ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Between ear and brain, an orderly orchestra of synapses
• Molecular matchmaking for drug discovery
• Noninvasive genetic test for Down syndrome and Edwards syndrome highly accurate
• Mothers' teen cannabinoid exposure may increase response of offspring to opiate drugs
• New Firefly technology lights up more precise kidney sparing surgery
• Overfed fruit flies develop insulin resistance; Represent new tool to study human diabetes
• Milk ingredient does a waistline good
• How immune system, inflammation may play role in Lou Gehrig's disease
• Keeping up with embryogenesis: New microscope tracks cells as they move and divide
• Air pollution linked to chronic heart disease
• Type 2 diabetes linked to increased blood cancer risk
• Anxious girls' brains work harder
• Rattlesnakes strike again, bites more toxic
• Higher taxes, smoke-free policies are reducing smoking in moms-to-be
• Magnetic stimulation to improve visual perception
• How religion promotes confidence about paternity
• Brain scans support Freud: Guilt plays key role in depression
• Depression treatment can prevent adolescent drug abuse

Between ear and brain, an orderly orchestra of synapses Posted: 05 Jun 2012 02:52 PM PDT A new study finds that the ear delivers sound information to the brain in a surprisingly organized fashion.

Molecular matchmaking for drug discovery Posted: 05 Jun 2012 02:20 PM PDT Computational drug discovery allows researchers to target a small group of possible molecules for therapeutic use, saving significant time and money. Scientists have now reported on advances in image reconstruction that allow his group to detect the secondary structures of proteins from single particle cryo-electron microscopy.

Noninvasive genetic test for Down syndrome and Edwards syndrome highly accurate Posted: 05 Jun 2012 12:59 PM PDT Current screening strategies for Down syndrome, caused by fetal trisomy 21, and Edwards syndrome, caused by fetal trisomy 18, have false positive rates of 2-3 percent, and false negative rates of 5 percent or higher. Positive screening results must be confirmed by amniocentesis or CVS, carrying a fetal loss rate of approximately 1 in 300 procedures. Now an international, multicenter cohort study finds that a genetic test to screen for trisomy 21 or 18 from a maternal blood sample is almost 100 percent accurate.

Mothers' teen cannabinoid exposure may increase response of offspring to opiate drugs Posted: 05 Jun 2012 12:59 PM PDT A study in rats suggests that mothers who use marijuana during their teen years -- then stop -- may put their eventual offspring at risk of increased sensitivity to opiates.

New Firefly technology lights up more precise kidney sparing surgery Posted: 05 Jun 2012 11:34 AM PDT During kidney surgery, Firefly fluorescence used with the da Vinci robot lights up in "firefly green" the blood supply to the kidney and helps differentiate cancerous from healthy tissue. More patients can keep the healthy part of their kidney rather than losing the entire organ.

Overfed fruit flies develop insulin resistance; Represent new tool to study human diabetes Posted: 05 Jun 2012 10:07 AM PDT Researchers have demonstrated that adult fruit flies fed either high-carb or high-protein diets develop metabolic abnormalities, including insulin resistance, which is a hallmark of type 2 human diabetes. Fruit fly D. melanogaster has been used successfully to investigate multiple human diseases. The new study demonstrates that diet profoundly influences fruit fly physiology and health and that insulin-resistant flies provide a new research tool for investigating the molecular mechanisms of insulin resistance.

Milk ingredient does a waistline good Posted: 05 Jun 2012 10:07 AM PDT A natural ingredient found in milk can protect against obesity even as mice continue to enjoy diets that are high in fat. The researchers liken this milk ingredient to a new kind of vitamin.

How immune system, inflammation may play role in Lou Gehrig's disease Posted: 05 Jun 2012 09:17 AM PDT In an early study, researchers found that the immune cells of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, may play a role in damaging the neurons in the spinal cord. ALS is a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement.

Keeping up with embryogenesis: New microscope tracks cells as they move and divide Posted: 05 Jun 2012 09:17 AM PDT The transformation of a fertilized egg into a functioning animal requires thousands of cell divisions and intricate rearrangements of those cells. That process is captured with unprecedented speed and precision by a new imaging technology that lets users track each cell in an embryo as it takes shape over hours or days.

Air pollution linked to chronic heart disease Posted: 05 Jun 2012 09:17 AM PDT Cardiac patients living in high pollution areas were found to be over 40 percent more likely to have a second heart attack when compared to patients living in low pollution areas, according to a new study.

Type 2 diabetes linked to increased blood cancer risk Posted: 05 Jun 2012 09:16 AM PDT A new meta-analysis reveals patients with type 2 diabetes have a 20 percent increased risk of developing blood cancers.

Anxious girls' brains work harder Posted: 05 Jun 2012 08:37 AM PDT In a discovery that could help in the identification and treatment of anxiety disorders, scientists say the brains of anxious girls work much harder than those of boys.

Rattlesnakes strike again, bites more toxic Posted: 05 Jun 2012 07:26 AM PDT Each year, approximately 8,000 Americans are bitten by venomous snakes. On average, 800 or so bites occur annually in California, home to an abundance of snake species, but only one family is native and venomous: rattlesnakes. In San Diego County, the number of rattlesnake bites is increasing as well as the toxicity of the attack.

Higher taxes, smoke-free policies are reducing smoking in moms-to-be Posted: 05 Jun 2012 04:55 AM PDT It's estimated that almost 23 percent of women enter pregnancy as smokers and more than half continue to smoke during pregnancy, leading to excess health-care costs at delivery and beyond. In one of the first studies to assess smoking bans and taxes on cigarettes, along with the level of tobacco control spending, researchers have found that state tobacco control policies can be effective in curbing smoking during pregnancy, and in preventing a return to smoking within four months on average, after delivery.

Magnetic stimulation to improve visual perception Posted: 05 Jun 2012 04:51 AM PDT Using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), an international team has succeeded in enhancing the visual abilities of a group of healthy subjects. Following stimulation of an area of the brain's right hemisphere involved in perceptual awareness and in orienting spatial attention, the subjects appeared more likely to perceive a target appearing on a screen.

How religion promotes confidence about paternity Posted: 04 Jun 2012 03:20 PM PDT Religious practices that strongly control female sexuality are more successful at promoting certainty about paternity, according to a new study.

Brain scans support Freud: Guilt plays key role in depression Posted: 04 Jun 2012 03:18 PM PDT Scientists have shown that the brains of people with depression respond differently to feelings of guilt -- even after their symptoms have subsided.

Depression treatment can prevent adolescent drug abuse Posted: 04 Jun 2012 12:57 PM PDT Treating adolescents for major depression can also reduce their chances of abusing drugs later on, a secondary benefit found in a five-year study of nearly 200 youths at 11 sites across the United States.

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