Diet & Nutrition News and Research

Latest Diet & Nutrition News and Research

NASA to host LAUNCH: Health forum focusing on health issues

NASA will host LAUNCH: Health, a global forum focusing on health issues, at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida from Oct. 30-31. NASA, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Department of State, and NIKE are partnering on LAUNCH to identify, showcase and support innovative approaches to sustainability challenges through a series of forums.

18 Aug 2010

Serious funding shortfalls jeopardize UNICEF's humanitarian operation in Pakistan

UNICEF warned today that serious funding shortfalls are jeopardizing its humanitarian operation in Pakistan. UNICEF is extremely concerned at the lack of funds for its water and sanitation operation, with millions of children at risk from water-borne diseases.

18 Aug 2010

USAID, NASA, NIKE and State Department partner to address humanity's sustainability challenges

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), NASA, the U.S. Department of State, and NIKE, Inc. have partnered on a unique initiative called LAUNCH. The idea behind LAUNCH is to identify, showcase and support innovative approaches to humanity's sustainability challenges through a series of forums, each focused on a specific sustainability challenge. The second event in the LAUNCH series, LAUNCH: Health, will focus specifically on health issues related to the first 20 years of life.

18 Aug 2010

Data indicates increased prevalence of hearing loss among U.S adolescents

Data from two nationally representative surveys indicates that the prevalence of hearing loss among U.S. adolescents increased by about 30 percent from 1988-1994 to 2005-2006, with 1 in 5 adolescents having hearing loss in 2005-2006, according to a study in the August 18 issue of JAMA.

18 Aug 2010

Moderate wine consumption associated with better cognitive performance

A large prospective study of 5033 men and women in the Troms- Study in northern Norway has reported that moderate wine consumption is independently associated with better performance on cognitive tests. The subjects (average age 58 and free of stroke) were followed over 7 years during which they were tested with a range of cognitive function tests.

18 Aug 2010

Hearing loss in adolescents on the rise

Hearing loss is now affecting nearly 20 percent of U.S. adolescents age 12-19, a rise of 5 percent over the last 15 years, according to a new Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) study co-led by Ron Eavey, M.D., director of the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center and the Guy M. Maness Professor in Otolaryngology.

18 Aug 2010

Tips to maintain and improve brain health

While there are still mysteries surrounding the fundamental process of memory, research has revealed activities that may enhance memory and promote overall brain health. John H. Byrne, Ph.D., professor and chairman of the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School, studies the neuronal and molecular mechanisms underlying learning and memory. Here are three tips he offers for maintaining and improving brain health.

18 Aug 2010

Study unveils ways new moms can lose baby weight after childbirth

New moms who returned to work soon after delivery, had childcare help, breastfed, and did not experience postpartum depression were the ones most able to lose the baby weight within 6 months of giving birth, according to a new research study.

18 Aug 2010

Moderate chocolate consumption lowers heart failure risk: Study

Middle-aged and elderly Swedish women who regularly ate a small amount of chocolate had lower risks of heart failure risks, in a study reported in Circulation: Heart Failure, a journal of the American Heart Association.

18 Aug 2010

Holotranscobalamin protein may be key to early detection of cognitive decline

B vitamins-B-6, B-12 and folate-all nourish the brain. But much remains to be discovered about the relation between these essential nutrients and our brainpower.

18 Aug 2010

Scientist suggests emodin can reduce impact of type 2 diabetes

Emodin, a natural product that can be extracted from various Chinese herbs including Rheum palmatum and Polygonum cuspidatum, shows promise as an agent that could reduce the impact of type 2 diabetes. Findings published in this month's edition of the British Journal of Pharmacology show that giving emodin to mice with diet-induced obesity lowered blood glucose and serum insulin, improved insulin resistance and lead to more healthy levels of lipid in the blood. It also decreased body weight and reduced central fat mass.

18 Aug 2010

Gentiva closes acquisition of Odyssey HealthCare

Gentiva Health Services, Inc., a leading provider of home health and hospice services, today announced the closing of its acquisition of Odyssey HealthCare, Inc. in an all cash transaction for a price of $27 per share of Odyssey common stock, without interest, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $1.0 billion, including fees and expenses.

18 Aug 2010

Burger, fries and a statin please!

British scientists have come up with a novel idea. They suggested that junk food counters should hand out free cholesterol-lowering statin drugs to their customers to “neutralize” the heart risks of eating fatty foods like burgers and fries. The idea is to project having high cholesterol fatty food as risky a behavior as driving or smoking that needs the user to go for seatbelts and filtered cigarettes respectively.

17 Aug 2010

Rice receives Defense Threat Reduction Agency grant to develop genomic test for cultivated pathogens

Researchers at Rice University have won federal support to develop a genomic test that can quickly determine whether a disease outbreak is caused by a natural pathogen or one that was grown in a lab by terrorists.

17 Aug 2010

Diets rich in antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids can help protect people from skin cancer: Study

We all want that summer glow that comes from a day at the beach, but taking in the rays can have long-term implications for our health. Now Dr. Niva Shapira of Tel Aviv University's School of Health Professions suggests a way to make fun in the sun safer ― and it's all in our food.

17 Aug 2010

Caloricious launches new application for mobile devices to help customers find nutrition-specific products

Caloricious announced today the launch of the first custom search engine for mobile devices that enables customers to find nutrition-specific products in their local supermarkets. It is the only available fully-loaded power application that focuses strictly on the preferences and allergens contained in food and beverage items.

17 Aug 2010

Zebrafish-yeast approach for studying copper deficiency, complex multifactorial diseases

Copper deficiency diseases can be devastating. Symptoms can range from crippling neurological degeneration in Menkes disease ,a classic copper deficiency disease to brittle bones, anaemia and defective skin pigmentation in gastric bypass patients. Unfortunately, very little is known about how the body uses this essential nutrient. Knowing that melanocytes (the cells that give rise to hair, skin and eye pigmentation) are dramatically affected by the effects of copper deficiency, Elizabeth Patton from the University of Edinburgh, UK, and other colleagues from UK and US based labs decided to find out how melanocytes metabolise copper.

17 Aug 2010

Ancient discovery holds key to joint tissue regeneration

Osteoarthritis is a crippling disease worldwide, with an estimated eight million sufferers in the UK alone. It has been described as like "wearing a suit of rusty armour," with unrelenting, razor-like pain.

17 Aug 2010

Cumberland Pharmaceuticals reports 9% increase in second quarter 2010 net revenue

Cumberland Pharmaceuticals Inc. ,a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the hospital acute care and gastroenterology markets, today announces financial results for the second quarter ending June 30, 2010, and provides revenue guidance for full year 2010.

17 Aug 2010

Vitacost.com second-quarter net sales increase 14.1% to $54.0 million

Vitacost.com, Inc., a leading online retailer and direct marketer of health and wellness products, today reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2010.

16 Aug 2010