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Researchers discover how indoor mould makes people sick

For more than a decade, it has been known that the fungus Trichoderma longibrachiatum is the most common finding wherever people are suffering from health hazards related to damp building damage. However, it has not been known how this mould - which is typical of most buildings with indoor air problems - harms people's health. Published in September, a study by a team of researchers at the Department of Food and Environmental Sciences of the University of Helsinki explains how microbial metabolites in the living environment cause health problems

12 Oct 2012

Mediterranean and low-carbohydrate diets have long-lasting healthy effects

Mediterranean and low-carbohydrate diets have lasting, healthy effects, even with partial weight regain, according to a follow-up study by researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and Israel's Nuclear Research Center.

12 Oct 2012

Voting contributes to emotional arousal, stress

With Election Day 2012 just weeks away, a recent study provides scientific evidence that voting in national elections is actually a stressful event with measurable hormonal changes.

12 Oct 2012

Fruits and vegetables appear to improve mental wellbeing

Happiness and mental health are highest among people who eat seven portions of fruit and vegetables a day, according to a new report.

12 Oct 2012

Children exposed to natural playgrounds tend to be more active

Children who play on playgrounds that incorporate natural elements like logs and flowers tend to be more active than those who play on traditional playgrounds with metal and brightly colored equipment, according to a recent study from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

12 Oct 2012

One type of fat is riskier than another for mums and unborn babies

Carrying too much weight during pregnancy can place both mother and child at risk but new research from the University of Sydney has discovered that one type of fat is riskier than another for mums and unborn babies.

11 Oct 2012

Poor sleep shows cardiovascular links in adolescents

Sleep disturbance in healthy adolescents is associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease in later life, research suggests.

11 Oct 2012

Retinal imaging holds clues to cause of brain injury in children

Retinal imaging can help differentiate intentional from accidental traumatic brain injury in children, suggests research.

11 Oct 2012

Tourniquet timing alters foot surgery pain outcomes

The timing of thigh tourniquet application may affect pain control in patients undergoing forefoot surgery, research published in Foot and Ankle Surgery suggests.

11 Oct 2012

UK acid-related disease trends revealed

The incidence of Barrett’s esophagus in the UK has doubled in recent years, but the incidence of gastroesophageal reflux disease is stable, study findings reveal.

11 Oct 2012

Tomatoes every day may keep stroke at bay

Regular consumption of tomatoes and other lycopene-rich fruits and vegetables may help reduce a man’s risk for stroke, suggest study findings.

11 Oct 2012

Public reporting states have low angioplasty rates

US states in which public reporting of percutaneous coronary intervention rates by catheterization laboratories is required may have a reduced rate of the procedure in acute myocardial infarction patients, research suggests.

11 Oct 2012

Factors linked to self-harm in schizophrenia identified

Polysubstance abuse and a high premorbid IQ are significantly associated with self-harm in patients with schizophrenia, UK researchers report.

11 Oct 2012

Antioxidant defense reduced in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder

Results from a Tunisian study suggest that the antioxidant defense system is altered in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

11 Oct 2012

No benefit from irrigation during appendectomy

Irrigating the peritoneal cavity during appendectomy for perforated appendicitis offers no advantage over suction alone, with similar rates of postoperative abscess in children treated using both approaches, according to the findings of a US study.

11 Oct 2012

Reduced copayment policy has benefits all round

Reducing patients’ copayments for statins and clopidogrel could increase their adherence without adding financial burden to the healthcare system, researchers say.

11 Oct 2012

Tissue test detects oral cancer risk

A molecular diagnostic scoring system based on patients’ FOXM1-associated gene messenger RNA expression levels is able to quantitatively diagnose and stratify oral carcinoma and its aggressiveness, show UK and Norwegian study results.

11 Oct 2012

Recommendations in pediatric palliative care

The future of pediatric and perinatal palliative care should include accepting parents’ need for proximity to the child, combining the strategies of palliative and intensive care physicians, improving healthcare providers’ listening skills, and involving multiple disciplines, recommend researchers.

11 Oct 2012

Heart drug could ease rare muscle disorder

The anti-arrhythmic drug mexiletine may improve symptoms in patients with nondystrophic myotonias, shows a small randomized trial published in JAMA.

11 Oct 2012

MDD with subthreshold hypomania ‘should be merged with bipolar II’

Patients with major depressive disorder plus subthreshold hypomania exhibit significant differences in disease course, symptoms, treatment-seeking rates, and other characteristics compared with those with major depression alone, research shows.

11 Oct 2012