infections during seasonal flu outbreaks, and between 250 000-500 000 people die of the illness every year. However, a main cause of death in people having the flu is actually a secondary infection with bacteria. Influenza increases ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Symptoms of long-COVID can last up to two years after infection with COVID-19

Violence is forcing women in Northern Ireland into homelessness, finds new report

Latin American intensivists denounce economic and cultural inequities in the global scientific publishing system

Older adults might be more resistant to bird flu infections than children, Penn research finds

Dramatic increase in research funding needed to counter productivity slowdown in farming

How chemistry and force etch mysterious spiral patterns on solid surfaces

Unraveling the mysteries of polycystic kidney disease

Mother’s high-fat diet can cause liver stress in fetus, study shows

Weighing in on a Mars water debate

Researchers ‘seq’ and find a way to make pig retinal cells to advance eye treatments

Re-purposed FDA-approved drug could help treat high-grade glioma

Understanding gamma rays in our universe through StarBurst

Study highlights noninvasive hearing aid 

NASA taps UTA to shape future of autonomous aviation

Mutations disrupt touch-based learning, study finds

Misha lived in zoos, but the elephant’s tooth enamel helps reconstruct wildlife migrations

Eat better, breathe easier? Research points to link between diet, lung cancer

Mesozoic mammals had uniform dark fur

Wartime destruction of Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine has long-term environmental consequences

NIH’s flat 15% funding policy is misguided and damaging

AI reveals new insights into the flow of Antarctic ice

Scientists solve decades-long Parkinson’s mystery

Spinning, twisted light could power next-generation electronics

A planetary boundary for geological resources: Limits of regional water availability

Astronomy’s dirty window to space

New study reveals young, active patients who have total knee replacements are unlikely to need revision surgery in their lifetime

Thinking outside the box: Uncovering a novel approach to brainwave monitoring

Combination immunotherapy before surgery may increase survival in people with head and neck cancer

MIT engineers turn skin cells directly into neurons for cell therapy

High sugar-sweetened beverage intake and oral cavity cancer in smoking and nonsmoking women

[Press-News.org] Weight loss programs via virtual reality
New study reports successful weight loss maintenance using Second Life