Research
Chronic Stress is Detrimental to Health
Stress is not just a state of mind. It can manifest itself in many physical ways as well. After all, it is stress that propels the body into the ‘fight or flight’ response. Stress can trigger migraine headaches and cause ulcers, increase heart rate, and elevate blood pressure. If the body is left in a heightened state of stress, the immune system can become weak leaving the person susceptible to infection and serious illness.
Exposure to Light at Night Could Lead to Weight Gain, Obesity
A new study has found that consistently being exposed to light at night can lead to obesity and weight gain, even if an individual isn’t eating more food or changing their physical activity. Researchers from Ohio State University found that mice exposed to dim light at night over a period of eight weeks gained about 50 percent more weight than mice that weren’t exposed to light.
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Study Finds that a Single Gene is Responsible for OCD-Like Behavior in Mice
Researchers at the Ansary Stem Cell Institute and the Department of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College discovered that mice missing a single gene developed repetitive obsessive-compulsive-like behaviors. The genetically altered mice, which behaved much like people with a certain type of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), could help scientists design new therapies for this debilitating condition. The researchers made this serendipitous discovery while looking at the role of a gene, called Slitrk5, which they had earlier linked to blood stem cells and vascular cells.
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Victims of Domestic Violence Have Higher Health Costs Years After Abuse Ends
Victims of domestic violence endure significantly higher health costs than other women for three years after the abuse ends, a new study finds. Abuse victims had health care costs that averaged more than $1,200 above non-abused women for the first two years after the abuse ended and about $400 above others in the third year.
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New Scale Measuring Anxiety Outcomes Developed
A new questionnaire and outcomes measurement scale developed by the department of psychiatry at Rhode Island Hospital has proven to be a reliable and valid measure of anxiety. The scale can easily be incorporated into routine clinical practice when treating psychiatric disorders. The study appears online ahead of print in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
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Alterations in Brain’s Reward System Related to ADHD
Until now, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was related to alterations in the brain affecting attention and cognitive processes. Researchers at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital have now discovered anomalies in the brain’s reward system related to the neural circuits of motivation and gratification.
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Fruit Fly Tongue Could Answer Questions about Obesity in Humans
The tiny tongue of a fruit fly could provide big answers to questions about human eating habits, possibly even leading to new ways to treat obesity, according to a study from a team of Texas A&M University researchers.
Paul Hardin, who holds the rank of Distinguished Professor of Biology, along with colleagues Abhishek Chatterjee, Shintaro Tanoue, and Jerry Houl, examined the taste organs on Drosophila’s proboscis (tongue), which triggers the minute fruit fly’s desire to eat or not to eat. They found that several factors, especially the creature’s internal daily clock, determine feeding behaviors—and these same taste sensitivities very likely apply to humans. Their work is published in the new issue of the journal Current Biology.
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Pipe and Cigar Smoke May Be More Harmful Than Once Thought
Pipe and cigar smoke may be more harmful than once thought. While some believe pipes and cigars are healthier than cigarettes, a major known cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a new study directly links pipe and cigar smoking to decreased lung function.
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Depression and Cognitive Problems Not Necessarily Associated
Many clinicians believe that depression goes hand in hand with cognitive difficulties such as memory problems or difficulties concentrating and paying attention, but a recent review of nearly 20 years of literature conducted by researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center has found that depression does not always lead to such impairments.
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Researcher Develops Technique for Quick Diagnosis of Mental Conditions
Is it really as easy to detect depression and other mental conditions as it is to detect a heart problem? It may be as a diagnostic technique invented by a Monash University researcher could make diagnosis and treatment a much more simple and rapid task.
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