In laying down the neural circuitry of the developing brain, billions of neurons must first migrate to their correct destinations and then form complex synaptic connections with their new neighbors.
When the process goes awry, neurodevelopmental disorders such as mental retardation, dyslexia or autism may result. Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have now discovered that establishing the neural wiring necessary to function normally depends on the ability of neurons to make finger-like projections of their membrane called filopodia.
The finding, published as the cover story of the Sept. 4 issue of the journal Cell, indicates that the current notion regarding how cells change shape, migrate or differentiate needs to be revisited.
Sudeep Chand
BBC NewsSat, 05 Sep 2009 01:55 UTC
A UK survey has revealed that myths about contraception may be widespread.
One in five women said they had heard of kitchen items, including bread, cling film and even chicken skin, being used as alternative barrier methods.
Others had heard food items such as kebabs, Coca-cola or crisps could be used as oral contraceptives.
I have always had a strong interest in nutrition but, like most people, have often been bewildered by the overwhelming amount of information and general lack of focus of what there is to be learned.
I take the GNC supplements for men over 50. It certainly has a lot of stuff in it, but in regard to two key minerals, even the GNC formula is deficient. These minerals are iodine and magnesium.
The American diet is seriously deficient in both these essential minerals. I plan to write about iodine later. For now, I want to focus on magnesium.
The array of bodily functions that can work normally only with sufficient magnesium is staggering. Every system of the body is affected, but most particularly the circulatory system. This is critical because every cell of the body depends on an adequate flow of blood.
Comment: More more research into the many benefits of supplemental forms of magnesium, check out our
forum thread.
Kate Kelland
ReutersFri, 04 Sep 2009 22:15 UTC
It's long been thought that broccoli is good for your heart, and now British scientists think they know why.
Researchers at Imperial College London have found evidence a chemical in broccoli and other green leafy vegetables could boost a natural defense mechanism that protects arteries from the clogging that can cause heart attacks.
In a study funded by the British Heart Foundation charity and conducted on mice, the researchers found that sulforaphane -- a compound occurring naturally in broccoli and other brassicas -- could "switch on" a protective protein which is inactive in parts of the arteries vulnerable to clogging.
The joys of motherhood for many women can also lead other new moms to experience postpartum depression and even worse - ideas for committing suicide.
For these women contemplating taking their own lives, the mother-infant relationship and development was a negative experience, with greater mood disturbances, cognitive distortions, low maternal self-esteem, negative perceptions of their effectiveness as a new parent and noticeably less responsiveness to their infants' cues.
Those are the findings of a new two-year study by Ruth Paris, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Clinical Practice at Boston University's School of Social Work, Rendelle E. Bolton, a graduate student at the BU School of Social Work and M. Katherine Weinberg, Ph.D., a psychologist and an infant development specialist.
Kristina Findlay and Lauren Pearson
ReutersFri, 04 Sep 2009 02:46 UTC
Parents are unknowingly putting their young children at risk for leg fractures, says new study
A new study published this week in the Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics found a relationship between young children going down a slide on the lap of an adult and tibia fractures. The study, conducted at Winthrop University Hospital, reviewed children with tibia fractures over an eleven month period and found 13.8% of the tibia fractures were sustained while sliding down a slide on an adult's lap.
People with naturally thin thighs may be at greater risk for developing heart disease and dying an early death, a Danish study found.
Researchers have been measuring body sizes and shapes for years to look for clues about who is most vulnerable to heart disease, the leading cause of death worldwide. While most of the effort has focused on height, weight and the size of the hips relative to the waist, no one approach stands out, doctors said.
Researchers took detailed measurements and evaluated the body composition of 1,436 men and 1,380 women in Denmark, then tracked their health for more than decade as part of a study conducted on behalf of the World Health Organization. People with the thinnest thighs had a two-fold greater risk of heart disease and death, and the risk rose as thigh size declined.
For the nearly 15 million Americans currently unemployed, this year's Labor Day holiday may be less a celebration of a brief respite from work and more a cruel reminder that, despite glimmers of hope in the U.S. economy, there remains scant opportunity for many to rejoin the workforce. Very few people don't know someone - a friend, relative, or former colleague - who has lost a job amid the recession: The economy has shed some 6.7 million jobs since December 2007, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and some experts fret the U.S. could be in store for a "jobless recovery" in 2010.
Against a backdrop of vanishing paychecks and dwindling savings, despair and depression are rampant, according to a study released on Sept. 3 by the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. The study, The Anguish of Unemployment, is one of the first and most comprehensive of its kind, according to its authors, who say they sought to produce a representative view of unemployed workers' attitudes. The report was conducted through surveys of 1,200 people who are currently unemployed or have been in the past 12 months. The BLS reported last month that the number of people who had been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer rose by 584,000 in July to 5 million, the highest level since 1948 when the data were first collected.
Scientists were able to isolate two antibodies responsible for resistance to the disease in an African patient. The discovery could be key to the development of a vaccine.
After 15 years of futile searching for a vaccine against the AIDS virus, researchers are reporting the tantalizing discovery of antibodies that can prevent the virus from multiplying in the body and producing severe disease.
They do not have a vaccine yet, but they may well have a road map toward the production of one.
Kate Devlin
TelegraphWed, 02 Sep 2009 10:00 UTC
© GettyUnder the guidelines the decision to diagnose that a patient is close to death is made by the entire medical team treating them, including a senior doctor
In a letter to
The Daily Telegraph, a group of experts who care for the terminally ill claim that some patients are being wrongly judged as close to death.
Under NHS guidance introduced across England to help doctors and medical staff deal with dying patients, they can then have fluid and drugs withdrawn and many are put on continuous sedation until they pass away.
But this approach can also mask the signs that their condition is improving, the experts warn.
Comment: More more research into the many benefits of supplemental forms of magnesium, check out our forum thread.