Health & WellnessS


Bulb

Want to Improve Your Memory? Try Taking A Walk

Alice Park
Time.com
Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:03 UTC
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© Time.com
If you're noticing a growing number of senior moments - where did I put those keys? - you might consider taking a walk.

New research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) confirms the brain benefits of physical activity for older adults, but this time with the added evidence that walking can actually increase the volume of certain parts of the brain involved in memory.

Until recently, researchers thought that new nerves did not sprout in already developed adult brains, while with age worn out neurons slowly die off. But once imaging studies proved them wrong, scientists documented two areas where nerve growth seemed to be the most active - the olfactory bulb (involved in smell) and a portion of the hippocampus, which is responsible for regulating learning and memory.
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Magnify

Hormones Still Pushed, Still Dangerous

Martha Rosenberg
Huffington Post
Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:29 UTC
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© Huffington Post
The medical press trumpeted again this month the shopworn pharmaceutical marketing message that menopausal hormones may be good for women, after all.

This is at least the eighth time researchers have tried to resuscitate the lucrative therapy, which sank in 2002 when a government study found it caused the cancer and heart disease it was marketed to prevent. Wyeth, now Pfizer, had to close a plant and phase out 1,200 employees when the highly advertised hormone therapy nosedived.

Recently, Dr. Joseph Ragaz, clinical professor at the University of British Columbia, presented at the yearly San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. In a re-analysis of the 2002 study, called the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), Ragaz found estrogen alone in some groups of women who have had a hysterectomy protected against breast cancer. The evidence that estrogen can protect against breast cancer has "been largely ignored" Ragaz says.

But anyone who follows medical literature knows that estrogen hasn't been ignored at all.
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Heart

Pauling's last legacy: a unified theory of cardiovascular disease

Jinnan Cai
Clinical Nature
Fri, 24 Dec 2010 05:43 UTC
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Linus Pauling at home in Big Sur, showing his Nobel Peace Prize certificate, 1987
Linus Carl Pauling (1901 - 1994) was an American chemist, peace activist, author and educator regarded as one of the most influential chemists in history. He was among the first scientists to work in the fields of quantum chemistry and molecular biology, and is the only individual to have won two unshared Nobel Prizes.
A paper submitted by Pauling to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and accepted for publication on June 11, 1991 was later revoked by the editor under questionable circumstances: "We are aware that this pullback was not the decision of an individual. It happened in the interest of those who are personally or economically dependent on the present dogma of human cardiovascular disease."
In the mid-1930s, Pauling shifted his interest towards biological molecules and protein structures, although it was his work on vitamin C which generated much controversy. Pauling popularised vitamin C as an effective therapy for terminal cancer patients and the common cold. However, the failure of randomised trials by the Mayo Clinic to demonstrate any benefit and the public debate that ensued resulted in the medical establishment eventually rejecting his claims as quackery.

In his last years, Pauling continued to research vitamin C and became especially interested in its possible role in preventing atherosclerosis and heart disease. It is this forgotten work by Pauling and Matthias Rath at the Linus Pauling Institute which presents a compelling case for re-examining atherosclerosis research, prevention and treatment.
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Family

What School Lunch in France Can Teach us Back Home in the U.S.

Andy Cook
Simple Good and Tasty
Sun, 30 Jan 2011 22:49 UTC
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© unk
Poached cod and potatoes with lemon butter, sautéed haricot verts, and fresh avocado -- sound like a meal from Heartland or Spoonriver? Well, that's what I had for lunch recently at College Simin de Palay, a junior high school in the town of Lescar, France. And as good as the meal sounds, the story behind it is equally appealing.

But first, like a good meal, we need a little appetizer. In Minnesota and across the nation, health care and education reform are topics of high importance. And from the First Lady to five-star generals, more and more people are making the connection between what our students eat in school and how it affects health, well-being, and academic performance. On the heels of Simple, Good, and Tasty's, exposition on Minneapolis school lunch, I wanted to share my recent visit to Lescar, where I experienced first-hand how the school prepares meals for its students and learned directly about their approach to school lunch.
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Beaker

Fluoride is a Poison - Says Top Researcher on Australian TV


Dr. Mercola
Fri, 28 Jan 2011 20:25 UTC
An expert speaking on an Australian TV news show reveals fluoride for what it is - a poison.

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Cookie

Kids Fed Unhealthy Foods Learn to Prefer Them


Health Day News
Thu, 27 Jan 2011 19:09 UTC
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© schriftman.wordpress.com
Most preschool children develop a taste for salt, sugar and fat at home, and quickly learn which types of brand-name fast foods and sodas meet these preferences, U.S. researchers say.

In one experiment, the mothers of 67 children, aged 3 to 5, were asked to list their youngsters' taste preferences and listed foods high in sugar, fat and salt. The researchers tested the children and found that the parents' answers were accurate.

In a second experiment, the researchers looked at the association between the taste preferences of 108 preschool children and their emerging awareness of brands of fast food and sugar-sweetened beverages.
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Fish

Fish safe to eat although UAPB researchers can't explain 83,000 fish kill

Anissa Ford
Examiner
Sun, 30 Jan 2011 19:09 UTC
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© UAPBDr. Andrew Goodwin of UAPB examines fish samples


Researchers at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff don't know what killed more than 83,000 fresh water drum fish on December 29.

They've tested the water for bacteria, viral infection, parasites, and toxins but they tests have eliminated each as a possibility. Consequently, UAPB researchers say that fish in the Arkansas River are safe to eat and that they have no concerns about eating fish.

Arkansas Game and Fish Commision Supervisor Bob Limbard said that fish kills are not that uncommon, "but kills of this magnitude in Arkansas are rare," he told the Arkansas News Bureau.
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Magic Wand

Neuroscience of nutrition: A deficiency of dietary omega-3 may explain depressive behaviors


INSERM
Sun, 30 Jan 2011 15:44 UTC
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© Unknown
How maternal essential fatty acid deficiency impact on its progeny is poorly understood. Dietary insufficiency in omega-3 fatty acid has been implicated in many disorders. Researchers from Inserm and INRA and their collaborators in Spain collaboration, have studied mice fed on a diet low in omega-3 fatty acid. They discovered that reduced levels of omega-3 had deleterious consequences on synaptic functions and emotional behaviours. Details of this work are available in the online version of the journal Nature neuroscience, which can be accessed here.

In industrialized nations, diets have been impoverished in essential fatty acids since the beginning of the 20th century. The dietary ratio between omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid omega-3 increased continuously over the course of the 20th century. These fatty acids are "essential" lipids because the body cannot synthesize them from new. They must therefore be provided through food and their dietary balance is essential to maintain optimal brain functions.

Olivier Manzoni (Head of Research Inserm Unit 862, "Neurocentre Magendie", in Bordeaux and Unit 901 "Institut de Neurobiologie de la Méditerranée" in Marseille), and Sophie Layé (Head of Research at INRA Unit 1286, "Nutrition et Neurobiologie Intégrative" in Bordeaux) and their co-workers hypothesized that chronic malnutrition during intra-uterine development, may later influence synaptic activity involved in emotional behaviour (e.g. depression, anxiety) in adulthood.
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Heart

Behavior: Another Good Reason to Sing a Lullaby

Nicholas Bakalar
The New York Times
Fri, 28 Jan 2011 00:00 UTC
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© W.A. BouguereauLullaby (1875)
Children who sleep less than their peers may be at greater risk for abnormal blood glucose levels and other metabolic problems.

Researchers studied the sleep patterns of 308 children ages 4 to 10, half of them overweight or obese. They used wrist monitors to measure their sleep time over seven days, and did blood tests for cardiovascular risk indicators like glucose, lipids, insulin and C-reactive protein.

The study, published in the February issue of Pediatrics, found that obesity and abnormal blood tests were four times as common in children who slept the least, and three times as common in those who used the weekend to catch up on sleep lost during school days.

"We can't rule out that obese children first became obese and then started sleeping less," said Dr. David Gozal, the senior author. "But it's unlikely."

Among all children, obese or not, shorter sleep and greater variability in sleep patterns were more likely to be associated with abnormal blood tests. The researchers conclude that irregular sleep by itself may be a risk factor for metabolic problems.
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House

How worn-out Britain finally woke up to its chronic sleep problem

Cherill Hicks
The Observer
Sun, 30 Jan 2011 07:09 UTC
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© Getty
As a new survey reveals two-thirds of us can't get a good night's sleep, we examine research on new drugs which could tackle insomnia by changing our body clocks

My first serious sleep problem was triggered by looming redundancy. Faced with the prospect of losing my job, worries over money just before Christmas and anxiety about the future, I lay awake for hours, my thoughts racing, or wandered around a freezing house, munching bowls of cereal.

I'd finally drop off about five, only to have to get up at seven. This led, in turn, to days spent in a haze of nervous exhaustion and fatigue, just at a time when I needed all my energy to stay positive about the future rather than sinking into a pit of misery.

Sleeping pills made life more tolerable at first, but turned out to add to my troubles in the long term. Advised by the GP to take the pills "as needed", it was easy to convince myself I couldn't get to sleep without them. Soon I was taking them every night and starting to panic that I'd become dependent. I finally stopped taking them on New Year's Eve - and, distressingly, found myself awake the whole night.

Comment: Sleep Deeply, Live Longer

Sleep - are you getting enough?

Study Says: Want to Score Better? Sleep Well

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