Health posts
- June 19, 2013
- 06:34 AM
- 8 views
Immune reactivity to gluten in autism
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
When I first saw the paper from Nga Lau and colleagues* (open-access) looking for markers of gluten sensitivity and/or coeliac (celiac) disease in children with autism I have to admit to raising a smile. I smiled because in a previous post on this blog I talked about a 'wish-list' for autism research specifically focused on the gluten and casein-free dietary intervention**. Part of that wish list was some further inquiry into why, biochemically, some people on the autism spectrum might benefit f........ Read more »
Lau, N., Green, P., Taylor, A., Hellberg, D., Ajamian, M., Tan, C., Kosofsky, B., Higgins, J., Rajadhyaksha, A., & Alaedini, A. (2013) Markers of Celiac Disease and Gluten Sensitivity in Children with Autism. PLoS ONE, 8(6). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0066155
- June 18, 2013
- 06:25 PM
- 45 views
I WILL FEAR NO EVIL: the first head transplant on human
by Eugenio Maria Battaglia in Semanto.me
In 2008, doctor Sergio Canavero, an italian neurosurgeon based in Turin, IT, have awakened a 20 years old lady from a permanent post-traumatic vegetative state, by means of a bifocal extradural cortical electro-stimulation. Today, while Science still find it hard to explain consciousness and embodied cognition – the world-class neurosurgeon made a shock announcement: “I’m ready for the first head transplant on a man.”
In the manuscript published on Surgical Neurology I........ Read more »
Canavero, S. (2013) HEAVEN: The head anastomosis venture Project outline for the first human head transplantation with spinal linkage (GEMINI). Surgical Neurology International, 4(2), 335. DOI: 10.4103/2152-7806.113444
- June 18, 2013
- 12:09 PM
- 21 views
Even ‘environmentally protective’ levels of pesticide devastate insect biodiversity
by Anouk Vleugels in United Academics
Pesticide levels considered environmentally friendly in Europe and Australia are, in fact, having a devastating effect on invertebrate insect biodiversity in nearby creeks and streams, a new study has found, showing the need for an urgent overhaul of the way pesticide risk is assessed. Water-dwelling invertebrates like worms, snails, crustaceans, mites and insects play a crucial role in regional ecosystems because they provide food for fish, birds and platypuses.... Read more »
Beketov, M., Kefford, B., Schafer, R., & Liess, M. (2013) Pesticides reduce regional biodiversity of stream invertebrates. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1305618110
- June 18, 2013
- 03:55 AM
- 62 views
Explainer: Why Do Women Menstruate?
by Dyani Lewis in United Academics
For half the population, it comes three to five days each month, 12 months each year, for 40 years of our lives. Menstruation can be debilitating, relieving, disappointing, or simply an inconvenient fact of life.
But why do humans menstruate, when most animals don’t? When you shake the tree of life, you find that only a handful of mammals aside from us – primates, a small number of bat species, and the elephant shrew – have opted for the monthly bleed.... Read more »
Emera, D., Romero, R., & Wagner, G. (2012) The evolution of menstruation: A new model for genetic assimilation. BioEssays, 34(1), 26-35. DOI: 10.1002/bies.201100099
Blanks, A., & Brosens, J. (2013) Meaningful menstruation. BioEssays, 35(5), 412-412. DOI: 10.1002/bies.201300022
- June 17, 2013
- 05:10 PM
- 40 views
On the Trail of Ancient Killers
by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge
The newly unveiled genome of a medieval strain of the mycobacterium that causes leprosy is a technical triumph borne of next-generation sequencing machines and clever new techniques to extract target DNA from a soup of ancient molecules. Awash in data, several labs are racing neck-and-neck to cull DNA from a Most Wanted list of other legendary killers: tuberculosis, plague, cholera, Leishmania, the potato blight, and AIDS. They gather traces of these culprits from ancient teeth, bones, hair, fec........ Read more »
Gibbons, A. (2013) On the Trail of Ancient Killers. Science, 340(6138), 1278-1282. DOI: 10.1126/science.340.6138.1278
- June 17, 2013
- 04:18 PM
- 42 views
Supreme Court rules natural genes not patentable
by Liza Lester in EcoTone
Unanimous decision against BRCA breast cancer susceptibility gene patents in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc.
Plus: a movie about BRCA1 discoverer Mary-Claire King.... Read more »
Hall, J., Lee, M., Newman, B., Morrow, J., Anderson, L., Huey, B., & King, M. (1990) Linkage of early-onset familial breast cancer to chromosome 17q21. Science, 250(4988), 1684-1689. DOI: 10.1126/science.2270482
Miki, Y., Swensen, J., Shattuck-Eidens, D., Futreal, P., Harshman, K., Tavtigian, S., Liu, Q., Cochran, C., Bennett, L., Ding, W.... (1994) A strong candidate for the breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1. Science, 266(5182), 66-71. DOI: 10.1126/science.7545954
Wooster, R., Neuhausen, S., Mangion, J., Quirk, Y., Ford, D., Collins, N., Nguyen, K., Seal, S., Tran, T., Averill, D.... (1994) Localization of a breast cancer susceptibility gene, BRCA2, to chromosome 13q12-13. Science, 265(5181), 2088-2090. DOI: 10.1126/science.8091231
- June 17, 2013
- 12:03 PM
- 72 views
Brain Insula Signals Response to Depression Treatment
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
In a previous post, I reviewed a research summary of the potential for brain imaging to be a clinical tool in the diagnosis of brain disorders in the mood disorders domain.One of the key points in that review is the value of finding brain biomarkers for response to specific treatments.To follow up on this point, a recent research study has been published that proposes the brain insular cortex region may be key to determining specific treatment response in major depressive disorder.Helen Mayberg ........ Read more »
McGrath CL, Kelley ME, Holtzheimer PE, Dunlop BW, Craighead WE, Franco AR, Craddock RC, & Mayberg HS. (2013) Toward a Neuroimaging Treatment Selection Biomarker for Major Depressive Disorder. JAMA psychiatry (Chicago, Ill.), 1-9. PMID: 23760393
- June 17, 2013
- 10:35 AM
- 39 views
Autoimmune disease as a risk factor for mood disorder?
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
Autoimmunity, the process by which the immune system fails to recognise self as self and subsequently targets those self tissues and cells, is something talked about quite a lot on this blog with autism specifically in mind. Part of the very wide and diverse immune-related features which have been discussed with at least some of the autisms in mind, it's not yet altogether clear exactly how and why autoimmunity is linked to behaviour but the association is an interesting one.Sally? @ Wikipe........ Read more »
Benros ME, Waltoft BL, Nordentoft M, Ostergaard SD, Eaton WW, Krogh J, & Mortensen PB. (2013) Autoimmune Diseases and Severe Infections as Risk Factors for Mood Disorders: A Nationwide Study. JAMA psychiatry (Chicago, Ill.), 1-9. PMID: 23760347
- June 17, 2013
- 09:32 AM
- 46 views
No Sex Drive? There’s A Pill For That
by Alvin Lin in United Academics
In my mind, pills are like apps. Do you have a common problem to solve? There’s an app for that, as Apple has trademarked. Do you have some health related issue? There’s probably a pill for that. Blood pressure? Check. Cholesterol? Check. Social anxiety? Check. Erectile dysfunction? Check. Obesity? Check. Female libido? Oops! No check! But just wait! Big Pharma is working on that! As far back as January 2005, as published in the British Medical Journal, attempts have been made to dev........ Read more »
Moynihan, R. (2005) The marketing of a disease: female sexual dysfunction. BMJ, 330(7484), 192-194. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.330.7484.192
- June 17, 2013
- 09:01 AM
- 12 views
Reversing the loss of brain connections in Alzheimer’s disease
by Bruce Lieberman in Beaker
The first experimental drug to boost brain synapses lost in Alzheimer’s disease has been developed by researchers at Sanford-Burnham. The drug, called NitroMemantine, combines two FDA-approved medicines to stop the destructive cascade of changes in the brain that destroys the connections between neurons, leading to memory loss and cognitive decline.... Read more »
Talantova, M., Sanz-Blasco, S., Zhang, X., Xia, P., Akhtar, M., Okamoto, S., Dziewczapolski, G., Nakamura, T., Cao, G., Pratt, A.... (2013) A induces astrocytic glutamate release, extrasynaptic NMDA receptor activation, and synaptic loss. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1306832110
- June 17, 2013
- 01:47 AM
- 34 views
JUST PUBLISHED: Early Life Determinants of Reproductive Success
by Mark Rubin in The University of Newcastle's School of Psychology Newsline
Infertility is a rising problem around the world. Coupled with a current tendency to delay childbearing, the growth in the population of many countries has come to halt. Bacterial infections are an often overlooked cause for infertility. This is particularly relevant to the recent increase in Chlamydia infections among young people. When untreated, Chlamydia in pregnant women can be transmitted to the newborn. As a result, up to 15% of newly born babies are currently known to be infected with Ch........ Read more »
Sominsky, L., Sobinoff, A., Jobling, M., Pye, V., McLaughlin, E., & Hodgson, D. (2013) Immune regulation of ovarian development: programming by neonatal immune challenge. Frontiers in Neuroscience. DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2013.00100
- June 16, 2013
- 11:24 PM
- 34 views
Rhythms of Songbirds: City vs Nature
by Allison in Dormivigilia
It's true. Light pollution doesn't treat a songbird nicely... Read more »
Dominoni, D., Helm, B., Lehmann, M., Dowse, H., & Partecke, J. (2013) Clocks for the city: circadian differences between forest and city songbirds. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 280(1763), 20130593-20130593. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.0593
- June 16, 2013
- 06:28 PM
- 41 views
Palm Cooling in the Heat Helps Resistance and Endurance Performance
by AB Kirk in Stff Competition
Palm cooling is an effective way to keep cool during workouts. It may also be a good way to keep cool in hot places in general. Core temperature is aThe post Palm Cooling in the Heat Helps Resistance and Endurance Performance appeared first on WODMasters Stiff Competition.... Read more »
Grahn DA, Cao VH, Nguyen CM, Liu MT, & Heller HC. (2012) Work volume and strength training responses to resistive exercise improve with periodic heat extraction from the palm. Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength , 26(9), 2558-69. PMID: 22076097
- June 16, 2013
- 06:04 AM
- 48 views
Short Bursts of Exercise Key to Feeling Full
by Fron Jackson Webb in United Academics
Short bouts of intermittent exercise throughout the day may be better than one vigorous workout in convincing your brain that you are full, according to a new study published in the journal Obesity.
The researchers, from the United States and Murdoch University, set out to find how the appetite-regulating hormone Peptide YY (PYY) fluctuates with intermittent or continuous exercise. The research team asked the 11 participants to do no exercise on day one, to do a one-hour morning exercise sess........ Read more »
Holmstrup, M., Fairchild, T., Keslacy, S., Weinstock, R., & Kanaley, J. (2013) Satiety, but not total PYY, is increased with continuous and intermittent exercise. Obesity. DOI: 10.1002/oby.20335
- June 15, 2013
- 09:10 AM
- 157 views
Autism, fetal alcohol syndrome and thyroid hormone?
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
Alcohol is the drug of choice for many people these days. For most, it's a case of the odd glass of wine here or there or a beer whilst sat outside in the garden during the summer we're supposed to be basking in at the moment.The grape @ Wikipedia But there is no getting away from the fact that alcohol is a drug, and by all accounts, a drug which very readily impacts on the lives of many, many people. Outside of all the social ills associated with excessive alcohol consumption, there i........ Read more »
Tunc-Ozcan E, Ullmann TM, Shukla PK, & Redei EE. (2013) Low-Dose Thyroxine Attenuates Autism-Associated Adverse Effects of Fetal Alcohol in Male Offspring's Social Behavior and Hippocampal Gene Expression. Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research. PMID: 23763370
- June 15, 2013
- 08:06 AM
- 16 views
CrossFit Social: What is CrossFit Social and What is CrossFit Social Online.
by AB Kirk in Stff Competition
CrossFit social events (CrossFit Social ‘s) are an important part of CrossFit. (This post was written because someone asked me to feature one of their videos on our website. YouThe post CrossFit Social: What is CrossFit Social and What is CrossFit Social Online. appeared first on WODMasters Stiff Competition.... Read more »
Preece, J., Nonnecke, B., & Andrews, D. (2004) The top five reasons for lurking: improving community experiences for everyone. Computers in Human Behavior, 20(2), 201-223. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2003.10.015
- June 15, 2013
- 05:09 AM
- 69 views
Blastocystis - 'Monsters Inside Me'
by Christen Rune Stensvold in Blastocystis Parasite Blog
A blog post on when a documentary turns into fiction - or vice versa!... Read more »
Stensvold CR, Smith HV, Nagel R, Olsen KE, & Traub RJ. (2010) Eradication of Blastocystis carriage with antimicrobials: reality or delusion?. Journal of clinical gastroenterology, 44(2), 85-90. PMID: 19834337
- June 13, 2013
- 10:53 AM
- 65 views
Down the wrong path : Book details psychiatry’s lack of objective science
by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge
Psychiatry — which uses well-intentioned coercion, unscientific diagnoses and psychoactive drugs that do as much harm as good — is a science that is off course, according to a new book co-written by Tomi Gomory, an associate professor in the Florida State University College of Social Work.... Read more »
Jeffery Seay. (2013) Down the wrong path : Book details psychiatry's lack of objective science. Florida State University. info:/
- June 13, 2013
- 09:18 AM
- 175 views
Running to the heart's discontent
by Emilie Reas in Runner's Rationale
Running to the heart's discontent... Read more »
Burr JF, Drury CT, Phillips AA, Ivey A, Ku J, & Warburton DE. (2013) Long-term ultra-marathon running and arterial compliance. Journal of science and medicine in sport / Sports Medicine Australia. PMID: 23707138
- June 13, 2013
- 03:16 AM
- 66 views
The Autism Impact Measure and more
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
It's the usual excuse from me, "the dog ate my homework sir", no not that one, the one about me having a busy week so not being able to post a particularly detailed blog entry this time around. Indeed although there is the usual plethora of research material to pick from, only a few studies have really caught me eye so far this week. But those studies are pretty interesting....Must try harder @ Wikipedia I'm starting with the paper by Stephen Kanne and colleagues* and their descriptio........ Read more »
Kanne, S., Mazurek, M., Sikora, D., Bellando, J., Branum-Martin, L., Handen, B., Katz, T., Freedman, B., Powell, M., & Warren, Z. (2013) The Autism Impact Measure (AIM): Initial Development of a New Tool for Treatment Outcome Measurement. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. DOI: 10.1007/s10803-013-1862-3
topics
join us!
Do you write about peer-reviewed research in your blog? Use ResearchBlogging.org to make it easy for your readers — and others from around the world — to find your serious posts about academic research.
If you don't have a blog, you can still use our site to learn about fascinating developments in cutting-edge research from around the world.
