ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• Drug shown to reverse radioiodine resistance in some advanced thyroid cancers
• Clues to childhood respiratory virus: Human metapneumovirus
• Cracking the semantic code: Half a word's meaning is 3-D summary of associated rewards
• Red brain, blue brain: Republicans and Democrats process risk differently, research finds
• Long, low intensity exercise may have more health benefits relative to short, intense workouts
• GPA may be contagious in high-school social networks
• Accelerated biological aging, seen in women with Alzheimer's risk factor, blocked by hormone therapy
• Rewiring the serotonin system
• Threat bias interacts with combat, gene to boost PTSD risk
• Blood may hold clues to risk of memory problems after menopause
• Cellular renewal process may underlie benefits of omega fatty acids
• Happily married couples consider themselves healthier, expert says
• Probiotic-derived treatment offers new hope for premature babies
• By guessing, clinicians may miss 3/4 of alcohol problems
• Gene that suppresses herpesviruses discovered
• Protein central to cancer stem cell formation provides new potential target
• Long noncoding RNAs control development of fat cells
• Scientists discover how animals taste, and avoid, high salt concentrations
• Food and beverages not likely to make breast-fed babies fussy
• Flu outbreaks modeled by new study of classroom schedules
• Pathway that stimulates bone growth uncovered
• We're emotionally distant and that's just fine by me: Closer relationships aren't necessarily better relationships
• Cocaine addiction study reveals targets for treatment
• Lovers' hearts beat in sync
• Neural basis for benefits of meditation
• Study in mice yields Angelman advance
• How unconscious processing improves decision-making
• Emerging cancer drugs may drive bone tumors
• Novel test streamlines testing for Huntington Disease
• Vitamin C is beneficial against the common cold, review suggests
• Why some people don't learn well: EEG shows insufficient processing of information to be learned

Drug shown to reverse radioiodine resistance in some advanced thyroid cancers Posted: 13 Feb 2013 02:31 PM PST Researchers have found that the investigational drug selumetinib shuts down the signaling of genetic mutations that prevent some patients' thyroid cancer tumors from absorbing radioiodine, the most effective treatment for the disease.

Clues to childhood respiratory virus: Human metapneumovirus Posted: 13 Feb 2013 02:31 PM PST New research has identified the relatively unknown human metapneumovirus (MPV) as the second most common cause of severe bronchiolitis in young children.

Cracking the semantic code: Half a word's meaning is 3-D summary of associated rewards Posted: 13 Feb 2013 02:31 PM PST Half of a word's meaning is simply a three dimensional summary of the rewards associated with it, according to an analysis of millions of blog entries undertaken by researchers.

Red brain, blue brain: Republicans and Democrats process risk differently, research finds Posted: 13 Feb 2013 02:31 PM PST A team of political scientists and neuroscientists has shown that liberals and conservatives use different parts of the brain when they make risky decisions, and these regions can be used to predict which political party a person prefers. The new study suggests that while genetics or parental influence may play a significant role, being a Republican or Democrat changes how the brain functions.

Long, low intensity exercise may have more health benefits relative to short, intense workouts Posted: 13 Feb 2013 02:31 PM PST Standing and walking for longer stretches improves insulin sensitivity and blood lipid levels more than an hour of intense exercise each day does, but only if the calories spent in both forms of exercise are similar, according to a new study from the Netherlands.

GPA may be contagious in high-school social networks Posted: 13 Feb 2013 02:31 PM PST High school students whose friends' average grade point average (GPA) is greater than their own have a tendency to increase their own GPA over the course of a year, according to new research.

Accelerated biological aging, seen in women with Alzheimer's risk factor, blocked by hormone therapy Posted: 13 Feb 2013 02:31 PM PST Healthy menopausal women carrying a well-known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease showed measurable signs of accelerated biological aging, a new study has found.

Rewiring the serotonin system Posted: 13 Feb 2013 01:57 PM PST An interdisciplinary team of researchers has found a new way to influence the vital serotonin signaling system -- possibly leading to more effective medications with fewer side effects.

Threat bias interacts with combat, gene to boost PTSD risk Posted: 13 Feb 2013 01:57 PM PST Soldiers preoccupied with threat at the time of enlistment or with avoiding it just before deployment were more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), in a study of Israeli infantrymen. Such pre-deployment threat vigilance and avoidance, interacting with combat experience and an emotion-related gene, accounted for more than a third of PTSD symptoms that emerged later. Computerized training that helps modify such attention biases might help protect soldiers from the disorder.

Blood may hold clues to risk of memory problems after menopause Posted: 13 Feb 2013 01:56 PM PST New research suggests that blood may hold clues to whether post-menopausal women may be at an increased risk for areas of brain damage that can lead to memory problems and possibly increased risk of stroke. The study shows that blood's tendency to clot may contribute to areas of brain damage called white matter hyperintensities.

Cellular renewal process may underlie benefits of omega fatty acids Posted: 13 Feb 2013 12:25 PM PST A search for genes that change their levels of expression in response to nutrient deprivation has uncovered potential clues to the mechanism underlying the health benefits of omega fatty acids. Researchers report finding that feeding omega-6 fatty acids to C. elegans roundworms or adding them to cultured human cells activates a cellular renewal process called autophagy, which may be deficient in several important diseases of aging.

Happily married couples consider themselves healthier, expert says Posted: 13 Feb 2013 12:24 PM PST An expert says that people who have happy marriages are more likely to rate their health as better as they age; aging adults whose physical health is declining could especially benefit from improving their marriages.

Probiotic-derived treatment offers new hope for premature babies Posted: 13 Feb 2013 12:21 PM PST "Good" bacteria that live in our intestines have been linked with a variety of health benefits, from fighting disease to preventing obesity. In a new study medical researchers have discovered another advantage to these friendly microscopic tenants: Chemicals secreted by good bacteria that typically live in the intestines of babies could reduce the frequency and severity of a common and often-lethal disease of premature infants.

By guessing, clinicians may miss 3/4 of alcohol problems Posted: 13 Feb 2013 10:24 AM PST Brief alcohol screening questions far outperform clinician intuition in identifying people with alcohol problems, a new study shows.

Gene that suppresses herpesviruses discovered Posted: 13 Feb 2013 10:23 AM PST Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus and Epstein-Barr virus hide within the worldwide human population. While dormant in the vast majority of those infected, these active herpesviruses can develop into several forms of cancer. In an effort to understand and eventually develop treatments for these viruses, researchers at the University of North Carolina have identified a family of human genes known as Tousled-like kinases that play a key role in the suppression and activation of these viruses.

Protein central to cancer stem cell formation provides new potential target Posted: 13 Feb 2013 10:19 AM PST Researchers have identified a pivotal protein in a cellular transformation that makes a cancer cell more resistant to treatment and more capable of growing and spreading, making it an inviting new target for drug development.

Long noncoding RNAs control development of fat cells Posted: 13 Feb 2013 10:18 AM PST Researchers report that 10 long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a vital role in the regulation of white fat cells. When each of these lncRNAs is individually knocked down, fat precursor cells fail to mature into white fat cells and have significantly reduced lipid droplets compared with white fat cells with unmodified lncRNA function.

Scientists discover how animals taste, and avoid, high salt concentrations Posted: 13 Feb 2013 10:18 AM PST Researchers have discovered how the tongue detects high concentrations of salt, the first step in a salt-avoiding behavior common to most mammals. The findings could serve as a springboard for the development of taste modulators to help control the appetite for a high-salt diet and reduce the ill effects of too much sodium.

Food and beverages not likely to make breast-fed babies fussy Posted: 13 Feb 2013 08:45 AM PST Many new moms fear that eating the wrong foods while breast-feeding will make their baby fussy. However, no sound scientific evidence exists to support claims that certain foods or beverages lead to fussiness in infants, according to a registered dietitian.

Flu outbreaks modeled by new study of classroom schedules Posted: 13 Feb 2013 07:50 AM PST Classroom rosters combined with human-networking theory may give a clearer picture of just how infectious diseases such as influenza can spread through a closed group of people, and even through populations at large. Using high-school schedule data for a community of students, teachers, and staff, scientists have developed a low-cost but effective method to determine how to focus disease-control strategies based on which individuals are most likely to spread the infection.

Pathway that stimulates bone growth uncovered Posted: 13 Feb 2013 07:50 AM PST Researchers have discovered that a protein called Jagged-1 stimulates human stem cells to differentiate into bone-producing cells. This protein could help both human and animal patients heal from bone fractures faster and may form the basis of treatments for a rare metabolic condition called Alagille syndrome.

We're emotionally distant and that's just fine by me: Closer relationships aren't necessarily better relationships Posted: 13 Feb 2013 07:50 AM PST When it comes to having a lasting and fulfilling relationship, common wisdom says that feeling close to your romantic partner is paramount. But a new study finds that it's not how close you feel that matters most, it's whether you are as close as you want to be, even if that's really not close at all.

Cocaine addiction study reveals targets for treatment Posted: 13 Feb 2013 07:07 AM PST Scientists are researching cocaine addiction, part of a widespread problem, which, along with other addictions, costs billions of dollars in damage to individuals, families, and society. Laboratory studies have revealed that the diminished brain function and learning impairment that result from cocaine addiction can be treated –– and that learning can be restored.

Lovers' hearts beat in sync Posted: 13 Feb 2013 06:32 AM PST When modern-day crooner Trey Songz sings, "Cause girl, my heart beats for you," in his romantic ballad, "Flatline," his lyrics could be telling a tale that's as much physiological as it is emotional, according to a new study that found lovers' hearts indeed beat for each other, or at least at the same rate.

Neural basis for benefits of meditation Posted: 13 Feb 2013 06:23 AM PST Mindfulness meditation training in awareness of present moment experience, such as body and breath sensations, prevents depression and reduces distress in chronic pain. Scientists have now proposed a neurophysiological framework to explain these clinical benefits.

Study in mice yields Angelman advance Posted: 13 Feb 2013 06:23 AM PST Scientists reports experiments showing how the gene defect of Angelman syndrome disrupts neurological processes that may be needed for memory and learning. In tests in mice, the team showed that a novel compound could restore the healthy processes.

How unconscious processing improves decision-making Posted: 13 Feb 2013 06:23 AM PST When faced with a difficult decision, it is often suggested to "sleep on it" or take a break from thinking about the decision to gain clarity. But new brain imaging research finds that the brain regions responsible for making decisions continue to be active even when the conscious brain is distracted with a different task. The research shows the brain unconsciously processes decision information in ways that lead to improved decision-making.

Emerging cancer drugs may drive bone tumors Posted: 13 Feb 2013 06:22 AM PST Cancer drugs should kill tumors, not encourage their spread. But new evidence suggests that an otherwise promising class of drugs may actually increase the risk of tumors spreading to bone, according to researchers.

Novel test streamlines testing for Huntington Disease Posted: 13 Feb 2013 05:24 AM PST A new test may help to streamline genetic testing for Huntington Disease (HD) by generating accurate results, avoiding unnecessary additional testing, and improving turnaround time. The test, which uses chimeric or triplet repeat primed PCR (TP PCR) methodology, yielded results that were 100% concordant with standard genotyping methods in an analysis of 246 samples. The high sensitivity and specificity of the test could reduce the number of false negative results and facilitate both diagnosis and prognosis by correctly sizing the genetic abnormality characteristic of HD.

Vitamin C is beneficial against the common cold, review suggests Posted: 13 Feb 2013 05:23 AM PST According to an updated review on vitamin C and the common cold, vitamin C seems to be particularly beneficial for people under heavy physical stress. In five randomized trials of participants with heavy short-term physical stress, vitamin C halved the incidence of the common cold. Three of the trials studied marathon runners, one studied Swiss school children in a skiing camp and one studied Canadian soldiers during a winter exercise. Furthermore, in a recent randomized trial carried out with adolescent competitive swimmers, vitamin C halved the duration of colds in males, although the vitamin had no effect on females.

Why some people don't learn well: EEG shows insufficient processing of information to be learned Posted: 13 Feb 2013 05:23 AM PST The reason why some people are worse at learning than others has been revealed. Researchers have discovered that the main problem is not that learning processes are inefficient per se, but that the brain insufficiently processes the information to be learned.

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