ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Comfy mice lead to better science: Are cold mice affecting drug testing?
• Key enzyme involved in protecting nerves from degeneration identified
• Children who develop asthma have lung function deficits as neonates, study suggests
• ADHD is over-diagnosed, experts say
• Link between fast food and depression confirmed
• Human attention to a particular portion of an image alters the way the brain processes visual cortex responses to that image

Comfy mice lead to better science: Are cold mice affecting drug testing? Posted: 30 Mar 2012 05:59 PM PDT Nine out of 10 drugs successfully tested in mice and other animal models ultimately fail to work in people, and one reason may be that laboratory mice are cold, according to an expert. Scientists report that given the proper materials, mice will build a cozy nest that allows them to naturally regulate their temperatures to a comfortable level.

Key enzyme involved in protecting nerves from degeneration identified Posted: 30 Mar 2012 01:48 PM PDT A new animal model of nerve injury has brought to light a critical role of an enzyme called Nmnat in nerve fiber maintenance and neuroprotection. Understanding biological pathways involved in maintaining healthy nerves and clearing away damaged ones may offer scientists targets for drugs to mitigate neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington's and Parkinson's, as well as aid in situations of acute nerve damage, such as spinal cord injury.

Children who develop asthma have lung function deficits as neonates, study suggests Posted: 30 Mar 2012 05:18 AM PDT Children who develop asthma by age seven have deficits in lung function and increased bronchial responsiveness as neonates, a new study suggests.

ADHD is over-diagnosed, experts say Posted: 30 Mar 2012 05:17 AM PDT What experts and the public have already long suspected is now supported by representative data: ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is over-diagnosed. The study showed that child and adolescent psychotherapists and psychiatrists tend to give a diagnosis based on heuristics, unclear rules of thumb, rather than adhering to recognized diagnostic criteria. Boys in particular are substantially more often misdiagnosed compared to girls.

Link between fast food and depression confirmed Posted: 30 Mar 2012 05:13 AM PDT A new study along the same lines as its predecessors shows how eating fast food is linked to a greater risk of suffering from depression.

Human attention to a particular portion of an image alters the way the brain processes visual cortex responses to that image Posted: 30 Mar 2012 05:12 AM PDT Human attention to a particular portion of an image alters the way the brain processes visual cortex responses to that image. Our ability to ignore some, but not other stimuli, allows us to focus our attention and improve our performance on a specific task. Researchers are beginning to understand how humans make sense of a perceptually cluttered world.

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