Stress Speeds Progression To AIDS
...man, who is also a UNC-CH medical sociologist, the measure ofstress is unique, not based on self-reported che...es and norms. "In this way we know that the stress measure isindependent of the subjects' perceptions and ways of coping. It's a moreobjective measure," Leserm...Smoking and depression weaken immune system
..." said Irwin. The scientists took blood samples to measure white blood cell counts and NKactivity of 245 men in four distinct groups: 61 depressed moderate smokers,46 depressed non-smokers, 127 non-smoker controls, and 11 moderate smokercontrols. Neither depression alone nor smoking alone was linked with de...Showing pictures of admired blacks or elderly can lower levels of unconscious prejudice
...erwards, all of the students were given the IAT to measure their unconsciousattitudes, along with other tests that measured their conscious racialattitudes. Students who had seen images of admired blacks expressed just about halfthe amount of unconscious prejudice against blacks as did those who had...Summer swimsuit research flash: thigh-reducing creams don't work
...en." Researchers used special equipment to measure each volunteer's thighsnear the knee, at mid-thigh and near the hip at the beginning and end of the sixweeks. They also had the women fill out questionnaires about their perceptions. "Not only did we find no difference in each volunteer's thi...Aging alone does not affect brain system related to memory loss
...is system to react more readily to stimulation. To measure the reaction of the rats' cholinergic systems to the stimulus ofdarkness and food, the researchers examined the release of acetylcholine (ACh),the crucial brain chemical that works within this system. The researchers examined both young adult rats (f...Discussion about learning processes reopens
... cells by short intensiveelectrical stimuli and to measure this improvement as an increased response bythe neuron, which lasts for several hours. Henceforth, this test, termedlong-term potentiation (LTP) in scientific textbooks, has been used as a measurefor the capability of nerve cells to adapt to environm...Low birth weight affects 50% of all children in South Asia
...rth weight and pledged support through legislative measure andnational health initiatives. One such initiative is the Bangladeshi Integrated Nutrition Project (BINP). The BINP utilizes several strategies to prevent and treat the consequencesof low birth weight. Community nutrition promoters monitor the mont...Researchers develop better means to diagnose adrenal gland tumors
...is. Several biochemical tests are available which measure blood andurine levels of the adrenal gland hormones. But in many cases these tests arenot accurate, because some pheochromocytomas do not release the adrenal hormonesregularly or in significant amounts. Drs. Eisenhofer, Linehan, and their colleagues...Early to rise: Research offers clues to older people's sleep habits
... of 23.7 and 67.4 years,respectively. In order to measure the length of the circadian period,investigators used a number of carefully designed techniques to minimize thefactors which can inadvertently reset the circadian clock, including the use oflight. "Previous studies showed the duration of the human ci...Men and women agree: love, romance vital part of sexual person
...men who scored highest on a measure of sexual self-concept were more likely thanothers...chers first had todevelop a measure of sexual self-concept for men. In preliminarystudies, they asked male underg...Wake Forest researchers develop new technique to diagnose narrowed heart arteries
...ing procedures. Theresearch team is now working to measure flow with MRI in the right coronaryartery, another...athat made it possible -- for the first time -- to measure blood flow in the smallvessels leading to the heart. Second, they used this imaging techniq...Mayo clinic researchers explore new methods to detect Parkinson's disease in at-risk individuals
...as Parkinson'sdisease. The SPECT camera is able to measure how much of the drug binds to theremaining nerve cells in the brain. Through these methods, Mayo Clinicresearchers were able to differentiate between 10 Parkinson's disease patientsand 10 control individuals. As expected, the amount of the drug that ......dechocardiography versus the new 3-D technology to measure left ventricularfunction both at rest and with exe...en used for thepast two decades, cannot accurately measure the volume of an irregularly shapedheart, and often requires multiple images which are time-consumin...Correlation between brain shrinkage and education found
...used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)technology to measure brain size. The MRI images revealed the following: Brain shrinkage, as demonstrated by an increase in cerebrospinal fluid aroundthe outside of the brain, was significantly greater in people with highereducation. Researchers counted years of educatio...Hormone involved in reproduction may have role in the maintenance of relationships
...fore, during, andafter each of the three events to measure baseline oxytocin levels in thebloodstream and any change. The results, on average, were of borderline significance - relaxation massagecaused oxytocin levels to rise slightly and recollection of a negative emotioncaused oxytocin levels to fall sligh...New biological target identified for cholesterol-lowering drugs
....) Theresearchers used a high sensitivity test to measure blood levels of CRP atbaseline and after five years. While CRP levels tended to increase in the placebo group, the drug-treated grouphad significant reductions in CRP levels. After five years, CRP levels amongthose taking the drug were almost 38 per...Financial stress doubles periodontal disease risk
...nd work stress) inparticipants' daily lives and to measure the ability to cope with stress. To measure financial strain, study participants answered nine questions,including: At the present time, are you...Aspirin's role in colon cancer prevention focus of $5 million grant
...t said. The group usesa highly sensitive method to measure MDA-caused DNA damage in benign andmalignant tissue samples and will study the impact of COX2 inhibitors on thatprocess....UI study finds types of decision-making deficiencies depend on area of brain damage
...hers attached electrodes to the subjects' palms to measure skinconductance responses (SCRs) -- an index of emotional state activation. Each timethe subjects clicked the mouse, the action was recorded as a mark on a polygram.The SCRs generated during the task were divided into three categories: rewardSCRS, wh...Mayo Clinic study identifies brain changes in people likely to develop Alzheimers disease
...e," says Dr. Jack. "We are able to non-invasively measure the part of thebrain that we know shrinks with the advent of Alzheimer's disease and providesome indication to patients whether their chances of developing Alzheimer'sdisease are high, low or in-between." "Planning for the future is very important t...