Health News

Working moms suffer more stress than dads when thinking about family matters

Date: Aug-13-2013
Although working mothers and fathers are almost as likely to think about family matters throughout the day, only for mothers is this type of mental labor associated with increased stress and negative emotions, according to new research to be presented at the 108th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association...

Multipronged approach attacks breast cancer cells, blocking the growth of cancer-supporting blood vessels, stimulating antitumor immune response

Date: Aug-13-2013
A unique nanoscale drug that can carry a variety of weapons and sneak into cancer cells to break them down from the inside has a new component: a protein that stimulates the immune system to attack HER2-positive breast cancer cells. The research team developing the drug - led by scientists at the Nanomedicine Research Center, part of the Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute in the Department of Neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center - conducted the study in laboratory mice with implanted human breast cancer cells...

Bullying less likely in children who overestimate their popularity

Date: Aug-13-2013
Children who overestimate their popularity are less likely to be bullies than those who underestimate or hold more accurate assessments of their social standing, finds new research presented at the 108th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association. "The more kids overestimated their popularity, the less aggression they displayed," said Jennifer Watling Neal, an assistant professor of psychology at Michigan State University...

Cultural mythologies of pregnancy affect pregnancy symptoms

Date: Aug-13-2013
Morning sickness, shiny hair, and bizarre and intense cravings for pickles and ice cream - what expectations do pregnant women impose on their bodies, and how are those expectations influenced by cultural perspectives on pregnancy? Danielle Bessett, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Cincinnati, presented her research on this issue at the 108th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association...

Aptly named helper cells attack invading pathogens

Date: Aug-13-2013
By tracking the previously unknown movements of a set of specialized cells, Whitehead Institute scientists are shedding new light on how the immune system mounts a successful defense against hostile, ever-changing invaders. Central to the immune response is the activity inside structures known as germinal centers (GCs), which form in the body's lymph nodes upon detection of a foreign virus or bacteria...

Association between autism and induced childbirth

Date: Aug-13-2013
Researchers from the Duke University Medical Center who analyzed birth and educational records from North Carolina have found a connection between induction or augmentation of childbirth and an increased risk of autism being diagnosed during childhood. The two interventions the researchers looked into were induction to stimulate uterine contractions, and augmentation, increasing the strength, duration or frequency of uterine contractions...

Self-perceived social status predicts hippocampal function and stress hormones

Date: Aug-13-2013
A mother's perceived social status predicts her child's brain development and stress indicators, finds a study at Boston Children's Hospital. While previous studies going back to the 1950s have linked objective socioeconomic factors -- such as parental income or education -- to child health, achievement and brain function, the new study is the first to link brain function to maternal self-perception...

Eating fish weekly 'halves' risk of rheumatoid arthritis

Date: Aug-13-2013
Eating one portion of fatty fish every week, or four of lean fish, could halve the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, according to a study published in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. Researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden sent a questionnaire to all women between 1987 and 1990 who were a part of The Swedish Mammography Cohort Study and born between 1914 and 1948. The questionnaires requested information on their diet, height, weight, parity and educational level...

Neuropsychologcal problems caused by regional gray matter atrophy in multiple sclerosis

Date: Aug-13-2013
In multiple sclerosis, gray matter atrophy is extensive, and cognitive deficits and mood disorders are frequently encountered. It has been conjectured that focal atrophy is associated with emotional decline. However, conventional MRI has revealed that the pathological characteristics cannot fully account for the mood disorders. Dr...

Mental health benefits of good grandparent-grandchild relationships

Date: Aug-13-2013
Grandparents and older grandchildren who have good relationships with each other are less likely to suffer from depression, according to a study presented at the American Sociological Associations 108th annual meeting. Researchers from Boston College analyzed data from a long-term study called the Longitudinal Study of Generations. The study is a survey of US families consisting of three or four generations, compiled in seven sets of data between 1985 and 2004. The researchers analyzed 376 grandparents and 340 grandchildren...