Health & WellnessS


People

Racial Bias Clouds Ability to Feel Others' Pain, Study Shows


ScienceDaily
Thu, 27 May 2010 15:00 UTC
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© Michael Waterston/Flickr
When people witness or imagine the pain of another person, their nervous system responds in essentially the same way it would if they were feeling that pain themselves.

Now, researchers reporting online on May 27th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, have new evidence to show that that kind of empathy is diminished when people (black or white) who hold racial biases see that pain is being inflicted on those of another race.

The good news is that people continue to respond with empathy when pain is inflicted on people who don't fit into any preconceived racial category -- in this case, those who appear to have violet-colored skin.

"This is quite important because it suggests that humans tend to empathize by default unless prejudice is at play," said Salvatore Maria Aglioti of Sapienza Università di Roma.
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If You Don't Brush Your Teeth Twice a Day, You're More Likely to Develop Heart Disease

Franca Tranza
BMJ-British Medical Journal
Fri, 28 May 2010 00:00 UTC
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© Getty Images
Research paper: Toothbrushing, inflammation and risk of cardio vascular disease -- results from the Scottish Health Survey, BMJ.com

Individuals who have poor oral hygiene have an increased risk of heart disease compared to those who brush their teeth twice a day, finds research published today in British Medical Journal.

In the last twenty years there has been increased interest in links between heart problems and gum disease. While it has been established that inflammation in the body (including mouth and gums) plays an important role in the build up of clogged arteries, this is the first study to investigate whether the number of times individuals brush their teeth has any bearing on the risk of developing heart disease, says the research.

The authors, led by Professor Richard Watt from University College London, analysed data from over 11,000 adults who took part in the Scottish Healthy Survey.
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Frozen human embryos are not life forms, South Korean court says


PhysOrg.com
Fri, 28 May 2010 08:21 UTC
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© Anthony BessetteConstitutional Court of the Republic of Korea
South Korea's Constitutional Court has ruled that human embryos left over from fertility treatment are not life forms and can be used for research or destroyed, a court spokesman said Friday.

In its ruling Thursday the court upheld an existing law allowing the use of leftover embryos for research. The law also allows fertility clinics to dispose of frozen embryos five years after fertilisation treatment is completed.

"The ruling means that human embryos that are in their early stage and are not implanted into a mother's womb cannot be seen as human life forms," the spokesman, Noh Hui-Beom, told AFP.

The ruling came after a group of 13 people including pro-life activists filed a petition with the court against the current bioethics law, which allows the use of leftover embryos for research.

Following the ruling, shares related to stem-cell research surged on the local market.
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Briefcase

Suit: Pfizer/Wyeth sought black patients for unsafe drug

Merrill Goozner
MedCity News
Tue, 25 May 2010 22:03 UTC
pfizer-pills
© Unknown
Pfizer's $68 billion acquisition of Wyeth last year has turned into a full-employment act for the drugmaker's outside law firms.

Yesterday the company was slapped with a whistle-blower lawsuit alleging Wyeth retailers promoted the off-label use of the immunosuppressant drug Rapamune for kidney transplant patients even though the Food and Drug Administration has explicitly warned about serious side effects and increased mortality associated with switching them from safer drugs. According to Jim Edwards' report on Bnet, the complaint alleges African-Americans were specifically targeted by salesmen since they are considered "high-risk" patients due to their higher organ rejection rates.
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Magic Wand

Courting the Cranberry

Bruce Burnett
Motherearthnews.com
Sat, 01 May 2010 00:00 UTC
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© iStockphoto/Kelly ClineResearch from the University of Wisconsin indicates that cranberry juice may help prevent the buildup of cholesterol plaque in arteries, which is the major cause of heart disease and stroke.
Science restores an old medicine, as studies show that regular consumption of cranberry juice cocktail decreased the frequency of urinary tract infection. Cranberries may also have broad-spectrum antibiotic value against E. coli and other harmful bacteria, and they are an excellent source of vitamins A and C and potassium.

By the 1960s, when doctors were dispensing antibiotics like candy, the use of cranberries to counteract urinary tract infections (UTIs) had fallen out of favor. Researchers claimed that tests showed that the acidifying effect of cranberries and cranberry juice was inadequate to prevent infection.

However, as late as 1994, a Harvard University study involving 153 elderly women with repeated UTIs showed that regular consumption of cranberry juice cocktail decreased the frequency of infections.
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Attention

U.S. Study: Pesticides Tied to ADHD in Children


Reuters
Mon, 17 May 2010 15:22 UTC
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© Reuters/Brian SnyderA plane disperses pesticide over parts of New Orleans, Louisiana, September 13, 2005.

Children exposed to pesticides known as organophosphates could have a higher risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a U.S. study that urges parents to always wash produce thoroughly.

Researchers tracked the pesticides' breakdown products in children' urine and found those with high levels were almost twice as likely to develop ADHD as those with undetectable levels.

The findings are based on data from the general U.S. population, meaning that exposure to the pesticides could be harmful even at levels commonly found in children's environment.
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Bell

Endocrine Disruptors Really Do Suck

Tom Laskawy
Grist
Wed, 26 May 2010 15:06 UTC
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U.S. manufacturers and agribusiness are addicted to endocrine disruptors - dangerous chemicals that alter the natural function of the body's hormones. They are frequently used in plastics, in pesticides, and in personal care products and act in the human body as a "false" version of estrogen. They appear to be linked to a variety of diseases, including sexual dysfunction, heart disease, metabolic disorders, and cancer. New York Times columnist Nick Kristof wrote a frightening summary of the health and environmental risks of this class of chemicals about a year ago that's still timely.

Although the controversial plastic ingredient bisphenol-A, used in canned foods and baby bottles, is certainly the poster child for endocrine disruptors' ubiquity, it is merely one of many. The pesticide atrazine, banned in the European Union but still widely used in the U.S., is also a potent endocrine disruptor, as is the chemical oxybenzone, one of the most common ingredients in U.S.-sold sunscreen, though it too is banned in the E.U.
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Health

Natural Headache Remedies

Linda B. White, M.D.
Motherearthnews.com
Thu, 01 Apr 2010 18:28 UTC
Learn how herbs and nutritional supplements can be used to naturally ease and prevent headaches.

According to the American Headache Society, 12 million Americans endure chronic headaches, meaning they have headaches more than 15 days out of every month.

Almost everyone gets headaches. The good news is that many natural remedies can reduce headache pain and better yet, prevent it.
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Brief Exercise Reduces Impact of Stress on Cell Aging, UCSF Study Shows

Elizabeth Fernandez
University of California - San Francisco
Wed, 26 May 2010 17:29 UTC
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© iStockPhoto
Exercise can buffer the effects of stress-induced cell aging, according to new research from UCSF that revealed actual benefits of physical activity at the cellular level.

The scientists learned that vigorous physical activity as brief as 42 minutes over a 3-day period, similar to federally recommended levels, can protect individuals from the effects of stress by reducing its impact on telomere length. Telomeres (pronounced TEEL-oh-meres) are tiny pieces of DNA that promote genetic stability and act as protective sheaths by keeping chromosomes from unraveling, much like plastic tips at the ends of shoelaces.

A growing body of research suggests that short telomeres are linked to a range of health problems, including coronary heart disease and diabetes, as well as early death.
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Info

Scientists Link ADHD in Kids to Routine Pesticide Exposure

Tom Laskawy
Grist
Mon, 17 May 2010 17:48 UTC
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Writing in The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan detailed how, following World War II, nerve-gas factories were converted en masse into synthetic pesticide factories. These weapons reborn as pesticides are organophosphates, as are both Sarin and VX gases. For farmers, they work by, as Wikipedia tastefully puts it, "irreversibly inactivating" an essential neurotransmitter within insects - just as they worked for military generals by irreversibly inactivating the same equally essential neurotransmitter within soldiers.

The dangers of organophosphates are thus nothing new, though industrial agriculture continues to drop tens of millions of pounds of them on fields across the country every year. The argument in favor of their use has always been that, whatever their devastating effects at high doses, general exposure through the environment was far too low to do any harm.
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