Health News

Childhood Obesity Increases Likelihood Of A Cranial Disorder That May Cause Blindness

Date: May-26-2012
Children who are overweight or obese -- particularly older, non-Hispanic white girls -- are more likely to have a neurological disorder known as idiopathic intracranial hypertension, a rare condition that can result in blindness, according to a new Kaiser Permanente study published in The Journal of Pediatrics. In a cross-sectional, population-based study of 900,000 children ages 2-19 years old, researchers found 78 cases of pediatric idiopathic intracranial hypertension. The condition occurred most frequently in overweight or obese, non-Hispanic white teenage girls - 85 percent of the...

'Personality Genes' May Help Account For Longevity

Date: May-26-2012
"It's in their genes" is a common refrain from scientists when asked about factors that allow centenarians to reach age 100 and beyond. Up until now, research has focused on genetic variations that offer a physiological advantage such as high levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol. But researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology of Yeshiva University have found that personality traits like being outgoing, optimistic, easygoing, and enjoying laughter as well as staying engaged in activities may also be part of the longevity genes mix. The findings,...

Cyber Exercise Partners Help You Go The Distance

Date: May-26-2012
A new study testing the benefits of a virtual exercise partner shows the presence of a moderately more capable cycling partner can significantly boost the motivation - by as much as 100 percent - to stick to an exercise program. The research out of Michigan State University's Department of Kinesiology shows women taking part in cycling exercises exercised twice as long when working with a virtual partner, results the authors said can be used to help people meet physical activity recommendations. The work by Brandon Irwin and colleagues is published online in the journal Annals of Behavioral...

Childhood Cancer Scars Survivors Later In Life

Date: May-26-2012
Scars left behind by childhood cancer treatments are more than skin-deep. The increased risk of disfigurement and persistent hair loss caused by childhood cancer and treatment are associated with emotional distress and reduced quality of life in adulthood, according to a new study led by a Northwestern Medicine advanced practice nurse, Karen Kinahan, and based on data from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS). The largest study of its kind, published May 21 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, compared scarring, disfigurement and persistent hair loss reported by adult survivors of...

Positive Words: The Glue To Social Interaction

Date: May-26-2012
Scientists at ETH Zurich have studied the use of language, finding that words with a positive emotional content are more frequently used in written communication. This result supports the theory that social relations are enhanced by a positive bias in human communication. The study by David Garcia and his colleagues from the Chair of Systems Design is published in the first issue of the new SpringerOpen journal EPJ Data Science, and is freely available to the general public as an Open Access article. Previous studies focused on word lengths and frequency. They demonstrated that frequency...

Telomere Stability And Carcinogenesis: An Off-Again, On-Again Relationship

Date: May-26-2012
Previous studies in mice have demonstrated antagonistic effects of telomerase loss on carcinogenesis. Telomere attrition can promote genome instability thereby stimulating initiation of early-stage cancers, but can also inhibit tumorigenesis by promoting permanent cell growth arrest or death. Human cancers likely develop in cell lineages with low levels of telomerase, leading to telomere losses in early lesions, followed by subsequent activation of telomerase. Mouse models constitutively lacking telomerase have thus not addressed how telomere losses within telomerase-proficient cells impact...

Diabetes Treatment - Potential New Target

Date: May-26-2012
The online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports that Cincinnati University (UC) researchers have discovered that apolipoprotein A-IV (apoA-IV), a naturally produced protein that has the ability to reduce blood sugar levels and enhance insulin secretion, could be a potential target for a new diabetes treatment. ApoA-IV is a protein secreted by the small intestine in response to fat absorption. According to earlier studies, apoA-IV is elevated in individuals following gastric bypass surgery, which is linked to improved symptoms in diabetes. Patrick Tso, PhD,...

Marital Disagreements Reveal Climate Of The Marriage

Date: May-26-2012
According to a study by a Baylor University researcher entitled 'The Communication of Emotion During Conflict in Married Couples', married couples are usually very good at recognizing each other's emotions during conflicts. The study, published in the American Psychological Association's Journal of Family Psychology also reveals that if one partner is angry, it may reveal more about the overall climate of their marriage than about what the other partner is feeling at the time of the dispute. Keith Sanford, Ph.D., an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience in Baylor University's...

Breast Cancer Risk Associated With Sex Hormones Reduced By Losing Weight

Date: May-26-2012
The Journal of Clinical Oncology has published a study online which reveals that even a moderate amount of weight loss can considerably decrease levels of circulating estrogens that are linked to a higher risk of breast cancer. Anne McTiernan, M.D., Ph.D., and her team from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center conducted the first randomized, controlled clinical trial to assess what impact weight loss may have on sex hormones in those with an elevated risk of breast cancer, i.e. overweight and obese postmenopausal women. McTiernan, who is a director of the Hutchinson Center's Prevention...

Orphan Sleep Drug Findings May Lead To New Cancer Therapies

Date: May-26-2012
A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals that an inexpensive "orphan drug" for the treatment of sleep disorders seems to be a potent inhibitor of cancer cells. Using state-of-the-art technology in a novel approach, the researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center were able to rapidly analyze the genome, which has far-reaching implications for developing more effective and safer cancer treatments. Leading researcher Carla Grandori, M.D., Ph.D., an investigator in the Hutchinson Center's Human Biology Division and her team used a...