Health News

Dramatic Increase In Domestic Violence During England World Cup

Date: Oct-15-2012
Domestic violence rates rose by an average of 30 percent each time England won or lost their games during the 2010 World Cup, but draws had little impact on the statistics. Those are the key findings of research carried out by statistician Professor Allan Brimicombe and BBC News journalist Rebecca Cafe and published in the October issue of Significance, the magazine of The Royal Statistical Society and the American Statistical Association...

Confirmation Of 60-Year-Old Theory About How Nerve Signals Are Sent Around The Body

Date: Oct-15-2012
Scientists have proved a 60-year-old theory about how nerve signals are sent around the body at varying speeds as electrical impulses. Researchers tested how these signals are transmitted through nerve fibres, which enables us to move and recognise sensations such as touch and smell. The findings from the University of Edinburgh have validated an idea first proposed by Nobel laureate Sir Andrew Huxley. It has been known for many years that an insulating layer - known as myelin - which surrounds nerve fibres is crucial in determining how quickly these signals are sent...

Higher Rates Of Knee Injuries In Female Athletes May Be Due To Nerve And Muscle Activity Across Menstrual Cycle

Date: Oct-15-2012
Numerous studies have shown that female athletes are more likely to get knee injuries, especially anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears and chronic pain, than their male counterparts. While previous research has focused on biomechanical differences as the main source of these problems, a new study suggests another distinction that could play a role: changes across the menstrual cycle in nerves that control muscle activity. The finding may eventually lead to new ways to prevent knee problems in female athletes...

Overcoming Leptin Resistance In The Battle Against Obesity

Date: Oct-15-2012
How leptin, a hormone that regulates metabolism and body weight interacts with an important brain receptor, has given researchers from the University of Michigan new insight into possible ways of combating obesity, metabolic disorders, and some inflammatory diseases, says a report published in Molecular Cell. Leptin was discovered in 1995, and has since been of great interest to scientists seeking new treatments for Type 2 diabetes and obesity. Leptin, like insulin is a hormone. It is part of a network of regulatory hormones which control how energy is consumed and used up in the body...

Mechanisms And Clinical Implications For Parkinson's, Schizophrenia, And Other Diseases

Date: Oct-15-2012
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is associated with emotions, movement, and the brain's pleasure and reward system. In the current issue of Advances in Neuroimmune Biology, investigators provide a broad overview of the direct and indirect role of dopamine in modulating the immune system and discuss how recent research has opened up new possibilities for treating diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis or even the autoimmune disorders...

Important Clues To Cancer Metastasis

Date: Oct-15-2012
In recent years investigators have discovered that breast tumors are influenced by more than just the cancer cells within them. A variety of noncancerous cells, which in many cases constitute the majority of the tumor mass, form what is known as the "tumor microenvironment." This sea of noncancerous cells and the products they deposit appear to play key roles in tumor pathogenesis...

Potential Impact Of Changes In Texas' Women's Health Program

Date: Oct-15-2012
A new report finds that Texas policies to exclude Planned Parenthood clinics from a state family planning program - the Women's Health Program (WHP) - would result in leaving tens of thousands of women unable to get care...

The Behavioral, Emotional Benefits Of Parental Bonding During Infancy

Date: Oct-15-2012
Parents: Want to help ensure your children turn out to be happy and socially well adjusted? Bond with them when they are infants. That's the message from a study by the University of Iowa, which found that infants who have a close, intimate relationship with a parent are less likely to be troubled, aggressive or experience other emotional and behavioral problems when they reach school age...

Potential Link Between The Genetics Of Schizophrenia And The Genetics Of Cannabis Dependence

Date: Oct-15-2012
A paper by Shizhong Han and colleagues in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry implicates a new gene in the risk for cannabis dependence. This gene, NRG1, codes for the ErbB4 receptor, a protein implicated in synaptic development and function. The researchers set out to investigate susceptibility genes for cannabis dependence, as research has already shown that it has a strong genetic component. To do this, they employed a multi-stage design using genetic data from African American and European American families...

Harnessing Spider Silk For Use In Biosensors, Lasers, Microchips

Date: Oct-15-2012
Spiders use their silk to catch lunch. Now physicists are using it to catch light. New research shows that natural silk could be an eco-friendly alternative to more traditional ways of manipulating light, such as through glass or plastic fiber optic cables. Two teams independently exploring possible applications for the material's photonic talents will present their latest breakthroughs at the Optical Society's (OSA) Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Optics (FiO) 2012, being held week in Rochester, N.Y...