Health and Medical News Headlines for April 4, 2010

Brain Tumors: Tissue Stem Cell Turning Into Tumor Stem Cell

The "cradle" of new neurons in the adult brain is well known. It is what is called the subventricular zone, a tissue structure lining the lateral ventricles. This is where neural or brain stem cells reside, which are responsible for generating new neurons if needed. For many years now, the subventricular zone has been suspected to be the origin of specific malignant brain tumors called gliomas, the most deadly type of which is glioblastoma. Scientists from the divisions of Professor Dr. GÃ¼nther SchÃ¼tz and Professor Dr...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 4 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Stone Age Scandinavians Unable To Digest Milk

The hunter-gatherers who inhabited the southern coast of Scandinavia 4,000 years ago were lactose intolerant. This has been shown by a new study carried out by researchers at Uppsala University and Stockholm University. The study, which has been published in the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology, supports the researchers' earlier conclusion that today's Scandinavians are not descended from the Stone Age people in question but from a group that arrived later...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 4 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

If You're Depressed, Fearful, It Might Help To Worry, Too

A new study of brain activity in depressed and anxious people indicates that some of the ill effects of depression are modified - for better or for worse - by anxiety. The study, in the journal Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience, looked at depression and two types of anxiety: anxious arousal, the fearful vigilance that sometimes turns into panic; and anxious apprehension, better known as worry...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 4 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Further Facts From The Songbird Genome

With the sequencing of the zebra finch genome, a new resource has been made available to biologists of many disciplines. A thematic series published by BioMed Central, the open access publisher, touches upon several of their unique insights. As part of the series, a study published in BMC Neuroscience presents key information on genes related to steroid receptors and estrogen biosynthesis...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 4 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Discovery Of On/Off Button On Plants' Alarm System Has Potential Pharmaceutical Applications

Plants respond to attacks by herbivores or pathogens by activating defense programs that drive off or even kill the attackers. These defense responses require a great deal of the plant's energy and reserves, which would otherwise be invested in growth and reproduction. So, it's very important to strictly control the activity of defense genes. Hormones, such as the jasmonates, are crucial in this process - and the plant produces these hormones when subjected to stress conditions...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 4 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Shedding Light On Night Blindness And Calcium

Congenital stationary night blindness, an inherited condition that affects one's ability to see in the dark, is caused by a mutation in a calcium channel protein that shuttles calcium into and out of cells. Now, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have teased apart the molecular mechanism behind this mutation, uncovering a more general principle of how cells control calcium levels...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 4 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

The Middle-Aged Are Most Confident But Self-Esteem Declines Sharply Among Older Adults

Self-esteem rises steadily as people age but starts declining around the time of retirement, according to a longitudinal study of men and women ranging in age from 25 to 104. "Self-esteem is related to better health, less criminal behavior, lower levels of depression and, overall, greater success in life," said the study's lead author, Ulrich Orth, PhD. "Therefore, it's important to learn more about how the average person's self-esteem changes over time." Self-esteem was lowest among young adults but increased throughout adulthood, peaking at age 60, before it started to decline...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 4 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

UH Professor Captures Video Of Embryonic Heart Before It Begins To Beat

Imagine being able to image life as it happens by capturing video of the embryonic heart before it begins beating. A professor at the University of Houston, in collaboration with scientists at Baylor College of Medicine, is doing just that. Kirill Larin, assistant professor of biomedical engineering in the Cullen College of Engineering at UH, and his colleagues in the Texas Medical Center are documenting the formation of the mammalian heart through a high-resolution, non-invasive imaging device, providing perhaps the best live imagery taken of the vital organ...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 4 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

New Method Developed By Researchers To Detect Melamine In Milk

University of Miami assistant professor in the College of Engineering, Na Li and her collaborators have developed a fast, economical and easy method to detect melamine in milk. Melamine is the compound found in contaminated pet food and in tainted dairy products from China in 2007 and 2008 respectively. The laced dairy products were responsible for sickening thousands of people, especially children. The situation caused recalls of Chinese dairy products all over the world. Monitoring melamine-tainted products continues to be a worldwide concern...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 4 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am

Cutting-Edge Computer Modeling Reveals Neurons Coordinating Their Messaging, Yielding Clues To How The Brain Works

There is strength in numbers if you want to get your voice heard. But how do you get your say if you are in the minority? That's a dilemma faced not only by the citizens of a democracy but also by some neurons in the brain. Although they only account for a fraction of the synapses in the visual cortex, neurons in the thalamus get their message across loud and clear by coordination - simultaneously hitting the "send" button - according to a computer simulation developed by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies...