People who are prone to delusions gather insufficient information before making decisions, according to research published in the journal Psychological Medicine. Researchers from Royal Holloway, University of London, led by PhD student Leslie van der Leer, assigned participants a computer task in which they observed the colour of a black or white fish caught from one of two lakes and were then asked to choose to see further fish or decide on one of the lakes as the source of that sequence of fish. Each participant was rewarded for choosing the correct lake but costs ...

Recruiting health workers with high levels of internal motivation is critical for work in difficult conditions, where their personal security and health might be compromised, according to new research published today in Health Policy and Planning. Health workers often witness the deaths of friends and colleagues during conflict situations and also face abduction, injury and death, themselves. Life history interviews with 26 health workers who lived through conflict in Northern Uganda reveal their resilience and how they coped by building trusting relationships with the ...

A unique collection of studies exploring the theme of the Third Global Symposium on Health Systems Research has been published today in a supplement to Health Policy and Planning. This collection of studies on 'the science and practice of people-centred health systems' presents the latest in the field of health policy and systems research, bringing together research from Ethiopia, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, India, Argentina and Brazil. The eleven studies comprising the supplement employ a range of methods to investigate different aspects of people-centred health ...

Some sharks are 'gregarious' and have strong social connections, whilst others are more solitary and prefer to remain inconspicuous, according to a new study which is the first to show that the notorious predators have personality traits. Personalities are known to exist in many animals, but are usually defined by individual characteristics such as how exploratory, bold or aggressive an individual is. Research led by the University of Exeter and the Marine Biological Association of the UK (MBA) has shown for the first time that individual sharks actually possess social ...

Evolocumab, an injected form of a new class of drugs called PCSK9 inhibitors[1], is highly effective at reducing low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or "bad cholesterol" levels with few side effects in people with familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH), an inherited condition that causes extremely high cholesterol and high risk of cardiovascular disease at an early age. Published in The Lancet, the results of two of the largest global randomised trials ever undertaken in this field found that evolocumab rapidly cut levels of LDL cholesterol by on average 60% more than those given ...

How can parents with the autoimmune disorder celiac disease prevent or delay the condition's development in their children? The results of an international study led by investigators associated with the Center for Celiac Research and Treatment at MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC) challenge some of the current thinking on possible measures to take. The report in the Oct. 2 New England Journal of Medicine finds that loss of tolerance to gluten – a protein composite found in wheat, rye and barley – is a dynamic process and that neither breastfeeding or delaying the ...

Teens who received free contraception and were educated about the pros and cons of various birth control methods were dramatically less likely to get pregnant, give birth or get an abortion compared with other sexually active teens, according to a new study. The research, by investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, appears Oct. 2 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study promoted the use of long-acting forms of birth control, such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) and implants, because of their superior effectiveness in preventing ...

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) can differentiate into all types of blood cells, including red blood cells and immune cells. While HSC transplantation can be life saving for patients with aggressive forms of blood cancer that are unresponsive to other available treatments, there are many risks associated with the procedure. For example, graft verse host disease (GVHD) results when immune cells generated from donor HSCs attack host tissue. Chronic GVHD occurs over time and is characterized by fibrosis, which impairs organ function. A new study in the Journal of Clinical ...

Almost 40 million people worldwide live with HIV/AIDS, with an estimated 2.5 million new cases per year. Therefore, there has been a large global effort to develop an effective vaccine against the virus. HIV-1 vaccine development has been challenging but recent clinical trials have been promising. A new study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation discusses the results from a clinical trial that evaluated the immune response following different HIV vaccine regimes. Nicole Frahm and colleagues tested prime-boost regimes combining a New York vaccinia HIV clade B (NYVAC-B) ...

MINNEAPOLIS – Women who are anxious, jealous, or moody and distressed in middle age may be at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease later in life, according to a nearly 40-year-long study published in the October 1, 2014, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. "Most Alzheimer's research has been devoted to factors such as education, heart and blood risk factors, head trauma, family history and genetics," said study author Lena Johannsson, PhD, of the University of Gothenburg in Gothenburg, Sweden. "Personality ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A new study in the Journal of the American Heart Association reports a significant association between living near a major roadway and the risk of high blood pressure. The Brown University-led analysis of data from 5,400 post-menopausal women in the San Diego metropolitan area found that women who lived within 100 meters of a highway or major arterial road had a 22-percent greater risk of hypertension than women who lived at least 1,000 meters away. In a range of intermediate distances, hypertension risk rose with proximity to the ...

Hospitals with aggressive treatment styles, also known as high hospital care intensity (HCI), had lower rates of patients dying from a major complication (failure to rescue) but longer hospitalizations, writes Kyle H. Sheetz, M.D., M.S., of the Center for Healthcare Outcomes and Policy, Ann Arbor, Mich., and colleagues. The intensity of medical care varies around the country. Intensity is synonymous with an aggressive treatment style and it has been implicated in rising health care costs, especially during the end-of-life period. Inpatient surgery also is a cost burden. ...

LANSING, Mich. October 1, 2014 – Tart cherries have long been researched for their association with pain relief – ranging from gout and arthritis joint pain to exercise-related muscle pain. A new study published in the Journal of Functional Foods is the first to report consumption of Montmorency tart cherries caused changes in uric acid metabolism, which can have an impact on joint pain. The study also detected increases in specific anthocyanin compounds in the bloodstream after consuming tart cherries. In the study, Montmorency tart cherry juice reduced blood levels ...

MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL (October 1, 2014) – Researchers at the University of Minnesota have identified microRNAs that may cause colon polyps from turning cancerous. The finding could help physicians provide more specialized, and earlier, treatment before colon cancer develops. The findings are published today in The Journal of Pathology. The American Cancer Society estimates over 134,000 people will be diagnosed with colon cancer in 2014, despite the expanded screening processes now available. This year alone, about 50,000 people will die because of the disease. Research ...

New Rochelle, NY, October 1, 2014—The cause of fibromyalgia, a chronic pain syndrome is not known. However, the results of a new study that compares brain activity in individuals with and without fibromyalgia indicate that decreased connectivity between pain-related and sensorimotor brain areas could contribute to deficient pain regulation in fibromyalgia, according to an article published in Brain Connectivity, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Brain Connectivity website at http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/brain.2014.0274 ...

Along rivers in Tennessee and Georgia, scientists have been studying brownish-orange spiders, called Anelosimus studiosus, that make cobwebby nests "anywhere from the size of a golf ball to the size of a Volkswagen Beetle," researcher Jonathan Pruitt says. The individual spiders are only the size of a pencil eraser, but they form organized groups that can catch prey ranging from fruit flies to small vertebrates. "We have found carcasses of rats and birds inside their colonies," Pruitt says. Unlike most spiders, which are solitary, these social spiders work together in groups. Now ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Breathing oxygen helps the body create energy for its cells. As a result of the breathing process, reactive molecules called "free radicals" are produced that often cause damage to proteins and genes found in cells. This damage is known as oxidative stress. Free radicals also have been linked to cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Now, investigators at the University of Missouri have discovered a molecule that treats oxidative stress. "Oxidative stress can cause damage to the building blocks of a cell, resulting in excessive cell proliferation, ...

For older adults, being unable to identify scents is a strong predictor of death within five years, according to a study published October 1, 2014, in the journal PLOS ONE. Thirty-nine percent of study subjects who failed a simple smelling test died during that period, compared to 19 percent of those with moderate smell loss and just 10 percent of those with a healthy sense of smell. The hazards of smell loss were "strikingly robust," the researchers note, above and beyond most chronic diseases. Olfactory dysfunction was better at predicting mortality than a diagnosis ...

ALEXANDRIA, VA — The American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation has released the first ever mutli-disciplinary, evidence-based clinical practice guideline to improve the diagnosis and management of tinnitus, the perception of sound—often ringing—without an external sound source. The guideline was published today in the journal Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. "Tinnitus affects 10-15% of adults in the United States. It is the most common service-related disability among our military veterans. Yet despite its prevalence and effect on quality ...

For older adults, being unable to identify scents may be a predictor of mortality within five years, according to a study published October 1, 2014, in the journal PLOS ONE by Jayant Pinto from The University of Chicago and colleagues. The study was part of the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (NSHAP), the first in-home study of social relationships and health in a large, nationally representative sample of men and women ages 57 to 85. Researchers first surveyed 3,000 participants in 2005-06, assessing their ability to identify five distinct common odors, ...

Studying mice with a genetic change similar to what is found in Kabuki syndrome, a inherited disease of humans, Johns Hopkins researchers report they have used an anticancer drug to "open up" DNA and improve mental function. Along with a potential treatment for the intellectual disability seen in Kabuki syndrome, the study's findings also suggest a new way of thinking about a category of genetic diseases known as Mendelian disorders of the epigenetic machinery, the researchers say. In these disorders, a genetic mutation causes errors in the way proteins and chemicals ...

Researchers have identified a molecular mechanism that could explain why the common cold can bring on life-threatening asthma attacks. Published today in Science Translational Medicine, the findings indicate this may be a potential target for new drugs that could be more effective than existing treatments. Viruses that infect the airways are the most common cause of asthma attacks, accounting for 80-90 per cent of cases. The great majority of these are rhinoviruses, which are the predominant cause of the common cold. Although illnesses caused by rhinoviruses are ...

Scientists at the University of Southampton have discovered that a region on the front surface of the eye harbours special stem cells that could treat blinding eye conditions. This part of the eye is called the 'corneal limbus' and is a narrow gap lying between the transparent cornea and white sclera. The research, published in PLOS ONE, showed that stem cells can be cultured from the corneal limbus in vitro. Under the correct culture conditions, these cells could be directed to behave like the cells needed to see light - photoreceptor cells. The loss of photoreceptors ...

Researchers at UC San Francisco and Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, may have found a predictor for a disorder affecting kidney transplant recipients that can accelerate organ failure, a discovery that eventually could allow for customized therapies and improved patient selection for transplant. The study of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a devastating form of kidney disease, is in the Oct. 1 issue of Science Translational Medicine. Research was conducted by an international study team, with Necker Hospital in Paris and UCSF joint lead authors and ...

(Boston) — Glioblastma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most lethal primary brain tumors, with median survival for these patients only slightly over one year. Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), in collaboration with researchers from the City of Hope, are looking toward novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of GBM in the form of targeted therapies against a unique receptor, the interleukin-13 receptor α chain variant 2 (IL13Rα2). In a review paper published in the October issue of Neuro-Oncology, the researchers discuss various ...