health research

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15-Letter Phrase for Memory Boost? Crossword Puzzle

Activity may fend off the start of memory loss

(Newser) - Doing crossword puzzles may delay the slide into forgetfulness associated with dementia, a study shows. Researchers monitored the frequency with which a group of elderly subjects engaged in reading, writing, group discussions, playing music, playing cards, and doing crossword puzzles, and found that those who developed dementia took part in...

Dearth of Patient Volunteers Cripples Cancer Research

Just 3% of adult patients take part in studies

(Newser) - Cancer death rates have changed little in the past 40 years, and one big reason often goes unremarked on, experts say: only 3% of adult cancer patients participate in studies of treatments, the New York Times reports. More than a fifth of trials sponsored by the National Cancer Institute couldn’...

Pill May Slash Body Weight By a Quarter

Combination of hormones has a potent effect on mice

(Newser) - A drug that cut the body weight of mice by 25% is raising hopes for humans, the Daily Telegraph reports. The rodents lost 42% of their fat mass after a week, with even more powerful effects seen over a month. The pill combines hormones that have been found to weaken...

For HIV, Women the Weaker Sex
 For HIV, Women the Weaker Sex 
Jul 14, 2009 12:00 PM CDT

For HIV, Women the Weaker Sex

Hormone leads to higher immune activity, faster progression

(Newser) - Women may be the weaker sex when it comes to HIV. The virus progresses faster in women, and a new study published in Nature Medicine finds that may be due to the hormone progesterone, the BBC reports. The research team is continuing work on the findings to see if they...

Celiac Disease Diagnoses Skyrocket
Celiac Disease Diagnoses Skyrocket
Jul 10, 2009 1:53 PM CDT

Celiac Disease Diagnoses Skyrocket

Many with gluten intolerance may not know of condition

(Newser) - The number of Americans diagnosed with celiac disease has quadrupled since the 1950s, and the condition "is emerging as a substantial public health concern," Mayo Clinic researchers warn. People who had the gluten-intolerance disease and didn’t know it were four times more likely to have died during...

Stem-Cell Researchers Can Pay Women for Eggs: NY

State stands alone in controversial decision

(Newser) - Counter to prevailing policies and scientific guidelines, New York has become the first state to allow publicly funded embryonic stem-cell researchers to pay women for their eggs. It lifts a huge obstacle for research, proponents say, likening it to eggs donated for in-vitro fertilization. But the $10,000 could be...

Researchers Extract Stem Cells From Placentas

Effective harvesting procedure involves no risk to mother, child

(Newser) - Scientists have found an effective way to extract stem cells from placentas, where they’re abundant, after babies are born, the Guardian reports. Placentas contain up to five times as many of the key cells as cord blood, which has become a common source, and they may be more primitive,...

Asthma Breakthrough Holds Promise

'Cellular pump' suggests possible treatments

(Newser) - Scientists have found a “cellular pump” that appears central to the development of asthma, pointing the way to possible new treatments, the BBC reports. The pump, called SERCA2, helps airway muscles relax. People with asthma had reduced SERCA2 levels, researchers found; replacing it in airway muscle cells could help...

Too Little Sleep Jacks Blood Pressure

Every lost hour raises threat 37%: researchers

(Newser) - Regularly getting less than seven or eight hours’ sleep raises the risk of high blood pressure, research suggests. In a study tracking the blood pressure and sleep of 578 adults, every lost hour of sleep was tied to an average 37% higher risk of high blood pressure over 5 years,...

If You Snooze, You Cruise: Scientists

Napping, dreaming boost problem-solving skills, say researchers

(Newser) - Napping—particularly if it includes dreaming—may help people think more creatively, the Telegraph reports. Researchers gave young adults creative word-association tasks in the morning, then allowed some to sleep. The extra time and z's appeared to improve their scores on the same tasks; on new tasks, patients who had...

'Co-Sleeping' Puts Babies at Risk of Death

Sharing bed or couch with an adult imperils infants: UK docs

(Newser) - Sleeping with an infant on a bed or sofa is dangerous for the baby, new research finds. The risk of unexpected infant death goes up for babies sleeping somewhere other than their cribs, especially for parents who smoke or who have been drinking. The study found that half of sudden...

Drug Ecstasy May Help Stress Disorder Victims

Drug may boost emotional learning, squash fear: studies

(Newser) - The drug ecstasy may help people recover from post-traumatic stress disorder, Reuters reports. The drug could help patients in therapy bond with their therapists—key to recovery—and get a better hold on their feelings, studies suggest. It may help reestablish a balance between two areas of the brain, while...

Got Milk? It May Fight Alzheimer's

Drink is great source of key vitamin B12

(Newser) - Two glasses of milk a day could help prevent brain-deteriorating diseases like Alzheimer’s, scientists at Oxford have found. Milk, they observed, is an excellent source of vitamin B12, which experts believe helps protect nerve cells; elderly people with low B12 levels experience twice the brain shrinkage of those with...

Lab-Grown Teeth Could Kill Need for Fillings

Researchers identify gene key to growing protective enamel

(Newser) - Scientists have identified a gene that grows tooth enamel and could be the missing link needed to grow teeth in labs—perhaps rendering fillings and dentures obsolete, the BBC reports. Researchers had already figured out how to grow the insides of animal teeth, but not enamel, which can’t grow...

Coffee: Good? Bad? Whatever. Just Don't Smoke

No need to obsess over every study, experts say

(Newser) - It can seem impossible to sort through the health news that comes out every day: Is coffee good for you? Is it bad? Does this or that give you cancer? The best solution, for now, may just be not to worry about it, Trine Tsouderos writes in the Chicago Tribune....

Stimulus Devotes $1B to Weighing Medical Treatments

Comparing effectiveness will 'save money and lives'

(Newser) - The stimulus bill sinks $1.1 billion into the first major government comparison of different medical treatments, the New York Times reports. The provision is a reaction to concerns that treatments are being prescribed without solid evidence to back their usefulness and cost-effectiveness. But some say such studies would mean...

Obesity Genes Mainly Affect Your Brain

DNA behind appetites, tastes, and how likely we are to feel full: study

(Newser) - Overeating is all in your head, but you can blame that on your DNA, the Times of London reports. Of the seven gene variations connected with obesity, five affect the brain’s wiring, suggesting that an inherited tendency toward slimness has more to do with appetite and impulse control than...

Researchers Push 'Brain Steroids' for All

Future drugs could boost job, classroom performance

(Newser) - Healthy adults should be able to take brain-boosting drugs for a competitive advantage at work or on an exam, researchers say in a provocative paper. Seven authors say ethical questions about cognitive-enhancement pills are both warranted and imminent, and that such medicinal aid is no less moral than caffeine consumption,...

Busy Brain May Mean Big Belly
 Busy Brain May Mean Big Belly 
Sep 5, 2008 12:50 PM CDT

Busy Brain May Mean Big Belly

(Newser) - Does thinking make us fat? Researchers say that intellectual activity just might cause us to pig out, LiveScience reports. Volunteers who performed a series of problem-solving tasks in a study consumed almost 30% more calories afterward than those who just sat around and took it easy. One theory: The body...

1918 Flu Survivors Still Have Killer Antibodies

Findings help fight against avian flu

(Newser) - The flu pandemic that killed up to 100 million people in 1918 left survivors with a strong set of antibodies—strong enough to still be viable today, Reuters reports. Mice given survivor antibodies managed to fight off the deadly flu when they were infected with the virus extracted from exhumed...

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