22
May 2008
www.medical-student.co.uk
Going to Wii-hab
After the launch of Wii Fit last month which
hopes to co researchers have found another
innovative use for the video game console. Is
there anything Nintendo can’t come up with?!
Samreen Rizvi
& Maleeha Rizvi
68-YEAR-OLD
Nathan
Woodlief is a patient with
Parkinson’s disease, but he has
a hidden talent that many
wouldn’t expect – he’s a master
of the Nintendo Wii. Nathan is
one of the many patients who
are currently trialling a new
technique for rehabilitation
with this chronic disease.
‘Wii-habilitation’ is becoming increasingly popular and is
a new trend for rehabilitation
therapy for patients who are
recovering from surgery, accidents and even strokes.
Currently, occupational therapists across America have pioneered the use of the Wii in the
rehabilitation of Parkinson’s
disease patients and with surprising results.
Just a quick reminder in case
you
are
technologically
unaware - the Nintendo Wii is
the height of gaming experience. It has a unique wireless
controller: the Wii remote, a
GAME ON: “Bring it on mother$%*£#&!”
handheld device which can
detect 3-D movements - allowing you to play sophisticated
games such as virtual tennis.
This has great advantages for
those
suffering
with
Parkinson’s as it enables coordinated movements with
visuospatial feedback on the
screen that can provide cues to
the patient, which can ultimately lead to a speedier recovery.
The first hospital to have
used the Wii for this new purpose was the Glenrose
Rehabilitation Hospital in
Canada. The idea came from a
man who deliver wheelchairs,
who had the thought that the
movement aspect of the games
might translate well into recovery and thus began this therapeutic revolution.
This application of the Wii
works by replacing the conventional stretching and lifting
exercises which can be repetitive and painful for patients in
their recovery process. The
‘therapeutic Wii’ gives patients
the option to complete physical
exercises in a fun and stimulat-
ing environment which can
speed up their recovery time
dramatically.
The Wii games require rigorous body movement exercises which are an effective alternative to the traditional rehab
exercises.
Professionals also agree that
the Wii can help patients’ psychological recovery, which is a
key part of the process.
But exactly how does all this
gaming have an effect on
Parkinson’s? The disease classically results in stiffness and
slowing of movement with fine
motor dysfunction. "Because
the Wii is interactive and you
have to do certain functional
movements to be successful, it's
an effective modality for working with Parkinson's patients,"
says Dr Herz, Professor of
Occupational Therapy at the
Medical College of Georgia.
Over there, a study is being
undertaken with 30 patients,
where therapists are using the
Wii to help improve co-ordination and balance issues.
"These therapists are think-
ing way out of the box. They're
doing activities that will make a
difference in these participants'
lives based on what we know
about Parkinson's," says Dr
Herz.
In fact, early results show
that remarkable short-term
gains can be achieved with the
use of this novel strategy.
Therapists set goals for each
participant prior to treatment
which range from independence with daily living activities
such as cooking, dressing or
bathing, to functional activities
such as sports and leisure without any adaptation. Results
from these studies show that
around 98 percent of those
goals are met or surpassed
using this method.
With hundreds of thousands
of patients annually recovering
from similar events across the
UK, the Wii could be a breakthrough treatment option in
years to come. Let’s hope the
NHS puts in an order for the
consoles, and before you know
it, your grandparents might be
beating you at Mario Kart.
Toning up too much? Feasting and fasting
Girls aren’t the only ones adversely affected by glorification of picture perfect models in glossy mags - lads are too.
Laura Storm
Guest Writer
WOMEN’S magazines have
long been blamed for fuelling
the ‘Size Zero’ fire by featuring
stick thin models and airbrushed images of unattainable
beauty. Now lads’ mags have
come under scrutiny too.
New research suggests that a
man’s body image can be similarly negatively influenced by
images of tanned and rippling
male models. In fact, the laddish culture promoted by men’s
magazines has spawned a new
medical condition: Athletica
Nervosa - an obsession with
exercise.
Athletica
Nervosa
is
already known
to
affect
young women,
but
this
is
thought to be the
first British study
to link the
phenomenon
to men.
“Men who
read the most
lads’
mags
seemed
to
internalise the
appearance ideals portrayed by
them,” explained David Giles,
a psychologist at Winchester
University, who co-wrote the
research. “Models in these
magazines are impossibly
good-looking and seeing them
can make readers anxious about
their own bodies.”
Giles and co-author Jessica
Close carried out interviews
and surveys of 161 men aged
18-36 to find out how many
lads’ mags they read and for
how long. They also scored
them for dietary habits, exercise regimes and attitudes
towards appearance. They
found that all men who read
these magazines were affected
although men in stable relationships were less so than single
men.
Giles thinks it could be that
men become less anxious or
just that they have less time to
go to the gym when they
are in a relationship.
However,
recent articles in
l a d s ’
m a g s
h a v e
played
o
n
men’s
insecurit i e s ,
claim-
Finally, someone’s come up with a diet that lets you eat anything!
Abdullah Bashir
Sports Editor
ing that a perfect gym-honed
body is the only way to lure a
good-looking girlfriend.
Another study by researchers
at the University of Florida
showed that young men’s
beliefs about the perfect body
shape had changed over the
past two decades, moving
towards a much more muscular
ideal. They found that adolescent males are increasingly
experiencing body dissatisfaction and using drastic methods
to control their weight and to
gain muscle. These behaviours,
including anabolic steroid-use,
can have serious long-term
health consequences.
The media’s portrayal of
unrealistic and unachievable
physical perfection has devastating consequences for the
physical and mental health of
both men and women. Now
that we know no one is immune
to athletica nervosa surely it is
time to hold these magazines
accountable.
TRY searching for a ‘List of
diets’ on Wikipedia and you’ll
get an extensive catalogue of
weird and wonderful regimens
- from Atkins to the Zone, and
Cabbage
soup
to
the
Rastafarian. Just when we
thought that fad diets had been
replaced by a healthier attitude
towards eating habits and
weight loss, a new craze has
emerged which promises the
‘easy’ way to shed that excess
poundage.
The Alternate Day Diet invention of plastic surgeon Dr
James Johnson - involves a
cycle of binge-eating on one
day, followed by consuming
almost nothing the next. The
idea of a diet which lets you eat
whatever you want is obviously
appealing, particularly to those
who fell short of the punishing
demands of previous diets.
It is based on animal studies
documenting alternate day
calorie restriction, which indicate that limiting caloric intake
every other day can turn on the
‘skinny’ gene (SIRT1).
Dr Johnson applies all this
cool science stuff to humans,
recognising that a similar cascade of positive effects occurs reduced inflammation, lower
free-radical stress, improved
insulin resistance, and the
release of fat cells from around
the body’s organs.
The actual diet days are less
appealing. The dismal consumption limit of 300-500 calories is clearly inadequate when
recommended daily calorie
intake stands at 2,000 for
women and 2,500 for men.
Experts
say that a
low daily
calorie
intake is
likely to
result in a
range of
physical
effects
including
hunger
and nausea.
It
may also
p r o v e
mentally draining as an individual is expected to maintain a
strong degree of self-control,
while ditching willpower for
doughnuts the following day.
The diet has also caught the
attention of pro-anorexia websites and there are distressing
parallels between this fad and
bulimia nervosa – a condition
characterised by binge-eating
followed by periods of starvation.
While most low-calorie diets
slow down the rate of metabo-
lism, Dr Johnson insists that his
diet speeds it up, burning more
calories at a faster rate. He also
provides evidence for other
beneficial effects. In clinical
trials of asthma sufferers taking
part in the diet, he reported a
dramatic increase in their daily
peak flows, which is thought be
due to the effects of an antiinflammatory
gene activated by lowc a l o r i e
intake.
He goes on
further
to
claim that the
diet may help
reduce blood
pressure and
improve
other inflammatory conditions such
as arthritis.
These claims are being met
with a great deal of scepticism
from experts, who have serious
doubts about the scientific basis
of the diet.
Nevertheless, Dr Johnson’s
fad has become a phenomenon
amongst Internet forums and
seems to be growing in popularity. In a society which has
embraced the size zero while
burdened with an impending
obesity epidemic, the extreme
notion of the diet may not seem
that radical after all.