Health & WellnessS


Pills

High anxiety? Get ready for new anti-anxiety drugs


University of Michigan Health System
Fri, 18 Apr 2008 07:26 UTC
Right now, about half of all people who take medicine for an anxiety disorder don't get much help from it. And doctors have no definitive way to predict who will, and who won't, benefit from each anti-anxiety prescription they write.

But a University of Michigan Medical School researcher and his team are working to bring more certainty to how doctors and patients choose anxiety treatments, by probing the connection between brain activity, genetics and medication.

In a paper last month in the Journal of Neuroscience, K. Luan Phan, M.D., and his former University of Chicago colleagues reported intriguing findings from a brain imaging study in occasional, non-dependent, marijuana users.

Image
©K. Luan Phan, M.D.
These brain scans and graph show that response to a threat was greatly reduced when study volunteers received THC, compared with placebo. This indicates that the brain's cannabinoid system may be a good target for anxiety disorder treatments.

Comment: Instead of looking into the core problems that cause millions of Americans to suffer from anxiety disorders, millions are invested in creating new and advanced drugs, while it is clear that the only ones who are going to benefit from are pharmaceutical companies.

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Bulb

Possible link between baby swimming and breathing problems in children


Norwegian Institute of Public Health
Tue, 15 Apr 2008 07:19 UTC
Children with mothers who have allergies or asthma have an increased risk of wheezing in the chest if they take part in baby swimming before 6 months of age. This is shown in a new study using data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Study (MoBa) at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH).

The results come from a study of 30 000 participants from MoBa. Approximately 25 percent of these children took part in baby swimming from 0-6 months of age.

Most children who take part in baby swimming show no increased incidence of lower respiratory tract infections, ear inflammation (otitis media) or tightness and wheezing in the chest. Between 6-18 months the incidence of lower respiratory tract infections and otitis media were 13 percent and 30 percent respectively, whilst the proportion of children who experienced tightness or wheezing in the chest was 40 percent.

Among children of mothers with asthma and allergy, 44 percent of those who did not go swimming had tightness or wheezing in the chest. This was compared to the 47 percent of children who swam and experienced tightness and wheezing who had mothers with asthma and allergies.
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Butterfly

Effects of Touch Spread From Hand to Body to Spirit

Hanns Pieper
Evansville Courier & Press
Sat, 19 Apr 2008 00:00 UTC
The importance of touch has been recognized for a long time. Decades ago, studies demonstrated how essential touch was for babies to thrive and develop. The need for touch does not decrease with age.
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Crusader

Vitamin D and breast cancer risk


Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:40 UTC
A connection between vitamin D level and the risk of developing breast cancer has been implicated for a long time, but its clinical relevance had not yet been proven. Sascha Abbas and colleagues from the working group headed by Dr. Jenny Chang-Claude at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ), collaborating with researchers of the University Hospitals in Hamburg-Eppendorf, have now obtained clear results: While previous studies had concentrated chiefly on nutritional vitamin D, the researchers have now investigated the complete vitamin D status. To this end, they studied 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) as a marker for both endogenous vitamin D and vitamin D from food intake.
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Pills

Anti-smoking drug may have led to TV editor's suicide

Nick Allen
The Telegraph
Sat, 19 Apr 2008 18:47 UTC
A coroner has linked an anti-smoking drug to the death of a television editor who killed himself.

Omer Jama, 39, who worked for Sky Sports, was found dead at his home two months after being prescribed Champix to help him quit smoking.

Mr Jama had slashed his wrists and stabbed himself in the thigh and stomach, an inquest in Bolton was told.
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Sherlock

Bird Flu Epidemic Still Shrouded in Mystery


Chosun.com
Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:18 UTC
A case of bird flu was reported in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province near Seoul on Tuesday. It comes two weeks after the first reported case on April 1 in Gimje, North Jeolla Province, from where the outbreak has since spread to South Jeolla Province. Two weeks after the first outbreak, a total of 20 cases were reported of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of virus that can be transmitted to humans.
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People

No place like home: Katrina's lasting impact


University of Michigan
Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:25 UTC
New Orleans residents who lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina were over five times more likely to experience serious psychological distress a year after the disaster than those who did not.

That is one of the findings from a study presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America in New Orleans.

The study, conducted by University of Michigan researcher Narayan Sastry and Tulane University's Mark VanLandingham, examines the mental health status of pre-Katrina residents of the City of New Orleans in the fall of 2006---one year after the hurricane. It also describes and analyzes disparities in mental health by race, education and income.

Based on a pilot survey that drew a stratified, area-based probability sample of pre-Katrina dwellings in the city, the study is one of the first to provide data representative of the pre-hurricane population. It was designed by the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization.
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Question

US: 42 Denver University students get mysterious illness

Kieran Nicholson
The Denver Post
Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:46 UTC
Dozens of students at the University of Denver became ill over the weekend, and seven students remain hospitalized today.

The Denver Health Department is investigating the mass illness but has not yet come up with a cause, said David Brendsel, a university spokesman.
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Pills

Herbal Science Recalls Dietary Supplements Containing Ephedra, Human Placenta


NewsInferno.com
Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:07 UTC
Herbal Science International, Inc. - also known as Jen-On Herbal Science International, Inc. - is recalling twelve dietary supplements containing ephedra, aristolochic acid, or human placenta because they may present a serious health hazard to consumers.
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People

Homework for primary schoolchildren 'is complete waste of time', claims study


The Daily Mail
Fri, 18 Apr 2008 15:19 UTC
Homework does not help primary school pupils get better grades, says a study.

Researchers struggled to find a link between how well the children do in national tests and the amount of extra tasks they are set.

It is thought that young pupils tire too quickly, do not have the skills to study effectively, and are too easily distracted.

This is in contrast to secondary school students, who perform better academically if they regularly do homework.
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