Health News

Your Ability To Master The Violin May Depend On The Functionality Of Your Small Finger

Date: Feb-07-2013
Assessment of the presence of independent flexor digitorum superficialis function in the small fingers of professional string players: Is this an example of natural selection? After the recorder, the violin is the instrument most commonly offered to children by state schools in the UK. The violin is a challenging instrument. Rapid, independent motion of the digital joints in the left hand is desirable...

Childhood Emotional Abuse Dramatically Strong Among Male Alcohol-dependent Individuals

Date: Feb-07-2013
Individuals who drink excessively or are alcohol dependent (AD) have reduced central serotonergic neurotransmission, which can have an impact on planning, judgment, self-control, and emotional regulation. Childhood maltreatment has also been found to have a negative impact on central serotonergic neurotransmission. A new evaluation of the impact of childhood maltreatment on central serotonergic dysfunction in AD individuals has found that self-reported childhood emotional abuse is associated with a 90-percent reduction in central serotonergic neurotransmission in male AD individuals...

Detecting Cardiac Amyloidosis Using Amyloid Imaging

Date: Feb-07-2013
While amyloid imaging may now be most associated with detecting plaques in the brain, it has the potential to change the way cardiac amyloidosis is diagnosed. According to first-of-its-kind research published in the February issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, positron emission tomography (PET) with 11C-PIB can positively visualize amyloid deposits in the heart. Currently there is no noninvasive test available for specific diagnosis. Cardiac amyloidosis is a deadly disorder caused by abnormal amyloid deposits in the heart tissue...

Breast Cancer A Growing Problem In India With Early Diagnosis, Survival Rates Low

Date: Feb-07-2013
Women in developed countries survive roughly 10 years longer after a breast cancer diagnosis compared to women in poor-to-middle-income countries, a new University of Michigan study suggests. The report demonstrates the lack of access to good health care faced by women in poor countries, said the study's principal investigator Rajesh Balkrishnan, an associate professor at the U-M schools of Pharmacy and Public Health. Early diagnosis and sustained treatment were the biggest hurdles and also the main indicators of patient survival, he said...

Human Health Concerns Surrounding Animal Agriculture

Date: Feb-07-2013
State and local health departments face significant barriers and usually do not get involved when confronted with public health concerns resulting from food animal production sites, according to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. The authors of the study, published in PLOS ONE, an open-access publisher of scientific research, examined the role of local and state health departments in responding to and preventing community-driven concerns associated with animal production sites...

Human Lifespan Affected By Newly Identified Gene Variants

Date: Feb-07-2013
By broadly comparing the DNA of children to that of elderly people, gene researchers have identified gene variants that influence lifespan, either by raising disease risk or by providing protection from disease. "This research is the first genome-wide, population-based study of copy number variations in children associated with human longevity," said study leader Hakon Hakonarson, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Center for Applied Genomics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The study appeared in the open-access journal PLOS ONE...

Diet Soda Mixed With Alcohol Leads To Stronger Intoxication

Date: Feb-07-2013
Mixing diet soda and alcohol could be a way to cut calories, however, it may be making you more intoxicated, according to new research that will be published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. The new study revealed that people who drank alcohol with a diet mixer had a higher breath alcohol content (BrAC) than people who mixed adult beverages with non-diet mixers. The investigators had 16 participants drink one type of three different drinks: Squirt and alcohol, diet squirt and alcohol, and a placebo beverage...

Older Bikers Three Times As Likely To Be Seriously Injured In Crashes As Younger Peers

Date: Feb-07-2013
Motor bike ownership and crashes increasingly common among older adults Older bikers are up to three times as likely to be seriously injured in a crash as younger motor bike enthusiasts, indicates US research published online in Injury Prevention. The findings are a cause for concern, because of the increasing popularity of motor bike ownership among older adults, and their increasing tendency to be involved in a crash, warn the authors...

One In 20 Cases Of Pre-Eclampsia May Be Linked To Air Pollutant

Date: Feb-07-2013
Ozone exposure during first three months of pregnancy may be key One in every 20 cases of the serious condition of pregnancy, pre-eclampsia, may be linked to increased levels of the air pollutant ozone during the first three months, suggests a large study published in the online journal BMJ Open. Mothers with asthma may be more vulnerable, the findings indicate. Pre-eclampsia is characterised by raised blood pressure and the presence of protein in the urine during pregnancy. It can cause serious complications, if left untreated...

Rapid Bone Loss Tied To Rib Fractures Treated With Steroids

Date: Feb-07-2013
New research in animals triggered by a combination of serendipity and counterintuitive thinking could point the way to treating fractures caused by rapid bone loss in people, including patients with metastatic cancers. A series of studies at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine found that steroid drugs, known for inducing bone loss with prolonged use, actually help suppress a molecule that's key to the rapid bone loss process. A report of the new findings appears online in the journal PLOS ONE...