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Facebook Activity Reveals Clues to Mental Illness, says MU Researcher

By Guest PostJanuary 26, 2013Health, Technologyclinical picture, elizabeth martin, experience, facebook activity, levels of paranoia, odd beliefs, participant, perceptual aberrations, pleasure, profile, psychological health, psychological state, psychologists, schizotypy, schizotypy symptoms, self reporting, social anhedonia, social media, social withdrawal, therapists, tool, university of missouri

Analysis of social media use could give therapists more complete view of patients’ health

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Facebook activity provided a window into the psychological health of participants in a study at the University of Missouri. Social media profiles could eventually be used as tools for psychologists and therapists, according to study leader Elizabeth Martin, doctoral student in MU’s psychological science department in the College of Arts and Science.

“Therapists could possibly use social media activity to create a more complete clinical picture of a patient,” Martin said. “The beauty of social media activity as a tool in psychological diagnosis is that it removes some of the problems associated with patients’ self-reporting. For example, questionnaires often depend on a person’s memory, which may or may not be accurate. By asking patients to share their Facebook activity, we were able to see how they expressed themselves naturally. Even the parts of their Facebook activities that they chose to conceal exposed information about their psychological state.” (more…)

Engineered Immune Cells Resist Infection from Hiv and Could Ultimately Replace Drug Therapy

By Guest PostJanuary 26, 2013Healthcocktail of drugs, engineered immune cells, gene therapy, genetic haart, hiv infection, hiv resistant genes

AUSTIN, Texas — Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and the Stanford University School of Medicine have found a novel way to engineer key cells of the immune system so they remain resistant to infection from HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. (more…)

UCLA Study First to Image Concussion-Related Abnormal Brain Proteins in Retired NFL Players

By Guest PostJanuary 24, 2013Healthabnormal gait, abnormal tau proteins, alzheimer's disease, american journal, amyloid beta plaques, athletes, autopsy, body mass index, brain imaging tool, brain injury, brain pathology, centers, chemical marker, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, clinical assessment, cognitive, cognitive ability, confusion, cte, degenerative condition, degree of depression, dementia, depression, disease control, early detection, early symptoms, family history, fddnp, fran, gary small, gauge, geriatric psychiatry, hallmarks of alzheimers, ham d, hamilton rating scale, intravenous injections, jorge r barrio, julian bailes, linda m ercoli, memory loss, mental state examination, mild, mini, mmse, mood symptoms, national football league, neurofibrillary tau tangles, personality changes, PET, player, positron emission tomography, prabha siddarth, prevention, progression in cte, progressive dementia, protein, ray stark foundation, repair damage, risk, sports related concussions, suicidal behavior, traumatic brain injuries, traumatic brain injury, tremors, vladimir kepe, wayne clark

Technique may lead to earlier diagnosis, tracking of brain disorders in athletes

Sports-related concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries have grabbed headlines in recent months, as the long-term damage they can cause becomes increasingly evident among both current and former athletes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that millions of these injuries occur each year.

Despite the devastating consequences of traumatic brain injury and the large number of athletes playing contact sports who are at risk, no method has been developed for early detection or tracking of the brain pathology associated with these injuries. (more…)

IBM and The Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology Develop New Antimicrobial Hydrogel to Fight Superbugs and Drug-Resistant Biofilms

By Guest PostJanuary 24, 2013Health, Technologyalcohol, antibiotic, antimicrobial activity, antimicrobial hydrogel, aseptic techniques, biocompatible, biodegradable, biofilms, blackhole, bleach, cdc, conventional antibiotics, drug resistant bacteria, drug resistant biofilm, gravitation, health hazards, hydrogels, ibm, ibm research, infectious diseases, institute of bioengineering, james hedrick, macromolecule, microbial membranes, molecular structure, molecular zipper, nanomedicine solutions, Nanotechnology, new technology, non-toxic, orifice barriers, polymer, positive charge, skin infections, sterilization, synthetic antimicrobial hydrogel, synthetic hydrogel, united states, water solubility, yi yan yang

Applications range from protective coating to sterilize hospital surfaces and medical equipment or as an injection to more effectively treat patients

SAN JOSE, Calif. – 24 Jan 2013: Researchers from IBM and the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology revealed today an antimicrobial hydrogel that can break through diseased biofilms and completely eradicate drug-resistant bacteria upon contact. The synthetic hydrogel, which forms spontaneously when heated to body temperature, is the first-ever to be biodegradable, biocompatible and non-toxic, making it an ideal tool to combat serious health hazards facing hospital workers, visitors and patients.

Traditionally used for disinfecting various surfaces, antimicrobials can be found in traditional household items like alcohol and bleach. However, moving from countertops to treating drug resistant skin infections or infectious diseases in the body are proving to be more challenging as conventional antibiotics become less effective and many household surface disinfectants are not suitable for biological applications. (more…)

Lack of Key Enzyme in the Metabolism of Folic Acid Leads to Birth Defects

By Guest PostJanuary 23, 2013Healthanencephaly, austin, birth defects, dean appling, developing embryos, folic acid, folic acid enzyme, formate, gene, human gene, jessica momb, jordan lewandowski, joshua bryant, key enzyme, lack, metabolic pathway, metabolism, mthfd1l, mutation, neural tube defects, point mutation, pregnancy, rebecca fitch, researcher deborah surman, spina bifida, steven vokes, university of texas

AUSTIN, Texas — Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have discovered that the lack of a critical enzyme in the folic acid metabolic pathway leads to neural tube birth defects in developing embryos.

It has been known for several decades that folic acid supplementation dramatically reduces the incidence of neural tube defects, such as spina bifida and anencephaly, which are among the most common birth defects. In some populations, folic acid supplementation has decreased neural tube defects by as much as 70 percent. (more…)

Costly Breast Cancer Screenings Don’t Add up to Better Outcomes

By Guest PostJanuary 22, 2013Healthanees chagpar, breast cancer, breast cancer incidence, brigid killelea, cary gross, copper team, cost of screening, geographic regions, heather gold, jama network publication, jessica long, joseph ross, mammography, maysa abu khalaf, medicine, rong wang, screenings, treatment, united states, variation, xiaomei ma, yale cancer center, yale school

Even though Medicare spends over $1 billion per year on breast cancer screenings such as a mammography, there is no evidence that higher spending benefits older women, researchers at Yale School of Medicine found in a study published Online First by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

Led by Dr. Cary Gross, associate professor of internal medicine at Yale School of Medicine and director of the Cancer Outcomes, Public Policy, and Effectiveness Research (COPPER) Center at Yale, the study sought to provide a comprehensive understanding of breast cancer expenditures that incorporate the cost of screening and associated work-up, as well as treatment. They assessed overall national costs, as well as variation in costs across geographic regions. (more…)

Study Explains Skin’s Response to UVA Light

By Guest PostJanuary 22, 2013Healthdna damage, melanin production, phototransduction pathway, skin cells, ultraviolet light, uva exposure, uva light

Researchers have strengthened their understanding of how skin cells called melanocytes sense ultraviolet light and act to protect themselves with melanin. In a new study, they report experiments showing that an ion channel well-known elsewhere in the body for its chemical sensitivity, plays a central role in this process. (more…)

New Insights into the ‘Borderline Personality’ Brain

By Guest PostJanuary 21, 2013Healthanger, anthony c ruocco, borderline personality disorder, bpd, brain function, brain region, chaotic relationship, cycle, data, diagnosis and treatment, disorders, emotion dysregulation, emotional reaction, frontal part, function of brains, hallmark symptom, hyperactive, insula, major depression, mental illness, negative emotions, neural circuits, people with bpd, sadness, scarborough, suicide, university of toronto

TORONTO, ON — New work by University of Toronto Scarborough researchers gives the best description yet of the neural circuits that underlie a severe mental illness called Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), and could lead to better treatments and diagnosis.

The work shows that brain regions that process negative emotions (for example, anger and sadness) are overactive in people with BPD, while brain regions that would normally help damp down negative emotions are underactive. (more…)

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