By ROBIN FINN OBESITY is our medical buzzword for the day: has to be. After all, the House of Representatives has just approved the so-called cheeseburger bill - pretty whimsical nickname given this week's release of a government report declaring fat second only to tobacco as a harbinger of preventable morbidity - a slice of legislation that prevents tubby consumers from suing restaurants for making them obese. The prevailing opinion? People, not French fries, should be accountable for their flab. Barbra E. Minch, the tempest-in-a-teapot type who is president of the William F. Ryan Community Health Center on West 97th Street, is just relieved to see obesity making headlines. She even uses herself as Exhibit A: she recently switched from potato chips, her gastronomic downfall, to pretzels. But here's the rub: she had medical help. And here's the second rub: she footed the bill. When Ms. Minch's doctor didn't like the look of her cholesterol count and suggested she visit a nutritionist, she discovered that her health insurance wouldn't cover the tab. She paid for two visits out-of-pocket. Her patients at Ryan aren't as flexible. But they're just as much at risk, if not more so. Infuriating. Listen to her boil. Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Obesity
Link ID: 5118 - Posted: 03.12.2004

By Lynn Yarris Rare is the man who has never been implored by his mate to stop and ask for directions, and rarer still is the man who has complied. Women have for many years been asking the question: Why won't men ask for directions? Now one man has stepped up to provide an answer. The answer that neurobiologist-turned science writer Richard C. Francis provides in his book, ``Why Men Won't Ask for Directions: The Seductions of Sociobiology,'' is likely to infuriate those who subscribe to the sociobiology theories of E.O. Wilson and Richard Dawkins. The central idea behind sociobiology is that if evolution drives the structures and functions of our biological makeup, it must also drive our social behavior. Francis calls sociobiologists ``radical adaptationists'' because of their dogged attempts to explain away every single aspect of human behavior in terms of natural selection. ``Part of the appeal of sociobiology is its simplicity; with a little ingenuity it is easy to play the find the benefit game,'' he says. ``Part of the appeal is its universality; by focusing on evolutionary benefits you can explain almost anything, even a seemingly pathological behavior like rape.''

Keyword: Evolution; Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 5117 - Posted: 03.12.2004

Plunging grades, low self-esteem and depression don’t have to be hallmarks of adolescence. As this ScienCentral News video reports, researchers now believe unhealthy changes in your child’s attitude or schoolwork may be linked to lack of sleep. Many children slink past bed times the way the craftiest of thieves slip by security—with careful preparation and flawless backup plans. But new research shows that sleep-deprived middle-schoolers experience significant decreases in self-esteem, increased instances of depression and significant dips in grades. Jean Rhodes, professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, studied sleep in nearly 2,500 Chicago school children, aged 11 to 14-years-old. She reported in the January/February issue of the journal Child Development that as various factors suck the sleep out of children, a host of negative side effects result. "The fewer hours of sleep that children got, the more depressed they were, the higher number of depressive symptoms [they had], and the lower their self-esteem and the lower their grades," Rhodes explains. © ScienCentral, 2000-2004.

Keyword: Sleep
Link ID: 5116 - Posted: 06.24.2010

First signal of disease could provide future test for early stages of neurodegenerative illnesses (Philadelphia, PA) – Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have linked smell loss in mice with excessive levels of a key protein associated with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Smell loss is well documented as one of the early and first clinical signs of such diseases. If smell function declines as the levels of this protein increase in brain regions associated with smelling, the research could validate the use of smell tests for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease. Their findings appear in the March 12th issue of the journal Brain Research, the commemorative volume 1000. "The loss of smell – or olfactory dysfunction – has been known for more than a decade as an early sign of several neurodegenerative diseases, but we have never been able to link it to a pathological entity that is measurable over time," said Richard Doty, PhD, Professor and Director of Penn's Smell and Taste Center, who is also the team leader of the study. "By tying decrements in the ability to smell to the presence of key disease proteins, such as tau, we may well be able to assess the degree of progression of selected elements of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders by scores on quantitative smell tests." A total of ten mice were evaluated in this experiment – five mice that were genetically engineered to be a model for human Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, and five normal control mice that do not overexpress tau proteins. Olfactory dysfunction was evaluated by measuring the amount of time the mice spent investigating unfamiliar odors, such as peppermint or vanillin. Unlike normal mice, those with smell deficits do not spend much time investigating such odors, and do not show a preference for "novel" odors over "familiar" odors.

Keyword: Alzheimers; Chemical Senses (Smell & Taste)
Link ID: 5115 - Posted: 06.24.2010

You've likely heard its praise. Users claim that the drug Ecstasy heightens their senses and makes them feel less inhibited. It also provides pep, they say, enabling them to dance and party long into the night. Sound pretty great? Unfortunately, there's a downside. Even though nicknames such as Disco biscuits, Scooby snacks, and Sweeties imply that the drug is as harmless as frosted flakes, popping Ecstasy pills can create several negative, sometimes dangerous, effects. For example, during the period of the drug's high, about four to six hours, you may feel confused, nauseous, paranoid, and sweaty. In addition, it may trigger a sharp increase in body temperature and kidney or heart failure. Accumulating research now indicates that this list of pitfalls may be even longer. Studies find evidence that encounters with Ecstasy also can possibly injure the brain and create lasting problems. Copyright © 2004 Society for Neuroscience

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 5114 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN PHILADELPHIA, — The expanding recreational use of crystal methamphetamine and Viagra is apparently fueling increases in syphilis, H.I.V. and other sexually transmitted diseases among gay and bisexual men in the United States, according to new studies reported here on Wednesday. At a meeting on preventing sexually transmitted diseases, Dr. Samuel J. Mitchell of the San Francisco Health Department said a study had found that 17.4 percent of 1,263 gay men who had gone to the city's sexually transmitted disease clinic had used crystal in the four weeks before their visit. Crystal users were more than twice as likely as nonusers to be infected with H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, 4.9 times as likely to receive a diagnosis of syphilis and 1.7 times as likely to test positive for gonorrhea. Dr. William Wong of the San Francisco Health Department said that another study found that gay men who used both crystal and Viagra together were 6.1 times as likely to receive a diagnosis of syphilis as those who did not use either drug. Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Sexual Behavior; Drug Abuse
Link ID: 5113 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Usha Sutliff Psychopaths have physical abnormalities in two key brain structures responsible for functions ranging from fear detection to information processing, a USC clinical neuroscientist has found in two studies that suggest a neuro-developmental basis to the disorder. Adrian Raine, a professor of psychology and neuroscience in the USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences, focused his research on two parts of the brain: the hippocampus, a portion of the temporal lobe that regulates aggression and transfers information into memory; and the corpus callosum, a bridge of nerve fibers that connects the cerebral hemispheres. “Scientists have implicated different brain regions with respect to antisocial and aggressive behavior, and all are important and relevant,” Raine said. “But it goes beyond that to the wiring. Unless these parts of the brain are properly wired together, they’ll never communicate effectively. They’ll never result in appropriate behavior,” he said.

Keyword: Aggression
Link ID: 5112 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A study of the brains of primates ranging from tiny bush babies to humans and apes shows that size really may matter, researchers said on Monday. All primates have an unusually large frontal cortex, a part of the brain used by humans for higher thought and reasoning, they found. From lemurs to chimpanzees, that part of the brain is especially large compared with overall brain size, the California Institute of Technology team found. "In primates, having a bigger brain means you have a disproportionately larger frontal cortex," said Eliot Bush, a PhD candidate at Caltech who worked on the study. Copyright © 2004 Yahoo! Inc.

Keyword: Evolution
Link ID: 5111 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN — Among teenagers who pledged not to have sex before marriage, a majority did not live up to their vows, according to a national study reported here on Tuesday. The teenagers also developed sexually transmitted diseases at about the same rate as adolescents who had not made such pledges. But a pledge to refrain from premarital sex, the researchers found, did tend to delay the start of sexual intercourse by 18 months. The adolescents who took virginity pledges also married earlier and had fewer sexual partners than the other teenagers surveyed, said Dr. Peter Bearman, the chairman of the sociology department at Columbia University and the lead author of the study. Of the 12,000 teenagers included in the federal study, 88 percent of those who pledged chastity reported having had sexual intercourse before they married, Dr. Bearman said at a scientific meeting in Philadelphia on preventing sexually transmitted diseases. Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 5110 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Scientists are developing a pill that helps people quit smoking and slim down at the same time. The drug, rimonabant, works by blocking the circuits in the brain that control the urge to eat and smoke. Obesity and smoking have become two of the world's biggest killers, and are being targeted for action in the UK. The makers, French firm Sanofi-Synthelabo, hope to market the drug next year. In one trial the drug helped people to shed an average of 9kg (20lbs) in a year. And in a second, it was found to double the chances of smokers successfully quitting - at least in the short term. Dr Robert Anthenelli, of the University of Cincinnati, who directed the smoking study, said: "We think this might be the ideal compound for people who are overweight and smoke." (C)BBC

Keyword: Drug Abuse; Obesity
Link ID: 5109 - Posted: 03.10.2004

Scientists decode a critical gene that may have led to the evolution of our big brains By Zach Zorich Scientists have long suspected that humans evolved large brains because our hominid ancestors had to outwit and elude predators, learn to use fire, and develop complex social structures. The smart hominids survived, while the stupid ones were more likely to get eaten or freeze to death. Over millions of years, the result of this game of survival of the fittest was the appearance of big-brained, peculiarly intelligent modern humans. Now Bruce Lahn, a biomedical researcher at the University of Chicago, has found the first clear indication of the genetic changes that led to the rapid expansion of our brain. Lahn and his colleagues looked at the abnormal spindle-like microcephaly associated (ASPM) gene, which scientists had previously identified as a key player in brain development. He grew intrigued by ASPM after other researchers discovered that serious defects in the gene cause microcephaly—a drastic reduction in the size of the brain’s cerebral cortex, the region responsible for such higher brain functions as abstract thought and planning. Lahn wondered: Could changes in this gene, favored by the pressures of natural selection, have directed the development of the big, modern human brain? © 2003 The Walt Disney Company.

Keyword: Evolution; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 5108 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Newborns whose mothers drank alcohol heavily during pregnancy had damage to the nerves in the arms and legs, according to a study by researchers at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, one of the National Institutes of Health. The study was conducted in collaboration with researchers at the University of Chile. The nerve damage was still present when the children were reexamined at one year of age. The study is the first to examine whether exposure to alcohol before birth affects the developing peripheral nervous system — the nerves in the arms and legs, rather than in the brain or spinal cord. The study appears in the March issue of the Journal of Pediatrics. "Infants born to mothers who drink heavily during pregnancy are known to be at risk for mental retardation and birth defects, said Duane Alexander, M.D., director of the NICHD. "This is the first study to show that these infants may suffer peripheral nerve damage as well."

Keyword: Development of the Brain; Drug Abuse
Link ID: 5107 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Scientists have identified a gene in mice that is necessary for normal brain development and may contribute to the most common form of primary brain tumors in children. Dr. Valeri Vasioukhin and colleagues at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have discovered that a gene known as "lethal giant larvae 1" (a.k.a. Lgl1) plays a critical role in shaping cell behavior during embryonic brain development. Lgl1 was initially identified in the fruit fly Drosophila, where it regulates cell polarity (the overall directionality of a cell) as well as cell proliferation. Dr. Vasioukhin and colleagues now show a similarly important role for Lgl1 in the mammalian brain. To gain insight into Lgl1 function in mammals, Dr. Vasioukhin and colleagues generated mice specifically lacking the Lgl1 gene. These Lgl1-knockout mice – as they are known – developed normally at first, but by day 12.5 of gestation exhibited dramatic abnormalities. Lgl1-mutant pups have a dome-shaped head, severe hydrocephaly and die within 24 hours after birth. Internally, there is an expansion of the striatum region of the brain, along with the formation of abnormal cell groupings called rosettes.

Keyword: Development of the Brain; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 5106 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Scientists have been studying cannabinoids, substances that are chemically related to the ingredients found in marijuana, for more than two decades, hoping to learn more about how the drug produces its effects--both therapeutic and harmful. Marijuana has been reported effective in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, nausea caused by chemotherapy and wasting caused by AIDS. However, like all drugs, it also causes numerous unwanted side effects, including hypothermia, sedation, memory impairment, motor impairment and anxiety. Research on cannabinoids could someday yield new, more effective drugs or drug combinations. At Temple University's School of Pharmacy and Center for Substance Abuse Research (CSAR), one of only a few centers in the nation focused on the basic science of substance abuse, several researchers are investigating how cannabinoids produce pharmacological effects in rats. One such study, "L-NAME, a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, and WIN 55212-2, a cannabinoid agonist, interact to evoke synergistic hypothermia," published in the February issue of the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, reveals how cannabinoids produce one of the drug's most robust actions, hypothermia, or decreased body temperature. © 2004 Temple University, News and Media Relations.

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 5105 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By JANE E. BRODY How sweet it is. I'm referring to the American diet, replete with sweet foods and drinks, commercially sweetened cereals, sodas, fruit drinks and "ades," ice cream, cake, muffins, cookies and candy, as well as naturally sweet fruits and fruit juices. We are all born liking a sweet taste, perhaps to stimulate a desire for breast milk, which is naturally sweet, or ripe edible fruit. These foods are excellent sources of nutrients that support growth and good health. Indeed, as the American Dietetic Association points out in a new position paper on sweeteners, "By increasing palatability of nutrient-dense foods/beverages, sweeteners can promote diet healthfulness." For example, for a child who refuses to drink milk, the addition of sweet chocolate powder can enhance consumption of this health-promoting food. Likewise, a little sugar added to a high-fiber cereal can encourage the consumption of a food that lowers cholesterol and promotes good digestion. Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Obesity
Link ID: 5104 - Posted: 03.09.2004

Bar Harbor, Maine--Ears do more than hear; they also control balance and our perception of gravity and motion. An international team of scientists including David E. Bergstrom and John C. Schimenti, at The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor; and Rainer Paffenholz and Gabriele Stumm at Ingenium Pharmaceuticals AG in Martinsried, Germany, identified for the first time a protein whose enzymatic function is indispensable for development of this balance system. The scientists had known that mice with the head tilt mutation known as het hear perfectly well, but carry their head at an angle and lack coordination. Mice and humans sense motion in the same way. When our heads move, a cluster of crystalline structures known as otoconia in the inner ear moves somewhat independently. This shearing motion stimulates underlying nerve endings to create the sensation of motion. The scientists found the head-tilt mice have no otoconia, but otherwise exhibit perfect inner ear formation. "Because animals use otoconia to sense their orientation in space and to monitor posture and movements, the behavior and motor coordination deficits of [the mice] can be conclusively explained by the lack of otoconia," the researchers note in the paper.

Keyword: Hearing
Link ID: 5103 - Posted: 03.09.2004

By ERICA GOODE They have been called assassins and parasites. They receive hate mail from the proponents of a variety of popular psychotherapies. The president-elect of the American Psychological Association has accused them of being overly devoted to the scientific method. But the ire of their colleagues has not prevented a small, loosely organized band of academic psychologists from rooting out and publicly debunking mental health practices that they view as faddish, unproved or in some cases potentially harmful. In journal articles and public presentations, the psychologists, from Emory, Harvard, the University of Texas and other institutions, have challenged the validity of widely used diagnostic tools like the Rorschach inkblot test. They have questioned the existence of repressed memories of child sexual abuse and of multiple personality disorder. They have attacked the wide use of labels like codependency and sexual addiction. Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company |

Keyword: Learning & Memory
Link ID: 5102 - Posted: 03.09.2004

OHSU researchers show brain anatomy, hormone production may be cause PORTLAND, Ore. – Researchers in the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine have confirmed that a male sheep's preference for same-sex partners has biological underpinnings. A study published in the February issue of the journal Endocrinology demonstrates that not only are certain groups of cells different between genders in a part of the sheep brain controlling sexual behavior, but brain anatomy and hormone production may determine whether adult rams prefer other rams over ewes. "This particular study, along with others, strongly suggests that sexual preference is biologically determined in animals, and possibly in humans," said the study's lead author, Charles E. Roselli, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, OHSU School of Medicine. "The hope is that the study of these brain differences will provide clues to the processes involved in the development and regulation of heterosexual, as well as homosexual, behavior."

Keyword: Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 5101 - Posted: 06.24.2010

WASHINGTON, DC – Staying physically or mentally active can slow down chemical changes in the brain that lead to the neurodegeneration of Huntington’s disease, researchers show in a mouse model of the disorder. Levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) stop declining when Huntington’s disease transgenic mice are housed in an enriched environment, the scientists say. BDNF promotes neuron growth and survival and can also regulate communication between neurons. “The finding that environmental enrichment increases BDNF, and that this slows disease progression, provides a potential mechanism for the effects of environmental enrichment on Huntington’s disease,” says M. Flint Beal, chair of neurology at Cornell University Medical College in New York. Copyright © 2004 Society for Neuroscience

Keyword: Huntingtons
Link ID: 5100 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Viewers who tapped out a pattern while watching a disturbing Viewers who tapped out a pattern while watching a disturbing Viewers who tapped out a pattern while watching a disturbing video suffered fewer intrusions during the following week. During the French Revolution, tricoteurs knitted away while watching hundreds lose their heads to the guillotine. Did their knitting make it less traumatic? In three experiments, University College London researchers found that viewers who performed a visuospatial task while they watched a distressing video suffered fewer intrusive memories in the following week than viewers who performed a verbal task. Spontaneously occurring intrusive memories of a traumatic event – flashbacks -- are a hallmark of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The research appears in the March issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, which is published by the American Psychological Association (APA). Participants (212 in all) viewed a 12.5-minute trauma video with five scenes of horrific content – footage of the aftermath of actual car accidents, including injured victims screaming, workers moving dead bodies, and body parts amid the wreckage. Viewers were assigned to either an experimental group (which varied by task type during viewing) or a control (no task) group. For the next seven days, they recorded any intrusive memories of the video in a diary, noting the content of each intrusion.

Keyword: Learning & Memory; Stress
Link ID: 5099 - Posted: 06.24.2010