Culture | Page 1527 | Science Codex

Adults with cerebral palsy at increased risk of depression, anxiety

Bottom Line: While cerebral palsy is considered a pediatric condition because it develops and is diagnosed in early childhood, it is a lifelong condition with the majority of children living into adulthood. Little research exists on the mental health of adults with cerebral palsy. This study included 1,700 adults 18 years or older with cerebral palsy and 5,100 adults without cerebral palsy. Those adults with cerebral palsy without an intellectual disability had a higher risk of developing depression and anxiety. The study relied on diagnostic codes for outcomes.

Sexual/gender minority patients prefer written self-report for identity info collection

Boston, MA -- Health care and government organizations call for routine collection of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) information in the clinical setting. However, what little research exists suggests that many sexual and gender minority patients find disclosing SOGI to a clinician as difficult as disclosing the same information to other people in their lives. Understanding how health care providers can collect SOGI information in a manner that is patient-centered is critical to improving health care inequities experienced by sexual and gender minorities in the U.S.

How quickly can ponds "inhale" and store carbon?

Get a sneak peek into these new scientific papers, publishing on January 3, 2019 in the Ecological Society of America's journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

Flashing lights can protect alpaca and llama herds from pumas
Does mountaintop removal in Appalachia also remove rattlesnakes?
How quickly can ponds "inhale" and store carbon?
Machine-learning shows what's changed in ecological research over forty years

Flashing lights can scare off some predators from llamas and alpacas

Marine debris study counts trash from Texas to Florida

Trash, particularly plastic, in the ocean and along the shoreline is an economic, environmental, human health, and aesthetic problem causing serious challenges to coastal communities around the world, including the Gulf of Mexico.

Abstaining from alcohol in January will mean better sleep, weight loss, and saving money

New research from the University of Sussex shows that taking part in Dry January - abstaining from booze for a month - sees people regaining control of their drinking, having more energy, better skin and losing weight. They also report drinking less months later.

The research, led by Sussex psychologist Dr Richard de Visser, was conducted with over 800 people who took part in Dry January in 2018. The results show that Dry January participants are still drinking less in August. They reported that:

After naloxone, when can opioid overdose patients be safely discharged?

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Naloxone has saved thousands of lives. But can patients be safely discharged from the Emergency Department (ED) just an hour after they receive the medication that curtails drug overdoses?

According to the St. Paul's Early Discharge Rule developed in 2000, that's how long providers should observe patients after naloxone treatment, so long as their vital signs meet specific criteria and they are ambulatory.

But the rule was never externally validated or assessed in light of the changes that have occurred in recent years with opioid use disorder.

Sleeping sickness parasite uses multiple metabolic pathways

Parasitic protozoa called trypanosomes synthesize sugars using an unexpected metabolic pathway called gluconeogenesis, according to a study published December 27 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by David Horn of the University of Dundee in the UK, and colleagues. The authors note that this metabolic flexibility may be essential for adaptation to environmental conditions and survival in mammalian host tissues.

Breaking down AGEs: Insight into how lifestyle drives ER-positive breast cancer

Poor diet and lack of exercise are associated with cancer development, but the underlying biology is not well understood. Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) could offer a biological link to help us understand how certain lifestyle behaviors increase cancer risk or lessen the likelihood that an anti-cancer therapy will be effective.

Sugar-sweetened beverage pattern linked to higher kidney disease risk

Highlight

In a study of African-American men and women with normal kidney function, a pattern of higher collective consumption of soda, sweetened fruit drinks, and water was associated with a higher risk of developing kidney disease.

Confronting the side effects of a common anti-cancer treatment

AMHERST, Mass. - Results of a new study by neuroscientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Toronto suggest that a new treatment approach is needed - and how this may be possible - to address adverse effects of aromatase inhibitors, drugs commonly prescribed to both men and women to prevent recurrence of estrogen-positive breast cancer.

Kicking, yelling during sleep? Study finds risk factors for violent sleep disorder

MINNEAPOLIS - Taking antidepressants for depression, having post-traumatic stress disorder or anxiety diagnosed by a doctor are risk factors for a disruptive and sometimes violent sleep disorder called rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder, according to a study published in the December 26, 2018, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study also found men are more likely to have the disorder.

For patients with kidney disease, genetic testing may soon be routine

NEW YORK, NY (December 26, 2018)--A new study has found that genes cause about 1 in 10 cases of chronic kidney disease in adults, and identifying the responsible gene has a direct impact on treatment for most of these patients.

Losing neurons can sometimes not be that bad

For the first time, scientists at the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown (CCU), in Lisbon, Portugal, have shown that neuronal cell death in Alzheimer's disease (AD) may actually not be a bad thing - on the contrary, it may be the result of a cell quality control mechanism trying to protect the brain from the accumulation of malfunctioning neurons. Their results, which were obtained using fruit flies that had been genetically modified to mimic the symptoms of human AD, were published in the journal Cell Reports.

Cell size and cell-cycle states play key decision-making role in HIV

Thanks to the development of antiretroviral drugs, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is considered a manageable chronic disease today. However, if left undiagnosed or untreated, HIV can develop into AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), a disease which led to the deaths of nearly 1 million people worldwide in 2017.

UC San Diego researchers identify how skin ages, loses fat and immunity

Dermal fibroblasts are specialized cells deep in the skin that generate connective tissue and help the skin recover from injury. Some fibroblasts have the ability to convert into fat cells that reside under the dermis, giving the skin a plump, youthful look and producing a peptide that plays a critical role in fighting infections.