Health News

Pacifier Use Can Lead To Emotional Problems In Boys

Date: Sep-19-2012
The emotional development of baby boys may be damaged if they use pacifiers, because using these common objects actually stops babies from experimenting with facial expressions when they are very young. University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have associated frequent use of pacifiers with impairing boys' ability to express emotional maturity after conducting 3 separate investigations. The trial, published in Basic and Applied Social Psychology, is the first of its kind to link psychological outcomes to pacifier use...

Marijuana Can Lower IQ In Teens

Date: Sep-19-2012
Long-term marijuana use, especially when started during adolescence, has been found to decrease IQ, while also impairing cognitive function. Since an increasing number of teens believe that regular cannabis use does not affect their health, they are starting to smoke at younger ages, and even smoking on a daily basis, thinking the drug is not addictive. This common belief, however, was proven false in the current study which indicated that smoking marijuana has long-term effects on the brain...

In HER2-Positive Breast Cancers, PARP Inhibitors May Have Clinical Utility

Date: Sep-19-2012
Poly (ADP-Ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors, shown to have clinical activity when used alone in women with familial breast and ovarian cancers linked to BRCA mutations, may be a novel treatment strategy in women with HER2-positive breast cancers, according to the results of a study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Currently, women with HER2-positive breast cancers are treated with therapies that target HER2...

Novel Microscopy Technique Could Open New Windows Into Protozoan Behavior, Microbial Diseases And Fertility

Date: Sep-19-2012
Researchers have developed a new way to observe and track large numbers of rapidly moving objects under a microscope, capturing precise motion paths in three dimensions. Over the course of the study--reported online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences--researchers followed an unprecedented 24,000 rapidly moving cells over wide fields of view and through large sample volumes, recording each cell's path for as long as 20 seconds...

One Third Of Teen Violence Victims Has Had More Than One Abuser

Date: Sep-19-2012
Over one-third of young adults who were victims of dating violence as teenagers have reported having two or more abusive partners.  A recent study, conducted by Ohio State University, surveyed 271 college students asking them to remember any dating violence toward them, including psychological, physical, and sexual abuse, that occurred between the ages of 13 to 17. In total, close to two-thirds of men and women revealed some type of abuse in their teenage years. The most surprising part of this study is that most teens reported having two or more abusive partners...

No Evidence Of Health Risk Found For Proximity To Mobile Phones And Wireless Networks

Date: Sep-19-2012
There is no scientific evidence that low-level electromagnetic field exposure from mobile phones and other transmitting devices causes adverse health effects, according to a report presented by a Norwegian Expert Committee. In addition, the Committee provides advice to authorities about risk management and regulatory practice. The Committee has assessed the health hazards from low-level electromagnetic fields generated by radio transmitters...

New Insights Into Muscle Stem Cells: At The Right Place At The Right Time

Date: Sep-19-2012
Muscles have a pool of stem cells which provides a source for muscle growth and for regeneration of injured muscles. The stem cells must reside in special niches of the muscle for efficient growth and repair. The developmental biologists Dr. Dominique Bröhl and Prof. Carmen Birchmeier of the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch have elucidated how these stem cells colonize these niches. At the same time, they show that the stem cells weaken when, due to a mutation, they locate outside of the muscle fibers instead of in their stem cell niches (Developmental Cell)*...

Describing Vegetables With Catchy Names Increases Affinity For Greens

Date: Sep-19-2012
Would you rather eat "carrots" or "crunchy yummy carrots"? Or, if you're a youngster, "X-Ray Vision Carrots"? Kids seem to have an aversion to eating vegetables, but can this be changed? Previous work conducted by Wansink et al., in 2005 revealed that sensory perceptions of descriptive foods are better than plain dishes with no fancy descriptors...

Cannabis Sativa For Spasticity Due To Multiple Sclerosis: Added Benefit Is Not Proven

Date: Sep-19-2012
An extract from the plant Cannabis sativa (trade name Sativex®) was approved in May 2011 for patients suffering from moderate to severe spastic paralysis and muscle spasms due to multiple sclerosis (MS). In an early benefit assessment pursuant to the "Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products" (AMNOG), the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined whether the new drug, which is used as a mouth spray, offers an added benefit over the optimized standard therapy...

Bid To Develop Anthrax Vaccine To Counteract World Bioterrorism Threat By Cardiff Scientists

Date: Sep-19-2012
A team of Cardiff University scientists is leading new research to develop a vaccine against anthrax to help counteract the threat of bioterrorism. Working with scientists from the Republic of Georgia, Turkey and the USA, Professor Les Baillie from Cardiff University's School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is leading a NATO project to tackle the potential misuse of anthrax...