Health News

Balancing Fats And Astringents In Our Mouths: Why Wine And Tea Pair So Well With A Meal

Date: Oct-10-2012
Of course a nice glass of wine goes well with a hearty steak, and now researchers who study the way food feels in our mouths think they may understand why that is: The astringent wine and fatty meat are like the yin and yang of the food world, sitting on opposite ends of a sensory spectrum. The findings, reported in the October 9th issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, offer a whole new definition of the balanced meal. They also offer a new way of thinking about our eating habits, both good and bad...

Link Between Gene Variant And Reduced Risk Of Lung Cancer

Date: Oct-10-2012
A variant in a gene involved with inflammation and the immune response is linked with a decreased risk of lung cancer. That is the finding of an analysis published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The results add to the growing body of literature implicating these processes in the development of lung cancer...

Language Development In Babies Affected By Maternal Depression

Date: Oct-10-2012
Maternal depression and a common class of antidepressants can alter a crucial period of language development in babies, according to a new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia, Harvard University and the Child & Family Research Institute (CFRI) at BC Children's Hospital...

Our Understanding Of The Early Years Of Human Life Changed By A New Field Of Developmental Neuroscience

Date: Oct-10-2012
By the time our children reach kindergarten their learning and developmental patterns are already taking shape, as is a trajectory for their future health. Now, for the first time, scientists have amassed a large collection of research that looks "under the skin", to examine how and why experiences interact with biology starting before birth to affect a life course...

Effectiveness Of HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis In Men Who Have Sex With Men And Transwomen In Lima, Peru

Date: Oct-09-2012
In this week's PLOS Medicine, Anna Borquez from Imperial College London and an international group of authors developed a mathematical model representing the HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM) and transwomen in Lima, Peru as a test-case for the effectiveness of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The model was used to investigate the population-level impact, cost, and cost-effectiveness of PrEP under a range of different scenarios. The authors found that strategic PrEP intervention could be a cost-effective addition to existing HIV prevention strategies for MSM populations...

Most Pregnancy-Related Infections Are Caused By Four Treatable Conditions

Date: Oct-09-2012
In low-and-middle income countries, pregnancy-related infections are a major cause of maternal death, can also be fatal to unborn and newborn babies, and are mostly caused by four types of conditions that are treatable and preventable, according to a review by US researchers published in this week's PLOS Medicine...

Rare Gene Deletion Tied To Psychiatric Disease And Obesity

Date: Oct-09-2012
The authors of a new study published online in the Archives of General Psychiatry this week, conclude that a rare deletion of a small region of the genome that codes for BDNF (short for brain-derived neurotrophic factor) plays a role in the development of psychiatric disease and obesity...

Lilly's Solanezumab Slows Down Alzheimer's Progression

Date: Oct-09-2012
Solanezumab, an experimental Eli Lilly medication for Alzheimer's disease, slowed the rate of cognitive decline and memory loss by approximately 30% among patients in early stages of the disease. Eli Lilly says the results of its latest clinical trial provides initial evidence that solanezumab may have an impact on the course of the disease. Solanezumab is a monoclonal antibody, which Eli Lilly describes as a neuroprotector. Monoclonal antibodies are immune cells which are all clones of a unique parent cell...

Does Reality Blend With Fiction When Making Decisions In Video Games?

Date: Oct-09-2012
With a moral theme increasingly running through today's popular video games, scientists questioned whether moral decisions made by the players resulted from feelings of guilt, and whether immoral actions, including violence and theft, affected the enjoyment of the game. There have been several studies analyzing the effects of video games, due to the great controversy these games have created. One study from 2011 indicated that teen aggression is increased by playing violent games...

Prenatal Mercury Intake Linked To ADHD

Date: Oct-09-2012
A new study shows slight mercury exposure during pregnancy could be linked to a higher risk of ADHD-related behaviors. This study, led by Susan Korrick, MD, MPH, of Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), and Sharon Sagiv, PhD, MPH, of Boston University School of Public Health, is published in the online version of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, and shows that fish consumption for pregnant women can also decrease the risk of ADHD-related behaviors in children...