ScienceDaily: Living Well News

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• Chips with olestra cause body toxins to dip, study finds
• Telephone medication therapy management works for some but not all home health patients
• See what a child will look like using automated age-progression software
• Can animals really help people in hospitals, aged care?
• Stressful environments genetically affect African American boys
• Love is a many-faceted thing: Regular churchgoers and married people most satisfied with their love life
• Restaurants in public housing developments serve fewer healthy meals, nearly 75 percent of entrées unhealthy
• Reality of adoption breakdowns revealed by new research
• Physical activity is beneficial for late-life cognition
• Most schools meet new USDA drinking water mandate; more steps needed to encourage consumption
• Regular aerobic exercise boosts memory area of brain in older women
• Italian adolescents wrongly believe energy drinks are comparable to soda, sports drinks
• Misconceptions about energy drinks could have health consequences, experts say
• Lipid levels during prenatal brain development impact autism, study shows
• Most hospital pregnancy tests found to be unreliable after first few weeks of pregnancy
• More clues on how pregnancy protects against breast cancer
• Is it just a cold or is it allergies?
• Father's age at birth may affect daughter's cancer risk
• Perceptions of student ability, testing pressures hinder some science teachers, study shows
• Online survey reveals new epidemic of sleeplessness in Britain

Chips with olestra cause body toxins to dip, study finds Posted: 09 Apr 2014 11:39 AM PDT A snack food ingredient called olestra has been found to speed up the removal of toxins in the body, according to a recent clinical trial. The trial demonstrated that olestra -- a zero-calorie fat substitute found in low-calorie snack foods such as Pringles -- could reduce the levels of serum polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in people who had been exposed to PCBs. High levels of PCBs in the body are associated with an increase in hypertension and diabetes.

Telephone medication therapy management works for some but not all home health patients Posted: 09 Apr 2014 11:39 AM PDT Low-risk Medicare patients entering home health care who received medication therapy management by phone were three times less likely to be hospitalized within the next two months, while those at greater risk saw no benefit. The study helped determine which patients benefit most from medication therapy management by phone and a way to identify them through a standardized risk score.

See what a child will look like using automated age-progression software Posted: 09 Apr 2014 10:46 AM PDT Researchers have developed software that automatically generates images of a young child's face as it ages through a lifetime. The technique is the first fully automated approach for aging babies to adults that works with variable lighting, expressions and poses.

Can animals really help people in hospitals, aged care? Posted: 09 Apr 2014 07:34 AM PDT While many people have an opinion on whether animals can help to improve well-being and care for patients in hospitals, does anyone really know whether there are benefits both for the patients and the animals themselves? Not according to a team of researchers that has conducted a worldwide review of all studies looking at the impact of "animal interventions" in healthcare settings for children.

Stressful environments genetically affect African American boys Posted: 09 Apr 2014 07:33 AM PDT Stressful upbringings can leave imprints on the genes of children, including African-American boys, according to a study. Such chronic stress during youth leads to physiological weathering similar to aging. "African American children have really not yet been studied through this context," said a co-author. "Previous work has mostly focused on middle-class whites. Our study takes a different approach and really highlights the importance of early intervention to moderate disparities in social and educational opportunities."

Love is a many-faceted thing: Regular churchgoers and married people most satisfied with their love life Posted: 09 Apr 2014 07:30 AM PDT Scientists found that a combination of factors such as age, religious involvement, marital status and love style (e.g. manipulative or playful), influence a person's love satisfaction. While education does not impact a person's love life satisfaction, religious involvement does.

Restaurants in public housing developments serve fewer healthy meals, nearly 75 percent of entrées unhealthy Posted: 09 Apr 2014 07:29 AM PDT Restaurants in public housing developments serve fewer healthy meals. Roughly 75 percent of those entrées at restaurants near housing developments were unhealthy, containing too many calories and fats and not enough whole grains, fruits and vegetables. The reason for this large difference is that fast food restaurants outnumber table service restaurants in housing development neighborhoods. This imbalance can influence residents with financial constraints to spend their limited funds on unhealthy foods.

Reality of adoption breakdowns revealed by new research Posted: 09 Apr 2014 06:43 AM PDT The most comprehensive study ever to be carried out into adoption in England has confirmed that the rate of breakdown is lower than anticipated, but it also reveals a stark picture of the problems faced by families. Adoptions were more likely to breakdown if a child was placed once they were over the age of four. Most adoptions breakdown during the teenage years with teenagers 10 times more at risk of disruption compared with children under the age of four.

Physical activity is beneficial for late-life cognition Posted: 09 Apr 2014 06:40 AM PDT Physical activity in midlife seems to protect from dementia in old age, according to a study. Those who engaged in physical activity at least twice a week had a lower risk of dementia than those who were less active. The protective effects were particularly strong among overweight individuals. In addition, the results showed that becoming more physically active after midlife may also contribute to lowering dementia risk.

Most schools meet new USDA drinking water mandate; more steps needed to encourage consumption Posted: 09 Apr 2014 06:36 AM PDT A new USDA mandate calling for access to free drinking water during lunchtime at schools participating in the National School Lunch Program went into effect at the start of the 2011-12 school year. Researchers examined compliance with the new requirement as well as perceptions about drinking fountain cleanliness and water quality. The study found that most schools met the new requirement; however, additional measures are needed to promote better access and encourage students to drink more water.

Regular aerobic exercise boosts memory area of brain in older women Posted: 08 Apr 2014 06:35 PM PDT Regular aerobic exercise seems to boost the size of the area of the brain involved in verbal memory and learning among women whose intellectual capacity has been affected by age, indicates a small study. The researchers tested the impact of different types of exercise on the hippocampal volume of 86 women who said they had mild memory problems, known as mild cognitive impairment -- and a common risk factor for dementia.

Italian adolescents wrongly believe energy drinks are comparable to soda, sports drinks Posted: 08 Apr 2014 01:22 PM PDT Energy drinks have become increasingly popular among teenagers and young adults during recent years. A new study has examined their use among Italian adolescents. Findings indicate a strong need for comprehensive educational programs focusing on the potential health effects of energy drinks alone, and in combination with alcohol.

Misconceptions about energy drinks could have health consequences, experts say Posted: 08 Apr 2014 12:42 PM PDT Many popular energy drinks contain five times the caffeine in a cup of coffee, but you probably won't find the amount listed on the can. A professor says the omission could explain why a CDC study found some young people think energy drinks are safe.

Lipid levels during prenatal brain development impact autism, study shows Posted: 08 Apr 2014 10:50 AM PDT Abnormal levels of lipid molecules in the brain can affect the interaction between two key neural pathways in early prenatal brain development, which can trigger autism, researchers have found in a groundbreaking study. And, environmental causes such as exposure to chemicals in some cosmetics and common over-the-counter medication can affect the levels of these lipids, according to the researchers.

Most hospital pregnancy tests found to be unreliable after first few weeks of pregnancy Posted: 08 Apr 2014 10:43 AM PDT Though the 11 most popular hospital urine pregnancy tests perform well in the first month after conception, a new study reveals the alarming statistic that nine of these tests become significantly more likely to produce false-negative results after the 5th to 7th week of pregnancy.

More clues on how pregnancy protects against breast cancer Posted: 07 Apr 2014 01:52 PM PDT New clues about how pregnancy reduces women's risk of developing breast cancer have been unearthed by researchers. Taking a detailed look at the genetic material of women who had and had not given birth, the researchers noted differences in elements related to key processes that, when they go awry, can increase the risk of developing cancer.

Is it just a cold or is it allergies? Posted: 07 Apr 2014 01:45 PM PDT One of the problems that parents may have during the springtime is deciphering whether their children's sneezing is due to a cold or allergies. "Runny, stuffy or itchy noses, sneezing, coughing, fatigue, and headaches can all be symptoms of both allergies and colds but when parents pay close attention to minor details they will be able to tell the difference," says a pediatric allergist.

Father's age at birth may affect daughter's cancer risk Posted: 07 Apr 2014 12:38 PM PDT A parent's age at birth, particularly a father's age, may affect the adult-onset cancer risk for daughters — especially for breast cancer. Women born to a father under the age of 20 had a 35 percent greater risk of breast cancer and more than two times greater risk of ovarian cancer, when compared to those born to a father whose age at his daughter's birth was 25 to 29 years old.

Perceptions of student ability, testing pressures hinder some science teachers, study shows Posted: 05 Apr 2014 08:38 PM PDT Despite a call for the use of a science teaching method called argumentation, teachers in some schools report student abilities and testing pressures restrict the use of this new practice. Furthermore, teachers in low-income schools said the pressure to meet testing requirements curbs the use of argumentation in their lessons, according to the findings.

Online survey reveals new epidemic of sleeplessness in Britain Posted: 03 Apr 2014 06:24 PM PDT Nearly six in ten (59%) people in Britain are sleep deprived, new research shows. 78% of people are exposed to disruptive blue light from computers and smartphones before going to bed, and only 10% of people strongly agree that they have pleasant dreams. A new article outlines some steps people can take to improve their sleeping experience.

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