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Atlanta, GA – Current research suggests that latent cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection may exacerbate inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The related report by Onyeagocha et al, "Latent cytomegalovirus infection exacerbates experimental colitis," appears in the November 2009 issue of The American Journal of Pathology.

CMV infects between 50% and 80% of adults in the United States. Most people who are infected have no symptoms, and the virus remains hidden but inactive in the body for the rest of the person's life unless activated by suppression of the immune system.

Pacifier, baby bottle or finger sucking may hamper a child's speech development if the habit goes on too long.

In a study that took place in Patagonia, Chile, researchers associated the persistence of these sucking habits with an increased risk of speech disorders in preschool children. The children were more likely to have difficulty producing certain word sounds and to simplify their pronunciation.

The results were published Wednesday, Oct. 21, in BMC Pediatrics, an online, open-access medical journal.

Researchers from the United States and Slovenia have discovered a new, giant Nephila species (golden orb weaver spider) from Africa and Madagascar and have published their findings in the

In an article published in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE on October 21, 2009, Dr Thomas Plummer of Queens College at the City University of New York, Dr Richard Potts of the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History and colleagues report the oldest archeological evidence of early human activities in a grassland environment, dating to 2 million years ago. The article highlights new research and its implications concerning the environments in which human ancestors evolved.

The Durham and Northumbria Universities study, both based in the UK, suggests that a fear of prejudice made the Irish immigrants steer clear of giving their children Irish Catholic names, a trend also seen in today's society among other immigrant communities elsewhere in the world.

The study, which looked at over 30,000 records, found that the number of Irish Catholic names was dramatically lower among the second generation Irish in all seventeen counties studied, whilst the frequencies of English Protestant names went up.

Using a pacifier for too long may be detrimental to your child's speech. Research published in the open access journal BMC Pediatrics suggests that the use of bottles, pacifiers and other sucking behaviors apart from breast-feeding may increase the risk of subsequent speech disorders in young children.

The proportion of in vitro fertilization (IVF) multiple births was lower in the eight states that provide insurance coverage for couples seeking IVF treatment, primarily due to fewer embryos transferred per cycle, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in an abstract presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, October 17-21.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Young men who voted for Republican John McCain or Libertarian candidate Robert Barr in the 2008 presidential election suffered an immediate drop in testosterone when the election results were announced, according to a study by researchers at Duke University and the University of Michigan.

In contrast, men who voted for the winner, Democrat Barack Obama, had stable testosterone levels immediately after the outcome.

Female study participants showed no significant change in their testosterone levels before and after the returns came in.

Molecules that may hold the key to new ways to fight cancer and other diseases have been found to play an important role in regulating circadian rhythm, says Liheng Shi, a researcher in Texas A&M's Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences.

Circadian rhythm is the roughly 24-hour cycle of physiological activities of humans, animals and even bacteria, Shi explains.

Twenty years of screening for breast and prostate cancer – the most diagnosed cancer for women and men – have not brought the anticipated decline in deaths from these diseases, argue experts from the University of California, San Francisco and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in an opinion piece published in the "Journal of the American Medical Association."

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — You might not know what it's called, but if you've had general anesthesia before surgery, especially after an accident, it is likely you have received Sellick's maneuver. That's when fingers are pressed against a patient's throat to prevent regurgitation and spilling of stomach contents into the airway and lungs while anesthesia is being administered.

Such regurgitation could result in serious lung damage and even death.

Contrary to the findings of some studies, new research indicates that augmenting antidepressant therapy with an omega-3 fatty acid supplement does not result in improvement in levels of depression in patients with coronary heart disease, according to a study in the October 21 issue of JAMA.

Less than one-third of patients hospitalized for heart failure and participating in a quality improvement registry received a guideline-recommended treatment of heart failure, aldosterone antagonist therapy, according to a study in the October 21 issue of JAMA.

A study that includes twins finds that the risk of hip fracture was significantly increased following a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease (CVD), with analysis also suggesting a genetic predisposition to the development of CVD and fractures, according to a study in the October 21 issue of JAMA.

A relative utility curve is a simple method to evaluate risk prediction in a medical decision-making framework, according to a commentary published online October 20 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Risk prediction models that are based on medical history or the results of tests are becoming common in the cancer literature and are used to provide additional information to those who are involved in making treatment decisions on the basis of estimated risk.