Study ties brain structure size to socializing
AP
Dec. 26, 2010
NEW YORK (AP) — Do you spend time with a lot of friends? That might mean a particular part of your brain is larger than usual.
It's the amygdala, which lies deep inside. Brain scans of 58 volunteers in a preliminary study indicated that the bigger the amygdala, the more friends and family the volunteers reported seeing regularly.
That makes sense because the amygdala is at the center of a brain network that's important for socializing, says Lisa Feldman Barrett, an author of the work published online Sunday by the journal Nature Neuroscience.
For example, the network helps us recognize whether somebody is a stranger or an acquaintance, and a friend or a foe, said Barrett, of Northeastern University in Boston.
But does having a bigger amygdala lead to more friends, or does socializing with a lot of friends create a bigger amygdala? The study can't sort that out. But Barrett said it might be a bit of both...
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
You are what your father ate
RODENT OF THE WEEK: You are what your father ate
December 24, 2010|By Karen Kaplan, Los Angeles Times
As they say, you are what you eat. And if you’re a mouse, you’re also what your father ate.
So say researchers from the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the University of Texas at Austin. In a study published this week in the journal Cell, they report that a father’s diet influences how metabolic genes function in his offspring.
The research team fed some male mice a normal diet, while other mice got a low-protein diet. All the males mated with females who ate the same healthy diet. Sure enough, the offspring of the protein-deprived fathers had hundreds of genetic changes that weren’t seen in the mouse pups whose fathers ate the normal amount of protein. The changes were observed even when the fathers never met their offspring.
December 24, 2010|By Karen Kaplan, Los Angeles Times
As they say, you are what you eat. And if you’re a mouse, you’re also what your father ate.
So say researchers from the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the University of Texas at Austin. In a study published this week in the journal Cell, they report that a father’s diet influences how metabolic genes function in his offspring.
The research team fed some male mice a normal diet, while other mice got a low-protein diet. All the males mated with females who ate the same healthy diet. Sure enough, the offspring of the protein-deprived fathers had hundreds of genetic changes that weren’t seen in the mouse pups whose fathers ate the normal amount of protein. The changes were observed even when the fathers never met their offspring.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Memory and Jet Lag
Memory and Jet Lag
May 21, 2001
NPR
NPR's Jon Hamilton reports on a new study looking at memory and jet lag. The study, which appears in the June issue of Nature Neuroscience, tested the mental skills of 20 flight attendants after they had crossed at least seven time zones. Those who had only a few days to recover had significantly more memory problems and brain changes than those who had two weeks or more between long flights.
May 21, 2001
NPR
NPR's Jon Hamilton reports on a new study looking at memory and jet lag. The study, which appears in the June issue of Nature Neuroscience, tested the mental skills of 20 flight attendants after they had crossed at least seven time zones. Those who had only a few days to recover had significantly more memory problems and brain changes than those who had two weeks or more between long flights.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Second-hand smoke kills 1% of the world's population every year
Second-hand smoke kills 600,000 a year: WHO study
Nov 25 2010
By Kate Kelland
Reuters
Around one in a hundred deaths worldwide is due to passive smoking, which kills an estimated 600,000 people a year, World Health Organization (WHO) researchers said on Friday.
In the first study to assess the global impact of second-hand smoke, WHO experts found that children are more heavily exposed to second-hand smoke than any other age-group, and around 165,000 of them a year die because of it.
"Two-thirds of these deaths occur in Africa and south Asia," the researchers, led by Annette Pruss-Ustun of the WHO in Geneva, wrote in their study.
Children's exposure to second-hand smoke is most likely to happen at home, and the double blow of infectious diseases and tobacco "seems to be a deadly combination for children in these regions," they said.
Commenting on the findings in the Lancet journal, Heather Wipfli and Jonathan Samet from the University of Southern California said policymakers try to motivate families to stop smoking in the home.
"In some countries, smokefree homes are becoming the norm, but far from universally," they wrote.
The WHO researchers looked at data from 192 countries for their study. To get comprehensive data from all 192, they had to go back to 2004. They used mathematical modeling to estimate deaths and the number of years lost of life in good health.
Worldwide, 40 percent of children, 33 percent of non-smoking men and 35 percent non-smoking women were exposed to second-hand smoke in 2004, they found.
This exposure was estimated to have caused 379,000 deaths from heart disease, 165,000 from lower respiratory infections, 36,900 from asthma and 21,400 from lung cancer.
For the full impact of smoking, these deaths should be added to the estimated 5.1 million deaths a year attributable to active tobacco use, the researchers said.
CHILDREN
While deaths due to passive smoking in children were skewed toward poor and middle-income countries, deaths in adults were spread across countries at all income levels.
In Europe's high-income countries, only 71 child deaths occurred, while 35,388 deaths were in adults. Yet in the countries assessed in Africa, an estimated...
Nov 25 2010
By Kate Kelland
Reuters
Around one in a hundred deaths worldwide is due to passive smoking, which kills an estimated 600,000 people a year, World Health Organization (WHO) researchers said on Friday.
In the first study to assess the global impact of second-hand smoke, WHO experts found that children are more heavily exposed to second-hand smoke than any other age-group, and around 165,000 of them a year die because of it.
"Two-thirds of these deaths occur in Africa and south Asia," the researchers, led by Annette Pruss-Ustun of the WHO in Geneva, wrote in their study.
Children's exposure to second-hand smoke is most likely to happen at home, and the double blow of infectious diseases and tobacco "seems to be a deadly combination for children in these regions," they said.
Commenting on the findings in the Lancet journal, Heather Wipfli and Jonathan Samet from the University of Southern California said policymakers try to motivate families to stop smoking in the home.
"In some countries, smokefree homes are becoming the norm, but far from universally," they wrote.
The WHO researchers looked at data from 192 countries for their study. To get comprehensive data from all 192, they had to go back to 2004. They used mathematical modeling to estimate deaths and the number of years lost of life in good health.
Worldwide, 40 percent of children, 33 percent of non-smoking men and 35 percent non-smoking women were exposed to second-hand smoke in 2004, they found.
This exposure was estimated to have caused 379,000 deaths from heart disease, 165,000 from lower respiratory infections, 36,900 from asthma and 21,400 from lung cancer.
For the full impact of smoking, these deaths should be added to the estimated 5.1 million deaths a year attributable to active tobacco use, the researchers said.
CHILDREN
While deaths due to passive smoking in children were skewed toward poor and middle-income countries, deaths in adults were spread across countries at all income levels.
In Europe's high-income countries, only 71 child deaths occurred, while 35,388 deaths were in adults. Yet in the countries assessed in Africa, an estimated...
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Plant-based diet may help depression, dementia
Food Consumer
07/07/2010
A new study in the July 6, 2010, issue of Neurology suggests that having depression boosts risk of dementia like Alzheimer's disease.
This is only a suggestion because the study does not mean that depression causes dementia or vise versus.
The study involved 949 people at an average age of 79 years, who were free of dementia, but 125 of them were diagnosed with depression at the beginning of the study.
At the end of the 17-yer follow-up, 164 participants developed dementia; of those participants, 136 were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
Jane Saczynski, PhD, author of the study from the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, MA and colleagues found 22 percent of those who had depression at baseline ended up developing dementia at the end of the study compared to 17 percent of those who were not depressed.
Dr. Saczyynski said even though depression may not necessarily cause dementia, it is possible that something like inflammation of brain tissue that contributes to depression boosts the risk of dementia like Alzheimer's.
Indeed, that is a possibility. Diet is one of the things that may affect risk of both depression and dementia.
A study led by Nanri A and colleagues from the National Center for Global Health and Medicine in Tokyo, Japan shows that a plant-based diet protects against depression.
Nanri found a healthy Japanese diet, consisting of high amounts of vegetables, fruit, mushrooms and soy products was associated with fewer depressive symptoms...
Food Consumer
07/07/2010
A new study in the July 6, 2010, issue of Neurology suggests that having depression boosts risk of dementia like Alzheimer's disease.
This is only a suggestion because the study does not mean that depression causes dementia or vise versus.
The study involved 949 people at an average age of 79 years, who were free of dementia, but 125 of them were diagnosed with depression at the beginning of the study.
At the end of the 17-yer follow-up, 164 participants developed dementia; of those participants, 136 were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
Jane Saczynski, PhD, author of the study from the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, MA and colleagues found 22 percent of those who had depression at baseline ended up developing dementia at the end of the study compared to 17 percent of those who were not depressed.
Dr. Saczyynski said even though depression may not necessarily cause dementia, it is possible that something like inflammation of brain tissue that contributes to depression boosts the risk of dementia like Alzheimer's.
Indeed, that is a possibility. Diet is one of the things that may affect risk of both depression and dementia.
A study led by Nanri A and colleagues from the National Center for Global Health and Medicine in Tokyo, Japan shows that a plant-based diet protects against depression.
Nanri found a healthy Japanese diet, consisting of high amounts of vegetables, fruit, mushrooms and soy products was associated with fewer depressive symptoms...
Saturday, July 3, 2010
The History of Birth Control: 10 Fascinating Facts
The History of Birth Control: 10 Fascinating Facts
Since time began, men and women have struggled with the desire to have sex on an unlimited basis, and the desire to have some measure of control over how many children they had. While some primitive cultures resorted to extreme measures such as killing unwanted babies at birth, most ancient cultures had other ways of preventing pregnancy. But in an era when effective birth control is just a pill, diaphragm, or latex condom away, we take contraception for granted. These ten fascinating facts about the history of birth control show us that it certainly hasn’t always been that easy.
1. One of the biggest problems that people in the ancient world had in trying to figure out contraception was that they didn’t really know how conception occurred. Obviously, they figured out that people who had sexual intercourse had babies, and they figured out that the male ejaculating into the woman had something to do with it, but they didn’t know until the invention of the microscope that there were lots of little sperm cells moving around in the semen. Thanks to Dr. Anton Leeuwenhoek, science recognized the existence of sperm in 1677. It still took a while to figure out what actually happened to those sperm.
2. People in the ancient world had some pretty weird ways to try to prevent pregnancy. The respected Greek physician Soranus told women to get up after sex and jump backwards seven times, in order to dislodge the semen.
3. Women would be given all sorts of different herbal potions to prevent pregnancy or induce early miscarriage. One particular plant, which was fairly effective, was actually harvested to extinction. Other prescriptions included mashed ants, horseradish, opium, and even camel spit. Gross!
4. In the early 19th century in the United States, inducing miscarriage was considered a common event and was accepted by most of society, including Catholics. People at that time believed that the fetus was not alive until the mother could feel it moving. However, by the end of the century, that viewpoint was beginning to change.
5. Some ancient Egyptians recommended using a mixture of honey, ashes, and crocodile dung to form a kind of gummy paste. When applied to the cervix, it would melt and form a covering over the cervix.
6. Another ancient method was to block the cervix, similar to today’s cervical cap. African women used chopped grass or cloth, while Japanese prostitutes stuffed balls of bamboo paper in the vagina. In the Middle East, wool was the material of choice, and ancient Hebrews used a sea sponge wrapped in silk.
7. In the 1700s, the first condoms, which only covered the head of the penis, were originally made from a piece of animal intestine. By 1855 they were being made of vulcanized rubber, and in the 1930s latex was discovered to be an excellent material for condoms. Now those natural skin condoms are super-expensive!
8. The most common method of birth control before medical means were discovered was coitus interruptus, or withdrawal before ejaculation. Everyone’s heard of doing that. And it doesn’t always work. But have you heard of coitus obstructus? Used by some Hindus, this method required pressing down on the front of the testicles, blocking the urethra and forcing the semen to travel up into the bladder. No word on just how uncomfortable this might have been.
9. It was illegal for married couples to use the birth control pill in many states until 1965, when the states were forced to allow it by the Supreme Court. Single women were allowed to get the pill in 1972. By 1975, Loretta Lynn’s country song, “The Pill,” hit #1 on the country charts.
10. Our last fascinating fact is about the rhythm method of birth control. It’s not the most reliable, because most women don’t know when they’re going to ovulate, and because sperm can live for up to 5 days after intercourse. The rhythm method was actually not used until 1930, when a Roman Catholic doctor used new information about ovulation to calculate times of the month when a woman would not be fertile. Now women can use temperature charting and other methods to confirm when ovulation is taking place.
Since time began, men and women have struggled with the desire to have sex on an unlimited basis, and the desire to have some measure of control over how many children they had. While some primitive cultures resorted to extreme measures such as killing unwanted babies at birth, most ancient cultures had other ways of preventing pregnancy. But in an era when effective birth control is just a pill, diaphragm, or latex condom away, we take contraception for granted. These ten fascinating facts about the history of birth control show us that it certainly hasn’t always been that easy.
1. One of the biggest problems that people in the ancient world had in trying to figure out contraception was that they didn’t really know how conception occurred. Obviously, they figured out that people who had sexual intercourse had babies, and they figured out that the male ejaculating into the woman had something to do with it, but they didn’t know until the invention of the microscope that there were lots of little sperm cells moving around in the semen. Thanks to Dr. Anton Leeuwenhoek, science recognized the existence of sperm in 1677. It still took a while to figure out what actually happened to those sperm.
2. People in the ancient world had some pretty weird ways to try to prevent pregnancy. The respected Greek physician Soranus told women to get up after sex and jump backwards seven times, in order to dislodge the semen.
3. Women would be given all sorts of different herbal potions to prevent pregnancy or induce early miscarriage. One particular plant, which was fairly effective, was actually harvested to extinction. Other prescriptions included mashed ants, horseradish, opium, and even camel spit. Gross!
4. In the early 19th century in the United States, inducing miscarriage was considered a common event and was accepted by most of society, including Catholics. People at that time believed that the fetus was not alive until the mother could feel it moving. However, by the end of the century, that viewpoint was beginning to change.
5. Some ancient Egyptians recommended using a mixture of honey, ashes, and crocodile dung to form a kind of gummy paste. When applied to the cervix, it would melt and form a covering over the cervix.
6. Another ancient method was to block the cervix, similar to today’s cervical cap. African women used chopped grass or cloth, while Japanese prostitutes stuffed balls of bamboo paper in the vagina. In the Middle East, wool was the material of choice, and ancient Hebrews used a sea sponge wrapped in silk.
7. In the 1700s, the first condoms, which only covered the head of the penis, were originally made from a piece of animal intestine. By 1855 they were being made of vulcanized rubber, and in the 1930s latex was discovered to be an excellent material for condoms. Now those natural skin condoms are super-expensive!
8. The most common method of birth control before medical means were discovered was coitus interruptus, or withdrawal before ejaculation. Everyone’s heard of doing that. And it doesn’t always work. But have you heard of coitus obstructus? Used by some Hindus, this method required pressing down on the front of the testicles, blocking the urethra and forcing the semen to travel up into the bladder. No word on just how uncomfortable this might have been.
9. It was illegal for married couples to use the birth control pill in many states until 1965, when the states were forced to allow it by the Supreme Court. Single women were allowed to get the pill in 1972. By 1975, Loretta Lynn’s country song, “The Pill,” hit #1 on the country charts.
10. Our last fascinating fact is about the rhythm method of birth control. It’s not the most reliable, because most women don’t know when they’re going to ovulate, and because sperm can live for up to 5 days after intercourse. The rhythm method was actually not used until 1930, when a Roman Catholic doctor used new information about ovulation to calculate times of the month when a woman would not be fertile. Now women can use temperature charting and other methods to confirm when ovulation is taking place.
Friday, July 2, 2010
When Fat Makes You Healthy: Subcutaneous Fat May Produce Beneficial Hormones
When Fat Makes You Healthy: Subcutaneous Fat May Produce Beneficial Hormones
May 22, 2008
Diabetes Health
It has long been known that type 2 diabetes is linked to obesity, particularly fat inside the belly. Now, researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center have found that fat from other areas of the body can actually reduce insulin resistance and improve insulin sensitivity.
In a study published in the May issue of Cell Metabolism, a team lead by C. Ronald Kahn, M.D., found that subcutaneous fat—fat below the skin (usually in the hips and thighs)—is associated with reduced insulin levels and improved insulin sensitivity.
Kahn says that fat in the belly increases the risk of diabetes and mortality and it has been suggested that obesity in subcutaneous areas, often the hips and thighs, might decrease such risks.
His study concludes that fat under the skin is intrinsically different from visceral fat (belly fat or fat packed in between organs) and may produce substances that can improve glucose metabolism.
“The surprising thing was that it wasn’t where the fat was located,” Kahn said. “It was the kind of fat that was the most important variable. Even more surprising, it wasn’t that belly fat was exerting negative effects, but that fat under the skin was producing a good effect. Animals with more of this kind of fat didn’t gain as much weight as they aged, had better insulin sensitivity, lower insulin levels, and were improved all around.”
In addition, Kahn noted that a class of diabetes drugs called thiazoladinediones (ACTOS, Avandia) may cause patients to gain weight in the subcutaneous area, yet also improve insulin sensitivity.
Kahn said it is possible that fat underneath the skin may be producing certain hormones, known as adipokines, that produce beneficial effects on metabolism. These effects may offset the negative effects produced by belly fat.
May 22, 2008
Diabetes Health
It has long been known that type 2 diabetes is linked to obesity, particularly fat inside the belly. Now, researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center have found that fat from other areas of the body can actually reduce insulin resistance and improve insulin sensitivity.
In a study published in the May issue of Cell Metabolism, a team lead by C. Ronald Kahn, M.D., found that subcutaneous fat—fat below the skin (usually in the hips and thighs)—is associated with reduced insulin levels and improved insulin sensitivity.
Kahn says that fat in the belly increases the risk of diabetes and mortality and it has been suggested that obesity in subcutaneous areas, often the hips and thighs, might decrease such risks.
His study concludes that fat under the skin is intrinsically different from visceral fat (belly fat or fat packed in between organs) and may produce substances that can improve glucose metabolism.
“The surprising thing was that it wasn’t where the fat was located,” Kahn said. “It was the kind of fat that was the most important variable. Even more surprising, it wasn’t that belly fat was exerting negative effects, but that fat under the skin was producing a good effect. Animals with more of this kind of fat didn’t gain as much weight as they aged, had better insulin sensitivity, lower insulin levels, and were improved all around.”
In addition, Kahn noted that a class of diabetes drugs called thiazoladinediones (ACTOS, Avandia) may cause patients to gain weight in the subcutaneous area, yet also improve insulin sensitivity.
Kahn said it is possible that fat underneath the skin may be producing certain hormones, known as adipokines, that produce beneficial effects on metabolism. These effects may offset the negative effects produced by belly fat.
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