Body

Listening to music may benefit patients who suffer severe stress and anxiety associated with having and undergoing treatment for coronary heart disease. A Cochrane Systematic Review found that listening to music could decrease blood pressure, heart rate, and levels of anxiety in heart patients.

Exercise programmes are an effective option for preventing falls among older people living in the community. There is less evidence at present for the effectiveness of other interventions, such as home safety improvements and vitamin D supplements, according to Cochrane Researchers who carried out a systematic review of the available evidence.

The practice of extracting baby canine teeth to make way for adult canines that are erupting in the wrong place has no evidential basis, according to a new study by Cochrane Researchers. In a systematic review, the researchers were unable to identify a single high quality study to support the practice.

"The recommendation of extracting the baby canine is in fact based on one uncontrolled study that was carried out over twenty years ago," says lead author of the study Nicola Parkin of the Department of Oral Health and Development at the University of Sheffield.

Newer polymer-based formulations of oral rehydration solution given to treat diarrhoea may offer some benefits over older sugar-salt formulations. But, say Cochrane researchers who carried out a review of the available evidence, more research is required to establish the best treatment option.

Poor aerobic fitness is strongly associated with obesity and its consequent risks of heart disease, strokes and diabetes – now considered worldwide epidemics. But the underlying link has long puzzled scientists. New research in The Journal of Physiology connects low aerobic capacity to another serious condition – non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) – and suggests that the resulting liver problems play a crucial step developing obesity-related illnesses.

Bird migrations are likely to get longer according to the first ever study of the potential impacts of climate change on the breeding and winter ranges of migrant birds.

A team of scientists, led by Durham University, have published findings that show that the marathon flights undertaken by birds to spring breeding grounds in Europe, are going to turn into even more epic journeys; the length of some migrations could increase by as much as 250 miles.

EAST LANSING, Mich. — A Michigan State University researcher has developed a working vaccine for a strain of E. coli that kills 2 million to 3 million children each year in the developing world.

Enterotoxigenic E. coli, which is responsible for 60 percent to 70 percent of all E. coli diarrheal disease, also causes health problems for U.S. troops serving overseas and is responsible for what is commonly called traveler's diarrhea.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers have uncovered new evidence suggesting factors other than genes could cause obesity, finding that genetically identical cells store widely differing amounts of fat depending on subtle variations in how cells process insulin.

Learning the precise mechanism responsible for fat storage in cells could lead to methods for controlling obesity.

The benefits of physical activity and a balanced diet are well documented and form the basis of many public health recommendations. This is because each of these factors can independently influence risks for many chronic diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and some forms of cancer. Some research also suggests that exercise and diet interact to influence health. For instance, exercising after short-term fasting (such as before breakfast) may increase the amount of fat burned.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — In a new study, researchers at the University of Illinois have identified and visualized the signaling pathways in protein-RNA complexes that help set the genetic code in all organisms. The genetic code allows information stored in DNA to be translated into proteins.

The researchers report their findings in a paper accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and posted on the journal's Web site.

PHILADELPHIA – Researchers at Amgen are testing a fully human monoclonal antibody that inhibits the activity of insulin-like growth factors (IGF-1 and IGF-2) and appears to reduce pancreatic cancer cells in early testing, according to a report in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

If Mark Twain were alive today he might rephrase his frequently cited observation about everyone talking about the weather but not doing anything about it to say, "Everyone reads or watches weather forecasts, but many people don't understand them."

He'd do that because new research indicates that only about half the population knows what a forecast means when it predicts a 20 percent chance of rain, according to researchers at the University of Washington.

College Park, MD, April 8, 2009 -- With the human genome in hand, biochemists have cataloged the 3-D structures of thousands of proteins isolated from living cells. But one important class of proteins -- those stuck in the cell membranes -- has proven difficult to extract and study in 3-D crystals. Now an international team of scientists has developed a way to train such molecules to line up neatly on the surface of water in thin, tissue-like layers called nanofilms.

Despite modern medicine, one in 1,000 American babies are born deaf. The numbers increase markedly with age, with more than 50% of seniors in the United States experiencing some form of hearing loss.

But the era of the hearing aid, and shouting at aging in-laws, may soon be over. A new, landmark study by a world-renowned geneticist and hearing loss expert at Tel Aviv University has uncovered one of the root causes of deafness.

BOULDER--The threat of global warming can still be greatly diminished if nations cut emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases by 70 percent this century, according to a new analysis. While global temperatures would rise, the most dangerous potential aspects of climate change, including massive losses of Arctic sea ice and permafrost and significant sea level rise, could be partially avoided.