Health & WellnessS


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Baby Blues: A Search Beyond Neurons

R. Douglas Fields
Psychology Today
Sun, 27 Dec 2009 03:00 UTC
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© PDPhoto.org
Surprising insight into postpartum depression

The miracle of birth is one of life's greatest joys, but paradoxically many women suffer serious depression after delivering their new baby. Surprisingly, one in seven women will be stricken with postpartum depression, making it the most common medical complication of birth. "Baby blues" can develop into a serious condition, with such tragic consequences as child abandonment, infanticide, or suicide.

The cause of postpartum depression is unknown. Theories range from reactions to hormonal swings after birth to stressful psychological pressures of adjusting to a new life. The added responsibility of caring for a new child will force changes in life-style, impact career, remodel family relationships, and affect finances. These are understandable pressures that could trigger depression, but there seems little doubt that there is also a biological underpinning to this illness. What that biological mechanism might be has remained elusive.

A new study investigating blood samples taken from women diagnosed with postpartum depression provides long-awaited insight into the biological cause of this puzzling illness, and a surprising twist--the findings have nothing to do with neurons.
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Mutant Gene Lessens Devastation of Flesh-Eating Bacteria


ScienceDaily
Thu, 31 Dec 2009 07:00 UTC
Scientists at The Methodist Hospital Research Institute in Houston recently discovered a simple gene mutation that decreases the chance people will get a flesh-eating disease called necrotizing fasciitis. Further, they proved that inactivating this section of the gene lessens the devastating disease in humans.

Results of this research, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association, recently appear online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

"The study of genomics has opened a wealth of information on how disease develops on a molecular level," said Musser, co-director of The Methodist Hospital Research Institute. "When we identify a gene mutation that has a direct effect on a disease -- like we have done for the flesh-eating bacteria -- this opens up doors to designing drugs that provide treatments and cures."
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Psoriasis: Effects Don't Always Stop with the Skin


ScienceDaily
Thu, 31 Dec 2009 06:00 UTC
Psoriasis, a chronic disease that causes red, raised patches of skin, is increasingly seen as a systemic disease with links to arthritis and cardiovascular disease. The December issue of Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource provides an overview of this sometimes embarrassing condition, what's known about it and how it's treated. Highlights of the overview include:

Symptoms

Patches of thick, red skin covered with silvery, flaky scales commonly appear on the elbows and knees, but can appear anywhere on the body. They result from skin cells on overdrive, reproducing much faster than normal. Doctors aren't sure why this overproduction occurs, although genetic and environmental factors likely play roles. Psoriasis symptoms come and go and flare in response to triggers that can include infections, some medications, alcohol, smoking, stress, sunburn, skin irritation or injury.
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Power Promotes Hypocrisy, Study Finds


World Science
Tue, 29 Dec 2009 10:00 UTC
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© AP PhotoA new study ex­plores why pow­er­ful peo­ple don’t prac­tice what they preach. Above, a ses­sion of U.S. Con­gress pre­pares to listen to the pre­si­dent's State of the Union Speech in a 2003 White House photo.
2009 may well be re­mem­bered for its scandal-ridden head­lines, from ad­mis­sions of ex­tra­mar­i­tal af­fairs by gov­er­nors and sen­a­tors, to cor­po­rate ex­ec­u­tives fly­ing pri­vate jets while cut­ting em­ploy­ee ben­e­fits, and most re­cent­ly, to a mys­te­ri­ous early morn­ing car crash in Flor­i­da. The past year has been marked by a se­ries of mor­al trans­gres­sions by pow­er­ful fig­ures in po­lit­i­cal, busi­ness and celebr­ity cir­cles.

A new study ex­plores why pow­er­ful peo­ple - many of whom take a mor­al high ground - don't prac­tice what they preach.

Re­search­ers sought to de­ter­mine wheth­er pow­er in­spires hy­poc­ri­sy, the ten­den­cy to hold high stan­dards for oth­ers while per­form­ing mor­ally sus­pect be­hav­iors one­self. The re­search found that pow­er makes peo­ple stricter in mor­al judg­ment of others - while go­ing easier on them­selves.
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Pharmaceuticals, Personal Care Products Found in New York City Water Supply

Ethan Huff
Natural News
Thu, 31 Dec 2009 11:11 UTC
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has issued support for a proposed law that would require the Department of Environmental Protection in New York City to test the city's drinking water supply for personal care product and pharmaceutical residue. Citing numerous studies that have found measurable levels of such contaminants in water supplies around the nation, EWG is encouraging support for measures that would investigate and report contaminant levels to the public.

Reports have found that the nation's water supplies contain various antibiotics, phytoestrogens and estrogenic steroids, and pharmaceutical and genotoxic drugs. New York City's water supply is no exception. Since these contaminants have the potential to inflict widespread reproductive harm, neuro-degeneration, endocrine disruption, and cell destruction in humans, EWG is urging that New York City monitor contaminant levels and issue annual water quality reports that outline the results. Since most of these contaminants are currently unregulated, they are typically not disclosed in existing water quality reports.

Wastewater treatment facilities are capable of removing most contaminants from water, however a small percentage of fragments make their way back into the water supply. When combined with thousands of other fragments, the aggregate mass of contaminant particles can pose serious health risks. The extent to which such contamination causes harm has yet to be fully understood and observed.
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With DNA Testing, Students Reveal What's What in Their Neighborhood -- And New Evidence of Food Fraud

Joseph Bonner
Rockefeller University
Mon, 28 Dec 2009 04:49 UTC
Two New York City high school students exploring their homes using the latest high-tech DNA analysis techniques were astonished to discover a veritable zoo of 95 animal species surrounding them, in everything from fridges to furniture, from sidewalks to shipping boxes, and from feather dusters to floor corners.

Guided by DNA "barcoding" experts at The Rockefeller University and the American Museum of Natural History, Grade 12 students Brenda Tan and Matt Cost of Trinity School, Manhattan, also revealed a lot of apparent consumer fraud in progress, finding that the labels of 11 of 66 food products purchased at local markets misrepresented the actual contents.

The January edition of BioScience magazine will report on their "DNA House" project, detailed as well online here.
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Pomegranate Lotion Offers New Hope in War on Superbugs

Daniel Martin
Daily Mail
Mon, 28 Dec 2009 16:08 UTC
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Secret weapon? The pomegranate has long been touted as a 'superfood'. Now scientists have created an ointment from its rind to tackle drug-resistant infections, like MRSA
The secret to beating the super bug MRSA could be found in the pomegranate.

Scientists have created an ointment that tackles drug-resistant infections by harnessing chemicals that are contained in the fruit's rind.

They found that by combining pomegranate rind with other natural products they created a strong, infection-busting compound.

It is hoped that this could lead to the creation of a lotion for hospital patients, or even an antibiotic.

The need for a new method of tackling superbugs is growing more and more desperate as they continue to develop resistance to common antibiotics.
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How Your Diet is Aging You

Andrea Pennington M.D.
Huffington Post
Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:59 UTC
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I can tell what my three-year-old daughter has been snacking on because it's visible all over her precious face. Would you be surprised to learn that the telltale signs of what you have been eating -- or avoiding -- are equally noticeable just by looking at your face? It's true. Dermatologists explain that our skin is a window into our overall health and can show clues of what's going on under the surface.

New research reported in the British Medical Journal states that enjoying a Mediterranean-style diet including a combination of olive oil, seeds, nuts, fresh fruits, vegetables - and only moderate alcohol intake - can improve overall health and longevity. And when we look at the faces of men and women from Mediterranean countries, who consume large amounts of olive oil, we see fewer wrinkles and firmer skin (despite avid sun-worshipping). And they not only have beautiful skin but cleaner arteries (on average) to boot!
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Labeling Standards for Caffeine

Elena Conis
Los Angeles Times
Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:41 UTC
Because of caffeine's potential effects on the body, and the explosion of caffeinated products on the market, labeling standards are needed, experts say.

Maybe it's the sleepless nights. Maybe it's the daytime jitters. Whatever the reason, many people decide to cut back on caffeine -- only to find that it's harder than they thought.

Caffeine turns up in expected places, in unexpected amounts. And recent years have seen an explosion in the number of caffeinated products on the market: energy drinks, of course, but also chewing gum, candy bars and (for a brief while) potato chips. A lack of labeling guidelines leaves many consumers in the dark about just how much caffeine the products contain.

There are a variety of reasons why such labeling would help consumers, says James Lane, a professor of medical psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., who has studied caffeine's effects on the body.
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FDA Approves Crestor for People Who Have No Health Problem to Correct

Mike Adams
Natural News
Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:00 UTC
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© AstraZeneca
Big Pharma has been trending this direction for a long time: marketing medicines to people who don't need them and who have nothing wrong with their health. It's all part of a ploy to position prescription drugs as nutrients -- things you need to take on a regular basis in order to prevent disease.

The FDA recently gave its nod of approval on the matter, announcing that Crestor can now be advertised and prescribed as a "preventive" medicine. No longer does a patient need to have anything wrong with them to warrant this expensive prescription medication: They only need to remember the brand name of the drug from television ads.

This FDA approval for the marketing of Crestor to healthy people is a breakthrough for wealthy drug companies. Selling drugs only to people who are sick is, by definition, a limited market. Expanding drug revenues requires reaching people who have nothing wrong with them and convincing them that taking a cocktail of daily pharmaceuticals will somehow keep them healthy.
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