Soul Searching

By Megan Rauscher
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Research shows that boosting levels of potassium in the diet may lower a person’s risk of developing high blood pressure and may decrease blood pressure in people who already have “hypertension.”

High blood pressure remains the chief reason for visits to doctors’ offices and for prescription drug use in […]

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By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
After a closer examination of the Antikythera Mechanism, a surviving marvel of ancient Greek technology, scientists have found that the device not only predicted solar eclipses but also organized the calendar in the four-year cycles of the Olympiad, forerunner of the modern Olympic Games.

The new findings, reported Wednesday in the journal Nature, […]

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Scientists may have uncovered why some people naturally lose their ability to make new memories as they get older.
Using brain scans, University of Arizona scientists found differences in how older rats “replayed” their actions in the brain during sleep.

They say this night-time process might help them remember better the next day.
Not all experts agree. A […]

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Hurried Doctors, Economic Pressures, Fear of Pain Play a Role in Rapid Decline
By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
Pregnant with her first child, Julie Speier prepared to deliver with the help of a midwife at a New York City birthing center. But in June — three weeks before the due date and 600 miles from home — her […]

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By ANN PLESHETTE
Breast-feeding, what many believe to be the most intimate act between a mother and child, is also generally believed to be an act exclusively between a mother and child.
According to experts, however, there is a growing trend of cross-nursing, in which a mother will allow another woman to breast-feed her baby.

“I think that […]

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Children carrying the first gene that has been clearly linked to obesity find it harder than others to tell when they are full, London-based researchers say.

They studied over 3,000 children to see whether the FTO gene impacts on the ability to burn calories or appetite.
The researchers found those with copies of the gene’s risky variant […]

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Anxiety, depression and sleepless nights increase the risk of diabetes in men, a Swedish study suggests.

Researchers found men with high levels of “psychological distress” had more than double the risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those with low levels.
The study, which looked at 2,127 men born between 1938 and 1957 and 3,100 women, found […]

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Patients with early Alzheimer’s disease who exercised regularly saw less deterioration in the areas of the brain which control memory, according to a study released Sunday at the 2008 International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease in Chicago.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies showed that exercise positively affected the hippocampus region of patients’ brains, an area which is […]

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By Martin Hutchinson
A woman was left disabled after following a “detox” diet which involved drinking large quantities of water.

Although doctors stress the need to avoid dehydration by drinking enough fluids, drinking more than enough is a different matter.
The human body may be mostly water, but you can have too much of a good thing.
In the […]

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Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at increased risk for being overweight, regardless of whether or not they are currently receiving medications for the condition.

The results of prior research has suggested that the impulsivity and poor behavioral regulation that is common in children with ADHD may promote certain eating patterns that increase the risk of […]

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