West Newsmagazine 2-21-18

22 I HEALTH I
February 21, 2018
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
@WESTNEWSMAG
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Listening to motivational tunes before a sporting event doesn’t actually help
athletes perform better, a recent experimental study found.
health
capsules
By LISA RUSSELL
Music may improve athletes’
mood, but not performance
Athletes who listen to music to get
“psyched up” just before a big game or competition
do not perform better as a result,
although they do tend to take more risks,
according to a recent experimental study.
The risk-taking effects were more noticeable
among men compared to women, as
well as among athletes who selected their
own music playlist. Listening to music was
also shown to boost the self-esteem of athletes
who were already performing well –
but not of those who were poor performers.
In recent years, listening to motivational
music has become a popular way for athletes
to prepare for sporting events. Those
athletes point to benefits such as enhanced
mood, higher motivation and greater selfconfidence
after cranking up the tunes,
which are often those with strong lyrics
and a pounding beat. However, the psychological
processes behind the motivational
power of music, as well as its impacts
on performance, have not been wellresearched
or understood.
The study, which was conducted by the
Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics
in Germany, divided 150 athletes
into three groups: one listened to music
they selected themselves, another listened
to music selected by a researcher, and the
third didn’t listen to music at all. All three
groups then performed a ball-throwing
task from fixed distances. To assess risktaking
behavior, the participants were also
allowed to choose the distances to the
basket themselves, and received points
connected to monetary incentives for each
successful trial.
The results showed that listening to
music did not have either a positive or
negative impact on overall performance.
However, it did increase the sense of selfesteem
in participants who were performing
well, and also increased risk-taking
behavior, especially in male participants
and those who could choose their own
motivational music. The researchers also
found that those who made riskier choices
also earned higher monetary rewards.
The study findings play an interesting
role in “understanding the functions and
effects of music in sports and exercise,” the
authors stated, adding that more research is
required to “better understand the impact
of motivational music on the intricate phenomena
of self-enhancement, performance
and risky behavior during sports and exercise.”
The study was published in Frontiers
in Psychology.
FDA announces efforts to
prevent loperamide abuse
Loperamide, a common over-the-counter
medication sold under the brand name
Imodium as well as in generic form, is an
opioid-based drug which, in low doses,
treats diarrhea by slowing down the movement
of the gut. In recent years, however,
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
[FDA] has noted an increasing number of
loperamide abuse cases. After ingesting
very large quantities far above the maximum
recommended daily dose, either to
self-treat symptoms of opioid withdrawal
or to achieve an opioid “high,” some
people have suffered life-threatening cardiac
arrhythmia or cardiac arrest and, in
several cases, have died.
To combat this growing problem, the
FDA announced in late January new
efforts to partner with manufacturers in
changing the way loperamide is packaged.
This includes using blister packs or other
single-dose packaging, and limiting the
number of doses in a package. The agency
also is reaching out to online retailers of
loperamide – who often sell the drug in
large-volume containers – to ask them
to cooperate in making these packaging
changes as well.
“The abuse of loperamide requires the
purchase of extremely large quantities …
We’re requesting that packages contain a
limited amount of loperamide appropriate
for use for short-term diarrhea according
to the product label,” said FDA Commissioner
Scott Gottlieb, MD. “We asked the
manufacturers to take the necessary steps
to implement these changes in a timely
fashion to address these public health concerns.”
On the calendar
St. Luke’s Hospital holds its annual
Spirit of Women Day of Dance event
from 9 a.m.-noon on Saturday, Feb. 24 at
the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel & Conference
Center, 16625 Swingley Ridge Road
in Chesterfield. Attendance is free, but
registration is required by visiting www.
stlukes-stl.com. For more information, call
(314) 205-6706.
• • •
Missouri Baptist Medical Center holds
its annual Heart Fair from 8:30 a.m.-1:30
p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 24 at the hospital’s
campus, 3015 N. Ballas Road. Health
screenings including blood pressure, cholesterol,
glucose level, BMI and body
composition measurement will be offered
at no cost. The event also will feature live
heart-healthy cooking demonstrations,
free food samples, exercise classes, health
presentations by physicians, and interactive
activities for families and kids, along
with a blood donation drive to benefit the
American Red Cross. Advance registration
is recommended by visiting www.missouribaptist.org/HeartFair.
• • •
BJC sponsors a Family & Friends
CPR course from 6:30-9 p.m. on Tuesday,
Feb. 27 at the Missouri Baptist Medical
Center Clinical Learning Institute, 3005 N.
Ballas Road. The course provides instruction
and hands-on practice for parents,
childcare providers and babysitters for
adult hands-only CPR; infant and child
CPR with breaths; introduction to adult and
child AED use; and relief of choking in an
adult, child or infant. The course is taught
by registered nurses using the American
Heart Association video-led curriculum.
The course does not include certification.
Participants between the ages of 10 and
15 must be accompanied by an adult. The
course fee is $25. To register online, visit
https://classes-events.bjc.org/wlp2/ or call
(314) 454-5437.
• • •
A free information session on nonsurgical
weight loss options is offered
from 6-7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28
at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital,
Medical Office Building 3, 1020 N. Mason
Road in Creve Coeur. Join a Washington
University gastroenterologist to learn more
about FDA-approved alternatives for those
struggling with weight loss. For more
information and to register, visit www.
barnesjewishwestcounty.org or call (314)
542-9378.