Culture

Mortality from coronary heart disease declined in Sweden from 1986 to 2002. The improvement was due mainly to a reduction in risk factors among the healthy population (primary prevention) and, to a lesser extent, treatment of people who already had developed heart disease (secondary prevention). A study conducted at Sahlgrenska Academy explored the reasons for the trend.

Deaths from coronary heart disease fell by 53% among men and 52% among women in 1986-2002. The improvement was evident among all age groups.

Woodlice are able to calm their excited neighbors according to findings made by Pierre Broly and Jean-Louis Deneubourg of the Free Brussels University (Belgium).

Woodlice, familiar to the amateur gardeners, are easily observable living in groups sheltered under stones or barks. Research published in PLOS Computational Biology shows how a 'contagion' between the different behavioral states of woodlice may govern the stability of their groups.

It’s a big few weeks at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA issued a regulation clarifying its authority to regulate bodies of water throughout the country.

Even before last week’s publication of Wednesday Martin’s semi-autobiographical, semi-anthropological book Primates of Park Avenue much had been made of her exposé of the supposedly widespread practice of “wife bonuses” – that is, rich, male executives, in New York’s Upper East Side, paying their wives set amounts for homemaking.

Orange is the New Black is about to return for a third season. If you haven’t watched it yet, it’s time to sit up and take note: the Netflix program looks set to become a classic of feminist television.

The history of human experimentation is as old as the practice of medicine and in the modern era has always targeted disadvantaged, marginalized, institutionalized, stigmatized and vulnerable populations: prisoners, the condemned, orphans, the mentally ill, students, the poor, women, the disabled, children, peoples of color, indigenous peoples and the enslaved.

Who doesn’t love butterflies? While most people won’t think twice about destroying a wasp nest on the side of the house, spraying a swarm of ants in the driveway, or zapping pesky flies at an outdoor barbecue, few would intentionally kill a butterfly. Perhaps because of their beautiful colors and intricate patterns, or the grace of their flight, butterflies tend to get a lot more love than other types of insects.

Publishing clinical trials in medical journals can help doctors and scientists rise through the ranks of the research hierarchy. While most play the publication game fairly, some cheat. Whereas all misconduct undermines the public’s trust in science – such as the recent retracted paper about gay canvassers – health research scandals put the health of millions of patients around the world in jeopardy.

The results of a study presented today at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress (EULAR 2015) Press Conference showed that people with systemic sclerosis (SSc) have a unique bacterial signature in their colon, when compared with healthy people. These findings suggest that changes in the gut ecology could contribute to the clinical symptoms of SSc, and could be used to diagnose the condition, and in the development of alternative treatments.

A new study published today by the scientific journal Addiction finds that in England, children's exposure to second-hand smoke has declined by approximately 80% since 1998.

Also, an emerging social norm in England has led to the adoption of smoke-free homes not only when parents are non-smokers but also when they smoke. The proportion of children living in a home reported to be smoke-free increased from 63% in 1998 to 87.3% in 2012.

The three-time Emmy® award-winning, The Dr. Oz Show announced today the hiring of Michael Crupain, M.D., as Chief Of Staff of the Medical Unit. Dr. Crupain will lead the section of the show's production responsible for researching and vetting scripts, evaluating expert guests, ordering and editing medical animations and overseeing liaisons with the show's Medical Advisory Board. He will also lead efforts to enhance the show's ongoing dialogue with the medical community.

A new report by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF), in collaboration with the Baltimore Food Policy Initiative, found that one in four of the city's residents live in so-called food deserts with limited access to healthy foods.

The report, released today, is available online on the Center for a Livable Future's Maryland Food System Map website. The findings were highlighted at a press conference featuring Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, other city officials and CLF representatives.

Was it a massive migration? Or was it rather a slow and persistent seeping of people, items and ideas that laid the foundation for the demographic map of Europe and Central Asia that we see today? The Bronze Age (about 5,000 - 3,000 years ago) was a period with large cultural upheavals. But just how these upheavals came to be have remained shrouded in mystery.

Assistant Professor Morten Allentoft from the Centre for GeoGenetics at the Natural History Museum of Denmark at the University of Copenhagen is a geneticist and is first author on the paper in Nature. He says:

Google searches for information on melanoma and skin cancer increased over the summer months during a five-year period, although the level of interest did not correlate with the melanoma mortality to incidence ratio, suggesting that increased search volumes may not be associated with early detection, according to a research letter published online by JAMA Dermatology.

Europe's most homophobic countries may be paving the way for a rise in HIV cases among gay and bisexual men, according to new research published in the journal AIDS.

An international team of researchers from Europe and the US looked at HIV-related service use, need and behaviours among 175,000 gay or bisexual men living in 38 European countries with differing levels of national homophobia.