July 13, 2006, 10:01 PM CT

Don't Let Job Get In The Way Of Your Relationship

Do we see our spouses as loving us for better or worse? Do we feel accepted by our partners no matter how good or bad our professional life is going? These questions are explored in a recent study included in the recent issue of SAGE's Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, an official publication of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, published by SAGE Publications.

The article, "For better or worse? Self-esteem and the contingencies of acceptance in marriage" presented research led by Sandra Murray of the University at Buffalo. The study, funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Mental Health, was culled from the daily diaries of over 150 married couples. It concluded that people with low self-esteem incorrectly perceived their partner's acceptance and love to be contingent on their professional accomplishments.

To help to unravel the mysteries of relationships as they naturally occur in real life, husbands and wives reported on their professional successes and failures while also reporting on the degree to which they felt accepted and loved by their partner. Self-esteem was found to be a key indicator of how people perceived their partner's approval and support. Men and women with low self-esteem felt that their partner's love was contingent on their daily professional successes--they felt more loved on days when they were more successful. Low self-esteem women also felt less accepted and loved by their partners on days when they failed at work or school. In contrast, men and women with high self-esteem perceived their partner's love as unconditional. In fact, high self-esteem women even tended to feel more loved on days when they reported failing at work.........

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July 12, 2006, 9:54 PM CT

Computer Helps Paralyzed Patients

How can we make a paralyzed person perform actions that he or she wants to do? Technology is now coming to aid people who were paralyzed for long time.

People with long-standing, severe paralysis can generate signals in the area of the brain responsible for voluntary movements. These signals can be detected, recorded, routed out of the brain to a computer and converted into actions, enabling a paralyzed patient to perform basic tasks.

The results of the clinical trial evaluating this possibility are published in the latest issued of Nature. In this study, the first patient, Matthew Nagle, a 25-year-old Massachusetts man with a severe spinal cord injury, has been paralyzed from the neck down since 2001. After having the BrainGate sensor implanted on the surface of his brain at Rhode Island Hospital in June 2004, he learned to control a computer cursor simply by thinking about moving it.

During 57 sessions, from July 2004 to April 2005, at New England Sinai Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, Nagle learned to open simulated e-mail, draw circular shapes using a paint program on the computer and play a simple video game, "neural Pong," using only his thoughts. He could change the channel and adjust the volume on a television, even while conversing. He was ultimately able to open and close the fingers of a prosthetic hand and use a robotic limb to grasp and move objects. Despite a decline in neural signals after 6.5 months, Nagle remained an active participant in the trial and continued to aid the clinical team in producing valuable feedback concerning the BrainGate technology.........

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July 12, 2006, 8:27 PM CT

Who Eat More Fruits

Those who are sweet lover may be eating more fruits compared to those who love salty-snacks. People who like fruit eat more sweets than vegetable lovers do. These findings are according to scientists from Cornell University analyses.

"If we know a person likes one type of food, this kind of study helps us better predict what other types of foods he or she might prefer," said the researcher and director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab that studies the psychology behind what people eat and how often they eat it. By better understanding how various foods, such as sweets, are linked by preference, strategies used to market such sweet snacks as candy bars, for example, could be incorporated into an educational program to increase the consumption of fruit.

To research in this matter and to see how much fruit sweet and salty-snack lovers ate, Wansink used the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals. To determine whether fruit lovers eat more sweets than vegetable lovers, Wansink analyzed the results of a snack consumption survey of 770 individuals.........

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July 12, 2006, 5:51 PM CT

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)

The ovaries are two small organs, one on each side of a woman's uterus. A woman's ovaries have follicles, which are tiny sacs filled with liquid that hold the eggs. These sacs are also called cysts. Each month about 20 eggs start to mature, but commonly only one becomes dominant. As the one egg grows, the follicle accumulates fluid in it. When that egg matures, the follicle breaks open to release the egg so it can travel through the fallopian tube for fertilization. When the single egg leaves the follicle, ovulation takes place.........

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July 9, 2006, 8:25 PM CT

Soy Germ Reduce Bone Loss

A new study published in this month's European Journal of Nutrition demonstrates a strong connection between reducing bone loss in non-obese postmenopausal women and the dose-dependent effect of soy germ isoflavones, especially SoyLife®. These findings support prior scientific findings regarding soy isoflavones for post-menopausal women.

As per the authors of the study, "Osteoporosis is a health condition experienced by about one in three postmenopausal women, with estrogen deficiency often acting as the major cause. Hormone replacement treatment has been the most effective therapy for maintaining bone density. This therapy often has adverse side effects such as an increased risk for endometrial cancer and breast cancer."

"It is imperative to find natural, safe and effective alternatives for women to help maintain bone health after menopause - without the risky side effects associated with long-term hormone replacement treatment use. This promising research is another step in advancing soy germ isoflavones as a safe, effective option," said Jocelyn Mathern, RD and Technical Specialist, Acatris.

The study aimed to examine the effects of a high-dose supplementation of soy germ isoflavones (84 and 126 mg SoyLife® EXTRA/day) in slowing bone loss in 90 early postmenopausal Chinese women. Isoflavones are found predominately in soy products. Their structure and functions are similar to estrogen, and findings based on observation suggest that higher intakes of soy and soy products may lower the prevalence of osteoporosis.........

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June 26, 2006, 7:30 PM CT

Building a better brain

All those colorful toys that you give your children, all those expensive classes, and a number of music compilations may not make your child smart if you don't provide the most needed emotional support. With all this different things available promising to make your child smarter, it's hard to sort out the best way to help your child's brain thrive. A newly published policy paper helps parents to put those worries to rest. This is the essence of the paper: what kids need is an intimate and secure relationship with adults who adore them.

"It's all about playing with your child," said Eric Knudsen, PhD, the Edward C. and Amy H. Sewall Professor in the Stanford University School of Medicine, succinctly summing up a paper coming out in the June 27 advance online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. A child's eventual ability to learn calculus or a second language, he explained, starts with the neurons that are shaped by positive interactions with nurturing adults.

The piece, written by Knudsen and three other members of the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child including Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman, PhD, doesn't just ease parents' toy-buying decisions - it lays out the scientific basis for why helping all kids have the best early experiences is good economic policy.........

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June 22, 2006, 8:56 PM CT

Genetics Facts For Alzheimer's Disease

Scientists do not yet fully understand what causes Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the more they learn about AD, the more they become aware of the important function genes* play in the development of this devastating disease.

*Click the terms in bold italics for definitions in Key Terms at the end of this fact sheet.

Genes

All living things are made up of basic units called cells, which are so tiny that you can only see them through the lens of a strong microscope. Most of the billions of cells in the human body have one nucleus that acts as a control center, housing our 23 pairs of chromosomes. A chromosome is a thread-like structure found in the cell's nucleus, which can carry hundreds, sometimes thousands, of genes. In humans, one of each pair of 23 chromosomes is inherited from each parent. The genetic material on these chromosomes is collectively referred to as the human genome. Scientists now believe that there are about 30,000 genes in the human genome. Genes direct almost every aspect of the construction, operation, and repair of all living things. For example, genes contain information that determines eye and hair color and other traits inherited from our parents. In addition, genes ensure that we have two hands and can use them to do things, like play the piano.........

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June 20, 2006, 0:10 AM CT

What Cause of Atherosclerosis?

Atherosclerosis happens gradually as deposits of fat, cholesterol, calcium and waste products build up in the inner lining of the arteries. Sometimes called hardening of the arteries, this disease can cause heart attack, stroke, difficulty walking, gangrene or loss of a limb.

No one can say for sure what causes atherosclerosis at the cellular level, though it's well known that high cholesterol, cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity can contribute to it. Now, cardiovascular scientists at the University of Virginia Health System have discovered evidence that lymphoid structures may be contributing to the development of atherosclerosis because they attract a response from the body's immune system. In the aorta, for example, in total all the lymphoid structures are about the size of one lymph node that swells when you have a cold.

Lymphocytes are the main means of providing the body with immune capability. Eventhough occasional lymphocytes are found in every normal artery wall, the organized lymphoid structures appear only in atherosclerotic arteries, the UVa scientists found. The structures play a key role in how the body routinely 'surveys' tissue with lymphocytes, which hunt for foreign invaders for the body to later destroy. The research is published in a paper in the May 8th issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine found online at http://www.jem.org/.........

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June 20, 2006, 0:08 AM CT

What Causes Parkinson's Disease

Research by neuroresearchers at the University of Virginia Health System shows that oxygen free radicals are damaging proteins in mitochondria, the tiny cellular 'batteries' of brain cells. This damage may be one main cause of Parkinson's Disease (PD), the chronic movement disorder that affects at least one million Americans. UVa researchers believe the damage is taking place in a large protein structure called complex I, the first stop in the electron transport chain, which produces an electrical charge inside mitochondria. Mitochondria then use this electrical charge to make energy.

Using the brain cells from deceased Parkinson's patients who donated to the UVa brain bank, Dr. Jim Bennett, a UVa neurologist, and his colleagues, isolated complex I from the mitochondria of ten Parkinson's brains and compared them to the complex I proteins from twelve normal brains. They discovered that the complex I assembly in Parkinson's had 50 percent more damage from oxygen. The complex I in Parkinson's brains also had evidence of not being properly assembled and had reduced electron flow, Bennett said.

"This part of the protein complex is being damaged by oxygen free radicals more in a brain with Parkinson's than it is in someone of same age who does not have PD," Bennett said. His research is reported in the May 10th edition of the Journal of Neuroscience found on the web at http://www.jneurosci.org/.........

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June 18, 2006, 6:57 PM CT

Why Cleanliness brings allergy?

In a study comparing wild rodents with their laboratory counterparts, researchers at Duke University Medical Center have found evidence that may help to explain why people in industrialized societies that greatly stress hygiene have higher rates of allergy and autoimmune diseases than do people in less developed societies in which hygiene is harder to achieve or considered less critical.

The prevailing hypothesis concerning the development of allergy and probably autoimmune disease is the "hygiene hypothesis," which states that people in "hygienic" societies have higher rates of allergy and perhaps autoimmune disease because they -- and hence their immune systems -- have not been as challenged during everyday life by the host of microbes commonly found in the environment.

The study suggests that an overly hygienic environment could simultaneously increase the tendency to have allergic reactions and the tendency to acquire autoimmune disease, despite the fact that these two reactions represent two different types of immune responses.

The researchers added that their experimental model, which compares specific immune system responses of wild rodents to laboratory rodents, could open up a new approach to studying human disease and allergies that complements traditional scientific studies.........

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