ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Puzzling over links between monkey research and human health
• Discovery offers insight into treating viral stomach flu
• Autism risk gene linked to differences in brain structure
• New test may predict the possibility of a heart attack
• Inhibitor causing male pattern baldness and target for hair-loss treatments identified
• Seeing movement: Why the world in our head stays still when we move our eyes
• Computer model of spread of dementia can predict future disease patterns years before they occur in a patient
• Structure of ‘salvia’ receptor solved
• Age-old anesthesia question awakened
• Differences in brain function for children with math anxiety
• New evidence of harmfulness of second-hand smoke: Cancer causing agent present in gaseous phase of cigarette smoke
• Drug target for stimulating recovery from stroke discovered
• Study shines light on brain mechanism that controls reward enjoyment
• Brain's involvement in processing depends on language's graphic symbols
• Sharp rise in cases of new strain of whooping cough in Australia
• Alzheimer’s disease spreads through linked nerve cells, brain imaging studies suggest
• How the smell of food affects how much you eat
• Dense breasts can nearly double the risk of breast cancer recurrence
• Have I got cancer or haven’t I? Medical staff confuse women with ductal carcinoma in situ
• New hope for treating Alzheimer's Disease: A Role for the FKBP52 protein
• Marijuana-like chemicals inhibit human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in late-state AIDS
• Why getting healthy can seem worse than getting sick
• Friendly-to-a-fault, yet tense: Personality traits traced in brain
• Novel mouse model for autism yields clues to a 50-year-old mystery
• Atomic structure of molecule that binds to opioids in the brain discovered

Puzzling over links between monkey research and human health Posted: 21 Mar 2012 02:22 PM PDT Studies in monkeys are unlikely to provide reliable evidence for links between social status and heart disease in humans, according to the first ever systematic review of the relevant research.

Discovery offers insight into treating viral stomach flu Posted: 21 Mar 2012 12:26 PM PDT While researchers say that vaccines for intestinal infections are among the most difficult to develop, a recent discovery may provide the critical information needed for success. "Sometimes atomic structure gives us clues on how viruses work and how to make better vaccines," said one of the researchers.

Autism risk gene linked to differences in brain structure Posted: 21 Mar 2012 12:26 PM PDT Healthy individuals who carry a gene variation linked to an increased risk of autism have structural differences in their brains that may help explain how the gene affects brain function and increases vulnerability for autism.

New test may predict the possibility of a heart attack Posted: 21 Mar 2012 11:30 AM PDT New findings from a landmark research study shows a promising new blood test may be useful in helping doctors predict who is at risk for an imminent heart attack.

Inhibitor causing male pattern baldness and target for hair-loss treatments identified Posted: 21 Mar 2012 11:30 AM PDT Researchers have identified an abnormal amount a protein called Prostaglandin D2 in the bald scalp of men with male pattern baldness, a discovery that may lead directly to new treatments for the most common cause of hair loss in men.

Seeing movement: Why the world in our head stays still when we move our eyes Posted: 21 Mar 2012 11:29 AM PDT When observing a fly buzzing around the room, we should have the impression that it is not the fly, but rather the space that lies behind it that is moving. After all, the fly is always fixed in our central point of view. But how does the brain convey the impression of a fly in motion in a motionless field? With the help of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scientists have identified two areas of the brain that compare the movements of the eye with the visual movements cast onto the retina so as to correctly perceive objects in motion.

Computer model of spread of dementia can predict future disease patterns years before they occur in a patient Posted: 21 Mar 2012 11:20 AM PDT Researchers have developed a computer program that has tracked the manner in which different forms of dementia spread within a human brain. They say their mathematical model can be used to predict where and approximately when an individual patient's brain will suffer from the spread, neuron to neuron, of "prion-like" toxic proteins -- a process they say underlies all forms of dementia.

Structure of ‘salvia’ receptor solved Posted: 21 Mar 2012 11:20 AM PDT A research team has determined the structure of the kappa-opioid receptor—site of action of the widely abused hallucinogen Salvia divinorum – solving longstanding scientific mysteries and offering new insights for treating drug addiction, chronic pain and depression.

Age-old anesthesia question awakened Posted: 21 Mar 2012 10:21 AM PDT Why does inhaling anesthetics cause unconsciousness? New insights into this century-and-a-half-old question may spring from new research.

Differences in brain function for children with math anxiety Posted: 21 Mar 2012 10:21 AM PDT Scientists have shown for the first time how brain function differs in people who have math anxiety from those who don't. A series of scans conducted while second- and third-grade students did addition and subtraction revealed that those who feel panicky about doing math had increased activity in brain regions associated with fear, which caused decreased activity in parts of the brain involved in problem-solving.

New evidence of harmfulness of second-hand smoke: Cancer causing agent present in gaseous phase of cigarette smoke Posted: 21 Mar 2012 10:21 AM PDT Scientists have shown that a key protein involved in cell function and regulation is stopped by a substance present in cigarette smoke. The authors found a cancer-causing agent called reactive oxygen species present in the gaseous phase of cigarette smoke that has the ability to inhibit normal cell function. Exposure to secondhand smoke impaired the function of the sodium pump, necessary for healthy cell regulation.

Drug target for stimulating recovery from stroke discovered Posted: 21 Mar 2012 10:18 AM PDT Investigators have shown that removing a matched set of molecules that typically help to regulate the brain's capacity for forming and eliminating connections between nerve cells could substantially aid recovery from stroke even days after the event. In experiments with mice, the scientists demonstrated that when these molecules are not present, the mice's ability to recover from induced strokes improved significantly.

Study shines light on brain mechanism that controls reward enjoyment Posted: 21 Mar 2012 09:37 AM PDT What characterizes many people with depression, schizophrenia and some other mental illnesses is anhedonia: an inability to gain pleasure from normally pleasurable experiences. Researchers have now manipulated brain wiring to identify inner workings of reward enjoyment.

Brain's involvement in processing depends on language's graphic symbols Posted: 21 Mar 2012 07:53 AM PDT Readers whose mother tongue is Arabic have more challenges reading in Arabic than native Hebrew or English speakers have reading their native languages, because the two halves of the brain divide the labor differently when the brain processes Arabic than when it processes Hebrew or English, new research suggests.

Sharp rise in cases of new strain of whooping cough in Australia Posted: 21 Mar 2012 07:53 AM PDT Australia's prolonged whooping cough epidemic has entered a disturbing new phase, with a study showing a new strain or genotype may be responsible for the sharp rise in the number of cases.

Alzheimer’s disease spreads through linked nerve cells, brain imaging studies suggest Posted: 21 Mar 2012 07:51 AM PDT Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia may spread within nerve networks in the brain by moving directly between connected neurons, instead of in other ways proposed by scientists, such as by propagating in all directions, according to new research.

How the smell of food affects how much you eat Posted: 21 Mar 2012 06:41 AM PDT Bite size depends on the familiarly and texture of food. Smaller bite sizes are taken for foods which need more chewing and smaller bite sizes are often linked to a sensation of feeling fuller sooner. New research shows that strong aromas lead to smaller bite sizes and suggests that aroma may be used as a means to control portion size.

Dense breasts can nearly double the risk of breast cancer recurrence Posted: 21 Mar 2012 06:41 AM PDT Women aged 50 and over with breasts that have a high percentage of dense tissue are at greater risk of their breast cancer recurring, according to Swedish research.

Have I got cancer or haven’t I? Medical staff confuse women with ductal carcinoma in situ Posted: 21 Mar 2012 06:32 AM PDT Women diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) need clear communication and tailored support to enable them to understand this complex breast condition, which has divided the medical profession when it comes to its perception and prognosis, according to new research.

New hope for treating Alzheimer's Disease: A Role for the FKBP52 protein Posted: 20 Mar 2012 04:53 PM PDT New research in humans reveals that the so-called FKBP52 protein may prevent the Tau protein from turning pathogenic. This may prove significant for the development of new Alzheimer's drugs and for detecting the disease before the onset of clinical symptoms.

Marijuana-like chemicals inhibit human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in late-state AIDS Posted: 20 Mar 2012 04:52 PM PDT Marijuana-like chemicals trigger receptors on human immune cells that can directly inhibit a type of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) found in late-stage AIDS, research suggests.

Why getting healthy can seem worse than getting sick Posted: 20 Mar 2012 01:14 PM PDT A new article helps explain why the immune system often makes us worse while trying to make us well.

Friendly-to-a-fault, yet tense: Personality traits traced in brain Posted: 20 Mar 2012 11:19 AM PDT Friendly to a fault, yet tense? A personality profile marked by overly gregarious yet anxious behavior is rooted in abnormal development of a circuit hub buried deep in the front center of the brain. Brain scans pinpointed the suspect brain area in people with Williams syndrome. Matching the scans to their scores on a personality rating scale revealed that the temperament traits correlated with abnormalities in the brain structure, called the insula.

Novel mouse model for autism yields clues to a 50-year-old mystery Posted: 20 Mar 2012 08:56 AM PDT Early disruptions in serotonin signaling in the brain may contribute to autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and other "enduring effects on behavior," researchers report. The investigators previously identified genetic variations in children with ASD that disrupt the function of the serotonin transporter, which regulates the supply of serotonin. Now, they report the creation of a mouse model that expresses the most common of these variations.

Atomic structure of molecule that binds to opioids in the brain discovered Posted: 19 Mar 2012 04:42 PM PDT Scientists have for the first time determined the three-dimensional atomic structure of a human opioid receptor, a molecule on the surface of brain cells that binds to opioids and is centrally involved in pleasure, pain, addiction, depression, psychosis, and related conditions. Dozens of legal and illegal drugs, from heroin to hospital anesthetics, work by targeting these receptors. The detailed atomic structure information paves the way for the design of safer and more effective opioid drugs.

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