by Freie Universitaet Berlin Credit: CC0 Public Domain Humans are not only capable of forming memories but also recalling these memories years later. However, with advancing age many of us face difficulties with forming new memories, a process usually referred to as age-induced memory impairment. Developing an elaborate understanding of this process is a precondition for...
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Automated detection of eye surface cancer
by ARC Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale BioPhotonics Researchers have developed a new automated non-invasive technique for diagnosing eye surface cancer (ocular surface squamous neoplasia or OSSN). The technique has the potential to reduce the need for biopsies, prevent therapy delays and make treatment far more effective for patients. Reported in a clinical journal ‘The Ocular Surface’,...
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Women can build positive body image by controlling what they view on social media
Social media use is often described as being problematic for mental health and body image. But is all social media use bad? Our new research shows that viewing body positive Instagram content may actually improvewomen’s body image, at least in the short term. With more awareness, social media users might be able to curate a social media environment that promotes positive body image by unfollowing or...
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Higher consumption of sugary beverages linked with increased risk of mortality
HARVARD T.H. CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH Boston, MA – The more sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) people consumed, the greater their risk of premature death–particularly death from cardiovascular disease, and to a lesser extent from cancer, according to a large long-term study of U.S. men and women. The risk of early death linked with drinking SSBs...
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Didn’t get enough sleep again? 4 ways sleep deprivation damages your body and your mind
You know you should always sleep for 7-8 hours. You can feel when your body didn‘t get enough sleep. And yet sometimes you just cannot go to bed on time and end up sleeping less than ideal. But do you know what happens to your body and mind because of sleep deprivation? Prerna Varma and...
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Is It Alzheimer’s Or Another Dementia? The Right Answer Matters
In the U.S., older people with dementia are usually told they have Alzheimer’s disease. But a range of other brain diseases can also impair thinking and memory and judgment, according to scientists attending a summit on dementias held Thursday and Friday at the National Institutes of Health. These include strokes, a form of Parkinson’s disease and a disease that damages brain...
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Researchers investigate sleep’s role in emotional experiences for teens
Researchers at the FIU Center for Children and Families are trying to uncover the role that sleep plays in processing emotional experiences, to improve treatments for youth with anxiety. The Emotional Memory Unification (EMU) study, led by FIU psychologist and Associate Professor Dana McMakin, and FIU neuroscientist and Assistant Professor Aaron Mattfeld, is the result of a $3.6 million grant from the...
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Even light physical activity has health benefits – new research
Most people probably don’t think of everyday activities – such as hanging out the washing or putting away the groceries – as having an effect on their long-term health. But new research suggests that doing lots of these light-intensity physical activities reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease. For most people, light physical activity makes up...
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Short sleepers’ can get just 4 hours a night and feel fine. But is their health at risk?
“Sleep is overrated.” So proclaims Stephen Klasko, who throughout his life has taken pride in sleeping only four or five hours a night. Those extra few hours away from his pillow, he believes, have allowed him to write books, run marathons, and achieve his lofty professional goals. An obstetrician and gynecologist, he’s the president and CEO of Jefferson Health, one of...
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Antibodies from earlier exposures affect response to new flu strains
by John Holden, University of Texas at Austin We are repeatedly exposed to the influenza virus via infections, vaccinations and our communal environments. The annual flu shot is believed to be the best line of defense, and doctors recommend vaccinations every year because the flu virus is in a constant state of adaptation and mutation, rendering...