Mayo Clinic researchers have found that the kidneys of healthy adults show signs of chronic mild injury that increase with age. This damage is present even though the adults showed no clinical signs of kidney disease.
The findings are reported in the current issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
"This was a surprise," says Andrew Rule, M.D., M.Sc., a Mayo Clinic nephrologist and epidemiologist who led the study. "These patients' kidneys are functioning normally, and this damage doesn't show up on the tests doctors routinely use to assess kidney health. It means we need to come up with new tests to detect mild kidney injury more accurately."
The medical records of 1,203 people who donated kidneys at Mayo Clinic from 1999 to 2009 were used for the cross-sectional study. The donor kidneys were examined with a needle biopsy once they were transplanted into the recipient as part of a routine procedure to gather baseline information about the new kidney.
Health & Wellness
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Other studies have shown a relationship between sleep and weight issues, particularly in young children. However, this is one of the first studies to document an association between sleep duration and weight in adolescents, even after controlling for calorie intake, activity level and depressive symptoms.
In research led by Leslie A. Lytle, PhD, from the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children's Research Institute, study investigators collected data on 723 adolescents (mean age 14.7 years) about how long they slept on weeknights and weekends, and how frequently they experienced sleep problems. On three separate occasions, researchers also asked the youths about the foods and beverages they had consumed the prior day to determine how many calories they consumed.
© PhysOrg
A composite brain of the selected study participants shows areas of brain activation during tasks that required effortful perception.
A composite brain of the selected study participants shows areas of brain activation during tasks that required effortful perception.
Reported in advance online in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, and scheduled for print in the June issue, the study could serve as a foundation for the direction of study in the emerging field of cultural neuroscience.
"Our data suggest that some categories of individuals, based on their natural traits, are less influenced by their cultural context than others," says Dr. Aron. He adds that the study is the first to analyze how a basic temperament/personality trait, called sensory processing sensitivity (SPS), interacts with culture and neural responses.
SPS is characterized by sensitivity to both internal and external stimuli, including social and emotional cues. Scientists estimate that something like high sensitivity is found in approximately 20 percent of more than 100 species, from fruit flies and fish to canines and primates and has evolved as a particular survival strategy that differs from the majority. The standard measure in humans is the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) Scale, previously developed by Dr. Aron and his wife, Dr. Elaine Aron. An example of one item on the HSP scale is "do you seem to be aware of subtleties in your environment."
© Swanson Vitamins
New research shows chokeberries have unusually high levels of substances called anthocyanins (from the Greek words antho and kyanos meaning dark blue) that are powerful antioxidants. These natural phytochemicals may protect the body from exposure to pollution and metabolically-derived free radicals. What's more, chokeberry anthocyanins appear to have potent anti-inflammatory properties that improve blood sugar and the function of insulin and also halt excessive weight gain.
Those are the conclusions of Drs. Bolin Qin and Richard Anderson from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, Maryland, who studied prediabetic rats that were fed chokeberry extract for an extended period of time. Their research findings were recently presented at the Experimental Biology 2010 meeting held in Anaheim, California, in April as part of the scientific program of the American Society for Nutrition.
New York - Sixty-five years ago today, officials added fluoride chemicals into Newburgh, NY's public water supply making residents guinea pigs in a failed experiment to discover whether fluoride could safely reduce tooth decay. It didn't. But political pressure declared it a success. Any high school biology student can find the flaws in this "study." Fluoride researchers are still using our bodies and tax dollars for their own benefit.
Ten years later, 1955, researchers reported that newly fluoridated Newburgh children had more bone defects, anemia and earlier female menstruation than never-fluoridated Kingston children, according to the March 1956 Journal of the American Dental Association. Adults weren't even examined.
This is the first and only comprehensive U.S. research into fluoridation's effects to the human body and not just the teeth.
Newburgh's children were given complete physicals and x-rays, over the course of the study, from birth to age nine in the first year and up to age eighteen in the final year. "(R)outine laboratory studies were omitted in the control group during most of the study, they were included in the final examination," report Schlesinger and colleagues, in "Newburgh-Kingston caries-fluorine study XIII. Pediatric findings after ten years."
Ten years later, 1955, researchers reported that newly fluoridated Newburgh children had more bone defects, anemia and earlier female menstruation than never-fluoridated Kingston children, according to the March 1956 Journal of the American Dental Association. Adults weren't even examined.
This is the first and only comprehensive U.S. research into fluoridation's effects to the human body and not just the teeth.
Newburgh's children were given complete physicals and x-rays, over the course of the study, from birth to age nine in the first year and up to age eighteen in the final year. "(R)outine laboratory studies were omitted in the control group during most of the study, they were included in the final examination," report Schlesinger and colleagues, in "Newburgh-Kingston caries-fluorine study XIII. Pediatric findings after ten years."
© Superfood Marine Phytoplankton
Raw Frankincense
Raw Frankincense
Jeremy Howell, a reporter at the BBC, recently set out on a trek to learn more about frankincense and to find out whether or not the time-honored substance truly has anti-cancer characteristics. After an 11-hour drive from Oman's capital, Muscat, Howell arrived in the country's "Land of Frankincense" where he quickly discovered some fascinating things about frankincense.
Frankincense is sap derived from a tree called Boswellia sacra that grows in the Dhofar region of Oman. The warm winters and rainy summers there create perfect conditions for the tree, which grows wild all over the region.
© News Junkie Post
According to CNET news, there are now 11,500 different sites, networks, and forums that directly promote hate and terror on the internet. This is the 12th year the report has been released.
One Facebook group openly calls for death to the gays. Another one attracts fans who hate "faggots, whores, and cops." A Facebook poll (now deleted) asked whether President Barack Obama should be killed.
One of the games called Border Patrol has the user shoot Mexican stereotypes at the border, including villains such as the "drug smuggler", Mexican Nationalist, and the "Breeder". In another game, the objective is to bomb victims of the Haiti earthquake.
Reports have suggested that sleep problems in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are associated with challenging daytime behaviors.
A new study on a large group of youths with ASD confirms these reports and will support the development of treatments for sleep disturbances as a way to improve behavior, according to researchers from Autism Speaks' Autism Treatment Network (ATN).
Results of the study, and three others conducted by the ATN, was presented May 2 at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
An estimated one in 110 U.S. children has autism, a group of complex developmental brain disorders that affect behavior, social skills and communication.
A new study on a large group of youths with ASD confirms these reports and will support the development of treatments for sleep disturbances as a way to improve behavior, according to researchers from Autism Speaks' Autism Treatment Network (ATN).
Results of the study, and three others conducted by the ATN, was presented May 2 at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
An estimated one in 110 U.S. children has autism, a group of complex developmental brain disorders that affect behavior, social skills and communication.
© Unknown
"Unfortunately, minority children perceive discrimination often in their lives," said Lee M. Pachter, DO, co-author of the study and professor of pediatrics at Drexel University College of Medicine and St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. "Fifty-five years after Brown v. Board of Education and the civil rights movement, racism is still common in their lives."
Dr. Pachter and his colleagues surveyed 277 minority children ages 9-18 years to determine the contexts in which they perceive racism and the relationship between discrimination, depression and self-esteem. Participants filled out questionnaires that included 23 scenarios in which they might perceive discrimination, such as being followed by a store security guard, getting poor service in a restaurant or being accused of doing something wrong at school.
A daily dose of a specific form of vitamin E significantly improved the liver disease, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), according to a study funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of the National Institutes of Health. Results were published April 28 online in the New England Journal of Medicine. In addition, Actos (pioglitazone), a drug used to treat diabetes, also improved many features of NASH but was associated with weight gain.
NASH is a chronic liver disease that is linked to weight gain and obesity and can lead to cirrhosis, or scarring, liver cancer and death. It resembles alcoholic liver disease but occurs in patients who drink little or no alcohol. NASH can occur in children, the elderly, normal-weight, and non-diabetic persons. The disease is believed to be caused by abnormal metabolism of fats, which increases levels of oxidants, compounds that transfer oxygen in the liver. This disease affects about 3 to 4 percent of the U.S. population, leads to death from cirrhosis, and increases the risk of death from cardiovascular disease. There is currently no approved treatment for NASH.
NASH is a chronic liver disease that is linked to weight gain and obesity and can lead to cirrhosis, or scarring, liver cancer and death. It resembles alcoholic liver disease but occurs in patients who drink little or no alcohol. NASH can occur in children, the elderly, normal-weight, and non-diabetic persons. The disease is believed to be caused by abnormal metabolism of fats, which increases levels of oxidants, compounds that transfer oxygen in the liver. This disease affects about 3 to 4 percent of the U.S. population, leads to death from cirrhosis, and increases the risk of death from cardiovascular disease. There is currently no approved treatment for NASH.
