Health posts
- May 14, 2016
- 03:29 AM
- 259 views
On autism symptoms in ADHD (again)
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
Continuing a research theme (see here), the paper by Jessica Green and colleagues [1] again focuses the spotlight on how the various childhood developmental diagnoses often enjoy mingling together when it comes to their real-life presentation; real ESSENCE in action. Such overlaps can and do present challenges to diagnosticians to unpick often complicated presentations (no, your 'Am I autistic?' screen is not really a good idea) and onwards the best way forward to manage symptoms ........ Read more »
Green JL, Sciberras E, Anderson V, Efron D, & Rinehart N. (2016) Association between autism symptoms and functioning in children with ADHD. Archives of disease in childhood. PMID: 27117836
- May 13, 2016
- 02:25 AM
- 276 views
Friday the 13th
by Aurametrix team in Environmental health
Our health depends on a multitude of environmental factors, day in and day out. And today is a special day - Friday the 13th. How should you feel on this day? Friday the 13th is one of the most feared dates, associated with bad luck in the West. And it is taken cautiously even in cultures that do not fear the 13th - for example, among Chinese mothers avoiding delivering their babies on the 13th. But science says that those born on the 13th and even those born on Friday the 13th are not in ........ Read more »
Smyth JM, Wonderlich SA, Sliwinski MJ, Crosby RD, Engel SG, Mitchell JE, & Calogero RM. (2009) Ecological momentary assessment of affect, stress, and binge-purge behaviors: day of week and time of day effects in the natural environment. The International journal of eating disorders, 42(5), 429-36. PMID: 19115371
Fidrmuc, J., & Tena, J. (2015) Friday the 13th: The Empirics of Bad Luck. Kyklos, 68(3), 317-334. DOI: 10.1111/kykl.12085
Lucey, B. (2002) Friday the 13th and the Philosophical Basis of Financial Economics. SSRN Electronic Journal. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.962697
Chung, R., Darrat, A., & Li, B. (2014) Superstitions and stock trading: some new evidence. Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, 19(4), 527-538. DOI: 10.1080/13547860.2014.920589
Stone, A., Schneider, S., & Harter, J. (2012) Day-of-week mood patterns in the United States: On the existence of ‘Blue Monday’, ‘Thank God it's Friday’ and weekend effects. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 7(4), 306-314. DOI: 10.1080/17439760.2012.691980
Schuld J, Slotta JE, Schuld S, Kollmar O, Schilling MK, & Richter S. (2011) Popular belief meets surgical reality: impact of lunar phases, Friday the 13th and zodiac signs on emergency operations and intraoperative blood loss. World journal of surgery, 35(9), 1945-9. PMID: 21713579
Almond D, Chee CP, Sviatschi MM, & Zhong N. (2015) Auspicious birth dates among Chinese in California. Economics and human biology, 153-9. PMID: 26160600
- May 13, 2016
- 02:21 AM
- 265 views
Autism and the [different] expression of pain
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
Two papers provide some brief discussion today. The first by Janice Goldschmidt [1] titled: 'What Happened to Paul? Manifestation of Abnormal Pain Response for Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder' provides an account of a young man with autism who during a "pilot nutrition intervention designed to teach cooking skills to young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)" fell quite seriously. We are told that: "After his accident, which resulted in broken and dislocated bones in his ankle, ........ Read more »
Goldschmidt J. (2016) What Happened to Paul? Manifestation of Abnormal Pain Response for Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder. Qualitative health research. PMID: 27117957
Courtemanche AB, Black WR, & Reese RM. (2016) The Relationship Between Pain, Self-Injury, and Other Problem Behaviors in Young Children With Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities. American journal on intellectual and developmental disabilities, 121(3), 194-203. PMID: 27119211
- May 12, 2016
- 03:00 AM
- 273 views
Shared genetics? Autism, gastrointestinal issues and serotonin
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
I note the paper by Kara Gross Margolis and colleagues [1] (open-access available here) has been garnering a few media headlines with the suggestion that: "Gastrointestinal [GI] problems in autistic children may be linked to the same genetic mutations that cause other characteristics of autism spectrum disorder."The study, focusing on the idea that SERT (the serotonin transporter) encoded by the SLC6A4 gene might show some connection to 'some' autism [2], looked to model........ Read more »
Margolis KG, Li Z, Stevanovic K, Saurman V, Israelyan N, Anderson GM, Snyder I, Veenstra-VanderWeele J, Blakely RD, & Gershon MD. (2016) Serotonin transporter variant drives preventable gastrointestinal abnormalities in development and function. The Journal of clinical investigation. PMID: 27111230
- May 11, 2016
- 02:58 PM
- 329 views
Could flies help us understand brain injuries?
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Each year, an estimated 1.7 million people in the United States sustain traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These injuries occur most frequently from falling, but can also result from military combat, car accidents, contact sports or domestic abuse. Recently, physicians and researchers have become increasingly concerned that even mild cases of repetitive brain trauma could have long-term, unanticipated consequences.
... Read more »
Barekat, A., Gonzalez, A., Mauntz, R., Kotzebue, R., Molina, B., El-Mecharrafie, N., Conner, C., Garza, S., Melkani, G., Joiner, W.... (2016) Using Drosophila as an integrated model to study mild repetitive traumatic brain injury. Scientific Reports, 25252. DOI: 10.1038/srep25252
- May 11, 2016
- 01:00 PM
- 166 views
How to Solve Homicide Crimes
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Homicide rates in the U.S. represent a significant public health challenge. Homicide is a top ten leading cause of death in many groups in the U.S.One method to reduce homicide rates is to quickly identify and arrest individuals who have committed homicide. This is due to the fact that individuals committing homicide have a high rate of future homicide.A recent study from Michigan State University and Indiana University examined characteristics of U.S. police departments that have high rates of ........ Read more »
Carter, D., & Carter, J. (2015) Effective Police Homicide Investigations: Evidence From Seven Cities With High Clearance Rates. Homicide Studies, 20(2), 150-176. DOI: 10.1177/1088767915576996
- May 11, 2016
- 12:34 PM
- 171 views
Dietary Seafood and Cognitive Decline
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Seafood intake has been linked to a variety of improvements in health. Additionally, there is some evidence linking seafood intake with slower cognitive decline in aging populations.A recent study adds to this age-related cognitive benefit of seafood intake.A collaborative group of researchers from Rush University Medical Center and the Wageningen University in the Netherlands conducted a prospective study.This study followed 915 subjects with a mean age of 81.4 years over a five year period. Su........ Read more »
van de Rest, O., Wang, Y., Barnes, L., Tangney, C., Bennett, D., & Morris, M. (2016) APOE 4 and the associations of seafood and long-chain omega-3 fatty acids with cognitive decline. Neurology. DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000002719
- May 11, 2016
- 02:57 AM
- 259 views
Vitamin D and autism: the story so far...
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
I don't want to keep you too long today aside from directing you to the literature review by Hajar Mazahery and colleagues [1] (open-access available here) discussing the collected peer-review literature on the topic of vitamin D and autism to date.Anyone that stops by this blog might already know about my interest in the science around this issue (see here and see here for example) and how quite a few more resources really should be directed into this 'sunshine' research area. The Mazahery........ Read more »
Mazahery H, Camargo CA, Conlon C, Beck KL, Kruger MC, & von Hurst PR. (2016) Vitamin D and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Literature Review. Nutrients, 8(4). PMID: 27110819
- May 10, 2016
- 04:55 PM
- 336 views
Research shows body image linked to overall life satisfaction
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
We're constantly bombarded by advertisements telling us we are too fat, too thin, not curvy enough, not flat enough -- or more often than not -- simply not enough. It shouldn't be a surprise to see that effect our day to day life, like it or not -- and it has. Researchers have just published results from a national study on the factors linked to satisfaction with appearance and weight.
... Read more »
Frederick, D., Sandhu, G., Morse, P., & Swami, V. (2016) Correlates of appearance and weight satisfaction in a U.S. National Sample: Personality, attachment style, television viewing, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. Body Image, 191-203. DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.04.001
- May 10, 2016
- 12:54 PM
- 188 views
Smartphones and Sleep Data: Data Mining
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Smartphones contribute a treasure trove of data that is likely to expand our knowledge of a variety of human behaviors.An example of this is a recent study published in Science Advances by a research team from the University of Michigan.The University of Michigan team developed a smartphone app called ENTRAIN and then used the app to collect sleep data on subjects from around the world.They came up with some very interesting findings including the following:The time of going to sleep appears mor........ Read more »
Walch, O., Cochran, A., & Forger, D. (2016) A global quantification of "normal" sleep schedules using smartphone data. Science Advances, 2(5). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1501705
- May 10, 2016
- 04:29 AM
- 312 views
What does a gluten-free diet do to the gut microbiome?
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
In answer to the question posed in the title of this post: "A GFD [gluten-free diet] changes the gut microbiome composition and alters the activity of microbial pathways."So said the findings reported by Marc Jan Bonder and colleagues [1] (open-access) who presented results based on the "changes in the gut microbiomes of 21 healthy volunteers who followed a GFD for four weeks." Said research volunteers (12 women and 9 men) initially followed a GFD for 4 weeks following some baseli........ Read more »
Bonder MJ, Tigchelaar EF, Cai X, Trynka G, Cenit MC, Hrdlickova B, Zhong H, Vatanen T, Gevers D, Wijmenga C.... (2016) The influence of a short-term gluten-free diet on the human gut microbiome. Genome medicine, 8(1), 45. PMID: 27102333
- May 9, 2016
- 03:29 PM
- 322 views
Epigenetic study of lactose intolerance may shed light on the origin of mental illness
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
A new study on the epigenetics of lactose intolerance may provide an approach to understanding schizophrenia and other complex, serious illnesses. While that may seem odd, both lactose intolerance and schizophrenia are inherited. In addition, neither condition emerges in the first years of life, but rather both appear years or even decades later.
... Read more »
Labrie, V., Buske, O., Oh, E., Jeremian, R., Ptak, C., Gasiūnas, G., Maleckas, A., Petereit, R., Žvirbliene, A., Adamonis, K.... (2016) Lactase nonpersistence is directed by DNA-variation-dependent epigenetic aging. Nature Structural . DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.3227
- May 9, 2016
- 01:34 PM
- 334 views
The Princess IS the Frog (A Guest Post)
by Miss Behavior in The Scorpion and the Frog
By Hayley TrzinskiImage by Hayley TrzinskiThe Princess and the Frog is a very fun and imaginative children’s story… but not when pesticides are involved. Have you ever wondered how dangerous pesticides can be? Well, pesticides can harm more than just pests and weeds, and in the case of frogs, many pesticides and herbicides are causing problems. Atrazine, a chemical commonly used as an herbicide, can cause reproduction in male African clawed frogs to be impossible. In some cases, atrazine i........ Read more »
Hayes, T., Khoury, V., Narayan, A., Nazir, M., Park, A., Brown, T., Adame, L., Chan, E., Buchholz, D., Stueve, T.... (2010) Atrazine induces complete feminization and chemical castration in male African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(10), 4612-4617. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0909519107
Mnif, W., Hassine, A., Bouaziz, A., Bartegi, A., Thomas, O., & Roig, B. (2011) Effect of Endocrine Disruptor Pesticides: A Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 8(12), 2265-2303. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph8062265
- May 9, 2016
- 06:51 AM
- 310 views
Do Dragons Dream Of Tasty Crickets?
by Gunnar De Winter in United Academics
Sleeping reptiles show brain patterns resembling sleep cycles in mammals and birds.... Read more »
Ólafsdóttir, H., Barry, C., Saleem, A., Hassabis, D., & Spiers, H. (2015) Hippocampal place cells construct reward related sequences through unexplored space. eLife. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.06063
Shein-Idelson, M., Ondracek, J., Liaw, H., Reiter, S., & Laurent, G. (2016) Slow waves, sharp waves, ripples, and REM in sleeping dragons. Science, 352(6285), 590-595. DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf3621
- May 9, 2016
- 02:58 AM
- 254 views
Water, carbamazepine and mother-embryo transmission
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
"These results provide the first evidence that carbamazepine in drinking water and at typical environmental concentrations is transmitted from mother to embryo."So said the findings reported by Gaurav Kaushik and colleagues [1] who continued a research theme looking at the possibility of an environmental 'exposome' also potentially overlapping with [some] autism (see here). The autism connection came from the a paper by Thomas & Klaper [2] who previously reported that putting fish in a ........ Read more »
Kaushik G, Huber DP, Aho K, Finney B, Bearden S, Zarbalis KS, & Thomas MA. (2016) Maternal exposure to carbamazepine at environmental concentrations can cross intestinal and placental barriers. Biochemical and biophysical research communications. PMID: 27105911
- May 7, 2016
- 02:39 PM
- 276 views
Antibody therapy opens door to potential new treatment for HIV
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
The development of antiretroviral therapy, a combination of drugs that slows the replication of HIV in the body, has transformed the treatment of this infection. What was once a certain death sentence is now a chronic condition that people can live with for decades. But this therapy has drawbacks. There are side effects, including kidney problems, decreased bone density, and gastrointestinal problems. And if a person discontinues his or her treatment, even missing a few doses, the level of the v........ Read more »
Schoofs, T., Klein, F., Braunschweig, M., Kreider, E., Feldmann, A., Nogueira, L., Oliveira, T., Lorenzi, J., Parrish, E., Learn, G.... (2016) HIV-1 therapy with monoclonal antibody 3BNC117 elicits host immune responses against HIV-1. Science. DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf0972
Lu, C., Murakowski, D., Bournazos, S., Schoofs, T., Sarkar, D., Halper-Stromberg, A., Horwitz, J., Nogueira, L., Golijanin, J., Gazumyan, A.... (2016) Enhanced clearance of HIV-1-infected cells by broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV-1 in vivo. Science. DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf1279
- May 7, 2016
- 03:54 AM
- 328 views
The darker side to swimming with dolphins?
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
Described under the heading of a 'Challenging Case', the paper by Randall Phelps and colleagues [1] titled 'The Curse of the Dolphins: Cognitive Decline and Psychosis' highlights an intriguing case report potentially suggestive of a darker side to the idea of swimming with dolphins.Yes, you did hear me right - dolphins - those aquatic mammals regarded as one of the earth's most intelligent creatures and the suggestion that swimming with them might somehow 'impact' on aspects of a person's functi........ Read more »
Phelps R, Tsai A, Hagen A, Pinter J, Smith R, & Stein MT. (2016) The Curse of the Dolphins: Cognitive Decline and Psychosis. Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBP. PMID: 27096574
- May 6, 2016
- 02:35 PM
- 364 views
Smartphones uncover how the world sleeps
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
A pioneering study of worldwide sleep patterns combines math modeling, mobile apps and big data to parse the roles society and biology each play in setting sleep schedules. The study used a free smartphone app that reduces jetlag to gather robust sleep data from thousands of people in 100 nations. The researchers examined how age, gender, amount of light and home country affect the amount of shut-eye people around the globe get, when they go to bed, and when they wake up.
... Read more »
Olivia J. Walch, Amy Cochran, & Daniel B. Forger. (2016) A global quantification of “normal” sleep schedules using smartphone data . Science Advances. info:/10.1126/sciadv.1501705
- May 6, 2016
- 06:55 AM
- 440 views
Seeing With Eyes Shut: How LSD Causes Hallucinations
by Agnese Mariotti in United Academics
Brain scans show the human brain under LSD and explain how hallucinations occur.... Read more »
Carhart-Harris, R., Muthukumaraswamy, S., Roseman, L., Kaelen, M., Droog, W., Murphy, K., Tagliazucchi, E., Schenberg, E., Nest, T., Orban, C.... (2016) Neural correlates of the LSD experience revealed by multimodal neuroimaging. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(17), 4853-4858. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1518377113
Carhart-Harris, R., Leech, R., Hellyer, P., Shanahan, M., Feilding, A., Tagliazucchi, E., Chialvo, D., & Nutt, D. (2014) The entropic brain: a theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00020
Hagmann, P., Cammoun, L., Gigandet, X., Meuli, R., Honey, C., Wedeen, V., & Sporns, O. (2008) Mapping the Structural Core of Human Cerebral Cortex. PLoS Biology, 6(7). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0060159
- May 6, 2016
- 02:51 AM
- 288 views
Autism prevalence in the Somali population in Minneapolis continued
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
A very quick post today to direct you to the paper by Amy Hewitt and colleagues [1] who seem to have finally published their findings on autism prevalence in the Somali population in Minneapolis in the peer-reviewed domain. I had previously covered their report on this blog (see here) and the suggestion that: "Somali (1 in 32) and White (1 in 36) children were about equally likely to be identified with ASD [autism spectrum disorder], but more likely to be identified with ASD than Black and ........ Read more »
Hewitt, A., Hall-Lande, J., Hamre, K., Esler, A., Punyko, J., Reichle, J., & Gulaid, A. (2016) Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Prevalence in Somali and Non-Somali Children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. DOI: 10.1007/s10803-016-2793-6
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