ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Research explores links between physical and emotional pain relief
• Quirky Lyme disease bacteria: Unlike most organisms, they don't need iron, but crave manganese
• Road traffic pollution as serious as passive smoke in the development of childhood asthma
• Most pre-packaged meals, snacks for toddlers contain too much salt
• Eating too much salt led to 2.3 million heart-related deaths worldwide in 2010
• Energy drinks may increase blood pressure, disturb heart rhythm
• Low-cost 'cooling cure' would avert brain damage in oxygen-starved babies
• Increase in postpartum sleep is still only a dream for new moms
• Acting out dreams linked to development of dementia
• Serious mental illness no barrier to weight loss success
• Researchers alter mosquito genome with goal of controlling disease
• Pain reliever shows anti-viral activity against flu
• New method developed to expand blood stem cells for bone marrow transplant
• Discovery could increase efficacy of promising cystic fibrosis drug
• Multiple sclerosis research: Thalamus moves into the spotlight
• How serotonin receptors can shape drug effects from LSD to migraine medication
• 'Evolutionary glitch' possible cause of childhood ear infections
• Stem cells use signal orientation to guide division, study shows
• Primary care physicians missing early signs of serious mental illness
• Physical therapy as effective as surgery for torn meniscus and arthritis of the knee, study suggests
• Findings to help in design of drugs against virus causing childhood illnesses
• Scientists identify gene that is consistently altered in obese individuals
• Chemical compounds that halt virus replication identified
• New diagnostic technology points to possible new blood tests for conditions from Alzheimer's to autoimmune diseases
• Harnessing immune cells' adaptability to design an effective HIV vaccine
• Do i know you? Memory patterns help us recall the social webs we weave
• Differences in bone healing in young vs. old mice may hold answers to better bone healing for seniors
• Cancer drug shortages mean higher costs and greater risk for patients
• Faster, smarter and cheaper drug discovery
• What you eat before surgery may affect your recovery
• Misregulated genes may have big autism role
• Adults worldwide eat almost double daily recommended amount of sodium
• Parents should do chores together, study says
• Men may have natural aversion to adultery with friends' wives
• Pavlov inverted: Reward linked to image is enough to activate brain's visual cortex
• Immune system can delay healing of bone fractures
• Neuroscience of finding your lost keys
• Genes may be reason some kids are picky about food
• 98 percent of total knee replacement patients return to life, work following surgery
• New imaging agent enables better cancer detection, more accurate staging
• Charges for emergency room visits often based on incorrect assumptions
• Media coverage of mass shootings contributes to negative attitudes towards mental illness
• Insights into the immune system, from the fates of individual T cells
• Altered brain activity responsible for cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia

Research explores links between physical and emotional pain relief Posted: 21 Mar 2013 05:57 PM PDT Though we all desire relief -- from stress, work, or pain -- little is known about the specific emotions underlying relief. New research explores the psychological mechanisms associated with relief that occurs after the removal of pain, also known as pain offset relief.

Quirky Lyme disease bacteria: Unlike most organisms, they don't need iron, but crave manganese Posted: 21 Mar 2013 05:57 PM PDT Scientists have confirmed that the pathogen that causes Lyme disease -- unlike any other known organism -- can exist without iron, a metal that all other life needs to make proteins and enzymes. Instead of iron, the bacteria substitute manganese to make an essential enzyme, thus eluding immune system defenses that protect the body by starving pathogens of iron.

Road traffic pollution as serious as passive smoke in the development of childhood asthma Posted: 21 Mar 2013 05:55 PM PDT New research conducted in 10 European cities has estimated that 14 percent of chronic childhood asthma is due to exposure to traffic pollution near busy roads.

Most pre-packaged meals, snacks for toddlers contain too much salt Posted: 21 Mar 2013 05:55 PM PDT Most pre-packaged meals and snacks for toddlers contain high amounts of sodium. Some toddler meals had as much as 630 mg of sodium per serving.

Eating too much salt led to 2.3 million heart-related deaths worldwide in 2010 Posted: 21 Mar 2013 05:55 PM PDT Excessive sodium (salt) consumption caused 2.3 million heart-related deaths in the world in 2010. Nearly 1 million of these deaths occurred in people 69 years and younger.

Energy drinks may increase blood pressure, disturb heart rhythm Posted: 21 Mar 2013 05:55 PM PDT Energy drinks may increase blood pressure and disturb the heart's rhythm. Researchers who analyzed seven previously published studies found an increase of 3.5 points in systolic blood pressure for those consuming energy drinks. Consuming energy drinks may increase the chances of developing an abnormal heart rhythm.

Low-cost 'cooling cure' would avert brain damage in oxygen-starved babies Posted: 21 Mar 2013 05:53 PM PDT When babies are deprived of oxygen before birth, brain damage can occur. Preventive treatment is not always available in developing nations. Students have invented a low-tech $40 unit to provide protective cooling in the absence of modern hospital equipment that can cost $12,000.

Increase in postpartum sleep is still only a dream for new moms Posted: 21 Mar 2013 05:48 PM PDT Sleep tips and supports from specially-trained nurses are valued by new parents but do not help increase postpartum sleep for first-time moms or their babies.

Acting out dreams linked to development of dementia Posted: 21 Mar 2013 05:48 PM PDT The strongest predictor of whether a man is developing dementia with Lewy bodies — the second most common form of dementia in the elderly — is whether he acts out his dreams while sleeping, researchers have discovered.

Serious mental illness no barrier to weight loss success Posted: 21 Mar 2013 05:48 PM PDT Through a program that teaches simple nutrition messages and involves both counseling and regular exercise classes, people with serious mental illness can make healthy behavioral changes and achieve significant weight loss.

Researchers alter mosquito genome with goal of controlling disease Posted: 21 Mar 2013 05:48 PM PDT With a technique called TALENS, scientists used a pair of engineered proteins to disrupt a targeted gene in the mosquito genome, changing the eye color of ensuing generations of the insect. The method might help scientists find ways control disease transmission.

Pain reliever shows anti-viral activity against flu Posted: 21 Mar 2013 12:19 PM PDT The over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drug naproxen may also exhibit antiviral activity against influenza A virus, according to a team of scientists. The findings are the result of a structure-based investigation.

New method developed to expand blood stem cells for bone marrow transplant Posted: 21 Mar 2013 12:19 PM PDT More than 50,000 stem cell transplants are performed each year worldwide. Scientists may have solved a major issue of expanding adult hematopoietic stem cells outside the human body for clinical use in bone marrow transplantation -- a critical step towards producing a large supply of blood stem cells needed to restore a healthy blood system.

Discovery could increase efficacy of promising cystic fibrosis drug Posted: 21 Mar 2013 12:15 PM PDT Researchers believe they have found exactly how Kalydeco (Vx-770), the first drug of its kind to treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis, works and how to improve its effectiveness in the future.

Multiple sclerosis research: Thalamus moves into the spotlight Posted: 21 Mar 2013 11:15 AM PDT A new study found that atrophy of the thalamus, determined with MRI, can help identify which patients with clinically isolated syndrome, a patient's first episode of MS, are at risk for developing clinically definite MS.

How serotonin receptors can shape drug effects from LSD to migraine medication Posted: 21 Mar 2013 11:15 AM PDT Researchers have determined and analyzed the high-resolution atomic structures of two kinds of human serotonin receptor. The new findings help explain why some drugs that interact with these receptors have had unexpectedly complex and sometimes harmful effects.

'Evolutionary glitch' possible cause of childhood ear infections Posted: 21 Mar 2013 11:14 AM PDT Researchers have uncovered how the human ear is formed, giving clues as to why children are susceptible to infections such as glue ear.

Stem cells use signal orientation to guide division, study shows Posted: 21 Mar 2013 11:14 AM PDT Cells in the body need to be acutely aware of their surroundings. A signal from one direction may cause a cell to react in a very different way than if it had come from another direction. Now, researchers have devised a way to mimic in the laboratory the spatially oriented signaling that cells normally experience.

Primary care physicians missing early signs of serious mental illness Posted: 21 Mar 2013 11:13 AM PDT Primary care providers could help people with warning signs of psychosis get critical early treatment and potentially reduce the current burden on emergency departments and inpatient units, finds a new study.

Physical therapy as effective as surgery for torn meniscus and arthritis of the knee, study suggests Posted: 21 Mar 2013 10:32 AM PDT A new study showing that physical therapy is just as effective as surgery in patients with meniscal tears and arthritis of the knee should encourage many health care providers to reconsider their practices in the management of this common injury, experts say.

Findings to help in design of drugs against virus causing childhood illnesses Posted: 21 Mar 2013 10:32 AM PDT New research findings may help scientists design drugs to treat a virus infection that causes potentially fatal brain swelling and paralysis in children. The virus, called enterovirus 71, causes hand, foot and mouth disease, and is common throughout the world.

Scientists identify gene that is consistently altered in obese individuals Posted: 21 Mar 2013 10:31 AM PDT Food and environment can chemically alter your gene function, and scientists have identified a gene that is consistently altered in obesity.

Chemical compounds that halt virus replication identified Posted: 21 Mar 2013 10:31 AM PDT Researchers have identified a new chemical class of compounds that have the potential to block genetically diverse viruses from replicating. The findings could allow for the development of broad-spectrum antiviral medications to treat a number of viruses, including the highly pathogenic Ebola and Marburg viruses.

New diagnostic technology points to possible new blood tests for conditions from Alzheimer's to autoimmune diseases Posted: 21 Mar 2013 10:31 AM PDT Researchers have developed cutting-edge technology that can successfully screen human blood for disease markers. This tool may hold the key to better diagnosing and understanding today's most pressing and puzzling health conditions, including autoimmune diseases.

Harnessing immune cells' adaptability to design an effective HIV vaccine Posted: 21 Mar 2013 10:31 AM PDT In infected individuals, HIV mutates rapidly to escape recognition by immune cells. This process of evolution is the main obstacle to natural immunity and the development of an effective vaccine. A new study reveals that the immune system has the capacity to adapt such that it can recognize mutations in HIV.

Do i know you? Memory patterns help us recall the social webs we weave Posted: 21 Mar 2013 10:19 AM PDT With a dizzying number of ties in our social networks – that your Aunt Alice is a neighbor of Muhammad who is married to Natasha who is your wife's boss – it's a wonder we remember any of it. How do we keep track of the complexity? We cheat, says a sociologist.

Differences in bone healing in young vs. old mice may hold answers to better bone healing for seniors Posted: 21 Mar 2013 10:19 AM PDT By studying the underlying differences in gene expression during healing after a bone break in young versus aged mice, scientists aim to find specific pathways of fracture healing in humans.

Cancer drug shortages mean higher costs and greater risk for patients Posted: 21 Mar 2013 10:19 AM PDT Drug shortages erode the quality and increase the cost of cancer care; experts warn that shortages persist despite efforts to fix the problem.

Faster, smarter and cheaper drug discovery Posted: 21 Mar 2013 10:19 AM PDT Computers are now sifting through drug libraries to pick out compounds likely to clobber TB with minimal side effects to humans. Programmers have 'taught' the computers to understand which chemical features of a drug are associated with efficacy against TB and which are associated with toxicity to mammalian cells. The process may lead to much less trial and error in finding new therapies. The computers even rediscovered a compound reported 40 years ago to have anti-TB activity but since forgotten.

What you eat before surgery may affect your recovery Posted: 21 Mar 2013 08:10 AM PDT According to a new study, the last few meals before surgery might make a difference in recovery after surgery.

Misregulated genes may have big autism role Posted: 21 Mar 2013 08:09 AM PDT A genetic pathway involving proteins in the endosomes of cells appears to be misregulated in the brains of children with autism, according to a newly published statistical analysis. Previously, the genes were shown to cause rare forms of the disease, but the new study suggests they have a wider role.

Adults worldwide eat almost double daily recommended amount of sodium Posted: 21 Mar 2013 08:09 AM PDT Adults worldwide consume almost double the daily recommended amount of sodium (salt). The study is among the first to provide information about sodium intake by country, age and gender.

Parents should do chores together, study says Posted: 21 Mar 2013 06:31 AM PDT New research finds that keeping score with chores isn't the best path to a high-quality relationship. Instead the data points to two items that should have a permanent place on every father's to-do list: Do housework alongside your spouse, Spend quality time with the kids.

Men may have natural aversion to adultery with friends' wives Posted: 21 Mar 2013 06:31 AM PDT After outgrowing teenage infatuations with the girl next door, adult males seem to be biologically designed to avoid amorous attractions to the wife next door, according to a new study that found adult males' testosterone levels dropped when they were interacting with the marital partner of a close friend.

Pavlov inverted: Reward linked to image is enough to activate brain's visual cortex Posted: 21 Mar 2013 06:29 AM PDT Once rhesus monkeys learn to associate a picture with a reward, the reward by itself becomes enough to alter the activity in the monkeys' visual cortex.

Immune system can delay healing of bone fractures Posted: 21 Mar 2013 06:29 AM PDT Medical researchers have succeeded in demonstrating an association between delayed bone fracture healing and increased concentration of specific immune cells in the blood of the patient. Results of the study show that the adaptive immune system responds to the fracture in a similar way as to an infection and attempts to fight against it.

Neuroscience of finding your lost keys Posted: 21 Mar 2013 06:28 AM PDT Ever find yourself racking your brain on a Monday morning to remember where you put your car keys? When you do find those keys, you can thank the hippocampus, a brain region responsible for storing and retrieving memories of different environments -- such as that room where your keys were hiding in an unusual spot. Now, scientists have helped explain how the brain keeps track of the incredibly rich and complex environments people navigate on a daily basis.

Genes may be reason some kids are picky about food Posted: 21 Mar 2013 05:29 AM PDT Parents may plead, cajole or entice their children to try new foods, but some kids just won't budge. Now, new research reveals that the reason these kids fear new foods has less to do with what's on their plate and more to do with their genes.

98 percent of total knee replacement patients return to life, work following surgery Posted: 21 Mar 2013 05:28 AM PDT Ninety-eight percent of total knee replacement patients who were working before surgery returned to work after surgery, and of those patients, 89 percent returned to their previous position, according to new research. Another related study highlights the life-restoring outcomes of total hip replacement.

New imaging agent enables better cancer detection, more accurate staging Posted: 20 Mar 2013 12:52 PM PDT Researchers have shown that a new imaging dye is an effective agent in detecting and mapping cancers that have reached the lymph nodes. The radioactive dye called Technetium Tc-99m tilmanocept, successfully identified cancerous lymph nodes and did a better job of marking cancers than the current standard dye.

Charges for emergency room visits often based on incorrect assumptions Posted: 20 Mar 2013 12:51 PM PDT Visits to the ER are not always for true medical emergencies – and some policymakers have been fighting the problem by denying or limiting payments if the patient's diagnosis upon discharge is for "nonemergency" conditions.

Media coverage of mass shootings contributes to negative attitudes towards mental illness Posted: 20 Mar 2013 12:51 PM PDT News stories about mass shootings involving a shooter with mental illness heighten readers' negative attitudes toward persons with serious mental illness, according to a new report. The researchers also examined how such news stories impact support for policies to reduce gun violence. Compared to study respondents who did not read a story about a mass shooting, reading a news article describing a mass shooting raised readers' support for both gun restrictions for persons with serious mental illness, and for a ban on large-capacity ammunition magazines.

Insights into the immune system, from the fates of individual T cells Posted: 20 Mar 2013 11:27 AM PDT By charting the differing fates of individual T cells, researchers have shown that previously unpredictable aspects of the adaptive immune response can be effectively modeled. The crucial question: What determines which of the immune system's millions of cells will mobilize to fight an acute infection and which will be held back to survive long-term, forming the basis of the immunological memory? The scientists' findings could have implications for improved immunotherapy and vaccination strategies.

Altered brain activity responsible for cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia Posted: 20 Mar 2013 10:59 AM PDT Cognitive problems with memory and behavior experienced by individuals with schizophrenia are linked with changes in brain activity; however, it is difficult to test whether these changes are the underlying cause or consequence of these symptoms. By altering the brain activity in mice to mimic the activity seen in patients with schizophrenia, researchers reporting in the journal Neuron reveal that these changes in regional brain activity cause similar cognitive problems in otherwise normal mice.

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