Body Weekly - September 2014 Archives

New study: Emerging research indicates mangos may lower blood sugar in obese adults (9/30/2014)

Research published in the journal Nutrition and Metabolic Insights found that regular consumption of mango by obese adults may lower blood sugar levels and does not negatively impact body weight. ...> Full Article

Social networking can help people lose weight (9/29/2014)

Social networking programs designed to help people lose weight could play a role in the global fight against obesity, according to research. ...> Full Article

Scientists take a look at the feel-good benefits of belly dance (9/28/2014)

Belly dancers have fewer hang-ups about their bodies. Most women who participate in this torso-driven dance do so because it is fun and they get to perform interesting moves -- not because they necessarily feel sexier while doing so. This is the conclusion of Marika Tiggemann of Flinders University in Australia, leader of a study in Springer's journal Sex Roles about the body image of people who belly dance in their free time. ...> Full Article

Taking short walking breaks found to reverse negative effects of prolonged sitting (9/27/2014)

An Indiana University study has found that three easy -- one could even say slow -- 5-minute walks can reverse harm caused to leg arteries during three hours of prolonged sitting. ...> Full Article

Sugar substitutes not so super sweet after all (9/26/2014)

The taste of common sugar substitutes is often described as being much more intense than sugar, but participants in a recent study indicated that these non-nutritive sugar substitutes are no sweeter than the real thing, according to Penn State food scientists. ...> Full Article

Study: Oxidized LDL might actually be 'good guy' (9/26/2014)

A team of investigators at the University of Kentucky has made a thought-provoking discovery about a type of cholesterol previously believed to be a 'bad guy' in the development of heart disease and other conditions. ...> Full Article

Messenger molecules identified as part of arthritis puzzle (9/25/2014)

The way in which some cells alter their behavior at the onset of osteoarthritis has been identified for the first time by researchers at the University of Liverpool. ...> Full Article

Is a gluten-free diet enough to control the complications of celiac disease? (9/24/2014)

A detailed discussion of the metabolic disorders and functional abnormalities that can develop, and nutritional treatments for these is presented in a Review article published in Journal of Medicinal Food, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Medicinal Food website until October 2, 2014. ...> Full Article

Could a protein be linked to heart attacks? (9/23/2014)

A team of researchers at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, led by Dr. Alexandre Stewart, have uncovered an intriguing link between heart attacks and a protein that is of great interest to drug companies for its impact on cholesterol. ...> Full Article

Scientists discover how to 'switch off' autoimmune diseases (9/23/2014)

Scientists have made an important breakthrough in the fight against debilitating autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis by revealing how to stop cells attacking healthy body tissue. ...> Full Article

Any diet works, if you stick to it (9/22/2014)

Weight loss differences between popular diets are minimal and likely of little importance to those wanting to lose weight, the researchers say. However, diets with behavioral support and exercise enhance the weight loss. ...> Full Article

Burnt out birds suggest hard work could be bad for your health (9/22/2014)

Unequal sharing of workloads in societies could leave the most industrious individuals at higher risk of poor health and prone to accelerated aging, according to a new study of a cooperative bird in the Kalahari Desert. ...> Full Article

A handsome face could mean lower semen quality (9/21/2014)

Contrary to what one might expect, facial masculinity was negatively associated with semen quality in a recent Journal of Evolutionary Biology study. As increased levels of testosterone have been demonstrated to impair sperm production, this finding may indicate a trade-off between investments in secondary sexual signaling (i.e. facial masculinity) and fertility. ...> Full Article

Research in rodents suggests potential for 'in body' muscle regeneration (9/21/2014)

What if repairing large segments of damaged muscle tissue was as simple as mobilizing the body's stem cells to the site of the injury? New research in mice and rats, conducted at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's Institute for Regenerative Medicine, suggests that 'in body' regeneration of muscle tissue might be possible by harnessing the body's natural healing powers. ...> Full Article

Dairy consumption linked to lower blood pressure and cardiovascular disease risk (9/21/2014)

Research presented at 12th Euro Fed Lipid Congress describes the relationship between milk and dairy consumption and disease risk. ...> Full Article

The science behind swimming (9/20/2014)

Using simple hydrodynamics, a team of researchers led by Mahadevan was able to show that a handful of principles govern how virtually every animal -- from the tiniest fish to birds to gigantic whales propel themselves though the water. ...> Full Article

What you eat and not just the number of calories, is a significant factor in diabetes risk (9/20/2014)

If you think losing weight is enough to prevent Type 2 diabetes, don't get your hopes up. A new research report in September 2014 issue of The FASEB Journal suggests that you don't have to be overweight to develop Type 2 diabetes. ...> Full Article

Marijuana users who feel low get high (9/19/2014)

Adolescents and young adults who smoke marijuana frequently may attempt to manage negative moods by using the drug, according to a study in September's Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. ...> Full Article

Salamander skin peptide promotes quick and effective wound healing in mice (9/19/2014)

Move over antibiotic ointment, there might be a new salve to dominate medicine cabinets of the future, and it comes from an unlikely place -- the lowly salamander. ...> Full Article

Muscular dystrophy: Repair the muscles, not the genetic defect (9/18/2014)

A potential way to treat muscular dystrophy directly targets muscle repair instead of the underlying genetic defect that usually leads to the disease. ...> Full Article

Understanding and improving the body's fight against pathogens (9/18/2014)

Scientists from A*STAR's Bioprocessing Technology Institute have uncovered the crucial role of two signalling molecules, DOK3 and SHP1, in the development and production of plasma cells. These discoveries, published in two prestigious journals PNAS and Nature Communications, advance the understanding of plasma cells and the antibody response, and may lead to optimization of vaccine development and improved treatment for patients with autoimmune diseases such as lupus and tumors such as multiple myeloma. ...> Full Article

Discovery hints at why stress is more devastating for some (9/17/2014)

Some take stress in stride; others struggle with it, even developing psychiatric disorders. New research at Rockefeller University has identified the molecular origins of this so-called stress gap in mice. The results could contribute to a better understanding of the development of depression and other disorders brought on by stress. ...> Full Article

Fruit consumption cuts CVD risk by up to 40 percent (9/16/2014)

Daily fruit consumption cuts the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) by up to 40 percent, according to research presented at ESC Congress today by Dr. Huaidong Du from Oxford, UK. The findings from the seven-year follow-up study of nearly a half million people in the China Kadoorie Biobank found that the more fruit people ate, the more their risk of CVD declined. ...> Full Article

Can action movies make you fat? (9/16/2014)

Is television making us fat? An increasing amount of research shows an association between TV viewing and higher food consumption and a more sedentary lifestyle. Now, a new Cornell University study points out that not all TV is alike. Some TV programs might lead people to eat twice as much as other programs! ...> Full Article

Training your brain to prefer healthy foods (9/15/2014)

It may be possible to train the brain to prefer healthy low-calorie foods over unhealthy higher-calorie foods, according to new research by scientists at Tufts University and at Massachusetts General Hospital. ...> Full Article

Sugar substance 'kills' good HDL cholesterol, new research finds (9/15/2014)

Scientists at the University of Warwick have discovered that 'good' cholesterol is turned 'bad' by a sugar-derived substance. The substance, methylglyoxal -- MG, was found to damage 'good' HDL cholesterol, which removes excess levels of bad cholesterol from the body. ...> Full Article

Can YouTube save your life? (9/14/2014)

Only a handful of CPR and basic life support videos available on YouTube provide instructions which are consistent with recent health guidelines, according to a new study published in Emergency Medicine Australasia, the journal for the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine. ...> Full Article

Energy drinks cause heart problems (9/13/2014)

Energy drinks can cause heart problems according to research presented at ESC Congress 2014 today by professor Milou-Daniel Drici from France. ...> Full Article

Wine only protects against CVD in people who exercise (9/12/2014)

Wine only protects against cardiovascular disease (CVD) in people who exercise, according to results from the In Vino Veritas study presented at ESC Congress today by professor Milos Taborsky from the Czech Republic. ...> Full Article

Drinking tea reduces non-CV mortality by 24 percent (9/11/2014)

Drinking tea reduces non-cardiovascular mortality by 24 percent, reveals a study in 131,000 people presented at ESC Congress today by professor Nicolas Danchin from France. ...> Full Article

Lifetime of fitness: A fountain of youth for bone and joint health? (9/10/2014)

Being physically active may significantly improve musculoskeletal and overall health, and minimize or delay the effects of aging. ...> Full Article

Indoor mold poses health risk to asthma sufferers (9/9/2014)

By critically reviewing the findings from 17 studies in eight different countries, the research has found that the presence of several types of mould can lead to breathing problems in asthma sufferers, as well as increasing the likelihood of developing the condition. ...> Full Article

Tracking spending among the commercially insured (9/8/2014)

Recent growth in health care spending for commercially insured individuals is due primarily to increases in prices for medical services, rather than increased use, according to a new study led by researchers at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, published in the American Journal of Managed Care. ...> Full Article

The high cost of hot flashes: Millions in lost wages preventable (9/7/2014)

The steep decline in the use of hormone therapy has spawned a prevalent but preventable side effect: millions of women suffering in silence with hot flashes, according to a study by a Yale School of Medicine researcher and colleagues. ...> Full Article

'Junk' blood tests may offer life-saving information (9/6/2014)

Thirty percent of all positive hospital blood culture samples are discarded every day because they reflect the presence of skin germs instead of specific disease-causing bacteria. Now Tel Aviv University research demonstrates that rather than toss these samples into the trash, clinicians may be able to use the resistance profiles of skin bacteria to treat patients with antibiotics appropriate to their ailment. ...> Full Article

Stop and listen: Study shows how movement affects hearing (9/5/2014)

When we want to listen carefully to someone, the first thing we do is stop talking. The second thing we do is stop moving altogether. The interplay between movement and hearing has a counterpart deep in the brain. A new Duke study, published in Nature, used optogenetics to reveal exactly how the motor cortex, which controls movement, can tweak the volume control in the auditory cortex, which interprets sound. ...> Full Article

Social inequalities in salt consumption remain (9/4/2014)

People from low socioeconomic positions in Britain still eat more salt than those from higher socioeconomic positions, irrespective of where they live. A paper published in the BMJ Open journal and led by Warwick Medical School suggests social inequalities in salt intake have hardly changed in the period from 2000-01 to 2011. This is despite a national average salt reduction over this time ...> Full Article

New technology may identify tiny strains in body tissues before injuries occur (9/3/2014)

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have developed algorithms to identify weak spots in tendons, muscles and bones prone to tearing or breaking. The technology, which needs to be refined before it is used in patients, one day may help pinpoint minor strains and tiny injuries in the body's tissues long before bigger problems occur. ...> Full Article

Researchers discover fever's origin (9/2/2014)

Fever is a response to inflammation, and is triggered by an onset of the signaling substance prostaglandin. Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden can now see precisely where these substances are produced -- a discovery that paves the way for smarter drugs. ...> Full Article

Green tea polyphenols protect spinal cord neurons against oxidative stress (9/1/2014)

Green tea polyphenols are strong antioxidants and can reduce free radical damage. ...> Full Article