Health News

Study finds gaps in youth coaches' level of knowledge

Date: Feb-04-2014
Do youth coaches need coaching, too? According to an independent study released by American Council on Exercise (ACE), youth coach participants averaged a "C" grade on a survey evaluating their preparation and qualifications. ACE commissioned this study because the demand for youth coaches and volunteers has quadrupled to accommodate the more than 40 million children participating in youth organized sports, a steady growth over the past 20 years."Volunteer coaches form the backbone of non-school organized youth sports and are very well intentioned and dedicated.

Comparison of cognitive tests shows SDMT effective in determining employment status in MS

Date: Feb-04-2014
Researchers at Kessler Foundation have studied the measurement tools used in multiple sclerosis for their effectiveness in predicting employment status. They compared the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), the Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite (MSFC), the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT), and the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), and found the SDMT effective in differentiating employed from unemployed individuals.

Stem cell signal linked with cancer growth

Date: Feb-04-2014
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a protein critical to hematopoietic stem cell function and blood formation. The finding has potential as a new target for treating leukemia because cancer stem cells rely upon the same protein to regulate and sustain their growth.Hematopoietic stem cells give rise to all other blood cells.

Gene mutation identified in spinocerebellar ataxia type 7

Date: Feb-04-2014
Disruptive clumps of mutated protein are often blamed for clogging cells and interfering with brain function in patients with the neurodegenerative diseases known as spinocerebellar ataxias. But a new study in fruit flies suggests that for at least one of these diseases, the defective proteins may not need to form clumps to do harm.The study, published in the journal Genes and Development, focuses on ataxin-7, the gene that is mutated in patients with spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA-7). Researchers led by investigators Jerry Workman, Ph.D. and Susan Abmayr, Ph.D.

Exercise intensities of gardening tasks informs garden-based therapeutic interventions for youth

Date: Feb-04-2014
Gardening, often considered to be an activity reserved for adults, is gaining ground with children as new programs are introduced that promote gardening's "green" attributes. Physical benefits of getting out in the garden have also been reported for adults and seniors - now, a study from researchers in South Korea finds that children, too, can reap the benefits of digging, raking, and weeding. Researchers Sin-Ae Park, Ho-Sang Lee, Kwan-Suk Lee, Ki-Cheol Son, and Candice Shoemaker published the results of their study in HortTechnology.

Exercise intensities of gardening tasks informs garden-based therapeutic interventions for youth

Date: Feb-04-2014
Gardening, often considered to be an activity reserved for adults, is gaining ground with children as new programs are introduced that promote gardening's "green" attributes. Physical benefits of getting out in the garden have also been reported for adults and seniors - now, a study from researchers in South Korea finds that children, too, can reap the benefits of digging, raking, and weeding. Researchers Sin-Ae Park, Ho-Sang Lee, Kwan-Suk Lee, Ki-Cheol Son, and Candice Shoemaker published the results of their study in HortTechnology.

Study offers possible explanation for "withdrawal into self," a characteristic of autism

Date: Feb-04-2014
New research from Case Western Reserve University and University of Toronto neuroscientists finds that the brains of autistic children generate more information at rest - a 42% increase on average. The study offers a scientific explanation for the most typical characteristic of autism - withdrawal into one's own inner world. The excess production of information may explain a child's detachment from their environment.Published recently in Frontiers in Neuroinformatics, this study is a follow-up to the authors' prior finding that brain connections are different in autistic children.

Study offers possible explanation for "withdrawal into self," a characteristic of autism

Date: Feb-04-2014
New research from Case Western Reserve University and University of Toronto neuroscientists finds that the brains of autistic children generate more information at rest - a 42% increase on average. The study offers a scientific explanation for the most typical characteristic of autism - withdrawal into one's own inner world. The excess production of information may explain a child's detachment from their environment.Published recently in Frontiers in Neuroinformatics, this study is a follow-up to the authors' prior finding that brain connections are different in autistic children.

Failure to eliminate links between neurons produces autistic-like mice

Date: Feb-04-2014
In many people with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders, different parts of the brain don't talk to each other very well. Scientists have now identified, for the first time, a way in which this decreased functional connectivity can come about.

Failure to eliminate links between neurons produces autistic-like mice

Date: Feb-04-2014
In many people with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders, different parts of the brain don't talk to each other very well. Scientists have now identified, for the first time, a way in which this decreased functional connectivity can come about.