ScienceDaily: Living Well News

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• Teens living with two college-educated parents less likely to use alcohol, marijuana
• Brain damage caused by severe sleep apnea is reversible
• Food craving is stronger, but controllable, for kids
• Sleeping on animal fur in infancy found to reduce risk of asthma
• Taking short walking breaks found to reverse negative effects of prolonged sitting
• Father's smoking prior to conception could increase asthma risk for baby
• Women, health professionals spark new cycle of improving maternal, newborn health
• Electronic training collars present welfare risk to pet dogs
• Viral infection in nose can trigger middle ear infection
• Examining the understudied pull of personality on adolescent sexual development and experience
• First international standards for growth of developing babies, size of newborns
• Curb sitting time to protect aging DNA, possibly extend lifespan
• Polyester clothes stink after exercise; cotton, not so much
• Trouble starting a task? Perception of deadline may be problem
• What you eat, not just number of calories, is significant factor in diabetes risk
• Daily breakfast is associated with a lower type 2 diabetes risk profile in children

Teens living with two college-educated parents less likely to use alcohol, marijuana Posted: 08 Sep 2014 12:29 PM PDT A high school senior who lives with 2 college-educated parents is significantly less likely to drink alcohol or smoke marijuana than a teenager who lives with one parent, a new study has found. In terms of race, the presence of both parents is an especially strong protective factor for African-American adolescents.

Brain damage caused by severe sleep apnea is reversible Posted: 08 Sep 2014 10:54 AM PDT A neuroimaging study is the first to show that white matter damage caused by severe obstructive sleep apnea can be reversed by continuous positive airway pressure therapy. The results underscore the importance of the 'Stop the Snore' campaign of the National Healthy Sleep Awareness Project, a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Academy of Sleep Medicine, Sleep Research Society and other partners.

Food craving is stronger, but controllable, for kids Posted: 08 Sep 2014 06:37 AM PDT Children show stronger food craving than adolescents and adults, but they are also able to use a cognitive strategy that reduces craving, according to new research. "These findings are important because they suggest that we may have another tool in our toolbox to combat childhood obesity," says psychological scientist and the study's lead researcher.

Sleeping on animal fur in infancy found to reduce risk of asthma Posted: 08 Sep 2014 05:37 AM PDT Sleeping on animal fur in the first three months of life might reduce the risk of asthma in later childhood a new study has found. The chance of having asthma at the age of 6 years was 79% lower in children who had slept on animal skin after birth compared with those who were not exposed to animal skin. The risk decreased to 41% by the age of 10.

Taking short walking breaks found to reverse negative effects of prolonged sitting Posted: 08 Sep 2014 05:37 AM PDT Three easy -- one could even say slow -- 5-minute walks can reverse harm caused to leg arteries during three hours of prolonged sitting, researchers report. Sitting for long periods of time is associated with risk factors such as higher cholesterol levels and greater waist circumference that can lead to cardiovascular and metabolic disease. When people sit, slack muscles do not contract to effectively pump blood to the heart. Blood can pool in the legs and affect the endothelial function of arteries, or the ability of blood vessels to expand from increased blood flow.

Father's smoking prior to conception could increase asthma risk for baby Posted: 08 Sep 2014 05:37 AM PDT A baby has a greater risk of asthma if his or her father smoked prior to conception, research shows. The study is the first in humans to analyze the link between a father's smoking habits before conception and a child's asthma. The findings add to growing evidence from animal studies which suggest that the father's exposures before parenthood can harm his child.

Women, health professionals spark new cycle of improving maternal, newborn health Posted: 08 Sep 2014 05:35 AM PDT Demand for better care by women linked with the expansion of basic services, rather than political pressure, has helped to improve midwifery services in low to middle-income countries, according to international research. An examination of maternal and newborn health systems found that after initial investment in health infrastructure, a virtuous cycle developed in these countries -- with increased demand for care leading to the deployment of more midwives, better services, improved outcomes, and in-turn, more demand and investment.

Electronic training collars present welfare risk to pet dogs Posted: 08 Sep 2014 05:33 AM PDT The results of a recent study have revealed that the immediate effects of training pet dogs with an electronic collar cause behavioural signs of distress, particularly when used at high settings.

Viral infection in nose can trigger middle ear infection Posted: 06 Sep 2014 06:29 AM PDT Middle ear infections, which affect more than 85 percent of children under the age of 3, can be triggered by a viral infection in the nose rather than solely by a bacterial infection, according to researchers.

Examining the understudied pull of personality on adolescent sexual development and experience Posted: 05 Sep 2014 08:39 AM PDT Can aspects of personality help explain a predilection towards risky sexual behaviors in developing adolescents? Researchers approached this question by surveying middle adolescents of various personality types. The three most common personality types found across cultures and age groups are undercontrollers (extroverted, disagreeable, unconscientiousness, open to new experiences), overcontrollers (agreeable, conscientious, introverted, emotionally unstable), and resilients (agreeable, conscientious, open to experiences, extraverted, emotionally stable).

First international standards for growth of developing babies, size of newborns Posted: 05 Sep 2014 06:06 AM PDT The first international standards for fetal growth and newborn size have been developed by a global team led by scientists. Now, for the first time, all 120 million babies born each year across the world can be assessed using a common set of standards, reflecting how babies should grow when mothers have adequate health, nutrition, medical care and socioeconomic status.

Curb sitting time to protect aging DNA, possibly extend lifespan Posted: 03 Sep 2014 05:41 PM PDT Curbing the amount of time spent sitting down might help to protect aging DNA and therefore possibly extend the lifespan, suggests a small study. Reducing sedentary activity appears to lengthen telomeres, which sit on the end of chromosomes, the DNA storage units in each cell, the findings show. Telomeres are important because they stop chromosomes from 'fraying' or clumping together and 'scrambling' the genetic codes they contain, performing a role similar to the plastic tips on the end of shoelaces, to which they have been likened.

Polyester clothes stink after exercise; cotton, not so much Posted: 03 Sep 2014 01:36 PM PDT Polyester clothes smell worse than cotton, following intensive exercise by their wearers, because bacteria that cause odor grow better on polyester, according to research. Freshly secreted sweat has little odor, because the long-chain fatty acids the axillaries secrete are too big to be volatile, says the first author. Bacteria break these, however, as well as hormones and sulfur compounds, down to waftable sized, odoriferous molecules.

Trouble starting a task? Perception of deadline may be problem Posted: 03 Sep 2014 01:24 PM PDT Completing tasks and crossing them off the ubiquitous "to-do" list is a great feeling. But what about those nagging tasks we keep putting off? What's the difference between those jobs that get completed and those that do not? The answer may be our perception of time, according to new research.

What you eat, not just number of calories, is significant factor in diabetes risk Posted: 02 Sep 2014 12:11 PM PDT If you think losing weight is enough to prevent Type 2 diabetes, don't get your hopes up. A new research suggests that you don't have to be overweight to develop Type 2 diabetes.

Daily breakfast is associated with a lower type 2 diabetes risk profile in children Posted: 02 Sep 2014 11:41 AM PDT Regular consumption of a healthy breakfast may help children lower their risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a new study. The study found an association between children who reported skipping breakfast most days and higher levels of known diabetes risk factors.

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