Tag Archives: symptoms

The Science of Movement

From Parkinson’s to obesity, the School of Kinesiology is using exercise as a prescription to make a difference in people’s lives.

In the dim light of a School of Kinesiology lab, infrared light-sensitive tape glows on a dozen points of a subject’s body, like stars of a constellation. While she moves, these anatomical landmarks are tracked 200 times per second, appearing on a screen behind her. (more…)

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Men: Do These 7 Things for Your Heart

June is National Men’s Health Month and CPR and AED Awareness Month.

Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of men, and the hearts of one of eight men over age 40 will at some point suddenly stop beating – an event known as sudden cardiac arrest.

June is both National Men’s Health Month and CPR and AED Awareness Month, making it a good time to revisit ways to prevent heart disease. (more…)

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Schizophrenia in the limelight: film-industry technology provides insights into social exclusion

The first 30 seconds of a social encounter is crucial for people with symptoms of schizophrenia for establishing contact with people, according to new research carried out at Queen Mary University of London and the University of Exeter Medical School.

Using motion capture technology more commonly found in the film industry, the researchers studied social interactions of patients in a group and analysed the patterns of verbal and non-verbal communication. (more…)

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A Whole New Game in Cancer Rehab

Using a video game system to get exercise at home can help patients overcome one of cancer’s most common and cumbersome symptoms: severe, persistent fatigue.

Michigan State University’s Amy Hoffman and colleagues showed in an earlier study that the Nintendo Wii system was a safe and effective source of light-intensity exercise for patients with non-small cell lung cancer in the first six weeks after surgery. (more…)

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Multiple Sclerosis Study Reveals How Killer T Cells Learn to Recognize Nerve Fiber Insulators

Misguided killer T cells may be the missing link in sustained tissue damage in the brains and spines of people with multiple sclerosis, findings from the University of Washington reveal. Cytoxic T cells, also known as CD8+ T cells, are white blood cells that normally are in the body’s arsenal to fight disease.

Multiple sclerosis is characterized by inflamed lesions that damage the insulation surrounding nerve fibers and destroy the axons, electrical impulse conductors that look like long, branching projections. Affected nerves fail to transmit signals effectively. (more…)

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Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Proves Effective at Reducing Depression in People Who Have not Responded to Antidepressants

Antidepressants are the most widely used treatment for people with moderate to severe depression.

However, up to two thirds of people with depression don’t respond fully to this type of treatment. New findings have shown cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), provided in addition to usual care, can reduce symptoms of depression and help improve patients’ quality of life.

This is the first large-scale trial to test the effectiveness of CBT – a type of talking psychotherapy- given in addition to usual care that includes antidepressants. The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA)-funded CoBalT study aimed to determine the best ‘next step’ treatment for people whose depression had not responded to medication alone. (more…)

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Berkeley Lab Scientists Help Develop Promising Therapy for Huntington’s Disease

Initial results in mice could lead to new way to fight neurodegenerative diseases

There’s new hope in the fight against Huntington’s disease. A group of researchers that includes scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have designed a compound that suppresses symptoms of the devastating disease in mice.

The compound is a synthetic antioxidant that targets mitochondria, an organelle within cells that serves as a cell’s power plant. Oxidative damage to mitochondria is implicated in many neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s. (more…)

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Be On the Look Out This Summer: 5 Signs of Child Abuse

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…)

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