CHAPEL HILL – The human body contains more bacteria than it does cells. These bacterial communities can have a positive effect on our health, by training our immune systems and helping to metabolize the foods we eat. But they can also set us up to develop digestive disorders, skin diseases, and obesity.
Sampling of pigeons captured on the streets of Madrid has revealed the bacterial pathogens they carry. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica found two bugs that were highly prevalent in the bird population, Chlamydophila psittaci and Campylobacter jejuni, both of which cause illness in humans.
The anti-obesity properties of resveratrol have been demonstrated for the first time in a primate. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Physiology studied the compound, generated naturally by plants to ward off pathogens, which has received much interest as a dietary supplement for its supposed life-extending effects.
Sub-Saharan Africa has only 11% of the world's population, yet more than half of the world's maternal, newborn and child deaths, and two-thirds of the world's AIDS deaths. New data reveal that the pace of mortality reduction is accelerating. With only 5 years remaining before the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) should be met, urgent action in countries is needed — not global statistics and competitions over estimates.
A surprising discovery about the complex make-up of our cells could lead to the development of new types of medicines, a study suggests.
Scientists studying interactions between cell proteins – which enable the cells in our bodies to function – have shown that proteins communicate not by a series of simple one-to-one communications, but by a complex network of chemical messages.
Scientists have completed the most comprehensive comparative analysis to date of bacterial communities inhabiting the human nose and throat, which could provide new insights into why some individuals become colonized with pathogens while others do not. They release their findings today in mBio™ the online open-access journal published by the American Society for Microbiology.
Postmenopausal women who experience bothersome hot flashes or night sweats may have an alternative treatment to estrogen. According to a new study, oral micronized progesterone relieves those symptoms. The results will be presented Saturday at The Endocrine Society's 92nd Annual Meeting in San Diego.
"This is the first evidence that oral micronized progesterone, which is molecularly identical to the natural hormone, is effective for women with symptomatic hot flashes," said the presenting author, Jerilynn Prior, MD, professor, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
A new study in the journal Respirology reveals that patients with diabetes who are hospitalized with acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) experience longer time in the hospital and are also at an increased risk of death, compared to those without diabetes.
Consumers account for their time differently than they track their money, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
Researchers have found that increasing certain proteins in the blood vessels of mice, relaxed the vessels, lowering the animal's blood pressure. The study provides new avenues for research that may lead to new treatments for hypertension.
"The paper demonstrates that cytochrome P450 plays an important role in the management of high blood pressure, a disease of enormous public health concern," said Darryl Zeldin, M.D., acting clinical director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and senior author on the paper.
Phenotypes are measurable and/or observable traits or behaviors. The heritability of an alcohol-related phenotype depends upon the social environment within which it is measured, such as urbanicity, marital status, or religiosity. A new study of the effects of religiosity on the genetic variance of problem alcohol use in males and females has found that religiosity can moderate genetic effects on problem alcohol use during adolescence but not during early adulthood.
Temporary changes in hearing sensitivity are associated with potential harmful effects of listening to an MP3 player, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
A history of ear tubes to treat infections does not appear to adversely affect children with cochlear implants, regardless of whether the tubes are left in place or removed before implantation, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
You might want to avoid food shopping right after a heavy workout or drinkingafter an intense day of high-powered negotiations, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
"While happy people make better and healthier choices, this is dependent on the intensity of the positive feelings experienced. In other words, the level of arousal accompanying the positive mood state can interfere with the beneficial effect of positive mood on resistance to temptation," write authors Alexander Fedorikhin (Indiana University) and Vanessa M. Patrick (University of Houston).
When consumers make choices, their style of pursuing their goals changes the way they search and decide what to purchase, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.