Have doctors, therapy and pills had their day in helping to wean people off addiction?
Shopping vouchers and online social networks may be powerful, modern tools to help people quit smoking and lose weight, two unusual experiments suggested Wednesday.
Pregnant women promised vouchers were much likelier than non-rewarded peers to kick the smoking habit, a study in Scotland showed.
And American researchers found that people shed more kilos the more online friendships they formed with fellow weight-watchers.
Both projects sought to find innovative and cost-effective ways of tackling lifestyle behaviours that are inflicting an ever-heavier toll in lives lost and healthcare costs around the world.
In the Scottish study, published in The BMJ, researchers offered 612 pregnant smokers in Glasgow free nicotine replacement therapy and professional quitting aid.
Half the volunteers were also promised 400 pounds (534 euros or $607) in shopping vouchers.
A first voucher of 50 pounds was earned for showing up for a meeting with a professional and setting a quit date, another 50 pounds for not smoking for four weeks, another 100 pounds for 12 weeks and 200 pounds at 34-38 weeks.
Saliva or urine tests were used to confirm abstinence from cigarettes.
"Significantly more" of the voucher recipients stopped smoking -- 69 out of the first group of 306, compared to 26 from the non-rewarded half, said the study -- 23 percent and nine percent respectively.
"After 12 months, 15 percent of women who were offered financial incentives remained off cigarettes compared to only four percent" of the other group, said a statement.
Most of the women were from lower-income categories, but study co-author David Tappin of Glasgow University told AFP the idea of a financial incentive "seems to work in all groups".
Scaling up the experiment would cost lots of money -- but the bill should ultimately be far cheaper than the soaring cost of smoking-induced foetus and infant deaths and illness, the team argued.
Some 5,000 miscarriages a year can be attributed to smoking during pregnancy in Britain alone, they added.
In the other study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, researchers in the United States looked at more than 2,000 people who joined an online weight management (OWM) social networking site.
Health arsenal's 'new tool'
After six months, people with a single contact reported having lost on average 4.1 percent of initial body weight, rising to 5.2 percent for those with two to nine friends.
It rose further to 6.8 percent for those with a bigger group of contacts, and a whopping 8.3 percent for those with the highest connectivity.
Previous research had found that meetings in real life, where like-minded people offer each other tips and support, are highly effective against bulging waistlines.
But cyber support, too, may be an answer, the authors said.
"OWM programmes hold the potential to foster the spread of weight loss among large numbers of people at low cost," they wrote.
"It is essential to continue exploring and optimising this important new tool in the arsenal of public health interventions."
Over half a billion adults worldwide are considered obese, a condition closely linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer, said the study.
AFP
Wed Jan 28 2015
Cyber support may be a way to achieve better health. - 41/shutterstock.Com
Penoreh getah menggeletar seluruh badan dimaklum jadi jutawan
Seorang penoreh getah terpilih menjadi jutawan Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) Sijil Simpanan Premium (SSP) bagi tahun ini.
Gen Z mahu aturan kerja fleksibel
Sim berkata, yang penting ialah kerja dapat dilakukan dengan berkesan dan cekap, bukannya dalam jangka masa atau persekitaran ditetapkan.
Kelantan Darul Naim FC, GTR Burger jalin kerjasama pintar
Menurut kelab itu, pihak pengurusan KDN FC diwakili presidennya, Rozi Muhamad manakala GTR Burger pula pengerusinya, Nordin Mat.
AWANI Pagi: Berita tumpuan & menarik di astroawani.com [17 Mei 2024]
Antara fokus AWANI Pagi bersama Afiezy Azaman & Azib Zikry
- KPM umum enam inisiatif antaranya lonjak kapasiti guru digital
- Pokok tumbang hempap 2 kereta, pemandu ditemui selamat
- Dr Dzulkefly arah tempat segera doktor pelatih ke hospital
#AWANInews #AWANIPagi
- KPM umum enam inisiatif antaranya lonjak kapasiti guru digital
- Pokok tumbang hempap 2 kereta, pemandu ditemui selamat
- Dr Dzulkefly arah tempat segera doktor pelatih ke hospital
#AWANInews #AWANIPagi
Tinjauan NHMS mendapati 10% rakyat Malaysia tidak dapatkan rawatan atas faktor kewangan
Sebanyak 12.9% melaporkan bahawa ia adalah kerana rawatan terlalu mahal, tidak mampu dibeli, atau kerana kekurangan wang.
Haji: Seramai 5,790 jemaah Malaysia telah tiba di Tanah Suci
Sehingga semalam, 5,790 orang daripada 31,600 jemaah haji Malaysia yang dapat tawaran selamat tiba di Mekah dan Madinah.
Banjir kilat melanda beberapa kawasan di Perak
106 mangsa banjir dipindahkan ke lima PPS susulan hujan lebat malam tadi di Perak. Credit: JBPM Perak
Banjir kilat di Kulim dan Bandar Baharu
Seramai 133 mangsa banjir kilat dipindahkan ke dua PPS yang diaktifkan di Kedah. - Credit APM Kedah
Seorang maut, nahas tiga lori di Lebuhraya PLUS, laluan arah selatan terhalang
Ekoran kemalangan itu, sebuah lori melintangi jalan dan semua lorong terhalang, menyebabkan aliran trafik terhenti sepanjang 13 kilometer.
Banjir kilat: 133 mangsa dipindahkan ke dua PPS di Kedah
Semua mangsa yang dipindahkan melibatkan 31 keluarga iaitu di daerah Kulim dan Bandar Baharu dipindahkan sejak jam 4 pagi tadi.