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Early smoking onset linked to higher risk of cannabis use

Young people who start smoking at an early age have a much higher risk of starting to use cannabis by the time they turn 17. Risk factors that increase the likelihood of starting to smoke include externalising problem behaviours such as impulsiveness. Smoking, in turn, is a significant risk factor for cannabis use. These results have been confirmed in a project researching smoking at an early age and externalising behaviour as predictors of drug use.

23 Mar 2011

Larger hippocampal volume linked with recovery of PTSD

The hippocampus, a brain region implicated in memory and interpreting environmental contexts, has been the focus of a controversy in posttraumatic stress disorder.

22 Mar 2011

Efficiency of brain function depends on family's genetic makeup

How well our brain functions is largely based on our family's genetic makeup, according to a University of Melbourne led study.

4 Mar 2011

SPIN program to help mothers produce sufficient breast milk for their premature infants

Approximately 50,000 premature babies weighing less than three pounds are born in the United States each year. These fragile newborns need the highest quality nutrition, which is why UC San Diego Health System developed the Supporting Premature Infant Nutrition program to help mothers produce sufficient breast milk for their premature infants.

24 Feb 2011

Study: RAPI tool more effective at predicting future alcohol dependence of teen-age drinkers

A widely used index for assessing adolescent drinking-related problems has been found to be effective at predicting the future alcohol dependence of teen-age drinkers, according to an Indiana University study which also found that the association was stronger for adolescent female drinkers.

16 Feb 2011

Hormone 17-Hydroxyprogesterone does not reduce rate of preterm delivery in twin pregnancies: Study

In a study to be presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's (SMFM) annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting -, in San Francisco, researchers will present findings that show that the use of the hormone 17-Hydroxyprogesterone does not reduce the rate of preterm delivery or neonatal complications in twins.

10 Feb 2011

Tel Aviv University researcher develops software tool for plastic surgeons

For some plastic surgery patients, expectations are unrealistically high. Basing their hopes on the before-and-after albums offered in surgeons' offices, they expect to achieve a perfect body or to look just like a favorite celeb. But those albums only show how someone else's liposuction, breast augmentation, or Beyonce bum enhancement turned out.

2 Feb 2011

New data shows Shady Grove Fertility financial programs make testing, treatment more affordable

New data shows Shady Grove Fertility Center's financial programs -- designed to help make infertility testing and treatment more affordable -- helped more than a quarter of patients proceed with treatment in 2010, despite the year's significant economic challenges.

29 Jan 2011

CAMH scientists receive NARSAD's Young Investigator grant awards for brain and behavior research

Seven scientists at Canada's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health have been awarded Young Investigator grant awards by the U.S.-based NARSAD: The Brain and Behavior Research Fund.

12 Jan 2011

World’s first organ donor dies at 79

On December 23, 1954, Dr. Joseph Murray performed the world’s first kidney transplant removing a kidney from Ronald Herrick and implanting it in his identical twin Richard. Years later, Murray shared a Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking work. For the Herrick twins, the results were more immediate and personal. Richard lived for about eight more years because of Ronald’s donation.

30 Dec 2010

Researchers discover allium vegetable consumption may lower hip osteoarthritis

Researchers at King's College London and the University of East Anglia have discovered that women who consume a diet high in allium vegetables, such as garlic, onions and leeks, have lower levels of hip osteoarthritis

16 Dec 2010

Research programs embody the promise of anti-aging medicine.

Sometimes the value of research lies as much in exposing false remedies as in discovering true breakthroughs. Scientists at the country's first school of gerontology and in laboratories around the University of Southern California do both, mindful of their responsibility to a society focused on healthful aging.

13 Dec 2010

ADHD, developmental RD have common genetic influences: Study

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and developmental reading disability are complex childhood disorders that frequently occur together; if a child is experiencing trouble with reading, symptoms of ADHD are often also present.

9 Dec 2010

New research indicates that older women can deliver healthy babies

Career women who put babies on hold until after 40, or even 45, will be reassured by new research from Tel Aviv University. Even though there are associated risks for babies when postponing child-bearing, the neonates can overcome them, says Prof. Yariv Yogev of Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine and the Hospital for Women at Rabin Medical Center.

8 Dec 2010

Health professionals discuss on reducing maternal, newborn mortality, morbidity

On Tuesday 7 December 2010, maternal health professionals from Africa and Asia will be attending a workshop in Liverpool to discuss the effects of 'Making It Happen', a programme with a life-saving training package for health care providers at its heart. Participants will share successes and lessons learned from this maternal and newborn health intervention, to better determine how the programme can be scaled-up.

8 Dec 2010

Researchers discover common genetic variants influence early puberty, body fat

Researchers at King's College London's Department of Twin Research have discovered, as part of a large international consortium, 30 new genes that control the age of sexual maturation in women, the Journal Nature Genetics publishes today.

22 Nov 2010

Genetic differences impact winter vitamin D status

Vitamin D is somewhat of an unusual "vitamin," because it can be made in the body from sunlight and most foods do not contain vitamin D unless added by fortification. Synthesis of vitamin D in the body requires exposure to ultraviolet light and can be influenced by genetics, skin color, and sun exposure.

20 Nov 2010

ViroPharma presents data on Cinryze C1 esterase inhibitor for HAE at ACAAI Meeting

ViroPharma Incorporated today announced data in four poster presentations and two oral presentations relating to Cinryze (C1 esterase inhibitor [human]) at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI), November 11 through 16 in Phoenix, Ariz.

16 Nov 2010

Research on fruit flies reveal novel human pain gene

While it has become clear in recent years that susceptibility to pain has a strong inherited component, very little is known about actual "pain genes" and how they work. In the November 12th issue of Cell, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and their collaborators report on a novel human pain gene. People with minor variations in this gene showed clear differences in susceptibility to acute heat pain and chronic back pain.

12 Nov 2010