The genes that play a role in adolescent insomnia are the same as those involved in depression and anxiety, according to a research abstract that will be presented on June 8, at Sleep 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.
Results of the study indicate that insomnia as a diagnosis has a moderate heritability in 8 to 16 year olds, which is consistent with past studies of insomnia symptoms in adults. Significant genetic effects shared between insomnia, depression and anxiety suggests that overlapping genetic mechanisms exist to link the disorders.
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has discovered a new form of intellectual disability involving mental retardation (MR) along with the eye defect retinitis pigmentosa (RP). CAMH also discovered the previously unidentified gene that causes this disorder, CC2D2A. This scientific advance will help understand the developmental and biological processes involved in brain development, and may help identify ways to diagnose and treat intellectual disabilities.
Under the direction of Dr. John Vincent, scientist at CAMH, the team identified a mutation in CC2D2A that causes the production of a shortened protein missing the C2, or calcium-binding, domain. This protein mutation results in faulty cell function, which leads to MR with RP.
© Credit: Image courtesy of National Academy of Sciences, PNAS (copyright 2008)Covariations with the respective amygdala seed region in hetero- and homosexual subjects. The Sokoloff scale indicates T values. Clusters detected at T = 3.0 are superimposed on the standard MR image of the brain.
Swedish researchers have found that some physical attributes of the homosexual brain resemble those found in the opposite sex, according to an article published online (June 16) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Some psychological tests have shown differences between men and women in the extent to which they employ the brain's hemispheres in verbal tasks. Other research has hinted that homosexuals may exhibit the tendencies of the opposite sex in brain behavior unrelated to sexual activity.
© Maartje Blijdenstein/AFP/Getty ImagesA midwife tests a newborn baby's reflexes after a home birth.
When it comes to giving birth, more mothers-to-be are deciding that there's no place like home. In what can be a painful and at times scary experience, it is easy to imagine the appeal of creature comforts, far away from the clinical environment of a hospital.
By now, we've all heard that high-fat diets are bad for our health in the long run. But what about the short-term?
A new study on rats finds that 10 days of eating a high-fat diet caused short-term memory loss and made exercise difficult. While the finding may not seem a big surprise, the researcher say it might suggest that high-fat diets make humans lazy and stupid.
"Western diets are typically high in fat and are associated with long-term complications, such as obesity, diabetes, and heart failure, yet the short-term consequences of such diets have been given relatively little attention," said Andrew Murray, co-author of the study and currently at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. "We hope that the findings of our study will help people to think seriously about reducing the fat content of their daily food intake to the immediate benefit of their general health, well-being, and alertness."
A heart disease patient of late
Had an IQ of 168.
His brain was immense
But it lacked common sense
And it never engaged when he ate.
- by the Health Ranger
As an observer of human behavior, one of the most fascinating things I've ever witnessed is really smart people dying of diseases that are easily preventable through basic nutrition (vitamin D, plant juices, targeted supplements, superfoods, etc.). I know doctors dying of cancer who take chemotherapy over vitamin D supplements. I know members of MENSA who are killing themselves with junk foods and diabetes. I know extremely intelligent attorneys and physicists who are among the smartest people in their respective fields; but when it comes to basic health, they're completely ignorant.
In fact, if you look around at all the "smart" people you know, you're likely to find the vast majority of them are incredibly ignorant when it comes to their own health. They know nothing about basic nutrition, the benefits of superfoods or the dangers of pharmaceuticals. They eat processed junk foods, dairy products and food products contaminated with pesticides and toxic chemicals. They may be the smartest people in the world in their labs or offices, but when it comes to their own bodies, they are among the most ignorant people on the planet.
Not many people enjoy visiting the dentist but people with red hair tend to fear the dentist more than others -- and genetics could explain this, according to U.S. researchers.
A few studies in recent years have found that redheads tend to be less responsive to local pain-blockers and may need larger doses of anesthetics to get the same pain relief as people with other hair colors.
But the latest findings by U.S. researchers, published in the Journal of the American Dental Association, found redheads tend to be particularly nervous about the dentist, possibly because of the heightened fear of pain.
Heart attack survivors who eat chocolate two or more times per week cut their risk of dying from heart disease about threefold compared to those who never touch the stuff, scientists have reported.
Smaller quantities confer less protection, but are still better than none, according to the study, which appears in the September issue of the Journal of Internal Medicine.
Earlier research had established a strong link between cocoa-based confections and lowered blood pressure or improvement in blood flow.
Lauren Cox and Courtney Hutchinson
ABC NewsFri, 14 Aug 2009 05:42 UTC
Study May Overturn the Standard No-Lifting Advice for Mastectomy Patients
For decades, women who underwent a mastectomy were told they could not do much lifting or they might risk developing a painful arm swelling condition called lymphedema.
That meant no lifting of grocery bags, toddlers, heavy boxes or even buckets on the side of the mastectomy for the rest of their lives.
But according to a new study, in most cases, doctors should have said the opposite. Expert-guided weightlifting may reduce the uncomfortable leathery skin texture, heaviness, and pain symptoms of lymphedema, according to an article published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers have found a genetic mutation in two people who need far less sleep than average, a discovery that might open the door to understanding human sleep patterns and lead to treatments for insomnia and other sleep disorders.
The finding, published in the Friday issue of the journal Science, marks the first time scientists have identified a genetic mutation that relates to sleep duration in any animal or human.
Although the mutation has been identified in only two people, the power of the research stems from the fact that the shortened sleep effect was replicated in mouse and fruit-fly studies. As a result, the research now gives scientists a clearer sense of where to look for genetic traits linked to sleep patterns.
