Alternative Health

Mount Sinai Heart at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has been awarded a $3.8 million grant by the American Heart Association (AHA) to promote cardiovascular health among high-risk New York City children, and their parents, living in Harlem and the Bronx. With assistance from the NYC Administration for Children's Services (ACS), the research team's mission is to reduce … [Read more...]

Communication is vital to any successful relationship. Researchers from the Institute of Food Research and the University of East Anglia have discovered how the beneficial bacteria in our guts communicate with our own cells. This is a key step in understanding how our bodies maintain a close relationship with the population of gut bacteria that plays crucial roles in … [Read more...]

Everyday our cells take in nutrients from food and convert them into the building blocks that make life possible. However, it has been challenging to pinpoint exactly how a single nutrient or vitamin changes gene expression and physiology. Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have developed a novel interspecies model system that allows these questions to … [Read more...]

It is well documented that children with obese parents are at greater risk for obesity. In a new study, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, Cornell University, and Duke University looked at how different kinds of family associations affect obesity, specifically how sibling relationships affect a child’s weight. They not only found a correlation between parents and … [Read more...]

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have discovered a surprising new role for a pair of compounds -- which have the potential to alter circadian rhythm, the complex physiological process that responds to a 24-hour cycle of light and dark and is present in most living things. At least one of these compounds could be developed as a … [Read more...]

Increasing exposure to outdoor light is the key to reducing the myopia (short-sightedness) epidemic in children, according to ground-breaking research by Australian optometrists. Optometrist and lead researcher on the project, Associate Professor Scott Read who is the director of research at QUT's School of Optometry and Vision Science, said children need to spend more than … [Read more...]

A pilot study presented today found that all patients with acute HCV who were treated with a direct-acting antiviral treatment over a 'short-duration' of six weeks had undetectable HCV after a 12 week follow-up. The investigator-initiated study, presented at The International Liver CongressTM in Barcelona, Spain, demonstrated that the combination of sofosbuvir and ledipasvir … [Read more...]

  Some say there's always room for dessert -- but those who follow that motto young may be more likely to gain unhealthy weight, a new study suggests. Toddlers who reached for cookies over chips when their bellies were full had a higher risk of body fat increases, University of Michigan researchers report in the May issue of Pediatrics. "Eating in the absence of … [Read more...]

Nearly nine of 10 Americans have relied upon healing prayer at some point in their lives, praying for others even more than for themselves, according to a study by a Baylor University epidemiologist. "The most surprising finding is that more than a quarter of all Americans have practiced laying on of hands -- and nearly one in five has done so on multiple occasions," said … [Read more...]

Researchers from the University of Liverpool have conducted a study examining the effect ecstasy has on different parts of the brain. Dr Carl Roberts and Dr Andrew Jones, from the University's Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, and Dr Cathy Montgomery from Liverpool John Moores University conducted an analysis of seven independent studies that used molecular … [Read more...]

Could a trip out of the country compromise the health of your baby? A young mom takes the pros and cons of traveling in the days of the Zika virus into consideration. Like most young couples, Rhonda Spinks and her husband are thrilled to be expecting. Spinks told Ivanhoe, “This is our first baby and of course when it’s your first you’re extra cautious.” Spinks was … [Read more...]

You walk into a room and suddenly your brain goes fuzzy with an overwhelming wave of familiarity -- although this is a totally new experience. Like something out of a sci-fi plot, it almost seems as if you've walked into the future. Chances are, you've experienced this situation, known as déjà vu, during your life. Déjà vu (French for 'already seen') occurs in approximately … [Read more...]

A new study suggests that an epilepsy drug that can be taken once a day may control seizures as well as a drug that must be taken twice a day, according to a preliminary study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 68th Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Canada, April 15 to 21, 2016. The study compared the once-a-day drug eslicarbazepine … [Read more...]

It has been known for its flavorful addition to soups and as a delicacy for dogs but bone marrow fat may also have untapped health benefits, new research finds. A University of Michigan-led study shows that the fat tissue in bone marrow is a significant source of the hormone adiponectin, which helps maintain insulin sensitivity, break down fat, and has been linked to … [Read more...]

Older adults, who are Facebook's fastest growing demographic, are joining the social network to stay connected and make new connections, just like college kids who joined the site decades ago, according to Penn State researchers. "Earlier studies suggest a positive relationship between bonding and bridging social capital and Facebook use among college students," said Eun Hwa … [Read more...]

A new toothpaste ingredient which puts back the lost minerals from tooth enamel and helps prevent decay and treat sensitivity while you sleep is available online and from specialist dental distributors now. It is expected to be available through high street stores by the end of the year. The new BioMinF toothpaste ingredient provides a new tooth repair technology which will … [Read more...]

Treating cancer that began in the liver or has spread to the liver can often involve months of chemotherapy and painful radiation treatments. But now there’s a new procedure that takes tiny beads that carry a high dose of radiation and sends them straight to the cancer. When Richard Dowling was diagnosed with liver cancer at 76, he figured doctors would focus more on his … [Read more...]

An artificial mimic of a key light-sensitive molecule has been made by scientists at the University of Bristol. The work, published in Science, could lead to new ways of building light-sensitive artificial cells. Professor Jonathan Clayden and colleagues in Bristol's School of Chemistry, along with collaborators at the Universities of Manchester and Hull, created an … [Read more...]

According to the World Health Organization, influenza causes serious illness among millions of people each year, resulting in 250,000 to 500,000 deaths. Those most at risk include infants younger than six months, because they cannot be vaccinated against the disease. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri School of Medicine have identified a naturally occurring protein … [Read more...]

Sotos syndrome is a congenital syndrome that is characterized by varying degrees of mental retardation and a large head circumference etc. It is known that 90% of Sotos syndrome patients have mutations in the NSD1 gene. This time, an international research group has revealed that mutation in the APC2 gene causes symptoms of Sotos syndrome related to the nervous system, from … [Read more...]

A group of researchers led by Dr. James Dunn out of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) are pleased to announce publication of their research in an upcoming issue of the journal TECHNOLOGY. The report, part of a thesis project of first author Christopher Walthers, Ph.D, was co-authored by Chase Lyall, M.S., Alireza Nazemi, M.S., and Puneet Rana, M.S. This paper … [Read more...]

Researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School have described, for the first time, the adult brain's ability to compensate for a near-complete loss of auditory nerve fibers that link the ear to the brain. The findings, published in the current issue of Neuron, suggest that the brain's natural plasticity can compensate for inner ear damage to bring sound … [Read more...]

Using cutting-edge imaging technology, Salk Institute and Harvard Medical School researchers have determined the structure of a protein complex that lets viruses similar to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) establish permanent infections within their hosts. Contrary to previous assumptions, the newly detailed viral protein complex structure indicates that this type of … [Read more...]

One of the most crucial and elusive goals of an effective HIV vaccine is to stimulate antibodies that can attack the virus even as it relentlessly mutates. Now a research team, led by investigators at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute and the Vaccine Research Center of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), has tracked rare potent antibodies in an … [Read more...]

MRI experts at The University of Nottingham win £1m grant to adapt scanning techniques to pick up sodium in the body. The research could lead to much more detailed MRI scans in the future with significant improvements to the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases. A novel technique to use the body's natural sodium (salt) content to provide a more detailed picture of tissue … [Read more...]

  Trained technician screeners with assisted computer-aided nodule detection or computer vision (CV) screening workstations can efficiently and accurately review and triage abnormal low-dose computed topography (LDCT) scans for radiologist review. The National Lung Cancer Screening Trial (NLST) reported that three annual low-dose computed topography (LDCT) scans, in … [Read more...]

The number of children who are obese remains alarmingly high in the U.S. and, unfortunately, diseases associated with obesity are on the rise. Worried about their overweight children, many parents wonder if other diagnoses, such as hypothyroidism, could be the reason behind their child's weight gain. But according to experts more often than not the underlying issues are more … [Read more...]

A nutrition education program in low-income child care centers can improve a child's at-home consumption of vegetables and low-fat/fat-free milk, according to a study by researchers from RTI International, Altarum Institute, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The study was supported by the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service. The study, published in the Journal of the … [Read more...]

A European consortium of epilepsy researchers has reported the discovery of a new gene involved in severe childhood epilepsy. Using a novel combination of technologies, including trio exome sequencing of patient/parental DNA and genetic studies in the tiny larvae of zebrafish, the EuroEPINOMICS RES consortium found that mutations in the gene CHD2 are responsible for a subset of … [Read more...]