ScienceDaily Health Headlines
for Thursday, October 6, 2011
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Dietary supplements for patients after lung injury do not appear to improve outcomes; may be harmful, study suggests (October 6, 2011) -- In contrast to findings of previous studies, patients who experienced an acute lung injury, such as from pneumonia or sepsis, and received dietary supplements including omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants had more days on a ventilator, more days in the intensive care unit, and a non-statistically significant increase in the rate of death, according to a new study. ... > full story
Research sheds light on origins of greatness (October 6, 2011) -- In a provocative new paper, an expert suggests working memory capacity -- which is closely related to general intelligence -- may sometimes be the deciding factor between being good and being great. ... > full story
Progression of lung fibrosis blocked in mouse model (October 6, 2011) -- A new study may lead to a way to prevent the progression, or induce the regression, of lung injury that results from use of the anti-cancer chemotherapy drug bleomycin. Pulmonary fibrosis caused by this drug, as well as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis from unknown causes, affect nearly five million people worldwide. No therapy is known to improve the health or survival of patients. ... > full story
Lift weights, eat mustard, build muscles? (October 6, 2011) -- If you want to lean out, add muscle and get ripped, new research suggests to look to your garden for help. Scientists have found that when a specific plant steroid was ingested by rats, it triggered a response similar to anabolic steroids with minimal side effects. The stimulatory effect of homobrassinolide on protein synthesis in muscle cells led to increases in lean body mass, muscle mass, and physical performance. ... > full story
Athletes' winning streaks may not be all in our -- or their -- heads (October 6, 2011) -- When an athlete consistently does well, sports commentators may describe them as being "hot" or "on fire." Scientists have debunked these streaks as being in the eye of the beholder, but a new study supports the "hot hand" phenomenon: that a streak of positive outcomes is likely to continue. ... > full story
Seeds of destruction in Parkinson's disease: Spread of diseased proteins kills neurons (October 5, 2011) -- New research suggests that small "seed" amounts of diseased brain proteins can be taken up by healthy neurons and propagated within them to cause neurodegeneration. The research sheds light on the mechanisms associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) and provides a model for discovering early intervention therapeutics that can prevent or slow the devastating loss of neurons that underlies PD. ... > full story
Does MRI pose more than minimal risk in pediatric research? (October 5, 2011) -- Shedding light on a question that has baffled research ethics review boards, a new analysis of the use of magnetic resonance imaging in pediatric clinical trials finds that the risks of physical and psychological harm associated with this procedure are no greater than the risks that healthy children face from everyday activities. However, adding an intravenous contrast dye or sedation to an MRI increases the odds of harm to unacceptable levels. ... > full story
Remitting multiple sclerosis: Natalizumab reduces relapses and disability, review suggests (October 5, 2011) -- Taking the new generation anti-inflammatory drug natalizumab for two years lowers the number of remitting multiple sclerosis patients who experience relapses and progression of disability. ... > full story
Keeping track of reality: Why some people are better at it (October 5, 2011) -- A structural variation in a part of the brain may explain why some people are better than others at distinguishing real events from those they might have imagined or been told about, researchers have found. ... > full story
One quarter of seniors over 70 have had silent strokes (October 5, 2011) -- A new study found a quarter of seniors over 70 have had silent strokes. Recent imaging studies on the brains of people aged 65 and older show that 95 percent have brain small vessel disease and a quarter of healthy senior volunteers have evidence of small silent strokes. ... > full story
Here, there, everywhere: Reward and penalty processing is widespread in the human brain (October 5, 2011) -- Our behavior is often guided by the desire to obtain positive outcomes and avoid negative consequences, and neuroscientists have put a great deal of effort into looking for reward and punishment "centers" in the brain. Now, new research reveals that neural signals related to reinforcement and punishment are far more broadly distributed throughout the entire human brain than was previously thought. ... > full story
This is your brain on estrogen (October 5, 2011) -- It's no secret that women often gain weight as they get older. The sex hormone estrogen has an important, if underappreciated, role to play in those burgeoning waistlines. Now, researchers have traced those hormonal effects on metabolism to different parts of the brain. The findings may lead to the development of highly selective hormone replacement therapies that could be used to combat obesity or infertility in women without the risks for heart disease and breast cancer, the researchers say. ... > full story
Nanoparticles seek and destroy glioblastoma in mice (October 5, 2011) -- Scientists have combined a tumor-homing peptide, a cell-killing peptide, and a nanoparticle. When administered to mice with glioblastoma that could not otherwise be treated, this new nanosystem eradicated most tumors in one model and significantly delayed tumor development in another. ... > full story
Residential washers may not kill hospital-acquired bacteria (October 5, 2011) -- Residential washing machines may not always use hot enough water to eliminate dangerous bacteria like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Acinetobacter, a Gram-negative bacteria, from hospital uniforms, according to a new study. ... > full story
Growing up in bad neighborhoods has a 'devastating' impact, study finds (October 5, 2011) -- Growing up in a poor neighborhood significantly reduces the chances that a child will graduate from high school, according to a new study. And the longer a child lives in that kind of neighborhood, the more harmful the impact. ... > full story
Preterm infants exposed to stressors in neonatal intensive care unit display reduced brain size, study finds (October 5, 2011) -- New research shows that exposure to stressors in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is associated with alterations in the brain structure and function of very preterm infants. According to the study, infants who experienced early exposure to stress displayed decreased brain size, functional connectivity, and abnormal motor behavior. ... > full story
Modeling cancer using ecological principles (October 5, 2011) -- The invasion of a new species into an established ecosystem can be directly compared to the steps involved in cancer metastasis. New research uses the Tilman model of competition between invasive species to study the metastasis of prostate cells into bone. ... > full story
In reading facial emotion, context is everything (October 5, 2011) -- In a close-up headshot, Serena Williams' eyes are pressed tensely closed; her mouth is wide open, teeth bared. Her face looks enraged. Now zoom out: The tennis star is on the court, racket in hand, fist clenched in victory. She's not angry. She's ecstatic, having just beaten her sister Venus at the 2008 U.S. Open. ... > full story
Circadian clock may impact organ transplant success (October 5, 2011) -- Health-care providers assess blood and tissue type as well as organ size and health to enhance transplant success. New research indicates that checklist might also need to include the circadian clock. While some human studies have shown the time of day transplant surgery is performed can influence the outcome, this study of mice with dysfunctional internal clocks is the first correlating circadian clocks with transplant success. ... > full story
Smokers twice as likely to have strokes, study suggests (October 5, 2011) -- Not only are smokers twice as likely to have strokes, they are almost a decade younger than non-smokers when they have them, according to a study. ... > full story
Fighting prejudice through imitation: Asking white people to mirror the movements of a black person lowers their levels of implicit prejudice (October 5, 2011) -- New research shows that you can reduce racial prejudice simply by having a person mimic the movements of a member of the race he or she is prejudiced against. The method may work by activating brain mechanisms that contribute to feelings of empathy. ... > full story
Newly identified gene may be risk factor for osteoporosis (October 5, 2011) -- Researchers have identified a new gene that modulates bone mass and that could become a risk factor for developing osteoporosis. ... > full story
Scientists shut down pump action to break breast cancer cells' drug resistance (October 5, 2011) -- Breast cancer cells that mutate to resist drug treatment survive by establishing tiny pumps on their surface that reject the drugs as they penetrate the cell membrane -- making the cancer insensitive to chemotherapy drugs even after repeated use. Researchers have found a new way to break that resistance and shut off the pumps by genetically altering those breast cancer cells to forcibly activate a heat-shock protein called Hsp27. ... > full story
Drunk behavior: A question of immunity (October 5, 2011) -- Researchers in Australia have found that immune cells in your brain may contribute to how you respond to alcohol. ... > full story
Longer trips to the ER, especially for minorities and poor (October 5, 2011) -- Closures of hospital trauma centers are disproportionately affecting poor, uninsured and African-American populations, and nearly a fourth of Americans are now forced to travel farther than they once did. ... > full story
Nursing home flu shots fall short, especially for blacks (October 5, 2011) -- Black nursing home residents are less likely than their white counterparts to receive flu shots, even within the same nursing home, a new analysis finds. Overall, vaccinations have yet to reach the 90 percent level sought by Medicare and Medicaid. In most cases patients go unvaccinated because they refuse the shots, suggesting that for some patients, homes may have to improve how they communicate the benefits of the flu vaccine. ... > full story
Teaching non-language courses in a foreign language improves language learning, research suggests (October 5, 2011) -- Students who in addition to their traditional German language courses are taught other courses in German end up with both a stronger vocabulary and a better communicative ability, according to new research. ... > full story
Hysterectomy is associated with increased levels of iron in the brain; Study suggests reducing iron may lower age-related brain disease risk (October 4, 2011) -- Men have more iron in their bodies and brains than women. These higher levels may be part of the explanation for why men develop these age-related neurodegenerative diseases at a younger age. But why do women have less iron in their systems than men? One possible explanation for the gender difference is that during menstruation, iron is eliminated through the loss of blood. Now, a new study confirms this suspicion and suggests strategies to reduce excess iron levels in both men and women. ... > full story
Combination therapy beneficial for head and neck skin carcinomas, study suggests (October 4, 2011) -- Patients who have high-risk non-melanoma skin carcinomas of the head and neck may benefit from concomitant radiotherapy and chemotherapy, according to a new study. Their study is the first to report on multiple patients with these skin carcinomas treated simultaneously with radio- and chemotherapy. ... > full story
Researchers identifiy more accurate treatment delivery for robotic radiosurgery system (October 4, 2011) -- A new study now reports that there is an alternative to the conventional CyberKnife treatment delivery system. This new technique uses a multileaf collimator (MLC) and can flexibly sculpt a single radiation beam to match the exact contour of a tumor -- significantly reducing the treatment time and minimizing the amount of radiation to the neighboring tissues. ... > full story
Intensive training helps children with reading and writing difficulties (October 4, 2011) -- Intensive daily training for a limited period is better for children with reading and writing difficulties than the traditional remedial tuition offered by schools, reveals new research. ... > full story
A shot of cortisone stops traumatic stress, study suggests (October 4, 2011) -- Scientists say that a single extra dose of cortisone -- which the body naturally produces just after a traumatic event -- reduces the chance that an individual will develop PTSD by 60 percent. ... > full story
Experiments suggest research avenues for treating excess fat storage and obesity (October 4, 2011) -- Scientists have begun to unravel the complex process by which cells take in and store microscopic fat molecules, suggesting new directions for further research into solutions for obesity and its related conditions, such as heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease. ... > full story
Young children show improved verbal IQ after 20 days of exposure to music-based, cognitive training 'cartoons' (October 4, 2011) -- Canadian scientists who specialize in learning, memory and language in children have found exciting evidence that preschoolers can improve their verbal intelligence after only 20 days of classroom instruction using interactive, music-based cognitive training cartoons. ... > full story
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