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Will our future brains be smaller?

The speed at which we react to threatening situations can have life or death implications. In the more primitive past, it could have meant escaping a wild animal; today it might mean swerving to avoid a head-on car crash.

8 Jul 2008

UAB joins elite brain cancer research group

Brain cancer experts at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have been selected for membership in the Ivy Genomics-Based Medicine Project. The project is a national consortium of cutting-edge hospitals and academic centers working to improve treatment and survival for patients with a kind of malignant brain tumor called a glioma.

8 Jul 2008

Farm-raised tilapia fish contains potentially dangerous fatty acid combination

"Farm-raised tilapia, one of the most highly consumed fish in America, has very low levels of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids and, perhaps worse, very high levels of omega-6 fatty acids, according to new research from Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

8 Jul 2008

UV light therapy is as beneficial for darker skin as lighter skin

An analysis of more than 100 patients has confirmed for the first time that darker-skinned patients benefit as those with lighter skin when given light therapy for morphea and related diseases, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers show.

8 Jul 2008

Lowering blood pressure reduces the risk of dementia

New research suggests that lowering blood pressure in older people could reduce their chances of dementia by 13%.

8 Jul 2008

Action to improve children's communication following Bercow Review

The funding comes as a result of a ground breaking independent review by John Bercow MP, commissioned by Government, which identifies that communication is the key life skill for every child - if they are to achieve at school, make friends and be successful in later life.

8 Jul 2008

Sumatriptan/naproxen sodium drug combo taken early relieves migraine symptoms

A combination drug taken within an hour after the start of a migraine is effective in relieving symptoms, according to research published in the July 8, 2008, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

8 Jul 2008

Researchers detail types of genes necessary for brain

Researchers from Harvard Medical School and Brandeis University have successfully completed a full-genome RNAi screen in neurons, showing what types of genes are necessary for brain development. Details of the screen and its novel methodology are published July 4th in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics.

8 Jul 2008

Pregnancy increases risk of acute myocardial infarction

Although acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is rare in women of child-bearing age, pregnancy can increase a woman's risk of heart attack 3- to 4-fold, according to a study published in the July 15, 2008, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

8 Jul 2008

98 percent of elective mastectomy patients would have reconstruction again

Women who have breast reconstruction after an elective mastectomy are satisfied with their decision, have low complication rates and 98 percent would do it again, reports a study in July's Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

8 Jul 2008

Male cyclists risk sexual problems if they don't choose the right bike

Men who take up cycling in an effort to stay fit, do their bit for the environment or avoid spiralling motoring costs, could be harming their health if they don't choose the right bicycle.

8 Jul 2008

A paradigm shift for targeted cancer therapy

We already know that recycling benefits our planet; and now new research suggests that the cellular version might be useful for battling cancer.

8 Jul 2008

Japanese encephalitis damages the brain in two ways

Japanese encephalitis (JE), commonly known as brain fever, is one of the prevalent mosquito-borne encephalitis in India and entire South East (SE) Asia.

8 Jul 2008

Novel ways to boost vaccination or natural defenses

Our bodies rely on the production of potent, or 'high affinity', antibodies to fight infection. The process is very complex, yet Sydney scientists have discovered that it hinges on a single molecule, a growth factor, without which it cannot function.

8 Jul 2008

Post-traumatic stress disorder causes early death from heart disease

Vietnam veterans who experienced posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were twice as likely to die from heart disease as veterans without PTSD, a new Geisinger study finds.

8 Jul 2008

Children born from thawed frozen embryos have higher birth weight than those born where fresh embryos used

Children born after a frozen, thawed embryo has been replaced in the womb have higher birth weight than those born where fresh embryos were used, Danish scientists reported to the 24th annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology today (Tuesday 8 July).

8 Jul 2008

Keeping a food diary doubles diet weight loss

Keeping a food diary can double a person's weight loss according to a study from Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research. The findings, from one of the largest and longest running weight loss maintenance trials ever conducted, will be published in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

8 Jul 2008