ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Music training has biological impact on aging process
• Ferroelectric switching discovered for first time in soft biological tissue
• Addicts' cravings have different roots in men and women
• Early intervention may curb dangerous college drinking
• Alcohol and your heart: Friend or foe?
• Divorce hurts health more at earlier ages
• Cutting off the oxygen supply to serious diseases
• Genetic breakthrough for brain cancer in children
• Need muscle for a tough spot? Turn to fat stem cells
• Processes leading to acute myeloid leukemia discovered
• Targeted DNA vaccine using an electric pulse
• How bacteria behind serious childhood disease evolve to evade vaccines
• Mutation drives viral sensors to initiate autoimmune disease

Music training has biological impact on aging process Posted: 30 Jan 2012 02:24 PM PST Age-related delays in neural timing are not inevitable and can be avoided or offset with musical training, according to the first study to provide biological evidence that lifelong musical experience impacts the aging process. Measuring automatic brain responses of younger and older musicians and non-musicians to speech sounds, researchers found older musicians not only outperformed older non-musicians, they also encoded sound stimuli as quickly and accurately as younger non-musicians.

Ferroelectric switching discovered for first time in soft biological tissue Posted: 30 Jan 2012 02:01 PM PST The walls of the aorta, the largest blood vessel carrying blood from the heart, exhibits a response to electric fields known to exist in inorganic and synthetic materials. The discovery could have implications for treating human heart disease.

Addicts' cravings have different roots in men and women Posted: 30 Jan 2012 10:15 AM PST A new brain imaging study suggests stress robustly activates areas of the brain associated with craving in cocaine-dependent women, while drug cues activate similar brain regions in cocaine-dependent men. The study suggests men and women with cocaine dependence might benefit more from different treatment options.

Early intervention may curb dangerous college drinking Posted: 30 Jan 2012 10:12 AM PST The first few weeks of college are a critical time in shaping students' drinking habits. Now researchers have a tailored approach that may help prevent students from becoming heavy drinkers.

Alcohol and your heart: Friend or foe? Posted: 30 Jan 2012 10:11 AM PST A meta-analysis of the relationship between alcohol consumption and heart disease provides new insight into the long-held belief that drinking a glass of red wine a day can help protect against heart disease.

Divorce hurts health more at earlier ages Posted: 30 Jan 2012 10:11 AM PST Divorce at a younger age hurts people's health more than divorce later in life, according to a new study.

Cutting off the oxygen supply to serious diseases Posted: 30 Jan 2012 10:04 AM PST A new family of proteins which regulate the human body's 'hypoxic response' to low levels of oxygen has been discovered.

Genetic breakthrough for brain cancer in children Posted: 30 Jan 2012 07:25 AM PST Scientists have made a major genetic breakthrough that could change the way pediatric cancers are treated in the future. The researchers identified two genetic mutations responsible for up to 40 per cent of glioblastomas in children. The mutations were found to be involved in DNA regulation, which could explain the resistance to traditional treatments, and may have significant implications on the treatment of other cancers.

Need muscle for a tough spot? Turn to fat stem cells Posted: 30 Jan 2012 06:43 AM PST Stem cells derived from fat have a surprising trick up their sleeves: Encouraged to develop on a stiff surface, they undergo a remarkable transformation toward becoming mature muscle cells. The new cells remain intact and fused together even when transferred to an extremely stiff, bone-like surface, which has bioengineers intrigued. These cells, they suggest, could hint at new therapeutic possibilities for muscular dystrophy.

Processes leading to acute myeloid leukemia discovered Posted: 30 Jan 2012 06:43 AM PST Researchers have discovered a molecular pathway that may explain how a particularly deadly form of cancer develops. The discovery may lead to new cancer therapies that reprogram cells instead of killing them.

Targeted DNA vaccine using an electric pulse Posted: 30 Jan 2012 06:36 AM PST The vaccines of the future against infections, influenza and cancer can be administered using an electrical pulse and a specially-produced DNA code, new research suggests. The DNA code programs the body's own cells to produce a super-fast missile defense against the disease, researchers say.

How bacteria behind serious childhood disease evolve to evade vaccines Posted: 29 Jan 2012 12:10 PM PST Genetics has provided surprising insights into why vaccines used in both the UK and US to combat serious childhood infections can eventually fail. The study, which investigates how bacteria change their disguise to evade the vaccines, has implications for how future vaccines can be made more effective.

Mutation drives viral sensors to initiate autoimmune disease Posted: 26 Jan 2012 09:36 AM PST A new study uses a mouse model of a human autoimmune disease to reveal how abnormal regulation of the intracellular sensors that detect invading viruses can lead to autoimmune pathology. The research provides key insight into mechanisms that underlie the development of autoimmune disease and may lead to more effective strategies for therapeutic intervention.

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