A new study of the Hadza population in Tanzania, forthcoming in the April 2006 issue of Current Anthropology, explores the role of hunting in human evolution. Among chimpanzees and most human populations that subsist on wild resources, hunting is a predominantly male activity, and researchers have long tried to locate the advantage that hunting, a dangerous and tiring activity, brings to men. Though some have argued that good hunters have longer-lasting ties to mates and better-fed offspring, oth
Research validates decades of work, points to future avenues for understanding learning
Through a clever experimental design, Carnegie Mellon University neuroscientists have validated decades of experiments to show how learning and memory may be encoded in a living animal. The research, published in the March issue of Neuron, identifies for the first time the specific neural connections that strengthen as an animal’s brain responds to new experiences.
“We are ver
AGA journals publish important studies during Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in the United States. In 2006, an estimated 148,610 people will be diagnosed with the disease and more than 55,000 are expected to die. However, colorectal cancer can be prevented with proper and timely screening and removal of potentially cancerous polyps. In efforts to promote screening for prevention and early detection of colorect
Obese people may be more sensitive to pain than people who aren’t obese, a new study suggests.
All of the older adults who completed the study had osteoarthritis of the knee, a disease that causes inflammation and extreme pain in the knees.
Participants were given a mild electrical stimulation on their left ankle to measure their pain reflex. The stimulus was given before and after the participants took part in a 45-minute coping skills training session that included
Catheter ablation for chronic atrial fibrillation returns 74 percent of patients to normal rhythm
People who have endured the effects and risks of an irregular heartbeat for years can get long-lasting relief from a procedure that takes less than two hours, a definitive new study shows.
In the March 2 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center and the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, Italy report the resul
New evidence on chronic fatigue causation: The ’Dubbo Infection Outcomes Study’
A seven-year tracking study has prompted scientists to suggest that chronic fatigue syndrome could be the result of brain injuries inflicted during the early stages of glandular fever.
Australian researchers have put the suggestion in this week’s Journal of Infectious Diseases, which reveals new findings from the ’Dubbo Infection Outcomes Study’. Since 1999, a t
A study by University of Virginia sociologists W. Bradford Wilcox and Steven L. Nock finds that the single most important factor in women’s marital happiness is the level of their husbands’ emotional engagement — not money, the division of household chores or other factors. The study also finds that women whose husbands earn the lion’s share of income, who don’t work outside the home, or who share a strong commitment to lifelong marriage with their husbands report the highest levels of marital happin
Role of body mass index (BMI) and other factors in driver deaths occurring w/in 30 days of motor vehicle crashes
A team at the Injury Research Center of the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee has found that being obese increases male drivers’ risk of dying in a car crash, as does being very slim. However, being moderately overweight might help cushion the blow.
They also found that obesity did not affect women’s risk of death from such crashes. Their study
Study One Day May Lead to Ways to Reduce Heart Attacks in Diabetes Patients
For people with type 2 diabetes, the death rate from a first heart attack is two to three times the death rate of patients without the disease. Similarly, patients with diabetes and ischemic (reduced blood flow) heart disease have a much higher mortality rate than the general population.
Now, a team of researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center led by George L. King, M.D., Director of Research and
Scientists have completed an extensive study of more than 3,000 patients who received a promising anti-inflammatory drug, natalizumab, that was linked to three cases of a serious brain infection in large clinical trials halted in early 2005.
The new study found no new cases of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) and confirmed the three previously identified cases of PML associated with use of the drug. One fatal and one nonfatal case of PML occurred in a trial us
Scientists at The University of Manchester and the Manchester Metropolitan University have carried out the first comparative scientific study of ancient spiders trapped in amber more than 30 millions years ago.
The study of fossilised spiders from the Baltic (Poland) and the Dominican (Caribbean) regions has revealed new insights into the ecologies of spiders dating back to the Cenozoic period.
It is the first time ancient spiders from different parts of the world have b
Researchers to question whether treatment is necessary for mild thyroid problems, based on study findings
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that leaving a mildly underactive thyroid gland (subclinical hypothyroidism) untreated does not lead to increased cardiovascular risk. The study results, to be published in the March 1st issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, may lead to changes in the clinical treatment of this c
New study compares handedness of medieval English villagers to modern-day sample
A study from the April issue of Current Anthropology explores the evolution of handedness, one of few firm behavioral boundaries separating humans from other animals. As researchers find new cultural behaviors among chimpanzees and other primates, language is the only other characteristic accepted to be unique to humans, and both language and handedness appear to relate to the separation of functions
New research shows women who experience hysterectomy and oophorectomy are at higher risk for low sexual desire
A cross-sectional survey of European women shows that surgically menopausal women are at increased risk for low sexual desire. In the March 2006 issue of The Journal of Sexual Medicine, researchers have published the first-ever multi-cultural prevalence study using multi-dimensional psychometrically valid outcomes to determine if women who undergo surgical menopause h
Body weight-supported treadmill training isn’t more effective than conventional mobility rehabilitation for restoring movement to those with partial spinal cord injury, according to a new study. But an unexpectedly high number of patients achieved functional walking speeds regardless of treatment type. The study is published in the February 28, 2006, issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN).
The multicenter trial analyzed 117 individua
Combining aggressive HIV therapy and chemotherapy significantly improves the survival rates of HIV-positive men and women treated for lymphoma, according to a new study. Published in the April 1, 2006 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study reveals that combination therapy showed the greatest benefit for HIV patients suffering from aggressive malignant non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. This benefit was most pronounced in HIV patients without severely impaired
Feedback
