In this TEDx talk, Dr. Judson Brewer, an addiction psychiatrist and neuroscientist at Yale University, outlines several common ways that we get in our own way, and details how his clinical research has found that techniques to help us get out of our own way, such as mindfulness training, can have large effects. (more…)
Men experience a higher burden of disease and lower life expectancy than women, but policies focusing on the health needs of men are notably absent from the strategies of global health organisations, according to a Viewpoint article in this week’s Lancet.
The article reinterprets data from the ‘Global Burden of Disease: 2010’ study which shows that all of the top ten causes of premature death and disability, and the top ten behavioural risk factors driving rates of ill-health around the world, affect men more than they affect women. (more…)
A UCLA-led study of adolescents receiving treatment for methamphetamine dependence has found that girls are more likely to continue using the drug during treatment than boys, suggesting that new approaches are needed for treating meth abuse among teen girls.
Results from the study, conducted by the UCLA Center for Behavioral and Addiction Medicine and the community-based substance abuse treatment program Behavioral Health Services Inc., are published in the April edition of the Journal of Adolescent Health. (more…)
Body dysmorphic disorder is a disabling but often misunderstood psychiatric condition in which people perceive themselves to be disfigured and ugly, even though they look normal to others. New research at UCLA shows that these individuals have abnormalities in the underlying connections in their brains.
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Early-warning sensor systems that can test and track serious infectious diseases – such as major flu epidemics, MRSA and HIV – using mobile phones and the internet are being developed by a major new Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration (IRC) led by UCL.
The new £11 million IRC, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (total investment £16 million), will develop mobile health technologies that allow doctors to diagnose and track diseases much earlier than ever before. (more…)
Using a state-of-the-art DNA sequencing technique, UA researchers have discovered genetic mutations underlying seizure disorders in previously undiagnosed children
Researchers at the University of Arizona have successfully determined the genetic mutations causing severe epilepsies in seven out of 10 children for whom the cause of the disorder could not be determined clinically or by conventional genetic testing. (more…)
Berkeley Lab researchers work on new building standards after discovering previously unknown indoor air pollutants.
For decades, no one worried much about the air quality inside people’s homes unless there was secondhand smoke or radon present. Then scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) made the discovery that the aggregate health consequences of poor indoor air quality are as significant as those from all traffic accidents or infectious diseases in the United States. One major source of indoor pollutants in the home is cooking.
The Berkeley Lab scientists are now working on turning those research findings into science-based solutions, including better standards for residential buildings and easier ways to test for the hazardous pollutants. These efforts are the result of a paper published in Environmental Health Perspectives in 2012 that described a new method for estimating the chronic health impact of indoor air pollutants. That research uncovered two pollutants that previously had not been recognized as a cause for concern—fine particles and a gas called acrolein. (more…)
When a teen mom is considering breastfeeding, it may be a tough task for her to break misconceptions, she has about breastfeeding. For example, many teens prefer bottle feeding as a healthier choice over breast feeding. They also believe that their breasts will lose their shape and it is “old school.” Teen moms, just like adults consider many factors when choosing breastfeeding. (more…)
