Health News

Does the gloomy winter weather have you depressed? Researchers looking for study participants

Date: Jan-16-2014
Researchers at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) are looking for participants to take part in a study about the seasonal affects of the gloomy winter weather on mood and behavior in real time. Dr. Michael Young, IIT Professor of Psychology, and Katherine Meyers, Illinois Institute of Technology researcher, will text five behavioral questions to participants for one week during the winter using smartphones. The data collected for the Thinking and Feeling Study (TAFS), will be analyzed once all the participants have responded to the questions which will be ongoing throughout the winter.

New study to explore an intervention to help reduce weight in people with schizophrenia

Date: Jan-16-2014
A group of researchers, led by Professor Richard Holt at the University of Southampton, are to investigate whether people with schizophrenia or first episode psychosis are able to reduce their weight through a structured education programme.People with schizophrenia are two to three times more likely to be overweight or obese. As well as a range of adverse physical health consequences, such as diabetes and heart disease, weight gain may be an important factor that stops people taking their antipsychotic medication.

Concussion education to become compulsory in English professional rugby

Date: Jan-16-2014
Professional rugby players and coaches in England will take part in a compulsory concussion education programme before the start of next season.Aviva Premiership, Greene King IPA Championship and Regional Academy players and coaches will complete an online concussion education module, and further resources will be extended to professional game referees and, through the Immediate Care in Sport programme, to healthcare providers.

Some families would consider terminal sedation for brain injured relatives in a permanent vegetative state

Date: Jan-16-2014
The families of some very severely brain injured patients believe that once all treatment options are exhausted, allowing their relatives to die with the help of terminal sedation would be a humane and compassionate option, research carried out by the University of York and Cardiff University has revealed.The study, based on interviews with the families of patients in a vegetative or minimally conscious state, found some relatives believed euthanasia by sedation would be preferable to withholding or withdrawing treatment.

CT Scans Could Bolster Forensic Database to ID Unidentified Remains

Date: Jan-16-2014
A study from North Carolina State University finds that data from CT scans can be incorporated into a growing forensic database to help determine the ancestry and sex of unidentified remains. The finding may also have clinical applications for craniofacial surgeons."As forensic anthropologists, we can map specific coordinates on a skull and use software that we developed - called 3D-ID - to compare those three-dimensional coordinates with a database of biological characteristics," says Dr. Ann Ross, a professor of anthropology at NC State and senior author of a paper describing the work.

Empathetic, pro-social behavior driven by social experience in rat mdoel

Date: Jan-16-2014
Empathy-driven behavior has been observed in rats who will free trapped companions from restrainers. This behavior also extends toward strangers, but requires prior, positive social interactions with the type (strain) of the unfamiliar individual, report scientists from the University of Chicago, in the open access journal eLife.The findings suggest that social experiences, not genetics or kin selection, determine whether an individual will help strangers out of empathy.

Association between gene variation and brain atrophy in mild cognitive impairment

Date: Jan-16-2014
The presence of a gene variant in people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is associated with accelerated rates of brain atrophy, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology.The study focused on the gene apolipoprotein E (APOE), the most important genetic factor known in non-familial Alzheimer's disease (AD). APOE has different alleles, or gene variations, said the study's senior author, Jeffrey R. Petrella, M.D., associate professor of radiology at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, N.C.

In restrictive states, community health centers report hampered ability to help the uninsured, limiting potential coverage

Date: Jan-16-2014
The first study to gauge the impact of state restrictions on the roll-out of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) indicates that community health centers across the country are engaged in an intensive effort to find and enroll eligible and uninsured patients and community residents.

Research debunks the sixth sense

Date: Jan-16-2014
New research led by the University of Melbourne has helped debunk the common belief that a sixth sense, also known as extrasensory perception (ESP), exists.The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, found that people could reliably sense when a change had occurred, even when they could not see exactly what had changed. 

For example, a person might notice a general change in someone's appearance but not be able to identify that the person had had a haircut. 

Lead researcher Dr.

The importance of mitochondrial genes

Date: Jan-16-2014
Contrary to common belief, mitochondrial genes seem to matter for how well individuals survive and reproduce. These new results are reported by researchers at Uppsala University, Sweden, who studied the genes of a common beetle species.Mitochondria are vital power plants of cells. They carry their own genes, which are inherited only through females, and these genes vary greatly between individuals.