ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Gene may predict if further cancer treatments are needed
• Good bacteria that protects against HIV identified
• Religion, spirituality influence health in different but complementary ways
• Gastric surgery halves risk of heart attack in obese people
• Underweight people at as high risk of dying as obese people, new study finds
• Brain scans link concern for justice with reason, not emotion
• Erectile dysfunction can be reversed without medication
• Quality early childhood programs help prevent adult chronic disease, research shows
• Marriage linked to lower heart risks in study of more than 3.5 million adults
• TV linked to poor snacking habits, cardiovascular risk in middle schoolers
• Eating fruits, vegetables linked to healthier arteries later in life
• Number of babies mom has may play role in future cardiovascular health
• Concerning number of kids have elevated cholesterol
• Is laughter the best medicine? Cartoons could help patients cope with chronic conditions
• HIV as a chronic disease: Dealing with lifelong treatment in Africa
• Esophageal function implicated in life-threatening experiences in infants, study suggests
• New treatment for those at high risk of breast, ovarian cancer
• New Parkinson's disease chemical messenger discovered
• What psychosocial factors can help IVF patients?
• Stool samples provide marker for bowel disease
• Using tobacco to thwart infectious disease?
• Public smoking bans linked with rapid fall in preterm births, child hospital visits for asthma
• Gulf war illness not in veterans' heads but in their mitochondria
• Depression, anxiety linked to poor diabetes management among Mexican Americans
• Autism prevalence continues to rise: Interview with Expert
• World’s first fluorescent sensor to detect common illicit date rape drug within seconds

Gene may predict if further cancer treatments are needed Posted: 28 Mar 2014 09:10 AM PDT A new predictive tool that could help patients with breast cancer and certain lung cancers decide whether follow-up treatments are likely to help is being developed by researchers. The findings offer insight into helping patients assess treatment risk. Radiation therapy and chemotherapy that can destroy tumors also can damage surrounding healthy tissue. So with an appropriate test, patients could avoid getting additional radiation or chemotherapy treatment they may not need.

Good bacteria that protects against HIV identified Posted: 28 Mar 2014 07:30 AM PDT By growing vaginal skin cells outside the body and studying the way they interact with 'good and bad' bacteria, researchers think they may be able to better identify the good bacteria that protect women from HIV infection and other sexually transmitted infections.

Religion, spirituality influence health in different but complementary ways Posted: 28 Mar 2014 07:30 AM PDT Religion and spirituality have distinct but complementary influences on health, new research indicates. A new theoretical model defines the two distinct pathways. "Religion helps regulate behavior and health habits, while spirituality regulates your emotions, how you feel," explains one of the authors.

Gastric surgery halves risk of heart attack in obese people Posted: 28 Mar 2014 07:30 AM PDT Obese people who have stomach surgery to help them lose weight will halve their risk of heart attack according to new research. Death rates were reduced by 40 percent and heart attacks in particular were reduced by half -- compared to obese people who did not have surgery. The procedures, known as bariatric surgery, involve techniques such as gastric banding.

Underweight people at as high risk of dying as obese people, new study finds Posted: 28 Mar 2014 07:30 AM PDT Being underweight puts people at highest risk of dying, just as obesity does, new research has found. The connection between being underweight and the higher risk of dying is true for both adults and fetuses. This is so even when factors such as smoking, alcohol use or lung disease are considered, or adults with a chronic or terminal illness are excluded, the study found.

Brain scans link concern for justice with reason, not emotion Posted: 28 Mar 2014 07:29 AM PDT People who care about justice are swayed more by reason than emotion, according to new brain scan research. Psychologists have found that some individuals react more strongly than others to situations that invoke a sense of justice — for example, seeing a person being treated unfairly, or with mercy. The new study used brain scans to analyze the thought processes of people with high "justice sensitivity."

Erectile dysfunction can be reversed without medication Posted: 28 Mar 2014 07:29 AM PDT Men suffering from sexual dysfunction can be successful at reversing their problem by focusing on lifestyle factors and not just relying on medication, according to research. Researchers have highlighted the incidence of erectile dysfunction and lack of sexual desire among Australian men aged 35-80 years.

Quality early childhood programs help prevent adult chronic disease, research shows Posted: 28 Mar 2014 07:29 AM PDT High-quality early childhood development programs with health care and nutritional components can help prevent or delay the onset of adult chronic disease, research shows. Based on more than three decades of data, the study shows that children who participated in the intervention combining early education with early health screenings and nutrition had much lower levels of hypertension, metabolic syndrome and obesity in their mid-30s than a control group that did not participate in early learning program.

Marriage linked to lower heart risks in study of more than 3.5 million adults Posted: 28 Mar 2014 05:55 AM PDT People who are married have lower rates of several cardiovascular diseases compared with those who are single, divorced or widowed, according to research. The relationship between marriage and lower odds of vascular diseases is especially pronounced before age 50. For people aged 50 and younger, marriage is associated with 12 percent lower odds of any vascular disease. This number drops to 7 percent for people ages 51 to 60 and only 4 percent for those 61 and older.

TV linked to poor snacking habits, cardiovascular risk in middle schoolers Posted: 28 Mar 2014 05:55 AM PDT Middle school kids who park themselves in front of the TV for two hours or more each day are more likely to consume junk food and have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, even compared to those who spend an equal amount of time on the computer or playing video games, according to research.

Eating fruits, vegetables linked to healthier arteries later in life Posted: 28 Mar 2014 05:55 AM PDT Women who ate a diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables as young adults were much less likely to have plaque build-up in their arteries 20 years later compared with those who consumed lower amounts of these foods, according to research. This new finding reinforces the importance of developing healthy eating habits early in life.

Number of babies mom has may play role in future cardiovascular health Posted: 28 Mar 2014 05:55 AM PDT Women who give birth to four or more children are much more likely to have evidence of plaque in their heart or thickening of their arteries -- early signs of cardiovascular disease -- compared with those having fewer pregnancies, according to research.

Concerning number of kids have elevated cholesterol Posted: 28 Mar 2014 05:55 AM PDT Roughly one out of three kids screened for high cholesterol between the ages of 9 and 11 has borderline or high cholesterol, potentially placing them at greater risk for future cardiovascular disease, according to research. In one of the largest studies of outpatient pediatric clinic visits to date, researchers examined the medical records of 12,712 children who had screening for cholesterol levels as part of a routine physical exam. Of these, 4,709, or 30 percent, had borderline or elevated total cholesterol.

Is laughter the best medicine? Cartoons could help patients cope with chronic conditions Posted: 28 Mar 2014 04:58 AM PDT Cartoons could be a beneficial way of educating patients and empowering them to cope better with their long term conditions, research indicates. "Humor is frequently and naturally used by people with chronic illnesses to help them adjust and understand what is happening to them," explains the study's leader. "Our study has shown that cartoons could provide clarity to patients and be a way to engage with them. It is an untapped resource and could be a potential approach to support self-management."

HIV as a chronic disease: Dealing with lifelong treatment in Africa Posted: 28 Mar 2014 04:58 AM PDT Since 2004, the number of patients on antiretroviral drugs increased 24-fold in Sub-Saharan Africa to 6.9 million. HIV has become a chronic disease which demands lifelong strict adherence to treatment. However, health systems in Southern Africa are not equipped to keep an unprecedented large number of patients in lifelong treatment. Alternatives are therefore urgently needed, a researcher concludes.

Esophageal function implicated in life-threatening experiences in infants, study suggests Posted: 28 Mar 2014 04:57 AM PDT A study of apparent life-threatening events — called ALTEs for short — suggests that infants who experience them have abnormal regulation of esophageal and airway function compared to healthy babies. The findings offer new information about the mechanisms behind ALTEs and what clinicians and parents can do to avoid them.

New treatment for those at high risk of breast, ovarian cancer Posted: 27 Mar 2014 07:24 PM PDT A breakthrough in research could signal new treatments for women at high risk of breast and ovarian cancer. The new discovery may mean women affected with BRCA1 could use drugs, which are already available, to reduce their risk of developing the disease, rather than undergo irreversible surgery.

New Parkinson's disease chemical messenger discovered Posted: 27 Mar 2014 07:24 PM PDT A new chemical messenger that is critical in protecting the brain against Parkinson's disease has been identified by scientists. The research team had previously discovered that mutations in two genes -- called PINK1 and Parkin -- lead to Parkinson's. Now they have made a completely unexpected discovery about the way the two genes interact, which they say could open up exciting new avenues for research around Parkinson's and offer new drug targets.

What psychosocial factors can help IVF patients? Posted: 27 Mar 2014 07:23 PM PDT Researchers have highlighted which key psychosocial factors could help identify patients at high risk of stress, after reviewing research that explored which psychosocial factors are associated with the emotional adjustment of IVF patients. The aim of the study was to find out what types of coping strategies, social circumstances and personality traits -- called psychosocial factors -- help people through IVF treatment, and which types are linked to especially high stress levels, and can lead to depression and anxiety disorders.

Stool samples provide marker for bowel disease Posted: 27 Mar 2014 07:23 PM PDT A novel method for distinguishing different types of bowel disease using the stool samples of patients has been created by a group of researchers. It works by analyzing the chemical compounds emitted from the samples and could provide cheaper, quicker and more accurate diagnoses, at the point of care, for a group of diseases that have, up until now, been very hard to distinguish.

Using tobacco to thwart infectious disease? Posted: 27 Mar 2014 07:23 PM PDT A new generation of potentially safer and more cost-effective therapeutics against West Nile virus, and other pathogens has been developed by an international research group. The therapeutics, known as monoclonal antibodies and their derivatives, were shown to neutralize and protect mice against a lethal dose challenge of West Nile virus -- even as late as four days after the initial infection.

Public smoking bans linked with rapid fall in preterm births, child hospital visits for asthma Posted: 27 Mar 2014 07:22 PM PDT The introduction of laws banning smoking in public places and workplaces in North America and Europe has been quickly followed by large drops in rates of preterm births and children attending hospital for asthma, according to the first systematic review and meta-analysis examining the effect of smoke-free legislation on child health.

Gulf war illness not in veterans' heads but in their mitochondria Posted: 27 Mar 2014 07:22 PM PDT Veterans of the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War who suffer from "Gulf War illness" have impaired function of mitochondria – the energy powerhouses of cells, researchers have demonstrated for the first time. The findings could help lead to new treatments benefitting affected individuals -- and to new ways of protecting servicepersons (and civilians) from similar problems in the future.

Depression, anxiety linked to poor diabetes management among Mexican Americans Posted: 27 Mar 2014 10:57 AM PDT Rates of diabetes are unusually high among Mexican-Americans who live near the U.S. Mexico border and new research finds that those dealing with depression and anxiety in this population are less likely to properly manage their diabetes. "Given the high prevalence of depression and anxiety found in this border community, providers should regularly assess for depression and anxiety and either provide or refer to treatment when symptoms arise," concluded the main author.

Autism prevalence continues to rise: Interview with Expert Posted: 27 Mar 2014 10:57 AM PDT The estimated prevalence of autism among 8-year-olds in New Jersey rose in the latest reporting year, 2010, to nearly 22 children per thousand, or approximately one child in 45. That figure represents the "highest ever reported for a single site" since the CDC started closely monitoring 11 U.S. states in 2000. Researchers seen numbers of cases more than double in a decade.

World’s first fluorescent sensor to detect common illicit date rape drug within seconds Posted: 27 Mar 2014 07:00 AM PDT The world's first fluorescent sensor to identify the presence of a drug known as GHB that is commonly used to spike beverages has been developed. When the sensor is mixed with a sample of a beverage containing GHB, the mixture changes color in less than 30 seconds, making detection of the drug fast and easy.

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