PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Vigorous physical activity linked to lower incidence of obesity in young African-American women

2013-08-22
(Press-News.org) (Boston) – The prevalence of obesity has increased markedly in the U.S. in recent years. According to a new study by researchers from Boston University Slone Epidemiology Center's Black Women's Health Study (BWHS), the risk of becoming obese among young African-American women decreased with increasing levels of vigorous activity. The investigators focused on younger women because most weight gain occurs before middle age.

The findings are online and will appear in the September 2013 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The assessment of exercise in relation to obesity was based on data from the BWHS, an ongoing follow-up study of African-American women from across the U.S. The researchers followed 20,259 African-American women who were less than 40 years old and not obese at the start of the study for 14 years, from 1995-2009. Information on weight was updated every two years and information on exercise and walking was updated four times during follow-up. The investigators found that incidence of obesity decreased as the level of vigorous exercise increased. The risk of obesity was 23 percent lower among women who exercised seven or more hours per week relative to women who participated in little or no exercise. The reduction of obesity incidence among women who exercised was evident both among those with healthy weights at baseline and among those who were overweight at baseline. There were suggestive reductions in the incidence of obesity among women who walked briskly for exercise or transport but there were no clear trends.

According to Lynn Rosenberg, PhD, lead investigator of the study, effective approaches to reduce weight gain and obesity are very much needed in view of the increased incidence of type 2 diabetes and other serious illnesses associated with obesity. "Our study suggests that increased exercise would help in that effort," she said.

### Funding for this study was provided by the Aetna Foundation and the National Cancer Institute.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Drug swap drives down costs

2013-08-22
Therapeutic drug substitutions have the potential to double or even triple annual cost savings compared with savings achieved with generic substitutions, according to O. Kenrik Duru and colleagues from the University of California, Los Angeles. Therapeutic drug substitutions involve the use of less expensive substitutes that are not equivalent but have a similar treatment effect as the original medication. Their work¹ estimates the magnitude of potential savings with drug substitution in Medicare Part D plans in the US. The study appears in the Journal of General Internal ...

Mood is influenced by immune cells called to the brain in response to stress

2013-08-22
COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research shows that in a dynamic mind-body interaction during the interpretation of prolonged stress, cells from the immune system are recruited to the brain and promote symptoms of anxiety. The findings, in a mouse model, offer a new explanation of how stress can lead to mood disorders and identify a subset of immune cells, called monocytes, that could be targeted by drugs for treatment of mood disorders. The Ohio State University research also reveals new ways of thinking about the cellular mechanisms behind the effects of stress, identifying ...

Highest-ever resolution photos of the night sky

2013-08-22
Pasadena, CA— A team of astronomers from three institutions has developed a new type of telescope camera that makes higher resolution images than ever before, the culmination of 20 years of effort. The team has been developing this technology at telescope observatories in Arizona and now has deployed the latest version of these cameras in the high desert of Chile at the Magellan 6.5m (21 foot) telescope. Carnegie's Alan Uomoto and Tyson Hare, joined by a team of researchers from the University of Arizona and Arcetri Observatory in Italy, will publish three papers containing ...

Tuberculosis genomes portray secrets of pathogen's success

2013-08-22
MADISON, Wis. – By any measure, tuberculosis (TB) is a wildly successful pathogen. It infects as many as two billion people in every corner of the world, with a new infection of a human host estimated to occur every second. Now, thanks to a new analysis of dozens of tuberculosis genomes gathered from around the world, scientists are getting a more detailed picture of why TB is so prevalent and how it evolves to resist countermeasures. Writing today (Aug. 21, 2013) in the journal Public Library of Science (PLoS) Pathogens, a team led by University of Wisconsin-Madison ...

What is your heart attack risk?

2013-08-22
Researchers in India have carried out a data mining exercise to determine which are the most important risk factors in increasing the chances of an individual suffering a heart attack. Writing in the International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, they confirm that the usual suspects high blood cholesterol, intake of alcohol and passive smoking play the most crucial role in "severe", "moderate" and "mild" cardiac risks, respectively. Subhagata Chattopadhyay of the Camellia Institute of Engineering in Kolkata adds that being male aged between 48 and 60 ...

UA astronomers take sharpest photos ever of the night sky

2013-08-22
Astronomers at the University of Arizona, the Arcetri Observatory near Florence, Italy and the Carnegie Observatory have developed a new type of camera that allows scientists to take sharper images of the night sky than ever before. The team has been developing this technology for more than 20 years at observatories in Arizona, most recently at the Large Binocular Telescope, or LBT, and has now deployed the latest version of these cameras in the high desert of Chile at the Magellan 6.5-meter telescope. "It was very exciting to see this new camera make the night sky ...

Rising mountains, cooling oceans prompted spread of invasive species 450 million years ago

2013-08-22
ATHENS, Ohio (Aug. 21, 2013)—New Ohio University research suggests that the rise of an early phase of the Appalachian Mountains and cooling oceans allowed invasive species to upset the North American ecosystem 450 million years ago. The study, published recently in the journal PLOS ONE, took a closer look at a dramatic ecological shift captured in the fossil record during the Ordovician period. Ohio University scientists argue that major geological developments triggered evolutionary changes in the ancient seas, which were dominated by organisms such as brachiopods, corals, ...

Study: Disease caused by repeat brain trauma in athletes may affect memory, mood, behavior

2013-08-22
MINNEAPOLIS – New research suggests that chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease associated with repeat brain trauma including concussions in athletes, may affect people in two major ways: initially affecting behavior or mood or initially affecting memory and thinking abilities. The study appears in the August 21, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. CTE has been found in amateur and professional athletes, members of the military and others who experienced repeated head injuries, including concussions ...

NASA sees another Earth-directed CME

2013-08-22
On August 21, 2013 at 1:24 am EDT, the sun erupted with an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection, or CME, a solar phenomenon that can send billions of tons of particles into space and reach Earth one to three days later. These particles cannot travel through the atmosphere to harm humans on Earth, but they can affect electronic systems in satellites and on the ground. Experimental NASA research models, based on observations from NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory show that the CME left the sun at speeds of around 380 miles per second, which is a fairly common ...

NASA's Fermi enters extended mission

2013-08-22
During its five-year primary mission, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has given astronomers an increasingly detailed portrait of the universe's most extraordinary phenomena, from giant black holes in the hearts of distant galaxies to thunderstorms on Earth. But its job is not done yet. On Aug. 11, Fermi entered an extended phase of its mission -- a deeper study of the high-energy cosmos. This is a significant step toward the science team's planned goal of a decade of observations, ending in 2018. "As Fermi opens its second act, both the spacecraft and its instruments ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

A third of licensed GPs in England not working in NHS general practice

ChatGPT “thought on the fly” when put through Ancient Greek maths puzzle

Engineers uncover why tiny particles form clusters in turbulent air

GLP-1RA drugs dramatically reduce death and cardiovascular risk in psoriasis patients

Psoriasis linked to increased risk of vision-threatening eye disease, study finds

Reprogramming obesity: New drug from Italian biotech aims to treat the underlying causes of obesity

Type 2 diabetes may accelerate development of multiple chronic diseases, particularly in the early stages, UK Biobank study suggests

Resistance training may improve nerve health, slow aging process, study shows

Common and inexpensive medicine halves the risk of recurrence in patients with colorectal cancer

SwRI-built instruments to monitor, provide advanced warning of space weather events

Breakthrough advances sodium-based battery design

New targeted radiation therapy shows near-complete response in rare sarcoma patients

Does physical frailty contribute to dementia?

Soccer headers and brain health: Study finds changes within folds of the brain

Decoding plants’ language of light

UNC Greensboro study finds ticks carrying Lyme disease moving into western NC

New implant restores blood pressure balance after spinal cord injury

New York City's medical specialist advantage may be an illusion, new NYU Tandon research shows

Could a local anesthetic that doesn’t impair motor function be within reach?

1 in 8 Italian cetacean strandings show evidence of fishery interactions, with bottlenose and striped dolphins most commonly affected, according to analysis across four decades of data and more than 5

In the wild, chimpanzees likely ingest the equivalent of several alcoholic drinks every day

Warming of 2°C intensifies Arctic carbon sink but weakens Alpine sink, study finds

Bronze and Iron Age cultures in the Middle East were committed to wine production

Indian adolescents are mostly starting their periods at an earlier age than 25 years ago

Temporary medical centers in Gaza known as "Medical Points" (MPs) treat an average of 117 people daily with only about 7 staff per MP

Rates of alcohol-induced deaths among the general population nearly doubled from 1999 to 2024

PLOS One study: In adolescent lab animals exposed to cocaine, High-Intensity Interval Training boosts aversion to the drug

Scientists identify four ways our bodies respond to COVID-19 vaccines

Stronger together: A new fusion protein boosts cancer immunotherapy

Hidden brain waves as triggers for post-seizure wandering

[Press-News.org] Vigorous physical activity linked to lower incidence of obesity in young African-American women