Health & Wellness
Tampa, FL - Social psychology is the study of how people and groups interact. A new study in the journal International Studies Review shows how social psychology can help us better understand the puzzle of nuclear restraint and uses the case of Japan to illustrate social psychology on nuclear decision-making.
Human arteries play distinct roles in the immune system depending on their anatomical location, researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have discovered.
Their findings explain why vascular diseases affect different parts of the arterial network and could help doctors fine-tune the treatment of such diseases as atherosclerosis and vasculitis. Atherosclerosis causes heart attacks and strokes because it occurs preferentially in arteries supplying the heart and the brain.
Arteries can play an active role in sensing foreign invasion and bodily injury, because cells embedded in the arterial walls called dendritic cells act like smoke-sensing fire alarms for the immune system, says senior author Cornelia Weyand, MD. PhD, co-director of the Kathleen B. and Mason I. Lowance Center for Human Immunology at Emory University.
"All of our major arteries have this alarm system," she says. "To our surprise, we found that the arteries of the neck, the arms, the abdomen and the legs are triggered by different infectious organisms. Thus, each artery functions in a specialized way."
Their findings explain why vascular diseases affect different parts of the arterial network and could help doctors fine-tune the treatment of such diseases as atherosclerosis and vasculitis. Atherosclerosis causes heart attacks and strokes because it occurs preferentially in arteries supplying the heart and the brain.
Arteries can play an active role in sensing foreign invasion and bodily injury, because cells embedded in the arterial walls called dendritic cells act like smoke-sensing fire alarms for the immune system, says senior author Cornelia Weyand, MD. PhD, co-director of the Kathleen B. and Mason I. Lowance Center for Human Immunology at Emory University.
"All of our major arteries have this alarm system," she says. "To our surprise, we found that the arteries of the neck, the arms, the abdomen and the legs are triggered by different infectious organisms. Thus, each artery functions in a specialized way."
On what evidence can the fluoridation of Bolton's water supplies be justified?
For half a century assurances from the US Public Health Service that water fluoridation was safe have rested on the results of the 1945 Newburgh-Kingston Fluoride-Caries Trial, in which the health of children from the fluoridated town of Newburgh, New York, were compared for 10 years with children from neighbouring non-fluoridated Kingston.
Dr Harold Hodge had assured local citizens that the experiment had proved fluoridation safe and he urged it upon the entire country. He told Congress in 1954: "Health hazards do not justify postponing water fluoridation". And, in 1963, Dr Hodge sang the praises of Newburgh's dental health before the Supreme Court in Dublin, prescribing compulsory fluoridation for both children and adults in Ireland. This country recently reduced the recommended dosage of 4ppm to 0.7ppm, with no official explanation for the reduction.
For half a century assurances from the US Public Health Service that water fluoridation was safe have rested on the results of the 1945 Newburgh-Kingston Fluoride-Caries Trial, in which the health of children from the fluoridated town of Newburgh, New York, were compared for 10 years with children from neighbouring non-fluoridated Kingston.
Dr Harold Hodge had assured local citizens that the experiment had proved fluoridation safe and he urged it upon the entire country. He told Congress in 1954: "Health hazards do not justify postponing water fluoridation". And, in 1963, Dr Hodge sang the praises of Newburgh's dental health before the Supreme Court in Dublin, prescribing compulsory fluoridation for both children and adults in Ireland. This country recently reduced the recommended dosage of 4ppm to 0.7ppm, with no official explanation for the reduction.
Kathy Sinnott, MEP for Ireland South and Member of the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee, and Dr Vyvyan Howard recently met with the European Commission's Public Health and Consumer Protection directorate on the dangers to human health posed by water fluoridation in Ireland.
Dr. Howard, of the University of Ulster, is a fetal toxicologist studying the effects of toxins on the health and development of babies before birth. He pointed out that we are compromising human health from conception by adding fluoride to drinking water. Toxic fluoride compounds are known to affect many other parts of the body including bones, teeth, thyroid as well as the developing brain. The excuse that it helps teeth should be questioned when nearly four in ten Irish teenagers have dental fluorosis -- permanent damage to the tooth enamel -- and this is three times that of their counterparts in unfluoridated Northern Ireland.
Dr. Howard, of the University of Ulster, is a fetal toxicologist studying the effects of toxins on the health and development of babies before birth. He pointed out that we are compromising human health from conception by adding fluoride to drinking water. Toxic fluoride compounds are known to affect many other parts of the body including bones, teeth, thyroid as well as the developing brain. The excuse that it helps teeth should be questioned when nearly four in ten Irish teenagers have dental fluorosis -- permanent damage to the tooth enamel -- and this is three times that of their counterparts in unfluoridated Northern Ireland.
Lingering depression is a serious and common problem in bipolar disorder, and does not resolve well with existing treatments.
Because individuals with both depression and bipolar disorder experience a glutathione deficiency, an antioxidant that protects cells from toxins, researchers in a new study scheduled for publication in the September 15th issue of Biological Psychiatry sought to evaluate whether N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), an over-the-counter supplement that increases brain glutathione, might help alleviate depressive symptoms.
Dr. Michael Berk and colleagues, in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, evaluated the mood symptoms of individuals with bipolar disorder, half of whom received placebo and half of whom received NAC, as an add-on therapy to their usual treatment.
Because individuals with both depression and bipolar disorder experience a glutathione deficiency, an antioxidant that protects cells from toxins, researchers in a new study scheduled for publication in the September 15th issue of Biological Psychiatry sought to evaluate whether N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), an over-the-counter supplement that increases brain glutathione, might help alleviate depressive symptoms.
Dr. Michael Berk and colleagues, in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, evaluated the mood symptoms of individuals with bipolar disorder, half of whom received placebo and half of whom received NAC, as an add-on therapy to their usual treatment.
Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy in Gothenburg show for the first time that exercise helps restore stem cell growth and improves behavior in young mice that suffered damage to the brain induced by a clinically relevant dose of radiation.
The researchers believe that these results are also applicable to children that have suffered damage due to radiotherapy of brain tumors.
Children that receive radiation treatment for brain tumors often develop learning and memory problems later in life that may be associated with attention deficits. These symptoms have been linked to radiation-induced damage, which not only kills cancer cells, but also stem cells that reside in the hippocampus, a region essential for proper memory function.
The researchers believe that these results are also applicable to children that have suffered damage due to radiotherapy of brain tumors.
Children that receive radiation treatment for brain tumors often develop learning and memory problems later in life that may be associated with attention deficits. These symptoms have been linked to radiation-induced damage, which not only kills cancer cells, but also stem cells that reside in the hippocampus, a region essential for proper memory function.
A fire retardant chemical used in electronics, toys and furniture has been detected in children's blood at triple the levels found in their mothers, the Environmental Working Group reported on Thursday.
In a small pilot study of 20 families, the non-profit environmental group tested blood samples from mothers and their young children -- ages 18 months to four years -- for the presence of PBDEs, a hormone-disrupting chemical.
In 19 of the 20 families, concentrations of PBDEs were typically three times as high in children as in their mothers, said Sonya Lunder, the study's author. One child had six times the level of the chemical that was detected in her mother.
In a small pilot study of 20 families, the non-profit environmental group tested blood samples from mothers and their young children -- ages 18 months to four years -- for the presence of PBDEs, a hormone-disrupting chemical.
In 19 of the 20 families, concentrations of PBDEs were typically three times as high in children as in their mothers, said Sonya Lunder, the study's author. One child had six times the level of the chemical that was detected in her mother.
A global shortage of radioactive imaging agents vital to the diagnosis of cancer and other diseases threatens to delay treatment for hundreds of patients in Britain.
Specialists warned yesterday that UK hospitals are receiving less than half the expected supplies of medical isotopes used in heart and bone scans and some cancer detection procedures, and the situation is expected to worsen over the coming weeks. The isotopes are used in more than 80 per cent of routine nuclear imaging tests used to diagnose disease. Professor Alan Perkins, honorary secretary of the British Nuclear Medicine Society, said: "The expected number of people who will be affected is quite difficult to determine ... but we are certainly talking about hundreds. The procedures include cardiac blood-flow imaging, bone scanning for secondary tumours, lymph-node detection in breast cancer cases and renal function monitoring, which is commonly done in children.
Specialists warned yesterday that UK hospitals are receiving less than half the expected supplies of medical isotopes used in heart and bone scans and some cancer detection procedures, and the situation is expected to worsen over the coming weeks. The isotopes are used in more than 80 per cent of routine nuclear imaging tests used to diagnose disease. Professor Alan Perkins, honorary secretary of the British Nuclear Medicine Society, said: "The expected number of people who will be affected is quite difficult to determine ... but we are certainly talking about hundreds. The procedures include cardiac blood-flow imaging, bone scanning for secondary tumours, lymph-node detection in breast cancer cases and renal function monitoring, which is commonly done in children.
Six pupils of Makatane Primary School at Mbangamama Ward, Mbinga District in Ruvuma Region, died on Tuesday of a mysterious disease.
Reports from Mbinga said that about 20 pupils and some adults have been hospitalized at Mbinga District Hospital, after falling sick.
Reports from Mbinga said that about 20 pupils and some adults have been hospitalized at Mbinga District Hospital, after falling sick.
The brain mechanism that turns off traumatic feelings associated with bad memories has been identified by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, who said their finding may lead to the development of new drugs to treat panic disorders.
When a person suffers a traumatic experience, environmental cues often become associated with the bad experience. Subsequent exposure to the same cues can cause fear or even panic attacks, according to study author Rainer Reinscheid, an associate professor of pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences.
The UCI team, along with colleagues from the University of Muenster in Germany, found that a protein called neuropeptide S (NPS) eliminates traumatic responses to bad memories by working on a group of neurons inside the amygdala, the brain region where negative memories are stored.
When a person suffers a traumatic experience, environmental cues often become associated with the bad experience. Subsequent exposure to the same cues can cause fear or even panic attacks, according to study author Rainer Reinscheid, an associate professor of pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences.
The UCI team, along with colleagues from the University of Muenster in Germany, found that a protein called neuropeptide S (NPS) eliminates traumatic responses to bad memories by working on a group of neurons inside the amygdala, the brain region where negative memories are stored.
