http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A new study led by a Canadian research team has identified the reason why prazosin, a drug commonly used to reduce high blood pressure, may cause lightheadedness and possible fainting upon standing in patients with normal blood pressure who take the drug for other reasons, such as the treatment of PTSD and anxiety. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-fainting-result-blood-pressure-drug.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 11 Mar 2013 07:13:07 EST news282204766 In a study examining possible factors regarding the associations between fructose consumption and weight gain, brain magnetic resonance imaging of study participants indicated that ingestion of glucose but not fructose reduced cerebral blood flow and activity in brain regions that regulate appetite, and ingestion of glucose but not fructose produced increased ratings of satiety and fullness, according to a preliminary study published in the January 2 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-imaging-effect-fructose-brain-regions.html Health Tue, 01 Jan 2013 16:08:24 EST news276278891 Cancer and stress go hand-in-hand, and high stress levels can lead to poorer health outcomes in cancer patients. The Jefferson-Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine combined creative art therapy with a Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program for women with breast cancer and showed changes in brain activity associated with lower stress and anxiety after the eight-week program. Their new study appears in the December issue of the journal Stress and Health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-art-therapy-brain-anxiety.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 29 Nov 2012 17:25:18 EST news273432311 Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University and the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil analyzed the cerebral blood flow (CBF) of Brazilian mediums during the practice of psychography, described as a form of writing whereby a deceased person or spirit is believed to write through the medium's hand. The new research revealed intriguing findings of decreased brain activity during mediumistic dissociative state which generated complex written content. Their findings will appear in the November 16th edition of the online journal PLOS ONE. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-brazilian-mediums-brain-trance-state.html Neuroscience Fri, 16 Nov 2012 17:00:01 EST news272274780 Over the last 15 years, researchers have found a significant association between vascular diseases such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, diabetes type 2, hyperlipidemia, and heart disease and an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease. In a special issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, leading experts provide a comprehensive overview of the pathological, biochemical, and physiological processes that contribute to Alzheimer's disease risk and ways that may delay or reverse these age-related abnormalities. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-vascular-disease-key-prevalence-alzheimer.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Mon, 05 Nov 2012 16:45:12 EST news271356276 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers from the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Stony Brook University have developed a high-resolution, 3D optical Doppler imaging tomography technique that captures the effects of cocaine restricting the blood supply in vessels – including small capillaries – of the brain. The study, reported in Molecular Psychiatry, and with images on the journal's October 2012 cover, illustrates the first use of the novel neuroimaging technique and provides evidence of cocaine-induced cerebral microischemia, which can cause stroke. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-neuroimaging-technique-capturing-cocaine-devastating.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 10 Oct 2012 17:51:28 EST news269110278 New magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) research shows that changes in brain blood flow associated with vein abnormalities are not specific for multiple sclerosis (MS) and do not contribute to its severity, despite what some researchers have speculated. Results of the research are published online in the journal Radiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-mri-multiple-sclerosis.html Neuroscience Tue, 21 Aug 2012 00:00:07 EST news264694382 Metabolic syndrome, a term used to describe a combination of risk factors that often lead to heart disease and type 2 diabetes, seems to be linked to lower blood flow to the brain, according to research by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-cardiac-factors-linked-blood-brain.html Cardiology Wed, 18 Jul 2012 09:55:50 EST news261824074 Scientist studying the way Alzheimer's takes root in the brain have identified important new similarities between a mouse model and human Alzheimer's. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-alzheimer-plaques-disrupt-brain-networks.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Fri, 20 Apr 2012 10:27:27 EST news254136408 On the quest for safe, reliable and accessible tools to accurately diagnose Alzheimer's disease, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found a new way of diagnosing and tracking Alzheimer's disease, using an innovative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique called Arterial spin labeling (ASL) to measure changes in brain function. The team determined that the ASL-MRI test is a promising alternative to the current standard, a specific PET scan that requires exposure to small amounts of a radioactive glucose analog and costs approximately four-times more than an ASL-MRI. Two studies now appear in Alzheimer's and Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association and Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-function-mri-technique-alzheimer-disease.html Neuroscience Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:40:18 EST news240687604 Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a common problem that is becoming progressively burdensome throughout the world. A new supplement to the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, Imaging the Alzheimer Brain, clearly shows that multiple imaging systems are now available to help understand, diagnose, and treat the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-advances-brain-imaging-diagnosis-alzheimer.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:59:18 EST news237556746 Blood flow abnormalities found in the brains of veterans with Gulf War illness have persisted 20 years after the war, and in some cases have gotten worse, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-chronic-abnormal-brain-blood-gulf.html Medical research Tue, 13 Sep 2011 03:04:41 EST news235101868 Hearing Beethoven while reciting Shakespeare can suppress even a King's stutter, as recently illustrated in the movie "The King's Speech". This dramatic but short-lived effect of hiding the sound of one's own speech indicates that the integration of hearing and motor functions plays some role in the fluency (or dysfluency) of speech. New research has shown that in adults who have stuttered since childhood the processes of auditory-motor integration are indeed located in a different part of the brain to those in adults who do not stutter. The findings are reported in the September 2011 issue of Elsevier's Cortex. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-profound-brains-adults-stutter.html Neuroscience Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:46:19 EST news232623957 Research conducted at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital's Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine in Dallas suggests that it's never too late for women to reap the benefits of moderate aerobic exercise. In a 3-month study of 16 women age 60 and older, brisk walking for 30-50 minutes three or four times per week improved blood flow through to the brain as much as 15%. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-moderate-brain-blood-elderly-women.html Medical research Tue, 12 Apr 2011 14:10:49 EST news221836234