The Taiwan Osteoporosis Association yesterday said that postmenopausal women should avoid befriending people with negative attitudes, after the University of Arizona published research linking social stress to osteoporosis.
The study, which ties high social stress to bone loss in postmenopausal women, was published in this month’s issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, said association president Chen Fang-ping (陳芳萍), a doctor of osteology at Keelung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital.
The researchers tracked the bone density of 11,000 women and gave the respondents questionnaires to calculate their social stress on a scale of four to 20 points, with higher numbers representing greater stress, Chen said.
Researchers found that each point of social stress increases bone density loss by 0.108 percent in the hip, 0.082 percent in the femur and 0.069 percent in the lower spinal column, she said.
The paper’s authors believe psychological stress could exert a slew of negative effects on hormone production, which hastens the progression of osteoporosis, she added.
Friends who discourage exercise or other activities that are beneficial physically or mentally could be a drag on health, Chen said, adding that postmenopausal women should practice positivity by finding something to laugh about every day.
Broadening one’s social circle is important to countering postmenopause depression and anxiety, which are common for women who have retired or whose adult children have left home, she said.
Friends who cast a cloud over your social life should be cut loose, John Tung Foundation Mental Health Center director Yeh Ya-hsing (葉雅馨) said.
“You cannot choose your family, but you can choose your friends,” Yeh said.
“The research strongly suggests that bad friends have a negative effect on postmenopausal mental and physical health, so there is no reason to keep them,” she said.
Taking time off from social media could be useful to those who find online arguments disturbing to their peace and quiet, Yeh said.
Outdoor activity and exercise are recommended as an alternative to using devices to fight boredom, she added.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
RSS