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PsychBriefs: August 19 - 25, 2007

Our weekly wrap-up of news, interesting research, and noteworthy happenings in the worlds of psychiatry, psychology, and social work.

Boys with Reading Problems Fare Better with Female Teachers
A study of 175 third- and fourth-grade boys in a ten-week reading intervention shows they read better and developed better perceptions about their reading abilities when they worked with female rather than male research assistants. Researchers say this means the drop in male primary school teachers does not account for lower reading scores.

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Survey Shows Seniors Maintain Active Sex Lives
A national survey of men and women age 57 to 85 shows that 73 percent of people age 57 to 64, 53 percent of people age 64 to 75 and 26 percent of people age 75 to 85 have engaged in sex with a partner within the last year. Moreover, older adults in very good or excellent health were twice as likely to be sexually active.
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Prescription Painkiller Use Soars
Statistics released by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration show that the use of painkillers is on the rise. Sales of the five major painkillers rose 90 percent between 1997 and 2005. The investigation sites an aging population, changing attitudes about pain management and extensive drug marketing as reasons for the increase.
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Weight Loss May Precede Dementia Diagnosis in Women
A study of 481 people with dementia showed that women with dementia were an average of 12 pounds lighter than women who were at the same 21 to 30 years earlier but did not currently show symptoms of dementia. One explanation for this difference is that apathy and a loss of smell, two symptoms of dementia, may make sufferers less likely to prepare regular meals. Meanwhile, elderly men were more likely to have meals prepared for them by family, making them less likely to skip eating.
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