Topic: health studies

It’s Now Legal For The CDC To Research Gun Statistics And Public Health

After the Newtown massacre in December, a number of graphs depicting gun statistics went viral, and a number of takedowns quickly emerged pointing to their inaccuracy. That’s probably due, in part, to the fact that there’s been a virtual ban on research of how gun violence impacts public health in the U.S. According to NBC, the NRA has effectively had a stranglehold on gun statistic research. That’s a story in and of itself, but today, the major headline is that Obama is clearing the way for scientific inquiry into how gun violence impacts our health (and giving researchers some funding, while he’s at it). More »

Study Says Autistic Children Are Growing Out Of It

Some children diagnosed as autistic seem to ‘grow out of it’ as they get older, according to a new National Institutes of Health study — adding to evidence that autism may not be a mental health issue at all. More »

Lay Off The Liquor, Ladies: New Study Says 1 in 8 Women Are Binge Drinkers

Binge drinking is usually associated with men, but a new study says that one in eight women engages in this type of alcohol abuse. And–surprise, surprise–the problem is magnified by the fact that we think men are the binge drinkers; not women. More »

Neurotics, Rejoice! We May Have Lower BMIs And Less Inflammation

Call me anxious, an over-thinker, a good old-fashioned worrywart … whichever term, it fits. I’m a classic Woody Allen-style neurotic — and it could be good for my health. A recent study found that conscientious neurotic people have lower body-mass indexes, fewer chronic health conditions and less markers of inflammation in their blood. More »

Surprising Study Finds Major Drop In Heart Disease In Military

Today’s military members have significantly better heart health than troops did 60 years ago, during the Korean War. The percentage of soldiers showing signs of clogged heart arteries (called coronary atherosclerosis) dropped from a whopping 77% to just 8.5%. More »

Smoking Weed Doesn’t Kill Pain, Just Makes You Think It Does

A new study from says that while smoking weed doesn’t actually reduce pain, it does make patients feel ‘less bothered by’ it. This is because THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, reduces brain activity linked to the emotional aspects of pain. More »

Biggest Spike In Diabetes-Related Vision Loss Is In People Under 40

Vision loss related to type-2 diabetes in the United States has increased by 20% in less than 10 years, report researchers. The overall numbers are still low (under 2% of the population), but that’s a pretty steep climb. And the biggest spike in diabetes-related vision loss has occurred in people ages 20 to 39. More »

Putrescine Fertility Water Could Keep Aging Eggs In Good Shape

It seems a little bit too fantastical, but Canadian researcher Johné Liu may just have discovered the fountain of fertility, so to speak. The main reason women over 35 have reduced fertility, more miscarriages and more babies born with birth defects is that they produce more egg cells with the incorrect number of chromosomes. But according to Liu, drinking water or taking a pill laced with natural compound putrescine could boost fertility and seriously reduce the number of abnormal eggs produced by women older but pre-menopausal women. More »

High Fructose Corn Syrup Might Be Linked To Diabetes, But New Study Doesn’t Show That

Don’t let anybody make you believe that high-fructose corn syrup is harmless just because it’s “not more fattening than sugar. Animal studies have shown can be bad for memory and learning, and human studies have linked high consumption of HFCS with cognitive decline and dementia in older adults. But a new study “linking” corn syrup consumption with type 2 diabetes is pitifully flimsy. More »

What We're Reading:

Banish Belly Fat With Yogurt (And Other Probiotic Foods)

A couple weeks ago we heard how supplements of the beneficial bacteria known as probiotics could help lower cholesterol. Now, a small study touts the power of probiotics to promote fat loss — especially loss of the extra dangerous and dreaded ‘belly fat‘ — by interfering with our body’s absorption of fat calories. More »

Study: IUDs Won’t Give You Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

A large new study dispels long-standing fears that using an intrauterine device (IUD) will lead to pelvic inflammatory disease. It found the risk of getting PID after IUD insertion was extremely low, with or without testing for sexually transmitted infections beforehand. More »

Study: Obesity Gene May Fight Depression; Media: Fat People Are Really Jolly!

Reading the headlines of web articles about this obesity and depression study is like witnessing a game of “telephone” between narcissists, idiots and sociopaths. Oof. A truly stunning example of how health studies get distorted in the media. More »

Good News, Caffeine Fiends! Coffee Makes You Happy (Because Of Dopamine, Not The Taste)

Today’s caffeine communiqué brings good news for coffee lovers: Apparently, your daily cup o’ joe makes you happier–and not just because it tastes good. It was already known that caffeine indirectly boosts dopamine transmission (the ‘happy’ neurochemical) in the brain, but German researchers found that the added dopamine action also enhances word recognition skills–and makes us recognize and process positive language even faster. So, make it a double latte? More »

The Number 1 Thing You Can Do To Help Find An Alzheimer’s Disease Cure

The most important thing you can do to contribute to a cure for Alzheimer’s disease doesn’t cost anything and doesn’t require running shoes. What people working to find a treatment that delays or prevents Alzheimer’s need is for as many people as possible to sign up for the Alzheimer’s Prevention Registry. Run by the Alzheimer’s Prevention Initiative (API), the registry supports enrollment for Alzheimer’s prevention studies taking place across the United States. More »

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