Women Health

A ballet dancer's grace is not just because the dancer constantly practices moving with poise. New research published in Journal of Neurophysiology reports that professional ballet dancers' years of physical training have enabled their nervous system to coordinate their muscles when they move more precisely than individuals who have no dance training. The nervous system is … [Read more...]

Patients who stop taking cholesterol medications before surgery are following outdated recommendations, and significantly increasing their risk of death if they don't resume taking the medications within two days after surgery, according to a study of more than 300,000 patients being presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2015 annual meeting. One in four Americans, aged 40 and … [Read more...]

On average, 80% of American adults watch 3.5 hours of television per day and multiple observational studies have demonstrated a link between TV viewing and poorer health. In this new study published in the December issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, investigators reported an association between increasing hours of television viewing per day and increasing … [Read more...]

Anxious patients heading into surgery often receive medication to ease their fears, but a few calming words from their physicians might actually be more effective medicine. In fact, "conversational hypnosis" as the approach is known, may do a better job than pills for relaxing patients before anesthesia and surgery, suggests research being presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2015 … [Read more...]

Posing as a 15-year-old athlete wanting to bulk up during strength training, a researcher asked more than 200 health food stores whether he should take a sports performance supplement containing creatine. Despite recommendations against using creatine under age 18 by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American College of Sports Medicine, more than two-thirds of … [Read more...]

There is a pre-existing assumption that women place less importance on their careers than men. A new study by an Ithaca College professor challenges this assumption by evaluating how much men and women consider their careers a central part of their identity. "Are Women Less Career Centric Than Men? Structure, Culture and Career Investments" by Stephen Sweet, analyzes data … [Read more...]

It is widely recognised that our physical fitness is reflected in our mental fitness, especially as we get older. How does being physically fit affect our aging brains? Neuroimaging studies, in which the activity of different parts of the brain can be visualised, have provided some clues. Until now, however, no study has directly linked brain activation with both mental and … [Read more...]

Acromio-clavicular joint dislocation is one of the most common shoulder injuries orthopedic surgeons treat. Severe dislocations are often treated with surgery, but patients who opt for non-surgical treatment typically experience fewer complications and return to work sooner, according to new research published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma. The AC joint is located at … [Read more...]

Resistance and endurance exercises affect the body very differently. These differences suggest that adapting to exercise involves many processes, but scientists have observed that one gene in particular, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator PGC-1a, controls many of them. New research in Physiological Reports shows that although both resistance and … [Read more...]

Researchers at University Jean Monnet of Saint-Etienne, France have succeeded in developing a vaginal silicone ring that delivers molecules that act on both HIV and herpes virus. This research is presented at the 55th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC/ICC). "We succeeded in creating a ring that can deliver hydrophilic molecules such as … [Read more...]

A joint study by UT Southwestern Medical Center and Parkland Health & Hospital System investigators found that a multicomponent outreach program increased completion of the three-dose human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination series that reduces the risk of cervical cancer caused by the virus. "Delivery of the HPV vaccine in safety-net settings is critically important … [Read more...]

Many viral infections, such as the common cold, cause mild illnesses that the body's immune system eventually defeats. But when viruses cause severe disease, doctors have few options for effective treatment. Studying mice with a variety of viral infections, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine? in St. Louis have demonstrated a way to dial up the body's … [Read more...]

Drowsy mice make poor stem cell donors, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. A sleep deficit of just four hours affects by as much as 50 percent the ability of stem cells of the blood and immune system to migrate to the proper spots in the bone marrow of recipient mice and churn out the cell types necessary to reconstitute a … [Read more...]

People undergoing root canals may have gained a powerful, if tiny, new ally. Researchers from the UCLA School of Dentistry have found that using nanodiamonds to fortify a material used in the procedure could significantly improve outcomes for patients. A paper on their research is published in the current issue of the peer-reviewed journal ACS Nano. Nanodiamonds are tiny … [Read more...]

  It's tempting to believe that people these days aren't getting enough sleep, living as we do in our well-lit houses with TVs blaring, cell phones buzzing, and a well-used coffee maker in every kitchen. But new evidence reported in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on October 15 shows that three ancient groups of hunter-gatherers--living in different parts of the … [Read more...]

  Working in mice, researchers at Duke University have discovered a potential new class of drugs that may prevent the development of temporal lobe epilepsy, one of the most common and devastating forms of epilepsy. Temporal lobe epilepsy is particularly debilitating because it strikes the areas of the brain responsible for memory and mood. As a result, patients have … [Read more...]

Researchers at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine may have identified a way to assess who is at risk for developing a urinary tract infection (UTI) following pelvic-floor surgery. These findings were reported in the latest issue of PLOS ONE. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common type of bacterial infection and have estimated treatment costs … [Read more...]

  Common methods of assessing mental or physical disorders may consistently underestimate the prevalence of mental disorders among middle-aged and older adults, a new study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has found. The analysis, led by postdoctoral fellow Dr. Yoichiro Takayanagi, and published in the January 8 online edition of JAMA … [Read more...]

  Plant scientists engineered the cassava plant to produce higher levels of vitamin B6 in its storage roots and leaves. This could help to protect millions of people in Africa from serious deficiencies. In many tropical countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, cassava is one of the most important staple foods. People eat the starchy storage roots but also … [Read more...]

Researchers are using a high-precision instrument to inject toxins that alleviate migraine attacks. This means even better needle guidance and user-friendliness. It looks like a pistol in which the stock has been replaced by a long needle. The tool, called MultiGuide, has been developed by NTNU and is based on an invention made by Dr. Daniel Bratbak at St. Olav's Hospital. … [Read more...]

With 51% of Britain's population registered as unmarried (ONS, 2012), half of adult Americans currently unattached (Bureau of Labor Statistics), and over half of the households in Paris, the city of love, made up by only-ones, having no significant other seems to be today's latest trend. Yet the world isn't quite the singles' oyster; when it comes to being single, society is … [Read more...]

The success of online networking sites such as LinkedIn illustrates the popularity of building a wide-ranging contact list. Yet when it comes to raising one's profile within the workplace, female employees stand much to gain from formal, face-to-face mentoring programs, according to a new study. In the paper, "Network Intervention: A Field Experiment to Assess the Effects of … [Read more...]

Can the Web make people more fit? It's a question hot on the minds of everyone from health insurers to gym owners to public health officials. Although millions of dollars a year are being spent designing promotional ads and social media campaigns, they clearly aren't working: more than 43 percent of Americans get insufficient levels of daily exercise, and nearly a third are … [Read more...]

A recent Norwegian study shows that men and women react differently to various types of infidelity. Whereas men are most jealous of sexual infidelity, so-called emotional infidelity is what makes women the most jealous. Evolutionary psychology provides an explanation for why this can be. If your partner has sex with someone else, it is considered infidelity -- even if no … [Read more...]

One in four young people have experienced chronic pain and a mental disorder. According to a new report in the Journal of Pain, the onset of pain is often preceded by mental disorders: an above-average rate of incidence of depression, anxiety disorders, and behavioral disorders occurs before the onset of headaches, back pain and neck pain. The report is based on the findings of … [Read more...]

Looking for a simple way to burn more calories while walking? Change up your pace. In a study published in the September 2015 issue of the journal Biology Letters, engineering researchers at The Ohio State University found that walking at varying speeds can burn up to 20 percent more calories compared to maintaining a steady pace. The study is one of the first to measure … [Read more...]

  New University of Michigan research finds people with Parkinson's disease may want to consider attempting to do the dishes, fold the laundry and take strolls around the neighborhood in their quest to control their symptoms. Parkinson's patients often become sedentary because of motor symptoms such as gait, balance problems or falls, said study principal … [Read more...]

  The ancient Chinese exercise Tai Chi is linked to improved physical capacity among older adults with certain common long term conditions, indicates a pooled analysis of the available evidence, published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Among people with breast cancer, heart failure, osteoarthritis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), … [Read more...]

  In a slight knock on digital and telephone communications, a new study points to the unsurpassed mental health benefits of regular face-to-face social interactions among older adults. Study participants who regularly met in person with family and friends were less likely to report symptoms of depression, compared with participants who emailed or spoke on the phone. … [Read more...]