Health News

Dietary Nicotine In Peppers May Reduce Risk Of Developing Parkinson's Disease

Date: May-12-2013
New research reveals that Solanaceae - a flowering plant family with some species producing foods that are edible sources of nicotine - may provide a protective effect against Parkinson's disease. The study appearing in Annals of Neurology, a journal of the American Neurological Association and Child Neurology Society, suggests that eating foods that contain even a small amount of nicotine, such as peppers and tomatoes, may reduce risk of developing Parkinson's. Parkinson's disease is a movement disorder caused by a loss of brain cells that produce dopamine...

Scalds An Increased Risk For Toddlers From Socially-Deprived Homes

Date: May-12-2013
Toddlers living in socially-deprived areas are at the greatest risk of suffering a scald in the home, researchers at The University of Nottingham have found. The study, published in the journal Burns, showed that boys aged between one and two years old and those with multiple siblings were statistically more likely to suffer a hot water-related injury, while children born to mothers aged 40 years and over were at less risk than those with teenage mums...

Brain System For Emotional Self-Control Could Offer A Potential Target For Therapies

Date: May-12-2013
Different brain areas are activated when we choose to suppress an emotion, compared to when we are instructed to inhibit an emotion, according a new study from the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Ghent University. In this study, published in Brain Structure and Function, the researchers scanned the brains of healthy participants and found that key brain systems were activated when choosing for oneself to suppress an emotion. They had previously linked this brain area to deciding to inhibit movement...

Positive Emotions Driven By Social Connections Improve Health

Date: May-12-2013
People who experience warmer, more upbeat emotions may have better physical health because they make more social connections, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The research, led by Barbara Fredrickson of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Bethany Kok of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences also found it is possible for a person to self-generate positive emotions in ways that make him or her physically healthier...

Depression In Adulthood May Be Linked To Parental Addictions During Childhood

Date: May-12-2013
The offspring of parents who were addicted to drugs or alcohol are more likely to be depressed in adulthood, according to a new study by University of Toronto researchers. In a paper published online in the journal Psychiatry Research this month, investigators examined the association between parental addictions and adult depression in a representative sample of 6,268 adults, drawn from the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey...

Social Interaction Can Help Relieve Breast Cancer Symptoms

Date: May-12-2013
Breast cancer patients who have lots of friends and social relationships tend to cope with the pain and other symptoms associated with the disease better than those who are more isolated, according to new research published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. Lead author of the study Candyce H. Kroenke, ScD, MPH, staff scientist with the Kaiser Permanente, Division of Research, said: "This study provides research-based evidence that social support helps with physical symptoms. Social support mechanisms matter in terms of physical outcomes...

IPad 2 May Interfere With Heart Implants, Study Shows

Date: May-12-2013
The magnets in iPad 2 tablets and their covers are capable of interfering with heart implants, including pacemakers, according to a new small study presented Thursday at Heart Rhythm 2013, the Heart Rhythm Society's 34th Annual Scientific Sessions. The research was performed by 14-year-old high school freshman Gianna Chien of Stockton, California and her colleagues. They found that magnetic interference could change the settings and even deactivate the technology of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs). Chien was helped by her father, a cardiologist...

"Stitch-Free" Surgical 'Laser Welding' Of Tissue In Intestinal Surgery Improved

Date: May-11-2013
A new "solder" for laser welding of tissue during surgical operations has the potential to produce stronger seals and expand use of this alternative to conventional sutures and stapling in intestinal surgery, scientists are reporting. Their study, which involves use of a gold-based solder, or sealing material, appears in the journal ACS Nano. Kaushal Rege and colleagues explain that laser tissue welding (LTW) is a "stitch-free" surgical method for connecting and sealing blood vessels, cartilage in joints, the liver, the urinary tract and other tissues...

Soy And Tomato Combination May Help Prevent Prostate Cancer

Date: May-11-2013
Soy and tomato foods are probably better at preventing prostate cancer when eaten in combination than alone, researchers from the University of Illinois reported this week. John Erdman, professor of food science and nutrition, and colleagues used genetically engineered laboratory mice for their study. They were engineered to develop a fast-progressing aggressive form of prostate cancer. Half the mice that were give tomato and soy had no cancerous lesions in their prostates at the end of the study, compared to ALL the mice in the control group...

Clues To New Treatments For A Harmful Blood Clotting Disorder

Date: May-11-2013
A gene associated with both protection against bacterial infection and excessive blood clotting could offer new insights into treatment strategies for deep-vein thrombosis - the formation of a harmful clot in a deep vein. The gene produces an enzyme that, if inhibited via a specific drug therapy, could offer hope to patients prone to deep-vein clots, such as those that sometimes form in the legs during lengthy airplane flights or during recuperation after major surgery...