EAST LANSING, Mich. — Married people may be happier in the long run than those who aren’t married, according to new research by Michigan State University scientists.
Their study, online in the Journal of Research in Personality, finds that although matrimony does not make people happier than they were when they were single, it appears to protect against normal declines in happiness during adulthood.
“Our study suggests that people on average are happier than they would have been if they didn’t get married,” said Stevie C.Y. Yap, a researcher in MSU’s Department of Psychology. (more…)
Berkeley Lab scientists help paint a more complicated picture of the devastating disease
For the past five years, volunteers from the City of Berkeley and surrounding areas have come to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to participate in an ongoing study that’s changing what scientists know about Alzheimer’s disease.
The volunteers, most over the age of 70, undergo what can best be described as a brain checkup. They’re asked to solve puzzles and memorize lists of words. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans image the structure of their brains in exquisite detail. Functional MRI scans allow scientists to watch portions of their brains light up as they form memories. And Positron emission tomography (PET) scans measure any accumulation of beta-amyloid, a destructive protein that’s a hallmark of Alzheimer’s. (more…)
The summer is here, which means child day care centers and summer camps will soon be flooded with vast amounts of children. While typically people are more concerned with who is handling their child and thus mandate background checks for all employees, sometimes it’s the parents who are at fault and cause harm to their children. That’s why it is so important to remind educators, advisors and camp counselors (who are all too often children themselves—most are college aged) how to closely monitor the signs and detect child abuse and neglect.
While national statistics say child abuse is reported every ten seconds, unfortunately most of those cases are not made by child daycare workers—a place where child interaction occurs the most. In fact, studies show that underreporting is a common thread among child day care centers and summer camps, mostly because employees don’t want to get involved, fear they may be wrong, or don’t know the common signs of child abuse. With that said, if you are suspicious a child in your care may be suffering from child abuse because he or she is experiencing one or all of the symptoms listed below, it’s best to talk with an authoritative figure and report the case. (more…)
A study by researchers at the UCLA School of Nursing has found that serious male cyclists may experience hormonal imbalances that could affect their reproductive health.(more…)
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Blocking a protein in the heart that is produced under stressful conditions could be a strategy to prevent cardiac damage that results from chemotherapy, a new study suggests.
Previous research has suggested that up to a quarter of patients who receive the common chemotherapy drug doxorubicin are at risk of developing heart failure later in life. Exactly how that heart damage is done remains unclear.
In this study, scientists identified a protein called heat shock factor-1 (HSF-1) as a likely source of chemotherapy-related heart damage in mice and cell cultures. Heat shock factor-1 is known to be induced by stress – in this case, the chemotherapy treatment itself. (more…)
UCLA study quantifies learning curve for robotic-assisted surgery
Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed non-skin cancer in the U.S., and radical prostatectomy, the surgical removal of the prostate gland, remains the most popular therapeutic option, accounting for half of treatments.
The procedure, however, is not without possible side effects, primarily erectile dysfunction and incontinence. But a good nerve-sparing surgical technique can lessen the likelihood of these undesirable outcomes, as can the skill and experience of the surgeon, according to a new UCLA study that focused on robotic-assisted prostate surgery.
The study findings are published in the June 2012 print edition of the international peer-reviewed journal European Urology. (more…)
