Pet ownership and human health BMJ Volume 331, pp 1252-4; Commentary: Pets – pleasures and problems BMJ Volume 331, pp 1254-5
Owning a pet is linked to health and wellbeing, particularly for older people and patients recovering from major illness, say researchers in this week’s BMJ.
About half of households in the United Kingdom own pets and over 90% of pet owners regard their pet as a valued family member.
Research has suggested that pet ownership is associa
Findings in the Prestigious “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” Describe How Natural Nanoparticles Can Be Adapted to Fight Cancer
Marillion Pharmaceuticals, an emerging biotechnology company developing cancer therapeutics, announced that the science underlying its core technology was published in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” (PNAS), a peer-reviewed journal. Marillion´s nanoplatform conjugates tumor-homing molecules to naturally occurrin
The relationship between the size of a brain structure and the ability to recover from traumatic experiences also may influence overall personality type, according to a study from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers. In a followup to earlier findings that an area of the brain called the medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) appears thicker in those who can better control their emotional response to unpleasant memories, the investigators found that study participants who exhibited better
Randomised controlled study of animal facilitated therapy with dolphins in the treatment of depression BMJ Volume 331, pp 1231-4
Swimming with dolphins is an effective treatment for mild to moderate depression, say researchers in this week’s BMJ.
Their findings support the theory of biophilia, which shows how human health and wellbeing are dependent on our relationships with the natural environment.
The study was carried out in Honduras and involved 30 pat
Scientists achieve first measurements of selectivity mechanism
Even if you could get more RAM for your brain, the extra storage probably wouldn’t make it easier for you to find where you left your car keys.
What may help, according to a discovery published Nov. 24 in the journal Nature, is a better bouncer – as in the type of bouncer who manages crowd control for nightclubs. The study by Edward Vogel, an assistant professor of cognitive neuroscience at the Universi
No need to change career or educational plans to lower risk, however, researchers say
Mayo Clinic researchers have found that an individual’s educational and career paths impact Parkinson’s disease risk later in life. This report will appear in the Nov. 22 issue of the journal Neurology, http://www.aan.com/publications/journal/index.cfm.
The investigators, led by Walter Rocca, M.D., a Mayo Clinic epidemiologist, discovered the highest increase in Parkinson
Twins, triplets and other multiples have a nearly 50 percent greater chance of being born with birth defects, and boys tend to be more at risk than girls, according to two population-based studies conducted at the University of Florida.
UF researchers who studied all Florida births from 1996 through 2000 found multiples have a higher risk than babies born singly of developing 23 of 40 birth defects, such as spina bifida, according to results recently published online in the Mater
Hosts can do their Thanksgiving guests a big favor by serving smaller portions using smaller utensils. That the word from psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania.
The findings, to be published in the journal Psychological Science, demonstrate the power of what the researchers have termed “unit bias”: the sense that a particular portion of food is appropriate. Unit bias provides the basis for understanding why portion size influences how much food you eat. Their work o
Nurses can play pivotal role in helping young families succeed
A new Saint Louis University study rebuts the assumption that all teenagers who have babies face a future of dismal failure.
“Earlier studies exaggerated the long-term negative consequences associated with teenage mothering,” says Lee SmithBattle, R.N., DNSc, professor of nursing at Saint Louis University Doisy College of Health Sciences and principal investigator of a qualitative study that analyzed the experie
Study could lead to better treatments for Alzheimer’s disease
A study by Johns Hopkins scientists has revealed that stimulating brain cell receptors for certain hormone-like chemicals in brain cells called prostaglandins can protect the cells from amyloid â-peptide 42 (Aâ1-42), a compound that has been linked to brain cell death and Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is produced via the action of the COX-2 enzyme, which can contribute to brai
Women urged to talk with their physicians about risks and preventive measures
A University of Minnesota Cancer Center study indicates that older women who receive radiation therapy for treatment of pelvic cancers have an increased risk of hip and other pelvic fractures later in life. Researchers encourage such women to talk with their physicians about their risks and preventive measures, including having their bone density levels checked.
Nancy Baxter, M.D., Ph.D., a
A recent study in the journal Veterinary Radiology and Ultrasound presents the first description of the anatomy of a dog’s cranial nerves (CN), a once difficult procedure now made possible by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a diagnostic modality.
“By knowing the normal MRI anatomy of cranial nerve emergences in the dog, the clinician will better recognize lesions affecting those nerves, such as inflammatory or neoplastic diseases, thus allowing earlier recognition of t
In an important new study from the forthcoming Quarterly Review of Biology, biologists from Binghamton University explore the evolution of two distinct types of laughter – laughter which is stimulus-driven and laughter which is self-generated and strategic.
“Laughter that occurs during everyday social interaction in response to banal comments and humorless conversation is now being studied,” write Matthew Gervais and David Sloan Wilson. “The unstated issue is whether such laug
Researchers at Binghamton University have a first-ever opportunity to determine if Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in deer can be spread to humans who ingest “infected” meat.
Ralph M. Garruto, professor of biomedical anthropology at Binghamton University, State University of New York, is heading up a study to monitor the health implications of a group of people who are known to have consumed venison infected with CWD. Recently discovered in both wild and captive deer herds in New Yo
Transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, from pregnant women to their infants sometime during childbirth is a huge international problem, studies have shown. Between 25 percent and 35 percent of babies born to untreated HIV-infected mothers become infected themselves.
That’s a half million newborn worldwide every year facing chronic illness and premature death on their first day out of the safety of the womb.
“The question has always been how does the virus ge
In contrast to previous reports, for those with autism or Asperger’s syndrome, recognizing facial expressions is separate from identifying familiar faces, according to a study published in the November 22, 2005, issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Those who had an impaired ability to process facial identity were no different than those with normal facial identity ability, when it came to processing facial expression.
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