Health posts
- January 26, 2013
- 07:53 PM
- 154 views
Autism and residential placement
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
It's going to be a bit of an odd blog post this one as I muse over the results reported by McGill & Poynter* on the cost of residential placement for those diagnosed with an intellectual disability (ID). Odd because I'm going to be bringing in a little bit of politics - or at least UK Government legislation - and how this intersects with current financial policy. Hopefully you'll stay tuned though as I try and remain true to the aims of this blog (autism research and other musings).I can't s........ Read more »
McGill P, & Poynter J. (2012) High cost residential placements for adults with intellectual disabilities. Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARID, 25(6), 584-7. PMID: 23055291
- January 26, 2013
- 09:28 AM
- 132 views
The journey to parasite egg paradise
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
The parasite, Schistosoma mansoni, is a remarkably cunning and efficient worm. It spends the first part of its life infecting freshwater snails, where it vigorously multiplies to bulk up numbers. This parasite army then marches out of the snail and … Continue reading →... Read more »
Turner JD, Narang P, Coles MC, & Mountford AP. (2012) Blood Flukes Exploit Peyer's Patch Lymphoid Tissue to Facilitate Transmission from the Mammalian Host. PLoS pathogens, 8(12). PMID: 23308064
- January 24, 2013
- 05:22 PM
- 146 views
A Neurobiological Secret to PR-ing in the Gym
by Allison in Dormivigilia
Researchers found time-of-day improvements in athletes squatting and benching. The time-of-day handicap (for morning athletes) was rescued by consumption of a pre-workout shake. ... Read more »
Mora-Rodríguez R, García Pallarés J, López-Samanes Á, Ortega JF, & Fernández-Elías VE. (2012) Caffeine ingestion reverses the circadian rhythm effects on neuromuscular performance in highly resistance-trained men. PloS one, 7(4). PMID: 22496767
- January 24, 2013
- 09:22 AM
- 114 views
Obese Drivers 80% More Likely to Die in Accidents
by Zach Urbina in United Academics
Obesity is an ongoing global health concern, perhaps second only to the trend of climate change, and a recent study has discovered that auto accidents are a new venue of risk of fatality for obese people. Recently published research has indicated that the significantly overweight are 80% more likely to perish in an auto accident.... Read more »
Rice T, & Zhu M. (2013) Driver Obesity and The Risk of Fatal Injury During Traffic Collisions. Emergency Medicine Journal. DOI: 10.1136/emermed-2012-201859
- January 24, 2013
- 07:42 AM
- 168 views
Optimal outcomes and autism continued
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
My word. That paper by Prof. Deborah Fein and colleagues* (open-access) which I blogged about last week has certainly made a splash both in the media and cyberspace. Opinions abound it seems about what the paper said, what the paper didn't say and what the implications of an 'optimal outcome' (OO) group might mean for autism spectrum disorders, its description, its nature and how it is perceived more generally.I've followed quite a few of the opinion pieces on the Fein paper which have rang........ Read more »
Naigles LR, Kelley E, Troyb E, & Fein D. (2013) Residual Difficulties with Categorical Induction in Children with a History of Autism. Journal of autism and developmental disorders. PMID: 23321802
- January 23, 2013
- 07:00 PM
- 112 views
Adenosine, Sleep, and Seasons
by Allison in Dormivigilia
Researchers further investigated changes in central adenosine release dependent on sleep history. Beyond previous studies, they also found other neuromodulators, particularly excitatory neurotransmitters, that enhance adenosine tone. ... Read more »
Robert Edward Sims*, Houdini Ho Tin Wu, Nicholas Dale. (2013) Sleep-Wake Sensitive Mechanisms of Adenosine Release in the Basal Forebrain of Rodents: An In Vitro Study. PLoS One. info:/
- January 23, 2013
- 05:36 AM
- 136 views
Maternal C-reactive protein and autism
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
As per my previous blog entry on the possibility of some involvement of a skin-brain axis to cases of autism (no, seriously), one of the key themes seemingly increasing in importance in autism research is the possibility of some connection with inflammation and the inflammatory processes.Whilst sounding completely at odds with how autism is commonly described - a developmental disorder variably manifesting specific behavioural and cognitive features - there is a surprisingly long and growing int........ Read more »
Brown, A., Sourander, A., Hinkka-Yli-Salomäki, S., McKeague, I., Sundvall, J., & Surcel, H. (2013) Elevated maternal C-reactive protein and autism in a national birth cohort. Molecular Psychiatry. DOI: 10.1038/mp.2012.197
- January 22, 2013
- 02:07 PM
- 127 views
Healthcare professionals AS pain treatment!
by Kim Kristiansen in Picture of Pain
A recent study have found indications on how healthcare professionals can be part of pain treatment them self ... Read more »
Kim Kristiansen, M.D. (2013) Healthcare professionals AS pain treatment. Picture of Pain Blog. info:/
- January 22, 2013
- 10:00 AM
- 108 views
Sedentary behaviour associated with 6-year increase in waist circumference (but not much else) in the Quebec Family Study
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
One factor that may link sedentary behaviour with increased morbidity and mortality is the accumulation of visceral fat (see figure below), which has been linked with various chronic diseases and even death. For example, see this study by our former labmate Jen Kuk, which found that visceral fat was an independent predictor of premature death in men. While other types of body fat (e.g. butt fat) don’t tend to have a huge health impact, excess visceral fat is definitely a bad thing (more ........ Read more »
Saunders, T., Tremblay, M., Després, J., Bouchard, C., Tremblay, A., & Chaput, J. (2013) Sedentary Behaviour, Visceral Fat Accumulation and Cardiometabolic Risk in Adults: A 6-Year Longitudinal Study from the Quebec Family Study. PLoS ONE, 8(1). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054225
- January 22, 2013
- 04:09 AM
- 195 views
ToxBank: the next generation toxicology
by egonw in Chem-bla-ics
Before I moved to my current position in Maastricht, I had the great pleasure to work with Prof. Roland Grafström (check his pathway bioinformatics done with his then PhD Rebecca) and Prof. Bengt Fadeel at the Karolinska Institutet. During this year I part-time worked on ToxBank and part-time on nano-QSAR, and worked on semantics, predictive toxicology, and Open Data. This blog post is about the ToxBank work.
I promised firework, and the first rockets are heading upw........ Read more »
Kohonen, P., Benfenati, E., Bower, D., Ceder, R., Crump, M., Cross, K., Grafström, R., Healy, L., Helma, C., Jeliazkova, N.... (2013) The ToxBank Data Warehouse: Supporting the Replacement of In Vivo Repeated Dose Systemic Toxicity Testing. Molecular Informatics. DOI: 10.1002/minf.201200114
- January 21, 2013
- 03:35 PM
- 214 views
Cancer research: fruit flies take it down a notch
by Isabel Torres in Science in the clouds
You wouldn’t think that those pesky flies hovering around your fruit bowl could help scientists understand cancer. Flies don’t have cancer, and a fly is, well, just a fly. However, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has been one of scientists' favourite animal models for over a century, and is nowadays used to study many human diseases. New research using fruit flies has now uncovered molecular details in tissue overgrowth that explain some long-standing questions in cancer research.Why ........ Read more »
Djiane, A., Krejci, A., Bernard, F., Fexova, S., Millen, K., & Bray, S. (2012) Dissecting the mechanisms of Notch induced hyperplasia. The EMBO Journal, 32(1), 60-71. DOI: 10.1038/emboj.2012.326
- January 21, 2013
- 03:07 PM
- 135 views
The skin-brain axis and autism?
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
I'm sure that many people with an eye on the autism research scene will have come across the term 'gut-brain axis' at some point in their reading. Denoting the suggestion of a possible relationship between what goes on in our deepest, darkest recesses and brain function (and onwards observed behaviour), the gut-brain axis has seemingly found a home particularly when looking at autism spectrum disorders.Be it when it comes to describing the potential hows and whys of things like a gluten- and cas........ Read more »
Yaghmaie P, Koudelka CW, & Simpson EL. (2012) Mental health comorbidity in patients with atopic dermatitis. The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology. PMID: 23245818
- January 19, 2013
- 01:27 PM
- 173 views
LMAYQ: Why do I like that?
by TheCellularScale in The Cellular Scale
Again it is time for me to answer some questions. As always, these are real true 'search terms' that have resulted in some one finding The Cellular Scale. While some questions (like 'how do you build a model of a neuron') are answered by this blog, the ones I answer is these LMAYQ posts are almost certainly not. All the questions and answers in this series can be found in the Let Me Answer Your Questions index.Drawing by Grave Unicorn1. "Why do I like ketamine so much?"This is actually a pretty ........ Read more »
Kapur S, & Seeman P. (2002) NMDA receptor antagonists ketamine and PCP have direct effects on the dopamine D(2) and serotonin 5-HT(2)receptors-implications for models of schizophrenia. Molecular psychiatry, 7(8), 837-44. PMID: 12232776
De Luca MT, & Badiani A. (2011) Ketamine self-administration in the rat: evidence for a critical role of setting. Psychopharmacology, 214(2), 549-56. PMID: 21069515
Swami V, & Tovée MJ. (2012) The impact of psychological stress on men's judgements of female body size. PloS one, 7(8). PMID: 22905153
- January 19, 2013
- 09:28 AM
- 156 views
What makes the smallpox vaccine so great?
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
Perhaps one of the most incredibly effective vaccines ever used, against smallpox, has completely eradicated a terribly nasty human disease. Yet the way in which vaccinia virus, the live poxvirus contained in the smallpox vaccine, actually orchestrates a protective immune … Continue reading →... Read more »
Benhnia MR, Maybeno M, Blum D, Aguilar-Sino R, Matho M, Meng X, Head S, Felgner PL, Zajonc DM, Koriazova L.... (2013) Unusual features of vaccinia virus extracellular virion form neutralization resistance revealed in human antibody responses to the smallpox vaccine. Journal of virology, 87(3), 1569-85. PMID: 23152530
- January 19, 2013
- 08:56 AM
- 158 views
Sex differences in autism presentation
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
I've been thinking quite a bit about the paper by Lai and colleagues* (open-access) looking at cognition between the sexes with autism in mind. They concluded that "ASC [autism spectrum conditions] varies with sex in some non-social cognitive domains, although not in relation to the core social cognitive difficulties".Fair enough, there is overlap across the sexes with the characteristics of autism in mind, but potentially some other important differences, bearing in mind that I'm not really a g........ Read more »
Begeer S, Mandell D, Wijnker-Holmes B, Venderbosch S, Rem D, Stekelenburg F, & Koot HM. (2012) Sex Differences in the Timing of Identification Among Children and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Journal of autism and developmental disorders. PMID: 23001766
Mandy W, Chilvers R, Chowdhury U, Salter G, Seigal A, & Skuse D. (2012) Sex differences in autism spectrum disorder: evidence from a large sample of children and adolescents. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 42(7), 1304-13. PMID: 21947663
- January 19, 2013
- 03:14 AM
- 132 views
A dangerous cocktail brews in our towns and cities- How tobacco smoke and vehicular emissions together contribute to wheezing in young children
by Sarah Stephen in An ecological oratorio
Vehicular emissions and tobacco smoke are harming the lungs of young children in our citiesWhen it comes to the evidence against tobacco and vehicular emissions on harming human respiratory health, it does not rain but it pours. And it keeps on coming. We have extensive evidence to show that vehicular emissions as well as tobacco smoke exposure are bad for health and it seems to start right from the fetal stage. A new study presented in the journal Environmental Health show........ Read more »
Sonnenschein-van der Voort, A., de Kluizenaar, Y., Jaddoe, V., Gabriele, C., Raat, H., Moll, H., Hofman, A., Pierik, F., Miedema, H., de Jongste, J.... (2012) Air pollution, fetal and infant tobacco smoke exposure, and wheezing in preschool children: a population-based prospective birth cohort. Environmental Health, 11(1), 91. DOI: 10.1186/1476-069X-11-91
- January 18, 2013
- 11:40 AM
- 211 views
CrossFit Games 2013: Caffeine, training and competing
by Andrea Kirk in WODMasters
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Mora-Rodríguez R, García Pallarés J, López-Samanes Á, Ortega JF, & Fernández-Elías VE. (2012) Caffeine ingestion reverses the circadian rhythm effects on neuromuscular performance in highly resistance-trained men. PloS one, 7(4). PMID: 22496767
- January 18, 2013
- 11:38 AM
- 49 views
CrossFit Games 2013: How to Train and Compete with Caffeine
by Andrea Kirk in WODMasters
When is the best time for CrossFit Games Open WOD s.First we'll start off talking about the importance of time of day in athletic performance. This can be important for CrossFit Athletes preparing for the Reebok CrossFit 2013 games. For some people an invitation to the Regional Games may rest on a single burpee. If you are wondering what is CrossFit here is a link to the main site where you can get basic and advanced information.Do your CrossFit Games Open WOD s in the afte........ Read more »
Mora-Rodríguez R, García Pallarés J, López-Samanes Á, Ortega JF, & Fernández-Elías VE. (2012) Caffeine ingestion reverses the circadian rhythm effects on neuromuscular performance in highly resistance-trained men. PloS one, 7(4). PMID: 22496767
- January 17, 2013
- 01:47 PM
- 142 views
No Death for Death Panels
by Melissa Chernick in Science Storiented
On Halloween 2009, my costume was a Death Panel. No kidding. And no, I won't show you a picture. As with most political themed costumes, it was funny at the time but was one of those things I thought would melt into the annals of popular culture. I mean, I can't exactly pull that off this year in the way I did then. However, the term "death panel" is one that seems to have perpetuated in the social landscape."Death panel" is a political term that originated in an August 2009 debate about federal........ Read more »
Nyhan, B., Reifler, J., & Ubel, P. (2013) The Hazards of Correcting Myths About Health Care Reform. Medical Care, 51(2), 127-132. DOI: 10.1097/MLR.0b013e318279486b
- January 17, 2013
- 06:23 AM
- 107 views
A spoonful of healthy poo drives a persistent superbug away
by Ruth Stephen Whallett in Zellula Health
A dose of healthy poo (Faecal transplantation) has been shown to be effective against superbug Clostridium difficile (C. difficile). This post explores the results from the recent study.Good gut bacteria in the form of probiotics, are used to foster intestinal microbial balance by combating nasty bacteria. These are now regularly used in the form of yoghurt or pills. New studies show a messier and unorthodox approach for combating the deadly ones - a dose of poo from healt........ Read more »
Nieuwdorp M, van Nood E, Speelman P, van Heukelem HA, Jansen JM, Visser CE, Kuijper EJ, Bartelsman JF, & Keller JJ. (2008) [Treatment of recurrent Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea with a suspension of donor faeces]. Nederlands tijdschrift voor geneeskunde, 152(35), 1927-32. PMID: 18808083
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