Sound Medicine -- April 26, 2003

Hosts Diane Willis and Dr. Steve Bogdewic talk to physicians and researchers about:

Heart health and stress management

Teen bullies

Heart health and stress management

We're a nation obsessed with dieting, yet the average person doesn't stick to a diet. We spend millions to join health clubs, but we're too busy to work out. But 100 million Americans suffer from cardiovascular disease and seriously need to eat less and exercise more. In the book Take A Load Off Your Heart, Joe Piscatella and Barry Franklin explain how managing daily stress is key to starting and sticking with a diet and exercise program. Joe Piscatella has lived with coronary heart disease for 25 years and is a respected author, lecturer and president of the Institute for Fitness and Health in Gig Harbor, Washington.

A certain amount of stress is unavoidable, says Piscatella. But chronic stress -- specifically, the constant release of stress hormones -- actually raises cholesterol level and blood pressure, both bad for cardiac health. He details medical findings relating stress and coronary disease. Plus, he says, it is difficult to maintain good eating and exercise habits when we're too busy, tired, and stressed. So, Piscatella proposes stress management techniques to improve cardiac health. He suggests any number of activities, such as deep breathing, massage, warm baths, stretching, yoga, tai chi, even keeping a journal.

Piscatella also talks about type A behavior and stress and the differences between men and women in handling stress. Depressed and angry individuals are among those at risk for heart attack, he says. Piscatella also explains why European cultures manage stress better.

Resources:

The American Heart Association Web site lists sobering statistics and risk factors for coronary disease and heart attack. Take the quiz to see if you're at risk for heart attack or stroke. Then get pointers for making exercise a way of life.

Read more about Joe Piscatella.

Teenage bullies

Most of us have encountered a bully at some point in our lives, an aggressive individual who habitually harasses others, either physically or verbally. Children on the receiving end of a bully can become depressed, stressed, and withdrawn; they may feel angry or embarrassed. For advice on dealing with bullies, we talk with Dr. D'Arcy Lyness, PhD, a child and adolescent psychologist. She is the behavioral editor of KidsHealth, an online resource for children and teens.

Dr. Lyness describes a range of bullying behavior, from teasing to physical threats, that can begin as early as elementary school. To deal with bullies, she recommends teaching kids to stand up for themselves, ignore bullies, stick with friends, practice self-control, and to laugh off a bully's remarks with comments like "Yeah, I am kind of a dork." She explains why kids become bullies and how girl bullies differ from boys. Dr. Lyness recommends parents assess the safety of their child but warns them not to overreact and make the situation worse for their child at school.

Resources:

The KidsHealth and TeensHealth Web sites provide down-to-earth answers to sticky questions that face kids -- like how to deal with bullies.

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Just as the Adam's Apple on the throat has nothing to do with the Biblical Adam or with an apple, the funny bone has nothing to do with fun and isn't even a bone. A funny bone actually is a spot on the elbow that is painful when hit. So why do we call it the funny bone?

Find out!

For both bullies and their victims, a pattern of violent behavior often emerges and is likely to carry into adulthood, according to a study released earlier this month by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Researchers surveyed 15,686 students in grades 6 through 10 in public and private schools throughout the United States. The survey defined bullying as "when another student, or group of students, say or do nasty and unpleasant things" to another student and "when a student is teased repeatedly in a way he or she doesn't like."

The survey found that boys were more likely to be involved in bullying incidents than girls. In addition, the survey found that bullies and their victims were more likely to carry weapons, and bullying away from school, where there is no adult supervision, has even greater implications.

The study found that:

Researchers wrote, "Findings from this study suggest that programs designed to reduce violent behaviors should address less severe forms of aggressive behavior, particularly bullying. Bullying, as a behavior that is inflicted with the desire to harm another, seems to be an important marker for violence-related behaviors."