Women Health

A recent cross-sectional study conducted by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham explored a new pathway between short sleep -- less than seven hours -- and obesity. Gabriel S. Tajeu, DrPH, a postdoctoral fellow in UAB's Department of Epidemiology, in collaboration with Bisakha Sen, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Health Care Organization and Policy, … [Read more...]

A comparison of the genomes of polar bears and brown bears reveals that the polar bear is a much younger species than previously believed, having diverged from brown bears less than 500,000 years ago. The analysis also uncovered several genes that may be involved in the polar bears' extreme adaptations to life in the high Arctic. The species lives much of its life on sea … [Read more...]

A new study from the University of Houston Department of Health and Human Performance (HHP) finds childhood poverty reaches into the lives of white, Hispanic and African-American young adult women, contributing to their propensity to be overweight and obese. "We know that having a low socioeconomic status during childhood contributes to children being overweight or obese," … [Read more...]

Dieters are more likely to read and understand food labels than people who aren't dieting. This is the finding of a study by Audrey Spencer from Lancaster University to be presented today, Thursday 8 May 2014, at the British Psychological Society annual conference hosted at the Birmingham International Convention Centre. Some 255 participants completed questionnaires on … [Read more...]

Ensuring teenagers know exactly how overweight they are encourages them to adopt a healthier lifestyle, but in practice many fail to follow this through. These are the findings of a study by PhD psychology student Julia Fredrickson, Dr Peter Kremer and Professor Marita McCabe from Deakin University, Australia that will be presented today, Thursday 8 May, at the British … [Read more...]

The anti-hormone therapy tamoxifen can reduce breast cancer recurrence by about half in women with hormone-sensitive breast cancer. But it works better in some women than others. Researchers are not sure why. "We do know that some tumors are inherently resistant to tamoxifen because of tumor genetic changes," says Daniel L. Hertz, Pharm.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor in … [Read more...]

Adjusting a specific deep-brain circuit's firing frequency immediately and dramatically alters rats' forebrain activity and alertness levels, Stanford University School of Medicine investigators have shown. The findings, to be published online Dec. 10 in eLife, hold direct implications for an increasingly widespread therapeutic approach called deep-brain stimulation. They … [Read more...]

Researchers at the University of Warwick have worked with Coventry-based Medherant, a Warwick spinout company, to produce and patent the World's first ever ibuprofen patch delivering the drug directly through skin to exactly where it is needed at a consistent dose rate. They have invented a transparent adhesive patch that can consistently deliver a prolonged high dose of the … [Read more...]

Change your attitude. Change your behavior. Change your brain. Discussing the costs of pursuing the unrealistic thin beauty ideal reduces valuation of this idea. Scientists at Oregon Research Institute (ORI) have published unique research results indicating that a brief dissonance-based eating disorder prevention program (Body Project) alters how young women's brains respond … [Read more...]

People who are exposed to higher levels of cadmium have an increased risk of osteoporosis and fractures. Cadmium also affects the kidneys. A doctoral thesis at Sahlgrenska Academy explored this issue in a study of over 900 older men. We are exposed to low levels of the heavy metal cadmium, daily. This occurs primarily through food, but smokers are also exposed from cigarette … [Read more...]

Researchers are only beginning to understand the implications of disrupted sleep in people with epilepsy. Recent findings suggest that seizure-interrupted sleep could impede memory formation, impair cognitive performance and influence a myriad of other aspects of daily life. Four studies presented at the American Epilepsy Society's (AES) 69th Annual Meeting unveil previously … [Read more...]

The largest and fastest-growing segment of people with epilepsy are those age 60 and older. People with epilepsy face a number of related health challenges, including cognitive, physical and psychological disorders. But new research suggests other, less expected consequences on the aging process. Four studies presented at the American Epilepsy Society's (AES) 69th Annual … [Read more...]

Although green tea is enjoyed by millions for its numerous health benefits, University of California, Irvine researchers have discovered that excessive consumption adversely affected development and reproduction in fruit fly populations. It's unclear whether overconsumption could have the same impact on humans, but the findings suggest caution when using green tea, or any … [Read more...]

A smartphone-induced EEG waveform and an intelligent algorithm for seizure detection are among the emerging technologies to be unveiled at the American Epilepsy Society's (AES) 69th Annual Meeting. Four innovative studies presented at the meeting promise to reshape current paradigms for seizure detection and epilepsy management. In the first study, (abstract 3.277) … [Read more...]

Technological advances ranging from gene editing to next-generation sequencing offer unprecedented access to the human genome and promise to reshape the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy. Four studies presented at the American Epilepsy Society's (AES) 69th Annual Meeting demonstrate how these innovative technologies are being used to identify and manipulate genes linked to … [Read more...]

An experiment done in rats by scientists at the University of Granada, Spain, shows a high-protein diet increases the chance of developing kidney stones and other renal diseases. High-protein diets, like the popular Dr. Dukan diet, increase the long-term risk of developing kidney disease and have a negative effect on renal urinary and morphological markers, the study … [Read more...]

Ancient DNA from early Iberian farmers shows that the wideheld evolutionary hypothesis of calcium absorption was not the only reason Europeans evolved milk tolerance. Most of us grew up drinking milk. We were told it was the ultimate health drink. It is packed full of nutrients like calcium and other minerals, vitamins, including vitamin D, protein, fat and sugar in the form … [Read more...]

A good poker face might prevent others knowing what cards you're holding but it won't prevent them from knowing if you've gained or lost weight. That's because our faces reveal many things, including whether our weight has changed. Now, researchers in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto have determined the amount of weight people need to gain or lose … [Read more...]

New research out of UC San Francisco is the first to demonstrate that highly stressed people who eat a lot of high-fat, high-sugar food are more prone to health risks than low-stress people who eat the same amount of unhealthy food. "Chronic stress can play an important role in influencing biology, and it's critical to understand the exact pathways through which it works." … [Read more...]

Study reveals new filling material material that is not toxic to teeth. Graphene oxide could be used to make super strong dental fillings that don't corrode, according to a new study published in Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces. Research suggests we chew around 800 times in an average meal; that's almost a million times a year. We put our teeth under huge strain, and … [Read more...]

One out of every 10 people worldwide suffer from foodborne diseases annually, and children and the poor suffer most, according to the findings of a World Health Organization task force headed by a University of Florida senior researcher. The announcement, made Wednesday, comes after more than eight years of research and data analysis by a WHO task force composed to measure … [Read more...]

  As the number of people with type 2 diabetes continues to rise and its toll increases, scientists are scrambling to unravel the complex genetic and lifestyle factors behind the disease. A new study finds that African American children with a genetic predisposition to diabetes may be able to reduce their risk by getting the USDA-recommended dose of calcium. "Even … [Read more...]

"When someone says of an obese person, 'They should just eat less and exercise more,' I say if it were that simple, obesity wouldn't be the worldwide epidemic that it is." That's according to Dr. Claude Bouchard, a faculty fellow of the Texas A&M University Institute for Advanced Study (TIAS), a program that attracts eminent scholars from around the world for extended stays … [Read more...]

We all know that too much food combined with too little exercise can add up to poor health and disease. But overeating and inactivity also speed up the aging process, right down to our cells. At the end of a cell's lifespan, a process called senescence kicks in -- cells lose the ability to divide and begin to secrete substances that damage the surrounding cells. While unhealthy … [Read more...]

Girls who are told by a parent, sibling, friend, classmate or teacher that they are too fat at age 10 are more likely to be obese at age 19, a new study by UCLA psychologists shows. The study looked at 1,213 African-American girls and 1,166 white girls living in Northern California, Cincinnati and Washington, D.C., 58 percent of whom had been told they were too fat at age … [Read more...]

New research from of the Sexuality and Gender Laboratory at Queen's University shows that heterosexual women have more diverse patterns of sexual response than previously reported. Research on women's sexual orientation and patterns of sexual response has previously focused on women's genital and subjective sexual arousal relative to their sexual identity, as heterosexual, … [Read more...]

New findings from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston revealed that teens who are involved in dating abuse -- as either the perpetrator or the victim -- are more likely to also be involved in cyberdating abuse. Further, teens who commit cyberdating violence against their partners are more likely to later be victimized by it and cyberviolence victims are more … [Read more...]

Clinical trials are testing whether oxytocin, sometimes called the "love hormone" for its role in intimacy and social bonding, has potential as a treatment for anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. New research by behavioral neuroscientists Michael Steinman, Brian Trainor and colleagues at the University of California, Davis, suggests oxytocin may have … [Read more...]

Certain genetic variations increase the risk of having a lower level of vitamin D. This is the finding of a PhD project from the National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, which has examined the effect of eating vitamin D fortified foods or receiving artificial UVB irradiation during the winter months. The fortified diet and artificial sunlight had less of an … [Read more...]