ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Packaged food purchases at non-grocery stores are up but nutritional quality is down
• Happy head, happy heart: Positive emotions may promote heart-healthy behaviors
• Battling obesity in the classroom with exercise
• Surprise: Your visual cortex is making decisions
• Phone app allows researchers to conduct concealed food safety observations
• Gut bacteria population, diversity linked to anorexia nervosa
• Horse sickness shares signs of human brain disorders, study finds
• Electron tomography with 3487 images in 3.5 seconds
• Study examines incidence of serious, highly drug-resistant group of bacteria
• Patients with flu-associated pneumonia less likely to have received flu vaccine
• Sharing of genetic data empowers discovery of new disorders in children
• Ethnic, racial, socioeconomic disparities in retinoblastoma in children
• Antihypertensive beta-blockers may increase cardiovascular risks in surgical patients
• Disparities in time spent seeking medical care in the United States
• Finches offer researchers a new tool with which to study Huntington's disease
• Study reveals key structure in telomerase enzyme, a target for cancer drugs
• Pinpointing gene that regulates repair, regeneration in adult lungs
• Nanoparticulate carbon black particles tiny culprits that start emphysema
• Study examines antibullying policies, bullying in 25 states
• 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• Predictive model could help guide choices for breast cancer therapies
• Gastric bypass surgery improves blood sugar handling and insulin sensitivity, study finds
• Novel prosthetic heart valve developed for treatment of severe heart disorder
• Type 1 diabetes prevention: Insulin vaccine undergoes second trial
• Depression can lead to work disability
• Genetic polymorphism associated with lung cancer progression
• Green walls: Red card for office worker health?
• Speeding up TB detection in Cambodia
• Stimulant medication safe, effective for children with ADHD and congenital heart disease
• Zipline-related injuries are rapidly increasing
• Identifying cancer's food sensors may help to halt tumor growth
• Face-to-face socializing more powerful than phone calls, emails in guarding against depression

Packaged food purchases at non-grocery stores are up but nutritional quality is down Posted: 05 Oct 2015 12:15 PM PDT Consumers are increasingly buying food from mass merchandisers, warehouse clubs, and convenience stores, but are selecting foods with poor nutritional profiles, according to new study.

Happy head, happy heart: Positive emotions may promote heart-healthy behaviors Posted: 05 Oct 2015 10:26 AM PDT People with heart disease may benefit from maintaining positive emotions, according to health researchers. The researchers assessed psychological well-being of participants at baseline and again at a five-year follow-up by asking the participants to rate the extent that they had felt 10 specified positive emotions, including "interested," "proud," "enthusiastic" and "inspired." Physical activity, sleep quality, medication adherence and alcohol and cigarette use were also measured at baseline and again five years later.

Battling obesity in the classroom with exercise Posted: 05 Oct 2015 09:17 AM PDT There's another burst of seat-bouncing, giggling and shouting in a simulated classroom. Through a new study, researchers hope to find ways to redesign classrooms and develop a curriculum to add in two-minute exercise breaks throughout the day -- "a prescription for physical activity" -- and incorporate the additional fitness as seamlessly as possible for teachers.

Surprise: Your visual cortex is making decisions Posted: 05 Oct 2015 09:14 AM PDT The part of the brain responsible for seeing is more powerful than previously believed. In fact, the visual cortex can essentially make decisions just like the brain's traditional 'higher level' areas, finds a new study.

Phone app allows researchers to conduct concealed food safety observations Posted: 05 Oct 2015 09:14 AM PDT Smartphones are so ubiquitous, and text messaging and social media activities so common in public places, that no one questions what anyone does with their phone. That pervasiveness allows a phone application to be used in direct, concealed observations without alerting the people being observed.

Gut bacteria population, diversity linked to anorexia nervosa Posted: 05 Oct 2015 09:13 AM PDT Studying the 'gut-brain axis,' researchers find evidence of an association between the gut microbiota and the eating disorder anorexia nervosa.

Horse sickness shares signs of human brain disorders, study finds Posted: 05 Oct 2015 09:11 AM PDT Horses with a rare nerve condition have similar signs of disease as people with conditions such as Alzheimer's, a new study has found. The findings shed new light on the causes of the rare but predominately fatal horse condition and could help to develop new tools for diagnosing the illness.

Electron tomography with 3487 images in 3.5 seconds Posted: 05 Oct 2015 09:11 AM PDT Scientists have used a transmission electron microscope to record almost 3500 images in 3.5 seconds for the reconstruction of a 3D electron tomogram. Previously, 10 to 60 minutes and a ten-fold greater electron dose were required to record such image sequences. The new capability is particularly suitable for examining cells, bacteria, viruses and dynamic processes, such as chemical reactions and electronic switching phenomena.

Study examines incidence of serious, highly drug-resistant group of bacteria Posted: 05 Oct 2015 09:10 AM PDT The overall incidence in 2012-2013 was relatively low of a serious, highly drug-resistant group of bacteria (Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae that are an important cause for health-care associated infections, according to a study. Most CRE cases were associated with prior hospitalizations and discharge to long-term care settings.

Patients with flu-associated pneumonia less likely to have received flu vaccine Posted: 05 Oct 2015 09:10 AM PDT Among children and adults hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia, those with influenza-associated pneumonia, compared with those with pneumonia not associated with influenza, had lower odds of having received an influenza vaccination, according to a study.

Sharing of genetic data empowers discovery of new disorders in children Posted: 05 Oct 2015 09:10 AM PDT Four new genetic disorders have been identified by the team behind the Deciphering Developmental Disorders (DDD) Study, one of the world's largest nationwide rare disease genome-wide sequencing initiatives. They developed a novel computational approach to identify genetic variants that cause disease in young children, contrasting the DNA of children with severe developmental disorders of unknown genetic cause, with the DNA from individuals without overt developmental disorders. It was only possible because of data sharing.

Ethnic, racial, socioeconomic disparities in retinoblastoma in children Posted: 05 Oct 2015 09:09 AM PDT Ethnic, racial and socioeconomic disparities appear to exist among children with retinoblastoma, a once uniformly fatal but now treatable eye cancer, and those disparities are associated with greater risks for advanced disease and undergoing enucleation (removal of the eye), according to an article.

Antihypertensive beta-blockers may increase cardiovascular risks in surgical patients Posted: 05 Oct 2015 09:09 AM PDT A two-drug antihypertensive treatment that included a beta-blocker was associated with increased risk for major adverse cardiovascular events and death in a study of patients who underwent noncardiac surgery, according to an article.

Disparities in time spent seeking medical care in the United States Posted: 05 Oct 2015 09:09 AM PDT Racial/ethnic minorities and unemployed individuals had a longer total time burden (time spent traveling to, waiting for and receiving ambulatory medical care) in a nationally representative study, although patients' face-to-face time with physicians tended not to vary, according to a new article.

Finches offer researchers a new tool with which to study Huntington's disease Posted: 05 Oct 2015 09:09 AM PDT The most common lab animals, rats and mice, can't tell scientists much about speech disorders. However, a new study shows how songbirds, specifically zebra finches, may be able to aid research on neurodegenerative disorders that affect speech and vocalization.

Study reveals key structure in telomerase enzyme, a target for cancer drugs Posted: 05 Oct 2015 09:09 AM PDT Researchers have determined the structure of a key part of the enzyme telomerase, which is active in most cancers and enables cancer cells to proliferate indefinitely. The new findings reveal how the enzyme carries out a crucial function involved in protecting the ends of chromosomes.

Pinpointing gene that regulates repair, regeneration in adult lungs Posted: 05 Oct 2015 09:09 AM PDT The whimsically named sonic hedgehog gene, best known for controlling embryonic development, also maintains the normal physiological state and repair process of an adult healthy lung, if damaged, according to new research.

Nanoparticulate carbon black particles tiny culprits that start emphysema Posted: 05 Oct 2015 09:09 AM PDT When pathologists perform autopsies on smokers who died with severe emphysema, they find that lungs are black in appearance. Until recently, researchers and physicians could only guess at the composition of the material that gave the black color to the lungs of smokers. In two papers, researchers identify that black material as mostly insoluble nanoparticulate carbon black, tiny specks that result from the incomplete combustion of organic material, such as tobacco.

Study examines antibullying policies, bullying in 25 states Posted: 05 Oct 2015 09:08 AM PDT Students who lived in states with an antibullying law that includes at least one US Department of Education-recommended legislative component had lower odds of reporting bullying and cyberbullying compared with students in states whose laws had no such provisions, according to an article.

2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Posted: 05 Oct 2015 08:28 AM PDT The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has decided to award the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with one half jointly to William C. Campbell and Satoshi ?mura for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites and the other half to Youyou Tu for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against malaria.

Predictive model could help guide choices for breast cancer therapies Posted: 05 Oct 2015 06:57 AM PDT Biomedical engineers have demonstrated a proof-of-principle technique that could give women and their oncologists more personalized information to help them choose options for treating breast cancer.

Gastric bypass surgery improves blood sugar handling and insulin sensitivity, study finds Posted: 05 Oct 2015 05:26 AM PDT Gastric bypass surgery can lead to remission of type 2 diabetes along with weight loss. A new study examines why, finding that insulin sensitivity of the body's main glucose (sugar) storage sites improve after gastric bypass surgery.

Novel prosthetic heart valve developed for treatment of severe heart disorder Posted: 05 Oct 2015 05:25 AM PDT A novel prosthetic heart valve has been developed, known as VeloX, which can be implanted through a small incision for the treatment of a serious heart valve disorder called mitral regurgitation. This is a condition in which the mitral valve on the left side of the heart does not close properly. The device is particularly beneficial to patients who are of high surgical risk or are unsuitable for existing clinical interventions.

Type 1 diabetes prevention: Insulin vaccine undergoes second trial Posted: 05 Oct 2015 05:07 AM PDT A vaccination against type 1 diabetes may soon be available to young children: the Pre-POINTearly vaccination study will involve children between the ages of six months and two years from across Germany who have a first-degree relative with type 1 diabetes. In the preceding Pre-POINT study a positive immune response was triggered in children aged between two and seven years with the aid of powdered insulin. The follow-up Pre-POINTearly study will now test whether this effect can be confirmed by giving very young children oral insulin, and whether type 1 diabetes can be prevented in the long term.

Depression can lead to work disability Posted: 05 Oct 2015 05:07 AM PDT In Norway, men suffering from depression are three times more likely to become work disabled than non-sufferers. This risk is only twice as great for women. Now researchers have carried out a study that digs deeper into this issue.

Genetic polymorphism associated with lung cancer progression Posted: 05 Oct 2015 05:06 AM PDT Genetic polymorphisms associated with cancer progression lead to variations in gene expression and may serve as prognostic markers for lung cancer, researchers show. They found that in patients with lung cancer, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) may regulate gene and protein expression and be associated with poor prognosis. To establish this genetic polymorphism as a useful clinical prognostic marker and to further clarify its molecular mechanism, large-scale clinicopathological studies of lung cancer and/or other types of cancer are required for additional insights.

Green walls: Red card for office worker health? Posted: 05 Oct 2015 05:06 AM PDT Living 'green' walls may have adverse health effects on office workers living in hot, polluted climates, new research suggests. Investigating levels of air pollutants in modern office buildings, researchers conducted a modelling study focusing on ultrafine particles (UFPs). Such particles are a health concern as they can carry potentially toxic species into the lungs.

Speeding up TB detection in Cambodia Posted: 05 Oct 2015 05:06 AM PDT Tuberculosis (TB) is still a major health problem in Cambodia. New research in the slums of Phnom Penh, where tuberculosis (TB) wreaks havoc, has helped to develop a more effective approach to actively detect TB cases by using new diagnostic tools and strong involvement by the local community. The new approach allowed health workers to detect TB cases more quickly, which reduces the risk of further transmission of the disease.

Stimulant medication safe, effective for children with ADHD and congenital heart disease Posted: 05 Oct 2015 05:01 AM PDT Children with congenital heart disease and ADHD can take stimulant medications without fear of significant cardiovascular side effects, a new study concludes.

Zipline-related injuries are rapidly increasing Posted: 05 Oct 2015 05:01 AM PDT The popularity of ziplining has skyrocketed rapidly in recent years. The increase in popularity has also increased the number of injuries related to ziplining. A new study found that an estimated 16,850 non-fatal zipline-related injuries were treated in US emergency departments from 1997 through 2012.

Identifying cancer's food sensors may help to halt tumor growth Posted: 05 Oct 2015 05:01 AM PDT A protein used by tumors to help them detect food supplies has been identified by scientists. Initial studies show that targeting the protein could restrict cancerous cells' ability to grow. Anonymous tumor samples from patients with colorectal cancer were compared to the known outcomes for the patients. Those who had higher levels of PAT4 in their tumors did less well than those with lower levels -- being more likely to relapse and die.

Face-to-face socializing more powerful than phone calls, emails in guarding against depression Posted: 05 Oct 2015 05:01 AM PDT In a slight knock on digital and telephone communications, a new study points to the unsurpassed mental health benefits of regular face-to-face social interactions among older adults. Study participants who regularly met in person with family and friends were less likely to report symptoms of depression, compared with participants who emailed or spoke on the phone. The gains people derived from face-to-face socializing endured even years later.

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