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Easter Island Drug Improves Memory

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A drug of Polynesian origin boosts memory and learning, say researchers. University of Texas School of Medicine researchers added rapamycin, a bacterial product first isolated from soil on Easter Island, to the diet of healthy mice. The drug enhanced learning and memory in young mice and improved these faculties in old mice. "We made the young ones learn, and remember what they learned, better than what is normal," Veronica Galvan, assistant ...

Genetics can Influence Maternal Behavior

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AVPR1A gene can affect mother's behavior, say researchers. The findings, published in the latest Royal Society Biology Letters, strengthen the growing body of evidence supporting that genetics can affect parenting skills. "Based on previous studies and our current study, it is safe to say that some parental behaviours, such as sensitivity, supportiveness and responsiveness are, in part, genetically influenced," co-author Ariel Knafo told Discovery News. ...

Hong Kong: World's Best City to Live in

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According to a new ranking, Hong Kong has been ranked as the best city in the world to live in. The list of the world's best cities to live in combines Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) global 'liveability' rankings with new criteria that examine 'spatial characteristics'. According to the EIU ranking, Amsterdam was rated as the second best city followed by Osaka, Paris and Sydney. Hong Kong was rated as the best city after additional ...

Working Mothers Cook Fewer Meals: Study

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Mothers who work full time are too busy and cook fewer meals and are more likely to serve fast food as meals to their children, says study. The higher the work/life stress the less likely it is for families to eat together. Highly stressed parents are preparing only four meals a week at home, compared with 5 and half meals for those who are not stressed. Mothers who work full time spend 8.8 hours a week cooking and preparing meals, as ...

Study Finds Quiet Time, 'Brain at Rest' Important for Learning

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While quiet moments for reflection are becoming a rarity in today's busy world, a new study has suggested that the long-lost art of introspection - even daydreaming - may be an increasingly valuable part of life. Psychological scientist Mary Helen Immordino-Yang and colleagues surveyed the existing scientific literature from neuroscience and psychological science, exploring what it means when our brains are 'at rest.' In recent years, researchers have ...

Avocado, Olive Oil Triple Chances of IVF Success

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Avocados and olive oil help women having the fertility problem, say researchers. Foods typically eaten as part of the Mediterranean diet help triple the chances of success for women trying to have a baby through IVF. A study found monounsaturated fat - found in olive oil, sunflower oil, nuts and seeds - was better than any other kind of dietary fat for would-be mothers. Those who ate the highest amounts were 3.4 times more likely to ...

More About One of the Most Devastating Animal Diseases

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One of the most economically devastating diseases in the world for those who raise cows, sheep, pigs, goats, deer and other cloven-hoofed animals is foot and mouth Disease (FMD). This incredibly contagious and fast-spreading disease causes fever, blisters on the feet and mouth (hence the name), loss of appetite, drooling, and lameness. Most herds affected are culled, as in the case of the 2001 outbreak in Great Britain when over 10 million animals had to be destroyed. Traditional ...

Secret to Long Life is Looking at Bright Side of Life, Scientists Say

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Scientists say people who maintain a positive outlook, boost feelings of optimism and life satisfaction have a greater chance of living longer. Once people reach a certain age, their "will to live" is a strong predictor for survival irrespective of their age, gender or whether they suffer from two or more chronic, life-affecting illnesses. Scientists from Helsinki University looked at 400 people aged between 75 and 90 who lived independently in the ...

New Information on Brain Changes Offers Clues to the Link Between Childhood Abuse and Later Suicide

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New study on brain changes offers clues to understand how exposure to childhood maltreatment increases the risk for most psychiatric disorders as well as many negative consequences of these conditions. This new study, by Dr. Gustavo Turecki and colleagues at McGill University, Canada, provides important insight into one of the most extreme outcomes, suicide. "In this study, we expanded our previous work on the epigenetic regulation of the glucocorticoid receptor ...

Risk of Coronary Events in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients as Compared With Diabetes Patients

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Diabetes is considered to be a risk factor for coronary heart disease equivalent or similar to myocardial infarction (MI). Coronary heart disease risk equivalent is the degree of 10-year risk of developing coronary death or myocardial infarction that is equal to the risk linked to previous myocardial infarction (20%). The current study evaluated whether chronic kidney disease is also a comparable coronary heart disease risk factor. Glomerular filtration ...

Study Reports Rise in Polio Cases in Pakistan, Afghanistan

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Military conflict in Afghanistan and vaccination problems in Pakistan have led to a rise in polio cases there, posing a threat to programs aiming to eliminate the disease worldwide, a study said Wednesday. Newly introduced vaccines had the potential to eliminate polio in these countries if sufficient numbers of children could be reached, according to the paper, published in The Lancet medical journal. Last year, Pakistan reported the highest number of ...

Prescription Drug Methadone Linked to 30 Percent of Painkiller Overdose Deaths

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A report released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention linked the prescription drug methadone to over 30 percent of painkiller overdose deaths. "Death from opioid overdose have increased four-fold in the past decade, and methadone now accounts for nearly a third of opioid-associated deaths," said CDC Director Thomas Frieden. Still, the drug accounted for some two percent of total painkiller prescriptions in the US in 2009. ...

Cystic Fibrosis - New Findings

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Cystic fibrosis (CF) makes airways more acidic and reduces bacterial killing, say University of Iowa scientists. The study, published in the July 5 issue of iNature/i, shows that the thin layer of liquid coating the airways is more acidic in newborn pigs with CF than in healthy newborn pigs, and that the increased acidity (lower pH) reduces the ability of the liquid to kill bacteria. Moreover, making the airway liquid less acidic with a simple solution of ...

Sleep Bestows Benefits on Parkinson's Patients - Study

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Patients suffering from Parkinson's disease are likely to benefit from sleep, suggests new study. Sleep may improve the motor functioning of people with Parkinson's. Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurological disorder that is characterized by tremors, difficulty in co-ordination and slow movement. Another significant feature is the destruction of the dopamine- producing neurons in the brain of PD patients and the low levels of dopamine in the brain cells. ...

Platelet Drug Benefits Aplastic Anemia Patients

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Eltrombopag raises blood cell levels in people with severe aplastic anemia, say researchers. About one-third of aplastic anemia cases do not respond to standard therapy, a combination of immune-suppressing drugs. Although bone marrow stem cell transplantation is an option for some, patients without a matched donor have few treatment options. The findings of this new clinical study, carried out by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National ...

New Clues Explaining Tendon Injury Discovered

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Scientists have identified a key component of tendons which could help treat tendon disorders. The research, published in the highly regarded Royal Society journal iInterface/i today (4 July), found that a component of tendons known as the interfascicular matrix (IFM) is essential for their function. "Tendon disorders are highly debilitating and painful, and may herald the end of an Olympic athlete's career," said co-author Dr Hazel Screen, ...

Study Says Asia Spending Billions on Tutors

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Parents in Asia are spending billions of dollars on private tutors for their children, reveals study. "Shadow education" is an expanding business not only in wealthy countries but also in some of the region's poorer nations as parents try to give their children the best start in life, the Asian Development Bank said. Nearly nine out of 10 South Korean elementary pupils have private tutoring, while the figure for primary school children in India's ...

Study: Electronic Medical Record Improves Physician Compliance of Reviewing Portal Images

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According to a study the use of an electronic medical record (EMR) for reviewing portal images dramatically improves compliance with timeliness and record keeping. The study can be found in the July issue of the iJournal of the American College of Radiology/i. Portal images are used to verify the positioning of patients during daily radiation treatments to improve the accuracy of the radiation field placement, to reduce exposure to normal tissue and to deliver accurate ...

Quality of Life Declines for Parkinson's Disease Patients Years Before Diagnosis

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Parkinson's disease (PD) often starts with non-motor symptoms that precede diagnosis by several years suggests growing evidence. Researchers in the first study to examine patterns in the quality of life of Parkinson' disease patients prior to diagnosis have documented declines in physical and mental health, pain, and emotional health beginning several years before the onset of the disease and continuing thereafter. Their results are reported in the latest issue of iJournal ...

Radiologic Imaging of Otolaryngologic Disease in Children To Be Safer

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Advances in diagnostic imaging have benefited children with otolaryngologic disease. The advances help in shortening hospital stays, allowing fewer invasive procedures, targeting more surgical procedures and earlier, more precise diagnoses. According to a commentary in the July 2012 issue of IOtolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery/I despite the improved technology, concerns about exposure of children to ionizing radiation have recently come to the forefront. Children ...

Gene Variant Reduces Cholesterol by 2 Mechanisms: Research

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Increased risk for coronary heart diseases in those people with high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. A variant in the human gene encoding the protein sortilin is associated with reduced plasma LDL levels and a decreased risk of heart attack. This variant results in markedly higher sortilin protein expression in liver. Dr. Daniel Rader and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia have uncovered a two-pronged ...

Physical Activity Needed to Reap Benefits of Dietary Restriction

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In order to get the lifespan extending benefits that come from their Spartan diet fruit flies on dietary restriction (DR) need to be physically active. If we can apply the same axiom to humans then those practicing caloric restriction in hopes of living longer need to make sure they eat enough to avoid fatigue. According to research at the Buck Institute, flies on DR shift their metabolism toward increasing fatty acid synthesis and breakdown, specifically in muscle ...

Despite Being 'Bothered' by Requests Nearly 30 Percent of Teens Send Nude Pictures

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Teens are nowadays sexting at higher rates than those previously reported. Researchers found in the first study of the public health impact of teen sexting that close to 30 percent are engaging in the practice of sending nude pictures of themselves via email or text. The practice is further indicative of teens' sexual behavior overall and, particularly, girls' participation in risky sexual behaviors. These findings, from a University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston ...

Study Reveals Common Factors in Autism Spectrum Disorders, Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder

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Schizophrenia or bipolar disorder in first-degree relatives, such as parents or siblings, may be associated with increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to a report published Online First by Archives of General Psychiatry, a JAMA Network publication. Patrick F. Sullivan, M.D., F.R.A.N.Z.C.P, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and colleagues used population registers in Sweden and Israel to examine whether a family history of schizophrenia, ...

Behavioural Problems in Kids Could Turn Them into Bullies

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Children with behavioural problems can end up bullying others or be bullied themselves, reveals a recent study. The findings, published in the IJournal of School Psychology/I, highlight the complexity of bullying's nature and the challenges in addressing the problem, said lead author Susan Swearer, professor of school psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "These results paint a fairly bleak picture for students with disabilities in terms ...

Evaluating Fingolimod Therapy for MS Patients

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The medication fingolimod reduced inflammatory lesion activity and reduced brain volume loss in patients with multiple sclerosis who participated in a two-year placebo-controlled clinical trial and were assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures, according to a report published Online First by IArchives of Neurology,/I a JAMA Network publication. Fingolimod is the first in a new class of drugs called the sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor (S1PR) modulators ...

Three Factors to Measure the Seriousness of Pandemic Influenza

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Three factors may help ascertain the seriousness of an outbreak of influenza. A major collaboration between US research centers has highlighted three factors that could ultimately determine whether an outbreak of influenza becomes a serious epidemic that threatens national health. The research suggests that the numbers in current response plans could be out by a factor of two or more depending on the characteristics of the particular pandemic influenza. Researchers ...

Renewed Approach to Testing Medical Treatments

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A novel approach to test medical treatment options may be good to help patients get the most beneficial treatment for them. The approach tries to overcome a huge chicken-and-egg problem in medical research: Not enough people volunteer for studies of new treatments partly because researchers can't promise the studies will help them -- but without enough volunteers, researchers can't study new treatment options. But a new "adaptive" way of designing medical ...

Study Looks at the Part Played by Seasonal Prescribing Changes in Antibiotic Resistance

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A new study published in iClinical Infectious Diseases/i and available online shows how seasonal changes in outpatient antibiotic use - retail sales of antibiotics typically get a boost during the winter - can significantly alter seasonal patterns of drug resistance. The findings suggest that hospital campaigns to reduce inappropriate antibiotic use should be coordinated with efforts in the broader community if they are to be most effective. In the study, ...

Rare Liver and Kidney Condition Afflicts Five-year-old Girl

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At an age when children simply live on chocolates, five year old Lola Raine cannot eat chocolates as she suffers from a rare type of liver and kidney disease. If ever she eats chocolates, her potassium levels soar and this turns highly toxic for her. 'Because Lola's kidneys cannot remove waste properly, things like potassium would build up in the blood and damage the body.It means she can't eat a variety of food, including chocolate, cereals, and crisps. She's ...

Risk of Lower Reading and Math Scores in Children Born too Early

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A recent study has pointed out that children born too early may not perform all that well in school and may have lower test scores. Even though pregnancy is considered full term at 37 weeks, Doctors advice women to pull along till 39 weeks, if possible, as a lot of crucial development takes place in the last two weeks of pregnancy. The study showed that children born at 37 or 38 weeks portrayed lower achievement scores than those born at 39, 40 or 41 weeks. ...

Hospital's Indifference Led to Death of 22-year-old Footballer

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The story of Kane Gorny, 22, is yet another reminder of the disastrous consequences of negligent medical care. Kane played football with passion until he was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2009. He was on life saving steroids which also caused his bones to become weak. He needed a routine hip-replacement and during one such surgery, life just turned topsy turvy for Kane. During the investigation into his death, Kane's mother recalled how her son had made ...