ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

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• Fertilizer applied to fields today will pollute water for decades
• Protecting the pancreas: Compound fights fibrosis in animal model
• Why sexual harassment is worse than other types of abuse online
• Scientists distinguish molecules most capable of fighting prostate cancer
• Brain metabolism predicts fluid intelligence in young adults
• BPA substitute can trigger fat cell formation: Chemical used in BPA-free products exhibits similar endocrine-disrupting effects
• Chemical exposure linked to 1.4 billion euros in women's health care costs, study suggests
• Microscopic structures of vegetable surfaces contribute to foodborne illness
• New method measures nicotine delivery from e-cigarettes
• How to spot elder abuse and neglect in the ER: Things are not always as they seem
• Finding a new 'sweet spot' for improving cancer risk assessment
• Mixed-strain malaria infections influence drug resistance
• New study ranks methods to induce labor on effectiveness, cost
• Forensic researchers set standards for X-ray identification of bodies
• Blending therapies improves treatment of severe anxiety
• Many targeted cancer therapies suppress T cell immune responses
• Antibiotics before age 2 increases risk for childhood obesity, study suggests
• Drug combination reduces polyps for patients with high risk for colorectal cancer
• Use of open access platforms for clinical trial data
• Antibiotic exposure in infancy not associated with weight gain in childhood, study suggests
• Use of mindfulness-based stress reduction for chronic low back pain
• Some light dinner reading: Can publishing calorie counts on restaurant menus help reduce obesity?
• Can an iPad help you see?
• Football training reduces the risk of disease in elderly men
• Measuring severity of spinal cord injuries
• Microagents with revolutionary potential
• Immunoproteasome inhibits healing function of macrophages
• Unravelling the secret of antibiotic resistance
• Contact lenses alter eye bacteria, making it more skin-like
• More ancient viruses lurk in our DNA than we thought
• Depression study examines levels of 'love' hormone and its impacts on mother-baby emotional bonding
• For older adults with dementia, transitions in care can increase risk for serious problems
• Link between public policy life expectancy reinforced by new international research
• Global spread of Zika linked to types of mosquitoes that transmit it
• Deadly flatworm's skin rejuvenation may explain its long-term survival in humans
• Social media use associated with depression among US young adults
• High-risk lung cancer patients may not need annual screenings
• Adherence to nutrition recommendations, use of supplements essential for vegans
• Dutch students' grades lower due to lack of sleep
• Reverse your diabetes: You can stay diabetes-free long-term
• Black fever beats drugs by adding just two DNA bases to its genome
• Lymphoma overrides a key protein's quadruple locks
• Genomes of chimpanzee parasite species reveal evolution of human malaria
• Calcium waves in the brain alleviate depressive behavior in mice
• Is moderate drinking really good for you? Jury's still out
• Long-acting injectable protects against vaginal HIV transmission
• Sleep suppresses brain rebalancing
• Nanoparticle-based cancer therapies shown to work in humans
• Study identifies mechanism explaining female bias in autoimmunity
• New tool to improve blood pressure measurement
• Biological factors predict which viruses will cause human epidemics
• Adding stress management to cardiac rehab cuts new incidents in half
• The weight of rejection: For heavier individuals, the anticipation of rejection drives down self-esteem, ratchets up stress
• Reconstructing folding funnels from experimental data to uncover proteins' inner life

Fertilizer applied to fields today will pollute water for decades Posted: 22 Mar 2016 03:21 PM PDT Dangerous nitrate levels in drinking water could persist for decades, increasing the risk for blue baby syndrome and other serious health concerns, according to a new study.

Protecting the pancreas: Compound fights fibrosis in animal model Posted: 22 Mar 2016 01:17 PM PDT Scientists identify a group of proteins as new and important players in the mechanism that causes pancreatic fibrosis. Pancreatic fibrosis -- or the formation of scar tissue in the pancreas -- is associated with chronic pancreatitis, a progressive and debilitating illness that lacks a specific treatment.

Why sexual harassment is worse than other types of abuse online Posted: 22 Mar 2016 01:16 PM PDT While many women gamers can shrug off much of the name-calling and abuse they receive while playing online video games, sexual harassment sticks with them even when they're offline.

Scientists distinguish molecules most capable of fighting prostate cancer Posted: 22 Mar 2016 01:16 PM PDT Scientists have provided an overview of the most promising compounds which can be used as medications for prostate cancer in a new scientific article.

Brain metabolism predicts fluid intelligence in young adults Posted: 22 Mar 2016 10:38 AM PDT A healthy brain is critical to a person's cognitive abilities, but measuring brain health can be a complicated endeavor. A new study reports that healthy brain metabolism corresponds with fluid intelligence -- a measure of one's ability to solve unusual or complex problems -- in young adults.

BPA substitute can trigger fat cell formation: Chemical used in BPA-free products exhibits similar endocrine-disrupting effects Posted: 22 Mar 2016 10:38 AM PDT Exposure to a substitute chemical often used to replace bisphenol A in plastics can encourage the formation of fat cells, according to a new study.

Chemical exposure linked to 1.4 billion euros in women's health care costs, study suggests Posted: 22 Mar 2016 10:38 AM PDT Endocrine-disrupting chemicals may contribute to reproductive health problems experienced by hundreds of thousands of women, costing European Union an estimated 1.4 billion Euros ($1.5 billion) a year in health care expenditures and lost earning potential, according to a new study.

Microscopic structures of vegetable surfaces contribute to foodborne illness Posted: 22 Mar 2016 09:05 AM PDT Foodborne illness outbreaks do more than make us sick. Not only can the U.S. economy suffer as a result of reduced worker productivity, particular sectors of the farming industry can experience negative consumer perception, potentially leading to sustained profit losses. In an effort to understand and eventually reduce the incidence of foodborne illnesses, researchers studied the ability of pathogenic viruses to adhere to fresh produce surfaces.

New method measures nicotine delivery from e-cigarettes Posted: 22 Mar 2016 09:04 AM PDT The effectiveness of e-cigarettes as a smoking substitute will likely rely on whether they can consistently provide the amount of nicotine a smoker needs to resist the desire to return to traditional cigarettes.

How to spot elder abuse and neglect in the ER: Things are not always as they seem Posted: 22 Mar 2016 09:04 AM PDT When older adults in severely debilitated states show up for treatment in the emergency department, emergency physicians and staff must be able to identify and document their symptoms and decide whether to report their concerns to adult protective services. This is a difficult decision as the patient's symptoms may stem from willful neglect, unintentional neglect or sub-acute symptoms caused by an underlying illness than manifest as neglect.

Finding a new 'sweet spot' for improving cancer risk assessment Posted: 22 Mar 2016 09:03 AM PDT An environmental toxicologist who has been an outspoken critic of the current linear no-threshold (LNT) approach to risk assessment for radiation and toxic chemicals, now proposes a new approach integrating LNT with hormetic dose-response models. The new strategy, applied to chronic animal bioassays, would reconcile previously conflicting methods to offer 'significant improvements' and maximize public health benefits, he and co-authors say.

Mixed-strain malaria infections influence drug resistance Posted: 22 Mar 2016 09:02 AM PDT When hosts are co-infected with drug-resistant and drug-sensitive strains, both strains are competitively suppressed. Anti-malarial therapy, by clearing the drug-sensitive parasites from mixed infections, may result in competitive release of resistant strains, report researchers.

New study ranks methods to induce labor on effectiveness, cost Posted: 22 Mar 2016 09:02 AM PDT Researchers have conducted a review of the clinical and cost effectiveness of labor induction methods. As the number of women facing induction increases, and as new evidence from trials emerges, it has become urgent to address questions about which methods of inducing labor are most effective, cost-effective, safe and acceptable to women.

Forensic researchers set standards for X-ray identification of bodies Posted: 22 Mar 2016 09:02 AM PDT Forensic researchers have for the first time established science-based standards for identifying human remains based on X-rays of an individual's spine, upper leg or the side of the skull.

Blending therapies improves treatment of severe anxiety Posted: 22 Mar 2016 09:02 AM PDT During a randomized clinical trial, 85 participants underwent treatment for severe generalized anxiety disorder. Cognitive behavioral therapy alone was given to 43 participants and the rest received a combination of CBT and MI from therapists trained in both.

Many targeted cancer therapies suppress T cell immune responses Posted: 22 Mar 2016 09:00 AM PDT New research has demonstrated that dozens of these targeted therapies suppressed the activity of T cells that could actually help fight tumors. While studying the FDA-approved targeted therapy trametinib, the researchers also found that pairing it with a signaling protein 'superagonist' stimulated T cell activity while preserving the cancer-blocking effects of the cancer treatment.

Antibiotics before age 2 increases risk for childhood obesity, study suggests Posted: 22 Mar 2016 09:00 AM PDT A new study found that administration of three or more courses of antibiotics before children reach an age of 2 years is associated with an increased risk of early childhood obesity.

Drug combination reduces polyps for patients with high risk for colorectal cancer Posted: 22 Mar 2016 09:00 AM PDT In a recent study, researchers randomly assigned 92 patients with familial adenomatous polyposis to the drugs sulindac twice daily and erlotinib daily (n = 46) or placebo (n = 46) for 6 months. The outcome of the study showed very positive results for those with a high risk of colorectal cancer

Use of open access platforms for clinical trial data Posted: 22 Mar 2016 09:00 AM PDT Researchers examined how shared clinical trial data are being used. The researchers evaluated how many clinical trials were publicly available to investigators through 3 open access platforms, and found that a total of 3,255 clinical trials were available in the platforms.

Antibiotic exposure in infancy not associated with weight gain in childhood, study suggests Posted: 22 Mar 2016 09:00 AM PDT Exposure to antibiotics within the first 6 months of life compared with no exposure among nearly 40,000 children was not associated with a significant difference in weight gain through age 7, according to a new study.

Use of mindfulness-based stress reduction for chronic low back pain Posted: 22 Mar 2016 09:00 AM PDT Among adults with chronic low back pain, both mindfulness-based stress reduction and cognitive behavioral therapy resulted in greater improvement in back pain and functional limitations when compared with usual care, according to a study.

Some light dinner reading: Can publishing calorie counts on restaurant menus help reduce obesity? Posted: 22 Mar 2016 08:05 AM PDT An economist is studying how obesity rates are affected in communities where restaurants publish the calorie counts of the food they serve, an effort that is part of a broader campaign to reduce the number of Americans who are overweight.

Can an iPad help you see? Posted: 22 Mar 2016 08:05 AM PDT The first experimental evidence has been provided that the Apple iPad is as good as technology traditionally used in reading rehabilitation for individuals with visual impairment.

Football training reduces the risk of disease in elderly men Posted: 22 Mar 2016 08:04 AM PDT Long-term recreational football training produces a number of marked improvements in health profile for 63-75 year old untrained men -- including a reduced risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and diabetes -- research shows.

Measuring severity of spinal cord injuries Posted: 22 Mar 2016 08:04 AM PDT Injuries to the spinal cord partially or completely disrupt the neural pathways between the brain and the limbs. The consequences for the representation of the affected limbs in the brain can be drastic. Researchers have now measured how severely this representation is affected.

Microagents with revolutionary potential Posted: 22 Mar 2016 08:04 AM PDT Micro and nanorobots that attack tumors with maximum precision using drugs: this is what the fight against cancer may look like in the future. A group of researchers are laying the foundations with magnetoelectric-controlled Janus machines.

Immunoproteasome inhibits healing function of macrophages Posted: 22 Mar 2016 08:02 AM PDT Scientists have observed that the immunoproteasome inhibits the repair function of alveolar macrophages. This opens up new therapeutic options. A specific inhibition of the immunoproteasome may promote healing processes of the lung.

Unravelling the secret of antibiotic resistance Posted: 22 Mar 2016 08:02 AM PDT Scientists have solved a 25-year-old question about how a family of proteins allow bacteria to resist the effects of certain antibiotics. The findings provide the first direct evidence of how this family of proteins 'protect' the bacterial ribosome, the protein makers in cells, from being blocked by antibiotics.

Contact lenses alter eye bacteria, making it more skin-like Posted: 22 Mar 2016 08:02 AM PDT Contact lenses may alter the natural microbial community of the eyes, according to a study. In a study of 58 adults seeking outpatient eye care, researchers found that contact lenses make the eye microbiome more skin-like, with higher proportions of skin bacteria.

More ancient viruses lurk in our DNA than we thought Posted: 22 Mar 2016 07:07 AM PDT Think your DNA is all human? Think again. And a new discovery suggests it's even less human than scientists previously thought. Nineteen new pieces of non-human DNA -- left by viruses that first infected our ancestors hundreds of thousands of years ago -- have just been found, lurking between our own genes.

Depression study examines levels of 'love' hormone and its impacts on mother-baby emotional bonding Posted: 22 Mar 2016 07:07 AM PDT Widely referred to as the "love" hormone, oxytocin is an indispensable part of childbirth and emotional mother-child bonding. Psychologists are looking at how breast feeding, oxytocin and face-to-face interactions between a mother and her baby are impacted by depression and the mother's oxytocin levels.

For older adults with dementia, transitions in care can increase risk for serious problems Posted: 22 Mar 2016 07:04 AM PDT Having coordinated care and a long-term care plan in place that considers the needs of a person with dementia may reduce unnecessary transitions, say the authors of a new study.

Link between public policy life expectancy reinforced by new international research Posted: 22 Mar 2016 07:04 AM PDT New research shows that life expectancy declined significantly and rapidly in three countries where policy changes increased access to prescription opioids, alcohol or illicit drugs. The study underscores the need for effective substance use policies and public health interventions, and provides key principles to guide policy decisions.

Global spread of Zika linked to types of mosquitoes that transmit it Posted: 22 Mar 2016 07:04 AM PDT More cities than previously assumed could soon grapple with the Zika virus if two species of mosquitos are found to be equally effective carriers of the disease, a disease ecologist and his colleagues argue.

Deadly flatworm's skin rejuvenation may explain its long-term survival in humans Posted: 22 Mar 2016 07:04 AM PDT A parasitic flatworm that infects hundreds of millions of people in the developing world is able to survive in the bloodstream for decades by constantly renewing its skin - a mechanism that could inform potential new treatments against infection.

Social media use associated with depression among US young adults Posted: 22 Mar 2016 07:04 AM PDT The more time young adults use social media, the more likely they are to be depressed, according to new research. The findings could guide clinical and public health interventions to tackle depression, forecast to become the leading cause of disability in high-income countries by 2030.

High-risk lung cancer patients may not need annual screenings Posted: 22 Mar 2016 05:23 AM PDT Most high-risk lung cancer patients might not need annual low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screenings if they are cleared of disease in their initial test, according to a study.

Adherence to nutrition recommendations, use of supplements essential for vegans Posted: 22 Mar 2016 05:20 AM PDT Vegans adhere to nutrition recommendations in varying degrees, according to a new Finnish study. Some vegans who participated in a new study followed a balanced diet, while others had dietary deficiencies. Typical deficiencies were an unbalanced use of protein sources, a low intake of berries, fruits and nuts, as well as failure to use nutrient fortified food products. The majority, however, used vitamin B12 and D supplements and calcium-fortified drinks as recommended.

Dutch students' grades lower due to lack of sleep Posted: 22 Mar 2016 05:20 AM PDT Students who have a chronic lack of sleep have lower grades and find it harder to concentrate. Around a third of students do not feel well rested enough to be able to study properly, a Dutch study shows.

Reverse your diabetes: You can stay diabetes-free long-term Posted: 22 Mar 2016 05:05 AM PDT People who reverse their diabetes and then keep their weight down remain free of diabetes, new research shows. In addition, the team found that even patients who have had Type 2 diabetes for up to 10 years can reverse their condition.

Black fever beats drugs by adding just two DNA bases to its genome Posted: 22 Mar 2016 05:05 AM PDT Scientists identify how certain strains of the fatal neglected tropical parasite Leishmania donovani have become immune to drug treatment. The addition of just two bases of DNA to the gene LdAQP1 stops the organism from absorbing antimonial drugs.

Lymphoma overrides a key protein's quadruple locks Posted: 22 Mar 2016 05:05 AM PDT Protein chemists report they are closer to explaining why certain blood cancers are able to crack a molecular security system and run rampant. In a detailed description of their discoveries in lab-grown human cells, the investigators offer evidence that mutations in cancerous lymphoma cells break through not one but four "locks" on the protein CARD11.

Genomes of chimpanzee parasite species reveal evolution of human malaria Posted: 22 Mar 2016 05:05 AM PDT An international team of scientists used an amplification technique to sequence the genomes of two divergent Plasmodium malaria species from miniscule volumes of chimpanzee blood to find clues about the evolution and pathogenicity of Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest malaria parasite that affects people. Understanding the origins of emerging diseases -- and more established disease agents -- is critical to gauge future human infection risks and find new treatment and prevention approaches.

Calcium waves in the brain alleviate depressive behavior in mice Posted: 22 Mar 2016 05:05 AM PDT Researchers have discovered that the benefits of stimulating the brain with direct current come from its effects on astrocytes -- not neurons -- in the mouse brain. The work shows that applying direct current to the head releases synchronized waves of calcium from astrocytes that can reduce depressive symptoms and lead to a general increase in neural plasticity.

Is moderate drinking really good for you? Jury's still out Posted: 22 Mar 2016 05:05 AM PDT Many people believe a glass of wine with dinner will help them live longer and healthier -- but the scientific evidence is shaky at best, according to a new research analysis.

Long-acting injectable protects against vaginal HIV transmission Posted: 21 Mar 2016 05:04 PM PDT In an effort to minimize obstacles to adherence and prevent vaginal HIV transmission, researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of a new long-acting formulation of the HIV drug raltegravir in animal models.

Sleep suppresses brain rebalancing Posted: 21 Mar 2016 05:04 PM PDT Why humans and other animals sleep is one of the remaining deep mysteries of physiology. A study shows that homeostatic mechanisms are indeed gated by sleep and wake, but in the opposite direction from that theorized previously.

Nanoparticle-based cancer therapies shown to work in humans Posted: 21 Mar 2016 05:03 PM PDT Nanoparticles can function to target tumors while avoiding adjacent healthy tissue in human cancer patients, new research indicates. The findings demonstrate that nanoparticle-based therapies can act as a 'precision medicine' for targeting tumors while leaving healthy tissue intact.

Study identifies mechanism explaining female bias in autoimmunity Posted: 21 Mar 2016 04:50 PM PDT Possessing two X chromosomes is a double-edged sword, immunologically speaking. Females are better at fighting off infection than males, but they are also more susceptible to many autoimmune conditions, such as lupus. A new study now offers the first mechanistic explanation for why this is the case.

New tool to improve blood pressure measurement Posted: 21 Mar 2016 04:50 PM PDT A new prediction model has been developed that uses three separate blood pressure readings taken in a single consultation and basic patient characteristics to give an adjusted blood pressure reading that is significantly more accurate than existing models for identifying hypertension.

Biological factors predict which viruses will cause human epidemics Posted: 21 Mar 2016 04:50 PM PDT The identification of biological factors that predict which viruses are most likely to spread among humans could help prevent and contain outbreaks, a study reports.

Adding stress management to cardiac rehab cuts new incidents in half Posted: 21 Mar 2016 04:50 PM PDT Patients recovering from heart attacks or other heart trouble could cut their risk of another heart incident by half if they incorporate stress management into their treatment, according to research.

The weight of rejection: For heavier individuals, the anticipation of rejection drives down self-esteem, ratchets up stress Posted: 21 Mar 2016 04:50 PM PDT For heavier individuals, the anticipation of rejection drives down self-esteem and ratchets up stress, say psychologists. The researchers recruited 160 men and women of various body weights, aged 18 to 29, who identified as heterosexual, to engage in their study.

Reconstructing folding funnels from experimental data to uncover proteins' inner life Posted: 21 Mar 2016 04:50 PM PDT Understanding the sequence-structure-function relationship -- the 'protein folding problem' -- is one of the great, unsolved problems in physical chemistry, and is of inestimable scientific value in exposing the inner workings of life and the rational design of molecular machines. A study lays the foundations to recover the protein folding landscapes directly from experimental data, providing a route to new understanding and rational design of proteins.

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