Put Old on Hold Newsletter Links for January, 2010

Links for January, 2010

Antidepressant May Change Personality While Relieving Symptoms

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091207164846.htm

Individuals taking a medication to treat depression may experience changes in their personality separate from the alleviation of depressive symptoms, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Lightning-Produced Radiation a Potential Health Concern for Air Travelers

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091207165033.htm

New information about lightning-emitted X-rays, gamma rays and high-energy electrons during thunderstorms is prompting scientists to raise concerns about the potential for airline passengers and crews to be exposed to harmful levels of radiation.

MRI Detects Breast Cancer at Earlier Stage, Study Shows

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091210173601.htm

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) coupled with mammography detects almost all cancers at an early stage, thereby reducing the incidence of advanced stage breast cancer in high-risk women.

Real Human Bone Grown in Tissue Culture

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091209143753.htm

The best way to prevent a fracture is to stop bones from reaching the point where they are prone to breaking, but understanding the process of how bones form and mature has been challenging. Now researchers at the University of Houston department of health and human performance have created a process that grows real human bone in tissue culture, which can be used to investigate how bones form and grow.

Personalities Accurately Judged by Physical Appearance Alone

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091210130000.htm

Observers were able to accurately judge some aspects of a stranger's personality from looking at photographs, according to a study in the current issue of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (PSBP), the official monthly journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Self-esteem, ratings of extraversion and religiosity were correctly judged from physical appearance.

First Evidence of Brain Rewiring in Children: Reading Remediation Positively Alters Brain Tissue

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091209121200.htm

Carnegie Mellon University scientists Timothy Keller and Marcel Just have uncovered the first evidence that intensive instruction to improve reading skills in young children causes the brain to physically rewire itself, creating new white matter that improves communication within the brain.

Bullying at School Linked to Bullying at Home

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091206185410.htm

Children who bully at school are likely to also bully their siblings at home.

Baking Soda for Flu

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/12/15/Baking-Soda-Used-to-Treat-Swine-Flu-85-Years-Ago.aspx

In a 1924 booklet published by the Arm & Hammer Soda Company, the company starts off saying, “The proven value of Arm & Hammer Bicarbonate of Soda as a therapeutic agent is further evinced by the following evidence of a prominent physician named Dr. Volney S. Cheney, in a letter to the Church & Dwight Company:

“In 1918 and 1919 while fighting the ‘Flu’ with the U. S. Public Health Service it was brought to my attention that rarely any one who had been thoroughly alkalinized with bicarbonate of soda contracted the disease, and those who did contract it, if alkalinized early, would invariably have mild attacks.”

Vitamin D: Millions of Needless Deaths

http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2009/jan2009_Millions-of-Needless-Deaths_01.htm

More Effort Needed to Crack Down on 'Secret Remedies', Expert Argues

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091216203451.htm

The medical establishment and politicians must do more to crack down on alternative medicine, argues a senior scientist on the British Medical Journal website.

For Older Adults, Participating in Social Service Activities Can Improve Brain Functions

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091215131334.htm

Volunteer service, such as tutoring children, can help older adults delay or reverse declining brain function, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the researchers found that seniors participating in a youth mentoring program made gains in key brain regions that support cognitive abilities important to planning and organizing one's daily life.

Couples Who Do the Dishes Together Stay Happier

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091215102103.htm

A new study published by The University of Western Ontario reveals that couples who share the responsibility for paid and unpaid work report higher average measures of happiness and life satisfaction than those in other family models.

Music and the Arts Fight Depression, Promote Health

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091215160651.htm

If you paint, dance or play a musical instrument -- or just enjoy going to the theatre or to concerts -- it's likely that you feel healthier and are less depressed than people who don't, a survey of nearly 50,000 individuals from all socio-economic backgrounds from a county in mid-Norway shows.

More Than 90 Percent of People With Gum Disease Are at Risk for Diabetes, Study Finds

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091214121440.htm

An overwhelming majority of people who have periodontal (gum) disease are also at high risk for diabetes and should be screened for diabetes, a New York University nursing-dental research team has found. The researchers also determined that half of those at risk had seen a dentist in the previous year, concluded that dentists should consider offering diabetes screenings in their offices, and described practical approaches to conducting diabetes screenings in dental offices.

Most Antidepressants Miss Key Target of Clinical Depression, Study Finds

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091208132724.htm

A key brain protein called monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) -- is highly elevated during clinical depression yet is unaffected by treatment with commonly used antidepressants, according to an important study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. The study has important implications for our understanding of why antidepressants don't always work.

Supplements best to boost vitamin D

http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/content/view/print/270386

Supplements are the safest, easiest way to boost vitamin D levels, says Harvard Heart Letter, which is spreading the word about the vitamin’s multifaceted benefits: It is good for the heart and overall health, not just bones.

Calorie Restriction: Scientists Take Important Step Toward 'Fountain of Youth'

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091222105219.htm

Going back for a second dessert after your holiday meal might not be the best strategy for living a long, cancer-free life say researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. That's because they've shown exactly how restricted calorie diets -- specifically in the form of restricted glucose -- help human cells live longer.

Who Gets Expensive Cancer Drugs? A Tale of Two Nations

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091214173700.htm

The well-worn notion that patients in the United States have unfettered access to the most expensive cancer drugs while the United Kingdom's nationalized health care system regularly denies access to some high-cost treatments needs rethinking, a team of bioethicists and health policy experts says in a new report.

Growing Evidence Suggests Progesterone Should Be Considered a Treatment Option for Traumatic Brain Injuries

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091222121759.htm

Researchers at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, recommend that progesterone (PROG), a naturally occurring hormone found in both males and females that can protect damaged cells in the central and peripheral nervous systems, be considered a viable treatment option for traumatic brain injuries, according to a clinical perspective.

Wii Fit May Not Help Families Get Fit

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091218125110.htm

The Nintendo Wii Fit many people are considering as Christmas gifts may be great entertainment, but a University of Mississippi study indicates the console has little effect on family fitness.

Electronic Health Records: Concerns About Potential Privacy Breaches Remain an Issue

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091215121047.htm

Although physicians support the use of electronic health records, concerns about potential privacy breaches remain an issue, according to two research articles published in the January 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Informatics Association (JAMIA), in its premiere issue as one of 30 specialty titles published by the BMJ (British Medical Journal) Group, UK.

Women at High Risk of Significant Bone Loss on Injectable Birth Control Identified

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091221212626.htm

Nearly half of women using depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), commonly known as the birth control shot, will experience high bone mineral density (BMD) loss in the hip or lower spine within two years of beginning the contraceptive, according to researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

Daily Pot Smoking May Hasten Onset of Psychosis

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091220144936.htm

Progression to daily marijuana use in adolescence may hasten the onset of symptoms leading up to psychosis, an Emory University study finds. The study was published in the November issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Cannabis Damages Young Brains More Than Originally Thought, Study Finds

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091217115834.htm

Canadian teenagers are among the largest consumers of cannabis worldwide. The damaging effects of this illicit drug on young brains are worse than originally thought, according to new research by Dr. Gabriella Gobbi, a psychiatric researcher from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. The new study, published in Neurobiology of Disease, suggests that daily consumption of cannabis in teens can cause depression and anxiety, and have an irreversible long-term effect on the brain.

Negative Emotions Outweigh Intent to Exercise at Health Clubs

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091217133738.htm

Time and time again, it has been documented that regular exercise has many health benefits including lowering risks associated with the comorbidities of obesity. With only 30% of Americans trying to lose weight meeting the National Institutes of Health exercise guidelines of 300 minutes/week, a study in the January/February 2010 issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior explores the paradox that exists -- an antidote for obesity and its comorbidities is exercise, but the majority of obese Americans do not exercise.

Bourbon Versus Vodka: Bourbon Hurts More the Next Day, Due to Byproducts of Fermenting Process

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091218083548.htm

Many alcoholic beverages contain byproducts of the materials used in the fermenting process. These byproducts are called "congeners," complex organic molecules with toxic effects including acetone, acetaldehyde, fusel oil, tannins, and furfural. Bourbon has 37 times the amount of congeners that vodka has. A new study has found that while drinking a lot of bourbon can cause a worse hangover than drinking a lot of vodka, impairment in people's next-day task performance is about the same for both beverages.

Chemo's Toxicity to Brain Revealed, Possible Treatment Identified

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091217115830.htm

Researchers have developed a novel animal model showing that four commonly used chemotherapy drugs disrupt the birth of new brain cells, and that the condition could be partially reversed with the growth factor IGF-1.

Most People Should Not Automatically Opt for a Swine Flu Shot, Expert Suggests Based on Bacterial Decision-Making

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091216104352.htm

Bacteria inhabited our planet for more than 4 billion years before humans showed up, and they'll probably outlive us by as many eons more. That suggests they may have something to teach us.

Vitamin D Deficiency: The Ignored Epidemic of the Developed World

by Jeffrey Dach MD

http://jeffreydach.com/2007/06/10/vitamin-d-deficiency--by-jeffrey-dach-md.aspx

Source: January, 2010 Put Old on Hold Newsletter