Health News

Self-Regulatory Development Should Be Supported For All Children But Especially Boys

Date: May-27-2013
A new study shows there is a gender gap when it comes to behavior and self-control in American young children - one that does not appear to exist in children in Asia. In the United States, girls had higher levels of self-regulation than boys. Self-regulation is defined as children's ability to control their behavior and impulses, follow directions, and persist on a task. It has been linked to academic performance and college completion, in past studies by Oregon State University researchers...

Gene Mutation Causes Asthma

Date: May-27-2013
A team of researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College, Columbia University Medical Center and SUNY Downstate Medical Center have found the cause of a common type of childhood asthma, and it's not rooted in allergens. The way in which asthma develops is a subject of much scientific interest, considering that the way it develops and affects people varies considerably. The team identified that an over-active gene "ORMDL3" was linked to around 30 percent of childhood asthma cases. The gene is responsible for disrupting the synthesis of lipid molecules (known as sphingolipids)...

A Good Marriage Can Buffer The Effects Of A Father's Depression On His Young Children

Date: May-27-2013
What effect does a father's depression have on his young son or daughter? When fathers report a high level of emotional intimacy in their marriage, their children benefit, said a University of Illinois study. "When a parent is interacting with their child, they need to be able to attend to the child's emotional state, be cued in to his developmental stage and abilities, and notice whether he is getting frustrated or needs help. Depressed parents have more difficulty doing that," said Nancy McElwain, a U of I professor of human development...

Sensory Information Suppressed By Those With High IQ

Date: May-27-2013
People with high IQ scores aren't just more intelligent. They also process sensory information differently, according to a study reported in the Cell Press journal Current Biology. The findings show that the brains of people with high IQ are automatically more selective when it comes to perceiving objects in motion; they are specifically more likely to suppress larger and less relevant background motion. "It is not that people with high IQ are simply better at visual perception," says Duje Tadin of the University of Rochester. "Instead, their visual perception is more discriminating...

Exploring The Impact Of Family Structure On The Obesity Epidemic

Date: May-27-2013
Children living in households where the parents are married are less likely to be obese, according to new research from Rice University and the University of Houston. "Childhood obesity is a significant public health issue in our country, with nearly one-third of all U.S. children ages 2-17 overweight or obese," said Rachel Kimbro, study co-author, associate professor of sociology at Rice and director of Rice's Kinder Institute Urban Health Program. "Despite this, very little research has been conducted to explore the impact of family structure on this epidemic...

Study Suggests That Overeating Is Learned In Infancy

Date: May-27-2013
In the long run, encouraging a baby to finish the last ounce in their bottle might be doing more harm than good. Though the calories soon burn off, a bad habit remains. Brigham Young University sociology professors Ben Gibbs and Renata Forste found that clinical obesity at 24 months of age strongly traces back to infant feeding. "If you are overweight at age two, it puts you on a trajectory where you are likely to be overweight into middle childhood and adolescence and as an adult," said Forste. "That's a big concern...

60-Minutes Of Daily Physical Activity Should Be Available For All Schoolchildren

Date: May-27-2013
For children's overall academic and physical development and success, their schools should play a major role in making sure they all have opportunities to take part in vigorous or moderate-intensity physical activity, the Institute of Medicine urges in a new report. The authors stressed that physical activity should last at least 60 minutes per day. According to recent estimates, only half of all schoolchildren in the USA meet this evidence-based guideline for promoting better development and health. Daily physical activity should take place within normal school hours in P.E...

Gaucher Patients Often Develop Parkinson's Disease Due To Defective Cellular Waste Removal

Date: May-27-2013
Gaucher disease causes debilitating and sometimes fatal neurodegeneration in early childhood. Recent studies have uncovered a link between the mutations responsible for Gaucher disease and an increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease later in life. New research published online in the Cell Press journal Cell Metabolism indicates that the neurodegeneration found in Gaucher disease stems from defects in processes that break down and remove unwanted material from cells...

When Patients Develop Bloodstream Infections, Hospitals Profit

Date: May-27-2013
Johns Hopkins researchers report that hospitals may be reaping enormous income for patients whose hospital stays are complicated by preventable bloodstream infections contracted in their intensive care units. In a small, new study, reported online in the American Journal of Medical Quality, the researchers found that an ICU patient who develops an avoidable central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) costs nearly three times more to care for than a similar infection-free patient...

Immune Response May Be Responsible For Mosquito Behavior, Not Parasite Manipulation

Date: May-26-2013
Malaria-carrying mosquitos appear to be manipulated by the parasites they carry, but this manipulation may simply be part of the mosquitos' immune response, according to Penn State entomologists. "Normally, after a female mosquito ingests a blood meal, she matures her eggs and does not take another one until the meal is digested," said Lauren J. Cator, postdoctoral fellow in entomology and a member of the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Penn State...