Katherine Hobson

Katherine Hobson appears in the following:

Patients Do Better After Surgery If They Do 'Prehab' First

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

People are often told to follow a rehabilitation program following surgery to speed recovery. But starting weeks before going under the knife might help them regain function even faster.

So-called "prehabilitation" to prepare someone for an upcoming stressful event has been used quite a bit in orthopedic surgery, Dr. ...

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Just Seeing Charts And Graphs Makes Drug Claims More Credible

Friday, October 17, 2014

Graphs and formulas say "Science!" to consumers, so much so that simply seeing claims about a new drug that were accompanied by data visualizations made people more likely to believe the claims.

The effect is especially true if people have a strong belief in science to begin with.

That's the ...

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To Make Interval Training Less Painful, Add Tunes

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

There's increasing evidence that interval training, which involves alternating short bursts of harder exercise with easier recovery periods, delivers more health benefits than exercising at a steady rate.

But if you've tried it, you may have decided that exercising quite hard, even for short periods of time, is about as ...

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More Evidence That ADHD Drugs Don't Curb Ultimate Height

Monday, September 01, 2014

More and more kids are being diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and many are medicated — often with stimulant drugs like Ritalin or Adderall.

With so many children taking these drugs, plenty of parents and doctors are concerned about potential side effects, including the possibility of ...

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Schoolchildren Who Add Hand Sanitizer To Washing Still Get Sick

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Schools can be a great breeding ground for colds, stomach viruses, the flu and other bugs kids (and their parents) would rather not get.

Researchers wanted to know whether the transmission of those baddies could be reduced by telling elementary school children to use hand sanitizer in addition to the ...

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Caffeine Gives Athletes An Edge, But Don't Overdo It

Friday, August 01, 2014

After winning the Tour de France last Sunday, Vincenzo Nibali was tested for a bunch of performance-enhancing substances. But Nibali and his fellow competitors were welcome to have several cups of coffee (or cans of Red Bull), before their ride into Paris; caffeine is not on the World Anti-Doping Agency's ...

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Athletes Should Fear The Heat More Than The Heart Attack

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

When a runner's heart stops during a marathon, it gets a lot of press – even though it's actually a pretty rare event. A more common killer among runners, and a condition that needs more prevention efforts, is heat stroke, according to a study by Israeli researchers.

During a 2011 ...

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Many Kids Who Are Obese Or Overweight Don't Know It

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Kids can be cruel, especially about weight. So you might think overweight or obese children know all too well that they're heavy — thanks to playground politics. But that's not necessarily so, according to government data covering about 6,100 kids and teens ages 8-15.

About 30 percent "misperceived" their weight ...

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Older Moms Take Heart: You May Be More Likely To Live Longer

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Americans are waiting longer to become parents. Whatever the pros and cons of that trend, here's some potentially good news for those older moms: They may be more likely to live longer.

Women who had their last child after the age of 33 had twice the odds of "exceptional longevity" ...

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We Said, "No Car Pictures."

Saturday, June 28, 2014

When NPR photographer David Gilkey was headed off to Cuba to shoot some of our stories, I told him, as his photo editor, that there was one cliché he should absolutely avoid: cars.

He talked about it with weekend host Scott Simon (which you can listen to above). ...

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Fewer Women Are Having Labor Induced Early

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

There has been a major effort in the past several years to reduce the rate of early elective deliveries. Those are births that for no medical reason are hastened by inducing labor or performing a cesarean section before the pregnancy has reached 39 weeks of gestation.

While those last ...

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Doctors Say They Would Shun Aggressive Treatment When Near Death

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Everybody dies.

But when doctors' time is up, they are different from the rest of us. They "go gently" rather than opt for aggressive end-of-life treatments, as one physician wrote a few years ago. They have seen the suffering of their patients at the end of life and want ...

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Less Sleep For Little Kids Linked To More Belly Fat Later On

Monday, May 19, 2014

Ask anyone who's dealt with a crabby toddler at the end of the day: Little kids need a lot of sleep. The National Sleep Foundation says that 1- to 3-year-olds, for example, generally need 12 to 14 hours of shut-eye a day.

Coming up short does more than put ...

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Pediatricians Say Training Can Help Teens Avoid Knee Injuries

Monday, April 28, 2014

If you're a teenage athlete, or the parent of one, you probably live in fear of a torn anterior cruciate ligament, one of the knee's key stabilizing ligaments.

A torn ACL often requires surgical repair. But so-called neuromuscular training programs can cut the risk of a serious ACL injury and ...

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Noise Machines To Help Babies Sleep Can Raise Quite A Din

Monday, March 03, 2014

About a year ago, pediatric otolaryngologist Blake Papsin went into a patient's room at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. He was surprised by the roar of a sleep machine the parents had brought to help their child conk out amid the beeps and buzzes of the hospital.

...

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Roller Derby Players Swap Bacteria (And Shoves) On The Track

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

When Jessica Green competed in roller derby, she wondered how training, socializing and colliding with other roller girls could be affecting her health in invisible ways.

As a member of the Emerald City Roller Girls, Green went by "Thumper Biscuit" on the track, but she is also the director of ...

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