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Prostate Cancer Screenings have Huge Rate of False Positives

David Gutierrez
NaturalNews
Tue, 18 May 2010 00:00 UTC
Image
© iStockphoto
One in eight men screened for prostate cancer will be falsely diagnosed with the disease, according to a study reported in the British Journal of Cancer.

Routing screening for levels of the prostate specific antigen (PSA), a marker of prostate inflammation and a presumed prostate cancer risk factor, is not yet recommended in the European Union. The European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer, currently underway in seven countries, is intended to gather research into whether the practice should be adopted.

Recent data from the study suggested that regular screening could reduce the disease's death rate by 20 percent. The most recent data from the Finnish part of the study is now raising questions as to the wider cost of that improved survival rate.
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Cochlear Implants Slightly Less Helpful in the Elderly

Rachael Myers Lowe
Reuters
Mon, 17 May 2010 16:29 UTC
Cochlear Implant
© REUTERS/STR New
A view of the cochlear implant near Santiago, December 4, 2004.
New York - People over age 65 are likely to see significant although less pronounced improvement in hearing from cochlear implants than their younger adult counterparts, a new study released today suggests.

Researchers from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee compared the post-implant hearing scores of 28 people who received cochlear implants when they were aged 65 or older, with that of 28 people who received cochlear implants at ages 18 to 64. All of the study subjects had similar levels of hearing impairment before they received the hearing device.

When tested one year after the implant, hearing scores indicated that both the younger adults and the elderly benefited significantly from the implants, but the elderly patients benefited less.

On a standard hearing test that measures the ability to distinguish words in sentences, the average pre-implant score for the 65 and older crowd was 22. Their score jumped to 70 one year after the implant. For the younger group, the average pre-implant score was 23 and their score jumped to 83 at one year.
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Ambulance

Study Suggests Processed Meat a Real Health Risk

Julie Steenhuysen
Reuters
Mon, 17 May 2010 18:23 UTC
Image
© Getty Images
Eating hot dogs, bacon, sausage or deli meats increases the chance of heart disease by 42 percent.
Eating bacon, sausage, hot dogs and other processed meats can raise the risk of heart disease and diabetes, U.S. researchers said on Monday in a study that identifies the real bad boys of the meat counter.

Eating unprocessed beef, pork or lamb appeared not to raise risks of heart attacks and diabetes, they said, suggesting that salt and chemical preservatives may be the real cause of these two health problems associated with eating meat.

The study, an analysis of other research called a meta-analysis, did not look at high blood pressure or cancer, which are also linked with high meat consumption.

"To lower risk of heart attacks and diabetes, people should consider which types of meats they are eating," said Renata Micha of the Harvard School of Public Health, whose study appears in the journal Circulation.
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"Fountain of Youth" Steroids Could Protect Against Heart Disease


PhysOrg
Mon, 17 May 2010 11:45 UTC
Image
© Bryan Christie
A natural defence mechanism against heart disease could be switched on by steroids sold as health supplements, according to researchers at the University of Leeds.

The University of Leeds biologists have identified a previously-unknown ion channel in human blood vessels that can limit the production of inflammatory cytokines - proteins that drive the early stages of heart disease.

They found that this protective effect can be triggered by pregnenolone sulphate - a molecule that is part of a family of 'fountain-of-youth' steroids. These steroids are so-called because of their apparent ability to improve energy, vision and memory.

Importantly, collaborative studies with surgeons at Leeds General infirmary have shown that this defence mechanism can be switched on in diseased blood vessels as well as in healthy vessels.
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Research Links Pesticides with ADHD in Children

Carla K. Johnson
PhysOrg
Mon, 17 May 2010 16:00 UTC
Image
© Getty Images
Pesticides on Food
A new analysis of U.S. health data links children's attention-deficit disorder with exposure to common pesticides used on fruits and vegetables.

While the study couldn't prove that pesticides used in agriculture contribute to childhood learning problems, experts said the research is persuasive.

"I would take it quite seriously," said Virginia Rauh of Columbia University, who has studied prenatal exposure to pesticides and wasn't involved in the new study.

More research will be needed to confirm the tie, she said.

Children may be especially prone to the health risks of pesticides because they're still growing and they may consume more pesticide residue than adults relative to their body weight.
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High-Fat Ketogenic Diet Effectively Treats Persistent Childhood Seizures


PhysOrg
Mon, 17 May 2010 17:20 UTC
Image
© Getty Images
High-Fat Ketogenic Diet
The high-fat ketogenic diet can dramatically reduce or completely eliminate debilitating seizures in most children with infantile spasms, whose seizures persist despite medication, according to a Johns Hopkins Children's Center study published online April 30 in the journal Epilepsia.

Infantile spasms, also called West syndrome, is a stubborn form of epilepsy that often does not get better with antiseizure drugs. Because poorly controlled infantile spasms may cause brain damage, the Hopkins team's findings suggest the diet should be started at the earliest sign that medications aren't working.

"Stopping or reducing the number of seizures can go a long way toward preserving neurological function, and the ketogenic diet should be our immediate next line of defense in children with persistent infantile spasms who don't improve with medication," says senior investigator Eric Kossoff, M.D., a pediatric neurologist and director of the ketogenic diet program at Hopkins Children's.
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Arrow Up

Stress link to financial squeeze


BBC
Mon, 17 May 2010 14:39 UTC
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British Telecom's indoor garden is designed to soothe staff
Work pressures during the recession have caused a big rise in mental health problems, the charity says.

A survey for Mind suggests that one in 11 British workers has been to the GP for stress and anxiety from the financial squeeze.

And 7% said they were prescribed medicines to help them cope.

The Confederation of British Industry said employers were improving at caring for workers' mental health, but it was important to increase understanding.

The last couple of years have been an anxious time, even for those who have not found themselves out of work.

Many have had overtime cut, worked longer hours, or worried about job security.
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Family

Toddlers who lie 'will do better'


British Broadcasting Corporation
Mon, 17 May 2010 13:42 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Researchers said most children lied
Toddlers who tell lies early on are more likely to do well later, researchers claim.

The complex brain processes involved in formulating a lie are an indicator of a child's early intelligence, they add.

A Canadian study of 1,200 children aged two to 17 suggests those who are able to lie have reached an important developmental stage.

Only a fifth of two-year-olds tested in the study were able to lie.

But at age four, 90% were capable of lying, the study found. The rate increases with age to a peak at age 12.
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Teen Brain Wired to Take Risks

Emily Sohn
Discovery News
Mon, 17 May 2010 12:09 UTC
Image
© Getty Images
Brain research shows teens may have higher incentive to take the leap.
The adolescent brain is extra sensitive to reward signals when pay-off for a risk is higher than expected.

Teenagers do crazy things, and the chemistry of their brains might explain why.

In a new study, scientists found that the adolescent brain is extra sensitive to the rewarding signals it gets when something better than expected happens. The discovery might help explain why teens take risks that don't seem worth it to adults -- from driving too fast to experimenting with drugs.

"Teenagers seek out these sorts of rewarding experiences, and this provides a little explanation for that," said Russell Poldrack, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Texas, Austin. "In the long run, it may help us understand how addictions start and develop."

To zero in on the neuroscience behind risk-taking behavior in adolescents, Poldrack and colleagues focused on a concept called prediction error, which describes the difference between what a person expects to happen and what actually happens.
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Sleep Apnea May Increase Insulin Resistance


ScienceDaily
Mon, 17 May 2010 01:00 UTC
Image
© Mayo Foundation for Medical Ed. and Research
Sleep apnea may cause metabolic changes that increase insulin resistance, according to researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. The intermittent hypoxia associated with sleep apnea causes a distinct drop in insulin sensitivity in mice, even though chronic hypoxia, such as that associated with high altitude, did not.

The research was reported at the ATS 2010 International Conference in New Orleans.

To determine whether intermittent hypoxia (IH) and chronic hypoxia (CH) would have different metabolic effects, Dr. Lee and colleagues fitted adult male mice with arterial and venous catheters for continuous rapid blood monitoring of glucose and insulin sensitivity. They then exposed the mice to either seven hours of IH, in which treatment, oxygen levels oscillated, reaching a low of about 5 percent once a minute, or CH, in which they were exposed to oxygen at a constant rate of 10 percent, and compared each treatment group to protocol-matched controls.
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