Tag Archives: risk

Meditation Reduces Loneliness

UCLA study also finds that mindfulness technique benefits immune system

Many elderly people spend their last years alone. Spouses pass and children scatter. But being lonely is much more than a silent house and a lack of companionship. Over time, loneliness not only takes a toll on the psyche but can have a serious physical impact as well.

Feeling lonely has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, depression and even premature death. Developing effective treatments to reduce loneliness in older adults is essential, but previous treatment efforts have had limited success. (more…)

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UCLA Study Looks at Why Heart Attacks Cause so Much More Damage in Late Pregnancy

Heart attacks during pregnancy are uncommon, but the prevalence of heart disease in pregnant mothers has increased over the past decade as more women delay pregnancy until they are older. These women, who are generally less physically active than their younger peers, tend to have higher cholesterol levels and are at greater risk of heart disease and diabetes.

While research has shown that the heart typically functions better during pregnancy due to a rise in cardiac pumping capacity to meet increased demands, a new UCLA study in rats and mice demonstrates that heart attacks occurring in the last trimester or late months of pregnancy result in worse heart function and more damaged heart tissue than heart attacks among non-pregnant females.

The research is published in the July edition of the peer-reviewed journal Basic Research in Cardiology. (more…)

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Using IBM Analytics, Santam Saves $2.4 Million in Fraudulent Claims

Analytics Software Enhances Insurer’s Ability to Resolve Claims Faster

Johannesburg, South Africa – 09 May 2012: IBM today announced that Santam, South Africa’s leading short term insurance company, has saved $2.4 million on fraudulent claims in the first four months of using IBM business analytics software. The analytics software has enhanced Santam’s fraud detection capabilities and also enabled faster payouts for legitimate claims.

“IBM and OLRAC-SPSolutions have helped us build a solution that has not only transformed our claims processing methodology in terms of speed and efficiency, but also provides new insight which helps us identify false claims more quickly, which protects our business and customers,” said Anesh Govender, Head of Finance, Reporting and Salvage at Santam. “The solution has delivered a full return on investment and also helped uncover a motor insurance fraud syndicate in less than 30 days after the system went live.” (more…)

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Dealt a Bad Hand: Pathological Gamblers Are Also at Risk for Mental Health Disorders

Richard Boyer. Image credit : University of Montreal

Pathological gamblers are risking more than their money, they are also three times more likely to commit suicide than non-betters. A  new Montreal inter-university study has shown these gamblers are also plagued by personality disorders. These findings, published in a recent issue of the Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, may have implications for developing improved targeted suicide prevention programs. 

“The World Health Organization estimates that suicide is one of the top ten causes of death in the Western world,” says study co-author, Richard Boyer a Université de Montréal professor and researcher at the Centre de recherche Fernand-Seguin at the Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital. “In addition, pathological gamblers account for five percent of all suicides. These staggering statistics motivated us to study the difference between gamblers and non-gamblers.”  (more…)

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Three Year Investigation of Military Munitions Sea Disposal Site Completed

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s School of Ocean Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) completed a three-year long investigation of Sea Disposal Site Hawaiʻi Number 5 (HI-05), a deep-water military munitions disposal site in U.S. coastal waters approximately 5 miles south of Pearl Harbor, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi.

(more…)

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