June 26th - July 2nd

Milan, July 1st (Adnkronos) – A collective catharsis which through goals scored and a good match “washes away the quilt feelings of the Italian fans following the football scandal” demonstrating that we can win “legally” and that it is better to do so”. The psychiatrist has no doubts regarding the enthusiasm which has taken hold of Italy following the last victory of the team at the Football World Championship 2006 Games in Germany. The increase in Italian flags outside homes – explained Massimo Di Giannantonio, from the Gabriele D’Annunzio University of Chieti and treasurer and member of the executive committee of the Italian Psychiatrists’ Society (SIP) – is not the result of an abstract process of absolution towards these newly found heroes but is a precise psychic mechanism called catharsis: the passage from a condition of guilt, suffering and frustration to one of exaltation, confidence and happiness”.

Rome, July 1st (Adnkronos/Adnkronos Health) – Is it better for a child to go to the beach or the mountains in July, with the grandparents, instead of remaining in the scorching heat of the city? Italo Farnetani, a paediatrician and professor at the University of Milan, goes against the trend and hasn’t any doubts in advising parents trying to decide how to organize their kids’ vacations: “it’s better to spend vacations in the city but with mom and dad – he said to ADNKRONOS HEALTH- than to go away with grandma and grandpa or worse yet to a summer camp alone”.

Milan, July 1st (Adnkronos) – They concentrate on books and careers for years and then decide to have a family around the age of 30 and when they have a child “they show the child off like a “banner”, a “monster” of precocity capable of top performances”. This “model baby” risks “growing to be a brat and maladjusted to society already at the age of 10. The child is convinced to be the best, that the world owes up and so he or she falls victim to this false perfection and ends up isolated from other children”.

Rome, July 1st (Adnkronos) –Some mothers are exalted and fill up the e-mail boxes of their relatives and friends with pictures of the “performances” of the baby and enthusiastic stories. Others are really convinced that their child looks at his/her hands because he/she can count at the age of 2 months. “Many mothers are “infected” with “Champion Syndrome”: these are adult and mature women that completely lose their logic when they become mothers”, said Italo Farnetani, a paediatrician and professor at the University of Milan, who has recently come across the spreading of this phenomenon.

Rome, June 30th (Adnkronos) – The mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni, together with the Social Affairs councillor, Raffaela Milano, presented the project “Nonna Roma”, through which the City of Rome will again propose a series of services and initiatives dedicated to the over 65 years of age residents. The objective of the project is to assist the elderly during the summer, which is probable the most difficult season for them, because of the high temperatures and the risk of feeling isolated due to the deserted city.

Milan, June 30th (Adnkronos) – Using a mobile phone while driving is a constant danger and it seems that this bad habit is just as dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol. According to the researchers at the University of Utah, also “hand free” cell phone talking is too distracting for the driver.

Rome, June 30th (Adnkronos) – Italian doctors are not too inclined in using a computer and in some cases they are actually sceptical towards the potential offered by this instrument, Even though the majority of the doctors are convinced that the computerization of the Italian health services would benefit everyone, doctors and patients alike. These are some of the indications emerging from a survey commissioned by ADNKRONOS HEALTH and conducted by Doctornews, the online daily journal for the medical profession, on a sample of 8,762 doctors.

Milan, June 30th (Adnkronos) - Managers, administrators and office staff are forewarned: work stress can increase blood pressure and in the long run threaten health because too many commitments, high expectations and little support from bosses and colleagues seem to ignite a dangerous mechanism, especially in men, According to a Canadian study conducted at the Laval University of Quebec on 6,719 employees for over 7 years chronic work stress can influence blood pressure.

Rome, June 30th (Adnkronos) – Stores, schools, churches and recreation centres are too far from homes so there is no possibility of reaching them on foot or by bike taking advantage of the “journey” to exercise: this is the main reason causing people living in the country to have higher obesity risks. This fact was confirmed by a study conducted by experts at the Saint Louis University of Missouri (USA) on 13 rural populations living in Missouri, Tennessee and Arkansas and published in the American Journal of Health Promotion.

Milan, June 30th (Adnkronos) –Smoking light cigarettes seems to be more menacing than smoking the “stronger” brands. An American study conducted at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and published in the American Journal of Public Health indeed destroys the myth that choosing low nicotine and tar cigarettes, especially “big” among women, is safer. The USA researchers analyzed over 12,000 smokers and calculated that kicking the habit is more difficult for people smoking “lights”, who have a 50% less chance of permanently saying good-bye to tobacco.

Rome, June 30th (Adnkronos) – Days off of work for adults, vacation for children: however they are called the few weeks of relax during the summer are important for the old and young alike. However, parents don’t often take their children’s wishes into consideration. The Italian Paediatrics Society (SIP) has drafted a “Children’s Rights Charter for Vacation Time” to solicit parents to consider this aspect by respecting these golden rules to guarantee “children friendly” vacations.

Pescara, June 29th (Adnkronos) – Abruzzo is the second Italian region for the number of children affected by obesity and follows the Campania region in the ranking. In Italy, 1 child out of 3 is overweight. The age range most exposed to the threat of obesity is between 6 and 13 and in over half of the cases the excess weight of the child can cause obesity as an adult with serious health complications such as cardiovascular diseases, liver diseases and diabetes. The most frequent causes of obesity are environmental, tied to incorrect eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle.

Rome, June 28th (Adnkronos) – Do not listen to what the TV and advertisements are saying during this heat wave inviting viewers to drink without limits and instead pay more attention to advice from doctors on how to face the heat, especially if you have heart disease. This is the message sent by Andrea Di Lenarda, the head of the Heart Failure Area of the National Hospital Cardiologists Association (ANMCO) launched today concurrently with the Anti-Heat Plan of the Health Ministry.

Rome, June 28th (Adnkronos) - ''The heat wave emergency also affects 500,000 elderly Italians either hospitalized or in nursing homes where air conditioning remains a mirage”. The Third Age Board (OTE) launches this warning for Health Minister, Livia Turco and asks her to extend monitoring to those facilities having a high concentration of over 65 years of age residents, who are already weak due to other illnesses. “Emergencies have to be avoided through special policies before they happen and not faced once they are critical”, affirmed Elia Ricci, the heat of the OTE Health Department, following the presentation of the book “The Health System in Numbers”, realized by Federanziani and OTE, this morning at the Lower House of Parliament.

Rome, June 28th (Adnkronos/Adnkronos Salute) – There is a confidentiality emergency in the Italian health services where 55% of the local health authorities do not invest enough resources (less than 100,000 Euro) in protecting patients privacy and information. This figure equals only 0.3% of the average budget of a facility of this type. In this way, even though information is strictly confidential, it risks falling into the wrong hands or being spread without the consent of the patient.

Rome, June 28th (Adnkronos) – Chronic heart failure is a record breaking disease in Italy however none of its first place rankings are positive. Not only is it the most lethal disease with 100,000 deaths yearly but it is also the one producing the greatest number of hospitalizations at over 500 per day and involving the most expenditures for the National Health System at about 625 million Euro per year. Last but not least, even though it is a “big killer”, heart failure remains an unknown illness with only 2% of the Italians informed on causes and symptoms. These are only some of the numbers presented this morning by Francesco Chiarella, the president of the National Hospital Cardiologists Association (ANMCO).

Milan, June 28th (Adnkronos) –“Already 325 million patients in the world have benefited from products created by biotechnologies. In Italy there are 163 biotech companies ranking it fourth in Europe in the field. There are many young companies; 63% have been constituted only in the last 5 years. Biotech in Italy means 8,389 employees, up 25% in the last three years and revenues at 2,886 million Euro, equalling 0.2% of the GDP. Above all there are 30 Italian biotech molecules being developed in Italy”. This is a profile of the sector illustrated by Marco Renoldi, a member of the Farmindustria Biotechnologies Group, who spoke today in Milan during the presentation of Bioform 2006, scheduled for September in Milan.

Rome, June 28th (Adnkronos) - ''We are convinced that the new Health Pact can help the pharmaceutical, research and international development departments of the Italian pharmaceutical companies take important steps forwards”, said the president of Farmindustria, Sergio Dompe’, following the presentation of the book “The Health System in Numbers”, realized by Federanziani and OTE, this morning at the Palazzo Marini in Rome, Mr. Dompe’ gave this positive opinion on the new government’s health program illustrated by Health Minister, Livia Turco.

Rome, June 28th (Adnkronos) – Requesting or prescribing numerous lab tests or medical examinations does not increase our well-being but instead it is necessary for Italians to become “protagonists” of their own health and that doctors recover their diagnostic capacities and try to really understand what the patient’s problems are. However, this does not exclude that it is very important to give a climate of serenity, regulations and certainties to the health system. This is the opinion of Health Minister, Livia Turco, who from the microphones of Repubblica RadioTV faced the problems tied to the national health system at 360� also by responding to some questions asked by the radio audience.

Rome, June 27th (Adnkronos) –Women who are abandoned by their TV sports partners have some more bad news: the world football championship games are better than sex. Betting on a team and then watching it on TV induces levels of pleasure in men higher than orgasms. This is the curious result of an English research commissioned by the betting website Betfair and carried out in collaboration with Mike Gleeson and Ron Maughan at the University of Sports in Loughborough, England.

Rome, June 27th (Adnkronos) – Heat fever is a groundless worry and while the temperature rises in the city and countryside the calls to paediatricians offices also rise as mothers are worried when their child’s temperature is 37� or a little more. This situation is normal and instead of scary it is reassuring because it is a physiological response of the child’s organism to the humidity. Italo Farnetani, a paediatrician and professor at the University of Milan explains this fact to ADNKRONOS HEALTH and underlines that “during this heat wave temperatures up to 38.5�C are normal and parents need not worry”.

Rome, June 27th (Adnkronos) –The heat wave continues and the message arriving to moms and dads is to defend their children at all costs against the “fiery” environments during this period. The mass medias say that children and the elderly are at a high risk “but this is totally wrong – points out the paediatrician and University of Milan professor, Italo Farnetani – actually, there is a big difference between children and the elderly. The organism of the elderly has been tried, it is weakened and it is at the end of its functioning cycle while even though children are still “trying out” their response systems to the heat, reacting to the high humidity levels almost exactly like healthy adults”.

Rome, June 27th (Adnkronos) – Blood donations were up in the Lazio region during the first 5 months of 2006 with a 6.9% increase in Rome, 12.4% in the Province of Rome and 14.5% in the region. These are some of the important numbers presented this morning in Rome in the Tirreno Room of the Lazio Regional Building by Health councillor, Augusto Battaglia. The objective of today’s meeting was to promote and spread the culture of blood donations in order to increase habitual donors and reach blood sufficiency levels.

Rome, June 27th (Adnkronos) – A “Health Home” or in other words a multifunctional facility where residents can find all of the primary treatments and where diagnostic testing is carried out 7 days out of 7 for at least 12 hours per day. This is the project in the mind of Health Minister, Livia Turco, who illustrated the Government Health Plan to the Social Affairs Committee of the Lower House. Ms Turco indicates “a great legislature objective: the realization of actual social-health integration and the development of national primary treatment. This is not one of the priorities but significant change that has to be carried out in a set and certain time”.

Rome, June 27th (Adnkronos) – Monica Ciranna’, a Animal Rights’ advocate, gives some useful advice to pet owners on how to avoid that dogs and cats are at risk due to the high temperatures. “This heat wave is creating a lot of problems to our four-legged friends and so the Animal Rights Office of the City of Rome recommends giving pets plenty of water, avoid that they are kept in small and closed places and make sure they don’t eat too much, actually by putting them on a diet”.

Rome, June 27th (Adnkronos) – The average age in Rome and Province is 42.4 while in the capital it increases to 43.3. There are 300,000 young people less in the last 15 years in the Province of Rome where 619,997 people between the ages of 15 and 29 reside. This emerges from the “The Province tells its story – the quality of life of young people in the Province of Rome”, realized by the Province of Rome and Eures. Rome is ranked 6th among 9 provincial cities with 7.9 foreign young people residing here out of a total of 100.

Verona, June 27th (Adnkronos) – Italian researchers have identified a cocktail of medicines capable of blocking type 1 diabetes. Manuela Battaglia, a young researcher at the San Raffaele Institute – Telethon for Genetic Therapy Institute (TIGET) of Milan directed by Maria Grazia Roncarolo, discovered the cocktail. This research was financed by Telethon and it was recently published in “Diabetes”. It was presented today in Verona at the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) headquarters where a medical – scientific committee, of which GSK is a partner, is currently meeting to assign funds to various genetic disease research projects.

Rome, June 27th (Adnkronos) – Medicines can cure but they can also harm and if syrups, pills and vials are not taken in the correct way, they can become dangerous weapons. 4 out of 10 home accidents are caused by an incorrect use of medicines, often not kept in the right manner or taken without observing a doctor’s indications. This incorrect and irresponsible use of medicines is also one of the greatest factors determining a waste of resources in the health services. This warning comes from the Health Medicines Watch board (OFS) of the Consumer Movement, which is launching a public awareness campaign on the topic.

Rome, June 27th (Adnkronos) – The elixir of youth of embryonic stem cells has been discovered and it is called Nanog, from the name of the legendary Celtic town Tir nan Og, where folklore says people remain young forever. The switch aiding stem cells to remain young is a protein that latches on to the DNA and so rendering it capable of inverting the process of differentiation that all stem cells, including embryonic ones, sooner or later go through. This discovery was made by the researchers at the Genetics Lab of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in the USA.

Rome, June 26th (Adnkronos) –‘Don’t underestimate lunch break; being comfortable and calm combined with a balanced die are essential”. This is the message launched by Claudio Maffeis, a nutritionist and professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Verona, during the presentation of a new nutrition program “Eat Well, Choose Well”, promoted by the food chain, Brek Ristorante. This initiative is a concrete example of how lunch break can become an opportunity instead of a problem. This new public awareness campaign by the restaurant chain is intended to furnish its clients with basic knowledge on the nutritional properties of foods. The client is aided in choosing the best possible balanced menu through the use of simple icons describing each dish present on the menu.

Rome, June 26th (Adnkronos) – It is absolutely not true that seaside vacations help solve problems for asthma sufferers, actually the opposite is true. The National Research Council (CNR), the most important public research agency lead by Fabio Pistella, crushes a myth that comes from ancient times, times in which scholars such as Euripides in the 5th century BC wrote that “the sea cures illnesses in humans”. “Recent studies show an important and unexpected link between the presence of asthma and asthmatic symptoms and Mediterranean climate”, explains Giovanni Viegi of the Clinical Physiology Institute of The National Research Council of Pisa.

Rome, June 26th (Adnkronos) – “Health Minister Livia Turco is doing the right thing in promoting pharmacological and rehabilitation treatments aiming towards preventive interventions so to optimize resources”, affirmed Antonio Gaglione, Undersecretary of Health, who in view of the National Treatment and Prevention of Urinary Incontinency Day on Wednesday, so praised the new policies set up by the Health Ministry to treat and prevent this disorder. These new policies are “beneficial both for the economic and social fabric of the country”.

Rome, June 26th (Adnkronos) – Italians’ favourite beverage is again under the spotlight for its anti-diabetes effects. A new US study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine furnishes new proof on the ability of coffee to lower the risk of type 2 diabetes (diabetes mellitus) The researchers at the University of Minneapolis discovered that especially decaffeinated coffee is greatly effective in combating this disease.

Rome, June 26th (Adnkronos) – Just the simple act of placing a mobile phone near the ear could have implications to date unknown: in fact, the electromagnetic waves it produces seem capable of exciting the cerebral cortex, increasing the risk of neurological disorders such as epilepsy. An actual warning has not been yet announced but this is only a possibility taken into consideration by researchers at the Fatebenefratelli Hospital of Rome led by Paolo Rossini. The researchers explained the procedures they followed in reaching this conclusion in an article published in the Annals of Neurology.

Rome, June 26th (Adnkronos) – X-rays are taken in many Italian radiology facilities with only a radiology technician present while the radiologist who has to read the x-ray does so from another site which can be found kilometres away. Francesco Luca, the secretary of the National Radiologists’ Union spoke against this practice during the Italian Clinical Radiology Society assembly being held in Milan. “Telemedicine – states Dr. Luca’ – is a giant leap in progress but it is justifiable only when there are not enough specialists, for example in the island and mountain communities of Italy. In other areas, this technology should be used only for consultation. Instead we are currently seeing the progression of a clinical practice that needs the urgent intervention of Health Minister Livia Turco”.