Health News

Higher Dopamine Levels Reduce Tendency To Be Impulsive

Date: Jul-30-2012
In the frontal cortex of the brain, higher levels of dopamine are found to decrease impulsivity, according to a study conducted by researchers at Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco. It is known that impulsivity is a common risk factor associated with substance abuse. The goal of this particular study was to see whether impulsivity could be decreased by raising levels of dopamine. The researchers believe the answer is "Yes". The study was a double-blinded, placebo controlled trial with 23 adult participants...

Safe Suntans Do Not Exist, Researchers Say

Date: Jul-30-2012
Researchers from the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) have published a new study entitled "Melanoma induction by ultraviolet A but not ultraviolet B radiation requires melanin pigment" in the June issue of the journal Nature Communications, which clarifies various misconceptions about tanning. De Fabo, am emeritus professor at SMHS comments: "This is the first time that UV-induced melanin formation (tanning), traditionally thought to protect against skin cancer, is shown to be directly involved in melanoma formation in mammals...

Fusion Of Two Genes Raise Brain Tumor Risk

Date: Jul-30-2012
A new study by Columbia University's Medical Center (CUMC) researchers shows that some cases of glioblastoma, a very common and aggressive form of primary brain cancer, are caused by the fusion of two adjacent genes. The study, published online in the journal Science, also found that the growth of glioblastoma in mice could be significantly slowed down by drugs, which target the protein that is produced by these two adjacent genes...

Raisins As Good As Sports Chews For Workout Boost

Date: Jul-30-2012
Eating raisins could provide the same workout boost as sports chews, according to an article in the Journal of The International Society of Sports Nutrition. Researchers from California-Davis University discovered that raisins are a cheap, natural source that provide an alternative to energy bars. In order to evaluate the impact of natural supplements compared with carbohydrate supplements on endurance running performance, the researchers performed three randomized trials on runners, with a 7-day break between trials...

Free Pathology And Diagnosis Online Conference, August 16, 2012

Date: Jul-30-2012
Target Meeting is a leading online life science conference organizer. They specialize in organizing conferences, symposiums and workshops, which brings together the known researchers, professors and life science suppliers from across the world to debate over the latest developments in biomedical research. The 2012 Pathology & Diagnosis Online Conference scheduled to be held on August 16, 2012. All the attendees just have to connect to the online conference's servers to participate in real time with their distinguished counterparts from across the globe...

COPD Drug Tudorza Pressair Wins FDA Approval

Date: Jul-30-2012
Tudorza Pressair, a drug for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA announced last week that it had approved the aclidinium bromide inhalation powder, for the long-term maintenance treatment of bronchospasm associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Bronchospasm is where the muscle walls of the airways in the lung (bronchioles) suddenly constrict, causing mild to severe difficulty in breathing...

PSA Test Reduces Advanced Prostate Cancers

Date: Jul-30-2012
The number of men with advanced prostate cancer at the time of first diagnosis would most likely rise without routine PSA screening, according to a new study. Without routine screening for prostate cancer with the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, 17,000 more men in the US every year would discover they had the advanced or metastatic form of the disease, according to a new study by the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) that is due to be published in the journal Cancer this week...

Prostate Cancer Management Should Emphasize Healthy Lifestyle Changes

Date: Jul-30-2012
Men diagnosed with prostate cancer are less likely to die from the disease than from largely preventable conditions such as heart disease, according to a new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). It is the largest study to date that looks at causes of death among men with prostate cancer, and suggests that encouraging healthy lifestyle changes should play an important role in prostate cancer management. "Our results are relevant for several million men living with prostate cancer in the United States," said first author Mara Epstein, a postdoctoral researcher at HSPH...

Risk Of Dying May Increase With Lower Vitamin D, Especially For Frail, Older Adults

Date: Jul-30-2012
A new study concludes that among older adults - especially those who are frail -low levels of vitamin D can mean a much greater risk of death. The randomized, nationally representative study found that older adults with low vitamin D levels had a 30 percent greater risk of death than people who had higher levels. Overall, people who were frail had more than double the risk of death than those who were not frail. Frail adults with low levels of vitamin D tripled their risk of death over people who were not frail and who had higher levels of vitamin D...

Study Shows Repetitious, Time-Intensive Magical Rituals Considered More Effective

Date: Jul-30-2012
Even in this modern age of science, people are likely to find logic in supernatural rituals that require a high degree of time and effort, according to new research from The University of Texas at Austin. The study, published in the June issue of Cognition, is the first psychological analysis of how people of various cultures evaluate the efficacy of ritual beliefs. The findings provide new insight into cognitive reasoning processes - and how people intuitively make sense out of the unknown...