ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Are Americans ready to solve the weight of the nation?
• Drug combo better for common type of metastatic breast cancer, study suggests
• Teen survival expectations predict later risk-taking behavior
• Molecular switch identified that controls key cellular process: Gives insight into cancer
• Coffee may help some Parkinson's disease movement symptoms, research suggests
• Peptide controls blood sugar in people with congenital hyperinsulinism, pilot study suggests
• Adolescents' personalities and coping habits affect social behaviors
• Forget blizzards and hurricanes, heat waves are to die for
• Brain imaging can predict how intelligent you are: 'Global brain connectivity' explains 10 percent of variance in individual intelligence
• Recurring shoulder instability injuries likely among young athletes playing contact sports
• Unique cell type in implicated in multiple sclerosis
• Reviled substance involved in Alzheimer's can reverse paralysis in mice with multiple sclerosis
• Jailhouse phone calls reveal when domestic abusers most likely to attack
• Running mechanics, not metabolism, are the key to performance for elite sprinters
• More code cracking: Three related studies help uncover the rules governing gene transcription
• Potential cancer roadblock found
• Discovering new uses for old drugs
• Artificial butter flavoring ingredient linked to key Alzheimer's disease process
• Difficult to diagnose cases of infectious endocarditis solved with SPECT/CT imaging agent
• New treatment target for deadly brain tumors
• Promising step forward toward muscular dystrophy treatment: Symptoms reversed in mice
• HIV-infected T cells help transport the virus throughout the body
• Americans gaining more weight than they say
• Childhood defiance correlated with drug dependence
• Gene network restores cystic fibrosis protein function
• Fruit flies on methamphetamine die largely as a result of anorexia
• Molecular link between circadian clock disturbances and inflammatory diseases discovered
• Strangers on a bus: Study reveals lengths commuters go to avoid each other
• Sleep affects potency of vaccines

Are Americans ready to solve the weight of the nation? Posted: 01 Aug 2012 03:51 PM PDT Public health researchers have examined how recommendations in a new report from the Institute of Medicine -- "Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention: Solving the Weight of the Nation" -- square with American's opinions about the obesity epidemic.

Drug combo better for common type of metastatic breast cancer, study suggests Posted: 01 Aug 2012 03:51 PM PDT Postmenopausal women with the most common type of metastatic breast cancer now have a new treatment option that lengthens their lives.

Teen survival expectations predict later risk-taking behavior Posted: 01 Aug 2012 03:51 PM PDT Some young people's expectations that they will not live long, healthy lives may actually foreshadow such outcomes.

Molecular switch identified that controls key cellular process: Gives insight into cancer Posted: 01 Aug 2012 01:55 PM PDT Scientists discovered a critical molecular switch that regulates autophagy. They also studied the links between autophagy and a cellular process called senescence that stops cell growth permanently.

Coffee may help some Parkinson's disease movement symptoms, research suggests Posted: 01 Aug 2012 01:53 PM PDT While drinking caffeine each day does not appear to help improve sleepiness among people with Parkinson's disease, it may have a benefit in controlling movement, according to new research.

Peptide controls blood sugar in people with congenital hyperinsulinism, pilot study suggests Posted: 01 Aug 2012 01:53 PM PDT A pilot study in adolescents and adults has found that an investigational drug shows promise as the first potential medical treatment for children with the severest type of congenital hyperinsulinism.

Adolescents' personalities and coping habits affect social behaviors Posted: 01 Aug 2012 12:48 PM PDT A new study by a human development expert describes how adolescents' developing personalities and coping habits affect their behaviors toward others.

Forget blizzards and hurricanes, heat waves are to die for Posted: 01 Aug 2012 12:47 PM PDT When it comes to gnarly weather, tornadoes, blizzards and hurricanes seem to get most of our attention, perhaps because their destructive power makes for imagery the media can't ignore. But for sheer killing power, heat waves do in far more people than even the most devastating hurricane.

Brain imaging can predict how intelligent you are: 'Global brain connectivity' explains 10 percent of variance in individual intelligence Posted: 01 Aug 2012 12:47 PM PDT New research suggests that as much as 10 percent of individual differences in intelligence can be explained by the strength of neural pathways connecting the left lateral prefrontal cortex to the rest of the brain.

Recurring shoulder instability injuries likely among young athletes playing contact sports Posted: 01 Aug 2012 11:37 AM PDT Summer is a peak season for many sports, and with that comes sport-related injuries. Among those injuries is shoulder joint dislocation.

Unique cell type in implicated in multiple sclerosis Posted: 01 Aug 2012 11:37 AM PDT Researchers have found evidence that a unique type of immune cell contributes to multiple sclerosis (MS). Their discovery helps define the effects of one of the newest drugs under investigation for treating MS -- daclizumab -- and could lead to a new class of drugs for treating MS and other autoimmune disorders.

Reviled substance involved in Alzheimer's can reverse paralysis in mice with multiple sclerosis Posted: 01 Aug 2012 11:37 AM PDT A molecule widely assailed as the chief culprit in Alzheimer's disease unexpectedly reverses paralysis and inflammation in several distinct animal models of a different disorder -- multiple sclerosis, researchers have found.

Jailhouse phone calls reveal when domestic abusers most likely to attack Posted: 01 Aug 2012 11:35 AM PDT An analysis of jailhouse phone calls between men charged with felony domestic violence and their victims allowed researchers for the first time to see exactly what triggered episodes of violent abuse.

Running mechanics, not metabolism, are the key to performance for elite sprinters Posted: 01 Aug 2012 10:27 AM PDT Contrary to traditional scientific understanding, sprint and endurance exercise differ fundamentally in the relationship between exercise mechanics, metabolism and performance, according to new research. Prevailing theory holds that the availability of metabolic energy limits the performance of sprinters and endurance runners alike. But new findings indicate that sprinting performance is limited by musculoskeletal forces and the rapidity with which those forces are impaired by fatigue.

More code cracking: Three related studies help uncover the rules governing gene transcription Posted: 01 Aug 2012 10:27 AM PDT A trio of groundbreaking publications report important methodological advances that will enable a better understanding of how gene expression is regulated, both in normal cells and in cancer cells. This knowledge could lead to the development of more effective therapeutic agents to treat cancer patients. The three studies focus on nucleosomes, a basic unit of DNA packaging, and may help to uncover the rules governing gene transcription.

Potential cancer roadblock found Posted: 01 Aug 2012 10:27 AM PDT By identifying a key protein that tells certain breast cancer cells when and how to move, researchers hope to better understand the process by which breast cancer spreads, or metastasizes.

Discovering new uses for old drugs Posted: 01 Aug 2012 10:26 AM PDT With the cost of putting a single new drug on the pharmacy shelves topping a staggering one billion dollars, scientists are reporting development of a way to determine if an already-approved drug might be used to treat a different disease. The technique for re-purposing existing medicines could cut drug development costs and make new medicine available to patients faster.

Artificial butter flavoring ingredient linked to key Alzheimer's disease process Posted: 01 Aug 2012 10:26 AM PDT A new study raises concern about chronic exposure of workers in industry to a food flavoring ingredient used to produce the distinctive buttery flavor and aroma of microwave popcorn, margarines, snack foods, candy, baked goods, pet foods and other products. It found evidence that the ingredient, diacetyl, intensifies the damaging effects of an abnormal brain protein linked to Alzheimer's disease.

Difficult to diagnose cases of infectious endocarditis solved with SPECT/CT imaging agent Posted: 01 Aug 2012 10:25 AM PDT When combined with standard diagnostic tests, functional imaging procedures have been shown to reduce the rate of misdiagnosed cases of infectious endocarditis.

New treatment target for deadly brain tumors Posted: 01 Aug 2012 10:25 AM PDT Scientists provide new insight into why the most common, deadly kind of brain tumor in adults recurs and identify a potential target for future therapies.

Promising step forward toward muscular dystrophy treatment: Symptoms reversed in mice Posted: 01 Aug 2012 10:24 AM PDT Scientists have reversed symptoms of myotonic muscular dystrophy in mice by eliminating a buildup of toxic RNA in muscle cells. After experimental antisense compounds were administered to mice twice a week for four weeks, symptoms of the disease were reduced for up to one year -- a significant portion of a mouse's lifespan. Investigators say that the work is an encouraging step forward against one of the most common forms of muscular dystrophy.

HIV-infected T cells help transport the virus throughout the body Posted: 01 Aug 2012 10:24 AM PDT A new study has discovered one more way the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) exploits the immune system. Not only does HIV infect and destroy CD4-positive helper T cells -- which normally direct and support the infection-fighting activities of other immune cells -- the virus also appears to use those cells to travel through the body and infect other CD4 T cells.

Americans gaining more weight than they say Posted: 01 Aug 2012 08:35 AM PDT Despite the increasing awareness of the problem of obesity in the United States, most Americans don't know whether they are gaining or losing weight, according to new research. Obesity increased in the US between 2008 and 2009, but in response to the questions about year-to-year changes in weight that were included in the most widespread public health survey, on average, people said that they lost weight.

Childhood defiance correlated with drug dependence Posted: 01 Aug 2012 08:26 AM PDT Childhood defiance is correlated with drug dependence whereas inattention suggests a susceptibility to smoking.

Gene network restores cystic fibrosis protein function Posted: 01 Aug 2012 06:38 AM PDT Researchers have discovered a genetic process that can restore function to a defective protein, which is the most common cause of cystic fibrosis.

Fruit flies on methamphetamine die largely as a result of anorexia Posted: 01 Aug 2012 06:38 AM PDT A new study finds that, like humans, fruit flies exposed to methamphetamine drastically reduce their food intake and increase their physical activity. The study, which tracked metabolic and behavioral changes in fruit flies on meth, indicates that starvation is a primary driver of methamphetamine-related death in the insects.

Molecular link between circadian clock disturbances and inflammatory diseases discovered Posted: 01 Aug 2012 06:38 AM PDT Scientists have known for some time that throwing off the body's circadian rhythm can negatively affect body chemistry. In fact, workers whose sleep-wake cycles are disrupted by night shifts are more susceptible to chronic inflammatory diseases such as diabetes, obesity and cancer.

Strangers on a bus: Study reveals lengths commuters go to avoid each other Posted: 01 Aug 2012 06:36 AM PDT You're on the bus, and one of the only free seats is next to you. How, and why, do you stop another passenger sitting there? New research reveals the tactics commuters use to avoid each other, a practice the article describes as 'nonsocial transient behavior.'

Sleep affects potency of vaccines Posted: 01 Aug 2012 06:34 AM PDT As moms have always known, a good night's sleep is crucial to good health -- and now a new study shows that poor sleep can reduce the effectiveness of vaccines.

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