A prospective study by U.K. researchers found that adolescents who are double-jointed—medically termed joint hypermobility—are at greater risk for developing musculoskeletal pain as they get older, particularly in the shoulders, knees, ankles and feet. Findings published in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), indicate that children with joint hypermobility are approximately twice as likely to develop pain at these joints.
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Strains of potentially deadly, antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria show seasonal infection preferences, putting children at greater risk in summer and seniors at greater risk in winter, according to results of a new nationwide study led by a Johns Hopkins researcher.
It's unclear why these seasonal and age preferences for infection with methicillin-resistant Staph aureus (MRSA) occur, says Eili Klein, Ph.D., lead author on the study and a researcher at the Johns Hopkins Center for Advanced Modeling in the Social, Behavioral and Health Sciences.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Feb. 28, 2013 – Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and colleagues have identified a special population of adult stem cells in bone marrow that have the natural ability to migrate to the intestine and produce intestinal cells, suggesting their potential to restore healthy tissue in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
The perennial stress-buster – a deep breath – could become stress-detector, claims a team of researchers from the UK.
According to a new pilot study, published today, 28 February, in IOP Publishing's Journal of Breath Research, there are six markers in the breath that could be candidates for use as indicators of stress.
Protection of marine areas from fishing increases density and biomass of fish and invertebrates (such as lobster and scallops) finds a systematic review published in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental Evidence. The success of a protected area was also dependent on its size and on how it was managed, however even partial protection provides significant ecological benefits.
What is the cost of rare diseases such as Friedreich's Ataxia? By analyzing direct and indirect costs of care research in BioMed Central's open access journal Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases calculated that conservatively this rare disease costs between £11,000 and £19,000 per person per year. Proper understanding resource allocation is important in minimizing the effect of Friedreich's Ataxia on people's lives while maximizing their quality of life.
The walls of the body's major artery - the aorta - are already thickened in babies born to mums who are overweight or obese, finds a small study published online in the Fetal and Neonatal Edition of Archives of Disease of Childhood.
Importantly, this arterial thickening, which is a sign of heart disease, is independent of the child's weight at birth - a known risk factor for later heart disease and stroke.
Setting up home in the stinging tentacles of a sea anemone might seem like a risky option, but anemonefish – also known as clownfish and popularised in the movie Finding Nemo – are perfectly content in their unlikely abode. Fending off peckish anemone predators in return for refuge, plucky clownfish have achieved a satisfactory arrangement with their deadly partners. Yet Joe Szczebak from Auburn University, USA, wondered whether there might be more to the unconventional collaboration than met the eye.
STANFORD, Calif. — Does eating too much sugar cause diabetes? For years, scientists have said "not exactly." Eating too much of any food, including sugar, can cause you to gain weight; it's the resulting obesity that predisposes people to diabetes, according to the prevailing theory.
A new genetic analysis of human lice from across the world sheds light on the global spread of these parasites, their potential for disease transmission and insecticide resistance. The results are published February 27 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Marina S. Ascunce and colleagues from the Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida.
Higher humidity levels indoors can significantly reduce the infectivity of influenza virus particles released by coughing, according to research published February 27 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by John Noti and colleagues from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sports-related head injuries are a growing concern, and new research suggests that even less forceful actions like 'heading' a soccer ball may cause changes in performance on certain cognitive tasks, according to a paper published February 27 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Anne Sereno and colleagues from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
Laparoscopic surgeons may improve certain aspects of surgical performance by regularly playing on a Nintendo® Wii, according to research published February 27 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Gregorio Patrizi and colleagues from the University of Rome, Italy.
The presence of an animal can significantly increase positive social behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), according to research published February 20 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Marguerite E O'Haire and colleagues from the University of Queensland, Australia.
In a parallel experiment, the scientists asked blindfolded people to perform the same action, positioning palm nuts on an anvil as if to crack them with a stone or hammer. Like the monkeys, the human participants also followed tactile cues to place the nut flat-side down on the anvil.
