ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Different types of psychotherapy have similar benefits for depression
• Changing gut bacteria through diet affects brain function
• Significantly improved survival rates for stem cell transplant recipients
• Key to development of peripheral nervous system uncovered
• Small molecule could have big impact on cancer
• Picking up a second language is predicted by ability to learn patterns
• Shape-shifting nanoparticles flip from sphere to net in response to tumor signal
• New ruthenium complexes target cancer cells without typical side effects, study suggests
• Increasing problem of prescription drug abuse among youth
• Preventing 'traffic jams' in brain cells
• Novel class of drugs for prostate cancers
• Children of long-lived parents less likely to get cancer
• Soda and illegal drugs cause similar damage to teeth: Acids erode enamel
• Findings may help overcome hurdle to successful bone marrow transplantation
• Unique omega-3 supplement effective at reducing exercise-induced asthma symptoms
• Family studies suggest rare genetic mutations team up to cause schizophrenia
• Finding a genetic cause for severe childhood epilepsies
• Childhood bullying increases the propensity to self-harm during adolescence, study finds
• Copper destroys norovirus, study suggests
• Aspirin triggered resolvin protects against cognitive decline after surgery
• Analysis of medical images improved to facilitate study of psychotic disorders
• New safety test predicts reactions to novel drugs and cosmetics
• Salmonella uses protective switch during infection
• Sugar polymer on cell surface of multiple pathogens could be key to developing broad-spectrum vaccine
• Language is in our biology

Different types of psychotherapy have similar benefits for depression Posted: 28 May 2013 03:10 PM PDT Treatments for depression that don't involve antidepressant drugs but rather focus on different forms of talking therapy (referred to as psychotherapeutic interventions) are all beneficial, with no one form of therapy being better than the others, according to a new study.

Changing gut bacteria through diet affects brain function Posted: 28 May 2013 03:09 PM PDT Researchers now have the first evidence that bacteria ingested in food can affect brain function in humans. In an early proof-of-concept study of healthy women, they found that women who regularly consumed beneficial bacteria known as probiotics through yogurt showed altered brain function, both while in a resting state and in response to an emotion-recognition task.

Significantly improved survival rates for stem cell transplant recipients Posted: 28 May 2013 03:08 PM PDT Study of 38,000 blood stem cell transplant recipients shows that survival rates increased significantly over 12 years, and numbers of patients receiving transplants grew dramatically.

Key to development of peripheral nervous system uncovered Posted: 28 May 2013 03:08 PM PDT Patients suffering from hereditary neuropathy may have hope for new treatment thanks to a new study that uncovered a key to the development of the peripheral nervous system.

Small molecule could have big impact on cancer Posted: 28 May 2013 01:09 PM PDT Researchers have designed and synthesized a novel small molecule that might become a large weapon in the fight against prostate cancer.

Picking up a second language is predicted by ability to learn patterns Posted: 28 May 2013 11:38 AM PDT Some people seem to pick up a second language with relative ease, while others have a much more difficult time. Now, a new study suggests that learning to understand and read a second language may be driven, at least in part, by our ability to pick up on statistical regularities.

Shape-shifting nanoparticles flip from sphere to net in response to tumor signal Posted: 28 May 2013 11:37 AM PDT Tiny spherical particles float easily through the bloodstream after injection, then assemble into a durable scaffold within diseased tissue. An enzyme produced by a specific type of tumor can trigger the transformation of the spheres into netlike structures that accumulate at the site of a cancer.

New ruthenium complexes target cancer cells without typical side effects, study suggests Posted: 28 May 2013 11:37 AM PDT Pre-clinical tests found two ruthenium polypyridyl complexes, or RPCs, yielded results comparable to cisplatin against human non-small cell lung cancer cells and were generally cleared from the body unchanged, without noticeable effects on metabolism or kidney function. Healthy cells could withstand almost 10 times as much exposure to the ruthenium complexes as the cancer cells and the RPCs seemed to target cells in hypoxic states.

Increasing problem of prescription drug abuse among youth Posted: 28 May 2013 11:37 AM PDT Young people are increasingly turning to prescription drugs to get high. Research sheds new light on what could increase or lower that risk.

Preventing 'traffic jams' in brain cells Posted: 28 May 2013 11:36 AM PDT An Alzheimer's disease protein controls the speed at which materials move through brain cells, and defects could lead to deadly pileups of the kind seen in neurodegenerative disease, a new publication finds.

Novel class of drugs for prostate cancers Posted: 28 May 2013 09:25 AM PDT A new study on prostate cancer describes a novel class of drugs that interrupts critical signaling needed for prostate cancer cells to grow.

Children of long-lived parents less likely to get cancer Posted: 28 May 2013 09:25 AM PDT The offspring of parents who live to a ripe old age are more likely to live longer themselves, and less prone to cancer and other common diseases associated with aging, a study has revealed.

Soda and illegal drugs cause similar damage to teeth: Acids erode enamel Posted: 28 May 2013 09:25 AM PDT Addicted to soda? You may be shocked to learn that drinking large quantities of your favorite carbonated soda could be as damaging to your teeth as methamphetamine and crack cocaine use. The consumption of illegal drugs and abusive intake of soda can cause similar damage to your mouth through the process of tooth erosion, according to a case study.

Findings may help overcome hurdle to successful bone marrow transplantation Posted: 28 May 2013 09:24 AM PDT Blood diseases such as leukemia, multiple myeloma, and myelodysplasia can develop from abnormal bone marrow cells and a dysfunctional bone marrow microenvironment that surrounds these cells. Researchers have found that eliminating a gene in the cells found in this microenvironment causes them to die, enabling donor cells to replace them. The findings could help improve bone marrow transplant therapy for patients who need it.

Unique omega-3 supplement effective at reducing exercise-induced asthma symptoms Posted: 28 May 2013 07:52 AM PDT A new study found that an omega-3 supplement derived from the New Zealand green-lipped mussel improved lung function and reduced airway inflammation in asthmatics with exercise-induced asthma.

Family studies suggest rare genetic mutations team up to cause schizophrenia Posted: 28 May 2013 07:52 AM PDT Using a novel method of analyzing genetic variations in families, researchers have found that individually harmless genetic variations affecting related biochemical processes may team up to increase the risk of schizophrenia. They say their findings bring some clarity to the murky relationship between genetics and schizophrenia, and may lead to a genetic test that can predict which medications will be effective for individual patients.

Finding a genetic cause for severe childhood epilepsies Posted: 28 May 2013 07:01 AM PDT A large scientific study has discovered new genes causing severe seizure disorders that begin in babies and early childhood. The finding will lead to new tests to diagnose these conditions and promises to lead to improved outcomes.

Childhood bullying increases the propensity to self-harm during adolescence, study finds Posted: 28 May 2013 06:21 AM PDT A new study has shown that being bullied during childhood directly increases the likelihood of self-harm in late adolescence.

Copper destroys norovirus, study suggests Posted: 28 May 2013 06:21 AM PDT New research shows that copper and copper alloys will rapidly destroy norovirus - the highly-infectious sickness bug. The virus can be contracted from contaminated food or water, person-to-person contact, and contact with contaminated surfaces, meaning surfaces made from copper could effectively shut down one avenue of infection.

Aspirin triggered resolvin protects against cognitive decline after surgery Posted: 28 May 2013 06:16 AM PDT Resolvins are molecules naturally produced by the body from omega-3 fatty acids – a process that can be jumpstarted by common aspirin. In a new study researchers describe how resolvins could protect against the cognitive impairment that often affects recovery of surgical and critically ill patients. The study adds new knowledge on how peripheral surgery affects the brain and neuronal function contributing to the processes of cognitive decline.

Analysis of medical images improved to facilitate study of psychotic disorders Posted: 28 May 2013 06:16 AM PDT Scientists have developed new superresolution and segmentation methods for magnetic resonance images so that they can be applied to the structural study of psychosis. The aim is to be able to identify the differences that are produced in specific parts of the brain in psychotic patients with respect to their healthy relatives or other people.

New safety test predicts reactions to novel drugs and cosmetics Posted: 27 May 2013 08:19 PM PDT A simple lab-based skin test which eliminates the risk of adverse reactions to new drugs, cosmetics and household chemicals has been developed. It uses real human skin and immune cells to show any reaction such as a rash or blistering indicating a wider immune response within the body.

Salmonella uses protective switch during infection Posted: 27 May 2013 12:36 PM PDT For the first time, researchers have found a particular kind of molecular switch in the food poisoning bacteria Salmonella Typhimurium under infection-like conditions. This switch, using a process called S-thiolation, appears to be used by the bacteria to respond to changes in the environment during infection and might protect it from harm, researchers report.

Sugar polymer on cell surface of multiple pathogens could be key to developing broad-spectrum vaccine Posted: 27 May 2013 12:36 PM PDT Researchers have discovered a sugar polymer that is common on the cell surface of several pathogens. This common sugar molecule makes it a promising target for the development of a broad-spectrum vaccine that can protect against numerous deadly microbes expressing this sugar on their cell surface.

Language is in our biology Posted: 27 May 2013 07:04 AM PDT If you want to master languages, you should pick your parents with care, new research from Norway shows. A good working memory is perhaps the brain's most important system when it comes to learning a new language. But it appears that working memory is first and foremost determined by our genes.

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