Consumers assume their risk of getting a serious illness is higher when medications are cheaper because they believe that prices for life-saving products are based on need and not profit, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. "When consumers see lower prices for a life-saving product, they infer a higher need and thereby a greater risk that they can contract the disease. On the other hand, higher prices signal that a drug or treatment is inaccessible and thus the risk of getting a disease must not be all that great," write authors Adriana Samper ...

Participating in online social networks can have a detrimental effect on consumer well-being by lowering self-control among certain users, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. "Using online social networks can have a positive effect on self-esteem and well-being. However, these increased feelings of self-worth can have a detrimental effect on behavior. Because consumers care about the image they present to close friends, social network use enhances self-esteem in users who are focused on close friends while browsing their social network. This ...

Caregivers view elderly consumers as "old" when they can no longer perform everyday consumption activities on their own regardless of their actual age, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. "Consumption activities such as shopping, preparing meals, doing housework, going to the doctor, taking medications, and managing money serve as a means of identifying someone as old and a venue for working through conflicts that arise when older consumers who do not identify as old are treated as an 'old person' by family members and service providers," write ...

A review in the December issue of the journal Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine by Paul Bunn Jr, MD, University of Colorado Cancer Center investigator and past president of ASCO, IASLC and AACI describes the current state of lung cancer care. "We're in a new paradigm in which we realize this top cause of cancer deaths is actually a number of related diseases, each potentially with its own cause and cure," Bunn says. The review describes the shift from blanketing lung cancer with radiation and chemotherapy, to targeting the specific genetic mutations that cause ...

Troy, N.Y. – A new study from engineering researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute shows, for the first time, how the little-understood protein osteocalcin plays a significant role in the strength of our bones. The findings could lead to new strategies and therapeutics for fighting osteoporosis and lowering the risk of bone fracture. Funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the study details how fractures in healthy bones begin with the creation of incredibly tiny holes, each measuring only about 500 atoms in diameter, within the bone's mineral structure. ...

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. (12-11-12)—Students from East Asian countries, in addition to a select group of European countries, outperformed students around the world in mathematics, science and reading at both the fourth and eighth grades, according to results released Dec. 11 by Lynch School of Education Professors Ina V.S. Mullis and Michael O. Martin, executive directors of the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center. The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is the first global assessment of mathematics and science to provide data about trends over ...

Consumers seek to punish fellow consumers who violate social norms while shopping but also make exceptions depending on the situation, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. "Punishment is a complex decision for consumers to make as it is difficult to punish someone but also difficult to look the other way. Consumers do not seem to make these decisions lightly, and a number of interesting factors influence consumer punishment decisions," write authors Lily Lin, Darren W. Dahl (both University of British Columbia), and Jennifer J. Argo (University ...

In order to avoid the stigma and loss of status posed by their lifestyle choice, stay-at-home fathers are mobilizing to build greater legitimacy for their marginalized gender identity, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. "Stay-at-home fathers aggressively pursue recognition by and acceptance from mainstream institutions, with a particular emphasis on the mass market and iconic household and family-oriented brands. Accordingly, they vigilantly watch for mass media representations and advertisements that positively acknowledge their collective ...

Consumers are more likely to make emotional instead of objective assessments when the outcomes are closer to the present time than when they are further away in the future, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. "The proximity of a decision's outcome increases consumer reliance on feelings when making decisions. Feelings are relied upon more when the outcome is closer in time because these feelings appear to be more informative in such situations," write authors Hannah H. Chang (Singapore Management University) and Michel Tuan Pham (Columbia University). From ...

Consumers are more likely to purchase a product if they have previously focused their attention on it but are less likely to purchase a product they have previously ignored, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. "It's generally assumed that consumers will choose products that provide the greatest value. But prior consideration of a product makes it easier to process the product when it's encountered later and this influences whether or not consumers like the product, regardless of the benefits it provides. The act of attending to a product increases ...

CHICAGO --- Using a mobile app that tracks eating and activity helped people lose an average of 15 pounds and keep it off for at least a year, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study. But the technology only aided weight loss when its users also attended regular classes about nutrition and exercise. The app alone didn't help. "The app is important because it helps people regulate their behavior, which is really hard to do," said Bonnie Spring, lead investigator of the study and a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School ...

CHICAGO – Overeating and binge eating may be associated with initiating use of marijuana and other drugs in a study of adolescents and young adults, according to a study published Online First by Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. Binge eating is defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition) as eating an amount of food that is larger than most people would eat in a similar period under similar circumstances and feeling a lack of control over eating during the episode, according to the study ...

CHICAGO – The odds of individuals with open-angle glaucoma undergoing visual field testing decreased for all racial/ethnic groups from 2001 through 2009, but the odds decreased the most for Hispanic men and women in a study of enrollees in a large U.S. managed care network, according to a report published in the December issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, a JAMA Network publication. Open-angle glaucoma (OAG) affects more than 3 million individuals in the United States and is a major cause of visual impairment. Studies have found the condition is more prevalent in racial ...

CHICAGO – Use of a personal digital assistant (PDA) and telephone coaching appears to enhance short-term weight loss when used in conjunction with an existing physician-directed weight loss treatment program, according to a report posted Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. "Little is known about whether the outcome of physician-directed weight loss treatment can be improved by adding mobile technology," the authors write as background. However, "self-monitoring of diet and physical activity is associated with weight loss success ...

CHICAGO – Vision insurance for working-age adults appears to be associated with having eye care visits and reporting better vision, compared with individuals without insurance, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Ophthalmology, a JAMA Network publication. Millions of Americans experience vision loss or impairment due to age-related eye diseases, including glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) and cataracts. Periodic checkups are recommended for timely detection of eye conditions to prevent irreversible vision loss. Having vision insurance ...

CHICAGO – Two adapted diabetes lifestyle interventions resulted in weight loss, as well as improvements in waist circumference and fasting plasma glucose level, for overweight or obese adults compared with usual care over a 15-month period, according to a report of a randomized trial published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. An estimated 69 percent of U.S. adults are overweight or obese and lifestyle modifications that focus on modest weight loss (5 percent to 10 percent) and moderate-intensity physical activity are associated ...

Point-of-care ultrasound is more accurate than the traditional method of auscultation by stethoscope in diagnosing pneumonia in children and young adults, and can even detect small pneumonias that a chest x-ray may miss, a Mount Sinai researcher reports in an article titled, "Prospective Evaluation of Point-of-Care Ultrasonography for the Diagnosis of Pneumonia in Children and Young Adults" in the online edition of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine published December 10, 2012. These findings have important public health implications, especially in the developing ...

The prevalence of tobacco smuggling in Europe is lower than industry figures suggest, reveals the largest study of its kind, published online in Tobacco Control. Significantly, it is availability, rather than price, that seems to determine the level of illicit trade, the research suggests a finding that runs directly counter to the arguments proffered by the tobacco industry say the authors.They base their findings on a representative population sample of 1000 people from each of 18 European countries: Albania; Austria; Bulgaria; Czech Republic; Croatia; England; Finland; ...

Feeling lonely, as distinct from being/living alone, is linked to an increased risk of developing dementia in later life, indicates research published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. Various factors are known to be linked to the development of Alzheimer's disease, including older age, underlying medical conditions, genes, impaired cognition, and depression, say the authors. But the potential impacts of loneliness and social isolation—defined as living alone, not having a partner/spouse, and having few friends and social interactions — ...

STANFORD, Calif. — Efforts to help overweight patients avoid diabetes through lifestyle changes need not rely on intensive, one-on-one focused programs, a new clinical study from the Stanford University School of Medicine and the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute has found. The study, to be published Dec. 10 in the Archives of Internal Medicine, opens up a practical way for primary care physicians to help their patients at high risk for developing diabetes. Researchers have known for 10 years that intensive intervention programs led by lifestyle coaches ...

Patients with terminal cancer who viewed a three-minute video demonstrating cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) were less likely to indicate a preference for receiving CPR in the event of an in-hospital cardiac arrest than were patients who only listened to a verbal description of the procedure. The study that will appear in the Journal of Clinical Oncology and is being released online today is a follow-up to a smaller, 2009 study and includes a more diverse group of patients with many forms of cancer. "It really is incumbent on us, as physicians, to help our patients ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Anyone unfortunate enough to encounter a porcupine's quills knows that once they go in, they are extremely difficult to remove. Researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women's Hospital now hope to exploit the porcupine quill's unique properties to develop new types of adhesives, needles and other medical devices. In a new study, the researchers characterized, for the first time, the forces needed for quills to enter and exit the skin. They also created artificial devices with the same mechanical features as the quills, raising the possibility of designing ...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida have uncovered a toxic cellular process by which a protein that maintains the health of neurons becomes deficient and can lead to dementia. The findings shed new light on the link between culprits implicated in two devastating neurological diseases: END ...

ATLANTA – December 10, 2012—A new American Cancer Society study finds a strong inverse association between caffeinated coffee intake and oral/pharyngeal cancer mortality. The authors say people who drank more than four cups of caffeinated coffee per day were at about half the risk of death of these often fatal cancers compared to those who only occasionally or who never drank coffee. The study is published online in the American Journal of Epidemiology. The authors say more research is needed to elucidate the biologic mechanisms that could be at work. Previous epidemiologic ...

Afraid to commit to a relationship? According to new research from Tel Aviv University, it could be just one more thing to blame on your parents. A study of the romantic history of 58 adults aged 22-28 found that those who avoid committed romantic relationships are likely a product of unresponsive or over-intrusive parenting, says Dr. Sharon Dekel, a psychologist and researcher at the Bob Shappell School of Social Work. Dr. Dekel and her fellow researcher, Prof. Barry Farber of Columbia University, found that 22.4 percent of study participants could be categorized ...