Health & WellnessS


Smiley

Flashback What Happy People Don't Do

Roni Caryn Rabin
The New York Times
Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:47 UTC
Happy people spend a lot of time socializing, going to church and reading newspapers - but they don't spend a lot of time watching television, a new study finds.

That's what unhappy people do.

Although people who describe themselves as happy enjoy watching television, it turns out to be the single activity they engage in less often than unhappy people, said John Robinson, a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland and the author of the study, which appeared in the journal Social Indicators Research.
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People

Our Faces, Not Just Our Ears, 'Hear' Speech


PhysOrg
Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:24 UTC
A McGill-led study has found that the perception of speech sounds is modified by stretching facial skin in different directions. Different patterns of skin stretch affect how subjects perceive different words.

Researchers used a robotic device to manipulate the facial skin in ways that would normally be experienced when we speak. They found that stretching the skin while subjects simply listen to words alters the sounds they hear.

In an article published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), McGill neuroscientist David Ostry of the Department of Psychology, reports his results testing a group of 75 native speakers of American English.
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Magnify

Research Breakthrough Targets Genetic Diseases


PhysOrg
Tue, 20 Jan 2009 13:34 UTC
A cure for debilitating genetic diseases such as Huntington's disease, Friedreich's ataxia and Fragile X syndrome is a step closer to reality, thanks to a recent scientific breakthrough.

The finding, which was published in Science on January 15, is the result of a collaboration between a team led by Dr Sureshkumar Balasubramanian at The University of Queensland's School of Biological Sciences and Professor Dr Detlef Weigel at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Germany.

It identifies an expansion of a repeat pattern in the DNA of the plant Arabidopsis thaliana that has striking parallels to the DNA repeat patterns observed in humans suffering from neuronal disorders such as Huntington's disease and Fredereich's ataxia.
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So Could Terry Pratchett's Sci-fi Helmet Really Halt Alzheimer's?

Jo Macfarlane
Daily Mail
Sun, 18 Jan 2009 17:00 UTC
Pratchett
© UnknownHigh-tech: Sir Terry Pratchett in the infrared helmet shaped for him from a cast of his head.
Bestselling author Sir Terry Pratchett has been testing out a revolutionary helmet which is claimed to slow down or even reverse the effects of Alzheimer's disease.

Science fiction writer Sir Terry, 60, who was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's in 2007, wore the strange-looking headgear once a day for three months and noticed a small improvement, his agent confirmed.

The prototype anti-dementia helmet, which must be worn for ten minutes each day, was designed by British GP Dr Gordon Dougal.

It works by directing intense bursts of infrared light into the brain to stimulate the growth of brain cells.
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Bug

China reports second bird flu death this year

Audra Ang
Associated Press
Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:17 UTC
Beijing - China is stepping up bird flu precautions on fears that the virus could spread more quickly in cold weather and as families gather for Lunar New Year feasts that often include poultry. Four new cases of the illness - two fatal - have been reported this month.

A flu expert at China's National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shu Yuelong, said new infections were likely because the H5N1 virus is more active in lower temperatures.

"The situation urges us to further strengthen prevention and supervision," Shu was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency late Monday.
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Roses

In Tough Times, Nature Favors Female Brains


LiveScience
Sat, 17 Jan 2009 16:28 UTC
Scientists have known that male and female mammals respond differently to starvation, with male cells tending to conserve protein while female calls lean toward fat conservation.

Cell Starvation
© Robert S.B. ClarkAfter 24 hours of starvation, neurons from females (left) mobilize free fatty acids and form lipid droplets (bright green), keeping them alive. In contrast, neurons from males (right panel) begin eating themselves from the inside to break down proteins, presumably to use as fuel.
But what happens in the brain, where cells need a complex set of nutrients to fire properly? A new study of rodents, thought to be a good analogue to humans, offers hints.

The upshot: "When it comes to keeping brains alive, it seems nature has deemed that females are more valuable then males," the researcher said in a statement yesterday.
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How Toxoplasma Gondii Gets Noticed


EurekAlert!
Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:25 UTC
Researchers provide insight into how Toxoplasma gondii, a common parasite of people and other animals, triggers an immune response in its host. The report will appear online on January 19th in The Journal of Experimental Medicine.

A strong immune response spares T. gondii-infected hosts from deadly infection - an event that may also benefit the parasite, which relies on survival of the host to ensure its own transmission. But how the infected host elicits an immune response isn't completely understood. Like many other parasites, T. gondii resides within specialized vesicles inside infected host cells, but the process by which peptides from the trapped bugs are processed by infected cells and presented to killer T cells is mysterious.
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Sherlock

Early Immune System Exposures Linked To Chronic Disease


PhysOrg
Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:18 UTC
Scientists and regulators have a golden opportunity to reduce the health toll from a range of diseases by focusing more attention on identification of environmental factors that can damage the prenatal immune system as well as that of infants and children, according to an article scheduled for the Jan. 19 issue of ACS' Chemical Research in Toxicology.

In the study, Rodney R. Dietert points out that a scientific field known as developmental immunotoxicology (DIT) focuses on the effects of exposure to biological materials, drugs, medical devices, chemicals, and other environmental factors on the developing immune system in fetuses, infants and children. Research so far suggests links between those factors and an increased risk of asthma, autism, diabetes, leukemia, and other important diseases.
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Study Links Water Pollution With Declining Male Fertility


PhysOrg
Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:07 UTC
New research strengthens the link between water pollution and rising male fertility problems. The study, by Brunel University, the Universities of Exeter and Reading and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, shows for the first time how a group of testosterone-blocking chemicals is finding its way into UK rivers, affecting wildlife and potentially humans. The research was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council and is now published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

The study identified a new group of chemicals that act as 'anti-androgens'. This means that they inhibit the function of the male hormone, testosterone, reducing male fertility. Some of these are contained in medicines, including cancer treatments, pharmaceutical treatments, and pesticides used in agriculture. The research suggests that when they get into the water system, these chemicals may play a pivotal role in causing feminising effects in male fish.

Earlier research by Brunel University and the University of Exeter has shown how female sex hormones (estrogens), and chemicals that mimic estrogens, are leading to 'feminisation' of male fish. Found in some industrial chemicals and the contraceptive pill, they enter rivers via sewage treatment works. This causes reproductive problems by reducing fish breeding capability and in some cases can lead to male fish changing sex.
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Pills

Asian heart disease gene found


BBC News
Mon, 19 Jan 2009 04:58 UTC
asian women
© unknownBritish Asians are known to have a higher risk of heart disease
A gene mutation that almost guarantees the development of heart disease is carried by 60m people, researchers say.

Around 4% people from the Indian subcontinent have the mutation, which increases the risk of heart disease seven-fold, Nature Genetics reports.

It is rare to find a gene which has such a big effect and is so common, the international team of scientists said.

Experts said it could lead to a screening test but it was not yet clear if it would aid treatment decisions.

Heart disease is a massive global killer, and it is predicted that by 2010 India's population will suffer approximately 60% of the world's heart disease.
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