Just buying ergonomic desks and chairs isn’t enough to quell pain caused by poor posture at work reports a new study in this month’s Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Such equipment is useless, say the authors, unless a professional ergonomist sets it up and adjusts it. Researchers came to this conclusion by taking a …
Long-term antidepressant use creeps up
A dramatic rise in antidepressant prescriptions given by general practitioners has led to an increased number of people popping the mood boosters long-term, say researchers at the University of Southampton. The study, published today in the British Medical Journal, shows that despite a drop in the number of new patients diagnosed with …
An oncologist’s dream: Protecting healthy cells from radiation
Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine say they may be hot on the heels of the Holy Grail of cancer therapy: a means to protect healthy tissue from the harmful effects of radiation treatment while speeding tumor death. The study, published this week in Science Translational Medicine, could one day be a game changer …
Just a little respect? Not for obese patients
A new study seems to confirm what many obese people have long suspected…that doctors think less of their heaviest patients. For the study, published in the November issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, collected data from 238 obese patients …
Hot dogs, pizza, and mac’n cheese on the chopping block?
Sure, kids love hot dogs, pizza, and mac’n cheese, but, when it comes to school lunches, the United States can and should do better says a blistering report issued this week by the Institute of Medicine. The report says schools need to bump up servings of fruits and vegetables, swap refined grains with their whole cousins, and replace …
Obese moms struggle to manage pregnancy weight gain
Any woman who has given birth knows that shedding baby weight can be a long and arduous process. Now scientists are finding that women who start off with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher—technically obese—are at a huge disadvantage. According to the new study, slated to appear in next month’s issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology, …
Ouch from HPV vaccine is overblown
Rumors and news reports that warned of potentially painful side effects of the HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine didn’t hold up under scientific scrutiny. Results from a study released today by researchers at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, show that the three HPV shots are no more painful than any other vaccine. “Some …
Kill binky? Children’s prolonged sucking may trigger speech problems
Pity the parents who must grapple with whether or not to pull the plug on a child’s self-soothing device, be it binky or fingers. If you’re weighing the pros and cons, consider this: a new observational study suggests that children who cling to their sucking habit now, may risk a speech impediment later. For the study, published today in …
Politics can be bad for the libido
Republicans suffered a set back last November in more ways than one. A new study appearing today in the medical journal PLOS One shows that, in the hours after Obama was announced the 44th president of the United States, male, college-aged McCain fans experienced an immediate drop in testosterone. For the study, 183 people offered up …
Pay now or pay later: Insurance coverage translates to fewer multiple births for women seeking IVF
Women lucky enough to live in 1 of the 8 states that mandates insurance coverage of in vitro fertilization (IVF) may be even more lucky than they realize. According to the latest research presented by Yale School of Medicine researchers at this week’s annual American Society for Reproductive Medicine conference, those mom-wannabes are …
Internet virgins search web, boost brain power
If you have someone in your life who stubbornly refuses to get in line by going online, here’s a carrot. Yesterday, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, presented their study showing that when adults (ages 55 to 78) go online their brains get bigger. Well, maybe not physically bigger, but they did reclaim …
Mercury not found to be higher in blood of children with autism
Mercury—a potent neurotoxin—has long been the whipping post of parents-turned-autism-activists, scientific evidence be damned. But a study published online yesterday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives casts further doubt on the tenuous connection between the heavy metal and the devastating brain disorder. In what is …
Breast cancer diagnosis hits well-educated women hardest
For any woman, a breast cancer diagnosis is a sucker punch to the gut, but a new Australian study finds that more well-educated women fare worse psychologically than their less-educated peers. For the cohort study, 1,684 women were recruited within 12 months of being diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. Each woman completed a standard, …