Tag: role

The designated driver (DD) is a successful public health strategy dating back to the late 1980s. To better reflect the realities of today’s society, now is a good time to evolve the initiative to help mitigate the harms tied to broader substance use and beyond drinking and driving. The promotion of “buddy circles,” as an

Prolonged sleep deprivation can lead to severe health problems in humans and other animals. But why is sleep so vital to our health? A UCLA-led team of scientists has answered this question and shown for the first time that a dramatic change in the purpose of sleep occurs at the age of about 2-and-a-half. Before

Beta-1 integrin, a critical component of epithelial extracellular matrix receptors, is essential for normal lung function in adulthood, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have discovered. In a mouse model, deleting the gene for beta-1 integrin from the epithelial cells lining the alveoli of the adult lung, where the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide

New findings by a University of Houston psychology professor indicate that among firefighters, distress tolerance amplifies associations between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and alcohol use severity. In the world of psychology, distress tolerance is your actual or perceived ability to withstand emotional distress. It is surviving—and knowing you can survive—an emotional incident. “Firefighters who

A new American Cancer Society study links health insurance literacy with medical financial hardship as well as non-medical financial sacrifices among adult cancer survivors in the United States. The authors say the study indicates that health insurance literacy may be an important intervention for addressing financial problems associated with cancer. The report appears in JNCI

The maturation of skin microbial communities during childhood is important for the skin health of children and development of the immune system into adulthood, but only a few studies have analyzed the microbiota in young children. In a new study, investigators in China found that bacterial genera in children were more similar to those of

Researchers have long-known that abused children are at higher risk of adolescent drug use. But a new study shows that having a father in the picture serves as a “protective factor,” helping to mitigate early childhood trauma. Researchers from the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University,

A team of Florida State University researchers used a simple tumor model to show the importance of tissue microenvironment in primary tumor formation. In the journal Developmental Cell, FSU researchers explain how certain signaling pathways define tumor hotspots, tissue microenvironment favorable for tumorigenesis, and show that simple stimulation of a protein can lead directly to

The results of a recent Texas A&M University-led study provide insights into the mechanism by which estrogen can decrease insulin resistance and the production of glucose, reducing incidences of Type 2 diabetes mellitus. The study, “Estrogen Improves Insulin Sensitivity and Suppresses Gluconeogenesis via the Transcription Factor Foxo1,” can be found online in the Diabetes journal

FRIDAY, Feb. 1, 2019 — Forests are changing in ways that could mean they emit more gases that contribute to smog, acid rain and respiratory problems, a new study suggests. “This study has profound implications for future air quality. Human activities, such as fire suppression, fertilizer use and climate change, are causing forest populations to

Astrocytes—the star-shaped cells of our brain—are very busy. Their job description includes maintaining the blood-brain barrier, removing excess neurotransmitters, repairing brain tissue and more. Their important role in brain function suggests astrocytes are also involved in disease. Scientists are particularly interested in uncovering how they may drive inflammation in the brain. Brain inflammation is linked

Researchers at the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience in Norway have discovered a network of brain cells that expresses our sense of time within experiences and memories. “This network provides timestamps for events and keeps track of the order of events within an experience,” says Professor Edvard Moser, Nobel laureate and director of the Kavli

Researchers have long believed that the amygdala, an almond-shaped structure in the brain, is central to the experience and perception of fear. Studies initiated in the 1990s of a patient with a rare condition affecting the amygdala initially seemed to support this conclusion. However, as Lisa Feldman Barrett, Ph.D., of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)

Being aware of our surroundings is a fundamental aspect of our existence. But what in our biological makeup determines how we access and interpret the endless stream of information around us? A new Tel Aviv University study published in Current Biology suggests that noradrenaline, a neurotransmitter responsible for arousal in the brain, plays a vital

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science have discovered a circuit in the brain that is necessary for unlearning fear. Published in Nature Communications, the study details the role of dopamine in ensuring that rats lose fear response in the prolonged absence of the stimulus. Like animals, people develop conditioned responses, especially if strong

People choose role models who have achieved success in ways that are in line with their own moral values, according to University of Queensland research. Dr. Kim Peters of the UQ School of Psychology examined the competency and moral characters of role models in the workplace and found that people did not blindly follow extraordinary

UT Southwestern researchers recently reported a basic science finding that might someday lead to better treatments for neurodegenerative diseases like a hereditary form of Lou Gehrig’s disease. In a study published in the journal Cell, Dr. Yuh Min Chook, Professor of Pharmacology and Biophysics, and Dr. Michael Rosen, Chair of Biophysics and an Investigator in

New research from Vanderbilt suggests that repeated seizures reduce brainstem connectivity, a possible contributor to unexplained neurocognitive problems in epilepsy patients. The brainstem has been rarely studied in epilepsy because seizures typically originate in the temporal lobe or other areas of the cortex. Noting that people with temporal lobe epilepsy often lose consciousness even though

The percentage of people who died by suicide and who had opiates in their system more than doubled from 2006 to 2017, particularly in the most recent years, according to new research being presented today at the American Psychiatric Association’s Annual Meeting here. The rate of suicide in the U.S. is on the rise; about

(HealthDay)—As the number of older people in the United States continues to increase, pharmacists and health care professionals need to recognize and address the health care challenges associated with age, including frailty, according to an article published in Drug Topics. Noting that standardized and validated screenings to diagnose frailty are lacking, health care providers must