ScienceDaily Health Headlines -- for Saturday, December 3, 2011

ScienceDaily Health Headlines

for Saturday, December 3, 2011

Welcome to another edition of ScienceDaily's email newsletter. You can change your subscription options or unsubscribe at any time.

Vegetables, fruits, grains reduce stroke risk in women (December 2, 2011) -- Swedish women who ate an antioxidant-rich diet had fewer strokes especially if they had no history of cardiovascular disease, according to a new study. The findings persisted even after statistics were adjusted for other risk factors such as smoking and physical activity. Women with the highest level of antioxidants in their diet consumed about half their antioxidants from fruits and vegetables. ... > full story

Research improves diagnosis and potential treatment of neuromyelitis optica (December 2, 2011) -- Researchers have identified critical steps leading to myelin destruction in neuromyelitis optica (NMO), a debilitating neurological disease that is commonly misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis. The findings could lead to better care for the thousands of patients around the world with NMO. ... > full story

Impatient people have lower credit scores, study finds (December 2, 2011) -- Is there a psychological reason why people default on their mortgages? A new study finds that people with bad credit scores are more impatient -- more likely to choose immediate rewards rather than wait for a larger reward later. ... > full story

Cell molecule identified as central player in the formation of new blood vessels (December 2, 2011) -- Scientists have identified a cellular protein that plays a central role in the formation of new blood vessels. The molecule is the protein Shc, and new blood vessel formation, or angiogenesis, is seriously impaired without it. ... > full story

Fecal microbiota transplants effective treatment for C. difficile, inflammatory bowel disease, research finds (December 2, 2011) -- Growing evidence for the effectiveness of fecal microbiota transplants as a treatment for patients with recurrent bouts of Clostridium difficile associated diarrhea is presented in three studies -- including a long-term follow-up of colonoscopic fecal microbiota transplant for recurrent C. difficile Infection that included 77 patients from five different states. ... > full story

Moral dilemma: Would you kill one person to save five? (December 2, 2011) -- Nine out of 10 people would kill one person to save five others, according to a provocative new morality study. ... > full story

New evidence of an unrecognized visual process (December 2, 2011) -- We don't see only what meets the eye. The visual system constantly takes in ambiguous stimuli, weighs its options, and decides what it perceives. This normally happens effortlessly. Sometimes, however, an ambiguity is persistent, and the visual system waffles on which perception is right. Such instances interest scientists because they help us understand how the eyes and the brain make sense of what we see. ... > full story

World's first view of Type 1 diabetes as it unfolds (December 2, 2011) -- A war is being waged in the pancreases of millions of people throughout the world. The siege leads to the development of Type 1 diabetes and has been a battlefield largely hidden from view -- until now. Researchers have created the first cellular movies showing the destruction underlying Type 1 diabetes in real-time in mouse models. ... > full story

Amplification of multiple cell-growth genes found in some brain tumors (December 2, 2011) -- A small percentage of the deadly brain tumors called glioblastomas, which usually resist treatment with drugs targeting mutations in cell-growth genes, appears to contain extra copies of two or three of these genes at the same time. The surprising discovery has major implications for the understanding of tumor biology – including the evolution of tumor cell populations – and for targeted cancer therapies. ... > full story

Scientists use laser imaging to assess safety of zinc oxide nanoparticles in sunscreen (December 2, 2011) -- Ultra-tiny zinc oxide (ZnO) particles are among the ingredients list of some commercially available sunscreen products, raising concerns about whether the particles may be absorbed beneath the outer layer of skin. To help answer these questions, a team of scientists from Australia and Switzerland have developed a way to optically test the concentration of ZnO nanoparticles at different skin depths. ... > full story

Probiotics reduce infections for patients in intensive care, study finds (December 2, 2011) -- Traumatic brain injury is associated with a profound suppression of the patient's ability to fight infection. At the same time the patient also often suffers hyper-inflammation, due to the brain releasing glucocorticoids. New research shows that including probiotics with nutrients, supplied via the patient's feeding tube, increased interferon levels, reduced the number of infections, and even reduced the amount of time patients spent in intensive care. ... > full story

Age-old remedies using white tea, witch hazel and rose may be beneficial, study suggests (December 2, 2011) -- Age-old remedies could hold the key to treating a wide range of serious medical problems, as well as keeping skin firmer and less wrinkled, according to scientists. Experts have discovered that white tea, witch hazel and the simple rose hold potential health and beauty properties which could be simply too good to ignore. ... > full story