Medicine posts
- May 11, 2016
- 02:58 PM
- 299 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
- 134 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
- 134 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
- 04:30 AM
- 202 views
An Ounce of Prevention = Money Saved!
by Nicole Cattano in Sports Medicine Research (SMR): In the Lab & In the Field
A neuromuscular injury prevention program reduces injuries and health care costs among female youth soccer players. ... Read more »
Marshall, D., Lopatina, E., Lacny, S., & Emery, C. (2016) Economic impact study: neuromuscular training reduces the burden of injuries and costs compared to standard warm-up in youth soccer. British Journal of Sports Medicine. DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2015-095666
- May 11, 2016
- 02:57 AM
- 235 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
- 12:54 PM
- 151 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
- 265 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
- 299 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
- 287 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
- 04:30 AM
- 264 views
Strongest Indicator of Implementing a Return-to-Learn Protocol was Communication
by Jane McDevitt, PhD in Sports Medicine Research (SMR): In the Lab & In the Field
Overall 84% of athletic trainers recommended a gradual return to learn, but only 44% of athletic trainers report having a return-to-learn policy.... Read more »
Kasamatsu T, Cleary M, Bennett J, Howard K, & McLeod TV. (2016) Examining Academic Support After Concussion for the Adolescent Student-Athlete: Perspectives of the Athletic Trainer. Journal of Athletic Training, 51(2), 153-61. PMID: 26942658
- May 9, 2016
- 02:58 AM
- 231 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
- 256 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
- 291 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
- 327 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
- 02:51 AM
- 262 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
- May 5, 2016
- 02:26 PM
- 195 views
Ketamine Metabolite Linked to Rapid Antidepressant Effect
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Model of crytalized ketamine moleculeStandard antidepressant therapies typically take two weeks or more to begin to act.Ketamine is an anesthetic drug recently demonstrated to have a rapid antidepressant effect.The mechanism for this effect is unknown. A recent mouse study of ketamine and metabolites of ketamine show some potentially groundbreaking insight for the treatment of depression.This study found these significant findings:Ketamine like most organic compounds is made of boty an R an........ Read more »
Zanos, P., Moaddel, R., Morris, P., Georgiou, P., Fischell, J., Elmer, G., Alkondon, M., Yuan, P., Pribut, H., Singh, N.... (2016) NMDAR inhibition-independent antidepressant actions of ketamine metabolites. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature17998
- May 5, 2016
- 02:53 AM
- 295 views
NAC for 'social impairment' in youth with autism... probably not
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
"The results of this trial indicate that NAC [N-acetylcysteine] treatment was well tolerated, had the expected effect of boosting GSH [glutathione] production, but had no significant impact on social impairment in youth with ASD [autism spectrum disorder]."So said the results reported by Logan Wink and colleagues [1] (open-access) who, continuing an autism research theme, looked at whether this important L-cysteine prodrug might have more to give when it comes to a........ Read more »
Wink, L., Adams, R., Wang, Z., Klaunig, J., Plawecki, M., Posey, D., McDougle, C., & Erickson, C. (2016) A randomized placebo-controlled pilot study of N-acetylcysteine in youth with autism spectrum disorder. Molecular Autism, 7(1). DOI: 10.1186/s13229-016-0088-6
- May 4, 2016
- 04:30 AM
- 269 views
Injury Before College May Increase the Risk of Surgery During College
by Kyle Harris in Sports Medicine Research (SMR): In the Lab & In the Field
An athlete who sustained an injury requiring surgery prior to college is more likely to sustain an injury that needs surgery during their college career.... Read more »
Wang, D., Rugg, C., Mayer, E., Lai, W., Sulzicki, P., Vail, J., & Hame, S. (2016) Precollegiate Knee Surgery Predicts Subsequent Injury Requiring Surgery in NCAA Athletes. The American Journal of Sports Medicine. DOI: 10.1177/0363546516634306
- May 4, 2016
- 02:34 AM
- 308 views
The developmental correlates of asthma (again)
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
Can I just get it out of the way? May the 4th be with you.OK. The results from Mark Strom & Jonathan Silverberg [1] caught my eye recently and further evidence of a 'correlation' between asthma and developmental and/or behavioural outcomes. This time around it was "caregiver-reported speech disorders in US children" and how the appearance of asthma, hay fever and/or food allergy might show some important relationships with something like speech disorder. This follows other, similar work from........ Read more »
Strom MA, & Silverberg JI. (2016) Asthma, hay fever and food allergy are associated with caregiver-reported speech disorders in US children. Pediatric allergy and immunology : official publication of the European Society of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology. PMID: 27091599
- May 3, 2016
- 12:05 PM
- 149 views
Depression Symptoms and Alzheimer's Risk
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
An important study was published today in Lancet Psychiatry. This study examined the role of depression symptoms in risk for later development of dementia including Alzheimer's disease.Previous work on this topic has relied on cross-sectional risk factor design. However, the study published today used a prospective longitudinal design for elderly individuals participating the Rotterdam study.Depressive symptoms were measured over time and compared to latter risk for development of dementia......... Read more »
Mirza, S., Wolters, F., Swanson, S., Koudstaal, P., Hofman, A., Tiemeier, H., & Ikram, M. (2016) 10-year trajectories of depressive symptoms and risk of dementia: a population-based study. The Lancet Psychiatry. DOI: 10.1016/S2215-0366(16)00097-3
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.
Research Blogging is powered by SMG Technology.
To learn more, visit seedmediagroup.com.