ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Exercise does a body -- and a mind -- good
• Chronic kidney disease a warning sign independent of hypertension or diabetes
• Biologists uncover dynamic between biological clock and neuronal activity
• Understanding how salamanders grow new limbs provides insights into potential of human regenerative medicine
• Lab encodes collagen: Program defines stable sequences for synthesis, could help fight disease, design drugs
• Isolating stem cells from brain tumors
• Language use is simpler than previously thought, study suggests
• Into the mind of the common fruit fly
• Scientists prevent heart failure in mice
• Making and breaking heterochromatin
• Human brains develop wiring slowly, differing from chimpanzees
• Mechanism that leads to sporadic Parkinson's disease identified
• Cannabinoid may treat brain cancer
• Starting to snore during pregnancy could indicate risk for high blood pressure
• Making it easier to make stem cells: Kinase inhibitors lower barrier to producing stem cells in lab
• Boosting natural marijuana-like brain chemicals treats fragile X syndrome symptoms
• High oxygen levels after surgery linked to increased long-term risk of death
• A healthy bond: By improving pain treatment, therapy in dogs, research offers medical insight for humans
• Long-term study of cigarette and waterpipe tobacco smoking shows knowledge gap in perceived health risks
• Resveratrol may preserve pain-relieving effects of morphine
• New technique for identifying proteins secreted by cells
• Cutting through the genomic thicket in search of disease variants
• Tumor cell growth does not follow a master plan
• When the 'fire brigade' arrives too late: Impaired protein degradation causes muscle diseases
• Going viral to kill zits: Scientists uncover virus with potential to stop pimples in their tracks
• Model confirms active surveillance as viable option for men with low-risk prostate cancer
• Discovery may shed light on why some HIV-positive patients have more virus
• Vitamin D deficiency increases risk of heart disease, Danish study finds
• Pacific Islanders have high obesity, smoking rates, study finds
• Near-roadway air pollution a major contributor to asthma in Los Angeles County, research finds

Exercise does a body -- and a mind -- good Posted: 25 Sep 2012 02:14 PM PDT We've heard it time and time again: exercise is good for us. And it's not just good for physical health -- research shows that daily physical activity can also boost our mental health. But what actually explains the association between exercise and mental health? Is the link physiological? Psychological? Both? A new article explores whether certain psychosocial factors may help to explain the benefits of daily physical activity for adolescents' mental health.

Chronic kidney disease a warning sign independent of hypertension or diabetes Posted: 25 Sep 2012 02:12 PM PDT New research finds the presence of chronic kidney disease itself can be a strong indicator of the risk of death and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) even in patients without hypertension or diabetes.

Biologists uncover dynamic between biological clock and neuronal activity Posted: 25 Sep 2012 02:12 PM PDT Biologists have uncovered one way that biological clocks control neuronal activity -- a discovery that sheds new light on sleep-wake cycles and offers potential new directions for research into therapies to address sleep disorders and jetlag.

Understanding how salamanders grow new limbs provides insights into potential of human regenerative medicine Posted: 25 Sep 2012 12:21 PM PDT By studying amphibians that can regenerate missing limbs, scientists have discovered that it isn't enough to activate genes that kick start the regenerative process. In fact, one of the first steps is to halt the activity of so-called jumping genes. In a new paper, researchers show that in the Mexican axolotl, jumping genes have to be shackled or they might move around in the genomes of cells in the tissue destined to become a new limb, and disrupt the process of regeneration.

Lab encodes collagen: Program defines stable sequences for synthesis, could help fight disease, design drugs Posted: 25 Sep 2012 11:37 AM PDT In a discovery with implications for drug design, tissue engineering and the treatment of disease, researchers have created a program to encode self-assembling collagen proteins.

Isolating stem cells from brain tumors Posted: 25 Sep 2012 11:37 AM PDT A new video protocol details an assay to identify brain tumor initiating stem cells from primary brain tumors. Through flow cytometry, scientists separate stem cells from the rest of the tumor, allowing quick and efficient analysis of target cells. This approach has been effectively used to identify similar stem cells in leukemia patients.

Language use is simpler than previously thought, study suggests Posted: 25 Sep 2012 11:35 AM PDT For more than 50 years, language scientists have assumed that sentence structure is fundamentally hierarchical, made up of small parts in turn made of smaller parts, like Russian nesting dolls. But a new study suggests language use is simpler than they had thought.

Into the mind of the common fruit fly Posted: 25 Sep 2012 11:35 AM PDT Although a nuisance in every home, fruit flies have made surprising contributions to medical science. Now a researcher says that they may also hold the key to the cause of Alzheimer's disease.

Scientists prevent heart failure in mice Posted: 25 Sep 2012 11:32 AM PDT Cardiac stress -- for example, a heart attack or high blood pressure -- frequently leads to pathological heart growth and subsequently to heart failure. Two tiny RNA molecules play a key role in this detrimental development in mice, as researchers have now discovered. When they inhibited one of those two specific molecules, they were able to protect the rodent against pathological heart growth and failure. With these findings, the scientists hope to be able to develop therapeutic approaches that can protect humans against heart failure.

Making and breaking heterochromatin Posted: 25 Sep 2012 11:32 AM PDT To fit the two-meter long DNA molecule into a cell nucleus that is only a few thousandths of a millimetre in size, long sections of the DNA must be strongly compacted. Epigenetic marks maintain these sections, known as heterochromatin. Scientists have now discovered two further mechanisms necessary for the formation of heterochromatin.

Human brains develop wiring slowly, differing from chimpanzees Posted: 25 Sep 2012 11:26 AM PDT Research comparing brain development in humans and our closest nonhuman primate relatives, chimpanzees, reveals how quickly myelin in the cerebral cortex grows, shedding light on the evolution of human cognitive development and the vulnerability of humans to psychiatric disorders. Myelin is the fatty insulation surrounding axon connections of the brain.

Mechanism that leads to sporadic Parkinson's disease identified Posted: 25 Sep 2012 11:25 AM PDT Researchers have identified a mechanism that appears to underlie the common sporadic (non-familial) form of Parkinson's disease, the progressive movement disorder. The discovery highlights potential new therapeutic targets for Parkinson's and could lead to a blood test for the disease. The study was based mainly on analysis of human brain tissue.

Cannabinoid may treat brain cancer Posted: 25 Sep 2012 11:25 AM PDT Researchers are evaluating the safety and tolerability of a synthetic cannabinoid called dexanabinol. Delivered as a weekly intravenous infusion, the drug is being tested in patients with all forms of brain cancer, both primary and metastatic.

Starting to snore during pregnancy could indicate risk for high blood pressure Posted: 25 Sep 2012 11:25 AM PDT A sleep-related breathing problem is associated with serious, expensive conditions like preeclampsia, gestational hypertension.

Making it easier to make stem cells: Kinase inhibitors lower barrier to producing stem cells in lab Posted: 25 Sep 2012 09:13 AM PDT Researchers have discovered several kinase inhibitors that, when added to skin cells, help generate many more induced pluripotent stem cells than the standard method. Kinase inhibitors are chemicals that hinder enzymes responsible for many aspects of cellular communication and survival. This new capability will likely speed up research in many fields, better enabling scientists to study human disease and develop new treatments.

Boosting natural marijuana-like brain chemicals treats fragile X syndrome symptoms Posted: 25 Sep 2012 09:13 AM PDT Scientists have found that increasing natural marijuana-like chemicals in the brain can help correct behavioral issues related to fragile X syndrome, the most common known genetic cause of autism.

High oxygen levels after surgery linked to increased long-term risk of death Posted: 25 Sep 2012 08:43 AM PDT Patients given high concentrations of inhaled oxygen during and after cancer surgery may be at higher long-term risk of death, according to a new report.

A healthy bond: By improving pain treatment, therapy in dogs, research offers medical insight for humans Posted: 25 Sep 2012 08:43 AM PDT From the use of hot and cold packs to new forms of narcotics, a professor is studying ways to improve post-surgery pain treatment and osteoarthritis therapy in dogs. His research may help develop better ways to treat humans for various medical conditions.

Long-term study of cigarette and waterpipe tobacco smoking shows knowledge gap in perceived health risks Posted: 25 Sep 2012 08:43 AM PDT People who smoke both cigarettes and waterpipes -- dual users -- lack sufficient knowledge about the risks of tobacco smoking and are at considerable risk for dependence and tobacco-related diseases, such as cancer, heart disease and stroke later in life, according to findings of a new study by Virginia Commonwealth University.

Resveratrol may preserve pain-relieving effects of morphine Posted: 25 Sep 2012 08:43 AM PDT Resveratrol —- the same natural polyphenol found in red wine -— preserves the potent pain-relieving effect of morphine in rats that have developed morphine tolerance, suggests a new study.

New technique for identifying proteins secreted by cells Posted: 25 Sep 2012 07:27 AM PDT Researchers have developed a new technique to identify the proteins secreted by a cell. The new approach should help researchers collect precise data on cell biology, which is critical in fields ranging from zoology to cancer research.

Cutting through the genomic thicket in search of disease variants Posted: 25 Sep 2012 06:18 AM PDT Scientists and clinicians have turned to computer tools that sift meaningful genomic variants from the glut of mutations they face. Using a new tool researchers can now improve the accuracy of their analysis.

Tumor cell growth does not follow a master plan Posted: 25 Sep 2012 06:15 AM PDT Scientists may have explained a yet unknown regulatory network that controls the growth of tumor cells. Understanding such networks is an important task in molecular tumor biology in order to decode the relationships between the determinants defining which molecules are produced and in what quantities, in both normal and tumor cells.

When the 'fire brigade' arrives too late: Impaired protein degradation causes muscle diseases Posted: 25 Sep 2012 06:15 AM PDT New insights into certain muscle diseases, the filaminopathies have just been reported.

Going viral to kill zits: Scientists uncover virus with potential to stop pimples in their tracks Posted: 25 Sep 2012 06:13 AM PDT Watch out, acne. Doctors soon may have a new weapon against zits: a harmless virus living on our skin that naturally seeks out and kills the bacteria that cause pimples.

Model confirms active surveillance as viable option for men with low-risk prostate cancer Posted: 24 Sep 2012 11:21 AM PDT

Discovery may shed light on why some HIV-positive patients have more virus Posted: 24 Sep 2012 07:25 AM PDT Biologists have unraveled the anti-viral mechanism of a human gene that may explain why some people infected with HIV have much higher amounts of virus in their bloodstreams than others.

Vitamin D deficiency increases risk of heart disease, Danish study finds Posted: 24 Sep 2012 07:25 AM PDT New research from Denmark shows that low levels of vitamin D are associated with a markedly higher risk of heart attack and early death. The study involved more than 10,000 Danes.

Pacific Islanders have high obesity, smoking rates, study finds Posted: 24 Sep 2012 07:25 AM PDT In the first study to detail the health of Pacific Islanders living in the United States, researchers have found alarmingly high rates of obesity and smoking.

Near-roadway air pollution a major contributor to asthma in Los Angeles County, research finds Posted: 24 Sep 2012 05:09 AM PDT Research indicates that at least 8 percent of the more than 300,000 cases of childhood asthma in Los Angeles County can be attributed to traffic-related pollution at homes within 75 meters (a little less than 250 feet) of a busy roadway.

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