Health & WellnessS


Syringe

Study shows how some AIDS vaccines may harm

Some viruses being used in experimental AIDS vaccines may damage the immune system by exhausting key cells, researchers reported on Thursday in a finding that may further cloud the field of HIV vaccines.

©REUTERS/Claro Cortes
A Chinese woman checks her mobile phone while passing an anti-AIDS poster in Beijing November 28, 2004.

People

Stiffer penalties on shoddy nursing homes sought

Senators said on Thursday they will seek stiffer sanctions against nursing homes delivering shoddy care and require clear ownership information from homes acquired by private equity groups.

The bipartisan legislation would give more enforcement power to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which oversees state inspections of the nation's 16,400 nursing homes and also pays for the care of many poor and elderly residents.

Ambulance

CDC: New respiratory bug has killed 10

ATLANTA - A mutated version of a common cold virus has caused 10 deaths in the last 18 months, U.S. health officials said Thursday. Adenoviruses usually cause respiratory infections that aren't considered lethal. But a new variant has caused at least 140 illnesses in New York, Oregon, Washington and Texas, according to a report issued Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Crusader

Best of the Web: Snakes in Suits: Sense of moral superiority can lead to unethical acts, study finds

Morally upstanding people are the do-gooders of society, right? Actually, a new study finds that a sense of moral superiority can lead to unethical acts, such as cheating. In fact, some of the best do-gooders can become the worst cheats.

Stop us if this sounds familiar.

When asked to describe themselves, most people typically will rattle off a list of physical features and activities (for example, "I do yoga" or "I'm a paralegal"). But some people have what scientists call a moral identity, in which the answer to the question would include phrases like "I am honest" and "I am a caring person."

Past research has suggested that people who describe themselves with words such as honest and generous are also more likely to engage in volunteer work and other socially responsible acts.

But often in life, the line between right and wrong becomes blurry, particularly when it comes to cheating on a test or in the workplace. For example, somebody could rationalize cheating on a test as a way of achieving their dream of becoming a doctor and helping people.

In the new study, detailed in the November issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology, researchers find that when this line between right and wrong is ambiguous among people who think of themselves as having high moral standards, the do-gooders can become the worst of cheaters.

Syringe

22,000 Culled in Bird Flu outbreak

Suffolk, UK: Wildfowl on four more farms are to be culled amid fears that birds are infected with deadly bird flu, Defra announced today.

More than 5,500 turkeys at Grove Farm in Botisdale, Suffolk will be slaughtered - along with thousands more on other sites - as a precautionary measure after Defra assessed that the birds had come into "dangerous contact" with poultry carrying the deadly HN51 strain.

©Daily Express
A map showing the exclusion zone

Black Cat

Flashback Psychologist adds scientific insight to loaded label of 'psychopath'

For most people on the planet, the term "psychopath" evokes thoughts of violence and bloodshed - and evil of the darkest kind.

But during 25 years, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has built a body of work that may help temper such deeply ingrained perceptions.

Sure, people do commit horrific, unimaginable crimes. But does that automatically mean they are psychopathic? And what is "psychopathy" anyway? With unique research access to prison inmate populations in Wisconsin, Joseph Newman has devoted his career to answering such questions.

Comment: Further material on psychopathy:
* 'Political Ponerology' - Andrew Lobaczewski
* 'The Mask of Sanity' - Hervey Cleckley, M.D.
* 'The Sociopath Next Door' - Martha Stout, Ph.D.
* 'Snakes in Suits' - Paul Babiak, Ph.D., Robert D. Hare, Ph.D.
* 'Without Conscience' - Robert D. Hare, Ph.D.
* 'Predators' - Anna C. Salter, Ph.D.
* Cassiopedia.org :- Psychopathy


Bell

The War's Mental Toll on Reservists

Is the toll of fighting an urban guerrilla war harder on reservists than on active duty soldiers? An authoritative new study thinks so, saying army reservists - who constitute nearly a third of the 1.5 million Americans who have served in Iraq - require psychological treatment at twice the rate of active duty soldiers. The study, released on Veterans' Day week, was issued just as Congress looks for ways to lighten the mental health burden on the country's uniformed ranks.

The study by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) focused on 88,235 soldiers who were screened twice: first when they returned from Iraq; and second, after three to six months at home. Although reservists had similar battlefield experiences as active-duty troops, they suffered substantially higher rates of depression, interpersonal conflict, suicidal thoughts and post-traumatic stress disorder - a disparity that grew dramatically over time.

Attention

Moody Is the New Bipolar

The author of a new book on depression shows how Big Pharma is cashing in on drugs that aren't likely to help mood disorders.

Info

Genetic Risk Factors Interact With Family Background Leading To Juvenile Delinquency

An associate professor of sociology at Iowa State University, where he is also director of the criminal justice program, DeLisi worked the third shift in a county jail in Colorado while he was a graduate student. That experience led to his first book, Career Criminals in Society (Sage Publications, 2005).

He's now co-author of a new edition of the popular juvenile delinquency textbook Delinquency in Society -- joining Robert Regoli, a professor of sociology at the University of Colorado; and John Hewitt, professor of criminal justice at Grand Valley State University, on the book. DeLisi and ISU sociology lecturer Pete Conis also co-edited another book that was published in October titled Violent Offenders. That book features contributions from an international array of experts on violent criminals -- homicide offenders, sex offenders and psychopaths.

Wine

Breast milk content may affect child's obesity risk

Mothers who breast feed and have high levels of a protein secreted by lipids in their milk may be increasing the risk that their child will be overweight, German researchers report.

©REUTERS/Jon Nazca
Mothers nurse their babies in Malaga, southern Spain June 30, 2007. June 30, 2007