Health posts
- February 5, 2013
- 10:54 AM
- 198 views
Insulin-like growth factor and autism
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
I admit to being a tiny bit sceptical/skeptical whenever I read a press release about hypothesis-only papers. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for people airing their ideas and opinions in the peer-reviewed domain, in fact in any domain including the blogosphere, as long as they are backed up by some kind of evidence (which need not just be of the double-blind, placebo-controlled variety). But I still feel a little bit cheated when there are no new findings or data included in a paper which is judged........ Read more »
Steinman, G., & Mankuta, D. (2013) Insulin-like growth factor and the etiology of autism. Medical Hypotheses. DOI: 10.1016/j.mehy.2013.01.010
- February 5, 2013
- 01:26 AM
- 242 views
First ever study of the effect of choline and betaine intake on Lung Cancer in smokers
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
Choline and betaine intake could reduce the chances of lung cancer in the smokers.
This research has been published online in the journal PLoS ONE.
Lung cancer is the second most common cancer and smoking is among the main causes of lung cancer. Lung cancer is the leading cause of death from cancer in both men and women in US.
“Smoking cessation is the best way to reduce lung cancer risk in smokers.” Olga Y Gorlova, Associate Professor Associate Professor, Epidemiology, The ........ Read more »
Ying, J., Rahbar, M., Hallman, D., Hernandez, L., Spitz, M., Forman, M., & Gorlova, O. (2013) Associations between Dietary Intake of Choline and Betaine and Lung Cancer Risk. PLoS ONE, 8(2). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054561
- February 4, 2013
- 11:58 AM
- 133 views
Oxytocin and Grandparent Attachment
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
I a previous post I summarized a review of the emerging research field of oxytocin and human attachment.This research supports a key role for oxytocin in reproduction and parental infant bonding. The above mentioned review emphasized the important role of gender, genetic and early environment in the effect individual human variation in oxytocin response.One additionally related important research topic relates to the effect of ageing on oxytocin-related systems. Huffmeijer and colle........ Read more »
Huffmeijer R, van Ijzendoorn MH, & Bakermans-Kranenburg MJ. (2013) Ageing and oxytocin: a call for extending human oxytocin research to ageing populations - a mini-review. Gerontology, 59(1), 32-9. PMID: 22922544
- February 4, 2013
- 11:55 AM
- 194 views
CrossFit Training: how does it compare to running?
by Andrea Kirk in WODMasters
CrossFit and High Intensity Interval Training.
A CrossFit athlete recovers from a burst of intense exercise.
Endurance
exercise is recommended for cardiovascular health. Years of research
have found that about 30 minutes of cardio will reduce risk of stroke
and heart attack. It will also improve insulin sensitivity, reduce risk
of diabetes and improve memory and brain function. Until very
recently, there has been little research on the benefits of CrossFit
type exerc........ Read more »
Cocks, M., Shaw, C., Shepherd, S., Fisher, J., Ranasinghe, A., Barker, T., Tipton, K., & Wagenmakers, A. (2012) Sprint interval and endurance training are equally effective in increasing muscle microvascular density and eNOS content in sedentary males. The Journal of Physiology, 591(3), 641-656. DOI: 10.1113/jphysiol.2012.239566
Spence AL, Carter HH, Naylor LH, & Green D. (2013) A prospective randomised longitudinal study involving 6-months of endurance or resistance exercise on conduit artery adaptation in humans. The Journal of physiology. PMID: 23247114
- February 4, 2013
- 09:47 AM
- 170 views
Privacy and Progress in Whole Genome Sequencing: webinar series
Hey folks–as a public service announcement I’m posting this email from the Genetic Alliance folks. They’ve assembled a terrific webinar series that cover hot topics in genomics research and privacy issues. I’m posting part of the email, but then will direct you to their page for the full list of upcoming webinars. I’ve read the [...]... Read more »
Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. (2012) Privacy and Progress in Whole Genome Sequencing. www.bioethics.gov. info:other/
Gymrek, M., McGuire, A., Golan, D., Halperin, E., & Erlich, Y. (2013) Identifying Personal Genomes by Surname Inference. Science, 339(6117), 321-324. DOI: 10.1126/science.1229566
- February 4, 2013
- 02:12 AM
- 152 views
People living near Equator have more chances of Allergy and Asthma
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
Researchers have found that the chances of allergies and asthma are higher near equators.
This research has been published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.
Allergy is the condition in which the immune system of the body gives sensitized response to the first exposure of the substance, such as pollen grains, dust mites and molds, and the reaction takes place only on subsequent exposures. According to American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI), many people, who ha........ Read more »
Oktaria, V., Dharmage, S., Burgess, J., Simpson, J., Morrison, S., Giles, G., Abramson, M., Walters, E., & Matheson, M. (2013) Association between latitude and allergic diseases: a longitudinal study from childhood to middle-age. Annals of Allergy, Asthma , 110(2), 80-850. DOI: 10.1016/j.anai.2012.11.005
- February 3, 2013
- 11:59 PM
- 107 views
BAD Science or BAD Science Journalism? – A Response to Daniel Lakens
by Laika in Laika's Medliblog
Two weeks ago there was a hot debate among Dutch Tweeps on “bad science, bad science journalism and bad science communication“. This debate was started and fueled by different Dutch blog posts on this topic.[1,4-6]
A controversial post, with both fierce proponents and fierce opposition was the post by Daniel Lakens [1], an assistant professor in Applied Cognitive Psychology.
I was among the opponents. Not because I don’t like a new fresh point of view, but because of a w........ Read more »
ter Bogt, T., Keijsers, L., & Meeus, W. (2013) Early Adolescent Music Preferences and Minor Delinquency. PEDIATRICS. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2012-0708
- February 3, 2013
- 09:00 PM
- 122 views
Is the Difference in Penetrating Trauma Mortality Truly Significant? Part I
by Rogue Medic in Rogue Medic
MV observed the following the lack of distinction in scene time for penetrating trauma mortality, which I did not give the proper attention in "EMS Time and Survival from Blunt and Penetrating Trauma." I will try to correct my mistake here.... Read more »
Lerner EB, & Moscati RM. (2001) The golden hour: scientific fact or medical "urban legend"?. Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, 8(7), 758-60. PMID: 11435197
McCoy CE, Menchine M, Sampson S, Anderson C, & Kahn C. (2013) Emergency Medical Services Out-of-Hospital Scene and Transport Times and Their Association With Mortality in Trauma Patients Presenting to an Urban Level I Trauma Center. Annals of emergency medicine, 61(2), 167-74. PMID: 23142007
- February 3, 2013
- 05:34 PM
- 127 views
Antiepileptic exposure and offspring autism risk
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
The great autism research spotlight continues to focus its gazerbeam on the very earliest days of being for any clues governing why some children might go on to develop autism. I've kinda lost count of how many times I've talked about maternal exposure for this or that having been linked to an elevated risk of offspring autism; ranging from maternal inflammation to parental occupational exposure to the possibility that maternal medication history during pregnancy might singularly or cumulatively........ Read more »
Bromley, R., Mawer, G., Briggs, M., Cheyne, C., Clayton-Smith, J., Garcia-Finana, M., Kneen, R., Lucas, S., Shallcross, R., Baker, G.... (2013) The prevalence of neurodevelopmental disorders in children prenatally exposed to antiepileptic drugs. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery . DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2012-304270
- February 3, 2013
- 07:29 AM
- 157 views
Your heart health: Why a vegetarian diet could be good for you
by Ruth Stephen Whallett in Zellula Health
Western diets are predominantly meat dependent. But is non-vegetarianism good for you? A recent study by Oxford University's researchers explores the effect of our dietary preferences on heart health. New research from Oxford University indicates that a vegetarian diet could reduce the risk of Ischaemic heart disease (IHD). IHD is the UK's biggest killer, causing around 94,000 deaths in the UK each year. It occurs when there is disruption in blood supply to the heart muscle ........ Read more »
Crowe FL, Appleby PN, Travis RC, & Key TJ. (2013) Risk of hospitalization or death from ischemic heart disease among British vegetarians and nonvegetarians: results from the EPIC-Oxford cohort study. The American journal of clinical nutrition. PMID: 23364007
- February 2, 2013
- 06:37 AM
- 123 views
Imagery rehearsal therapy for post-trauma nightmares
by Eva Alisic in Trauma Recovery
Sleep problems are a central component of posttraumatic stress, both in children and adults, with 72% experiencing nightmares. Imagery rehearsal (IR) therapy has a cognitive behavioral background and is used more and more to overcome sleep problems after trauma. How effective is IR? ... Read more »
Casement MD, & Swanson LM. (2012) A meta-analysis of imagery rehearsal for post-trauma nightmares: effects on nightmare frequency, sleep quality, and posttraumatic stress. Clinical psychology review, 566-74. PMID: 22819998
- February 2, 2013
- 12:04 AM
- 111 views
The "human" genome?
by zacharoo in Lawn Chair Anthropology
The topic this week in my Intro to Bioanthro course is genetics, with the subtheme being the mechanisms getting us from a genotype to "the" human phenotype (next week is variation and population genetics). Of course we talked about things like DNA, simple Mendelian inheritance (even though many traits/diseases probably aren't really Mendelian), and even epigenetics and genomic imprinting. But I also wanted to point out the many ways that our very existence relies of life extrinsic to that encode........ Read more »
Gilbert, S., Sapp, J., & Tauber, A. (2012) A Symbiotic View of Life: We Have Never Been Individuals. The Quarterly Review of Biology, 87(4), 325-341. DOI: 10.1086/668166
Smith MI, Yatsunenko T, Manary MJ, Trehan I, Mkakosya R, Cheng J, Kau AL, Rich SS, Concannon P, Mychaleckyj JC.... (2013) Gut Microbiomes of Malawian Twin Pairs Discordant for Kwashiorkor. Science. PMID: 23363771
van Nood E, Vrieze A, Nieuwdorp M, Fuentes S, Zoetendal EG, de Vos WM, Visser CE, Kuijper EJ, Bartelsman JF, Tijssen JG.... (2013) Duodenal infusion of donor feces for recurrent Clostridium difficile. The New England Journal of Medicine, 368(5), 407-15. PMID: 23323867
Yatsunenko T, Rey FE, Manary MJ, Trehan I, Dominguez-Bello MG, Contreras M, Magris M, Hidalgo G, Baldassano RN, Anokhin AP.... (2012) Human gut microbiome viewed across age and geography. Nature, 486(7402), 222-7. PMID: 22699611
Zhang L, Hou D, Chen X, Li D, Zhu L, Zhang Y, Li J, Bian Z, Liang X, Cai X.... (2012) Exogenous plant MIR168a specifically targets mammalian LDLRAP1: evidence of cross-kingdom regulation by microRNA. Cell Research, 22(1), 107-26. PMID: 21931358
- February 1, 2013
- 05:00 PM
- 151 views
Aging, Poor Sleep, and Bad Memory
by Allison in Dormivigilia
A friend of mine has studied the functional relationships between brain anatomy, sleep/wake architecture, and performance on a memory-related task. I wonder how this relationship would hold in individuals with a predisposition to Alzheimer's or chronic traumatic encephalitis... Read more »
Mander BA, Rao V, Lu B, Saletin JM, Lindquist JR, Ancoli-Israel S, Jagust W, & Walker MP. (2013) Prefrontal atrophy, disrupted NREM slow waves and impaired hippocampal-dependent memory in aging. Nature neuroscience. PMID: 23354332
- February 1, 2013
- 03:04 PM
- 45 views
Taking a Kidney While Removing Gall Bladder an Ethical Quagmire
by Cristy at Living Donor 101 in Living Donors Are People Too
In 2009, a certain transplant surgeon *cough*Testa*cough* authored an article in 2009 which suggested that folks undergoing a gall bladder removal (Cholecystectomy) be used as living kidney donors. Let me repeat that: Testa and his co-authors were suggesting that since these folks were having surgery anyway, we should ask them if they’d like to relinquish … Continue reading »... Read more »
Gordon EJ, Frader J, Goldberg AM, Penrod D, McNatt G, Franklin J, & Chicago Transplant Ethics Consortium. (2010) In response to: Testa et al. 'Elective surgical patients as living organ donors: a clinical and ethical innovation'. American journal of transplantation : official journal of the American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, 10(3), 704. PMID: 20041861
- February 1, 2013
- 12:31 PM
- 9 views
Predatory Prawns
by Emarkham in GeneticCuckoo
A new ecological method of control for an African parasitic disease, an analysis of the benefits and limitations of this approach. ... Read more »
E Markham. (2013) Predatory Prawns. Blogspot. info:/
- February 1, 2013
- 11:44 AM
- 174 views
Oxytocin and Human Attachment
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
In a previous post, I summarized a recent review on the neuroscience of human attachment. This review highlighted research related to the human bonding and social interactions. Attachment ability shows significant variability in humans with insecure attachment styles contributing to risk for some mental disorders. The neuroanatomical framework for social processing is being investigated with brain imaging techniques.Hormonal factors including the role of oxytoc........ Read more »
Macdonald KS. (2012) Sex, receptors, and attachment: a review of individual factors influencing response to oxytocin. Frontiers in neuroscience, 194. PMID: 23335876
- February 1, 2013
- 06:24 AM
- 184 views
Acyl-carnitine profiles and autism
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
No doubt alongside quite a few others, I was interested to read the latest paper from Richard Frye and colleagues* (open-access) discussing the potential links between an animal model of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and real-world ASD in a particular cohort of participants.This is not the first time that I've talked about (a) the work of Dr Frye - as per my [don't panic] post on folate receptor autoantibodies in cases of autism (see here) and (b) some of the difficulties attached to translatin........ Read more »
Frye RE, Melnyk S, & Macfabe DF. (2013) Unique acyl-carnitine profiles are potential biomarkers for acquired mitochondrial disease in autism spectrum disorder. Translational psychiatry. PMID: 23340503
- January 31, 2013
- 10:00 PM
- 135 views
EMS Time and Survival from Blunt and Penetrating Trauma
by Rogue Medic in Rogue Medic
People will tell you that they just know the we need to load and go. Some even claim that the mythological Golden Hour is real. Maybe there will be an episode of Ancient Aliens about R Adams Cowley identifying the meaning of trauma and writing it on a cocktail napkin in a bar.
... Read more »
McCoy CE, Menchine M, Sampson S, Anderson C, & Kahn C. (2013) Emergency Medical Services Out-of-Hospital Scene and Transport Times and Their Association With Mortality in Trauma Patients Presenting to an Urban Level I Trauma Center. Annals of emergency medicine, 61(2), 167-74. PMID: 23142007
- January 31, 2013
- 12:47 PM
- 164 views
Neuroscience of Human Attachment
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Attachment is the ability to form human relationship bonds. Individuals vary in their ability to develop social relationships. The ability to form secure human relationships plays a key role in successful personal and occupational development.Attachment theory evolved over 50 years ago. This theory proposes all humans have an innate biological mechanism that supports social engagement. This engagement is necessary during infancy to encourage nurturance and provision of a ........ Read more »
Vrtička, P., & Vuilleumier, P. (2012) Neuroscience of human social interactions and adult attachment style. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00212
- January 30, 2013
- 09:32 AM
- 162 views
Video Tip of the Week: ScienceGameCenter #edtech
Could you help Gregor Mendel obtain a plant with its coloring specified by recessive genes? Would you want to try to solve crime with some forensic DNA analysis? The ScienceGameCenter can give you the chance to do those things, and learn concepts of biology (and other sciences too!) at the same time. This week’s video tip of the week will focus on what they offer.... Read more »
Khalili, N., Sheridan, K., Williams, A., Clark, K., & Stegman, M. (2011) Students Designing Video Games about Immunology: Insights for Science Learning. Computers in the Schools, 28(3), 228-240. DOI: 10.1080/07380569.2011.594988
Schneider, M., & Jimenez, R. (2012) Teaching the Fundamentals of Biological Data Integration Using Classroom Games. PLoS Computational Biology, 8(12). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002789
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