ScienceDaily Health Headlines -- for Sunday, September 4, 2011

ScienceDaily Health Headlines

for Sunday, September 4, 2011

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Discovery suggests way to block fetal brain damage produced by oxygen deprivation (September 3, 2011) -- Examining brain damage that occurs when fetuses in the womb are deprived of oxygen, researchers have discovered that damage does not occur randomly but is linked to the specific action of a naturally occurring fatty molecule called LPA, acting through a receptor that transfers information into young brain cells. ... > full story

Researchers investigate new mechanism for predicting how diseases spread (September 3, 2011) -- Researchers have investigated the outcomes of a previously ignored mechanism in modeling how humans travel. By challenging a long-held assumption, they hope to create models that can more accurately predict the spread of disease and the spread of human-mediated bioinvasions. ... > full story

Researchers develop new way to predict heart transplant survival (September 3, 2011) -- Researchers say they have developed a formula to predict which heart transplant patients are at greatest risk of death in the year following their surgeries, information that could help medical teams figure out who would benefit most from the small number of available organs. ... > full story

Glucocorticoid treatment may prevent long term damage to joints, study shows (September 3, 2011) -- Joint injury can result in irreversible damage of cartilage which, despite treatment and surgery, often eventually leads to osteoarthritis (OA) in later life. New research demonstrates that short term treatment of damaged cartilage with glucocorticoids can reduce long term degenerative changes and may provide hope for prevention of OA after injury. ... > full story

Sexual orientation unconsciously affects our impressions of others, Canadian study suggests (September 3, 2011) -- Studies by psychologists in Canada reveal that when it comes to white men, being straight may make you more likable but in the case of black men, gays have a likability edge. ... > full story

Vitamin A supplements for infants could save thousands of lives a year (September 3, 2011) -- An international study suggests that giving vitamin A supplements to children in low and middle income countries could significantly cut rates of mortality, illnesses and blindness amongst those below the age of five. ... > full story

New treatments for baldness? Scientists find stem cells that tell hair it's time to grow (September 2, 2011) -- Researchers have discovered the source of signals that trigger hair growth, an insight that may lead to new treatments for baldness. ... > full story

Powerful antioxidant resveratrol prevents metabolic syndrome in lab tests, study finds (September 2, 2011) -- Researchers in Canada have discovered that resveratrol, a powerful antioxidant found in common foods, prevents a syndrome in some offspring that could lead to later health issues such as diabetes. Resveratrol is found in fruits, nuts and red wine, and has been shown to extend the lifespan of many species. ... > full story

New insight in how cells' powerhouse divides (September 2, 2011) -- New research puts an unexpected twist on how mitochondria, the energy-generating structures within cells, divide. The work could have implications for a wide range of diseases and conditions. ... > full story

People think the 'typical' member of a group looks like them (September 2, 2011) -- What does a typical European face look like according to Europeans? It all depends on which European you ask. Germans think the typical European looks more German; Portuguese people think the typical European looks more Portuguese, according to a new study. ... > full story

Researchers identify gene that leads to myopia (nearsightedness) (September 2, 2011) -- Despite decades of intensive research, the specific genes whose defects lead to nearsightedness have remained elusive. A defective gene was identified in a thorough study of severe early-onset myopia that is common in a specific Bedouin tribe in southern Israel. ... > full story

How to get ahead in the nervous system: Scientists discover a highly conserved mechanism governing brain development (September 2, 2011) -- If you think today's political rhetoric is overheated, imagine what goes on inside a vertebrate embryo. There, two armies whose agendas are poles apart, engage in a battle with consequences much more dire than whether the economy will recover -- they are battling for whether you (or frogs or chickens) will have a forebrain. A new study reveals that a foot soldier of one army -- the ventralizers -- deploys a weapon that disarms the other -- the dorsalizers -- leaving the embryo free to develop a proper brain. Those findings define how the embryonic nervous system develops and could shed light on mechanisms underlying colon cancer. ... > full story