Friday, May 26, 2006

One-Third of U.S. Adults Diabetic or Pre-Diabetic

One-Third of U.S. Adults Diabetic or Pre-Diabetic

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
Fri May 26, 7:09 PM ET

FRIDAY, May 26 (HealthDay News) -- The number of Americans diagnosed with type 2 diabetes has now topped 19 million, and a new study says a third of adults with the disease don't even know they have it.

The researchers found that another 26 percent of adults had "impaired fasting glucose," a precursor to diabetes.

"So, if you add that together with the 9.3 percent of people with diabetes, that means that fully one-third of the adult population -- 73 million Americans -- have diabetes or they may be on their way to getting it," said lead researcher Catherine Cowie, director of the diabetes epidemiology program at the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Her team's report appears in the June issue of Diabetes Care.

The researchers note that about 95 percent of all cases of diabetes in the United States fall under the category of type 2 disease -- a gradual loss of insulin production and sensitivity that's usually linked to overweight and obesity.

According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, survey data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 1988 to 1994 and 1999 to 2002 indicate the incidence of diabetes among people aged 20 and older has gone from about 5.1 percent of the population in the older survey to 6.5 percent by 2002.

"In the 1999 to 2002 survey, participants were interviewed to find out whether they had ever been told that they had diabetes," said Cowie. "In addition, the people had a blood test after they fasted overnight."

Among the 4,761 adults in surveyed, 9.3 percent had type 2 diabetes -- that translated to about 19.3 million people in the entire U.S. population, Cowie said. "In addition, we found that about one-third of the 9.3 percent don't know they have it," she noted.

Diabetes continues to affect blacks and Mexican-Americans about as much as whites, Cowie noted. "In fact, in blacks, diagnosed diabetes rose more significantly between the two surveys than it did for other groups," she said.

"In addition, it rose more significantly in men than in women," Cowie added.

It's even worse among older Americans. About 22 percent of those over 65 have diabetes, Cowie said. "Combine that with 40 percent of those with impaired fasting glucose, [and] it's affecting 62 percent of the adult population in that age group," she said.

There is a huge portion of the population who don't know they have diabetes or who are at risk for diabetes, Cowie said.

"We aren't doing a good enough job of diagnosing these one-in-three people who don't know they have diabetes as well as people who have pre-diabetes," Cowie said. "We really need to be a better job of convincing people that should be adopting healthy behaviors that will prevent these conditions."

One expert thinks that the number of undiagnosed diabetics and pre-diabetics may be underestimated.

"The findings suggest that the prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes is stable," said Dr. David L. Katz, an associate professor of public health and director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine. "This might be true, and due to the fact that as diabetes rates are rising, we're at least attentive to it, and usually finding it when it's there. But this finding might also be misleading."

Undiagnosed diabetes may be less likely in people who participate in health surveys than those who do not, Katz said. "I am suspicious that there is more undiagnosed diabetes than these findings suggest," he noted.

"Since type 2 diabetes is often preventable, almost any is too much," Katz said. "Seeing a steady rise in the rates of this serious and potentially debilitating disease we have the wherewithal to prevent is compelling testimony of past failings and future needs," he said.

This is neither the first, nor the last time this message will be delivered in a scientific paper, Katz said.

"My hope is that we will do what needs to be done to make healthful diets and activity patterns more accessible to all, and diabetes a bit less so," he said.

More information

For more on diabetes, head to the U.S. National Diabetes Clearinghouse.

buzz this

Who's Not Watching Online Video?

Who's Not Watching Online Video?

MAY 26, 2006

The screen may still be relatively small but the audience is growing.

Responding to the surge in online video consumption, comScore Networks has launched a service called Video Metrix. The service reports on online video consumption, covering both content and advertising, and includes audience demographic data. Data on video usage is gathered by observing the online behaviour of several hundred thousand panellists.

Not surprisingly, comScore confirmed a marked increase in online video viewing by US Internet users. According to the results, the average number of minutes spent watching video online increased by 18% in the six months from October 2005 to March 2006.

The US Internet users who were monitored for the study indicated that, in the month of March, they each viewed an average of 100 minutes of video content per month, compared to an average of 85 minutes in October. It also emerged that they each spent close to an hour per month viewing Internet video from work locations during March.

 

"Video consumption on the web is rapidly approaching the tipping point for advertisers," said Peter Daboll, CEO of comScore Media Metrix. "With two-thirds of consumers accessing the Internet from home using a broadband connection, and publishers continuing to innovate by using the latest technologies to deliver content in a way that engages users, video consumption is poised to become a standard part of the online experience for a majority of consumers. Advertisers will increasingly seek opportunities to reach broad and frequently elusive markets, and do so with a level of engagement and richness that has not previously been available online."

The composition of video consumers is fairly evenly split among males and females, according to the comScore study.

 

However, looking deeper into the numbers reveals that the male audience is much more engaged with online video, with the average male viewer seeing nearly 120 minutes a month, while females watch approximately 80 minutes a month. Males 25-34 are intense consumers, watching an average of 140 minutes of online video content a month.

As to where consumers go online to watch their video, comScore found that approximately 42% of users went to entertainment sites, and 33% visited portals.

For more information on the marketing side of this subject, read the eMarketer report Online Video Advertising: Promises and Challenges.

buzz this

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Online Video Confirmed as an Effective Vehicle for Reaching the Male 25-34 Segment

[BRIEF]

 

Men more likely to engage with online video than women

Men are more likely to engage with online video than women, according to a study from comScore Networks. The study showed that even though the online video audience is split fairly evenly between men (52%) and women (48%), men are more engaged with video. The average male spends nearly two hours per month watching online videos, compared to the average woman's hour and 20 minutes. Men aged 25-34 spend the most time watching video overall, consuming an average of 140 minutes of video a month. According to comScore, more than one-third of all U.S. Internet users streamed video through a portal. Several health and pharma sites are taking advantage of this trend by adding video to their sites. For example, both WebMD and About.com have added video programming with pharma sponsorship opportunities.

 

 

[FULL STORY]

 

Online Video Confirmed as an Effective Vehicle for Reaching the Male 25-34 Segment

PR Newswire via NewsEdge Corporation :

RESTON, Va., May 23 /PRNewswire/ -- comScore Networks today released an analysis based on its newly launched Video Metrix service, the first-ever monthly reporting of consumer video consumption of both content and ads across the Web along with the demographic characteristics of video viewers. Among notable trends was the marked increase in the number of consumers viewing video online, which grew 18 percent from October 2005 to March 2006. In total, consumers viewed 3.7 billion video streams in March and slightly less than 100 minutes of video content per viewer per month, compared to an average of 85 minutes in October.

While the composition of video consumers is fairly evenly split among males (52 percent) and females (48 percent), the male audience is much more engaged with video, with the average male viewer seeing nearly two hours per month, while females consume approximately one hour and twenty minutes of video per month. Overall, males in the highly-coveted 25-34 age group have the highest intensity of video consumption, with an average of 140 minutes of video consumed per month.

"Video consumption on the Web is rapidly approaching the tipping point for advertisers," said Peter Daboll, president and CEO of comScore Media Metrix. "With two-thirds of consumers accessing the Internet from home using a broadband connection, and publishers continuing to innovate by using the latest technologies to deliver content in a way that engages users, video consumption is poised to become a standard part of the online experience for a majority of consumers. Advertisers will increasingly seek opportunities to reach broad and frequently elusive markets, and do so with a level of engagement and richness that has not previously been available online."

comScore Video Metrix is used by leading video publishers and networks, including Broadband Enterprises, Warner Brothers Interactive, NBC Universal, iFilm, Discovery Communications, Roo Networks, and Video Detective. The service provides key metrics and analysis of video consumption across top properties on the Web and provides demographics, ratings, daypart and site- specific measures to assist in the planning of video advertising buys.

"We use comScore Video Metrix to educate promotional partners at studios and record labels on the effectiveness and reach of streaming video content," said Jed Horovitz, managing member, Video Detective, LLC. "Because we are able to show them so much demographic detail tied directly to video viewing, they are able to put a real value on the materials they provide us."

    Other Key Findings
    Additional key findings from the report include:
 
    --  Approximately 16 percent of all time spent viewing online video takes
        place during prime time hours, while 22 percent occurs on the weekend.
    --  During March, approximately 42 percent of all U.S. Internet users
        streamed video through an entertainment site, and more than 33 percent
        did so from a portal.
    --  On average, consumers spent close to one hour per month viewing
        Internet video from work locations during March.
 
    About comScore Networks

comScore Networks provides unparalleled insight into consumer behavior and attitudes. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given comScore explicit permission to confidentially capture their browsing and transaction behavior, including online and offline purchasing. comScore panelists also participate in survey research that captures and integrates their attitudes and intentions. Through its proprietary technology, comScore measures what matters across a broad spectrum of behavior and attitudes. comScore consultants apply this deep knowledge of customers and competitors to help clients design powerful marketing strategies and tactics that deliver superior ROI. comScore services are used by global leaders such as AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Verizon, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Tribune Interactive, ESPN, Fox Sports, Nestle, MBNA, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Merck and Expedia. For more information, please visit http://www.comscore.com .

SOURCE comScore Networks, Inc.

CONTACT: Andrew Lipsman of comScore Networks, Inc., +1-312-775-6510, or press@comscore.com

 

buzz this

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Specialty Pharmaceuticals sponsors ADHD ed program for parents

Specialty Pharmaceuticals sponsors ADHD ed program for parents 

Specialty Pharmaceuticals, a division of McNeil-PPC, is sponsoring an educational program to help parents better understand the risks and benefits of ADHD medicines. The program also aims to help parents make the most appropriate treatment decisions for their child. The National Consumers League program, called Responsible Rx, provides a toolkit for parents, available online at ResponsibleRx.org. <http://www.nclnet.org/responsiblerx/index.htm>  The toolkit includes guides to help parents maintain a detailed medical history for their child and monitor their child's response to medication. The kit also includes tips for reading prescription labels and reporting symptoms and behaviors to a physician. Specialty Pharmaceuticals markets the ADHD drug Concerta.

buzz this

Sponsored online education nets greater ROI than traditional ads

Sponsored online education nets greater ROI than traditional ads       

Sponsoring online educational programs produces a greater ROI than spending comparable marketing dollars on traditional media advertising, according to a study by Next Century Media. The study analyzed responses of nearly 200,000 consumers who participated in online educational programs in 2005 and found that these users are 29 times more likely to buy the sponsor's products compared to traditional advertising. Online educational programs also resulted in better perception of the brand among participants; 94% of surveyed consumers said they had a more favorable perception of the brand because of the experience. The analysis reviewed online educational courses provided by Powered, a company that produces the courses on microsites that match the brand's look. The courses are underwritten by a company to promote their brand. For example, Sony sponsors courses on iVillage covering how to shoot great home video, and also features its related products. Powered clients include Procter & Gamble and iVillage. Click the supporting link below to read more about the study and find out how you can get a copy.      

buzz this