Child "sexters" uncommon: study (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) ? Sexually explicit material isn't as widespread on kids' cell phones as some surveys have suggested, researchers have found.

But "sexting" -- sending or receiving risque photos or videos via cell phone -- can still mean legal trouble for minors.

"Right now, in most areas, it's a criminal offense," said Kimberly J. Mitchell, a psychologist at the University of New Hampshire in Durham and a co-author on two new reports in the journal Pediatrics. "Child pornography is by definition a sexual picture of a minor."

In one study, Mitchell and her colleagues estimate thatolice handled nearly 3,500 cases of sexual images produced by adolescents from 2008 to 2009.

Adults were on the receiving end just over a third of the time, while the rest involved only youths.

Nearly four out of ten cases led to an arrest, including when the sexting had been "romantic" or "attention-seeking."

Fueled by high-profile scandals, sexting has become a hot topic in the media. Earlier this year, Representative Anthony Weiner stepped down from Congress after admitting to sexting in which he sent lewd pictures of himself to young women.

For minors, there is the added concern that sexually explicit photos or videos may be considered child pornography, even when sent from a girl to her boyfriend or vice versa.

Mitchell said parents should make their teens aware of the legal risks and make sure they understand that anything they send could end up on the Internet.

"Once it's out there you probably won't be able to get it back," she told Reuters Health.

And for receivers, Mitchell added, "we are recommending they should delete it and they certainly should not distribute it themselves."

But she also cautioned that youth sexting isn't as common as earlier polls have suggested.

A TOPIC WORTH ADDRESSING WITH KIDS

A 2008 survey found one in five teens have sent or posted online nude or semi-nude pictures or videos of themselves, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, a private organization based in Washington, D.C.

Mitchell and her colleagues got much smaller numbers in a 2010 national survey, however.

Based on phone interviews with more than 1,500 children ages 10 through 17, they found just 2.5 percent had appeared in or produced nude or nearly nude photos or videos. That number dropped to 1 percent if only sexually explicit material -- naked breasts, genitals or bottoms -- was included.

Between 6 and 7 percent of the adolescents said they'd received such images or videos.

"Overall, our results are actually quite reassuring," said Mitchell.

"With any sort of new technology that kids become involved in there is a tendency to become easily alarmed," she added. "What we are instead seeing is that sexting may just make some forms of sexual behavior more visible to adults."

Bill Albert, a spokesperson for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, welcomed the new findings.

He said he wasn't surprised by the smaller numbers, given that Mitchell and colleagues surveyed younger kids and interviewed them over the phone while their parents were around.

"I wonder if teens are being as truthful as they might be," Albert told Reuters Health, adding that past surveys have come up with a range of estimates.

"It's nothing to panic about, but it's something to address," he said. "It's a good opportunity to sit down with your kid and talk about it."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/parenting/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111205/hl_nm/us_child_sexters

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Today on New Scientist: 2 December 2011

Digital face transplant for low-budget movies

A low-cost method of swapping faces on video could make it easy to ditch your film's star even if you don't have Hollywood funding

Friday Illusion: Ghostly images change shape

See how focusing on coloured circles or hexagons can have a shape-shifting effect

See Flickr's daily photo deluge in hard copies

A torrent of photo prints shows how 24 hours on Flickr can swamp us in images

Gorgeous predators pictured in the wild

See our pick of Roger Hooper's shots of formidable animals at home in the wild

Vital utilities vulnerable to hacking

Cyberattacks could easily bring down infrastructure such as water facilities and power plants, as recent events have shown. But help is at hand

Caught between the moon and a jug of cheese puffs

A new exhibition from Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro juxtaposes extremes of ambition and indulgence in the American quest for the stars

Enhance your senses: High-tech ways to play

Sometimes the best inventions are just for fun. Watch our video special on the greatest tech from the 2011 Siggraph Asia conference

Let's build a beacon to tell aliens who we were

Chris Wilson suggests that the job of active SETI should be to build a monument to our civilisation before humans go extinct

Airbursts trigger dust avalanches on Mars

Shock waves from falling meteorites set off huge landslides, scouring the Martian surface

Bridging the gap between science and business

Our Big Wide World blogger used to fall asleep in the mandatory undergraduate business lectures, so why is she studying an MBA alongside her PhD?

Feedback: A catalogue of dodgy ads

Spray on hormones to help you lose weight, improve your memory with earlobe exercise, Brian Cox teaches astrology, and more

Seek 'em here, seek 'em there: Anonymous is everywhere

When online skulduggery breaks out, all fingers point at the hacktivist pranksters

Flerovium and livermorium may join periodic table

The heaviest confirmed elements in the periodic table, 114 and 116, may be named for the institutions that forged them

Entangled diamonds blur quantum-classical divide

Two diamonds large enough to pick up with your fingers have been made to share one quantum state - the feat is normally achieved with much smaller objects

Global surveillance supermarket offered to dictators

When despots want to intercept private communications, they have no problem finding vendors willing to help, a document release reveals

Anonymous' 'Robin Hood' attacks may benefit banks

The hacktivists' plan to rob from the rich and give to the poor using stolen credit cards is likely to backfire

Why some wasps are good with faces - and others aren't

You don't want to mess with Ms Big, so it's useful if you recognise her when you see her. So useful that even wasps can do it

Soot coating creates self-cleaning surface

Black soot could be the key to creating transparent materials that can repel both oil and water - perfect for self-cleaning lenses or touchscreens

Voyager space probes show outsiders' view of Milky Way

A particular wavelength of light can be seen from across the universe, but until now emissions from our own galaxy have been lost in the sun's glare

3D rabbit appears on screen made of mist

See a new display system made of fog that allows users to interact with 3D projections

Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/1a9c4b1d/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Cblogs0Cshortsharpscience0C20A110C120Ctoday0Eon0Enew0Escientist0E20Edecem0E20Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fonline0Enews/story01.htm

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Jackson legacy expected to thrive after trial (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? The private world of Michael Jackson, fiercely shielded by the superstar in life, was exposed in the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray. But rather than suffering harm from revelations of drug use, experts say Jackson's legacy and posthumous earning power will survive any damage done and could actually grow after he was portrayed as a victim of a money-hungry doctor.

Jackson died before he could launch a series of highly anticipated comeback concerts in London as he tried to regain the towering status he enjoyed when he released the "Thriller" album in 1983.

But his death did breathe new life into record sales and boosted other projects to generate hundreds of millions of dollars for his estate, even as his already tarnished personal life took another hit by revelations about his drug use.

Jackson zoomed to the top of the Forbes Magazine list of highest earning dead celebrities and his executors are moving quickly on more projects designed to burnish the performer's image and expand the inheritance of his three children.

A Cirque du Soleil extravaganza, "Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour" opens in Las Vegas this weekend, a precursor to a permanent installation at the Mandalay Bay Hotel, and fans are expected to flock there for a "Fan Fest" exhibit of Jackson memorabilia.

After the trial, a judge made it clear that the defense effort to cast Jackson as the villain in the case had been a miserable failure. Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, called a reckless opportunist and sentenced to the maximum four years in prison.

Judge Michael Pastor also blasted Murray for experimenting on the pop star with the operating-room anesthetic propofol to help him battle debilitating insomnia, even though the drug was never meant to be used in a private home.

Some experts say the revelations made the King of Pop look more like a regular person coping with a difficult challenge.

"In the final analysis, not a lot of damage was done," Jackson biographer J. Randy Taraborelli said. "I think the trial humanized Michael Jackson. It presented him as a human being with problems."

As evidence unfolded, "It definitely made our hearts go out to Michael Jackson. He was a person suffering a great deal and not getting the help he needed," the author said.

Taraborelli said the entertainer's family, fans and estate executors were concerned before the trial that testimony would paint Jackson as responsible for his own death while resurrecting past accusations of child molestation and bizarre behavior by the King of Pop.

But the judge limited testimony and evidence to Jackson's final months and specifically ruled out any mention of the 2005 molestation trial.

Thomas Mesereau Jr., the attorney who won Jackson's acquittal in that case, believes the Murray trial did damage Jackson's reputation but said the impact would likely be short term.

"It certainly didn't help to have all this testimony about drug use," Mesereau said. "But as time passes, people will focus more on his music and the negatives will fade."

While Murray was ultimately shown to be negligent, the portrait of his patient that emerged during the trial was one of an aging superstar desperate to cement his place in entertainment history while providing a stable home life for adored children, Paris, Prince and Blanket.

The image of Jackson as a caring father had never been illustrated quite so vividly. A probation officer who interviewed Jackson's mother, Katherine, said she told him: "Michael Jackson was his children's world, and their world collapsed when he left."

A leading expert on the licensing and branding of dead celebrities believes the trial engendered so much sympathy for Jackson that in the long run it will eclipse negative fallout from his past.

"I don't think any tawdry revelations that may have come out of the trial will have any impact on his lasting legacy," said Martin Crebbs, who is based in New York. "We as a society tend to give everyone a second chance. Michael's legacy will be like Elvis and the Beatles. It will be his music, his genius. and his charitable works "

Crebbs has represented the estates of such deceased luminaries as Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein, Steve McQueen and Mae West.

He is not involved in the Jackson estate but praised its executors' efforts. Beginning with the rapid release of the concert movie, "This Is It," he said, "They have done a brilliant job of reminding us of Michael's genius."

Taraborelli also cited the film based on rehearsals for Jackson's ill-fated concerts as a spectacular move setting the stage for a posthumous comeback of the Jackson entertainment empire.

"It made you want to embrace him," said the author of "Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness."

Jackson's eccentricities and bizarre behavior often made headlines. Whether it was traveling with a chimp named Bubbles, sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber or dangling his baby Blanket off a balcony, he managed to alienate many people. The molestation trial pushed him further from the mainstream.

"That all ended on the day the news was announced that Michael was dead," said Lance Grode, a former music executive and onetime attorney for Jackson who now teaches legal issues in music at University of Southern California.

"The public decided they prefer to remember Michael as this great superstar and music prodigy and to forgive and forget any negative things they had heard over the last 10 or 15 years," Grode said. "Nothing came out at the trial that was nearly as bad as things they had heard in the past."

Grode said evidence of public acceptance is seen in the Jackson estate's ability to generate a half-billion dollars in the wake of his death.

The Cirque show, which launched in Canada, is slated for 150 dates across North America through July and expected to run through 2014 internationally. The permanent Las Vegas show is due in 2013.

The year he died, Jackson sold 8.3 million albums in the U.S. ? nearly twice as many as second-place Taylor Swift ? and "This Is It" became the highest-grossing concert film and documentary of all time.

Joe Vogel, author of a new book on Jackson's music, and others said the most shocking part of the Murray trial was the playing of a recording of a drugged Jackson slurring his words while dreaming aloud about his future concert and his plans to build a fantastic state of the art children's hospital.

Vogel said the recording, found on Murray's cell phone, reveals the dark side of Jackson's world.

"Michael had a difficult life. He said once that you have to have tragedy to pull from to create something beautiful and inspiring. And that's what he did. His music has staying power," Vogel said.

Rich Hanley, a pop culture specialist who teaches journalism at Connecticut's Quinnipiac University, said Jackson had "complexities on top of complexities."

"There may be collateral damage to his reputation from the trial. His inner sanctum was penetrated for the first time," he said.

However, "his music is eternal. It brings universal joy to people and will continue as much as Elvis' work continues to attract new fans even though he's been gone for generations," Hanley said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111201/ap_en_ot/us_michael_jackson_legacy

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85-mph winds, fire danger forecast for LA

By Hetty Chang, nbclosangeles.com

A major change in the weather pattern is expected to bring powerful gusts of up to 85 miles per hour and possible hurricane force winds into the Los Angeles region for two days, creating major concerns for?wildfires and property damage,?starting Wednesday evening.

The strong Santa Ana wind event is forecasted to be so powerful, it could be ?the strongest offshore wind event we have seen in the past few years,? according to an advisory Wednesday issued by the National Weather Service.

The strongest winds are expected to hit the passes and canyons of LA and Ventura counties, the NWS said.

?Residents in the warning area are advised to take precautions now before the winds reach their peak,? the NWS said. ?Close all windows and secure all outdoor objects such as lawn furniture.?

Watch NBCLosAngeles.com forecast video

The strong offshore flow will also mean low humidity and high winds for the region, which create the perfect ingredients for wildfires. The NWS has issued a red flag warning for the region starting at 9 p.m. Wednesday until 6 p.m. Friday.

Highs Wednesday were forecasted to be in the 70s and 80s with temperatures dipping down to the mid to high-60s Thursday.

The high winds are expected to be strongest in the overnight hours between Wednesday and Thursday and again Thursday into Friday morning, said NBC 4 Meteorologist Bryon Miranda.

The NWS said drivers needed to be aware of dangerous conditions.

"These very strong winds winds will be capable of downing trees and power lines, knocking down outdoor objects, creating flying debris and causing dangerous driving conditions, especially for high-profile vehicles,'' the NWS said.

For the latest weather conditions, click here.

Follow NBCLA for the latest LA news, events and entertainment: Twitter: @NBCLA// Facebook: NBCLA

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/30/9122369-85-mph-winds-fire-danger-forecast-for-los-angeles

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Beckham:'Big decision' to make on future

British soccer player David Beckham of the Los Angeles Galaxy contemplates on his answer during a news conference Thursday Dec.1, 2011 at a hotel at the financial district of Makati city east of Manila, Philippines. Beckham and the LA Galaxy team are here for a friendly soccer match with the Philippine team known as the Azkals and also scheduled to hold clinics for young children. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

British soccer player David Beckham of the Los Angeles Galaxy contemplates on his answer during a news conference Thursday Dec.1, 2011 at a hotel at the financial district of Makati city east of Manila, Philippines. Beckham and the LA Galaxy team are here for a friendly soccer match with the Philippine team known as the Azkals and also scheduled to hold clinics for young children. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

British soccer player David Beckham of the Los Angeles Galaxy smiles upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at suburban Pasay city south of Manila, Philippines Thursday Dec. 1, 2011. Beckham and the LA Galaxy team are here for a friendly soccer match with the Philippine team known as the Azkals. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Soccer players David Beckham, third from left, and Landon Donovan, second from left, of the Los Angeles Galaxy, are driven to their hotel upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at suburban Pasay city south of Manila, Philippines Thursday Dec.1, 2011. Beckham and the LA Galaxy team are here for a friendly soccer match with the Philippine team known as the Azkals. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

British soccer player David Beckham of the Los Angeles Galaxy listens to a question during a news conference Thursday Dec. 1, 2011 at a hotel at the financial district of Makati city east of Manila, Philippines. Beckham and the LA Galaxy team are here for a friendly soccer match with the Philippine team known as the Azkals and also scheduled to hold clinics for young children. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Los Angeles Galaxy major league soccer player Landon Donovan walks to a bus upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at suburban Pasay city south of Manila, Philippines Thursday Dec.1, 2011. Donovan, , along with teammate David Beckham, is here for a friendly soccer match with the Philippine team known as the Azkals. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

(AP) ? David Beckham said he has a "big decision to make" after his contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy expires and reiterated his desire to play for the British team at the 2012 London Olympics.

The former England captain arrived in Manila on Thursday with his Galaxy teammates for the second leg of a series of exhibitions.

"I'm very proud of the time that I've spent with the Galaxy and it might continue," said Beckham, whose contract expires at the end of the tour. "I think at the end of the day I have a big decision to make, but I obviously haven't made one yet."

Beckham said he "would love to be part of the GB team" in the Olympics next year, especially since the games will be played in a part of London where he grew up.

"Hopefully, I'll be going back to London next summer," he said.

The Galaxy won 1-0 against Indonesia on Wednesday, play the Philippine national team on Saturday and head to Australia.

The exhibition on Saturday in Manila is expected to give a boost to soccer in a country where the national team is lowly ranked and basketball and boxing are the most popular sports in town.

Galaxy coach Bruce Arena encouraged Filipino soccer players to "work hard" and "chase the dream" of international competition.

The Philippine team is improving, reaching the semifinals this year at the Asean Football Federation Cup. Most of the players are half-Filipinos from European leagues who want to play for the country.

Before Saturday's game, Beckham and the Galaxy will hold a soccer clinic with children from poor communities in Manila.

"We always try to play diplomatic football ... but we want to win. It doesn't matter if its a friendly, we want to win the game," he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-12-01-SOC-Beckham-Future/id-a16c6fc221df4d5e9f45e6b6d8dc3f96

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Verizon to buy $3.6B of spectrum from Comcast, Time Warner, for 4G LTE (Digital Trends)

verizon-wireless

Verizon Wireless has purchased 122 spectrum licenses from a number of cable companies as it aims to bolster and expand its 4G LTE network, the company announced today. The licenses come from Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, and were purchased for $3.6 billion in total.

The purchase is actually for shares of the company SpectrumCo, of which the cable giants each own a chunk. Comcast is selling its 63.6 percent share for $2.3 billion; Time Warner, which owns 31.2 percent is getting $1.1 billion from the deal; Bright House Networks is receiving about $189 million for its 5.3 percent share of SpectrumCo. This means that Verizon now owns, strangely, 100.1 percent of SpectrumCo. (We?re guessing that the numbers reported are simply rounded too high, meaning that the extra 0.1 percent is just an error.)

Dan Mead, president of Verizon Wireless, said the additional spectrum will help the company deliver greater access to its 4G LTE network, which currently ranks as the fastest wireless connection in the US, but is still not available to all customers nationwide.

?Americans deserve excellence from a wireless service provider, and innovative wireless companies plan ahead in order to deliver on that expectation,? said Mead in a statement. ?Spectrum is the raw material on which wireless networks are built, and buying the spectrum now solidifies our network leadership into the future, and will enable us to bring even better 4G LTE products and services to our customers.?

The US House and Senate are both currently considering bills that would give incentives to cable companies to release portions of their spectrum to the government, which would then put the spectrum up for auction for wireless companies to buy.

Verizon?s purchase of the spectrum must first be approved by the Federal Communications Commission before the deal will be allowed to go through.

The FCC recently allowed AT&T to withdraw its bid to purchase T-Mobile USA after the commission requested that a federal judge review the deal. The primary reason for AT&T wanting to buy T-Mobile was to increase its control of wireless spectrum ? something it will need more than ever to compete against Verizon, if this deal is approved.

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/20111202/tc_digitaltrends/verizontobuy36bofspectrumfromcomcasttimewarnerfor4glte

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'Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' Extra-Long Trailer Drops

New eight-minute clip for David Fincher's December 21 thriller pulls together complicated narrative.
By Kevin P. Sullivan


Rooney Mara in "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
Photo: Columbia Pictures

Trailers can ruin an entire movie. Two-minutes clips stringing together a film's funniest moments or biggest thrills can suck the life out of a soon-to-be-released flick. Knowing that, it's hard to imagine a director cutting together eight whole minutes of his upcoming movie and yet managing to leave the audience feeling as if they haven't seen everything.

David Fincher has done that with the latest, extra-long trailer for his upcoming murder mystery "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." The clip, which first premiered in front of select screenings of "Straw Dogs" back in September, is now available for everyone to watch through iTunes. The trailer follows closely to the four-minute trailer that hit the Net recently, but expands on almost every element contained in that trailer.

What the clip does is essentially puts all the pieces of the complicated narrative onto the board in a streamlined version, setting up both the story lines around Daniel Craig's Mikael Blomkvist and Rooney Mara's Lisbeth Salander, and how they come together. It stays with scenes from previous trailers for a longer amount of time, giving the audience a better feel for what to expect when the movie opens on December 21.

In addition to expanding upon the story elements and characters we've already seen, the trailer offers the first look at Joely Richardson's character, Anita Vanger. The preview also makes extensive use of the highly anticipated score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who are reteaming with Fincher after their critically praised collaboration on the director's last film, "The Social Network."

Watch the extended trailer for "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" on iTunes.

Check out everything we've got on "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1675297/girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-trailer-extended.jhtml

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Mazda's i-ELOOP does regenerative braking with capacitors instead of batteries

i-ELOOP
Mazda has decided there's simply no reason why hybrid cars and EVs should have all of the regenerative braking fun. Its new system, called i-ELOOP, is aimed at traditional internal combustion vehicles. But, rather than rely on batteries, the company turned to capacitors which can be charged and discharged in just seconds. The electricity generated is then fed to the car's various electronic components after being passed through a converter to step down the voltage to 12v. By alleviating some of the burden to generate power from the engine Mazda claims it can increase fuel efficiency by up to ten percent. You won't have to wait long to see this tech make it into your next ride either, the world's first capacitor-based regenerative braking system should be making its retail debut sometime in 2012. Check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading Mazda's i-ELOOP does regenerative braking with capacitors instead of batteries

Mazda's i-ELOOP does regenerative braking with capacitors instead of batteries originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Nov 2011 11:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Restricted calorie diet improves heart function in obese patients with diabetes

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 28-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Linda Brooks
lbrooks@rsna.org
630-590-7762
Radiological Society of North America

CHICAGO A low-calorie diet eliminates insulin dependence and leads to improved heart function in obese patients with type 2 diabetes, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

"Lifestyle interventions may have more powerful beneficial cardiac effects than medication in these patients," said the study's lead author, Sebastiaan Hammer, M.D., Ph.D., from the Department of Radiology at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. "It is striking to see how a relatively simple intervention of a very low calorie diet effectively cures type 2 diabetes mellitus. Moreover, these effects are long term, illustrating the potential of this method."

Diabetes is a chronic illness in which there are high levels of glucose in the blood. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), diabetes affects 25.8 million people in the U.S., with 18.8 million diagnosed cases and an estimated seven million undiagnosed cases. Type 2 is the most common form of diabetes, representing 90 to 95 percent of diagnosed cases among adults.

Pericardial fat is a visceral fat compartment around the heart that can be detrimental to cardiac function, especially in people with metabolic disease. Dr. Hammer and colleagues set out to determine the long-term effects of initial weight loss induced by caloric restriction on pericardial fat and cardiac function in obese patients with type 2 diabetes.

Using cardiac MRI, the researchers analyzed cardiac function and pericardial fat in 15 patientsincluding seven men and eight womenwith type 2 diabetes before and after four months of a diet consisting of 500 calories daily. Changes in body mass index (BMI) were also measured.

The results showed that caloric restriction resulted in a decrease in BMI from 35.3 to 27.5 over four months. Pericardial fat decreased from 39 milliliters (ml) to 31 ml, and E/A ratio, a measure of diastolic heart function, improved from 0.96 to 1.2.

After an additional 14 months of follow-up on a regular diet, BMI increased to 31.7, but pericardial fat only increased slightly to 32 ml. E/A ratio after follow-up was 1.06.

"Our results show that 16 weeks of caloric restriction improved heart function in these patients," Dr. Hammer said. "More importantly, despite regain of weight, these beneficial cardiovascular effects were persistent over the long term."

Dr. Hammer pointed out that these findings stress the importance of including imaging strategies in these types of therapy regimens.

"MRI clearly showed all the changes in fat compartments, structural changes in the heart and improvements in diastolic function, making it a very effective method of quantifying the effects of metabolic interventions," he said.

While these results are promising, not all patients are eligible for this type of therapy. Patients should consult with their doctors before embarking on any type of reduced calorie diet.

"It is of utmost importance to follow such a complicated intervention under strict medical supervision," Dr. Hammer said, "especially as patients may be able to stop all anti-diabetic therapy from Day 1."

###

Coauthors are Jan W. Smit, M.D., Ph.D., Johannes A. Romijn, M.D., Ph.D., Jacqueline Jonker, M.D., Marieke Snel, M.D., Albert De Roos, M.D., Hildo Lamb, M.D., and Rutger W. Van Der Meer, M.D.

Note: Copies of RSNA 2011 news releases and electronic images will be available online at RSNA.org/press11 beginning Monday, Nov. 28.

RSNA is an association of more than 48,000 radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists committed to excellence in patient care through education and research. The Society is based in Oak Brook, Ill. (RSNA.org)

Editor's note: The data in these releases may differ from those in the published abstract and those actually presented at the meeting, as researchers continue to update their data right up until the meeting. To ensure you are using the most up-to-date information, please call the RSNA Newsroom at 1-312-949-3233.

For patient-friendly information on MRI, visit RadiologyInfo.org.


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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 28-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Linda Brooks
lbrooks@rsna.org
630-590-7762
Radiological Society of North America

CHICAGO A low-calorie diet eliminates insulin dependence and leads to improved heart function in obese patients with type 2 diabetes, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

"Lifestyle interventions may have more powerful beneficial cardiac effects than medication in these patients," said the study's lead author, Sebastiaan Hammer, M.D., Ph.D., from the Department of Radiology at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. "It is striking to see how a relatively simple intervention of a very low calorie diet effectively cures type 2 diabetes mellitus. Moreover, these effects are long term, illustrating the potential of this method."

Diabetes is a chronic illness in which there are high levels of glucose in the blood. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), diabetes affects 25.8 million people in the U.S., with 18.8 million diagnosed cases and an estimated seven million undiagnosed cases. Type 2 is the most common form of diabetes, representing 90 to 95 percent of diagnosed cases among adults.

Pericardial fat is a visceral fat compartment around the heart that can be detrimental to cardiac function, especially in people with metabolic disease. Dr. Hammer and colleagues set out to determine the long-term effects of initial weight loss induced by caloric restriction on pericardial fat and cardiac function in obese patients with type 2 diabetes.

Using cardiac MRI, the researchers analyzed cardiac function and pericardial fat in 15 patientsincluding seven men and eight womenwith type 2 diabetes before and after four months of a diet consisting of 500 calories daily. Changes in body mass index (BMI) were also measured.

The results showed that caloric restriction resulted in a decrease in BMI from 35.3 to 27.5 over four months. Pericardial fat decreased from 39 milliliters (ml) to 31 ml, and E/A ratio, a measure of diastolic heart function, improved from 0.96 to 1.2.

After an additional 14 months of follow-up on a regular diet, BMI increased to 31.7, but pericardial fat only increased slightly to 32 ml. E/A ratio after follow-up was 1.06.

"Our results show that 16 weeks of caloric restriction improved heart function in these patients," Dr. Hammer said. "More importantly, despite regain of weight, these beneficial cardiovascular effects were persistent over the long term."

Dr. Hammer pointed out that these findings stress the importance of including imaging strategies in these types of therapy regimens.

"MRI clearly showed all the changes in fat compartments, structural changes in the heart and improvements in diastolic function, making it a very effective method of quantifying the effects of metabolic interventions," he said.

While these results are promising, not all patients are eligible for this type of therapy. Patients should consult with their doctors before embarking on any type of reduced calorie diet.

"It is of utmost importance to follow such a complicated intervention under strict medical supervision," Dr. Hammer said, "especially as patients may be able to stop all anti-diabetic therapy from Day 1."

###

Coauthors are Jan W. Smit, M.D., Ph.D., Johannes A. Romijn, M.D., Ph.D., Jacqueline Jonker, M.D., Marieke Snel, M.D., Albert De Roos, M.D., Hildo Lamb, M.D., and Rutger W. Van Der Meer, M.D.

Note: Copies of RSNA 2011 news releases and electronic images will be available online at RSNA.org/press11 beginning Monday, Nov. 28.

RSNA is an association of more than 48,000 radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists committed to excellence in patient care through education and research. The Society is based in Oak Brook, Ill. (RSNA.org)

Editor's note: The data in these releases may differ from those in the published abstract and those actually presented at the meeting, as researchers continue to update their data right up until the meeting. To ensure you are using the most up-to-date information, please call the RSNA Newsroom at 1-312-949-3233.

For patient-friendly information on MRI, visit RadiologyInfo.org.


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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-11/rson-rcd111611.php

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