Meditation may help brain to recover from diseases

Tuning out: How brains benefit from meditation — Meditation may help brain to recover from diseases – Brain imaging study reveals that experienced meditators seem to be able switch off areas of the brain associated with daydreaming as well as psychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia.

Door-to-balloon time is 90 min in 91% of heart attack patients in US

Heart attack patients winning the race to angioplasty treatment – The period from hospital arrival to angioplasty is called “door-to-balloon” time (D2B). A new study showed that 91 percent of patients were treated in a D2B time of less than 90 minutes in 2010, compared with 44 percent in 2005.

Large eggs lower in cholesterol and higher in vitamin D

Eggs are now naturally lower in cholesterol — New study shows large eggs are 14 percent lower in cholesterol and 64 percent higher in vitamin D – Eggs are lower in cholesterol than previously thought, according to new nutrition data from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS).

Elderly must start tai chi to prevent falls

New guidelines for preventing falls in the elderly include: start tai chi, cut-back on meds – In the first update of the American Geriatrics Society and the British Geriatric Society’s guidelines on preventing falls in older persons since 2001, they now recommend that all interventions for preventing falls should include an exercise component and that a number of new assessments should be used, including; feet and footwear, fear of falling, and ability to carry out daily living activities.

HIV screening cost effective in reducing spread of AIDS

Expansion of HIV screening cost-effective in reducing spread of AIDS, Stanford study shows – An expanded U.S. program of HIV screening and treatment could prevent as many as 212,000 new infections over the next 20 years and prove to be very cost-effective, according to a new study by Stanford University School of Medicine researchers.

Stressing the benefits of quitting smoking helps smokers

Quitline messages that stress benefits of quitting may improve smoking cessation – Smokers who received gain-framed messaging from quitline specialists (i.e., stressing the benefits of quitting) had slightly better cessation outcomes than those who received standard-care messaging (i.e., potential losses from smoking and benefits of quitting).

Isolation and stress contribute to breast cancer risk

Isolation and stress identified as contributing to breast cancer risk – Social isolation and related stress could contribute to human breast cancer susceptibility, research from a rat model designed at the University of Chicago to identify environmental mechanisms contributing to cancer risk shows.

Ghrelin can slow Parkinson’s disease

Hormone ghrelin can boost resistance to Parkinson’s disease – Stomach hormone – Ghrelin – may be used to boost resistance to, or slow, the development of Parkinson’s disease, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

CDC guidelines for seasonal and swine flu vaccines questioned

Yale researcher questions federal guidelines for seasonal and swine flu vaccines – With the seasonal flu season approaching and uncertainty over whether swine flu will become more severe, new research published by Yale School of Public Health has found that more people are likely to avoid illness if vaccines are given out first to those most likely to transmit viruses, rather than to those at highest risk for complications.

ICD success depends on physician certification

Type of physician certification associated with risk of complications from ICDs – Patients whose implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) are implanted by nonelectrophysiologists are at increased risk of complications and are less likely to receive a specific type of ICD when clinically indicated, according to a study in the April 22/29 issue of JAMA.

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