_ 8 Million Lives Saved Since Since Anti-Smoking Warning By article A Yale study estimates that 8 million lives have been saved in the United States as a result of anti-smoking measures that began 50 years ago in January of 1964 with the groundbreaking report from the Surgeon General outlining the deadly consequences of tobacco use. The Yale School of Public Health-led analysis is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
_ The Right Way to Practice = Faster Learning By article The old adage notwithstanding, practice doesn’t make perfect unless you do it the correct way -- especially when it comes to learning quickly. That’s the finding of research done at the University of Sheffield in the UK and The New York Times Research and Development Lab. The study was published in the journal Psychological Science.
Grief Sighing or Breathing Relief? By Jane Farrell blog Do you sigh throughout the day? Perhaps you don’t recognize that you’re sighing. It’s a deep breath in as your entire upper body rises, and then you release with an long audible exhale and your body sinks as do your hopes.
_ Refilling Prescriptions Online Can Help Your Health By Jane Farrell article Using an online service to refill medications actually helped some people with their health, according to a new study. Researchers from Kaiser Permanente and the University of California, San Francisco Medical School followed 17,760 diabetic patients who got care from Kaisesr Permanente in northern California between 2006 and 2010. The subjects used online patient portals, which allow users to order prescription refills, communicate with their health care providers, schedule appointments, access their health records and view their lab test results
_ Chinese Herb Improves Memory By article Mannotriose, the main component of the Chinese herb Rehmannia, can improve learning and memory. This effect happens because mannotriose protects neurons in the hippocampal region of the brain from injury caused by high- concentrations of corticosterone, or cortisol, the “stress hormone” that impacts emotional memories and long-term memory. That’s the finding of Dr. Lina Zhang and colleagues from Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
_ Mental & Emotional Health Urban Green Spaces = Mental Health Benefits By article Green space in towns and cities could lead to significant and sustained improvements in mental health, According to a study published in January 2014 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology
_ Can Your Lungs Smell Odors? By Jane Farrell article When you smell something, you’re probably using your lungs as well as your nose, researchers say.
_ Reading Can Change Your Brain's Responses By Jane Farrell article If you’ve ever read a story that changed your life, it may have changed your brain as well. Researchers from Emory University have discovered that reading a novel can cause changes in the brain’s “resting-state connectivity.”
Metabolic Syndrome: Patients Not Sticking with Diet By article Adherence to dietary recommendations is weak among people suffering from metabolic syndrome or having increased risk for metabolic syndrome, according to the Nordic SYSDIET study led by the University of Eastern Finland. In most cases, patients are still consuming too much salt and saturated fat and too little dietary fiber and unsaturated fat. Not only that, but many of the patients don't have a sufficient intake of vitamin D. The study was published in the journal Food & Nutrition Research.
An End to Mascara Tests on Rabbits By article Mascara is a mild irritant and rabbits have historically been used to test how much discomfort new products can cause. However, a cheaper and more reliable test is now being developed by scientists at the University of Liverpool in the UK involving miniscule protozoa. This will remove animal cruelty from the equation. The study was published in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science.
_ Online Colorectal Cancer Risk Calculator By article Researchers at Cleveland Clinic have developed a new tool called CRC-PRO that allows physicians to quickly and accurately predict an individual's risk of colorectal cancer, as published in the January 2014 edition of the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.
Vision Health Brain Hot Spots for Post-Stroke Vision Recovery By article Research done in Germany and published in the journal Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience suggests that vision restoration after a stroke depends mostly on activity of residual vision that is still left after the injury. The study showed that both local neuronal activity and activity in the immediate surrounding area influence the development of visual recovery "hot spots." The team maintains that this is evidence that recovery of vision is mediated by partially surviving neurons.
_ Breast Cancer Stopping Breast Cancer Metastasis By article Researchers from Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah in salt Lake City have discovered a cellular mechanism that drives the spread of breast cancer to other parts of the body, as well as a therapy which blocks that metastisis. The research results were published online in the journal Cell Reports on January 2nd 2014.
_ Pain Management Chinese Medicine for Chronic Pain By article Corydalis, a plant used for centuries in Chinese medicine, may be just what we in the West need to relieve chronic pain, according toa study done at the University of California-Irvine and published in the journal Current Biology on January 2nd 2014. A key pain-relieving ingredient is a compound known as dehydrocorybulbine (DHCB) found in the roots of the flowering plant, which is a member of the poppy family.
Turning Off the ΓÇ£Aging GenesΓÇ¥ By Jane Farrell article Researchers at Tel Aviv University and Bar-Ilan University say they have found a possible way to stop the aging process. A release from the university notes that until now, restricting calorie consumption has been one of the few proven ways to combat aging. However, Keren Yizhak and colleagues have developed a computer algorithm that predicts which genes can be "turned off" to create the same anti-aging effect as calorie restriction.
_ Age-Related Obesity Explained By article If you’ve found that you’re packing on more pounds as the years go by even if your calorie intake and activity level remain about the same, you’re not alone. Now research published in the January 2014 issue of The FASEB Journal shows that as we age, the thermogenic, or heat-producing, activity of brown fat is reduced. Brown fat is a "good" fat that helps burn "bad" white belly fat. The researchers also discovered a possible metabolic on/off switch that could reactivate brown fat.
Brain Training Works ΓÇ£With a CatchΓÇ¥ By Jane Farrell article Do online exercises, games, software, and apps designed to “train your brain” really work? University of Oregon psychologists say, yes, but "there's a catch." The catch, according to Elliot T. Berkman, a professor in the Department of Psychology and lead author on a study published in the January 1st 2014 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, is that training for a particular task does heighten performance, but that advantage doesn't necessarily carry over to a new challenge.
Antioxidant Drug Knocks Down MS By article Researchers led by P. Hemachandra Reddy, Ph.D. at Oregon Health & Science University have discovered that an antioxidant designed by scientists more than a dozen years ago to fight damage within human cells significantly helps symptoms in mice that have a multiple sclerosis-like disease. The study was published in the December 2013 edition of the journal Biochimica et Biophysica Acta Molecular Basis of Disease.