Where is the evidence that animal research benefits humans? (BMJ Vol 328)
Much animal research into potential human treatments is wasted because it is poorly conducted and not thoroughly evaluated, argue leading doctors in this week’s BMJ.
They call for urgent, formal reviews of existing animal research.
They identified six comprehensive reviews of animal experiments from the scientific literature. All six highlighted deficiencies in the contribution that animal re
When we want to go, why can we “wait”? In other words, when we sense that a bowel movement will be necessary, the body has the ability to defer that action until an appropriate time. A new research study examines this issue and the findings could have beneficial implications for those patients with fecal incontinence resulting from a cerebrovascular accident and injuries to the frontal lobe.
Background
Voluntary control of the external anal sphincter (EAS) plays an essentia
Just how much water does each of us really need? Not to swim in, or diet with. Not to respond to marketing claims, or counter salty foods or to cope with dry environments.
Many swear by the advice that for proper body hydration, 64 oz of water should be consumed each day. Other scientists and researchers disagree with that long held belief, recommending that one should only consume water “when thirsty.”
Why should we be concerned? For one, water shortages may be the next great cri
New research shows evidence that prescribed antepartum bed rest may result in babies that are smaller than normal as well as other problems.
A study published in the latest issue of BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH FOR NURSING reports that prescribed bed rest during pregnancy may cause a myriad of problems for mothers as well as babies with lower than normal birth weights. This news is alarming considering antepartum bed rest is prescribed for more than 700,000 pregnant women in the United States
Plant sterols — recognized for their cholesterol-lowering power when added to margarines, salad dressings and other fats — are just as effective in reducing low-density lipoprotein, or “bad” cholesterol” levels, when added to orange juice, say researchers at UC Davis School of Medicine and Medical Center.
The results, based on a 10-week study of 72 healthy volunteers with mildly elevated cholesterol levels, are published in the March 8 issue of the American Heart Association’s journa
New evidence in animals suggests that theories about how the brain processes sight, sound and touch may need updating. Researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues report their findings in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Using electrodes smaller than a human hair, researchers from Wake Forest Baptist and the University of California at San Francisco recorded individual cell activity in the brains of 31 adult rats. Th
New studies are the first to document changes induced by placebo in the brain’s pain pathways
Researchers have produced the strongest evidence yet that placebo–or the mere expectation of relief, with no real treatment–causes physical changes in how the brain responds to pain. Their report appears in the Feb. 20 issue of Science.
In two related studies at the Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System, University of Michigan and Princeton University, researcher
Study suggests damage is cumulative
Prolonged exposure to low-level magnetic fields, similar to those emitted by such common household devices as blow dryers, electric blankets and razors, can damage brain cell DNA, according to researchers in the University of Washington’s Department of Bioengineering. The scientists further found that the damage from brief exposures appears to build up over time.
The new study is scheduled to be published in Environmental Health Perspecti
The effectiveness of the chickenpox vaccine decreases significantly in the first year after vaccination, and also appears lower if the vaccine is administered to children younger than 15 months of age, according to a study in the February 18 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
According to background information in the article, chickenpox (varicella) vaccine is recommended for routine administration to healthy children at 12 to 18 months of age and to older chil
Danish researchers found that sun exposure behaviors and personal characteristics are correlated with the dose of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) a person receives, according to a report in the February issue of The Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
UVR exposure is a well-known risk factor for developing skin cancer, according to the article. Guidelines of safe limits of UVR exposure have been issued by many international health organizations. These limits are determin
Studies of natural antibiotics in our mouths may lead to new treatments for oral infections, as well as ways to boost the infection-fighting powers of mouthwashes, denture coatings, and wound dressings, according to a presentation at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). These compounds, called beta-defensins, are key components of our innate immune system.
“Innate immunity describes the defenses that we’re are born with; they’re cod
There’s a big discrepancy between what science shows about recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse and what’s being shown in the media, according to University of Oregon memory researcher Jennifer Freyd.
Most people find recovered memories less believable than events someone has always remembered, despite research showing that whether a memory is true or not has no documented relationship to whether it was always remembered or only recently remembered, Freyd says.
U
Individuals with autism have been shown to have a difficult time recognizing faces, but two University of Washington researchers now suggest that the problem may be due to a lack of practice, rather than to abnormal functioning of the affected region of the brain.
Previous research, using an electroencephalogram (EEG) to measure brain activity, had shown that autistic 3- and 4-year-olds failed to show normal brain response when viewing their mother’s picture. However, a recent study re
As world reserves of oil and natural gas dwindle over the coming decades – a prospect predicted by many energy experts – the rate at which the people in most societies around the world have babies is likely to drop precipitously as well.
That is the prediction of anthropologist Virginia Abernethy, professor emerita of psychiatry at Vanderbilt University, speaking on Feb. 13 in the symposium “From the Ground Up: The Importance of Soil in Sustaining Civilization” at the annual meeting of the
The preparation of Espresso Coffee (EC) is influenced by factors related to the coffee and water and other technical conditions related to the machine. Susana Andueza has presented her doctoral thesis about Influence of technological variables on espresso coffee quality. Antioxidant and pro-oxidant capacity of coffee in the University of Navarre.
The aim of this work was to investigate the effects of hot water temperature (88, 92, 96 and 98º C), water pressure (7, 9 and 11atm), grinding gra
A series of studies in rats and mice suggests that short bouts of stress increase the skin’s ability to fight infections and heal minor wounds.
The immune response of animals exposed to acute stress – about two hours of restraint – was two to four times higher compared to non-stressed animals. This was true when the animals’ skin was treated with chemical or protein antigens immediately after a stressful event. An antigen is any substance that the immune system reacts to by
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