ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Synesthesia linked to a hyper-excitable brain
• Starlings help to explain irrational preferences
• Being told painting is fake changes brain's response to art
• Can nerve growth factor gene therapy prevent diabetic heart disease?
• Hypertension treatment associated with long-term improvement in life expectancy
• Increase in resting heart rate over 10-year period linked with increased risk of heart disease death
• Mediterranean diet gives longer life, Swedish study suggests
• How bacteria build homes inside healthy cells
• New take on impacts of low dose radiation
• Breastfeeding promotes healthy growth
• Nanometer-scale growth of cone cells tracked in living human eye
• New device for rapid, mobile detection of brain injury
• Scientists identify an innate function of vitamin E
• New candidate vaccine neutralizes all tested strains of malaria parasite
• Cerebrospinal fluid test can pick up Alzheimer's before symptoms appear
• Turn 'signals' for neuron growth identified
• Human skull is highly integrated: Study sheds new light on evolutionary changes
• The role of Internet pharmacies in prescription drug abuse

Synesthesia linked to a hyper-excitable brain Posted: 20 Dec 2011 05:40 PM PST Hyper-excitability' in regions of the brain may underlie synesthesia, an unusual condition where some people experience a 'blending of the senses', new researchers suggest.

Starlings help to explain irrational preferences Posted: 20 Dec 2011 05:31 PM PST Research into decision-making by European starlings may help to explain why many animals, including humans, sometimes exhibit irrational preferences.

Being told painting is fake changes brain's response to art Posted: 20 Dec 2011 05:26 PM PST Being told that a work of art is authentic or fake alters the brain's response to the visual content of artwork, academics have found.

Can nerve growth factor gene therapy prevent diabetic heart disease? Posted: 20 Dec 2011 02:26 PM PST New research has investigated if nerve growth factor gene therapy can prevent diabetic heart failure and small vascular disease in mice.

Hypertension treatment associated with long-term improvement in life expectancy Posted: 20 Dec 2011 02:26 PM PST Patients with systolic hypertension who were treated with the diuretic chlorthalidone for 4.5 years as part of a clinical trial had a significantly lower rate of death and a gain in life expectancy free from cardiovascular death about 20 years later compared to patients who received placebo, according to a new study.

Increase in resting heart rate over 10-year period linked with increased risk of heart disease death Posted: 20 Dec 2011 02:26 PM PST In a study that enrolled nearly 30,000 apparently healthy men and women, those who had an increase in their resting heart rate over a 10-year period had an increased risk of death from all causes and from ischemic heart disease, according to a new study.

Mediterranean diet gives longer life, Swedish study suggests Posted: 20 Dec 2011 12:41 PM PST A Mediterranean diet with large amounts of vegetables and fish gives a longer life, according to Swedish research. A number of studies since the 1950s have shown that a Mediterranean diet, based on a high consumption of fish and vegetables and a low consumption of animal-based products such as meat and milk, leads to better health.

How bacteria build homes inside healthy cells Posted: 20 Dec 2011 10:39 AM PST Bacteria are able to build camouflaged homes for themselves inside healthy cells. A team that revealed how a pair of proteins from the bacteria Legionella pneumophila, which causes Legionnaires disease, alters a host protein in order to divert raw materials within the cell for use in building and disguising a large structure that houses the bacteria as it replicates.

New take on impacts of low dose radiation Posted: 20 Dec 2011 10:39 AM PST Working with a special line of human breast cells, researchers have shown that for low dose levels of ionizing radiation cancer risks may not be directly proportional to dose. This contradicts the standard model for predicting biological damage from ionizing radiation, which holds that risk is directly proportional to dose at all levels of irradiation.

Breastfeeding promotes healthy growth Posted: 20 Dec 2011 10:39 AM PST Breastfed children follow a different growth pattern than non-breastfed children, new research shows. Breastfeeding lowers the levels of the growth hormones IGF-I and insulin in the blood, which means that growth is slightly slower. This is believed to reduce the risk of overweight and diabetes later in life.

Nanometer-scale growth of cone cells tracked in living human eye Posted: 20 Dec 2011 10:37 AM PST Vision scientists have come up with a novel way to make the measurements in a living human retina by using information hidden within a commonly used technique called optical coherence tomography.

New device for rapid, mobile detection of brain injury Posted: 20 Dec 2011 10:37 AM PST Scientists have created a handheld device capable of quickly detecting brain injuries such as hematomas. The prototype for the hematoma detection device is based on the concept of using instrumental motion as a signal in near-infrared imaging.

Scientists identify an innate function of vitamin E Posted: 20 Dec 2011 10:37 AM PST It's rubbed on the skin to reduce signs of aging and consumed by athletes to improve endurance but scientists now have the first evidence of one of vitamin E's normal body functions. The powerful antioxidant found in most foods helps repair tears in the plasma membranes that protect cells from outside forces and screen what enters and exits, new research shows.

New candidate vaccine neutralizes all tested strains of malaria parasite Posted: 20 Dec 2011 10:37 AM PST A new candidate malaria vaccine has the potential to neutralize all strains of the most deadly species of malaria parasite.

Cerebrospinal fluid test can pick up Alzheimer's before symptoms appear Posted: 20 Dec 2011 10:35 AM PST Analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid can detect whether a person has Alzheimer's disease before symptoms appear. Researchers have studied biomarkers that offer more reliable diagnosis and, in the longer term, the possibility of effective new treatments.

Turn 'signals' for neuron growth identified Posted: 20 Dec 2011 07:26 AM PST Researchers have discovered how spinning microparticles can direct the growth of nerve fiber, a discovery that could allow for directed growth of neuronal networks on a chip and improve methods for treating spinal or brain injuries.

Human skull is highly integrated: Study sheds new light on evolutionary changes Posted: 20 Dec 2011 07:22 AM PST Scientists studying a unique collection of human skulls have shown that changes to the skull shape thought to have occurred independently through separate evolutionary events may have actually precipitated each other.

The role of Internet pharmacies in prescription drug abuse Posted: 19 Dec 2011 05:38 PM PST Efforts to halt the growing abuse of prescription drugs must include addressing the availability of these drugs on the Internet and increasing physician awareness of the dangers posed by Internet pharmacies, according to experts.

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