Health News

Weight Gain Induced By High-Fat Diet Increases Active-Period Sleep And Sleep Fragmentation

Date: Jul-11-2012
Research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, finds that prolonged exposure to a high-fat diet reduces the quality of sleep in rats. Using radio-telemetry, the authors measured 24-hour sleep and wake states after rats consumed a high fat diet for 8 weeks. Compared to rats that consumed a standard laboratory chow, the rats on the high-fat diet slept more but sleep was fragmented...

Junk Food Commercials Increase Food 'Wanting'

Date: Jul-11-2012
Research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, sought to investigate personality traits that make some people more vulnerable to over-eating and weight gain. Obesity rates have been partly attributed to the easy access of cheap, high calorie food. However, many individuals exposed to the same food lie well within the healthy weight range. In her study, Dr...

Gut Microbiota Profile Along The Intestine Altered By Gastric Bypass Surgery

Date: Jul-11-2012
Research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, finds that gastric bypass surgery induces changes in the gut microbiota and peptide release that are similar to those seen after treatment with prebiotics...

Rats Consuming Sugar Solution During Inactive Periods Gained More Weight

Date: Jul-11-2012
Research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB) the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior suggests that, not only the amount and type of food eaten but the time of day it is eaten, is important in contributing to obesity. Previous studies have shown that when mice consumed all of their calories during their inactive period they gained more weight than when they consumed the same amount of calories during their active period. A team led by Drs...

Sexual Dysfunction Due To Handlebar Level For Female Cyclists

Date: Jul-11-2012
A new study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine reveals that handlebar position is associated with changes in genital sensation in female cyclists. Led by Marsha K. Guess, MD, MS, of Yale University School of Medicine, researchers evaluated bicycle set-up in terms of the relationship between the seat and the handlebars. 48 competitive women cyclists were studied. Researchers measured saddle pressures and sensation in the genital region to see if placing handlebars in different positions affects pressure and sensation in the genital region...

Immune Cell DNA Utilized For Diagnostic Technique

Date: Jul-11-2012
When a person is sick, there is a tell-tale sign in their blood: a different mix of the various types of immune cells called leukocytes. A group of scientists at several institutions including Brown University has discovered a way to determine that mix from the DNA in archival or fresh blood samples, potentially providing a practical new technology not only for medical research but also for clinical diagnosis and treatment monitoring of ailments including some cancers...

Toxic Effect Of Statins Eliminated By Turning Off Key Piece Of Genetic Coding

Date: Jul-11-2012
In research funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association and published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, Saint Louis University investigator Angel Baldan, Ph.D., found that the microRNA miR-33 plays a key role in regulating bile metabolism. Further, the research suggests that, in an animal model, the manipulation of this microRNA can improve the liver toxicity that can be caused by statins...

In Non-Anemic Women, Iron Supplements Can Reduce Fatigue

Date: Jul-11-2012
Iron supplementation reduced fatigue by almost 50% in women who are low in iron but not anemic, according to the results of a clinical trial published July 9 in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). "We found that iron supplementation for 12 weeks decreased fatigue by almost 50% from baseline, a significant difference of 19% compared with placebo, in menstruating iron-deficient nonanemic women with unexplained fatigue and ferritin levels below 50 μg/L," writes Dr. Bernard Favrat, Department of Ambulatory Care and Community Medicine, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, with coauthors...

Potential New Drug Target For Breast Cancer Following Discovery Of Regulation By Proteins Outside Cancer Cells

Date: Jul-11-2012
Protein interactions outside breast cancer cells can send signals to the cancer cells to permanently stop proliferating, a new study showed in the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio. "Because this protein cascade is outside the cells, it is likely amenable to therapeutic manipulation," said lead author Yuzuru Shiio, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry at the university's Greehey Children's Cancer Research Institute...

New Approach To Measure And Assess Follow-Up Care For Newly Released HIV-Positive Inmates

Date: Jul-11-2012
A new monitoring approach developed by researchers from The Miriam Hospital could close a major gap by providing the ability to track whether HIV-positive prisoners are getting the community-based HIV care they need once they are released. Reporting in the journal Virulence, researchers say this new tool could play a major role in preventing the spread of the disease and could guide future strategies to improve the quality of care for prisoners, a population disproportionately affected by HIV...