ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Your memory is no video camera: It edits the past with present experiences
• Educational toolkit did not improve quality of care or outcomes for patients with diabetes
• Predicting cardiovascular events in sleep apnea
• Brain scans show we take risks because we can't stop ourselves
• Taking statins to lower cholesterol? New guidelines
• Personal experience, work seniority improve mental health professionals' outlook
• Obesity in men could dictate future colon screenings
• New fruitfly sleep gene promotes the need to sleep
• First evidence of common brain code for space, time, distance
• Are you big pharma's new target market?
• Model predicts growth, death of membership-based websites
• Embrace the cold: Evidence that shivering and exercise may convert white fat to brown
• Appearance of lyme disease rash can help predict how bacteria spreads through body
• Eyemusic sensory substitution device enables the blind to 'see' colors and shapes
• In vitro innovation: Testing nanomedicine with blood cells on a microchip
• Beating pain and painkillers: New mental intervention treatment
• The case for tele-emergency services
• Gene therapy may be possible cure for Hurler syndrome: Mouse Study
• Pain sensitivity may be influenced by lifestyle, environment, twin study suggests
• Urinary tract infections: Immune cells need a second opinion
• Connection found in pathogenesis of neurological diseases, HIV
• Helicopters save lives: Helicopter transport increases trauma survival over ground ambulance, study shows
• Existing medicines show promise for treating stomach, bowel cancer
• Violent video games delay development of moral judgment in teens
• We recognize less attractive faces best: How attractiveness interferes with recognition of faces
• New heart valve deployed without major open surgery
• Undergraduate biology education: Making science go viral
• Overweight or obese people breathe more air pollutants
• New study explores contributors to excess infant mortality in the U.S. south
• Death in the digital age: What happens to our status updates and selfies after we've gone?
• First live births with a novel simplified IVF procedure
• Smokers lack motivation, feel more tired and are less physically active than non-smokers, new study reveals
• Economic crisis has made Europeans and Americans less likely to visit the doctor
• Early autism detection: Speech disrupts facial attention in 6-month-old infants who later develop autism
• Healthy balance: model for studying cancer, immune diseases
• New assessment tool designed to improve care provided at hospitals
• Blue light may fight fatigue around the clock
• Newly discovered signaling pathway could impact variety of autoinflammatory diseases
• Finding a target for tumor suppression: Protein discovered that blocks scaffolding during cell division
• Screening mammography every two years for most women recommended
• Cell division finding could boost understanding of cancer
• Hot weather deaths projected to rise 257 percent in UK by 2050s, experts warn
• South Africa has world's highest rate of high blood pressure, study shows
• Simple, at-home test will detect most colorectal cancers
• Feeling powerless increases the weight of the world ... literally
• British medical tourists seeking treatment overseas without sufficient information, advice
• Symptoms of depression causally linked to coronary heart disease, not to stroke
• New method for tracking T cells in HIV patients
• Quantifying the FDA's rulemaking delays highlights need for transparency
• Telemedicine service may expand access to acute medical care, study finds
• Better access to healthy foods not enough to tackle obesity
• Long-term survival among patients with most common childhood brain tumor is high; lower if treatment included radiation
• HIV-infected teens delaying treatment until advanced disease
• Effect of lowering blood pressure on risk for cognitive decline in patients with diabetes
• Study examines consumption of added sugar, death from cardiovascular disease
• Data-driven team key to sustaining positive behavior framework in schools
• Mechanism discovered that helps HIV evade antibodies, stabilize key proteins
• How shape-shifting DNA-repair machine fights cancer
• Hypertensive patients' use of specialty services changed with primary care resdesign

Your memory is no video camera: It edits the past with present experiences Posted: 04 Feb 2014 03:56 PM PST Your memory is a wily time traveler, plucking fragments of the present and inserting them into the past, reports a new study. In terms of accuracy, it's no video camera. Rather, memory rewrites the past with current information, updating your recollections with new experiences to aid survival. Love at first sight, for example, is more likely a trick of your memory than a Hollywood-worthy moment.

Educational toolkit did not improve quality of care or outcomes for patients with diabetes Posted: 04 Feb 2014 03:56 PM PST An educational toolkit designed to improve care of patients with diabetes was not effective, researchers found in a cluster randomized trial conducted in 2009-2011. During 10 months of follow-up, patients of Canadian family physicians who had been cluster-randomized to receive the toolkit did not receive improved care and their outcomes did not differ compared with patients of physicians who did not receive the toolkit.

Predicting cardiovascular events in sleep apnea Posted: 04 Feb 2014 03:56 PM PST Obstructive sleep apnea generally is associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Obstructive sleep apnea is usually measured using the apnea-hypopnea index, the number of times that breathing pauses or severely slows per hour of sleep. However, sleep studies using to diagnose obstructive sleep apnea produce a number of other measures. Whether those measures are associated with cardiovascular disease, and whether they predict cardiovascular disease as well or better than apnea-hypopnea index, is not known.

Brain scans show we take risks because we can't stop ourselves Posted: 04 Feb 2014 03:55 PM PST A new study correlating brain activity with how people make decisions suggests that when individuals engage in risky behavior, such as drunk driving or unsafe sex, it's probably not because their brains' desire systems are too active, but because their self-control systems are not active enough. This might have implications for how health experts treat mental illness and addiction or how the legal system assesses a criminal's likelihood of committing another crime.

Taking statins to lower cholesterol? New guidelines Posted: 04 Feb 2014 01:22 PM PST Clinicians and patients should use shared decision-making to select individualized treatments based on the new guidelines to prevent cardiovascular disease, according to a new commentary by physicians.

Personal experience, work seniority improve mental health professionals' outlook Posted: 04 Feb 2014 12:44 PM PST One might think that after years of seeing people at their worst, mental health workers would harbor negative attitudes about mental illness, perhaps associating people with mental health issues as less competent or dangerous. But a new study suggests the opposite.

Obesity in men could dictate future colon screenings Posted: 04 Feb 2014 10:17 AM PST Obesity is a known risk factor for many cancers including colon cancer, yet the reasons behind the colon cancer link have often remained unclear. A study is shedding more light on the topic and has shown that elevated leptin -- a fat hormone -- higher body mass index and a larger waistline in men is associated with a greater likelihood of having colorectal polyps, precancerous growths linked to colon cancer.

New fruitfly sleep gene promotes the need to sleep Posted: 04 Feb 2014 10:17 AM PST All creatures great and small, including fruitflies, need sleep. The timing of when we sleep versus are awake is controlled by cells in tune with circadian rhythms of light and dark. Most of the molecular components of that internal clock have been worked out. On the other hand, what drives how much we sleep is less well understood. Researchers report a new protein involved in the homeostatic regulation of sleep in the fruitfly.

First evidence of common brain code for space, time, distance Posted: 04 Feb 2014 09:37 AM PST A new study provides the first evidence that people use the same brain circuitry to figure out space, time and social distances. The results may help to determine whether we care enough to act: Is something happening here, now, to someone I love? Or over there, years from now, to a stranger?

Are you big pharma's new target market? Posted: 04 Feb 2014 09:37 AM PST New research shows that big pharma has embraced "brand personality," a marketing strategy traditionally employed by consumer-focused companies like Apple, Coca-Cola and Harley-Davidson.

Model predicts growth, death of membership-based websites Posted: 04 Feb 2014 09:36 AM PST Facebook is a proven success in what the late Nobel laureate Herbert Simon called "the marketplace of attention." A new model assesses the viability of websites and social networks in this new attention economy to predict which sites are sustainable and which are not. The model attempts to replicate the dynamics of membership sites, including the role of active users as catalysts of website activity, turning dormant website members into active users and keeping them active.

Embrace the cold: Evidence that shivering and exercise may convert white fat to brown Posted: 04 Feb 2014 09:36 AM PST A new study suggests that shivering and bouts of moderate exercise are equally capable of stimulating the conversion of energy-storing "white fat" into energy-burning "brown fat." This makes brown fat a potential therapeutic target against obesity and diabetes.

Appearance of lyme disease rash can help predict how bacteria spreads through body Posted: 04 Feb 2014 09:36 AM PST Lyme disease is often evident by a rash on the skin, but infections do not always produce similar rashes. This can make it difficult to detect the disease early, when antibiotic treatment is most effective. Researchers describe a new mathematical model that captures the interactions between disease-causing bacteria and the host immune response that affect the appearance of a rash and the spread of infection.

Eyemusic sensory substitution device enables the blind to 'see' colors and shapes Posted: 04 Feb 2014 09:35 AM PST Using auditory or tactile stimulation, Sensory Substitution Devices (SSDs) provide representations of visual information and can help the blind "see" colors and shapes. SSDs scan images and transform the information into audio or touch signals that users are trained to understand, enabling them to recognize an image without seeing it. Currently SSDs are not widely used within the blind community because they can be cumbersome and unpleasant to use. However, researchers have now developed a novel SSD that transmits shape and color information through a composition of pleasant musical tones, or "soundscapes."

In vitro innovation: Testing nanomedicine with blood cells on a microchip Posted: 04 Feb 2014 09:34 AM PST Scientists have engineered a microchip coated with blood vessel cells to learn more about the conditions under which nanoparticles accumulate in the plaque-filled arteries of patients with atherosclerosis, the underlying cause of myocardial infarction and stroke.

Beating pain and painkillers: New mental intervention treatment Posted: 04 Feb 2014 09:34 AM PST With nearly one-third of Americans suffering from chronic pain, prescription opioid painkillers have become the leading form of treatment for this debilitating condition. Unfortunately, misuse of prescription opioids can lead to serious side effects -- including death by overdose. A new treatment has shown to not only lower pain but also decrease prescription opioid misuse among chronic pain patients.

The case for tele-emergency services Posted: 04 Feb 2014 08:21 AM PST New research supports the claim that tele-emergency services can successfully extend emergency care in rural hospitals.

Gene therapy may be possible cure for Hurler syndrome: Mouse Study Posted: 04 Feb 2014 08:21 AM PST Researchers used blood platelets and bone marrow cells to deliver potentially curative gene therapy to mouse models of the human genetic disorder Hurler syndrome -- an often fatal condition that causes organ damage and other medical complications.

Pain sensitivity may be influenced by lifestyle, environment, twin study suggests Posted: 04 Feb 2014 08:21 AM PST Researchers have discovered that sensitivity to pain could be altered by a person's lifestyle and environment throughout their lifetime. The study is the first to find that pain sensitivity, previously thought to be relatively inflexible, can change as a result of genes being switched on or off by lifestyle and environmental factors -- a process called epigenetics, which chemically alters the expression of genes.

Urinary tract infections: Immune cells need a second opinion Posted: 04 Feb 2014 08:20 AM PST Bacterial urinary tract infections are a painful nuisance. Scientists have now decoded the way in which immune cells communicate with each other in defense against infections via the messenger tumor necrosis factor (TNF). Urinary tract infections are amongst the most frequent infections and are triggered by intestinal bacteria which invade the urogenital tract through smear infections via the urethra. These infections are persistent because the bacteria are often not completely killed off.

Connection found in pathogenesis of neurological diseases, HIV Posted: 04 Feb 2014 08:18 AM PST A new study published shows similarities in the pathogenesis of prion disease -- misfolded proteins that can lead to neurological diseases -- and the HIV virus.

Helicopters save lives: Helicopter transport increases trauma survival over ground ambulance, study shows Posted: 04 Feb 2014 07:20 AM PST Patients transported to hospital by helicopter have a better chance of surviving traumatic injuries than those transported by ground ambulance despite having more severe injuries and needing more surgical interventions, states a study published.

Existing medicines show promise for treating stomach, bowel cancer Posted: 04 Feb 2014 07:19 AM PST Stomach and bowel cancer, two of the most common cancers worldwide, could be treated with a class of medicines that are currently used to treat a blood disorder, a research team has discovered.

Violent video games delay development of moral judgment in teens Posted: 04 Feb 2014 07:17 AM PST A researcher set out to discover whether there was a link between the types of video games teens played, how long they played them, and the teens' levels of moral reasoning: their ability to take the perspective of others into account.

We recognize less attractive faces best: How attractiveness interferes with recognition of faces Posted: 04 Feb 2014 07:17 AM PST We tend to remember unattractive faces better than attractive ones, according to new research. Psychologists write that attractive faces without particularly remarkable features leave much less distinctive impressions on our memory.

New heart valve deployed without major open surgery Posted: 04 Feb 2014 07:14 AM PST An artificial heart valve device that does not require major open surgery has received FDA approval. The heart valve is deployed with a catheter, which is inserted in an artery in the groin and guided up to the heart.

Undergraduate biology education: Making science go viral Posted: 04 Feb 2014 07:14 AM PST According to a newly published analysis, students in HHMI's Science Education Alliance-PHAGES program have published their own scientific results, receive higher grades in their biology courses, are more likely to continue their education than overall student populations, and report an engagement in the process of science similar to what is reported by students who participate in "traditional" apprentice-based summer research.

Overweight or obese people breathe more air pollutants Posted: 04 Feb 2014 07:14 AM PST Overweight or obese adults can breathe 7-50% more air per day than an adult with healthy weight does, which makes them more vulnerable to air contaminants causing asthma and other pulmonary diseases, according to a study.

New study explores contributors to excess infant mortality in the U.S. south Posted: 04 Feb 2014 04:40 AM PST Currently, the United States ranks 27th among industrialized nations in infant mortality, but rates within the U.S. vary significantly by race, socioeconomic status, and geography. In particular, the Southern states suffer from high rates of infant mortality, along with several other negative population health indicators such as obesity and diabetes.

Death in the digital age: What happens to our status updates and selfies after we've gone? Posted: 04 Feb 2014 04:40 AM PST Researchers are analyzing the ways in which western mourning practices are changing in the modern world thanks to the increasing amounts of personal data we leave online.

First live births with a novel simplified IVF procedure Posted: 04 Feb 2014 04:40 AM PST A recent prospective study comparing conventional IVF with a novel simplified laboratory method of culturing embryos suggested that fertilization and implantation rates were similar for the simplified system when compared with those reported by conventional IVF programs. Sixteen healthy babies have already been born with this new method. According to the results of this study, IVF may be offered at a more reasonable price and made available to a larger part of the world population.

Smokers lack motivation, feel more tired and are less physically active than non-smokers, new study reveals Posted: 04 Feb 2014 04:40 AM PST While the results of smoking may be expected to decrease fitness, new research has found that smokers are less physically active, lack motivation and are more likely to suffer symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Economic crisis has made Europeans and Americans less likely to visit the doctor Posted: 04 Feb 2014 04:39 AM PST The global economic crisis has wrought havoc to economies on both sides of the Atlantic, but new research suggests it has also made both North Americans and Europeans more reluctant to seek out routine medical care.

Early autism detection: Speech disrupts facial attention in 6-month-old infants who later develop autism Posted: 04 Feb 2014 04:38 AM PST From birth, infants naturally show a preference for human contact and interaction, including faces and voices. These basic predispositions to social stimuli are altered in individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). A new study now reports that 6-month-old infants later diagnosed with autism divert their gaze from facial features when that face is speaking.

Healthy balance: model for studying cancer, immune diseases Posted: 04 Feb 2014 04:38 AM PST The protein STAT1 is involved in defending the body against pathogens and for inhibiting tumor development. If the levels of the protein are out of balance, disease may result. Researchers have developed a mouse whose STAT1 levels can be modified at will, enabling the study of the involvement of STAT1 in various processes.

New assessment tool designed to improve care provided at hospitals Posted: 04 Feb 2014 04:38 AM PST A new assessment tool can help hospital medicine groups across the United States improve their patient care and make their operations more effective. The self-assessment tool is made up of 47 different characteristics of effective hospital medicine groups (HMGs) sorted into ten different principles. It outlines characteristics like the development of an annual budget, care coordination across care settings and care that respects and responds to patient and family preferences, needs and values.

Blue light may fight fatigue around the clock Posted: 03 Feb 2014 04:18 PM PST Researchers have found that exposure to short wavelength, or blue light, during the biological day directly and immediately improves alertness and performance.

Newly discovered signaling pathway could impact variety of autoinflammatory diseases Posted: 03 Feb 2014 04:18 PM PST Researchers have discovered a new signaling pathway in sterile inflammation that could impact the treatment of diseases such as cancer, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Their findings offer insight into the role that activation of interferon-regulatory factor 1, a protein that functions as a transcriptional activator of a variety of target genes, plays in the production of chemokines and the recruitment of mononuclear cells to sites of sterile inflammation.

Finding a target for tumor suppression: Protein discovered that blocks scaffolding during cell division Posted: 03 Feb 2014 04:18 PM PST Biochemists found a protein that is suspected as a potential tumor suppressor and found how it could block the production of the material used as scaffolding during cell division.

Screening mammography every two years for most women recommended Posted: 03 Feb 2014 04:18 PM PST Adoption of new guidelines recommending screening mammography every two years for women ages 50 to 74 would result in breast cancer screening that is equally effective, while saving the United States $4.3 billion a year in health care costs, according to a study.

Cell division finding could boost understanding of cancer Posted: 03 Feb 2014 04:18 PM PST New insights into how the cells in our bodies divide could improve our knowledge of a condition linked to cancer, a study suggests.

Hot weather deaths projected to rise 257 percent in UK by 2050s, experts warn Posted: 03 Feb 2014 04:18 PM PST The number of annual excess deaths caused by hot weather in England and Wales is projected to surge by 257 percent by the middle of the century, as a result of climate change and population growth, concludes research published.

South Africa has world's highest rate of high blood pressure, study shows Posted: 03 Feb 2014 04:18 PM PST New research reveals that South Africa has the highest rate of high blood pressure reported among people aged 50 and over for any country in the world, at any time in history.

Simple, at-home test will detect most colorectal cancers Posted: 03 Feb 2014 04:18 PM PST Tests that require patients to collect a single stool sample at home and then send it to a lab for analysis will detect about 79 percent of colorectal cancers, according to a new evidence review. The review of 19 studies examining eight different fecal immunochemical tests, know as "FITs", also finds that the tests will correctly identify about 94 percent of patients who do not have cancers of the rectum or colon.

Feeling powerless increases the weight of the world ... literally Posted: 03 Feb 2014 04:17 PM PST New research shows that the more personally and socially powerless you feel the heavier objects appear to weigh. Scientists have found that people who feel powerless actually see the world differently, and find a task to be more physically challenging than those with a greater sense of personal and social power.

British medical tourists seeking treatment overseas without sufficient information, advice Posted: 03 Feb 2014 04:17 PM PST A team of researchers has found that British people traveling abroad for medical treatment are often unaware of the potential health and financial consequences they could face.

Symptoms of depression causally linked to coronary heart disease, not to stroke Posted: 03 Feb 2014 04:17 PM PST A report published provides strong evidence that the symptoms of depressive disorder are causally associated with the risk of coronary heart disease, and as such should be considered a potentially modifiable risk factor for the occurrence of CHD.

New method for tracking T cells in HIV patients Posted: 03 Feb 2014 02:19 PM PST A team of researchers has reported a novel method for tracking CD4+ T cells in people infected with HIV. CD4+ T cells are critical for immune defense against an array of pathogens and are a primary target of HIV.

Quantifying the FDA's rulemaking delays highlights need for transparency Posted: 03 Feb 2014 02:19 PM PST Researchers quantify how long it takes the FDA to enact a formal rule affecting drugs, medical devices and other health-related products.

Telemedicine service may expand access to acute medical care, study finds Posted: 03 Feb 2014 02:18 PM PST Interest has grown in telemedicine programs because of a shortage of primary care providers that is likely to become worse as more Americans acquire medical coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The first assessment of a large telemedicine program finds that patients use such services for a wide assortment of acute medical problems such as respiratory illnesses and skin problems. In addition, researchers found little evidence of misdiagnosis or treatment failure among those treated.

Better access to healthy foods not enough to tackle obesity Posted: 03 Feb 2014 02:18 PM PST Government initiatives to improve access to healthy foods may have a limited impact on obesity in the US, according to new research.

Long-term survival among patients with most common childhood brain tumor is high; lower if treatment included radiation Posted: 03 Feb 2014 01:34 PM PST Study of long-term survival of children with most common pediatric brain tumor finds almost 90 percent are alive 20 years later and few died from the tumor as adults. However, children treated with radiation had significantly lower long-term survival rates than children who were not radiated.

HIV-infected teens delaying treatment until advanced disease Posted: 03 Feb 2014 01:34 PM PST Nearly half of HIV-infected teenagers and young adults forego timely treatment, delaying care until their disease has advanced, which puts them at risk for dangerous infections and long-term complications, according to a study.

Effect of lowering blood pressure on risk for cognitive decline in patients with diabetes Posted: 03 Feb 2014 01:34 PM PST Intensive blood pressure and cholesterol lowering was not associated with reduced risk for diabetes-related cognitive decline in older patients with long-standing type 2 diabetes mellitus, according to a recent study.

Study examines consumption of added sugar, death from cardiovascular disease Posted: 03 Feb 2014 01:34 PM PST Many U.S. adults consume more added sugar (added in processing or preparing of foods, not naturally occurring as in fruits and fruit juices) than expert panels recommend for a healthy diet, and consumption of added sugar was associated with increased risk for death from cardiovascular disease (CVD), according to a study.

Data-driven team key to sustaining positive behavior framework in schools Posted: 03 Feb 2014 12:52 PM PST A new study finds that a dedicated team that makes decisions based on data is crucial for launching and sustaining a framework to prevent and reduce behavioral problems in the nation's schools.

Mechanism discovered that helps HIV evade antibodies, stabilize key proteins Posted: 03 Feb 2014 12:52 PM PST Scientists have discovered a mechanism involved in stabilizing key HIV proteins and thereby concealing sites where some of the most powerful HIV neutralizing antibodies bind, findings with potential implications for HIV vaccine research.

How shape-shifting DNA-repair machine fights cancer Posted: 03 Feb 2014 12:52 PM PST Maybe you've seen the movies or played with toy Transformers, those shape-shifting machines that morph in response to whatever challenge they face. It turns out that DNA-repair machines in your cells use a similar approach to fight cancer and other diseases, according to new research.

Hypertensive patients' use of specialty services changed with primary care resdesign Posted: 03 Feb 2014 12:52 PM PST Researchers studied how patients with treated hypertension used outpatient specialty care before, during, and after a primary-care redesign was spread system-wide. Patients with hypertension and few other conditions had 27-28 percent fewer specialty visits in each of the three years after redesign implementation started, compared to beforehand. Those with some other illnesses had 9 percent fewer specialty visits during medical home implementation and 5 percent fewer specialty visits during the following year.

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