ScienceDaily Health Headlines -- for Sunday, November 6, 2011

ScienceDaily Health Headlines

for Sunday, November 6, 2011

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Why measles spreads so quickly (November 5, 2011) -- Researchers have discovered why measles, perhaps the most contagious viral disease in the world, spreads so quickly. ... > full story

When our neurons remain silent so that our performances may improve (November 5, 2011) -- Why do we "turn off" our neurons at times when we need them most? Scientists have just demonstrated that a network of specific neurons, referred to as "the default-mode network" works on a permanent basis even when we are doing nothing. ... > full story

Unraveling Batten disease (November 5, 2011) -- Scientists reveal the actions of a gene implicated in Batten disease, a rare, degenerative childhood disorder. ... > full story

Psychological traumas experienced over lifetime linked to adult irritable bowel syndrome (November 5, 2011) -- The psychological and emotional traumas experienced over a lifetime -- such as the death of a loved one, divorce, natural disaster, house fire or car accident, physical or mental abuse -- may contribute to adult irritable bowel syndrome, according to the results of a new study. ... > full story

New ways to image and therapeutically target melanoma using nanomedicine? (November 4, 2011) -- Because the incidence of malignant melanoma is rising faster than any other cancer in the US, medical researchers are working overtime to develop new technologies to aid in both malignant melanoma diagnosis and therapy. A tool of great promise comes from the world of nanomedicine. ... > full story

Skin 'sees' UV light, starts producing pigment (November 4, 2011) -- Biologists report that melanocyte skin cells detect ultraviolet light using a photosensitive receptor previously thought to exist only in the eye. This eye-like ability of skin to sense light triggers the production of melanin within hours, more quickly than previously thought, in an apparent rush to protect against damage to DNA. ... > full story

Brain probe that softens after insertion causes less scarring (November 4, 2011) -- A hard probe inserted in the cerebral cortex of a rat model turns nearly as pliable as the surrounding gray matter in minutes, and induces less of the tough scarring that walls off hard probes that do not change, researchers have found. ... > full story

11/11/11: Maya scholar debunks doomsday myths (November 4, 2011) -- This fall, Hoopes and his students have watched two predicted cataclysmic dates -- Oct. 21 and 28 -- come and go with little fanfare. Oct. 21 was a date selected by California evangelist Harold Camping after his original May 21, 2011, prediction passed without calamity. Swedish pharmacologist, self-help advocate and self-taught Maya cosmologist Carl Johan Calleman was among those predicting that Oct. 28 would usher in a worldwide unified consciousness. ... > full story

Cerebral palsy-like brain damage prevented in mice (November 4, 2011) -- Scientists have shown that a protein may help prevent the kind of brain damage that occurs in babies with cerebral palsy. ... > full story

Alternate ending: Living on without telomerase (November 4, 2011) -- Scientists have discovered an alternative mechanism for the extension of the telomere repeat sequence by DNA repair enzymes. ... > full story

Starving prostate cancer: Scientists discover how to cut off cancer's food supply (November 4, 2011) -- Researchers in Australia have discovered a potential future treatment for prostate cancer -- through starving the tumor cells of an essential nutrient they need to grow rapidly. Their work, with human cells grown in the lab, reveals targets for drugs that could slow the progress of early and late stage prostate cancer. ... > full story

Interactive play with blocks found to facilitate development of spatial vocabulary (November 4, 2011) -- Parents and researchers have long speculated that play with construction toys might offer a rich environment that would support later learning in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. Researchers have found that when playing with blocks under interactive conditions, children hear the kind of language that helps them think about space, such as "over," "around" and "through." ... > full story