ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Galaxy DNA-analysis software is now available 'in the cloud'
• Pre-birth brain growth problems linked to autism, study shows
• Surgical procedure does not appear to reduce risk of subsequent stroke for patients who have had 'mini-stroke'
• Cardiac stress imaging procedures more frequent among patients seen by physicians who provide and bill for these procedures
• Abnormal number of neurons in brains of children with autism, preliminary study finds
• Autism linked with excess of neurons in prefrontal cortex
• Adult living donor liver transplants safe, study finds
• Drinking water from plastic pipes: Is it harmful?
• Diabetes linked to cognitive impairment in older adults, study suggests
• Carbon monoxide: The silent calmer? Inhaling low levels of CO reduces the impact of environmental stress, study suggests
• Infants with high hemoglobin concentration who received iron-fortified formula have poorer long-term developmental outcomes
• Routine iron fortification of infant formula linked to poorer development
• Farmed fish fed vegetable matter may have residual pesticides
• Removing sugar-sweetened beverages from schools associated with reduced access to, but not consumption of these beverages among adolescents
• Neuromuscular warm-up associated with reduced lower extremity injuries in adolescent female athletes
• Web-based intervention appears ineffective for preventing weight gain in adolescents
• Study characterizes epigenetic signatures of autism in brain tissue
• Multi-site study finds wide variation in best-estimate clinical diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders
• Racial and ethnic variations in substance-related disorders among adolescents
• Economic cost of advanced liver disease
• Aging could influence climate change: Individual carbon dioxide emissions decline in old age
• Psychologists stress the importance of memory in preventing relapse after therapy

Galaxy DNA-analysis software is now available 'in the cloud' Posted: 08 Nov 2011 05:15 PM PST Galaxy -- an open-source, web-based platform for data-intensive biomedical and genetic research -- is now available as a "cloud computing" resource. The new technology will help scientists and biomedical researchers to harness such tools as DNA-sequencing and analysis software, as well as storage capacity for large quantities of scientific data.

Pre-birth brain growth problems linked to autism, study shows Posted: 08 Nov 2011 05:07 PM PST Children with autism have more brain cells and heavier brains compared to typically developing children, according to researchers. The small, preliminary study provides direct evidence for possible prenatal causes of autism.

Surgical procedure does not appear to reduce risk of subsequent stroke for patients who have had 'mini-stroke' Posted: 08 Nov 2011 05:07 PM PST Patients with thickening and blockage of the internal carotid artery (supplies blood to the brain) and hemodynamic cerebral ischemia (insufficient blood flow to the brain, sub-type of stroke) who had a surgical procedure performed to improve blood flow in the artery did not have a reduced rate of stroke after two years compared to similar patients who received medical therapy alone, according to a new study.

Cardiac stress imaging procedures more frequent among patients seen by physicians who provide and bill for these procedures Posted: 08 Nov 2011 05:07 PM PST Patients treated by physicians who billed for both technical (practice/equipment) and professional (supervision/ interpretation) components of nuclear and echocardiographic stress imaging tests were more likely to undergo such tests after coronary revascularization compared with patients of physicians who did not bill for these services, according to a new study.

Abnormal number of neurons in brains of children with autism, preliminary study finds Posted: 08 Nov 2011 05:07 PM PST In a small, preliminary study that included 13 male children, those with autism had an average 67 percent more prefrontal brain neurons and larger than average brain weight, than children without autism.

Autism linked with excess of neurons in prefrontal cortex Posted: 08 Nov 2011 05:05 PM PST A new study shows that brain overgrowth in boys with autism involves an abnormal, excess number of neurons in areas of the brain associated with social, communication and cognitive development.

Adult living donor liver transplants safe, study finds Posted: 08 Nov 2011 10:29 AM PST Desperately needed adult living donor liver transplantation is a safe surgery for the donor, according to researchers. The study looked at donor safety from a single center over a period of 10 years and found there were no patient deaths and no life-threatening complications requiring ICU care.

Drinking water from plastic pipes: Is it harmful? Posted: 08 Nov 2011 10:29 AM PST Pipe-in-pipe systems are now commonly used to distribute water in many homes. The inner pipe for drinking water is made of a plastic called cross-linked polyethylene. Are these pipes harmful to health and do they affect the taste and odor of drinking water?

Diabetes linked to cognitive impairment in older adults, study suggests Posted: 08 Nov 2011 08:59 AM PST For the past five years, a team led by researchers has been studying the effects of diabetes on cognitive health in older individuals and has determined that memory loss, depression and other types of cognitive impairment are a serious consequence of this widespread disease. Now, this team has identified a key mechanism behind this course of events.

Carbon monoxide: The silent calmer? Inhaling low levels of CO reduces the impact of environmental stress, study suggests Posted: 08 Nov 2011 08:59 AM PST According to scientists, carbon monoxide (CO), a tasteless, colorless and odorless gas, is not only a danger to the environment but also highly toxic to human beings. Found in the exhaust of vehicles and generators, CO has been dubbed the "silent killer" because excessive inhalation is lethal, poisoning the nervous system and heart. Now, in a surprising twist, a researcher says that low levels of the poisonous gas carbon monoxide actually have a narcotic effect that helps city-dwellers cope with environmental stress in an urban setting.

Infants with high hemoglobin concentration who received iron-fortified formula have poorer long-term developmental outcomes Posted: 08 Nov 2011 07:00 AM PST A 10-year follow-up study suggests that infants with high hemoglobin levels who received iron fortified infant formula have poorer long-term developmental outcomes, according to a new report.

Routine iron fortification of infant formula linked to poorer development Posted: 08 Nov 2011 06:44 AM PST Iron fortification has helped babies around the world, but a long-term study raises questions about the optimal amount of iron in infant formula.

Farmed fish fed vegetable matter may have residual pesticides Posted: 08 Nov 2011 06:43 AM PST Today, half of all the fish we eat comes from fish farms. The problem is that these fish are increasingly being fed vegetable matter, which could lead to a build-up of residual pesticides in them. A new test shows how high the risk of contamination really is.

Removing sugar-sweetened beverages from schools associated with reduced access to, but not consumption of these beverages among adolescents Posted: 07 Nov 2011 01:27 PM PST State policies banning all sugar-sweetened beverages in schools are associated with reduced in-school access and purchase of these beverages, however these policies are not associated with a reduction in overall consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, according to a new report.

Neuromuscular warm-up associated with reduced lower extremity injuries in adolescent female athletes Posted: 07 Nov 2011 01:27 PM PST Integrating a coach-led neuromuscular warm-up prior to sports practice appeared to reduce the risk of lower extremity injuries in female high school soccer and basketball athletes, according to a new report.

Web-based intervention appears ineffective for preventing weight gain in adolescents Posted: 07 Nov 2011 01:27 PM PST A web-based computer-tailored intervention aiming to increase physical activity, decrease sedentary behavior, and promote healthy eating among adolescents was not associated with positive long-term outcome measures, but may have positive short-term effects on eating behaviors, according to a new report.

Study characterizes epigenetic signatures of autism in brain tissue Posted: 07 Nov 2011 01:27 PM PST Neurons in the prefrontal cortex of individuals with autism show changes at numerous sites across the genome, according to a new study.

Multi-site study finds wide variation in best-estimate clinical diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders Posted: 07 Nov 2011 01:27 PM PST In a study conducted at 12 university-based research sites, there was wide variation in how best-estimate clinical diagnoses within the autism spectrum were assigned to individual children.

Racial and ethnic variations in substance-related disorders among adolescents Posted: 07 Nov 2011 01:27 PM PST Substance use is widespread among adolescents in the United States, particularly among those of Native American, white, Hispanic and multiple race/ethnicity, and these groups are also disproportionally affected by substance-related disorders, according to a new report.

Economic cost of advanced liver disease Posted: 07 Nov 2011 01:01 PM PST Health care costs for hepatitis C patients with end-stage liver disease are nearly 2.5 times higher than those in the early stages, according to a new study. Although infection with the hepatitis C virus increases health care costs overall, the specific impact of the disease's progressive severity on health care costs has previously not been well studied.

Aging could influence climate change: Individual carbon dioxide emissions decline in old age Posted: 07 Nov 2011 12:54 PM PST New demographic analysis reveals that the carbon dioxide emissions of the average American increase until around the age of 65, and then start to decrease. For the United States this means that, although the aging of the population will lead to a slight overall rise in CO2 emissions over the next four decades, the long-term trends indicate that increasing life expectancy will result in a reduction in emissions.

Psychologists stress the importance of memory in preventing relapse after therapy Posted: 04 Nov 2011 07:21 AM PDT Addictions, phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder -- such painful and harmful problems are recalcitrant to treatment. In the clinic, a person may suppress the association between the stimulus and the response -- say, a bar with ashtrays and smoking -- by learning to pair the stimulus with a new memory not involving smoking. But once out in the world, faced with bars and ashtrays aplenty, he relapses into the old behavior. Some treatment aims at helping the patient avoid locations and stimuli that trigger the harmful behavior. A new article suggests this is not the most effective route.

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