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445 news posts in Health

Health

11 Jul 2016

Is the Agile Wallaby man’s new best friend?

Scientists name top five animals that are suitable to be kept as pets   by Samantha Bradey, Frontiersin.org Looking for a new pet? If so, consider the Agile Wallaby or the Asian Palm Civet. Responding to the growing trend in keeping exotic animals as pets a team, led by Dr. Paul Koene, has developed a methodology to assess the suitability of mammals to be kept domestically in a new study published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science. The top five animals were: the Sika Deer, Agile Wallaby, Tamar Wallaby, Llama, and Asian Palm Civet, which were all judged to be suitable pets by the scientists from the Wageningen University and Research Centre, in the Netherlands. So, will the Sika Deer challenge the common canine for the title of man’s best friend? “The main influence of this work is methodological. In the Netherlands many mammal species are kept and for a long time the government wanted to guarantee the welfare of animals;” Dr. Koene explained; “Therefore the Dutch Animal Act was made stating that mammals should not be kept unless they are production animals, or are species that are suitable to be kept by anyone without special knowledge or skills.” In order to determine […]

Health

07 Jul 2016

Mixing cannabis with tobacco increases dependence risk, suggests study

People who mix tobacco with cannabis are less motivated to seek help to quit Tobacco and cannabis are two of the world’s most popular drugs, used respectively by 1 billion and 182 million people worldwide (World Health Organization; United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime). The adverse health effects of tobacco are well known. Short-term effects of cannabis are transient impairments in motor function and working memory, planning, and decision-making, while possible long-term health effects of heavy cannabis use include physical and psychological dependence, permanent reductions in cognitive performance, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and some cancers (WHO). Many users mix cannabis with tobacco, not only to save money but also because tobacco can increase the efficiency of cannabis inhalation. But such mixing can increase the risk of dependence, suggests a new study in Frontiers in Psychiatry. “Cannabis dependence and tobacco dependence manifest in similar ways, so it is often difficult to separate these out in people who use both drugs,” says lead author Chandni Hindocha, a doctoral student at the Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit of University College London. “Cannabis is less addictive than tobacco, but we show here that mixing tobacco with cannabis lowers the motivation to quit using these drugs.” […]

Health

05 Jul 2016

Frontiers in Immunology: New Field Chief Editor takes the Helm

Frontiers announces the appointment of Professor Luigi Notarangelo, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, as the new Field Chief Editor for Frontiers in Immunology, effective on July 13, 2016. Professor Luigi Notarangelo, a world renowned expert in primary immunodeficiencies, has agreed to expand his role in the Journal from his current function as Specialty Chief Editor of the Primary Immunodeficiency section of Frontiers in Immunology.  His numerous scientific achievements include the identification of gene defects that contribute to severe combined immune deficiencies (SCID) and the development of novel treatment for children severely affected by congenital immunodeficiencies. In addition to his scientific research, Professor Notarangelo plays an active role in many professional societies, including being the President of the European Society for Immune Deficiencies from 2002-2006 and of the Clinical Immunology Society in 2015-2016, and co-chairing the Committee on Primary Immunodeficiencies of the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS). We also thank our outgoing and founding Field Chief Editor for the Journal, Professor Kendall Smith from Weill Medical College of Cornell University for his years of service to the community. Publishing across 18 specialty sections, including such multidisciplinary subject areas as Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy, Frontiers in Immunology now has over 2500 editors from top institutions all over […]

Health

24 Jun 2016

Should we treat aging as a disease?

Academic, pharmaceutical, healthcare policy and pension fund perspectives. — By Elliott Williams “The fundamental questions of whether aging can and should be classified as a disease are not new, but today they are more pressing than ever for many reasons,” says Dr Alex Zhavoronkov, CEO of Insilico Medicine and Chief Science Officer at the Biogerontology Research Foundation. Gerontology, the study of old age, spans multiple academic fields from economics to social sciences. Biogerontology specifically focuses on those biological process that contribute to aging, as well as the ultimate effects of aging on our health. Insights from biogerontology studies will contribute to public and private medical research, influencing our societal values, and guide policy makers in their decisions. “The main problems in biogerontology are similar to those in drug discovery for most human diseases — but with fewer resources, less visibility and less of a sense of urgency,” says Dr Alex Zhavoronkov. To bring into focus aging as a disease, Dr Zhavoronkov is looking to the future, and the 2018 release of the WHO-curated ICD-11. The ICD (International Classification of Diseases) is an extensive piece of work used at all levels of healthcare management: from physicians to patient organizations, from insurers to policy […]

Health

14 Jun 2016

Overcome strength-training plateau with accentuated eccentric loading

Learning to train smart with accentuated eccentric loading training can lead to greater strength gains compared to traditional isoinertial loads, shows study by Fernando Bolaños, Frontiersin.org Hitting a plateau in strength training? The answer to overcoming it might lie in accentuated eccentric loading  (AEL). Many experienced strength trainers try to overcome a plateau by trying to adapt their strength programme, however this is sometimes ineffective. In just five weeks accentuated eccentric loading training considerably improved results for experienced strength-trainers, a study recently published in Frontiers in Physiology found. This method is based on the principle of repetitive muscle contractions applying a greater external load during the muscle’s lengthening, the eccentric phase of the lift, than in the shortening, the concentric phase. The eccentric phase, for example, is the action of lowering the dumbbell back down from the lift during a biceps curl, as long as the dumbbell is lowered slowly rather than letting it drop. This is different to the very popular isoinertial training where the same weight is used in both stages of the movement. “It is important to train using actions that are highly specific to normal actions. I have always been interested in trying to optimize training because […]

Health

31 May 2016

Raising awareness of brain research

By Damaris Critchlow, Frontiers Science Writer Since January 2014 the European Brain Council found the cost of brain disorders across Europe was just short of €800 billion, which is more than is spent on cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases put together. Dr. Mary Baker is the current President of the Year of the Brain and former President of the European Brain Council. She explains that the idea of the Year of the Brain is to raise awareness of the importance of the brain. Baker says she wants to change the discrepancy between the implications of brain disorders and the modest resources offered to brain research. The unsustainable cost to society needs to be balanced with its importance. Dr. Baker explains the brain is at the core of society and “an organ of great resilience, so we want to inspire and also encourage the younger generation to nurture, to develop and above all to protect their brain.” A three-fold mission to brain health Baker’s husband suffered a stroke, and this firsthand experience has sharpened her awareness of the multi-faceted ways health and social care systems respond to illnesses across all aspects of life. All of these, she explains: “mount and there […]

Health

26 May 2016

Linking our diets to changes in hormones and cancer

By Monica Favre, Frontiers science writer We’ve heard the phrase, “you are what you eat,” but recent research shows that what we are eating, how much we are eating and how we are living our lives could result in a cancer epidemic. “Our society is moving away from foods that our body has evolved to process, particularly in the western world. The problems come from simple energy balance, really,” said Professor Jeff Holly. “This is the first time in human evolution that we are eating caloric foods at higher frequency along with such sedentary life styles.” A professor of Clinical Sciences at the University of Bristol in the UK and the Field Chief Editor of Frontiers in Endocrinology, Holly’s work points to how nutrition is altering the signaling happening within the body. Based on his research and others in the field, the changes are occurring in the hormone molecules and their receptors, which work together to regulate the growth of cells. This could result in breast, prostate, colorectal and other cancers. “Our hormones are changing in relation to our lifestyles and diet.  If you are getting the wrong nutrition, one that is triggering the hormone system to tell cells to […]

Health

26 May 2016

Working together on Public Health education

Throughout the United States, undergraduate programs in public health are rapidly expanding. Dr. Connie Evashwick is involved with Frontiers as co-Editor of Frontiers in Public Health Education and Promotion. Given the growth of the number of programs and students in this field, she and colleagues Dr. Cheryl Addy, Dr. Daniel Gerber, and Dr. David Dyjack suggested creating a Research Topic on Undergraduate Education for Public Health in the United States. “There isn’t a place for faculty from all types of higher education institutions to get together and share common frameworks,” says Evashwick . The four guest associate editors of the Research Topic were pleasantly surprised by its success. Instead of the ten articles they had expected, they received twice as many articles as required to produce an e-book. The e-book, now available, contains 20 articles written by 35 authors. As of March 2016, the Research Topic had received more than 28,250 views on its Frontiers website. To develop this topic further, Evashwick would like to focus more on new programs being developed by universities and colleges that do not currently have schools of public health. She is also interested in doing more analytical analyses, particularly with regard to curriculum and […]

Health

26 May 2016

Drug tolerance a problem for hospitalized babies

By Alice R Jensen, Frontiersin.org Research is underway to stop newborn babies from becoming tolerant and dependent on the pain relief drugs given to them while in intensive care.  Opioids, such as Morphine, Fentanyl and Tramadol, are often used for pain relief in newborn babies. However, tolerance and dependence to these drugs builds quickly. Professor Kanwaljeet J. S. (“Sunny”) Anand, Specialty Chief Editor for Frontiers in Pediatrics, aims to tackle this by finding new ways to prevent tolerance development and treat withdrawal syndrome in infants. “High tolerance and addiction is seen in newly born babies born from mothers with a heroine or methadone addiction, but it is also seen in children who require the drugs because they are critically ill,” explained Anand. “They may be on a breathing machine or undergoing frequent procedures that are painful and stressful, so they are given the opiates to take away the pain.” Infantile pain relief is a largely unexplored field, owing to the fact that medical practitioners denied the existence of pain in newborn babies until late in the last century. This meant that even in the early 1980s, neonatal surgery was conducted with little to no pain relief. However, a wealth of […]

Health

10 May 2016

Scientist’s dedication in policy creates change for people with intellectual disability

By Daisy Hessenberger, Frontiers science writer Professor Joav Merrick is a busy man. Medical director of the Division for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services in Israel, in his spare time he works as a professor at various other institutions. His appointments span not just continents, but also specialties. He is professor of paediatrics, child health and human development at both the Hebrew University and the University of Kentucky, while also holding a professorship in public health at Georgia State University. From pediatrics to public health “I am paediatrician by trade,” Merrick said, when asked about his astonishing career. After completing medical school in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he grew up, Merrick entered the field of paediatrics, publishing the first Scandinavian textbook on Social and Community Paediatrics. Merrick has received both national and international awards for his extraordinary contribution to child welfare, including the LEGO Prize in 1987 known as “The Children’s Nobel Prize”. So how did an internationally successful career in paediatrics result in a world-renowned career in public health? The shift came about somewhat randomly. “I came to Israel as a paediatrician who wanted to do work in child abuse and neglect, […]

Health

10 May 2016

‘Towards an Understanding of Tinnitus Heterogeneity’ now open for submissions

  By Martina Haller, Frontiers “Tinnitus is the perception of a sound when no external sound is present. The severity of tinnitus varies but it can be debilitating for many patients. With more than 100 million people with chronic tinnitus worldwide, tinnitus is a disorder of high prevalence. The increased knowledge in the neuroscience of tinnitus has led to the emergence of promising treatment approaches, but no uniformly effective treatment for tinnitus has been identified. The large patient heterogeneity is considered to be the major obstacle for the development of effective treatment strategies against tinnitus.” To bring together the latest scientific advances in Tinnitus research, Dr Christopher R Cederroth and Dr Winfried Schlee have initiated the Frontiers Research Topic Towards an Understanding of Tinnitus Heterogeneity. We asked them about their vision and challenges they wish to address in this highly inter- and multidisciplinary Research Topic. What motivated you to organize this Research Topic? Tinnitus is a prevalent condition that can be extremely bothersome. Its complexity and variety of phenotypes is a likely cause to failures in therapeutic interventions. This is why the fundamental understanding of tinnitus, its mechanisms and its successful treatment will require the converged efforts of multiple disciplines. […]

Health

06 May 2016

New treatment for children with ARDS

By Alice Rolandini Jensen, Frontiers science writer Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) affects hundreds of thousands of people each year, many of them children. Those with this life threatening condition have severely injured and wet lungs, and are treated with mechanical ventilation. Now, a study led by Professor Kanwaljeet Anand published in Frontiers in Pediatrics, investigates the effects of a new steroid treatment on children suffering from ARDS. “Over the last 20-30 years researchers have come up with novel therapies but have not been able to move the needle substantially in terms of reducing mortality of ARDS patients,” explains Professor Anand of Stanford University, USA. “In this work, we conducted the first-ever randomized control trial and saw clinical differences in children treated with steroids.” ARDS is a catch-all term associated with the inability of lung tissue to take up oxygen, the lungs become very stiff and are incapable of transferring oxygen into the blood. ARDS can occur following direct injury of the lungs, such as pneumonia, bronchiolitis, following inhalation of toxic gas and near drowning. It can also develop in patients with severe systemic illnesses. Understanding why ARDS occurs and the differences between mechanisms is key to being able to […]

Health

06 May 2016

Does the moon affect our mood or actions?

By Fernando Bolaños, Frontiersin.org Always surrounded by an aura of mystery, the moon and its possible influence over human behavior has been object of ancestral fascination and mythical speculation for centuries. While the full moon cannot turn people into werewolves, some people do accuse it of causing a bad night’s sleep or creating physical and mental alterations. But is there any science behind these myths? To establish if lunar phases somehow do affect humans, an international group of researchers studied children to see if their sleeping patterns changed or if there were any differences in their daily activities.  The results were published in Frontiers in Pediatrics. “We considered that performing this research on children would be particularly more relevant because they are more amenable to behavior changes than adults and their sleep needs are greater than adults,” said Dr. Jean-Philippe Chaput, from the Eastern Ontario Research Institute. The study was completed on a total of 5,812 children from five continents. The children came from a wide range of economic and sociocultural levels, and variables such as age, sex, highest parental education, day of measurement, body mass index score, nocturnal sleep duration, level of physical activity and total sedentary time were […]

Health

13 Apr 2016

Study shows lifestyle changes might mean more than losing weight

by Jacqueline Eckert, Frontiers science writer A recent study shows that for most people switching to a healthier lifestyle can produce a body weight that is healthy for that person overtime. Contrary to popular beliefs, this does not necessarily mean that one must lose weight. “We decided to do a study on this based on our perception about traditional interventions for overweight and obese people,” said Mariana Dimitrov Ulian, lead author of the study. “These involve, most of the time, diet and physical activity, and they base their success on the immediate weight loss of the participants. While short-term results are observed, long-term results, when it comes to weight loss, are only maintained by a small number of people.” The results of their “Health and Wellness in Obesity Study” were published in the open-access journal  Frontiers in Nutrition and the study focuses on implementing the Health at Every Size® (HAES®) philosophy for obese women. The HAES® philosophy approach aims to encourage healthy behavior in people of all body sizes, independent of whether weight loss is a consequence of those behavioral changes or not. The research concluded that non-prescriptive interventions in a person’s behavior improved the participant’s self-esteem and overall body […]