ScienceDaily: Living Well News

Parents' depression can lead to toddlers in trouble Posted: 12 Mar 2015 02:38 PM PDT A father's depression during the first years of parenting -- as well as a mother's -- can put their toddlers at risk of developing troubling behaviors such as hitting, lying, anxiety and sadness during a critical time of development, according to a new study.

E-cigarette advertising makes one crave ... tobacco? Posted: 12 Mar 2015 02:38 PM PDT Television advertisements for e-cigarettes may be enticing current and even former tobacco smokers to reach for another cigarette. The researchers studied more than 800 daily, intermittent, and former smokers who watched e-cigarette advertising, and who then took a survey to determine smoking urges, intentions, and behaviors.

Chronic Kidney Disease May Increase Certain Risks During Pregnancy Posted: 12 Mar 2015 02:35 PM PDT Among pregnant women, the risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes—such as preterm delivery or the need for neonatal intensive care—increased across stages of chronic kidney disease, a study concludes. The risks of intrauterine death or fetal malformations were not higher in women with chronic kidney disease.

You are when you eat: Limiting flies to specific eating hours protects their hearts against aging, study finds Posted: 12 Mar 2015 11:30 AM PDT Limiting flies to specific eating hours protected their hearts against aging, a study has demonstrated. Previous research has found that people who tend to eat later in the day and into the night have a higher chance of developing heart disease than people who cut off their food consumption earlier. "So what's happening when people eat late?" asked a biologist whose research focuses on cardiovascular physiology. "They're not changing their diet, just the time."

Political liberals display greater happiness, study shows Posted: 12 Mar 2015 11:29 AM PDT What does it mean to be happy? Is it how happy you say you are, or is it how happy you act? Previous research has found that political conservatives report being happier than political liberals. But psychologists have discovered that those on the left exhibit happier speech patterns and facial expressions.

New work schedule could cure your 'social jetlag' Posted: 12 Mar 2015 09:33 AM PDT Many of us are walking around all the time in a fog caused by 'social jetlag.' That's what happens when we lose sleep because our daily schedules don't match our bodies' natural rhythms. The condition can be a particular problem for shift workers, who work into the night or on a shifting schedule. Now, researchers report that sleep and workers' wellbeing could be improved if schedules took workers' biological clocks into account.

Metaphor usage highlights social bonds and increases understanding of others' emotions Posted: 12 Mar 2015 06:22 AM PDT Observe whether two people use metaphors in conversation with each other if you want to guess how close they are as friends. Or sharpen your ability to tune into other people’s emotional or mental states by observing the metaphors they use. Why is this? Because metaphors can in fact help one to ‘mind read,’ according to experts.

Teen cannabis users have poor long-term memory in adulthood Posted: 12 Mar 2015 05:29 AM PDT Teens who were heavy marijuana users -- smoking it daily for about three years -- had an abnormally shaped hippocampus and performed poorly on long-term memory tasks, reports a new study. The hippocampus is important to long-term memory, which is the ability to remember life events. The brain abnormalities and memory problems were observed during the individuals' early twenties, two years after they stopped smoking marijuana.

Healthy eating, exercise, and brain-training program results in slower mental decline for older people Posted: 11 Mar 2015 06:04 PM PDT A comprehensive program providing older people at risk of dementia with healthy eating guidance, exercise, brain training, and management of metabolic and vascular risk factors appears to slow down cognitive decline, according to the first ever randomized controlled trial of its kind.

Exercise may help keep seniors moving longer despite old age brain decline Posted: 11 Mar 2015 03:57 PM PDT Older people who are physically active may be protecting themselves from the effects of small areas of brain damage that can affect their movement abilities, according to a new study. The results remained the same after researchers adjusted for other factors that could affect the relationship, such as body mass index (BMI), depression and vascular disease.

How parents may help create their own little narcissists Posted: 09 Mar 2015 11:50 AM PDT Children whose parents think they're God's gift to the world do tend to outshine their peers -- in narcissism. Results showed that parents who "overvalued" their children when the study began ended up with children who scored higher on tests of narcissism later on. Overvalued children were described by their parents in surveys as "more special than other children" and as kids who "deserve something extra in life," for example.