http://www.physorg.com/health-news/ en-us PhysOrg.com provides the latest news on health, medicine, medicine technology and health sciences. New methods of studying avian influenza strains and visually mapping their movement around the world will help scientists more quickly learn the behavior of the pandemic H1N1 flu virus, Ohio State University researchers say. http://www.physorg.com/news177593538.html Medicine & Health Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:33:00 EST news177593538 A study of 145 preschool children reports, for the first time, that when the concentrations of two common phthalates in mothers' prenatal urine are elevated their sons are less likely to play with male-typical toys and games, such as trucks and play fighting. http://www.physorg.com/news177573699.html Medicine & Health Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:02:35 EST news177573699 While mothers have known that feeding their kids milk builds strong bones, a new study by researchers at the Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City suggests that Vitamin D contributes to a strong and healthy heart as well - and that inadequate levels of the vitamin may significantly increase a person's risk of stroke, heart disease, and death, even among people who've never had heart disease. http://www.physorg.com/news177573443.html Medicine & Health Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:59:54 EST news177573443 In the largest, most comprehensive genetic analysis of childhood-onset inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), an international research team has identified five new gene regions, including one involved in a biological pathway that helps drive the painful inflammation of the digestive tract that characterizes the disease. http://www.physorg.com/news177515874.html Medicine & Health Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:59:14 EST news177515874 Investigators at Burnham Institute for Medical Research, the University of British Columbia's Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics and the University of California, San Diego have found that normal synaptic activity in nerve cells (the electrical activity in the brain that allows nerve cells to communicate with one another) protects the brain from the misfolded proteins associated with Huntington's disease. http://www.physorg.com/news177515236.html Medicine & Health Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:48:15 EST news177515236 Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health have identified a molecular mechanism that allows two powerful signaling pathways to interact and begin a process leading to colorectal tumors. http://www.physorg.com/news177359577.html Medicine & Health Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:50:02 EST news177359577 Despite minimal exposure to the regular geometric objects found in developed countries, African tribal people perceive shapes as well as westerners, according to a new study. http://www.physorg.com/news177358579.html Medicine & Health Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:17:07 EST news177358579 Curiosity plays a big part in preschoolers' lives. A new study that explored why young children ask so many "why" questions concludes that children are motivated by a desire for explanation. http://www.physorg.com/news177318529.html Medicine & Health Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:40:01 EST news177318529 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests that people can train their minds to stay focused. http://www.physorg.com/news177347438.html Medicine & Health Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:12:26 EST news177347438 (PhysOrg.com) -- "The very thought of you ... the mere idea of you" -- from the song "The Very Thought of You" by Ray Noble. Can the mere thought of your loved one reduce your pain? http://www.physorg.com/news177344980.html Medicine & Health Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:30:34 EST news177344980 (AP) -- The Food and Drug Administration is challenging makers of alcohol-infused energy drinks to prove their beverages are safe, citing complaints that the products can cause risky behavior and injury. http://www.physorg.com/news177342237.html Medicine & Health Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:00:02 EST news177342237 (PhysOrg.com) -- Patients do not need to fast before having their cholesterol tested, a major study has found. http://www.physorg.com/news177338824.html Medicine & Health Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:06:15 EST news177338824 Using four simple questions to generate client-directed feedback can greatly increase the chances that struggling couples will stay together, according to a recently published study. http://www.physorg.com/news177335341.html Medicine & Health Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:00:02 EST news177335341 (PhysOrg.com) -- On average, our cells encounter a very lethal form of DNA damage 10 times a day. Lucky for us, we have the capacity to repair each and every one of them. New research now reveals exactly how two well-known proteins are involved in the process, a finding that not only helps shed light on cancer but also on how our cells maintain the integrity of our genome. http://www.physorg.com/news177322691.html Medicine & Health Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:50:02 EST news177322691 (PhysOrg.com) -- In a development that could have significant ramifications for the nation's health care system, Baby Boomers may well be entering their 60s suffering far more disabilities than their counterparts did in previous generations, according to a new UCLA study. The findings, researchers say, may be due in part to changing American demographics. http://www.physorg.com/news177272135.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:16:31 EST news177272135 An innovative method is being used to repair the breastbone after it is intentionally broken to provide access to the heart during open-heart surgery. The technique uses a state-of-the-art adhesive that rapidly bonds to bone and accelerates the recovery process. http://www.physorg.com/news177257012.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:30:02 EST news177257012 (AP) -- Cigarette smoking rose slightly for the first time in almost 15 years, dashing health officials' hopes that the U.S. smoking rate had moved permanently below 20 percent. http://www.physorg.com/news177255483.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:00:24 EST news177255483 (PhysOrg.com) -- Enhancing the effects of the brain chemical dopamine influences how people make life choices by affecting expectations of pleasure, according to new research from the UCL Institute of Neurology. http://www.physorg.com/news177253940.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:14:02 EST news177253940 A compound in coffee has been found to be estrogenic in studies by Texas AgriLife Research scientists. http://www.physorg.com/news177249971.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:20:02 EST news177249971 (PhysOrg.com) -- Dreams have long been assumed to have psychological functions such as consolidating emotional memories and processing experiences or problems, but according to a Harvard psychiatrist and sleep researcher the real function may actually be physiological. http://www.physorg.com/news177232375.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:50:02 EST news177232375 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new study of mice suggests that stress and trauma in early life can have an impact on the genes and result in behavioral problems later in life. http://www.physorg.com/news177227567.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:30:02 EST news177227567 A team led by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has found a clear link between living to 100 and inheriting a hyperactive version of an enzyme that rebuilds telomeres - the tip ends of chromosomes. The findings appear in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://www.physorg.com/news177186096.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:22:39 EST news177186096 (AP) -- Analysis of a dozen published studies testing possible new uses for a Pfizer Inc. epilepsy drug found that reporting of the results was often fudged, indicating the medicine worked better than internal company documents showed. http://www.physorg.com/news177184811.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:00:46 EST news177184811 (PhysOrg.com) -- Switching from a low-fat, plant-based diet to one high in fat and sugar alters the collection of microbes living in the gut in less than a day, with obesity-linked microbes suddenly thriving, according to new research at the School of Medicine. The study was based on transplants of human intestinal microbes into germ-free mice. http://www.physorg.com/news177180865.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:40:01 EST news177180865 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have devised an innovative way to disarm a key protein considered to be "undruggable," meaning that all previous efforts to develop a drug against it have failed. Their discovery, published in the November 12 issue of Nature, lays the foundation for a new kind of therapy aimed directly at a critical human protein -- one of a few thousand so-called transcription factors -- that could someday be used to treat a variety of diseases, especially multiple types of cancer. http://www.physorg.com/news177168648.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:20:01 EST news177168648 (PhysOrg.com) -- If humans are genetically related to chimps, why did our brains develop the innate ability for language and speech while theirs did not? http://www.physorg.com/news177168331.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:26:18 EST news177168331 The vast majority of school-aged children can focus on the voice of a teacher amid the cacophony of the typical classroom thanks to a brain that automatically focuses on relevant, predictable and repeating auditory information, according to new research from Northwestern University. http://www.physorg.com/news177165357.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:10:01 EST news177165357 A new study reveals that a previously undiscovered mouse gene reduces the two major pathological perturbations commonly associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The research, published by Cell Press in the November 12 issue of the journal Neuron, finds that the novel gene interacts with a key cellular enzyme previously linked with AD pathology, thereby uncovering a new strategy for treating this devastating disorder. http://www.physorg.com/news177164957.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:30:03 EST news177164957 (PhysOrg.com) -- Professor Robert Weiss has found that when two particular genes are inhibited, cancer cells are destroyed at a greater rate. The study is published in the Nov. 9 issue of PNAS. http://www.physorg.com/news177151857.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:00:01 EST news177151857 (PhysOrg.com) -- In the last three decades, childhood obesity in the United States has become a massive public-health problem. According to the Centers for Disease Control, between 1980 and 2006 the percentage of obese teenagers in the United States grew from 5 to 18, while the percentage of pre-teens suffering from obesity increased from 7 to 17. Such children often become overweight adults, leaving themselves especially susceptible to heart illness, Type 2 diabetes, strokes, and some forms of cancer. http://www.physorg.com/news177098327.html Medicine & Health Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:20:09 EST news177098327