Health News

Combination Of Pesticides Detrimental To Bees' Ability To Learn

Date: Mar-31-2013
Two new studies have highlighted a negative impact on bees' ability to learn following exposure to a combination of pesticides commonly used in agriculture. The researchers found that the pesticides, used in the research at levels shown to occur in the wild, could interfere with the learning circuits in the bee's brain. They also found that bees exposed to combined pesticides were slower to learn or completely forgot important associations between floral scent and food rewards...

Risk Of Ovarian Cancer Increased By 5 Genetic Variations

Date: Mar-31-2013
An international research collaboration has found five new regions of the human genome that are linked to increased risks for developing ovarian cancer. Duke Medicine researchers played a leading role analyzing genetic information from more than 40,000 women. The findings are published in four studies, two appearing in the journal Nature Communications and two in /iNature Genetics...

Invokana (canaglifozin) For Type 2 Diabetes Approved By FDA

Date: Mar-31-2013
The FDA has approved Johnson & Johnson's Invokana (canaglifozin) tablets, to be used with exercise and diet, for adults with type 2 diabetes to improve glycemic control. Type 2 diabetes affects approximately 24 million Americans. Patients eventually tend to have complications from high blood sugar levels, including kidney damage, nerve damage, blindness and heart disease. Mary Parks, M.D...

3-D Reporting Of Feelings In The Brain

Date: Mar-31-2013
Like it or not and despite the surrounding debate of its merits, 3-D is the technology du jour for movie-making in Hollywood. It now turns out that even our brains use 3 dimensions to communicate emotions. According to a new study published in Biological Psychiatry, the human report of emotion relies on three distinct systems: one system that directs attention to affective states ("I feel"), a second system that categorizes these states into words ("good", "bad", etc.); and a third system that relates the intensity of affective responses ("bad" or "awful"?)...

Hispanics Live Longer On Dialysis Than Caucasians

Date: Mar-31-2013
When on kidney dialysis, hispanics tend to live longer than whites, according to a new study published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. Kidney dialysis is a method of eliminating waste and unneeded water from the blood. Normally, our kidneys complete this process naturally. People who have kidneys that are not functioning properly need dialysis. Dialysis can be used for people who are sick and have acute kidney failure or for stable people who have chronic kidney disease...

Evolution Of Human Vision Enlightened By Genetic Study Of Tarsiers' Bulging Eyes

Date: Mar-31-2013
After eons of wandering in the dark, primates developed highly acute, three-color vision that permitted them to shift to daytime living, a new Dartmouth College study suggests. The findings challenge the prevailing view that trichromatic color vision, a hallmark of primate evolution, evolved only after they started getting up with the sun, a shift that gave rise to anthropoid (higher) primates, which, in turn, gave rise to the human lineage. The results are published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences...

Children With Better-Educated Parents Generally Benefit From A Healthier Diet

Date: Mar-31-2013
The level of education of parents has an influence on the frequency with which their children eat foods linked to obesity. The children of parents with low and medium levels of education eat fewer vegetables and fruit and more processed products and sweet drinks. An international group of experts from eight European countries have analysed the relation between parents' levels of education and the frequency with which their children eat food linked to being overweight...

The Blind Aided By Virtual Games To Navigate Unknown Territory

Date: Mar-30-2013
JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments) has published a new video article by Dr. Lotfi Merabet showing how researchers in the Department of Ophthalmology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Harvard Medical School have developed a virtual gaming environment to help blind individuals improve navigation skills and develop a cognitive spatial map of unfamiliar buildings and public locations. "For the blind, finding your way or navigating in a place that is unfamiliar presents a real challenge," Dr. Merabet explains...

Lyme Disease Antibodies Attached To Nanotubes, Paving Way For Diagnostic Device

Date: Mar-30-2013
Early diagnosis is critical in treating Lyme disease. However, nearly one quarter of Lyme disease patients are initially misdiagnosed because currently available serological tests have poor sensitivity and specificity during the early stages of infection. Misdiagnosed patients may go untreated and thus progress to late-stage Lyme disease, where they face longer and more invasive treatments, as well as persistent symptoms. Existing tests assess the presence of antibodies against bacterial proteins, which take weeks to form after the initial infection and persist after the infection is gone...

Delaying Gratification, Improving Self Control, And The Marshmallow Test

Date: Mar-30-2013
A psychological experiment known as "the marshmallow test" has captured the public's imagination as a marker of self control and even as a predictor of future success. This test shows how well children can delay gratification, a trait that has been shown to be as important to scholastic performance as traditional IQ. New research from University of Pennsylvania psychologists suggests, however, that changing one's mind about delaying gratification can be a rational decision in situations when the timing of the payoff is uncertain...