All Stories Tagged With: "study"
Study: Most Plastics Leach Hormone-Like Chemicals
Most plastic products, from sippy cups to food wraps, can release chemicals that act like the sex hormone estrogen, according to a study in Environmental Health Perspectives. The study found these chemicals even in products that didn’t contain BPA, a compound in certain plastics that’s been widely criticized because it mimics estrogen. Many plastic products are now marketed as BPA-free, and manufacturers have begun substituting other chemicals whose effects aren’t as well known.
Study Finds Diabetics Twice as Likely to Develop Cancer
People with diabetes are at higher risk for certain cancers than those without the blood sugar disease, suggests a new study. Based on data from a telephone survey of nearly 400,000 adults, researchers found 16 out of every 100 diabetic men and 17 out of every 100 diabetic women said they had cancer. That compares to just seven per 100 men and 10 per 100 women without diabetes.
The Power of Placebos
A recent survey, led by McGill Psychiatry Professor and Senior Lady Davis Institute Researcher Amir Raz, reports that one in five respondents – physicians and psychiatrists in Canadian medical schools – have administered or prescribed a placebo. Moreover, an even higher proportion of psychiatrists (more than 35 per cent) reported prescribing subtherapeutic doses of medication (that is, doses that are below, sometimes considerably below, the minimal recommended therapeutic level) to treat their patients.
Green Tea and Tai Chi Enhance Bone Health and Reduce Inflammation
C.S. Lewis, the famous author and Oxford academic, once proclaimed “You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.” We sip it with toast in the morning, enjoy it with sweets and biscuits in the afternoon, and relax with it at the end of the day. Tea has for generations been an integral infusion worldwide, carrying both epicurean and economic significance. But, does it impart honest-to-goodness health benefits?
Autism Epidemic: Research Uncovers Raised Rates of Autism
An ambitious six-year effort to gauge the rate of childhood autism in a middle-class South Korean city has yielded a figure that stunned experts and is likely to influence the way the disorder’s prevalence is measured around the world, scientists reported on Monday. The figure, 2.6 percent of all children aged 7 to 12 in the Ilsan district of the city of Goyang, is more than twice the rate usually reported in the developed world.
Too Much or too Little Sleep May Accelerate Cognitive Aging, Study Shows
A study in the May 1 issue of the journal Sleep describes how changes in sleep that occur over a five-year period in late middle age affect cognitive function in later life. The findings suggest that women and men who begin sleeping more or less than 6 to 8 hours per night are subject to an accelerated cognitive decline that is equivalent to four to seven years of aging. Results show that the sleep duration at follow-up of 7.4 percent of women and 8.6 percent of men had increased from “7 or 8 hours” per weeknight at baseline.
Family Meals Keep Kids Slimmer, Healthier, Study Finds
Eating meals with their families helps keep kids slimmer and healthier, a new study finds. Researchers pooled data from 17 earlier studies and found that youngsters who joined family members regularly for meals were 24 percent more likely to eat healthy foods than kids who rarely ate with their families. They were also less likely to suffer from eating disorders.
JAMA Study: Tai Chi is Heart Healthy
Every morning, rain or shine, a group of Chinese elders spread out along the lower East River bike path in Manhattan to practice a gentle, flowing martial arts form known as Tai Chi. Their body motions are so slow and deliberate it almost looks as if they’re moving underwater. They don’t pound the pavement, burn a lot of calories or pump any iron yet the science shows they may be doing just as much for their health as the joggers and cyclists who zip past them.
Aspirin and Prozac Can Mix Badly, Study Says
Antidepressants and aspirin don’t mix, a new study suggests. Researchers found that painkillers such as aspirin and ibuprofen appear to decrease the effectiveness of a popular class of antidepressants that includes Prozac and Celexa. The finding, published Monday, may help explain why even the most effective antidepressants don’t work for everyone. At best only about two-thirds of patients respond effectively to Celexa and other selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs.
Botox May Deaden Perception, Study Says
Botox may smooth your wrinkles, but it can dull your ability to understand the emotions of others, a new study suggests. Botox, used in cosmetic and medical procedures for 20 years, paralyzes muscles, hindering certain facial movements, such as frowns, that over time can cause wrinkles. Therein lies the problem, says David Neal, a psychology professor at the University of Southern California, lead author of the research, published today in the journal Social Psychology and PersonalityScience.
Study Confirms Link Between Breast Implants and Rare Form of Cancer
Breast implants appear to be associated with a rare form of lymphoma, but there is not yet evidence to show that the cancer is caused by implants or to suggest an underlying mechanism for how the disease might develop, according to a study by researchers from the RAND Corporation. The study, published online by the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, also finds that the disease takes a slow course and can be controlled by surgical removal of the implant and surrounding capsule.
Study Supports Cranberry Dose Levels for Urinary Health
The ability of cranberry proanthocyanidins (PACs) is dependent on the dose, with higher doses significantly more effective at maintaining urinary health, says a new study. The study supports levels outlined by a French health claim, issued in 2004, for the North American cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) with at least 36 milligrams of proanthocyanidins (PAC) to “help reduce the adhesion of certain E. coli bacteria to the urinary tract walls”, and subsequently fight urinary tract infections (UTIs).
