Don't worry, be happy, research suggestsCould the pursuit of happiness go too far" Most self-help books on the subject offer tips on how to maximize ones bliss, but a new study suggests that moderate happiness may be preferable to full-fledged elation.
The researchers, from the University of Virginia, the University of Illinois and Michigan State University, looked at data from the World Values Survey, a large-scale analysis of economic, social, political and religious influences........Go to the Psychology news blog (Added on 1/24/2008 11:06:56 PM)
Popular Arthritis Drug May Disrupt Heart RhythmCelebrex, a popular arthritis drug that blocks pain by inhibiting an enzyme known as COX-2, has been shown in laboratory studies to induce arrhythmia, or irregular beating of the heart, via a novel pathway uncorrelation to its COX-2 inhibition.
University at Buffalo scientists discovered this unexpected finding while conducting basic research on potassium channels.
They observed that low concentrations of the drug, corresponding to a........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 1/24/2008 10:46:31 PM)
Questions About Diagnosis, Medical Treatment Of ADHDA new UCLA study shows that only about half of children diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, exhibit the cognitive defects usually linked to the condition.
The study also observed that in populations where medicine is rarely prescribed to treat ADHD, the prevalence and symptoms of the disorder are roughly equivalent to populations in which medicine is widely used.
The results of the first large, longitudinal........Go to the Psychology news blog (Added on 1/22/2008 11:07:45 PM)
New technology sharpens X-ray visionScientists at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) and the EPFL in Switzerland have developed a novel method for producing dark-field x-ray images at wavelengths used in typical medical and industrial imaging equipment.
Dark-field images provide more detail than ordinary x-ray radiographs and could be used to diagnose the onset of osteoporosis, breast cancer or Alzheimers disease, to identify explosives in hand luggage, or to pinpoint hairline........Go to the Society medical news blog (Added on 1/21/2008 9:20:06 PM)
Caffeine's link to miscarriageHigh doses of daily caffeine during pregnancy whether from coffee, tea, caffeinated soda or hot chocolate -- cause an increased risk of miscarriage, according a new study by the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. The study controlled, for the first time, pregnancy-related symptoms of nausea, vomiting and caffeine aversion that tended to interfere with the determination of caffeines true effect on miscarriage risk. The research appears in........Go to the OBGYN news blog (Added on 1/21/2008 8:48:14 PM)
Studies highlight MRSA evolution and resilienceCommunity-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) infections are caused primarily by a single strainUSA300of an evolving bacterium that has spread with extraordinary transmissibility throughout the United States during the past five years, as per a new study led by National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists. CA-MRSA, an emerging public health concern, typically causes readily treatable soft-tissue infections such as........Go to the Infectious disease blog (Added on 1/21/2008 8:34:22 PM)
Infections rates of breast surgeryInfections at the incision site occurred in more than 5 percent of patients following breast surgery and cost them more than $4,000 each in hospital-related expenses, as per a report in the recent issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Reported surgical site infection rates following mastectomy (surgical removal of the breast) and other breast procedures range from 1 percent to 28 percent, as per background........Go to the Breast-cancer-blog (Added on 1/21/2008 8:15:05 PM)
A new view of drugs used to treat rheumatoid arthritisPowerful drugs used to treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis have a profound, previously unrecognized effect on the immune system, breaking up molecular training camps for rogue cells that play an increasingly recognized role in autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.
A team of physicians and researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center reports that drugs known as anti-TNF compounds which include drugs such........Go to the Rheumatology news blog (Added on 1/21/2008 8:06:26 PM)
Pros, cons of drug to prevent prostate cancerFindings by UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists encourage men to weigh both the potential benefits and side effects of the drug finasteride before taking it to prevent prostate cancer.
In todays online issue of Cancer, UT Southwestern doctors analyzed data gathered by the National Cancer Institutes Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial, or PCPT. The trial, which began in October 1993, was designed to test whether finasteride could prevent........Go to the Prostate-cancer-blog (Added on 1/21/2008 7:59:34 PM)
Do Today's Young People Really Think They Are So Extraordinary?When asked about the state of today's youth, former president Jimmy Carter recently mused "I've been a professor at Emory University for the past twenty years and I interrelate with a wide range of students.I don't detect that this generation is any more committed to personal gain to the exclusion of benevolent causes than others have been in the past".
Now research is beginning to support this notion. An article appearing in the recent........Go to the Society medical news blog (Added on 1/17/2008 9:54:31 PM)
Next Generation Optical FibresResearchers have discovered a way of speeding up the production of hollow-core optical fibres - a new generation of optical fibres that could lead to faster and more powerful computing and telecommunications technologies.
The procedure, described today in the journal Optics Express, cuts the production time of hollow-core optical fibres from around a week to a single day, reducing the overall cost of fabrication.
Initial tests show that........Go to the Ophthalmology news blog (Added on 1/17/2008 9:30:10 PM)
opening door to 'personalized' asthma therapy In the last few years, personalized medicine using genetic or other molecular biology-based diagnostic tests to customize therapy for a particular patient has emerged as a powerful new tool for health care.
Therapy guided by genetic testing has proven highly successful in treating some types of leukemia and breast and lung cancer. Similar personalized therapies are on the horizon for other types of cancer, as well as diabetes, heart........Go to the Allergy news blog (Added on 1/17/2008 8:40:06 PM)
Aggression as rewarding as sex, food and drugsNew research from Vanderbilt University shows for the first time that the brain processes aggression as a reward - much like sex, food and drugs - offering insights into our propensity to fight and our fascination with violent sports like boxing and football.
The research will be published online the week of Jan. 14 by the journal Psychopharmacology.
Aggression occurs among virtually all vertebrates and is necessary to get and keep........Go to the Psychology news blog (Added on 1/14/2008 5:16:24 PM)
Decision-making deficits in older adultsWe often read or hear stories about elderly adults being conned out of their life savings, but are older individuals really more susceptible to fraud than younger adults? And, if so, how exactly does aging affect judgment and decision-making abilities?
Recent work led by University of Iowa neuroscientist Natalie Denburg, Ph.D., suggests that for a significant number of elderly adults, measurable neuropsychological deficits do seem to lead to........Go to the Psychology news blog (Added on 1/14/2008 5:13:08 PM)
Weight-loss Tips Differ In African-americanMagazines catering to African-Americans may be falling short in their efforts to educate readers about weight loss, a new University of Iowa study suggests.
African-American women's magazines are more likely to encourage fad diets and reliance on faith to lose weight, while mainstream women's magazines focus more on evidence-based diet strategies, as per the study by UI researcher Shelly Campo, published in a recent issue of the journal........Go to the Weight watcher's blog (Added on 1/14/2008 5:02:39 PM)
Anyone can save a lifeAnyone can save a life. Thats the message from physicians at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Benjamin S. Abella, MD, MPhil, Clinical Research Director of Penns Center for Resuscitation Science and Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, says bystanders can play a critical role in saving lives by performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation during the 150,000 cardiac arrests that occur each year outside of hospitals in the........Go to the Society medical news blog (Added on 1/14/2008 4:55:28 PM)
Warning over severe weight loss caused by chewing gumIn this weeks BMJ, doctors warn of excess sorbitol intake, a widely used sweetener in sugar-free products such as chewing gum and sweets.
Sorbitol has laxative properties and is poorly absorbed by the small intestine.
Their advice follows the cases of two patients with chronic diarrhoea, abdominal pain and severe weight loss. Eventhough extensive investigations were carried out, final diagnosis was only established after detailed analysis........Go to the Weight watcher's blog (Added on 1/10/2008 11:08:04 PM)
Pancreatic cancer cells evade immune systemA protein that helps prevent a womans body from rejecting a fetus may also play an important role in enabling pancreas cancer cells to evade detection by the immune system, allowing them to spread in the body.
Scientists at Jeffersons Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia observed that the metastatic cancer cells in the lymph nodes of patients with pancreas cancer produce enough of the protein, IDO, to essentially wall-off the immune systems........Go to the Pancreatic cancer blog (Added on 1/10/2008 10:35:24 PM)
Challenge previous findings regarding asthma treatmentA new study published recently in The Lancet reveals that one of the most usually used asthma medicines -- long-acting beta-agonists -- may not be linked to adverse events in people based on their genotype (gene variation), as prior studies had shown.
The study analyzed the effects of long-acting beta-agonist treatment, used in combination with inhaled corticosteroids, in asthmatics who have a specific beta-2 adrenergic receptor (ADRB2)........Go to the Allergy news blog (Added on 1/10/2008 10:30:54 PM)
When shorter waits increase stressPeople hate to wait, says common customer service insight. Marketers will hype their earnest attempts to shorten waiting times or at least promise to provide customers with information or distractions to make the waiting time more palatable. However, when it comes to waiting for stressful events, such as a doctors appointments or a job interview, these types of well-meaning wait management strategies may backfire. New research reported in the........Go to the Psychology news blog (Added on 1/8/2008 9:14:26 PM)
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Marijuana withdrawal as bad as withdrawal from cigarettesResearch by a group of researchers studying the effects of heavy marijuana use suggests that withdrawal from the use of marijuana is similar to what is experienced by people when they quit smoking cigarettes. Abstinence from each of these drugs appears to cause several common symptoms, such as irritability, anger and trouble sleeping - based on self reporting in a recent study of 12 heavy users of both marijuana and cigarettes.
These results........Go to the Psychology news blog (Added on 1/24/2008 10:55:19 PM)
Camera in a pillWhat if swallowing a pill with a camera could detect the earliest signs of cancer? The tiny camera is designed to take high-quality, color pictures in confined spaces. Such a device could find warning signs of esophageal cancer, the fastest growing cancer in the United States.
A fundamentally new design has created a smaller endoscope that is more comfortable for the patient and cheaper to use than current technology. Its first use on a........Go to the GI news blog (Added on 1/24/2008 10:41:08 PM)
Daily exercise dramatically lowers men's death ratesIncreased exercise capacity reduces the risk of death in African-American and Caucasian men, scientists reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
The government-supported Veterans Affairs study included 15,660 participants and is the largest known to assess the link between fitness and mortality.
It is important to emphasize that it takes relatively moderate levels of physical activity like brisk walking to........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 1/22/2008 11:10:18 PM)
A good fight may keep you and your marriage healthyA good fight with your spouse may be good for your health, research suggests.
Couples in which both the husband and wife suppress their anger when one attacks the other die earlier than members of couples where one or both partners express their anger and resolve the conflict, as per preliminary results of a University of Michigan study.
Scientists looked at 192 couples over 17 years and placed the couples into one of four categories:........Go to the Psychology news blog (Added on 1/22/2008 10:58:01 PM)
Pharmaceutical market fails pregnant womenThe existing research and development and business model of the pharmaceutical industry is failing pregnant women, according a policy paper published this week in PLoS Medicine. In their analysis of an industry database that tracks drugs under development since 1981, Imperial College Londons Nick Fisk (Professor of Fetal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine) and Rifat, Atun (Professor of International Health Management, Tanaka Business School) show........Go to the OBGYN news blog (Added on 1/21/2008 8:37:34 PM)
Saline nasal wash helps improve children's cold symptomsA saline nasal wash solution made from processed seawater appears to improve nasal symptoms and may help prevent the recurrence of respiratory infections when used by children with the common cold, as per a report in the recent issue of Archives of Otolaryngology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Infections of the upper respiratory tract and sinus infections are common among children, as per background information in the article. Nasal........Go to the ENT news blog (Added on 1/21/2008 8:28:34 PM)
Change in trauma level designation and survivalDeath rates among patients admitted to a Colorado trauma center appeared to decrease after the centers designation was upgraded, as per a report in the recent issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Trauma centers are accredited through the American College of Surgeons, as per background information in the article. Level designations are based on factors such as surgeon and nurse availability, protocols and research.........Go to the Society medical news blog (Added on 1/21/2008 8:24:08 PM)
Melanomas may appear different than other molesA preliminary study suggests that melanomas have a different appearance than other irregular skin moles (i.e., are ugly ducklings), as per a report in the recent issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Rates of cancerous melanoma continue to increase, and early identification allows surgeons to treat the disease by removing the tumor, as per background information in the article. The disease is more common in........Go to the Skin news blog (Added on 1/21/2008 8:09:59 PM)
Value of drugs for pre-osteoporosis exaggeratedA series of recent scientific publications have exaggerated the benefits and underplayed the harms of drugs to treat pre-osteoporosis or osteopenia potentially encouraging therapy in millions of low risk women, warn experts in this weeks BMJ.
The authors think that this represents a classic case of disease-mongering: a risk factor being transformed into a medical disease in order to sell tests and drugs to relatively healthy people.
........Go to the Society medical news blog (Added on 1/17/2008 10:22:03 PM)
ESF's workshop restores good name of sugarSugars were once credited with magical healing powers but are now seen like salt as an evil necessary in small doses but the cause of numerous diseases such as diabetes if taken in excess. Yet latest research suggests this view ignores the vital role played by more complex sugars in a number of biological structures, and the great therapeutic potential they have.
This all emerged in a recent workshop organised by the European Science........Go to the Weight watcher's blog (Added on 1/17/2008 10:14:42 PM)
Contact lenses with circuitsMovie characters from the Terminator to the Bionic Woman use bionic eyes to zoom in on far-off scenes, have useful facts pop into their field of view, or create virtual crosshairs. Off the screen, virtual displays have been proposed for more practical purposes -- visual aids to help vision-impaired people, holographic driving control panels and even as a way to surf the Web on the go.
The device to make this happen may be familiar. Engineers........Go to the Ophthalmology news blog (Added on 1/17/2008 9:25:46 PM)
Got carrots?A specially developed carrot has been produced to help people absorb more calcium.
Scientists at Texas A&M AgriLifes Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center studied the calcium intake of humans who ate the carrot and found a net increase in calcium absorption. The research, which was done in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine, means adding this carrot to the diet can help prevent such diseases as osteoporosis.
If you eat a........Go to the Society medical news blog (Added on 1/14/2008 5:27:36 PM)
How allergic reactions are triggeredIn demonstrating that a group of calcium ion channels play a crucial role in triggering inflammatory responses, scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have not only solved a longstanding molecular mystery regarding the onset of asthma and allergy symptoms, but have also provided a fundamental discovery regarding the functioning of mast cells. Their findings are reported in the January 2008 issue of Nature Immunology.
A........Go to the Allergy news blog (Added on 1/14/2008 5:18:28 PM)
Fish oil: Helpful or harmful?Fish oil supplements may help some cardiac patients while harming others, suggests a new review of evidence compiled by St. Michaels Hospital and University of Toronto researchers.
In a systematic review of trials where patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators used fish oil supplements, Dr. David Jenkins and Dr. Paul Dorian found significant differences among the trials, indicating fish oil may be beneficial to some patients........Go to the Heart-watch-blog (Added on 1/14/2008 5:05:53 PM)
Body weight influenced by thousands of genesReporting in the online journal BMC Genetics, scientists from the Monell Center have for the first time attempted to count the number of genes that contribute to obesity and body weight.
The findings suggest that over 6,000 genes about 25 percent of the genome help determine an individuals body weight.
Reports describing the discovery of a new obesity gene have become common in the scientific literature and also the popular press, notes........Go to the Weight watcher's blog (Added on 1/14/2008 4:56:44 PM)
Causes and consequences of childhood obesity?The January 2008 special issue of The Annals, published by SAGE, explores the problem of obesity in the young, providing kids, their parents and caregivers a road map for a healthier lifestyle both for them and for future generations. From agreeing on the terminology to use, to possible public policy options, the articles in the special issue provide hope that this alarming crisis can be diffused, investigating such subjects as:
........Go to the Weight watcher's blog (Added on 1/14/2008 3:41:26 PM)
"Pay-for-performance" Improves Patient CareA new study examines whether patients seeing physicians participating in a "pay-for-performance" incentive program receive better care than those who saw non-participating physicians. The health plan that was examined reimburses physicians based on the quality of care they provide.
This study finds a strong connection between quality of patient care and doctor participation in a quality-based incentive program. This association grew even........Go to the Society medical news blog (Added on 1/10/2008 11:00:26 PM)
Eat less or exercise more?Overweight people who lose a moderate amount of weight get an immediate benefit in the form of better heart health, as per a research studyconducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. And the heart improvements happen whether that weight is shed by eating less or exercising more.
"If individuals want to do something that's good for their heart, then my message to them is lose weight by the method they find most........Go to the Weight watcher's blog (Added on 1/10/2008 10:38:21 PM)
Teen girls who regularly eat family mealsAdolescent girls who frequently eat meals with their families appear less likely to use diet pills, laxatives, or other extreme measures to control their weight five years later, as per research led by Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D., lead investigator of Project Eating Among Teens (Project EAT) at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.
Neumark-Sztainer and Project EAT colleagues studied 2,516 adolescents at 31........Go to the Weight watcher's blog (Added on 1/8/2008 9:18:25 PM)
Americans pay the most for prescription drugsAn international study of dialysis patients shows that eventhough U.S. residents have the highest out-of-pocket drug costs, even those who can afford their prescription drugs are far less likely to take them than patients in other countries.
The new research from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and the Arbor Research Collaborative for Health observed that high out-of-pocket drug costs are only a partial reason why fewer........Go to the Society medical news blog (Added on 1/8/2008 8:59:47 PM)
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