johnporcaro: mktg@large

ADHD Genetic, er, Not from TV and Videogames

Many parents have children with a diagnosis of ADD or ADHD.  For those of you that do, let's just say that at the risk of embarrasing anyone, I know some people very well who struggle with ADD, so I sympathize.

A new study done by Cardiff University researchers, and reported in The Lancet, show a direct genetic link to ADHD and differences in brain development. Scientists at Cardiff University show for the first time that "a direct link has been found between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and differences in brain development as displayed in autism and other disorders." 

Scientists carried out a study of 1400 children, and hope the results help parents beat the myth that ADHD is merely a behavior problem, or just poor parenting. 

The study shows that "the risk of having a certain set of genetic variants was twice as high among children diagnosed with ADHD compared with children who did not have it."

Good news, and bad news for parents: It's genetic, so it's not entirely your fault; but since it's known to be passed on genetically, or have a high "heritable."  Have you or your spouse noticed that maybe you might have some of the same symptoms your kids display?  Hmmmm.   

More from the Cardiff University article:

The researchers found that rare CNVs were almost twice as common in children with ADHD compared to the control sample – and even higher for children with learning difficulties. CNVs are particularly common in disorders of the brain.

There was also significant overlap between CNVs identified in children with ADHD and regions of the genome which are known to influence susceptibility to autism and schizophrenia. Whilst these disorders are currently thought to be entirely separate, there is some overlap between ADHD and autism in terms of symptoms and learning difficulties. This new research suggests there may be a shared biological basis to the two conditions.



Your Shape: Fitness Evolved Looking Better and Better

Your Shape: Fitness Evolved for the Xbox 360 Kinect is one of the products I'm looking forward to the most this fall.   It's the perfect mix of three of my favorite things: Working Out, Playing Videogames, and Men's FItness Magazine.  And knowing that it comes from Ubisoft gives me some confidence that it's going to be solid.  

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I got to try it out at BlogHer, and I was really impressed.  And today I saw some new screen shots Ubisoft published, to announce the partnership with Men's Fitness and Women's Fitness.   

Ubisoft released details of the game, that include keeping track of your stats, like calories and scores. And for the non-timid, all of your stats are uploaded seamlessly online and can be shared with friends and family. I love that you can create challenges among friends and help each other reach fitness goals.

The game comes with hundreds of exercises, and there will be regular downloadable content releases from Xbox LIVE. I can't wait to challenge my friends using Xbox LIVE Multiplayer.  Getting in shape will never be the same!  I can't wait to play it with my kids, but this time, by myself...   

From the Press Release:

The programs from Men’s Health include “The Sleeve-Busting Arms Workout,” and “The Ultimate Men’s Health Fat Loss Workout.” The workout programs from Women’s Health include “The Perfect Legs and Butt Workout,” “The Toned Arms and Shoulders Workout,” and “The Skinny Jeans Workout”. All workouts are designed so that users can integrate free weights into the programs.  Read more...

This post is my own opinion, and I have not received any compensation or products from Ubisoft, nor are they a client of my firm.  

P90X Round 2.5

Now that I have an apartment, I can get back to my regular routine of working out.

It's been about a month since I started work here at Dad Central Consulting, and moved from Seattle to Boston.  In the middle of it all, I was traveling a lot, working crazy hours, and didn't plan well enough to carry everything I needed to do P90X the way it should be done.   I finished P90X in April, then started Insanity.  About halfway through Insanity, I started P90X Plus.  I was about halfway through P90X Plus, and ended up missing the last month or so.

This time, rather than start P90X Plus back up, I would go back to P90X Classic, and start again at the beginning.

I kept a pretty accurate journal on another site that I HIGHLY recommend, MyFitnessPal.com.  If you're regularly working out, or watching what you eat, this free site is really great.  Before starting P90X last January, I had never counted calories nor tracked what I ate.  It really opened my eyes to what I should be eating, how short I was in one area (usually Protein), or when I should be eating more to keep my energy up.

You might have seen the infomercials for P90X on TV.  I'm not usually attracted to that kind of thing, but the results they showed, and the low price of about $100 made me think it would be worth a try.  After checking around for reviews, I found almost NO negative reviews online, but I did find lots of positive reviews from enthusiastic people.

I really liked the format, different workouts everyday, a good challenge everyday, and almost immediate results.  I went from a size 40 pant to a 34 (that's what I wore in high school), and actually got the beginnings of a six pack in just 90 days.  I even impressed my brother enough that he gave it a try, and had similar results.

There's no secret sauce, other than consistently spending 60-90 minutes a day doing the workouts for 90 days, and following the eating plan.  So starting today, I'm back to high protein/low carbs (for the first 30 days).  Cottage cheese, chicken, greek yogurt, egg whites, and muscle milk--lots of it...

Thinking you might want to give it a try?  There is a 30-day money back guarantee...   :)

What have you done to work out?  What works best for you to stay in shape, with your busy lives?

Disclosure: I paid for my copy of P90X, and all supplements, etc.  I really enjoy BeachBody's products, and signed up to be a coach.  If you order through my coach site, I do get a small portion of the price.  But if you can find the product somewhere else, it won't hurt my feelings.