Tai chi exercise appears to be associated with improved quality of life, mood and exercise self-efficacy in patients with chronic heart failure – Tai chi, the ancient Chinese meditative exercise, may improve quality of life, mood and exercise self-efficacy in chronic heart failure patients, according to research led by a team at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Severe obesity not seen to increase risk of depression in teens — Study does find possibly greater vulnerability among white adolescents – According to a new study, severely obese adolescents are no more likely to be depressed than normal weight peers. The study, which has been released in the Journal of Adolescent Health, did find that white adolescents may be somewhat more vulnerable to psychological effects of obesity.
Differences in brain structure indicate risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease — Thinning of key cortical areas predicts dementia up to a decade in advance – Subtle differences in brain anatomy among older individuals with normal cognitive skills may be able to predict both the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease in the following decade and how quickly symptoms of dementia would develop.
New treatment may desensitize kids with milk allergies, say researchers at Stanford and Boston – Milk allergy is the most common, affecting 2.5 percent of children under age 3. In a small clinical study, researchers report effectively desensitizing milk-allergic patients by increasing their exposure to milk in tandem with an allergy drug called omalizumab, allowing children to build up resistance quickly with limited allergic reactions.
Statin risks may outweigh benefits for patients with a history of brain hemorrhage – People with brain hemorrhage – a type of stroke – should avoid taking cholesterol lowering drugs called statins, revealed by researchers in US.
Newborns with low vitamin D levels at increased risk for respiratory infections – The vitamin D levels of newborn babies appear to predict their risk of respiratory infections during infancy and the occurrence of wheezing during early childhood, but not the risk of developing asthma.
Placebos work — even without deception – For most of us, the “placebo effect” is synonymous with the power of positive thinking; it works because you believe you’re taking a real drug. But a new study rattles this assumption.
Body fat distribution associated with a higher risk of ER-negative breast cancer – Body fat distribution does not play an important role in the incidence of every subtype of premenopausal breast cancer, but is associated with an increased risk for estrogen receptor (ER)?negative breast cancer.
University of Utah and Harvard researchers take major step toward first biological test for autism – Researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital and the University of Utah have developed the best biologically based test for autism to date. The test was able to detect the disorder in individuals with high-functioning autism with 94 percent accuracy.
Cognitive behavior therapy improves symptom control in adult ADHD — Skills-based treatment added to medication helps patients handle persistent symptoms – Adding cognitive behavioral therapy ? an approach that teaches skills for handling life challenges and revising negative thought patterns ? to pharmaceutical treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) significantly improved symptom control in a study of adult patients.
Women who drink beer more likely to develop psoriasis – Regular beer – but not light beer or other types of alcohol – appears to be associated with an increased risk of developing psoriasis, revealed by researchers.
Investigational Compound Ipilimumab Demonstrates Improved Overall Survival in Phase 3 Trial of Previously-Treated Patients with Metastatic Melanoma – Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) announced positive results from a Phase 3 randomized, double blind study of ipilimumab which demonstrated that overall survival (OS) was significantly extended in patients with previously-treated metastatic melanoma who received ipilimumab.
