Independent Thinkers Judge Distances Differently Than Holistic Types

ScienceDaily (June 27, 2008) — Every day we’re faced with decisions that involve spatial judgments. Which line should we choose at the supermarket? Which route should we take to work? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research shows that thinking styles affect spatial judgment.

Authors Aradhna Krishna (University of Michigan), Rongrong Zhou (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology), and Shi Zhang (UCLA), designed a series of experiments that tested participants to assess their thinking styles. The participants, who lived in China, Hong Kong, and the United States, fell into two categories: independent thinkers (self-focused) and interdependent (relationship-focused).

The researchers found significant differences between Western and Eastern participants. “The independent self-construal is more dominant in Western cultures, where people believe in the inherent separateness of distinct persons and view the self as a autonomous, independent person,” write the authors. “The interdependent self-construal is more dominant in Eastern cultures, where people believe in the connectedness of human beings to each other and view the self as part of a larger social group.”


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Premenstrual syndrome: Can dietary supplements help relieve the symptoms?

Calcium and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) may be able to relieve mood swings, breast soreness and other symptoms some women regularly experience in the days leading up to their periods.

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is the term used to describe a number of symptoms, both physical and psychological, that start about a week or 10 days before a woman's period (menstruation). Some people also call it premenstrual tension (PMT). Common symptoms include sore breasts and abdominal pain, as well as headaches. Many women feel depressed, irritable, tired and unfocused in the days leading up to their period.

If it is PMS, these symptoms usually go away when the period starts, although sometimes they will continue for a few days during menstruation as well. Most women are affected by PMS symptoms to one degree or another every now and again. But about 5 out of 100 women (5 %) regularly have symptoms which are so bad that their daily lives are noticeably affected.

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Hormone Disorder May Contribute To Lack Of Menstruation In Teenage Athletes

ScienceDaily (June 17, 2008) — Researchers from Harvard University have found a way to predict which teenage female athletes will stop menstruating, an important risk factor for bone thinning, according to a preliminary study.

Amenorrhea, or absence of menstruation, occurs in as many as 25 percent of female high school athletes, compared with 2 to 5 percent in the general population, according to the study's presenter, Madhusmita Misra, MD, a pediatric endocrinologist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.

Amenorrhea in athletes is known to cause infertility and early onset of low bone density and may increase the risk of breaking bones. Evidence suggests that intense exercise associated with caloric restriction, and therefore a state of energy deficit, is most responsible for menstrual irregularities among athletes.

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Complex Changes In The Brain's Vascular System Occur After Menopause

ScienceDaily (June 20, 2008) — Many women experience menopausal changes in their body including hot flashes, moodiness and fatigue, but the changes they don’t notice can be more dangerous. In a new study, researchers at the University of Missouri have discovered significant changes in the brain’s vascular system when the ovaries stop producing estrogen. MU scientists predict that currently used estrogen-based hormone therapies may complicate this process and may do more harm than good in postmenopausal women.

"Before menopause, women are much more protected from certain conditions such as heart disease and stroke, but these vascular changes might explain why women lose this protection after menopause," said Olga Glinskii, research assistant professor of medical pharmacology and physiology in MU’s School of Medicine and lead author of the study. “Because the body eventually will naturally adapt to the loss of estrogen, we advise extreme caution when using estrogen-based therapy in postmenopausal women.”

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Vitamin D May Help Patients Survive Cancer

New Report Suggests Sunshine Vitamin May Have Significant Cancer Benefits

By JOHN McKENZIE
Jun 19, 2008

When Joanna Fuchs was diagnosed with colon cancer last year, a blood test revealed she was severely deficient in vitamin D.

"I was obviously very concerned and very worried," Fuchs said.

So, too, was her husband, Dr. Charles Fuchs of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, who is the senior author of a study published today that found colon cancer patients deficient in vitamin D were almost twice as likely to die over a 10-year period than patients with healthy levels of the nutrient.

"These findings make considerable sense," Dr. Fuchs said, "because in the laboratory we find that vitamin D reduces the growth of colon cancer cells, prevents its spread to other organs, and actually reduces the growth of blood vessels to these tumors."

Fuchs' work is just the latest in a wave of new studies on vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a greater risk of autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. It has also been linked to a doubling of heart attack risk among men, a 73 percent greater risk of dying from breast cancer, and more frequent asthma attacks among children.

"Vitamin D seems to be very helpful in making your immune system do what it is supposed to do," Dr. Tanya Edwards, director of Integrative Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.

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'Common sense' steps keep MRSA at bay in the gym

By Anne Harding

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Following a few simple rules can help people avoid catching the drug-resistant "superbug" MRSA at the gym, a physician specializing in infections diseases says.

"The real bottom line is common sense hygiene," Dr. Jorge Parada of Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in Maywood told Reuters Health.

"It's wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands," along with wiping down equipment before and after using it, and keeping a towel between you and shared equipment including weight machines, benches, and yoga mats, he explained.

MRSA, a.k.a. methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and other bugs can live on surfaces, especially warmer, wetter ones, Parada said. However, he added, the health risks of not exercising are far greater than the danger of acquiring an MRSA infection while working out. "Don't use 'I might catch something in the gym' as an excuse not to engage in healthy activities."

Hospital-associated MRSA has been around since 1961, and became a problem during the 1970s, Parada explained. Those at risk included dialysis patients, nursing home residents, and people who had to take a lot of antibiotics. "Your average Joe walking around healthy, going to high school, going to work in the morning, was at very low risk," he said.

Then in 1999, the first cases of community-associated MRSA appeared. These strains developed independently of hospital-associated MRSA, and infected healthy people in the community with no known risk factors.

Usually the community-associated MRSA infections are limited to skin abscesses and boils, Parada said, but on rare occasions they can progress to pneumonia or more serious skin infections. "They've been rare, but they've been unexpected, and they've made a lot of news," he said. "That's what's driven a lot of this noise about MRSA."

At present, 5 to 10 percent of people harbor MRSA on their bodies, and the great majority of them are perfectly healthy. Parada's own research found that 7 percent of people admitted to his hospital tested positive for MRSA. "The bulk of those people who screen positive have no prior history of MRSA and are completely surprised to know that they are walking around with MRSA on their skin," he said.

The reason why some healthy people develop community-associated MRSA infections remains unclear, Parada said, although studies are underway to determine if genetic factors may be involved.

So, while MRSA could be lurking in your gym -- or on your own body -- simple hygiene is the best way to protect yourself, and others, from getting sick, according to Parada. "The real take-home message from this is, people should be much more concerned about their overall health," he said. "Getting out and doing exercise is positive."

Stress During Childhood Increases Risk Of Allergies

ScienceDaily (Jun. 18, 2008) — Moving house or the separation of parents can significantly increase the risk of children developing allergies later on. These are the results from a long-term study correlating life-style, immune system development and allergies, led by the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research in Leipzig (UFZ), the Helmholtz Zentrum München and the "Institut für Umweltmedizinische Forschung" (IUF) in Duesseldorf.

The researchers had examined blood samples taken from 234 six-year old children and discovered increased blood concentrations of the stress-related peptide VIP (vasoactive intestinal polypeptide) in connection with moving house or the separation of parents. The neuropeptide VIP could take on a mediator role between stress events in life and the regulation of immune responses, researchers write in the scientific journal Pediatric Allergy and Immunology.

The fact that stress events can have an influence on the development of allergies has been known for a while. The mechanisms behind this however remained unexplained for a long time. In the study that has now been published, stress events were investigated for the first time during early childhood within a large epidemiological study using immune and stress markers.

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Health Care Group Calls for Better Consumer Protections

Survey Finds Most States Don't Effectively Protect People With Individual Plans

By RANDY GYLLENHAAL
June 12, 2008

Kathleen Watson of Lake City, Fla., has been on a mission to find affordable individual health care since her husband's work-based insurance plan ran out.

But during her search, Watson discovered she lives with a medical condition that has considerably hampered her efforts to find coverage. With precursor symptoms to leukemia, Watson said she was been red-flagged by insurers for not initially informing them about her condition. Now she cannot find a health insurance company to cover her that she can afford. And with a pre-existing condition, most plans won't even take her.

"I'm very frustrated," Watson said. "We've lost our savings, our 401k, I've lost my business."

"Most people who do have leukemia lymphoma get treatment right away," she said. "I haven't gotten any treatment because I don't have insurance."

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Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome Linked To Irregular Menstrual Cycles, Premenstrual Symptoms In Women

ScienceDaily (Jun. 13, 2008) — Women with delayed sleep phase syndrome are more likely to report irregular menstrual cycles and premenstrual symptoms, according to a research abstract that will be presented on June 10 at SLEEP 2008, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).

The study, authored by Kari Sveum, of Northwestern University in Chicago, Ill., focused on 13 females with delayed sleep phase syndrome and 13 healthy controls. The subjects responded to a questionnaire regarding their reproductive health, including irregularity of their cycle and premenstrual symptoms, either in the past or present.

According to the results, twice as many subjects with delayed sleep phase syndrome reported an irregular menstrual cycle compared to controls. For those not using birth control, three times as many subjects with delayed sleep phase syndrome reported irregular menstruation, compared to controls. Pre-menstrual problems, such as cramps and mood swings, were reported by 69 percent of those with delayed sleep phase syndrome, compared to 16.67 percent of controls.

Click here to read complete article on ScienceDaily, including tips from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) to help women get the most out of their sleep

Poor Sleep Quality And Insomnia Associated With Suicidal Symptoms Among College Students

ScienceDaily (Jun. 9, 2008) — Poor sleep quality and insomnia are significantly associated with suicidal symptoms among college undergraduates, according to a research abstract that will be presented on June 9 at SLEEP 2008, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).

"This investigation attempted to clarify whether self-reported sleep disturbances serve as a risk factor for suicide ideation in a nonclinical sample of young adults," said Bernert. "We found that insomnia and poor sleep quality jointly predicted elevated suicidal symptoms, even after controlling for depression. However, these sleep complaints failed to individually predict increased risk for suicide. This suggests that, within a less severe sample, multiple indices of sleep disturbances may be necessary to assess suicide risk and guide clinical decision-making. These findings may inform both intervention efforts and suicide risk assessment models."

Insomnia is a classification of sleep disorders in which a person has trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or waking up too early. It is the most commonly reported sleep disorder. About 30 percent of adults have symptoms of insomnia.

It is recommended that adults get between seven and eight hours of nightly sleep.

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MRSA main cause of S. aureus community pneumonia during flu season

By Anthony J. Brown, MD

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - During the 2006 to 2007 influenza season in the US, 79% of community-acquired pneumonia cases caused by Staphylococcus aureus were due to MRSA, according to a report in the June 3rd online issue of the Annals of Emergency Medicine.

Many of the cases occurred with or after influenza and often involved otherwise healthy young people, according to the report. Just over half of the cases proved fatal.

"I think the most interesting findings were the large proportion (of cases) that were MRSA, the large number that were not empirically treated for this organism and the potential association between co-infection with influenza and a worsened outcome," lead author Dr. Alexander J. Kallen, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, told Reuters Health.

A number of S. aureus community-acquired pneumonia cases reported to public health authorities in early 2007 led Dr. Kallen's team to seek out additional case reports nationwide, in an effort to better characterize the cases seen during the 2006 to 2007 influenza season. The study period ran from November 1, 2006 to April 30, 2007.

A total of 51 cases were identified in 19 states, of which 47 had known susceptibility results, the authors note. The median patient age was 16 years; 44% had no history of pertinent medical problems. Twenty-four (51%) patients died at a median of 4 days after symptom onset.

Thirty-seven (79%) of the 47 cases were due to MRSA, the report indicates. Just 16 (43%) of MRSA-infected patients were treated empirically with recommended antimicrobial agents.

In 22 (47%) of the 47 cases, the S. aureus infection arose during or after a viral infection. Influenza infection was confirmed in 11 (33%) of 33 patients who were tested.

"The main take-home messages for clinicians," Dr. Kallen said, "are that this disease (S. aureus pneumonia with onset in the community, including MRSA) is seen during the winter months, it can be severe, and it should be considered in people presenting with pneumonia during the winter."

He added, "Obviously consideration should be given to influenza vaccination for those who may wish to increase their chances of avoiding influenza and its potential complications."

Customized vitamins a fix for genetic flaws?

San Francisco Chronicle
Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer
Friday, June 6, 2008

(06-05) 20:01 PDT -- UC Berkeley scientists are exploring whether high-speed gene-reading machines - like those used to decode the human genome - will be able to find subtle genetic flaws that can harm health and can be cured by treatments as simple as vitamins.

Eventually, they hope, these scans will help nutritionists customize a course of vitamins to match the strengths and weaknesses of every individual. "Think of it as a metabolic tuneup," said Berkeley researcher Nicholas Marini.

Marini and a team of researchers reported this week that they had found, in DNA samples from over 500 people, four types of genetic mutations that were treatable with folate, a well-known member of the vitamin B family. One of the four had already been identified as a relatively common genetic defect that responded to the vitamin. The three others were new.

Although the research is years away from practical tests on humans, the study published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is a first step showing that such tuneups might be possible.

Marini cautioned that there is much about the interaction of genes and nutrition that is still unknown. "The reality is, we don't know how to interpret a lot of this information," he said.

Raising ethical questions

The study was partially funded by the Department of Defense, which saw the potential to improve human performance on the battlefield. Medical ethicists are now pondering what it will mean for those seeking to enhance performance in sports, in schools or on the job.

"There is no doubt that athletes will try to take advantage of DNA markers," said Steven Ungerleider, a research psychologist in Eugene, Ore., and author of "Faust's Gold," the story of the East German Olympic doping scandal. "The flip side of this wonderful medical technology is that it will be abused."

Click here to continue reading article at SFGate.com

Study: Sad children out-perform happy children in attention-to-detail tasks

Psychologists at the University of Virginia and the University of Plymouth (United Kingdom) have conducted experimental research that contrasts with the belief that happy children are the best learners. The findings, which currently appear online in the journal Developmental Science, and will be printed in the June issue, show that where attention to detail is required, happy children may be at a disadvantage.

Lead researcher Simone Schnall of the University of Plymouth describes the psychology behind the findings: "Happiness indicates that things are going well, which leads to a global, top-down style of information processing. Sadness indicates that something is amiss, triggering detail-orientated, analytical processing.

"However, it is important to emphasize that existing research shows there are contexts in which a positive mood is beneficial for a child, such as when a task calls for creative thinking. But this particular research demonstrates that when attention to detail is required, it may do more harm than good."
Source: University of Virginia

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Flavonoid-rich Diet Helps Women Decrease Risk Of Ovarian Cancer

ScienceDaily (Nov. 20, 2007) — New research out of the Channing Laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) reports that frequent consumption of foods containing the flavonoid kaempferol, including nonherbal tea and broccoli, was associated with a reduced risk of ovarian cancer. The researchers also found a decreased risk in women who consumed large amounts of the flavonoid luteolin, which is found in foods such as carrots, peppers, and cabbage.

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Antibacterial Wipes Can Spread Bacteria Around

ScienceDaily (Jun. 4, 2008) — Three basic principles is all it could take to reduce the incidence of MRSA in hospitals according to a new research by Cardiff University.

Disinfectants are routinely used on hard surfaces in hospitals to kill bacteria, with antimicrobial containing wipes increasingly being employed for this purpose. Antimicrobial wipes were first introduced in 2005 in hospitals in Wales.

A study by the University's Welsh School of Pharmacy looked into the ability of antimicrobial-surface wipes to remove, kill and prevent the spread of such infections as MRSA. They found that current protocols utilised by hospital staff have the potential to spread pathogens after only the first use of a wipe, particularly due to the ineffectiveness of wipes to actually kill bacteria.

The team, led by microbiologist Dr Jean-Yves Maillard is now calling for a 'one wipe -- one application -- per surface' approach to infection control in healthcare environments.

The research involved a surveillance programme observing hospital staff using surface wipes to decontaminate surfaces near patients, such as bed rails, and other surfaces commonly touched by staff and patients, such as monitors, tables and key pads. It was found that the wipes were being applied to the same surface several times and used on consecutive surfaces before being discarded.

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Thinness Vs. Obesity Not Directly Linked To Eating Habits, Study Suggests

ScienceDaily (Jun. 4, 2008) — Whether you are fat or thin isn't directly determined by your eating habits, suggest researchers who report new findings made in worms in the June issue of Cell Metabolism. While both feeding and fat in worms depends on serotonin levels in the nervous system, they found evidence that the nerve messenger acts through independent channels to control whether you eat versus what to do with those calories once you've eaten them.

"It says that the nervous system is a key regulator coordinating all energy-related processes through distinct molecular pathways," said Kaveh Ashrafi of the University of California, San Francisco. "The nervous system makes a decision about its state leading to effects on behavior, reproduction, growth and metabolism. These outputs are related, but they are not consequences of each other. It's not that feeding isn't important, but the neural control of fat is distinct from feeding."

If the results in worms can be extrapolated to humans, as Ashrafi suspects at a fundamental level they can given serotonin's ancient evolutionary origins, then the finding may have clinical implications.

"From a clinical perspective, this may mean you could develop therapeutic strategies to manipulate fat metabolism independently of what you eat," he said. "Now, the focus is primarily on feeding behavior. As important as that is, it's only part of the story. If the logic of the system is conserved across species, a strategy that focuses solely on behavior can only go so far. It may be one reason diets fail."

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Spray-on estrogen relieves hot flushes

Last Updated: 2008-05-30 13:55:23 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A form of estrogen, estradiol, sprayed on the skin is a safe, effective, and convenient way for post-menopausal women to relieve hot flushes, a study shows.

Evamist, which is marketed by Ther-Rx Corporation, is the first transdermal estradiol spray to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treating moderate-to-severe menopausal symptoms in healthy women, according to the report in the medical journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

"This estradiol 'spray-on-patch' is a treatment option for women who will benefit from the advantages of transdermal estradiol delivery but are intolerant of or are not inclined to use patches, gels, or emulsions," write Dr. John E. Buster, from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and colleagues.

The spray solution contains estradiol in ethanol, plus a skin-penetrating agent, and is delivered in a precisely metered dose. It is formulated to be retained beneath the skin's surface where is slowly released over 24-hours. The spray is applied to the inside of surface of the forearm and dries clear in 1 minute; it can't be rubbed or washed off and it won't transfer to other people.

In the study, 454 women with eight or more moderate-to-severe hot flushes per day were randomly assigned to receive one, two, or three sprays of estradiol or an inactive placebo daily.

Compared with the placebo groups, all three estradiol groups showed significant reductions in the frequency and severity of hot flushes.

At 12 weeks, patients in the estradiol groups had eight fewer hot flushes per day on average compared to the start of the study. The reduction in the placebo groups was four to six fewer flushes.

Women given three or two sprays of estradiol showed significant reductions in symptom severity at 4 and 12 weeks compared with women given the placebo. Women treated with one spray of estradiol showed a significant reduction in symptom severity at 5 weeks only.

Adverse events were mild and on par with what has been seen with other transdermal products, the authors note.

The results suggest that this new spray "will be an attractive first choice for transdermal estradiol delivery," the authors conclude.

SOURCE: Obstetrics & Gynecology, June 2008.

The right time for women to quit smoking

When it comes to giving up smoking, pick the start date carefully. At certain times in your menstrual cycle, you are twice as likely to succeed at kicking the habit. And the same applies to starting a diet, finding a new boyfriend or going for a job interview.
In fact, giving up smoking is far from the only thing affected by the menstrual cycle — the ebb and flow of hormones have a powerful impact on nearly all aspects of your life. So, make the time of the month work for you.

The best time to give up drink and drugs Scientists have discovered powerful links between cravings and hormones. Recently, researchers at the University of Minnesota found that women who gave up smoking in the follicular part of their cycle (from the start of their period until ovulation on about day 14) were half as likely to remain smoke-free as those who gave up in the luteal phase (after ovulation, but before the start of the next period). Only two in 10 of the women who gave up in the earlier phase managed to abstain; however, in the second group, four in 10 were successful. Why? It seems the high levels of progesterone found in the luteal phase can help to move nicotine out of the system more quickly, thus reducing withdrawal symptoms. Studies also show women are more easily tempted to smoke by seeing other people smoking when oestrogen levels are high, as in the follicular phase.

Don’t be tempted to experiment with drugs such as cocaine in the first half of your cycle, either. Large amounts of oestrogen also boost levels of the pleasure hormone dopamine and reduce the amount of mucus in your nose, ensuring you will get more of a hit from the drug, thus increasing the risk of addiction. And if you want to stay sober, the hormone allopregnanolone is your friend. This also peaks in the phase before ovulation, and high doses reduce your desire to drink.

Click here to continue reading article at The Times Online (UK)

Some Lip Gloss May Promote Cancer

There's No Proof Yet But Beware Gloss With No SPF

By Aina Hunter
May 2,2008

Spring is here, legs have been reacquainted with the razor and women are buying lots of shimmery lip gloss on impulse.

But have you heard the buzz that cheap, fun, non-SPF gloss can possibly increase your skin cancer risk?

Here's the theory: Some dermatologists have said that the translucent sheen helps ultraviolet rays penetrate the already fragile skin of the lips -- thereby increasing your risk. These dermatologists may be on to something, according to some of the top experts in the field.

Dr. Jessica Fewkes, a face and neck skin cancer specialist at Harvard, draws a cautious analogy between wearing non-SPF (sun protection factor) lip gloss in the sun and using baby oil to promote tanning. "You might be able to infer that they both enhance UV exposure," she says.

Dr. Kevin Cooper, chairman of the dermatology department at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, explains that any increased penetration of ultraviolet rays would be due to "enhanced optical passage" of the dangerous rays. But the increase, he qualifies, would be small.

Here's the catch: There are no large, targeted studies proving or disproving this theory, which makes Fewkes, Cooper and the American Cancer Society reluctant to draw fixed conclusions.

Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, the society's deputy chief medical officer, says that it seems "like just a theory."

"It's OK," he adds, " to have theories about how diseases are caused or influenced, but we have to see evidence. There should be an effort made to do large, population-based studies."

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Lorenzo Odone, 30, Subject of Film About His Disease, Is Dead

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: May 31, 2008

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — Lorenzo Odone, whose parents’ battle to save him from a nerve disease was the subject of the movie “Lorenzo’s Oil,” died on Friday. He was 30.

He had recently come down with pneumonia, his father, Augusto Odone, said.

At 5, Lorenzo was found to have adrenoleukodystrophy, a rare hereditary children’s disease. He was given only a few years to live.

Augusto Odone and his wife, Michaela, formulated a blend of erucic and oleic acids found in cooking oils that they said helped their son fight the disease.

A study published in 2005 said that the oil might delay the disease in boys in which it had not yet caused symptoms.

In the 1992 film, Susan Sarandon and Nick Nolte portrayed Lorenzo’s parents. Ms. Odone died of lung cancer in 2000.

Click here for article source at New York Times.com