Health News

Hot Flashes After Menopause Reduced By Clinical Hypnosis

Date: Nov-02-2012
Clinical hypnosis can effectively reduce hot flashes and associated symptoms among postmenopausal women, according to a new study conducted by researchers at Baylor University's Mind-Body Medicine Research Laboratory. Hypnotic relaxation therapy reduced hot flashes by as much as 80 percent, and the findings also showed participants experienced improved quality of life and a lessening of anxiety and depression. The mind-body therapy study of 187 women over a five-week period measured both physical symptoms of hot flashes and women's self-reporting of flashes...

Immune Response To Bacterial Infection May Have Shaped Genetics Of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Date: Nov-02-2012
In one of the largest studies of its kind, researchers have identified 71 genetic regions newly associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), increasing the total number discovered to date to 163. This new information reveals that there is a vast amount of genetic overlap between Crohn's disease and Ulcerative colitis (the two most common subtypes of IBD), suggesting that they share common biological pathways...

When Forging Friendships, Social Factors Trump Genetic Forces

Date: Nov-02-2012
"Nature teaches beasts to know their friends," wrote Shakespeare. In humans, nature may be less than half of the story, a team led by University of Colorado Boulder researchers has found. In the first study of its kind, the team found that genetic similarities may help to explain why human birds of a feather flock together, but the full story of why people become friends "is contingent upon the social environment in which individuals interact with one another," the researchers write...

Potential Link Between Fat Molecule Ceramide And Muscle Loss In Older Adults

Date: Nov-02-2012
As men and women age, increasing quantities of fat tissue inevitably take up residence in skeletal muscle. A small study of older and younger men conducted at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University suggests that a build-up of a fat molecule known as ceramide might play a leading role in muscle deterioration in older adults. The results of the study were published online by the Journal of Applied Physiology, a publication of the American Physiological Society. The study enrolled 10 men in their mid-seventies and nine men in their early twenties...

Just One Drink Increases Brain's Functional Connectivity

Date: Nov-02-2012
Short-term alcohol intake can increase the activity of functional connections across the human brain when it is at rest, according to research published in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Panagiotis Bamidis and colleagues from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. Previous studies have shown that alcohol intake increases transmission of signals by the neurotransmitter GABA, present in 40% of the connections between nerve cells in the brain...

Hepatitis C Researchers Use Mice With 'Humanized' Livers To Improve Early Drug Testing

Date: Nov-02-2012
Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have used bioengineered mice with livers composed largely of human cells to characterize a drug about to enter early-stage clinical development for combating hepatitis C. Tests using the new mouse model accurately predicted significant aspects of the drug's behavior in humans - including its interaction with another drug and the profile of its major breakdown products in the body (called metabolites) - far more accurately than would have been achieved using current methods. The study were published online Oct...

Association Between Control Of Depression And Improved Health For Heart-Failure Patients

Date: Nov-02-2012
Controlling depression in patients with heart failure can improve health status, social functioning and quality of life, according to a new study by psychiatrists and cardiologists at the UC Davis and Duke University schools of medicine. While depression is known to worsen a variety of diseases, the current study is one of the first to show that reducing symptoms of the mental health condition can benefit physical health. The study is available online now and will be distributed in the print issue of Circulation: Heart Failure on Nov. 20...

Regular Exercise Doesn't Impact Amount Of Time Women Spend Sitting

Date: Nov-02-2012
Women who exercise regularly spend as much time sitting as women who don't, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study. Emerging research shows that prolonged sitting has significant health consequences---and the new Northwestern study suggests that being a dedicated exerciser doesn't prevent women from spending too much of their day sitting. This research is the latest indication that public health recommendations should be established to encourage Americans to limit the amount of time they spend sitting every day, said Lynette L...

Semen Quality Better In Men Who Exercise

Date: Nov-02-2012
A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Cordoba links moderate physical activity in males with better hormone levels and sperm characteristics that favour reproduction compared to sedentary men. Semen quality at large has dropped in the last 50 years. Amongst other factors, this is due to exposure to external agents and alcohol and tobacco consumption. This decline in sperm properties has caused an increase in reproductive problems. Therefore, experts have studied the possible relationship between sperm quality and lifestyle habits in males...

Unlocking The Secrets Of DNA Repair

Date: Nov-02-2012
Scientists from the University of Sheffield have unlocked one of the secrets to DNA repair - helping doctors identify DNA base damage and a patient's susceptibility to certain types of cancer. Groundbreaking research led by Dr David Williams from the University of Sheffield's Department of Chemistry and an international collaboration of expert researchers has discovered how some proteins recognise damaged bases within DNA which, if untreated, could lead to cancer. Dr Williams said: "Proteins carry out all the day-to-day processes needed for survival...