ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News

A lower IQ has been linked to greater and riskier drinking among young adult men Posted: 20 Feb 2015 04:07 PM PST Previous research has suggested a link between intelligence and various health outcomes. New findings show a link between a lower IQ and greater and riskier drinking among young adult men.The poor IQ-test results may also be linked to other disadvantages such as lower socio-economic standing.

Alcohol places Hispanics at a much greater risk of developing alcoholic liver disease Posted: 20 Feb 2015 04:07 PM PST Alcoholic liver disease is a common liver ailment in the US that varies significantly by ethnicity. A new study looks the role of ethnicity in the age of onset, severity, and risk factors for progression of ALD. Results indicate that ethnicity is a major factor affecting the age and severity of different subtypes of ALD.

Binge drinking is strongly associated with eating problems among Russian girls Posted: 20 Feb 2015 04:07 PM PST Adolescent binge drinking has been linked to a host of problems, including worse school performance, risky sexual behaviors, illicit drugs, and a greater risk of suicide. Binge drinking may also be linked to problematic eating behavior, yet little research exists. A study of the relationship between binge drinking and eating problems among Russian adolescents has found that problematic eating behaviors and attitudes are commonplace, and that binge drinking is associated with more eating problems in girls than boys.

New study shows safer methods for stem cell culturing Posted: 20 Feb 2015 11:26 AM PST Certain stem cell culture methods are associated with increased DNA mutations, a new study shows. The study points researchers toward safer and more robust methods of growing stem cells to treat disease and injury.

Study in Myanmar confirms artemisinin-resistant malaria close to border with India Posted: 19 Feb 2015 06:18 PM PST Resistance to the antimalarial drug artemisinin is established in Myanmar and has reached within 25km of the Indian border, a new study reports. Artemisinin resistance threatens to follow the same historical trajectory from Southeast Asia to the Indian subcontinent as seen in the past with other antimalarial medicines.

Growth hormone treatment improves social impairments in patients with genetic disorder known to cause autism Posted: 19 Feb 2015 10:30 AM PST A growth hormone can significantly improve the social impairment associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in patients with a related genetic syndrome, researchers report. The study results focus specifically on the use of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) to treat Phelan-McDermid syndrome (PMS), a disorder caused by a deletion or mutation of the SHANK3 gene on chromosome 22. Along with facing developmental and language delays and motor skill deficits, most people with PMS also have autism spectrum disorder.

Better concussion prevention in youth sports needed, experts say Posted: 19 Feb 2015 08:57 AM PST With mandated provisions in youth sports concussion laws high among Rhode Island Interscholastic League high schools, compliance with recommended concussion protocols was very limited, researchers have found. The study suggests that more concussion related standards and protocols should be written into law in order to raise compliance rates among youth sports groups.

Promiscuity of chemical probes discovered Posted: 19 Feb 2015 08:56 AM PST A new computational methodology has been applied by researchers to anticipate the degree of selectivity of the molecules that are used to study protein functions and reduce the risk of establishing erroneous relations between proteins and diseases.The study has proven that many of these small molecules or chemical probes are not as selective as believed, but instead interact with multiple proteins, which could lead to confusion in experimental results. This is key to developing safer pharmaceuticals

Evidence for new approaches to prostate cancer Posted: 19 Feb 2015 08:56 AM PST There is evidence to also support AS as an initial approach for men with favorable intermediate-risk of PC (men with no evidence of the cancer spreading beyond the prostate, a Gleason score of 3+4 or less and PSA, prostate-specific antigen, under 20), according to the results of a new study.