ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Powerful tool for genetic engineering
• Decoding, oral comprehension, vocabulary: Three key literacy skills for primary schools in priority areas
• College students more likely to be lawbreakers if spanked as children
• Artificial skin created using stem cells from the umbilical cord
• Frequent breaks from sedentary behavior makes kids healthier
• PTSD raises risk for obesity in women
• Long-term unemployment may accelerate aging in men
• Current practice may over-diagnose vitamin D deficiency
• Brain still injured from concussion after symptoms fade
• Connections in children's brains strengthen during sleep
• Nurses eliminate pressure ulcers in premature infants
• Sudden steep drop in blood pressure may predict atrial fibrillation years later
• Aging impacts epigenome in human skeletal muscle
• Study shows diet alone can be significant source of arsenic
• Clues of antibiotic use, resistance in US children's hospitals
• Drug strategy blocks leading driver of cancer
• Neurons in 'face recognition center' respond differently in autistic brain
• Excessive testosterone raises mortality risk in older men
• Metabolically healthy obesity does not guarantee clean bill of health

Powerful tool for genetic engineering Posted: 22 Nov 2013 08:27 AM PST Viruses cannot only cause illnesses in humans, they also infect bacteria. Those protect themselves with a kind of "immune system" which -- simply put -- consists of specific sequences in the genetic material of the bacteria and a suitable enzyme. Scientists have now shown that the dual-RNA guided enzyme Cas9 which is involved in the process has developed independently in various strains of bacteria.

Decoding, oral comprehension, vocabulary: Three key literacy skills for primary schools in priority areas Posted: 22 Nov 2013 07:36 AM PST What types of skills do first-year primary school children in education priority areas need most to learn to read? To find out, scientists conducted a study of 394 children at the end of their first year of school. The results show that, of all the factors involved in their reading comprehension skills, three played a predominant role: decoding ability, oral comprehension and vocabulary.

College students more likely to be lawbreakers if spanked as children Posted: 22 Nov 2013 07:36 AM PST No matter where they live in the world, university students who were spanked as children are more likely to engage in criminal behavior, according to new research. Even young adults whose parents were generally loving and helpful as they were growing up showed higher rates of criminal behavior.

Artificial skin created using stem cells from the umbilical cord Posted: 22 Nov 2013 05:44 AM PST An important scientific breakthrough will aid the immediate use of artificially-grown skin for major burn patients, since the skin could be stored in tissue banks and made available when needed.

Frequent breaks from sedentary behavior makes kids healthier Posted: 20 Nov 2013 04:24 PM PST This study suggests that frequent interruptions in children's sedentary time -- or the number of times children got up, rather than the duration of the break -- can have a positive impact on reducing global health risks.

PTSD raises risk for obesity in women Posted: 20 Nov 2013 04:23 PM PST Women with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) gain weight more rapidly and are more likely to be overweight or obese than women without the disorder, find researchers. It is the first study to look at the relationship between PTSD and obesity over time.

Long-term unemployment may accelerate aging in men Posted: 20 Nov 2013 04:23 PM PST Men who are unemployed for more than two years show signs of faster aging in their DNA, a new study has found.

Current practice may over-diagnose vitamin D deficiency Posted: 20 Nov 2013 04:23 PM PST The current "gold standard" test for measuring vitamin D status may not accurately diagnose vitamin D deficiency in black individuals. A team of researchers has found that genetic differences in a vitamin D carrier protein may explain the discrepancy between the prevalence of diagnosed vitamin D deficiency in black Americans and a lack of the usual symptoms of vitamin deficiency.

Brain still injured from concussion after symptoms fade Posted: 20 Nov 2013 04:21 PM PST After a mild concussion, special brain scans show evidence of brain abnormalities four months later, when symptoms from the concussion have mostly dissipated, according to research published.

Connections in children's brains strengthen during sleep Posted: 20 Nov 2013 12:52 PM PST While young children sleep, connections between the left and the right hemispheres of their brain strengthen, which may help brain functions mature, according to a new study.

Nurses eliminate pressure ulcers in premature infants Posted: 20 Nov 2013 11:36 AM PST Infants born prematurely are at a significantly increased risk for pressure ulcers, yet nurses at one hospital have been able to eliminate this threat for patients in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit.

Sudden steep drop in blood pressure may predict atrial fibrillation years later Posted: 20 Nov 2013 11:36 AM PST Results of a study have identified a possible link between a history of sudden drops in blood pressure and the most common form of irregular heartbeat.

Aging impacts epigenome in human skeletal muscle Posted: 20 Nov 2013 11:36 AM PST Our epigenome is a set of chemical switches that turn parts of our genome off and on and are impacted by environmental factors including diet, exercise and stress. Research reveals that aging also effects the epigenome in human skeletal muscle. The study provides a method to study sarcopenia, the degenerative loss of muscle mass that begins in middle age.

Study shows diet alone can be significant source of arsenic Posted: 20 Nov 2013 10:39 AM PST Diet alone can be a significant source of arsenic exposure regardless of arsenic concentrations in drinking and cooking water, a study finds.

Clues of antibiotic use, resistance in US children's hospitals Posted: 20 Nov 2013 10:39 AM PST Two studies published show antibiotic resistance patterns for children have held stable over a seven-year period and surgical patients in US children's hospitals account for 43 percent of all antibiotic use in children's hospitals, presenting an opportunity for targeted intervention.

Drug strategy blocks leading driver of cancer Posted: 20 Nov 2013 10:37 AM PST The protein in cells that most often drives the development of cancers has eluded scientists' efforts to block it for three decades -- until now.

Neurons in 'face recognition center' respond differently in autistic brain Posted: 20 Nov 2013 10:35 AM PST Certain neurons in the brain's "face-recognition center" perform differently in patients who have autism. In what are believed to be the first studies of their kind, researchers recording the real-time firing of individual nerve cells in the brain found that a specific type of neuron in a structure called the amygdala performed differently in people who suffer from autism spectrum disorder than in those who do not.

Excessive testosterone raises mortality risk in older men Posted: 20 Nov 2013 10:35 AM PST Older men whose testosterone levels were neither low nor high tended to live longer, according to new research.

Metabolically healthy obesity does not guarantee clean bill of health Posted: 20 Nov 2013 10:35 AM PST Obese people who are currently metabolically healthy face a higher risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease, according to new research.

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