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Saturday, May 17, 2014

ScienceDaily: Living Well News

ScienceDaily: Living Well News


Mothers' sleep, late in pregnancy, affects offspring's weight gain as adults

Posted: 16 May 2014 06:23 AM PDT

Poor-quality sleep during the third trimester of pregnancy can increase the odds of weight gain and metabolic abnormalities in offspring once they reach adulthood. The effects, caused by epigenetic modifications, impose lasting consequences on the next generation. The researchers linked the excess weight and changes in metabolism to epigenetic modifications that reduce expression of the gene for adiponectin -- a hormone that helps regulate several metabolic processes, including glucose regulation. Lower levels of adiponectin correlate with increased body fat and reduced activity.

Traditional cheeses: gustatory richness, health quality assured by their microbiota

Posted: 16 May 2014 06:21 AM PDT

The benefits of traditional, raw-milk cheeses have been reviewed by researchers who have shown that traditional cheeses have unrivalled advantages in terms of both their diversity and their gustatory richness, but also regarding their protection against pathogenic agents. These benefits are linked to the specific microbiota found in these cheeses; they result from the use of raw milk, combined with the specific techniques used to manufacture traditional cheeses.

Magnets and kids: A dangerous duo

Posted: 16 May 2014 06:20 AM PDT

Magnet ingestions by children have received increasing attention over the past 10 years. With the growing availability of new and stronger neodymium-iron-boron magnets being sold as "toys," there has been an increase of cases of ingestion, resulting in serious injury and, in some cases, death. In a new study, researchers studied the trends of magnetic ingestions at a large children's hospital.

Watching stressful movies triggers changes to your heartbeat

Posted: 15 May 2014 07:38 AM PDT

Watching films with stressful scenes can trigger changes to the heart's beating pattern, reports a new study. "This is the first time that the effects have been directly measured and although the results varied from person to person we consistently saw changes in the cardiac muscle. If someone already has a weakened heart, or if they experience a much more extreme stress, the effect could be much more destabilizing and dangerous," researchers stated.

Most NHL players peak by age 29: Study

Posted: 15 May 2014 06:56 AM PDT

A new study identifies when the clock runs out on an NHL player's peak performance, giving team executives insight into how best to build a roster. The study found that the performance of forwards peaks between the ages of 27 and 28. Defensemen are best between 28 and 29, and the performance of goaltenders varies little by age.

Sense of obligation leads to trusting strangers

Posted: 15 May 2014 06:51 AM PDT

Trusting a stranger may have more to do with feeling morally obligated to show respect for someone else's character than actually believing the person is trustworthy, according to new research. Theories that people are inclined to trust others because they feel it's the social norm or they expect to gain something don't fully explain the abundance of trust among strangers, researchers say. "Our findings reveal that people trust others because they feel it's their duty or moral responsibility," Dunning said.

Study: Prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke on inhibition control

Posted: 14 May 2014 01:54 PM PDT

Individuals prenatally exposed to tobacco smoke exhibited weaker response in some regions of the brain while processing a task that measures inhibition control (the ability to control inappropriate responses). Prenatal tobacco smoke exposure is a risk factor for adverse physical and mental outcomes in children. Growing evidence suggests that smoking during pregnancy may increase the risk of psychopathology such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Research on ADHD has suggested that individuals with the disorder may exhibit poor inhibitory control.

Does day care do more harm than good for children of single moms?

Posted: 14 May 2014 12:31 PM PDT

Does day care harm or help your child's learning development? If you're a single mom it can do both, depending on your level of education, research concludes. Researchers examined and analyzed the results of previous research on the benefits and harms of child care for children of single moms and found that if a single mother has a higher level of education, then day care can be harmful to a child's cognitive development, while children of single mothers with less education actually benefit from being in day care.

B12 injection not proven to increase energy, metabolism

Posted: 13 May 2014 01:16 PM PDT

Feeling sluggish? Gaining weight? What you need is a shot in the arm, claim advertisers for trendy vitamin B12 injections. Don't let marketers needle you. "If medical testing confirms that an individual has a vitamin B12 deficiency, a vitamin B12 supplement will help. But if a B12 deficiency has not been identified by a physician or primary care doctor, there is no need to waste energy and money on B12 shots," says a clinical dietitian.

Who’s talking to your kids? Hispanics, females missing from children's television commercials

Posted: 13 May 2014 11:20 AM PDT

The ethnic diversity of actors in commercials aimed at children has apparently remained the same since the start of the 21st century, experts have found. The study concluded that Hispanics are grossly underrepresented as presenters in commercials. Though they make up 15 percent of the U.S. population, Hispanics only appeared in one percent of the sampled commercials. Females of all races were underrepresented by 14.1 percent, both as lead presenters and as voiceover actors. White presenters were underrepresented by 2.2 percent and African-Americans were overrepresented by 10.3 percent. Asian presenters were almost on-par with their population numbers, but indigenous people were completely absent.

Sea or table, shake the salt habit for better health, says dietitian

Posted: 13 May 2014 11:20 AM PDT

Pink Himalayan, Breton Gray and Hawaiian Alea – the newer offerings of salt may be exotic, cost more and frequent the shelves of high-end stores, but they are just as bad for you as common table salt. "Typically people opt for natural vs. processed to avoid preservatives such as sodium, but in this case, all salt is sodium," says a clinical dietitian. "Sea salt and table salt have an equivalent sodium content, despite sea salt being deemed less processed than table salt due to the way it is produced."

E-cigarettes expose people to more than harmless vapor, should be regulated

Posted: 13 May 2014 08:36 AM PDT

Industry claims about e-cigarette devices are unsupported by evidence, including claims that e-cigarettes help smokers quit, concludes a major scientific review of research. The devices, which are rapidly gaining a foothold particularly among youth, are marketed as a healthier alternative to tobacco smoking, an effective tool to stop smoking, and as a way to circumvent smoke-free laws by allowing users to "smoke anywhere." Often the ads stress that e-cigarettes produce only "harmless water vapor." But scientists found that e-cigarette use is associated with significantly lower odds of quitting cigarettes. They also found that e-cigarette emissions "are not merely 'harmless water vapor,' as is frequently claimed, and can be a source of indoor air pollution."

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