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MU Study Finds Quitting Smoking Enhances Personality Change

By Guest PostSeptember 19, 2011Healthandrew littlefield, anti smoking efforts, kenneth j sher, key elements of smoking, neuroticism, over long term negative consequences, personality, relationship of genetic and environmental factors, smoking, tobacco use, university of missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri researchers have found evidence that shows those who quit smoking show improvements in their overall personality.

“The data indicate that for some young adults smoking is impulsive,” said Andrew Littlefield, a doctoral student in the Department of Psychology in the College of Arts and Science. “That means that 18-year-olds are acting without a lot of forethought and favor immediate rewards over long term negative consequences. They might say, ‘I know smoking is bad for me, but I’m going to do it anyway.’ However, we find individuals who show the most decreases in impulsivity also are more likely quit smoking. If we can target anti-smoking efforts at that impulsivity, it may help the young people stop smoking.” (more…)

Chemical in Spice Turmeric Kickstarts Cancer-Killing Mechanisms in Human Saliva

By Guest PostSeptember 18, 2011Health, Scienceanti aging agent, anti inflammatory effects, cancer enhancing cytokines, curcumin, enzyme, eri srivatsan, head and neck cancer, hpv virus, human saliva, ikk, India, kappa β kinase, marilene wang, medicinal properties, menstrual cramps, nfκβ, not toxic, nuclear factor kappa β, oral cancers, poultice, pro inflammatory cytokines, signaling molecules, south asian and middle eastern cooking, spice turmeric, transcription factor, turmeric, wound healing

Curcumin, the main component in the spice turmeric, suppresses a cell signaling pathway that drives the growth of head and neck cancer, according to a pilot study using human saliva by researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The inhibition of the pathway also correlated with reduced expression of a number of pro-inflammatory cytokines, or signaling molecules, in the saliva that promote cancer growth, said senior study author Dr. Marilene Wang, a professor of head and neck surgery and a Jonsson Cancer Center researcher. (more…)

UCLA Psychologists Discover a Gene’s Link to Optimism, Self-Esteem

By Guest PostSeptember 15, 2011Health, Scienceadenine variant, baldwin way, depressive symptoms, empathy, gene link to optimism, good social skills, guanine variant, hormone, oxtr, oxytocin, oxytocin receptor gene, psychological disorders, shelley e taylor, shimon saphire bernstein, stress and depression

UCLA life scientists have identified for the first time a particular gene’s link to optimism, self-esteem and “mastery,” the belief that one has control over one’s own life — three critical psychological resources for coping well with stress and depression.

“I have been looking for this gene for a few years, and it is not the gene I expected,” said Shelley E. Taylor, a distinguished professor of psychology at UCLA and senior author of the new research. “I knew there had to be a gene for these psychological resources.” (more…)

Parents’ Behavior Linked to Kids’ Videogame Playing

By Guest PostSeptember 10, 2011Health, Technologychild parent relationship, children, moral reasoning, parental behavior, videogame behavior, videogame playing

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Children who think their parents are poor monitors or nag a lot tend to play videogames more than other kids, according to a study by Michigan State University researchers. (more…)

Study Finds Payment for Pediatric Obesity Services Now Can Save Money Later

By Guest PostSeptember 7, 2011Healthchronic care mode, obese children, obese patients, pediatric obesity

Pediatric obesity ends up costing $3 billion annually in the U.S., but a significant amount of that could be saved by streamlining medical coverage to address health issues affecting young obese patients now rather than waiting to treat conditions they develop as they get older, according UCLA researchers and colleagues. (more…)

Trust in Your Neighbors Could Benefit Your Health, MU Study Shows

By Guest PostSeptember 4, 2011Culture, Healtheileen bjornstrom, Health, human beings, local community, los angeles, relative position, stress and negative emotions, trust of neighbors, trust your neighbors, university of missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Here’s an easy way to improve your health: trust your neighbors. A new study from the University of Missouri shows that increasing trust in neighbors is associated with better self-reported health.

“I examined the idea of ‘relative position,’ or where one fits into the income distribution in their local community, as it applies to both trust of neighbors and self-rated health,” said Eileen Bjornstrom, an assistant professor of sociology in the MU College of Arts and Science. “Because human beings engage in interpersonal comparisons in order to gauge individual characteristics, it has been suggested that a low relative position, or feeling that you are below another person financially, leads to stress and negative emotions such as shame, hostility and distrust, and that health suffers as a consequence. While most people aren’t aware of how trust impacts them, results indicated that trust was a factor in a person’s overall health.” (more…)

Large Weight Gains Most Likely for Men After Divorce, Women After Marriage

By Guest PostSeptember 4, 2011Healthbmi, body mass index, dmitry tumin, education, effects of marital transitions, health measure of weight relative to height, health risk, jeff grabmeier, las vegas, marriage and divorce, ohio state university, poverty, socioeconomic status, sociology, weight gain, women, zhenchao qian

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Both marriage and divorce can act as “weight shocks,” leading people to add a few extra pounds – especially among those over age 30 – according to a new study.

But when it comes to large weight gains, the effects of marital transitions are quite different for men than they are for women.

For men, the risk of a large weight gain increased most prominently after a divorce. But for women, the risk of a large weight gain was most likely after marriage. (more…)

Smokers with Mental Disorders, Drug and Alcohol Problems Need Doctors’ Help to Quit

By Guest PostAugust 31, 2011Healthalcohol, alcohol use, cigarette smoking, drug, habit, health burden of tobacco, hiv, human immunodeficiency virus, illegal drug use, mental disorders, michael ong, motor vehicle injuries, nicotine, patients, smokers, suicides and murders, tobacco related health care costs, toolbox, united states

Smokers who also have alcohol, drug and mental disorders would benefit greatly from smoking-cessation counseling from their primary care physicians and would be five times more successful at kicking the habit, a study by researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has found.

Smokers with these co-morbid conditions make up about 40 percent of the smoking population, have a more difficult time quitting and represent a significant burden on the health care system. If their primary care physicians could help them to quit smoking, it would not only improve their health of patients but would reduce tobacco-related health care costs, said Dr. Michael Ong, an assistant professor of general internal medicine and health services research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a researcher with UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. (more…)

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