Meals & Multitasking: Bad Combo

BALTIMORE (American Health Newswire) -- It used to be when you sat down for a meal, you ate your meal. Now, we eat while driving or working or watching TV. Experts say we now do 50 percent of our eating while concentrating on something else. That comes with a downside.

You can't tell now, but fitness trainer Bonnie Matthews once weighed 130 pounds more. The 47-year-old blames most of that weight on poor lifestyle and food choices.

"I would eat whatever... sandwiches, ice cream, pizza," Matthews told American Health. 

She worked from home as a freelance illustrator. Most of her day was spent typing, drafting ... and eating at the same time.

"If you're not paying attention to what you're doing, you tend to forget almost that you're eating and potentially eat more than you would have if you were focused on strictly active eating," Dr. Jonathan Rich, from Mercy Medical Center, told American Health.

A new study shows how you eat may affect how much you eat. It found distracted eaters couldn't recall as much of their meal just 30 minutes after eating. They were also less full after eating and ate more during the study's taste test. That may mean weight gain, as Americans spend 25 more minutes eating per day than we did 30 years ago.

"It's really a matter of paying attention to the fact that you're eating and not treat it as a secondary activity," Dr. Rich said.

Matthews knows the benefits of focusing on food. Fewer distractions led to massive weight loss ... and a spot on the Dr. Oz show.

"Portioning out my meals, thinking about what I'm going to have, when I'm going to do my intense workouts, and what kinds of foods I need for that day," Matthews explained to American Health. Researchers say memory plays a key role in the regulation of food intake, and any distractions may cause a disruption.

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Stopping Involuntary Movements

(American Health Newswire) -- Results of the first, long-term clinical trial show the investigational drug safinamide may reduce dyskinesia (involuntary movements) in mid-to-late stage Parkinson's disease.

"Our findings over a two-year treatment period suggest that taking safinamide in addition to levodopa and other dopaminergic treatments could help patients who continue to experience tremors and involuntary movement problems," study author Ravi Anand, M.D., a consultant with Newron Pharmaceuticals in Bresso, Italy, was quoted as saying. "These results are an important step forward in understanding how safinamide impacts patients with severe Parkinson's disease. Symptoms of Parkinson's disease such as motor fluctuations and dyskinesia can greatly affect a person's daily living and quality of life."

For the two-year study, 669 patients with mid-to-late stage Parkinson's disease who were already taking levodopa and other dopaminergic treatments were given 50 or 100 milligrams of safinamide per day or a placebo pill. Scientists tested participants' movement ability using the United Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale that measures activities such as tremor, speech, behavior, mood and daily activities including swallowing, dressing and walking. A specific tool measuring severity of dyskinesia (DRS) was used in addition as a primary efficacy endpoint.

At the start of the study, patients who took the 50-milligram dose of safinamide had an average score of 3.9 compared to a score of 3.4 for those taking a placebo pill. Patients who took the 100-milligram dose had an average score of 3.7.

After two years, researchers discovered in a post-hoc analysis that safinamide at 100 milligrams a day on top of taking levodopa reduced dyskinesia, or movement problems, by 24-percent in the one-third of participants who had scored a four or higher on the dyskinesia rating scale at the beginning of the study compared to those taking a placebo. There were no significant differences for people who took the 50-milligram dose.

There were no significant differences in the primary efficacy measure (movement control, i.e., dyskinesia) scores in the overall population. Side effects were comparable among the three treatment groups.

.SOURCE: 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, held April 9, 2011 in Honolulu, Hawaii