Health News

Broccoli may slow, prevent osteoarthritis

Date: Aug-28-2013
New research from the UK suggests that sulforaphane, a compound found in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage and Brussels sprouts, could help fight osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis. Led by the University of East Anglia (UEA), the study used cell and tissue tests to show that sulforaphane blocked cartilage-destroying enzymes by intercepting a molecule that causes inflammation...

Tips to help high school athletes transition to non-competitive college life

Date: Aug-28-2013
High school student-athletes adjusting to life at college with no organized team sports may have a tough time eating right and exercising, says a Purdue University expert. "One of the biggest challenges for these former athletes is the buffet-style eating in residence halls, because when they were competing they were able to eat more freely," says Rachel Clark, sports dietitian for Purdue Athletics and continuing lecturer for the Department of Nutrition Science. "Instead of always having a bunch of activity, they now have a bunch of food in front of them...

Significant step forward in understanding and imaging protein synthesis

Date: Aug-28-2013
Researchers at Columbia University, in collaboration with biologists in Baylor College of Medicine, have made a significant step in understanding and imaging protein synthesis, pinpointing exactly where and when cells produce new proteins. Assistant Professor Wei Min's team developed a new technique to produce high-resolution imaging of newly synthesized proteins inside living cells. The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Volume 110; Issue 28). Proteins carry out almost every crucial biological function...

College football players gain strength and size during 4 years' training, but not speed or power

Date: Aug-28-2013
From freshman through senior year, college football players achieve significant increases in strength and size, reports a study in the September issue of The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, official research journal of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health. But even with modern training regimens, these athletes show limited changes in speed and power, according to the study by Bert H. Jacobson, EdD, FACSM, and colleagues of Oklahoma State University, Stillwater...

Scientists exonerate a process thought to play a role in causing Parkinson's disease

Date: Aug-28-2013
Clues left at the scene of the crime don't always point to the guilty party, as EPFL researchers investigating Parkinson's disease have discovered. It is generally accepted that the disease is aggravated when a specific protein is transformed by an enzyme. The EPFL neuroscientists were able to show that, on the contrary, this transformation tends to protect against the progression of the disease. This surprising conclusion could radically change therapeutic approaches that are currently being developed by pharmaceutical companies...

Mutant HTT may disrupt normal neuronal transcription in Huntington's disease

Date: Aug-28-2013
Findings from postmortem studies of the brains of Huntington's Disease (HD) patients suggest that transcriptional dysregulation may be an early step in the pathogenesis of HD before symptoms appear. Other studies report transcriptional alterations in the brains of some mouse models of HD...

Standard tuberculosis skin test could be replaced by microneedle patch

Date: Aug-28-2013
Each year, millions of people in the United States get a tuberculosis skin test to see if they have the infection that still affects one-third of the world's population. But the standard diagnostic test is difficult to give, because a hypodermic needle must be inserted at a precise angle and depth in the arm to successfully check for tuberculosis. Now, a team led by University of Washington engineers has created a patch with tiny, biodegradable needles that can penetrate the skin and precisely deliver a tuberculosis test...

Nanotechnology tool may help in detecting harmful gases, pathogens, explosives

Date: Aug-28-2013
Dartmouth researchers have developed a molecular switch that changes a liquid crystal's readout color based on a chemical input. This new development may open the way for using liquid crystals in detecting harmful gases, pathogens, explosives and other chemical substances. The findings appear in the journal Angewandte Chemie. One of the challenges in the field of molecular switches and machines is the translation of molecular level motion into macroscopic level events by harnessing light or chemical energy - think of a molecular-sized light switch that can be turned on and off...

Words can play a powerful role in what we see

Date: Aug-28-2013
It is natural to imagine that the sense of sight takes in the world as it is - simply passing on what the eyes collect from light reflected by the objects around us. But the eyes do not work alone. What we see is a function not only of incoming visual information, but also how that information is interpreted in light of other visual experiences, and may even be influenced by language...

Poor nutrition combined with higher stress increases diabetes risk in African-Americans

Date: Aug-28-2013
Trying to find a produce store or a large grocer in an economically depressed neighborhood is about as easy as finding an apple in a candy store. Lack of access to good nutrition impacts racial and ethnic minorities and recent immigrants disproportionately. Poor nutrition combined with higher stress can contribute to other health problems, including type 2 diabetes. But a new University of Michigan study may help explain how to cope with this stress and perhaps curb some of these health problems...