http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Shortly after expressing a moral view about a difficult topic, people may easily endorse the opposite view and remain blind to the psychological mismatch, according to research published Sep. 19 in the open access journal PLOS ONE. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-people-moral-position.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 19 Sep 2012 17:00:07 EST news267290758 Newspaper coverage of biomedical research leans heavily toward reports of initial findings, which are frequently attenuated or refuted by later studies, leading to disproportionate media coverage of potentially misleading early results, according to a report published Sep. 12 in the open access journal PLOS ONE. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-newspapers-biased-early-refuted.html Other Wed, 12 Sep 2012 17:00:42 EST news266688025 The way that the visual centers of men and women's brains works is different, finds new research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Biology of Sex Differences. Men have greater sensitivity to fine detail and rapidly moving stimuli, but women are better at discriminating between colors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-eyes-men-differently-women.html Neuroscience Mon, 03 Sep 2012 20:00:01 EST news265893277 BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine adds scientific rigour to the debate about open access research, by publishing an article which compares the scientific impact of open access with traditional subscription publishing and has found that both of these publishing business models produce high quality peer reviewed articles. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-access-journals-scientific-impact-subscription.html Other Mon, 16 Jul 2012 20:00:02 EST news261673636 New research refutes a commonly held belief that certain eye movements are associated with lying. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-eye-movement-lying.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 11 Jul 2012 17:00:05 EST news261242883 If a train is travelling a distance of 55 miles at 150mph, how long will it take to reach its destination? If the thought of having to answer this question makes you apprehensive, then you may have mathematics anxiety. A new study published today in BioMed Central's open access journal Behavioral and Brain Functions reports that a number of school-age children suffer from mathematics anxiety and, although both genders' performance is likely to be affected as a result, girls' maths performance is more likely to suffer than boys'. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-girls-mathematics-boys-result-anxiety.html Psychology & Psychiatry Sun, 08 Jul 2012 20:00:02 EST news260951471 Research published today in Biomed Central's open access journal Journal of Neuroinflammation suggests that chronic inflammation can predispose the brain to develop Alzheimer's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-chronic-inflammation-brain-alzheimer-disease.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Mon, 02 Jul 2012 04:08:32 EST news260420839 Medical residents are an essential part of the hospital workforce. Although still in training the take on much of the day to day care of patients. A systematic review published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine shows that patient by properly supervised residents care is safe and of equal quality to that of fully trained doctors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-patient-residents-good-fully-doctors.html Health Thu, 28 Jun 2012 03:25:02 EST news260072694 Pathological aging (PA) is used to describe the brains of people which have Alzheimer's disease (AD)-like pathology but where the person showed no signs of cognitive impairment whilst they were alive. New research, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Alzheimer's Research & Therapy, shows that PA and AD brains contain similar amyloid β (Aβ) plaques and that while on average AD brains contain more Aβ there was considerable overlap in Aβ subtypes. These results suggest that PA may simply be an early stage of AD. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-pathological-aging-brains-amyloid-plaques.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Wed, 23 May 2012 04:10:09 EST news256964906 Chemotherapy is a major first line defense against breast cancer. However a patient's response is often variable and unpredictable. A study published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medical Genomics shows that 'gene expression signatures' for TOP2A and β-tubulin can be used to predict the outcome of chemotherapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-genetic-predictor-breast-cancer-response.html Genetics Thu, 10 May 2012 20:00:01 EST news255886114 (Medical Xpress) -- Our interpretation of the world around us may have more in common with the impossible staircase illusion than it does the real world, according to research published today in the open access journal PLoS ONE. The study, which was funded by the Wellcome Trust, suggests that we do not hold a three-dimensional representation of our surroundings in our heads as was previously thought. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-impossible-staircase-visualise-world.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:53:25 EST news251715187 Lower back pain due to Modic changes can be hard to treat and the currently recommended therapy of exercise and staying active often does not help alleviate the pain. Results of a trial, published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine, comparing exercise therapy, and staying active, to daily rest and lumbar support, showed that both treatments resulted in the same small level of improvement in pain, disability, and general health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-rest-equally-effective-pain.html Health Tue, 28 Feb 2012 19:00:02 EST news249670802 A neuropeptide called Substance P is the cause of seizures in patients with brains infected by the pork tapeworm (Taenia solium), said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in a report that appears online in the open access journal PLoS Pathogens. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-seizures-patients-pork-tapeworm-substance.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:00:12 EST news248008658 It can be difficult to distinguish between people with normal age-associated memory loss and those with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). However people with aMCI are at a greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD), and identification of these people would mean that they could begin treatment as early as possible. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Geriatrics shows that specific questions, included as part of a questionnaire designed to help diagnose AD, are also able to discriminate between normal memory loss and aMCI. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-alzheimer-disease.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:23:33 EST news247465394 Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease where the body begins to attack the joints and organs of the body. Proteins within inflamed joints are often modified by citrullination, a process that converts the protein building block arginine into citrulline. These two amino acids have very different physical properties and consequently conversion can result in aberrant changes in the three-dimensional structure of an affected protein. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Arthritis Research & Therapy shows that glucocorticoid therapy can reduce the amount of citrullination and the amount of the enzyme peptidylargininedeiminase 4 (PAD4) responsible for citrullination in the joints of people with RA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-steroids-protein-joints-people-rheumatoid.html Arthritis & Rheumatism Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:59:23 EST news246859153 Ever wondered how meteorologists can accurately predict the weather? They use complex spatiotemporal weather models, i.e. mathematical equations that track the motions of the atmosphere through time and space, and combine them with incoming data streams from weather stations and satellites. Now, an innovative new study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Biology Direct has determined that the mathematical methodology used to assimilate data for weather forecasting could be used to predict the spread of brain tumors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-cloud-silver-lining-weather-brain.html Cancer Wed, 21 Dec 2011 04:26:18 EST news243663943 The kiss of life can literally be the difference between life or death for someone who has stopped breathing. If the patient's heart has stopped as well, circulation of oxygenated blood can be maintained by external chest compressions (ECC). It is recommended that compression to ventilation ratio should be 30:2 for adults and 15:2 for children. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-day.html Health Fri, 04 Nov 2011 03:20:01 EST news239593861 Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects about 1 in 100 children resulting in a range of problems in language, communication and understanding other people's emotional cues, all of which can lead to difficulties in social situations. Boys are three to four more times as likely to be affected as girls and consequently it has been suggested that the genes involved in this disorder may be linked to the X chromosome. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Molecular Autism used genome wide association study (GWAS) data to find a variation in the gene for transducin ß-like 1X-linked (TBL1X) which is associated with increased risk of ASD in boys. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-tbl1x-gene-involved-autism.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 04 Nov 2011 02:50:21 EST news239593656 It is known that a high proportion of dense breast tissue, as seen with a mammogram, is associated with a high risk of breast cancer. But the role of non-dense fat tissue in the breast is less clear. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Breast Cancer Research separates the breast cancer risks associated with dense, fibroglandular tissue, and fat, and shows that large areas of either are independently associated with an increased risk. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-role-fat-breast-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 26 Oct 2011 02:22:22 EST news238814509 The latest results from an expedition to Mount Everest that looked at the body's response to low oxygen levels suggest that drugs or procedures that promote the body's production of a chemical compound called nitric oxide (NO) could improve the recovery of critically ill patients in intensive care. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-everest-nitric-oxide-benefits-intensive.html Medical research Thu, 06 Oct 2011 07:19:07 EST news237104331 Many herbal remedies available over-the-counter in pharmacies and health food shops are still lacking important information needed for safe use, according to University of Leeds researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-herbal-remedies-eu-law.html Medications Tue, 09 Aug 2011 02:30:03 EST news232075082 Depression affects 121 million people worldwide. In can affect a person's ability to work, form relationships, and destroy their quality of life. At its most severe depression can lead to suicide and is responsible for 850,000 deaths every year. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine compares social conditions with depression in 18 countries across the world. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-global-depression-statistics.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 26 Jul 2011 03:37:10 EST news230870199 Neurofibromatosis (NF1) is a genetic condition which affects one in every 3,000 people. The severity of symptoms can range from benign 'cafe au lait' patches on the skin, through small tumors under the skin and deep plexiform neurofibromas, to malignant tumors of the nerve sheath. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine shows that a simple blood test for the protein melanoma-inhibitory activity (MIA) could be used to indicate the presence of neurofibromas even if they cannot be seen. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-biomarker-mia-presence-neurofibromas.html Cancer Mon, 04 Jul 2011 02:54:06 EST news228966827 Debate about the public health response to Haiti's cholera epidemic continues as the crisis enters its ninth month, with some experts arguing that a vaccination campaign in Haiti would be neither feasible nor cost-effective, and advocating putting forth other measures. In a viewpoint article published on May 31st in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, a coalition of medical and public health researchers, policymakers, and practitioners, led by Paul Farmer, cofounder of Partners In Health and United Nations Deputy Special Envoy to Haiti, argue that a universal vaccination campaign is essential to ending the crisis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-cholera-haiti-world.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 01 Jun 2011 04:18:06 EST news226120662 Recently the number of genes known to be associated with Alzheimer's disease has increased from four to eight, including the MS4A gene cluster on chromosome 11. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Medicine has expanded on this using a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to find a novel location within the MS4A gene cluster which is associated with Alzheimer's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-arrowing-alzheimer-disease.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 30 May 2011 20:00:01 EST news225989036