Network


Latest external collaboration on country level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots.

Hotspot


Dive into the research topics where Lars Ovesen is active.

Publication


Featured researches published by Lars Ovesen.


European Journal of Cancer Prevention | 2005

A regular contribution from Lars Ovesen, which we hope will help the busy scientist in keeping up with the literature : Social interaction with dogs

Lars Ovesen

Many studies have demonstrated that having a pet is beneficial to your health and morale. Thus pet ownership (most studies have been conducted with dogs) may increase longevity of the elderly, increase the owners’ responsibility, and in addition reduce loneliness, isolation and withdrawal, and slow deterioration in terminal geriatric patients (for a critical systematic review, see Beck and Katcher, 1984). However, the mechanisms that may underlie the beneficial effects have not been clearly demonstrated. One of the suggested mechanisms is that pets may enhance social interactions between people, thereby increasing and strengthening social networks (some authors have used the term: ‘social lubricant’ to describe this phenomenon) and elevate psychological well-being. This hypothesis has gained some support in observational studies showing that dog owners walking their dogs in Hyde Park in London, UK, experienced a significantly higher number of chance conversations with other park users than when walking the same route without their dogs (Messent, 1983). The increased social interaction could be caused by the dog itself soliciting attention from passers-by; however this does not seem to be the case because increased social interactions also occur when walking a dog that is trained not to greet people (McNicholas and Collis, 2000). Furthermore, extensive research has demonstrated that social interactions increase with other animals. For instance, both adults and children more readily approach a person who sits quietly in a grassy park area when accompanied by a pet rabbit or a pet turtle than when accompanied by a television set (Hunt et al., 1992). Pet ownership may even enhance physical health. Research has shown that pet owners (this has not only been shown for dog owners, but also for owners of cats, birds, gerbils and iguanas) who have suffered cardiac attacks live longer than non-pet owners (Friedmann and Thomas, 1995). Pet ownership even seems to decrease blood pressure and reduce triglyceride levels (in the owners), two well-established risk factors for coronary heart disease (Anderson et al., 1992). This study also showed that pet owners drink more alcohol, eat more meat and eat more ‘take-aways’ than non-owners.


European Journal of Cancer Prevention | 2004

A regular contribution from Lars Ovesen, which we hope will help the busy scientist in keeping up with the literature: Human bonding

Lars Ovesen

Could kissing be an important mechanism by which chemicals (pheromones) produced by the sebaceous glands located in the oral cavity are exchanged between humans to induce and strengthen bonding, affection and love? This original idea was introduced about 20 years ago (Nicholson, 1984), but has not been followed up, as far as I know, by rigorous experimental science. The paper hypothesizes that bonding is comparable with any other kind of chemical addiction, for instance to nicotine, alcohol or caffeine, but in the case of kissing the chemical addiction occurs in response to the oral secretions exchanged during the oral contact. Sebum excretion is under hormonal control, it drops in men who are castrated and rises in those treated with male sex hormones. Although this kind of secretion takes place from the skin almost everywhere on the body, high levels are characteristically found in locations where kisses are normally placed, on the lips and in the oral cavity. Large exchanges of secretions are therefore possible during passionate French kissing, especially if suction is added. Heat releases torrents of sebum, and heat is a characteristic phenomenon of passionate courtship, as anyone who has had a ‘hot’ date will know.


European Journal of Cancer Prevention | 2003

Literature that you may have missed: a regular contribution from Lars Ovesen, which we hope will help the busy scientist keep up with the literature A nose for sex

Lars Ovesen

You might remember from my scientific review about Christmas time last year that several studies have irrefutably demonstrated that the belief in Santa Claus decreases with increasing age, and that the average child shifts from a believer to a nonbeliever at a mean age of 7.01 years. So, while much science has been concerned with children’s belief in Santa Claus, unfortunately little is known about other important fantasy figures, such as the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, and especially if beliefs in these imaginary figures follow a similar age pattern as that of the belief in Santa Claus. In fact, only one study has studied this question (Prentice et al., 1978). From this study, it seems that the belief in the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus follows a similar pattern with the most pronounced beliefs in the youngest age groups and a gradual relinquishment of belief as the child matures. The turning point happens somewhere between the ages 6–8 years with no apparent differences between figures. Further, the more belief encouraging the parents are the more often and the longer time the child is a believer. Allow me this Christmas to focus on some of the hazards of the great feast. You might not expect it, but Christmas gifts can give rise to peculiar problems, highlighted in this case story from Saskatchewan in Canada (Barron and Biem, 2001). An 18-year-old girl was rushed to the emergency room one week after Christmas due to the development of severe cyanosis. In the emergency room she was found to be anxious and blue but with normal vital signs. However, the cleansing of the skin with an alcohol swab prior to taking blood tests removed the discoloration. Further investigation of the patient’s history revealed that she had received a Christmas gift of new blue-coloured bed linen that she had used properly and had stained her skin. Cleansing of the patient caused an uneventful recovery and the patient was discharged. If you live in Nottingham, UK, be aware that posting your Christmas cards may be hazardous. A report describes a 59-year-old housewife who was seen in the emergency room with an amputation of her middle finger on the left dominant hand (Godwin and Wilson, 1999). When she posted her Christmas cards the spring-loaded sharp flap of the letterbox snapped down on her finger. She reflectorily withdrew her hand, which resulted in the amputation of the finger. She made an uneventful postoperative recovery and was home in time for Christmas. Afterwards the local postman explained to the authors that second to mad dogs with unsympathetic owners, spring-loaded letterboxes were the next greatest occupational hazard. Hopefully, the postal authorities in Nottingham have done something to solve this Christmas hazard. Christmas has been shown to give rise to several other hazards. A case of asthma has been described in a Christmas candy maker, who developed wheezing whenever he used pectin produced from lemon, lime and grapefruit peels (Kraut et al., 1992). Skin testing and an increased pectin-specific IgG showed sensitization to pectin. A young man from Denmark developed a very large neck haematoma and abscess after having taken part in a Christmas office dinner where it was the custom to deliver karate chops to the neck region by the neighbouring person whenever a


European Journal of Cancer Prevention | 2001

A regular contribution from Lars Ovesen, which we hope will help the busy scientist keep up with the literature: The Power of Prayer

Lars Ovesen

Studies, largely unknown to the public and to scientists, have examined the therapeutic efficacy of prayer. Notable is the pioneering work by Sir Frances Ž . Galton more than a century ago Galton, 1872 . Galton examined the frequency with which ships that carried missionaries experienced disaster at sea and compared this with the frequency of disasters experienced by ships not carrying missionaries. He found that missionary ships sank with a frequency and loss of life slightly greater than that of lessblessed ships. Galton also found that the mean life-span of humble clerical males who had survived their 30th year was not longer than the life span of the at that time extremely materialistic lawyers and doctors. To substantiate his claims of the inefficiency of prayer on longevity, Galton cites work by Guy who considered that ‘of all classes of society in England those most prayed for were the sovereigns and the children of the clergy.’ So, if prayer is effective, they should experience very long lives. So Kings were compared with Lords, and the children of the clergy with those of other professional men. Galton also astutely directs our attention to the fact that if prayer was efficacious with respect to longevity, insurance offices would long ago have discovered it and made allowance for it. The conclusion from the studies of Galton was that those much prayed for were not blessed with a long life but in contrast had slightly shorter life than those not prayed for. This conclusion was derived at in the old days. Today the efficacy of prayer has been tested with modern and more rigorous scientific methods. This has been done in many studies; however, only a few will be mentioned here. The first study was performed among patients with chronic diseases, half of whom were prayed for Ž . and half not prayed for Joyce and Welldon, 1965 . The praying was performed by six prayer groups, and each patient received a total of 15 h of prayer during a minimum of 6 months. The patients were unaware that a trial was in progress, the prayer groups did not meet with the patients, and the praying was conducted at least 30 miles away from the patients. The type of prayer consisted of mentally imaging the patient and thinking of the patient in the context of the love and wholeness of God, called ‘the practice of the presence of God’. The study found no beneficial effect of prayer on clinical state. Likewise, in another blinded study of leukaemic children, those prayed for daily in a Protestant church, did not have better survival or clinical status than the children Ž . not prayed for Collipp, 1969 . A more recent study examined the effect of praying to the Judeo Christian God on the medical condition of patients admitted to a coronary care Ž . unit Byrd, 1988 . The patients were divided randomly into a group prayed for and a group not prayed for. The study was performed double blind Ž i.e. the patients and the doctors and other health-


European Journal of Cancer Prevention | 2001

Clothes make the man.

Lars Ovesen

Feel lonely? What about reading books? Book is one of the greatest friends to accompany while in your lonely time. When you have no friends and activities somewhere and sometimes, reading book can be a great choice. This is not only for spending the time, it will increase the knowledge. Of course the b=benefits to take will relate to what kind of book that you are reading. And now, we will concern you to try reading clothes make the man as one of the reading material to finish quickly.


European Journal of Cancer Prevention | 1998

A regular contribution from Lars Ovesen, which we hope will help the busy scientist keep up with the literature: Emotions in plants

Lars Ovesen

One wonders why studies of such paramount importance seem to have totally escaped scientific attention. But first a little history. An unknown scientist – at least to me – named C. Backster, suggested in 1968 that plants might have an emotional life, and that communication between plants and animals might exist. Unfortunately, as so often happens for people ahead of their time, the established scientific community ridiculed his epochal findings.


European Journal of Cancer Prevention | 2004

The Midas touch and other tipping stunts

Lars Ovesen


European Journal of Cancer Prevention | 2004

Machismo in motion.

Lars Ovesen


European Journal of Cancer Prevention | 2001

Christmas in science.

Lars Ovesen


European Journal of Cancer Prevention | 2006

A regular contribution from Lars Ovesen, which we hope will help the busy scientist in keeping up with the literature : A toast to mathematics

Lars Ovesen

Collaboration


Dive into the Lars Ovesen's collaboration.

Researchain Logo
Decentralizing Knowledge