ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Autism: Birth hormone may control expression of the syndrome in animals
• Nutritional supplement improves cognitive performance in older adults, study finds
• Quick test finds signs of diarrheal disease
• New combined therapy to treat cancer proposed
• Scientists reprogram skin cells into insulin-producing pancreas cells
• Birds of a different color: Three major genes set feather hue in pigeons
• New microchip demonstrates how metastasis takes place
• Millions of Canadians still struggle to afford food: Report
• New, surprising link between chloracne and molecule that protects cells against stress
• Proteins snap those wrinkly fingers back into shape: Physicists model skin from wet to dry
• Bacterial fibers critical to human, avian infection
• Heart disease risk linked with spouses' social support
• 'Entrance exam' that is key to successful pregnancy
• Record rise in insulin use, British study reveals
• Will your child be a slim adult? Crowdsourcing novel childhood predictors of adult obesity
• Some patients receive unnecessary prioritization for liver transplantation
• New analysis of endometriosis could help diagnoses, treatments
• Non-traditional risk factors illuminate racial disparities in type 2 diabetes
• Detection of Down Syndrome during pregnancy improves for younger women
• Get tough! How Outward Bound adventures increase teenage resilience
• Evangelical Christians have higher-than-average divorce rates, new report shows
• Public divided on genetic testing to predict cancer risk: American national poll
• Adding chemotherapy following radiation treatment improves survival for adults with a slow-growing type of brain tumor, study shows
• Genetics impact risk of early menopause among some female smokers
• Innovative technique creates large skin flaps for full-face resurfacing
• Links explored between physical activity, learning
• Links traced between race, stress and inflammation to help decrease preterm birth disparities
• The skinny on teen obesity surgery
• Wider-faced dates more attractive as short-term mates, study suggests
• New drug treatment reduces chronic pain following shingles
• Mediterranean diet linked with lower risk of heart disease among young U.S. workers
• Time to act on mobile phone use while driving, say experts
• Clearer labels needed on drugs containing animal products
• Higher blood pressure in early adulthood predicts risk of heart disease
• Pre-term infants with severe retinopathy more likely to have non-visual disabilities
• MRIs help predict which atrial fibrillation patients will benefit from catheter ablation

Autism: Birth hormone may control expression of the syndrome in animals Posted: 06 Feb 2014 11:21 AM PST A new article demonstrates that chloride levels are abnormally elevated from birth in the neurons of mice used in an animal model of autism. Researchers show for the first time that oxytocin, the birth hormone, brings about a decrease in chloride level during birth, which controls the expression of the autistic syndrome.

Nutritional supplement improves cognitive performance in older adults, study finds Posted: 06 Feb 2014 10:39 AM PST A neuroscientist and gerontologist team up to investigate the effects of a antioxidant-rich nutritional supplement on the mental performance of older adults without impaired memory. An initial clinical trial indicates that the supplement, including blueberries and green tea extracts, improves cognitive processing speeds.

Quick test finds signs of diarrheal disease Posted: 06 Feb 2014 10:38 AM PST Bioengineers have developed a simple, highly sensitive and efficient test for the diarrheal disease cryptosporidiosis that could have great impact in developing countries.

New combined therapy to treat cancer proposed Posted: 06 Feb 2014 10:38 AM PST Researchers have discovered how etoposide -- a drug widely used in the treatment of lung and testicular cancers, leukemias and brain tumors -- could increase its efficiency and specificity in combination with other compounds that interfere with cell division.

Scientists reprogram skin cells into insulin-producing pancreas cells Posted: 06 Feb 2014 10:36 AM PST A cure for type 1 diabetes has long eluded even the top experts. Not because they do not know what must be done -- but because the tools did not exist to do it. But now scientists, harnessing the power of regenerative medicine, have developed a technique in animal models that could replenish the very cells destroyed by the disease.

Birds of a different color: Three major genes set feather hue in pigeons Posted: 06 Feb 2014 10:33 AM PST Scientists have identified mutations in three key genes that determine feather color in domestic rock pigeons. The same genes control pigmentation of human skin and can be responsible for melanoma and albinism.

New microchip demonstrates how metastasis takes place Posted: 06 Feb 2014 08:14 AM PST Nearly 70 percent of patients with advanced breast cancer experience skeletal metastasis, in which cancer cells migrate from a primary tumor into bone -- a painful development that can cause fractures and spinal compression. While scientists are attempting to better understand metastasis in general, not much is known about how and why certain cancers spread to specific organs, such as bone, liver, and lungs. Now researchers have developed a three-dimensional microfluidic platform that mimics the spread of breast cancer cells into a bonelike environment.

Millions of Canadians still struggle to afford food: Report Posted: 06 Feb 2014 08:14 AM PST Four million Canadians, including 1.15 million children, are living in households where it is sometimes a struggle to put food on the table, according to researchers.

New, surprising link between chloracne and molecule that protects cells against stress Posted: 06 Feb 2014 08:14 AM PST Researchers have discovered a new, surprising link between chloracne and a molecule that protects cells against stress: if Nrf2 gets out of control, disfiguring cysts form on the skin. Nrf2 is thus an interesting candidate for use in skincare creams and for cancer prevention.

Proteins snap those wrinkly fingers back into shape: Physicists model skin from wet to dry Posted: 06 Feb 2014 08:13 AM PST You know how your fingers wrinkle up in the bath? The outer layer of your skin absorbs water and swells up, forming ridges -- but quickly returns to its old state when dry. Physicists have shown just why skin has this remarkable ability.

Bacterial fibers critical to human, avian infection Posted: 06 Feb 2014 07:11 AM PST Researchers targeted a specific group of threadlike fibers known as E. coli common pilus, which adorn bacterial cell surfaces. In the first study of its kind, they analyzed the way these structures contribute to avian pathogenic E. coli's ability to cause infection and form dense cell aggregates known as biofilms.

Heart disease risk linked with spouses' social support Posted: 06 Feb 2014 07:10 AM PST Matters of the heart can influence actual heart health. A new study published shows that the ways in which your spouse is supportive -- and how you support your spouse -- can actually have significant bearing on your overall cardiovascular health.

'Entrance exam' that is key to successful pregnancy Posted: 06 Feb 2014 07:07 AM PST Researchers have discovered how an 'entrance exam' set by the womb determines if the implantation of an embryo is successful; potentially a milestone for advances in pregnancy treatments.

Record rise in insulin use, British study reveals Posted: 05 Feb 2014 06:04 PM PST The use of insulin to treat type 2 diabetes has tripled in the UK over the last 20 years, a new study has revealed.

Will your child be a slim adult? Crowdsourcing novel childhood predictors of adult obesity Posted: 05 Feb 2014 03:47 PM PST This novel study asked 532 international English speaking adults to submit or crowd-source predictors of whether a child is going to be an overweight or a slim adult. The results indicate that crowd-sourced information could be used to identify new predictors that may, after further study, be useful in understanding and reducing obesity. Furthermore, the trends in BMI obtained through this study provide insights into behaviors that should be encouraged to help children maintain a healthy BMI into adulthood.

Some patients receive unnecessary prioritization for liver transplantation Posted: 05 Feb 2014 01:55 PM PST Patients waiting for liver transplants who develop hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS), a lung disorder associated with end-stage liver disease, are eligible to move up on the wait list. In a new paper, however, researchers argue the so-called "exception points" given to these patients award some HPS patients unnecessary priority over others on the list, which includes about 17,000 patients.

New analysis of endometriosis could help diagnoses, treatments Posted: 05 Feb 2014 11:37 AM PST Researchers find that new analysis of endometriosis patients could help scientists develop better treatments and more revealing diagnoses.

Non-traditional risk factors illuminate racial disparities in type 2 diabetes Posted: 05 Feb 2014 08:33 AM PST Two surprising risk factors – diminished lung function and low serum potassium levels - appear to have nearly the same impact as obesity in explaining why African-Americans are disproportionately prone to developing type 2 diabetes, researchers report.

Detection of Down Syndrome during pregnancy improves for younger women Posted: 05 Feb 2014 07:35 AM PST New figures from the National Down Syndrome Cytogenetic Register in England, reveal the proportion of Down Syndrome cases diagnosed antenatally has increased in younger women. Furthermore, Down Syndrome diagnoses are occurring earlier in pregnancy for women of all ages.

Get tough! How Outward Bound adventures increase teenage resilience Posted: 05 Feb 2014 07:33 AM PST Today's youth face many debilitating situations in their lives such as depression, suicide, poverty, and physical issues. In this environment how can they develop coping strategies for life and personal resilience? How can we support them to do this?

Evangelical Christians have higher-than-average divorce rates, new report shows Posted: 05 Feb 2014 07:32 AM PST Despite their strong pro-family values, evangelical Christians have higher-than-average divorce rates -- in fact, being more likely to be divorced than Americans who claim no religion, according to a new study.

Public divided on genetic testing to predict cancer risk: American national poll Posted: 05 Feb 2014 07:31 AM PST An American national poll shows 34 percent of respondents would not seek genetic testing to predict likelihood of developing a hereditary cancer. The poll shows 35 percent of respondents would be extremely or very likely to seek aggressive prophylactic or preventive treatment.

Adding chemotherapy following radiation treatment improves survival for adults with a slow-growing type of brain tumor, study shows Posted: 05 Feb 2014 07:31 AM PST Adults with low-grade gliomas, a form of brain tumor, who received a chemotherapy regimen following completion of radiation therapy, lived longer than patients who received radiation therapy alone, according to long-term follow-up results from a randomized controlled clinical trial.

Genetics impact risk of early menopause among some female smokers Posted: 05 Feb 2014 07:31 AM PST New research is lighting up yet another reason for women to quit smoking. In a study published, researchers report the first evidence showing that smoking causes earlier signs of menopause – in the case of heavy smokers, up to nine years earlier than average – in white women with certain genetic variations.

Innovative technique creates large skin flaps for full-face resurfacing Posted: 05 Feb 2014 07:31 AM PST Patients with massive burns causing complete loss of the facial skin pose a difficult challenge for reconstructive surgeons. Now a group of surgeons has developed an innovative technique for creating a one-piece skin flap large enough to perform full-face resurfacing.

Links explored between physical activity, learning Posted: 05 Feb 2014 06:15 AM PST The association between physical activity and learning has been evidenced in many studies. The results have suggested that being physically active produces positive effects on many cognitive functions, such as memory, attention, information processing and problem solving. Unfortunately, these previous studies have used fairly small datasets and have yielded fairly little information on the actual underlying mechanisms.

Links traced between race, stress and inflammation to help decrease preterm birth disparities Posted: 05 Feb 2014 06:15 AM PST African American women today are almost twice as likely to deliver a preterm baby as white, Hispanic or Asian women in the US - a disparity that medical conditions, socioeconomic status, access to prenatal care and health behaviors haven't been able to fully account for. Two new studies explore the complex relationship between race, stress and inflammation and potential impacts on pregnancy in the hope of reducing preterm births and infant mortality, and improving maternal mental health.

The skinny on teen obesity surgery Posted: 05 Feb 2014 06:15 AM PST Some 17 percent of children and adolescents -- or 12.5 million -- are obese, increasing the likelihood that they will become adults with even more serious weight problems. Unlike adults, though, kids might not be physically or emotionally ready for weight-loss surgery as a potential solution.

Wider-faced dates more attractive as short-term mates, study suggests Posted: 05 Feb 2014 05:00 AM PST Women may perceive men with wider faces as more dominant and more attractive for short-term relationships, according to a new study.

New drug treatment reduces chronic pain following shingles Posted: 04 Feb 2014 07:05 PM PST A new drug treatment has been found to be effective against chronic pain caused by nerve damage, also known as neuropathic pain, in patients who have had shingles.

Mediterranean diet linked with lower risk of heart disease among young U.S. workers Posted: 04 Feb 2014 03:56 PM PST Among a large group of Midwestern firefighters, greater adherence to Mediterranean-style diet was associated with lower risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Time to act on mobile phone use while driving, say experts Posted: 04 Feb 2014 03:56 PM PST It's time to act on mobile phone use while driving, say two senior Canadian physicians. Although there is still some uncertainty about the association between mobile phone use and risk of crashes, given the proliferation of mobile phones, the prevalence of distracted driving is undoubtedly increasing, they write.

Clearer labels needed on drugs containing animal products Posted: 04 Feb 2014 03:56 PM PST Patients with specific dietary restrictions may be unwittingly taking medicines containing animal products, suggests an article published.

Higher blood pressure in early adulthood predicts risk of heart disease Posted: 04 Feb 2014 01:22 PM PST Elevated blood pressure as young as age 18 is a warning sign of heart disease developing later in life and the time to begin prevention, according to a large American national study. That's decades earlier than clinicians and patients generally start thinking about heart disease risk. The 25-year study is the first to identify different long-term patterns of blood pressure levels from ages 18 to 55 and resulting cardiovascular risk.

Pre-term infants with severe retinopathy more likely to have non-visual disabilities Posted: 04 Feb 2014 01:22 PM PST In a group of very low-birth-weight infants, severe retinopathy of prematurity was associated with nonvisual disabilities at age 5 years, according to a study.

MRIs help predict which atrial fibrillation patients will benefit from catheter ablation Posted: 04 Feb 2014 01:22 PM PST A new type of contrast MRI can predict which heart patients with atrial fibrillation are most likely to benefit from a treatment called catheter ablation, according to a landmark multi-center study published.

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