ScienceDaily: Living Well News

Have a sense of purpose in life? It may protect your heart Posted: 06 Mar 2015 10:25 AM PST Having a high sense of purpose in life may lower your risk of heart disease and stroke, according to a new study.

Calling your bluff: Supervisors easily sniff out what drives a worker Posted: 06 Mar 2015 07:27 AM PST Good supervisors aren't easily duped by the motives of underlings who go the extra mile -- they know when an employee is sucking up to them because of personal ambition, or when such actions truly have what's best for the organization at heart.

High-normal thyroid hormone level in pregnancy may affect fetal brain development Posted: 06 Mar 2015 07:25 AM PST A new study finds that not only low but also high maternal thyroid hormone levels during early pregnancy may significantly lower the infant's IQ later in childhood. The study results suggest that the common practice of treating pregnant women who have mild thyroid hormone deficiency may pose unexpected risks to the developing baby's brain.

New study points to better classrooms for children with disabilities Posted: 06 Mar 2015 06:16 AM PST A pilot study in 51 North Carolina classrooms shows the effectiveness of a new measure in assessing the quality of practices in inclusive preschools. Not only is the Inclusive Classroom Profile a reliable instrument, researchers say it also reveals the types of inclusive settings that may be best serving preschoolers with disabilities, researchers say.

Losing 30 minutes of sleep per day may promote weight gain and adversely affect blood sugar control Posted: 06 Mar 2015 05:25 AM PST Losing as little as 30 minutes of sleep per day on weekdays can have long-term consequences for body weight and metabolism, a new study finds.

Infant growth affected by exposure to environmental pollutants Posted: 06 Mar 2015 04:37 AM PST Even though the levels of two environmental pollutants have declined over the last 20 years, they may still have adverse effects on children's development, according to a new study. The researchers found that maternal levels of DDE (indicating the levels to which the fetuses were exposed to in utero) were significantly associated with rapid growth in early life. They also found that levels of PCB153 in milk and the amount transferred through breastfeeding were associated with decreased infant growth and falling below expected growth curves.

Popular antioxidant likely ineffective, study finds Posted: 06 Mar 2015 04:36 AM PST The popular dietary supplement ubiquinone, also known as Coenzyme Q10, is widely believed to function as an antioxidant, protecting cells against damage from free radicals. But a new study finds that ubiquinone is not a crucial antioxidant.