Common gene determines if breast is best
Breastfeeding is best for your child’s brain as long as a variation of a common gene is present in the baby, researchers say.
Breastfed children with a variant of the FADS2 gene, which is involved in processing fatty acids, score up to seven points higher in IQ tests than bottle-fed children.
But for those children without the variant gene, breastfeeding makes no difference to their intelligence levels.
Homeopathy ‘in crisis’ as NHS trusts drop services
NHS trusts are dropping homeopathic treatments following debate over whether they work. A study has found that only 37 per cent of 132 primary care trusts still have contracts for homeopathic services while more than a quarter have stopped or reduced funding in the past two years.
Homeopathy is based on diluting substances – that could otherwise be poisonous – in water or alcohol. Some scientists say homeopathic solutions are diluted so many times they are unlikely to contain any active ingredients at all. There has also been controversy over accreditation.
Morgellons Disease
Its know as ‘Morgellons Disease’ - have you ever heard of it?
The condition was not even described as a disease until 2002. Mary Leitao’s 2 year old son developed sores under his lip in 2001. He began to complain of ‘bugs’. Lietao examined the sores and discovered ‘bundles of fibers’ in red, blue, black and white. She took her son to multiple doctors who could not find any disease, allergy or other explanation for his symptoms. Her son developed more sores. Fibers continued to poke out of them. Leitao, a trained biologist, named the condition Morgellons disease, from a description advanced by Sir Thomas Browne in a 1690 monograph. There is no suggestion that the two conditions are linked.
Tiny gene differences make us who we are
Scientists have found more than 500 genes that account for variations across human populations including skin colour, height and vulnerability to disease, according to a new study.
By comparing millions of fragments of genetic code from individuals in four groups - from Nigeria, China, Japan and northwest Europe - researchers say that natural selection has played a key role in these differences.
The findings, which are published online ahead of print in the journal Nature Genetics, hold particular promise for understanding the genetic underpinning of certain diseases.
No Link Found Between Personality Traits and Cancer Risk
In the Journal of the National Cancer Institute of January 29, 2008, Eveline Bleiker, PhD, at The Netherlands Cancer Institute, and colleagues at the VU University Medical Center and Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, report on a large prospective study on psychological risk factors for breast cancer. In addition to looking at individual personality traits, they also examined how interactions between personality traits influenced breast cancer risk.
In 1989 -1990, about 9,700 women completed a personality survey that assessed anxiety, anger, depression, rationality, anti-emotionality, understanding, optimism, social support, and emotional expression and control.
Middle age is truly depressing, says study
A global study on happiness shows middle age is truly miserable, although an Australian researcher says this is not necessarily so.
A study using data from around 80 countries has found happiness is greatest in youth and old age with depression being most common among men and women in their forties
“In a remarkably regular way throughout the world people slide down a U-shaped level of happiness and mental health throughout their lives,” says researcher Professor Andrew Oswald at Warwick University in the UK.
Australia Day award for infertility expert
An infertility expert whose scientific interest was sparked while growing up on a sheep station is among those recognised this Australia Day.
Professor Jock Findlay of Prince Henry’s Institute in Melbourne, has been made an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) for his contribution to the field of reproductive endocrinology.
It is the latest in a line of honours for Findlay, who is one of the original collaborators on a paper in the journal Nature that reported the first successful in vitro fertilisation pregnancy using hormone replacement to prepare the uterus.
