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Regular exercise can decrease anxiety symptoms in patients with GAD

Approximately 3 percent of the U.S. population suffers from excessive, uncontrollable worry that reduces their health and quality of life. The condition, known as Generalized Anxiety Disorder, is difficult to overcome and is accompanied by a host of physical symptoms, including fatigue, muscle tension, irritability and poor sleep. However, a new University of Georgia study shows that regular exercise can significantly reduce anxiety symptoms in patients with GAD.

20 Jan 2012

Study shows 50% reduction in blindness and severe visual loss in Denmark

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most frequent cause of blindness in the Western World. A report from the University of Copenhagen and Glostrup Hospital in Denmark published today shows the number of new cases of blindness and severe visual loss in Denmark has been halved during the last ten years.

20 Jan 2012

Decisive role of grandmothers on maternal and infant nutrition, health

Grandmothers and other senior female family members should play a key role in nutrition and health programmes for children and women in non-Western societies. However, they are often overlooked by health organisations that don't understand the importance of their role or see them as an obstacle to promoting good nutrition and health practices.

20 Jan 2012

Positive economic outcomes of paid family leave for workers

With a growing need for family-friendly workplace policies, a new study commissioned by the National Partnership for Women & Families, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation, concludes that providing paid family leave to workers leads to positive economic outcomes for working families, businesses and the public.

20 Jan 2012

Inherited mutation links exploding chromosomes to cancer

An inherited mutation in a gene known as the guardian of the genome is likely the link between exploding chromosomes and some particularly aggressive types of cancer, scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) and the University Hospital, all in Heidelberg, Germany, have discovered.

20 Jan 2012

Study: Up to 30% of patients hospitalized after a stroke develop delirium

Up to 30 per cent of patients hospitalized after a stroke develop delirium, according to a new study from St. Michael's Hospital.

20 Jan 2012

Springer celebrates its 50,000th eBook

Springer celebrates its 50,000th eBook, available on its online platform SpringerLink. This milestone underscores Springer's position as the largest eBook publisher and emphasizes SpringerLink's dominance in offering the world's most comprehensive online collection of science, technology and medicine (STM) journals, books and reference works.

20 Jan 2012

Quebec ban on junk-food ads more effective in reducing childhood obesity

With mounting concerns over childhood obesity and its associated health risks in the U.S., would a ban on junk-food advertising aimed at children be more effective than the current voluntary, industry-led ban? According to published research from a University of Illinois economist, advertising bans do work, but an outright ban covering the entire U.S. media market would be the most effective policy tool for reducing fast-food consumption in children.

20 Jan 2012

ArmAssist project to find out degree of satisfaction in patients with brain stroke

Today 15 million persons throughout the world suffer from an ictus every year and 5 million are left with chronic disabilities. TECNALIA designed a system for alleviating neuromuscular disability amongst these patients from their homes and by which these can be permanently supervised by the therapist who will be able to carry out a quantitative evaluation of the therapy. To this end, they have brought together new technologies and entertainment and a greater quality of rehabilitation.

20 Jan 2012

Family, friends encourage young people to use sunbeds

As the post-Christmas January blues take hold, young people are risking damage to their health and appearance by using sunbeds on the recommendation of friends and family, according to a new survey by Cancer Research UK.

20 Jan 2012

Study investigates immune response in cancer

In a study investigating immune response in cancer, researchers from Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., and the University of South Florida have found that interaction between the immune system's antigen-specific CD4 T cells and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) - cells that play a major role in cancer-related immune suppression - dramatically change the nature of MDSC-mediated suppression. By contrast, the same effect was not observed when MDSCs interacted with the immune system's CD8 T cells.

20 Jan 2012

Researchers reveal role of micronuclei in cancer process

They are the Robinson Crusoes of the intracellular world -- lone chromosomes, whole and hardy, stranded outside the nucleus where their fellow chromosomes reside. Such castaways, each confined to its own "micronucleus," are often found in cancer cells, but scientists haven't known what role, if any, they play in the cancer process.

20 Jan 2012

Study explains gender-related incidence of liver cancer

Men are four times more likely to develop liver cancer compared to women, a difference attributed to the sex hormones androgen and estrogen. Although this gender difference has been known for a long time, the molecular mechanisms by which estrogens prevent -- and androgens promote -- liver cancer remain unclear.

20 Jan 2012

MSF closes two large clinics in Mogadishu after two staff members killed last month

"Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has shut down two major medical centers in the Somali capital Mogadishu after two of its aid workers were shot dead by a former colleague last month, the international medical aid agency said on Thursday," AlertNet reports.

20 Jan 2012

Platelet receptor could help with diseases that impact RBCs

A receptor found on blood platelets whose importance as a potential pharmaceutical target has long been questioned may in fact be fruitful in drug testing, according to new research from Michigan State University chemists.

20 Jan 2012

Birth weight plays a role in autism spectrum disorder

Although the genetic basis of autism is now well established, a growing body of research also suggests that environmental factors may play a role in this serious developmental disorder affecting nearly one in 100 children. Using a unique study design, a new study suggests that low birth weight is an important environmental factor contributing to the risk of autism spectrum disorder.

20 Jan 2012

Anabolic steroids do not appear to contribute to CTE

Anabolic steroids don't appear to contribute to degenerative brain disease caused by repeated head trauma in athletes, according to a study in the January issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

20 Jan 2012

UTHealth's Center for Neurobehavioral Research on Addictions opens outpatient clinic

An outpatient clinic founded on evidence-based treatments has opened at the Center for Neurobehavioral Research on Addictions (CNRA) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

20 Jan 2012

Lives lost in Horn of Africa because of late response to famine early warnings, report says

"Scientists and aid organizations gave the world plenty of time to prepare, but a late response by the world's donor nations cost 50,000 to 100,000 lives during last year's drought in the Horn of Africa region," the Christian Science Monitor's "Global News Blog" writes about a report released on Wednesday by Save the Children and Oxfam.

20 Jan 2012

Scientists decode unknown mechanism of imiquimod in tumour defense

A research team from the Institute for Cancer Research at the MedUni Vienna has decoded a previously unknown mechanism of the active ingredient imiquimod in tumour defense. They have been able to prove that imiquimod transforms plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) into "tumour-killers" which can fight the tumour independently from other immune cells. This discovery could be an important step on the way to a more efficient treatment for cancer.

20 Jan 2012