Health News

Geographical differences found in causes of blindness worldwide

Date: Nov-24-2013
A new study has revealed that the proportion of vision impairment and blindness worldwide that is caused by cataract and macular degeneration varies geographically. The findings are published in The Lancet Global Health.The team of researchers, led by Rupert Bourne of the Vision and Eye Research Unit at Anglia Ruskin University, say their study is the largest ever analysis of worldwide vision impairment and blindness.To reach their findings, they analyzed geographical trends of the disabling conditions between 1990 and 2010, alongside their main causes.

During sleep, connections in children's brains strengthen

Date: Nov-24-2013
While young children sleep, connections between the left and the right hemispheres of their brain strengthen, which may help brain functions mature, according to a new study by the University of Colorado Boulder.The research team - led by Salome Kurth, a postdoctoral researcher, and Monique LeBourgeois, assistant professor in integrative physiology - used electroencephalograms, or EEGs, to measure the brain activity of eight sleeping children multiple times at the ages of 2, 3 and 5 years.

Bowl size affects how much cereal kids request, eat, and waste!

Date: Nov-24-2013
Bigger dishes can cause adults to serve and consume more food, but a new study reveals that kids are also vulnerable to this bowl-size bias. Researchers Brian Wansink, Koert van Ittersum, and Collin Payne found that children will not only ask for more food to fill larger bowls - they'll also eat 52% more!To examine how bowl-size impacts the amount of food kids request, researchers served 69 preschoolers a familiar beloved breakfast - sugary cereal - in either small 8-oz bowls or large 16-oz bowls.

Sugary drinks linked to endometrial cancer risk after menopause

Date: Nov-24-2013
Women who consume sugary drinks regularly have a higher risk of developing estrogen-dependent type I endometrial cancer after the menopause compared to other women of the same age, according to a study carried out at the University of Minnesota and published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention1.Estrogen-dependent type I is the most common type of endometrial cancer. Endometrial cancer is also known as uterine cancer.

Caution advised for women prescribed combination hormone replacement therapy: beware of apigenin supplements

Date: Nov-24-2013
Hormone replacement therapies, or medications containing female hormones that substitute those no longer produced by the body, are often prescribed to reduce the effects of hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms in women. Research and clinical trials on hormone replacement therapies have indicated a higher incidence of tumors, especially breast cancer, in post-menopausal women who take synthetic hormones; therefore, doctors have become more reluctant to prescribe the treatment.

New light shed on learning disorders

Date: Nov-23-2013
A Michigan State University researcher has discovered the first anatomical evidence that the brains of children with a nonverbal learning disability - long considered a "pseudo" diagnosis - may develop differently than the brains of other children.The finding, published in Child Neuropsychology, could ultimately help educators and clinicians better distinguish between - and treat - children with a nonverbal learning disability, or NLVD, and those with Asperger's, or high functioning autism, which is often confused with NLVD.

Hormone therapy could enhance the therapeutic effect of head and facial bone grafts

Date: Nov-23-2013
Bone grafts, which are used to treat head injuries and birth defects, still pose major medical challenges, but scientists are reporting progress toward a new hormone therapy that could improve the outcomes of these surgeries. Their study, which was conducted on mice, appears in the ACS journal Molecular Pharmaceutics.Zulma Gazit at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Edward Schwarz from Rochester University and colleagues note that surgeons perform nearly 100,000 head and facial bone-grafting procedures every year to treat bone loss from disease, birth defects or traumatic injuries.

Understanding the full impact of treatments is important for patients with rotator cuff injury

Date: Nov-23-2013
Each year, close to 2 million people in the United States visit their doctor for shoulder pain associated with a rotator cuff injury. Approximately one-third of rotator cuff tears will require surgery, with the remaining injuries benefiting from nonsurgical treatment including pain medication and rehabilitation exercises. To help physicians determine the best treatment for each patient, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) recently released Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) covering five different treatments for rotator cuff injuries.

Texture trick enables researchers to reduce salt in bread without losing saltiness

Date: Nov-23-2013
Want to make bread taste pleasantly salty without adding more salt? Change the bread's texture so it is less dense, say scientists. They report in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that simply making the pores, or holes, larger can make people perceive bread as having saltier taste. The process could become a new strategy for reducing salt intake, which is a risk factor for high blood pressure and heart disease.

Two new studies offer clues to antibiotic use and resistance in US children's hospitals

Date: Nov-23-2013
Two studies published in the December issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology show antibiotic resistance patterns for children have held stable over a seven-year period and surgical patients in U.S. children's hospitals account for 43 percent of all antibiotic use in children's hospitals, presenting an opportunity for targeted intervention.The release of the findings coincides with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Get Smart about Antibiotics Week, an annual week-long observance on antibiotic resistance and the importance of appropriate antibiotic use.