ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Potential immune benefits of strong vitamin D status in healthy individuals
• Fear factor increases, emotions decrease in books written in last 50 years
• Older grandfathers pass on autism risk through generations
• Women abused as children more likely to have children with autism
• 97 percent of UK doctors have given placebos to patients at least once
• Follow-up study describes declining efficacy of malaria vaccine candidate over 4 years
• Gulf War illness linked to physical changes in brain fibers that process pain
• Robot-delivered speech and physical therapy a success
• Genetic evidence that new therapies targeting Parkinson's disease may cause harm
• Humanoid robot helps train children with autism
• Baffling blood problem explained: 60-year-old health mystery solved
• Biodiversity does not reduce transmission of disease from animals to humans, researchers find
• Advances in preventing dangerous blood clots
• Discovery of new drug to combat malaria
• Stem cells entering heart can be tracked with nano-hitchhikers
• How two brain areas interact to trigger divergent emotional behaviors
• Better cartilage repairs possible using stem cells
• Financial benefits of plant-based, Mediterranean diet
• 'Brain waves' challenge area-specific view of brain activity
• Atypical brain circuits may cause slower gaze shifting in infants who later develop autism
• Somatic symptom disorder: New disorder could classify millions of people as mentally ill

Potential immune benefits of strong vitamin D status in healthy individuals Posted: 20 Mar 2013 06:28 PM PDT Research shows that improving vitamin D status by increasing its level in the blood could have a number of non-skeletal health benefits. The study reveals for the first time that improvement in the vitamin D status of healthy adults significantly impacts genes involved with a number of biologic pathways associated with cancer, cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases and autoimmune diseases.

Fear factor increases, emotions decrease in books written in last 50 years Posted: 20 Mar 2013 06:28 PM PDT The use of words with emotional content in books has steadily decreased throughout the last century, according to new research. The emotional content of published English has been steadily decreasing over the past century, with the exception of words associated with fear, an emotion which has resurged over the past decades.

Older grandfathers pass on autism risk through generations Posted: 20 Mar 2013 06:28 PM PDT Men who have children at older ages are more likely to have grandchildren with autism compared to younger grandfathers, according to new research. This is the first time that research has shown that risk factors for autism may accumulate over generations.

Women abused as children more likely to have children with autism Posted: 20 Mar 2013 06:28 PM PDT Women who experienced physical, emotional, or sexual abuse as children are more likely to have a child with autism than women who were not abused.

97 percent of UK doctors have given placebos to patients at least once Posted: 20 Mar 2013 06:28 PM PDT A survey of UK doctors found that 97 percent have prescribed placebo treatments to patients at least once in their career. Researchers discovered that 97 percent of doctors have used 'impure' placebo treatments, while 12 percent have used 'pure' placebos. 'Impure' placebos are treatments that are unproven, or more commonly non-essential physical examinations and blood tests performed to reassure patients. 'Pure' placebos are treatments such as sugar pills which contain no active ingredients.

Follow-up study describes declining efficacy of malaria vaccine candidate over 4 years Posted: 20 Mar 2013 06:28 PM PDT Long-term follow-up of a phase II study from researchers in Kenya shows that the efficacy of a malaria vaccine candidate, RTS,S, wanes over time and varies with exposure to the malaria parasite.

Gulf War illness linked to physical changes in brain fibers that process pain Posted: 20 Mar 2013 06:28 PM PDT Researchers have found what they say is evidence that veterans who suffer from "Gulf War Illness" have physical changes in their brains not seen in unaffected individuals. Brain scans of 31 veterans with the illness, compared to 20 control subjects, revealed anomalies in the bundles of nerve fibers that connect brain areas involved in the processing and perception of pain and fatigue.

Robot-delivered speech and physical therapy a success Posted: 20 Mar 2013 06:26 PM PDT In one of the earliest experiments using a humanoid robot to deliver speech and physical therapy to a stroke patient, researchers saw notable speech and physical therapy gains and significant improvement in quality of life.

Genetic evidence that new therapies targeting Parkinson's disease may cause harm Posted: 20 Mar 2013 06:26 PM PDT Researchers have completed a small study that shows genetic and clinical evidence that therapies targeting the expression of alpha-synuclein -- a gene whose function is involved in the development and progression of Parkinson's disease -- may accelerate disease progression and increase the risk of physical incapacitation and dementia. If replicated, the findings will have profound implications for therapies under development for Parkinson's disease.

Humanoid robot helps train children with autism Posted: 20 Mar 2013 12:52 PM PDT An interdisciplinary team of mechanical engineers and autism experts have developed an adaptive robotic system and used it to demonstrate that humanoid robots can be powerful tools for enhancing the basic social learning skills of children with autism.

Baffling blood problem explained: 60-year-old health mystery solved Posted: 20 Mar 2013 12:51 PM PDT Some 200,000 people in Europe and a similar number in North America are "Vel-negative," a rare blood type, difficult for hospitals to identify, that can make blood transfusions turn deadly. For sixty years, researchers hunted -- unsuccessfully -- for the cause of Vel-negative blood. Now scientists have found the culprit -- a tiny protein called SMIM1 -- and created a fast and easy DNA test for it.

Biodiversity does not reduce transmission of disease from animals to humans, researchers find Posted: 20 Mar 2013 11:27 AM PDT A new analysis pokes holes in widely accepted theory that connects biodiversity abundance with a reduced disease risk for humans.

Advances in preventing dangerous blood clots Posted: 20 Mar 2013 11:27 AM PDT New research may help clinicians determine which patients are at highest risk for post-surgical blood clots in the legs or lungs.

Discovery of new drug to combat malaria Posted: 20 Mar 2013 11:27 AM PDT A new project has yielded a promising new antimalarial drug with the potential to cure the mosquito-borne disease and block its transmission with low doses.

Stem cells entering heart can be tracked with nano-hitchhikers Posted: 20 Mar 2013 11:27 AM PDT The promise of repairing damaged hearts through regenerative medicine -- infusing stem cells into the heart in the hope that these cells will replace worn out or damaged tissue -- has yet to meet with clinical success. But a highly sensitive visualization technique may help speed that promise's realization.

How two brain areas interact to trigger divergent emotional behaviors Posted: 20 Mar 2013 11:25 AM PDT New research for the first time explains exactly how two brain regions interact to promote emotionally motivated behaviors associated with anxiety and reward. The findings could lead to new mental health therapies for disorders such as addiction, anxiety, and depression.

Better cartilage repairs possible using stem cells Posted: 20 Mar 2013 10:38 AM PDT Using adult stem cells is a good way of culturing better-quality cartilage to repair worn hips and knees. New cartilage that has good properties can be grown in particular by cultivating adult stem cells in combination with a small quantity of cells from the patient's own cartilage. In the long run this increases the likelihood of a cartilage implant being successful, provided it is carried out in time.

Financial benefits of plant-based, Mediterranean diet Posted: 20 Mar 2013 08:53 AM PDT People who followed a six-week cooking program and followed simple, plant-based recipes decreased their total food spending, purchased healthier food items and improved their food security.

'Brain waves' challenge area-specific view of brain activity Posted: 20 Mar 2013 08:51 AM PDT Our understanding of brain activity has traditionally been linked to brain areas – when we speak, the speech area of the brain is active. New research shows that this view may be overly rigid. The entire cortex, not just the area responsible for a certain function, is activated when a given task is initiated. Furthermore, activity occurs in a pattern: waves of activity roll from one side of the brain to the other.

Atypical brain circuits may cause slower gaze shifting in infants who later develop autism Posted: 20 Mar 2013 06:56 AM PDT Infants at 7 months of age who go on to develop autism are slower to reorient their gaze and attention from one object to another when compared to 7-month-olds who do not develop autism, and this behavioral pattern is in part explained by atypical brain circuits.

Somatic symptom disorder: New disorder could classify millions of people as mentally ill Posted: 19 Mar 2013 05:23 PM PDT Millions of people could be mislabeled as mentally ill when psychiatry's bible of diagnoses is updated in May, warns a doctor.

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