ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Unprecedented 3-D view of important brain receptor
• Some aggressive cancers may respond to anti-inflammatory drugs
• One in 10 deaths among working-age adults in U.S. due to excessive drinking, report finds
• Research may yield new ways to treat antibiotic-resistant TB
• Kids who know unhealthy food logos more likely to be overweight
• Early life stress can leave lasting impacts on the brain
• Monkeys also believe in winning streaks, study shows
• Youth regularly receive pro-marijuana tweets
• Homeless alcoholics typically began drinking as children
• Are conservatives more obedient and agreeable than their liberal counterparts?
• Adding sugar to high-fat Western diet could be worse than high-fat diet alone
• Do fruit, vegetable supplements improve respiratory function in smokers?
• Proof-of-concept for host-directed tuberculosis therapy established by researchers
• New form of brain signaling affects addiction-related behavior
• Sex hormone levels at midlife linked to heart disease risk in women
• Prevention incentives in healthcare: Do they work?
• Scientists identify new microbes linked to severe diarrhea
• 'Big data' technique improves monitoring of kidney transplant patients
• New use for touchless technology in the operating theatre
• Rhesus proteins transport ions, not gas
• 'Night owls' drive much worse in the morning
• Brain fills gaps to produce a likely picture
• Clinical inertia precludes proper diagnosis in up to 65% lipid abnormalities
• The secrets of children's chatter: research shows boys and girls learn language differently
• Child maltreatment influences alcohol consumption in adolescents
• Social pressure stops Facebook users recommending products on social media sites
• Genetics the dominant risk factor in common cancers
• New test predicts risk of non-hereditary breast cancer
• Noroviruses cause around a fifth of all cases of acute gastroenteritis worldwide
• Get insects to bug off this summer
• Do people with autism struggle with driving?
• Little or poor sleep may be associated with worse brain function when aging
• A mini-antibody with broad antiviral activity chews up viral DNA and RNA
• Trained evaluators can screen for premie eye disease from miles away
• Salmonella's Achilles' heel: Reliance on single food source to stay potent
• Comprehensive review of treatments for depression in cancer patients
• Revisions needed for current IV feeding safeguards against bloodstream infections

Unprecedented 3-D view of important brain receptor Posted: 27 Jun 2014 12:00 PM PDT Researchers have given science a new and unprecedented 3-D view of one of the most important receptors in the brain -- a receptor that allows us to learn and remember, and whose dysfunction is involved in a wide range of neurological diseases and conditions, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, schizophrenia and depression.

Some aggressive cancers may respond to anti-inflammatory drugs Posted: 27 Jun 2014 11:59 AM PDT Some cancer patients with aggressive tumors may benefit from a class of anti-inflammatory drugs used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, new research suggests. Studying triple-negative breast cancer, researchers found that some aggressive tumors rely on an antiviral pathway that appears to drive inflammation, widely recognized for roles in cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases.

One in 10 deaths among working-age adults in U.S. due to excessive drinking, report finds Posted: 27 Jun 2014 11:00 AM PDT Excessive alcohol use accounts for one in 10 deaths among working-age adults ages 20-64 years in the United States, according to a new report. Excessive alcohol use led to approximately 88,000 deaths per year from 2006 to 2010, and shortened the lives of those who died by about 30 years. These deaths were due to health effects from drinking too much over time, such as breast cancer, liver disease, and heart disease; and health effects from drinking too much in a short period of time, such as violence, alcohol poisoning, and motor vehicle crashes.

Research may yield new ways to treat antibiotic-resistant TB Posted: 27 Jun 2014 10:49 AM PDT Scientists have successfully modified the precursor to one of the drugs used to treat tuberculosis, an important first step toward new drugs that can transcend antibiotic resistance issues. In 1993, resurging levels of tuberculosis due to this antibiotic resistance led the World Health Organization to declare it a global health emergency.

Kids who know unhealthy food logos more likely to be overweight Posted: 27 Jun 2014 10:49 AM PDT The more a child is familiar with logos and other images from fast-food restaurants, sodas and not-so-healthy snack food brands, the more likely the child is to be overweight or obese. And, unfortunately, studies have shown that people who are overweight at a young age, tend to stay that way.

Early life stress can leave lasting impacts on the brain Posted: 27 Jun 2014 10:31 AM PDT For children, stress can go a long way. A little bit provides a platform for learning, adapting and coping. But a lot of it — chronic, toxic stress like poverty, neglect and physical abuse — can have lasting negative impacts. A team of researchers recently showed these kinds of stressors, experienced in early life, might be changing the parts of developing children's brains responsible for learning, memory and the processing of stress and emotion.

Monkeys also believe in winning streaks, study shows Posted: 27 Jun 2014 10:31 AM PDT Humans have a well-documented tendency to see winning and losing streaks in situations that, in fact, are random. But scientists disagree about whether the "hot-hand bias" is a cultural artifact picked up in childhood or a predisposition deeply ingrained in the structure of our cognitive architecture.

Youth regularly receive pro-marijuana tweets Posted: 27 Jun 2014 10:30 AM PDT Hundreds of thousands of American youth are following marijuana-related Twitter accounts and getting pro-pot messages several times each day, according to researchers. They said the tweets are cause for concern because young people are thought to be especially responsive to social media influences, and patterns of drug use tend to be established in a person's late teens and early 20s.

Homeless alcoholics typically began drinking as children Posted: 27 Jun 2014 08:30 AM PDT A phenomenological study offers detailed insights into homeless, alcohol-dependent patients often stigmatized by the public and policymakers as drains on the health care system, showing the constellation of reasons they are incapable of escaping social circumstances that perpetuate and exacerbate their problems.

Are conservatives more obedient and agreeable than their liberal counterparts? Posted: 27 Jun 2014 08:30 AM PDT Why do conservatives appear to have an affinity for obeying leadership? And why do conservatives perceive greater consensus among politically like-minded others?

Adding sugar to high-fat Western diet could be worse than high-fat diet alone Posted: 27 Jun 2014 08:27 AM PDT A high-fructose, high-fat diet can cause harmful effects to the livers of adult rats, according to new research, providing new insight into the effects of adding fructose to a Western diet high in fat. The study showed that short-term consumption of a Western diet, rich in saturated fats and fructose, is more damaging for healthy liver development than following a high fat diet alone.

Do fruit, vegetable supplements improve respiratory function in smokers? Posted: 27 Jun 2014 08:27 AM PDT Studies have shown that smokers, in addition to exposing their lungs to harmful toxins, often eat less fruits and vegetables than non-smokers. Given the role of fruit and vegetable based antioxidants in improving respiratory health and the difficulty of achieving lasting dietary change, researchers hypothesized that powdered fruit and vegetable supplements could improve respiratory function in heavy smokers.

Proof-of-concept for host-directed tuberculosis therapy established by researchers Posted: 27 Jun 2014 06:51 AM PDT A new type of tuberculosis treatment that involves manipulating the body's response to TB bacteria rather than targeting the bacteria themselves -- a concept called host-directed therapy -- has been established by researchers. TB remains a major cause of disability and death worldwide as an estimated 8.6 million people fell ill with TB and 1.3 million people died from the disease in 2012.

New form of brain signaling affects addiction-related behavior Posted: 27 Jun 2014 06:51 AM PDT A new form of neurotransmission that influences the long-lasting memory created by addictive drugs, like cocaine and opioids, and the subsequent craving for these drugs of abuse, has been discovered by researchers. Loss of this type of neurotransmission creates changes in brains cells that resemble the changes caused by drug addiction. The findings suggest that targeting this type of neurotransmission might lead to new therapies for treating drug addiction.

Sex hormone levels at midlife linked to heart disease risk in women Posted: 27 Jun 2014 06:51 AM PDT As hormone levels change during the transition to menopause, the quality of a woman's cholesterol carriers degrades, leaving her at greater risk for heart disease, researchers have discovered. The first-of-its-kind evaluation was done using an advanced method to characterize cholesterol carriers in the blood.

Prevention incentives in healthcare: Do they work? Posted: 27 Jun 2014 06:49 AM PDT A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down -- and so do movie tickets, cell phone minutes and discounts on airline flights. A private South African health plan increased patient use of preventive care with an incentive program that rewards healthy behavior using discounts on retail goods and travel.

Scientists identify new microbes linked to severe diarrhea Posted: 27 Jun 2014 06:49 AM PDT Diarrhea is a major cause of childhood mortality in developing countries and ranks as one of the top four causes of death among young children in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. In a finding that may one day help control diarrhea, researchers have identified microorganisms that may trigger diarrheal disease and others that may protect against it. These microbes were not widely linked to the condition previously.

'Big data' technique improves monitoring of kidney transplant patients Posted: 27 Jun 2014 06:49 AM PDT A new data analysis technique radically improves monitoring of kidney patients, according to a new study and could lead to profound changes in the way we understand our health.

New use for touchless technology in the operating theatre Posted: 27 Jun 2014 06:47 AM PDT Pioneering work using touchless technology for vascular surgery is now being extended to neurosurgery. Following the successful pilot of the technology in vascular surgery procedures, a research team has applied the technology to the manipulation of 3D volumetric models of the brain for neurosurgery. The new system is currently being piloted in the operating theatres.

Rhesus proteins transport ions, not gas Posted: 27 Jun 2014 06:45 AM PDT Membrane proteins: do they carry the gas ammonia or the ammonium ion in their luggage? And is transport active or passive? Biochemists have long speculated on the mechanistic details of the ammonium transport family of proteins (Amt), which include the Rhesus protein factors, known as the mammalian blood group system. In mammals, Rhesus proteins regulate acid and ion balance in kidney and liver cells. New research sheds new light on this issue.

'Night owls' drive much worse in the morning Posted: 27 Jun 2014 06:45 AM PDT Researchers have shown that individual chronotype -- that is, whether you are a "morning-type" or an "evening-type", depending on the time of day when your physiological functions are more active -- markedly influences driving performance.

Brain fills gaps to produce a likely picture Posted: 27 Jun 2014 06:45 AM PDT Researchers use visual illusions to demonstrate to what extent the brain interprets visual signals. They were surprised to discover that active interpretation occurs early on in signal processing. In other words, we see not only with our eyes, but with our brain, too. The primary visual brain cortex is normally regarded as the area where eye signals are merely processed, but that has now been refuted by the new results.

Clinical inertia precludes proper diagnosis in up to 65% lipid abnormalities Posted: 27 Jun 2014 06:45 AM PDT Clinical inertia does not allow healthcare professionals to diagnose cholesterol problems in the 65.3% of cases. The results of a new study warn of the need to adopt a more proactive attitude towards a complete dyslipidemia diagnosis in routine clinical practice, especially if it is taken into account that it is an illness related to an increase of cardiovascular risk.

The secrets of children's chatter: research shows boys and girls learn language differently Posted: 27 Jun 2014 06:45 AM PDT Experts believe language uses both a mental dictionary and a mental grammar.  The mental 'dictionary' stores sounds, words and common phrases, while mental 'grammar' involves the real-time composition of longer words and sentences. For example, making a longer word 'walked' from a smaller one 'walk'.

Child maltreatment influences alcohol consumption in adolescents Posted: 27 Jun 2014 06:45 AM PDT Child maltreatment, whatever its form, produces functional brain changes that increase vulnerability to alcohol consumption when reaching adolescence, research shows. The results determined that the brains of some young abused people perceived the intake of substances positively and were not able to perceive the risks associated with this addictive behavior.

Social pressure stops Facebook users recommending products on social media sites Posted: 27 Jun 2014 06:44 AM PDT Users of social media sites such as Facebook are less willing to recommend products and services online because of the perceived risks to their reputation.

Genetics the dominant risk factor in common cancers Posted: 27 Jun 2014 06:44 AM PDT A study of individuals who have been adopted has identified genetics as the dominant risk factor in 'familial' breast, prostate and colorectal cancers. Researchers have presented the new research findings based on studies of population registers."The results of our study do not mean that an individual's lifestyle is not important for the individual's risk of developing cancer, but it suggests that the risk for the three most common types of cancer is dependent to a greater extent on genetics", said the lead of the study.

New test predicts risk of non-hereditary breast cancer Posted: 26 Jun 2014 06:33 PM PDT A simple blood test is currently in development that could help predict the likelihood of a woman developing breast cancer, even in the absence of a high-risk BRCA1 gene mutation, according to research. Researchers identified an epigenetic signature in the blood of women predisposed for breast cancer. Strikingly, the same signature was discovered in the blood of women without a BRCA1 mutation but who went on to develop breast cancer, making it a potential early marker of women's cancer in the general population.

Noroviruses cause around a fifth of all cases of acute gastroenteritis worldwide Posted: 26 Jun 2014 03:45 PM PDT Noroviruses are a leading cause of acute gastroenteritis (diarrhea and vomiting) across all age groups, responsible for almost one-fifth of all cases worldwide. New estimates highlight the importance of developing norovirus vaccines, say the authors. "Our findings show that norovirus infection contributes substantially to the global burden of acute gastroenteritis, causing both severe and mild cases and across all age groups. Diarrhea remains one of the leading causes of death of children in developing regions of the world."

Get insects to bug off this summer Posted: 26 Jun 2014 03:42 PM PDT Summer means an increase in bug and insect activity. How do you know which insects are harmful, what diseases they carry and how to safely avoid them? "Mosquitoes and ticks are the two pests you primarily want to avoid because they potentially carry infectious diseases," says an infectious disease specialist.

Do people with autism struggle with driving? Posted: 26 Jun 2014 02:28 PM PDT In the first pilot study asking adults on the autism spectrum about experiences with driving, researchers found significant differences in self-reported driving behaviors and perceptions of driving ability compared to non-autistic adults. As the population of adults with autism grows rapidly, the survey provides a first step toward identifying whether this population has unmet needs for educational supports to empower safe driving -- a key element of independent functioning in many people's lives.

Little or poor sleep may be associated with worse brain function when aging Posted: 26 Jun 2014 02:28 PM PDT Sleep problems are associated with worse memory and executive function in older people, new research concludes. Analysis of sleep and cognitive (brain function) data from 3,968 men and 4,821 women was conducted in a study where respondents reported on the quality and quantity of sleep over the period of a month.

A mini-antibody with broad antiviral activity chews up viral DNA and RNA Posted: 26 Jun 2014 02:28 PM PDT Antibodies and their derivatives can protect plants and animals -- including humans -- against viruses. Members of this class of drugs are usually highly specific against components of a particular virus, and mutations in the virus that change these components can make them ineffective.

Trained evaluators can screen for premie eye disease from miles away Posted: 26 Jun 2014 02:27 PM PDT Trained non-physician evaluators who studied retinal images transmitted to a remote central reading center successfully identified newborn babies likely to require a specialized medical evaluation for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). "This study provides validation for a telemedicine approach to ROP screening and could help prevent thousands of kids from going blind," said the lead investigator.

Salmonella's Achilles' heel: Reliance on single food source to stay potent Posted: 26 Jun 2014 02:27 PM PDT A potential Achilles' heel for Salmonella has been identified by researchers: the bacteria's reliance on a single food source to remain fit in the inflamed intestine. When these wily bugs can't access this nutrient, they become 1,000 times less effective at sustaining disease than when they're fully nourished.

Comprehensive review of treatments for depression in cancer patients Posted: 26 Jun 2014 12:09 PM PDT When depression co-exists with cancer, patients may be at an increased risk of death from cancer and from suicide. Antidepressants are commonly prescribed, but the evidence on their efficacy is mixed. The role of antidepressants in treating cancer-related depression has not been rigorously studied. To identify best practice for the treatment of depression in cancer, researchers completed a systematic review and meta-analysis of existing research.

Revisions needed for current IV feeding safeguards against bloodstream infections Posted: 26 Jun 2014 07:17 AM PDT Current guidelines to help prevent bloodstream infections during intravenous feeding may need revisions to strengthen protections for patients, a new study finds. The study found that additional factors, including glucose concentration, proportion of glucose to lipid, and osmolarity (concentration of a solution that can pass through the wall of a living cell through osmosis), can affect microbial growth apart from the presence of lipids.

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