ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Choline supplementation during pregnancy presents a new approach to schizophrenia prevention
• Transmission of tangles in Alzheimer's mice provides more authentic model of tau pathology
• Ways to improve quality of care measurement from electronic health records identified
• New technique helps stroke victims communicate
• New genetic mutation for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis identified
• Major step toward an Alzheimer's vaccine
• Who decides in the brain? How decision-making processes are influenced by neurons
• Quantum leap in gene therapy of Duchenne muscular dystrophy
• Designer bacteria may lead to better vaccines
• Born to lead? Leadership can be an inherited trait, study finds
• Chemistry resolves toxic concerns about carbon nanotubes, experts say
• 3-D mapping of lipid orientation in biological tissues such as skin
• Some children lose autism diagnosis: Small group with confirmed autism now on par with mainstream peers
• Borderline personality disorder: The 'perfect storm' of emotion dysregulation
• Fetal exposure to PVC plastic chemical linked to obesity in offspring
• Childhood trauma leaves its mark on the brain
• Tamoxifen ameliorates symptoms of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, study suggests

Choline supplementation during pregnancy presents a new approach to schizophrenia prevention Posted: 15 Jan 2013 04:02 PM PST Choline, an essential nutrient similar to the B vitamin and found in foods such as liver, muscle meats, fish, nuts and eggs, when given as a dietary supplement in the last two trimesters of pregnancy and in early infancy, is showing a lower rate of physiological schizophrenic risk factors in infants 33 days old.

Transmission of tangles in Alzheimer's mice provides more authentic model of tau pathology Posted: 15 Jan 2013 04:02 PM PST By using synthetic fibrils made from pure recombinant protein, researchers have provided the first direct and compelling evidence that tau fibrils alone are entirely sufficient to recruit and convert soluble tau within cells into pathological clumps in neurons, followed by transmission of tau pathology to other inter-connected brain regions from a single injection site in an animal model of tau brain disease.

Ways to improve quality of care measurement from electronic health records identified Posted: 15 Jan 2013 12:35 PM PST Health care providers and hospitals are being offered up to $27 billion in federal financial incentives to use electronic health records (EHRs) in ways that demonstrably improve the quality of care. The incentives are based, in part, on the ability to electronically report clinical quality measures. By 2014, providers nationwide in the U.S. will be expected to document and report care electronically, and by 2015, they will face financial penalties if they don't meaningfully use EHRs.

New technique helps stroke victims communicate Posted: 15 Jan 2013 12:35 PM PST Researchers have developed a speech technique to aid stroke victims with aphasia.

New genetic mutation for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis identified Posted: 15 Jan 2013 11:39 AM PST Researchers have identified a new genetic mutation for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), opening the door to future targeted therapies. Medical researchers found that mutations within the ARHGEF28 gene are present in ALS. When they looked across both familial and sporadic forms of the disease, they found that virtually all cases of ALS demonstrated abnormal inclusions of the protein that arises from this gene.

Major step toward an Alzheimer's vaccine Posted: 15 Jan 2013 11:38 AM PST Medical researchers have discovered a way to stimulate the brain's natural defense mechanisms in people with Alzheimer's disease. This major breakthrough opens the door to the development of a treatment for Alzheimer's disease and a vaccine to prevent the illness.

Who decides in the brain? How decision-making processes are influenced by neurons Posted: 15 Jan 2013 09:43 AM PST Neuroscientists have shown how decision-making processes are influenced by neurons. Whether in society or nature, decisions are often the result of complex interactions between many factors. Because of this it is usually difficult to determine how much weight the different factors have in making a final decision. Neuroscientists face a similar problem since decisions made by the brain always involve many neurons.

Quantum leap in gene therapy of Duchenne muscular dystrophy Posted: 15 Jan 2013 08:17 AM PST For years, scientists have been working to find the key to restoring dystrophin, but they have faced many challenges. After careful evaluation of 22 dogs, researchers found that the new version of the micro-dystrophin gene not only reduced inflammation and fibrosis, it also effectively improved muscle strength.

Designer bacteria may lead to better vaccines Posted: 15 Jan 2013 08:17 AM PST The 61 strains of E. coli are part of a new class of biological "adjuvants" that is poised to transform vaccine design. Adjuvants are substances added to vaccines to boost the human immune response.

Born to lead? Leadership can be an inherited trait, study finds Posted: 15 Jan 2013 08:15 AM PST Genetic differences are significantly associated with the likelihood that people take on managerial responsibilities, according to new research.

Chemistry resolves toxic concerns about carbon nanotubes, experts say Posted: 15 Jan 2013 08:15 AM PST Safety fears about carbon nanotubes, due to their structural similarity to asbestos, have been alleviated following research showing that reducing their length removes their toxic properties.

3-D mapping of lipid orientation in biological tissues such as skin Posted: 15 Jan 2013 08:15 AM PST A non-invasive method that makes it possible to observe in situ how assemblies of lipids are oriented in biological tissues, and which does not require any labeling or preparation,  has been developed. The work should enable the detection and characterization of certain pathologies associated with molecular disorders in the skin or in the nervous tissue.

Some children lose autism diagnosis: Small group with confirmed autism now on par with mainstream peers Posted: 15 Jan 2013 07:15 AM PST Some children who are accurately diagnosed in early childhood with autism lose the symptoms and the diagnosis as they grow older, a new study has confirmed. The research team made the finding by carefully documenting a prior diagnosis of autism in a small group of school-age children and young adults with no current symptoms of the disorder.

Borderline personality disorder: The 'perfect storm' of emotion dysregulation Posted: 15 Jan 2013 07:14 AM PST Originally, the label "borderline personality disorder" was applied to patients who were thought to represent a middle ground between patients with neurotic and psychotic disorders.  Increasingly, though, this area of research has focused on the heightened emotional reactivity observed in patients carrying this diagnosis, as well as the high rates with which they also meet diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder and mood disorders.

Fetal exposure to PVC plastic chemical linked to obesity in offspring Posted: 15 Jan 2013 06:02 AM PST Exposing pregnant mice to low doses of the chemical tributyltin -- which is used in marine hull paint and PVC plastic -- can lead to obesity for multiple generations without subsequent exposure, a new study has found.

Childhood trauma leaves its mark on the brain Posted: 15 Jan 2013 06:02 AM PST Scientists have found evidence that psychological wounds inflicted when young leave lasting biological traces -- and a predisposition toward violence later in life.

Tamoxifen ameliorates symptoms of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, study suggests Posted: 15 Jan 2013 05:58 AM PST A new study has found that tamoxifen, a well-known breast cancer drug, can counteract some pathological features in a mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). At present, no treatment is known to produce long-term improvement of the symptoms in boys with DMD, a debilitating muscular disorder that is characterized by progressive muscle wasting, respiratory and cardiac impairments, paralysis, and premature death.

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