August 2, 2016 -- Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health with collaborators at the Federal University of Sao Paulo studied the relationship between psychiatric symptoms and patterns of substance use among high school students in Brazil and found that respondents with clinically significant scores on a behavioral screening questionnaire were more likely to use alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana in the past month compared to those without symptoms. The study is among the first to highlight the link between psychiatric symptoms and substance use among teenagers in a middle-income country with high levels of social inequalities. The paper is published online in The American Journal on Addictions.

Men diagnosed with prostate cancer can be provided with a more accurate estimate of their risk of death from the disease, and treatment planned accordingly, according to a Research Article published by Vincent J. Gnanapragasam, of the University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK and colleagues in PLOS Medicine.

Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers affecting men, and the risk of disease progression and death is very variable when the disease is diagnosed while it is localized to the prostate gland. Providing as accurate an estimate as possible of the individual risk is important in planning appropriate treatment, which could range from surgery to management by regular observation, as well as in providing advice and support to patients.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- A genetic mutation may have helped modern humans adapt to smoke exposure from fires and perhaps sparked an evolutionary advantage over their archaic competitors, including Neandertals, according to a team of researchers.

Modern humans are the only primates that carry this genetic mutation that potentially increased tolerance to toxic materials produced by fires for cooking, protection and heating, said Gary Perdew, the John T. and Paige S. Smith Professor in Agricultural Sciences, Penn State. At high concentrations, smoke-derived toxins can increase the risk of respiratory infections. For expectant mothers, exposure to these toxins can increase the chance of low birth weight and infant mortality.

This week, an Australian woman delivered a baby at the age of 62 after having in vitro fertilization (IVF) abroad.

Few women can naturally conceive a baby later in life without the help of IVF – and these are rarely first pregnancies. These women go through menopause later, and have lower risks of heart disease, osteoporosis and dementia.

But does that mean that it’s safe to start a family later in life? Are there other risks and complications associated with pregnancy and childbirth in your 50s and 60s – or even your 40s?

Science-fiction is filled with technologically advanced species that could easily overwhelm us - but it may be that we are going to be that first interstellar traveler, and we may discover other life before it even knows it is being discovered.

The universe is 13.8 billion years old, while our planet formed just 4.5 billion years ago. That large time gap may mean that life on other planets, should it already exist, could be billions of years older than ours. Or it could be that present-day life is actually premature from a cosmic perspective and we have the huge head start by even being able to ask those questions.

A new paper in
EBioMedicine finds that infection with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), one of eight known viruses in the herpes family to infect humans, may put some women at increased risk for developing breast cancer.  

EBV is one of the most common viruses and is best known as the cause of infectious mononucleosis. More than 90 percent of the world's population carries EBV, and most individuals experience no effects from infection, but it has been linked to everything from cancer to Hodgkin's disease so it's hard to know which are real.

The biggest misconception young people have about the 1960s is that they actually happened in the 1970s. The real free love/drug culture only began in the summer of 1968 - the decade after, before AIDS, was really the time to hook up.

Yet many think it is happening more often now, among Millennials. The reason is obvious; premarital sex is far more accepted than ever, Tinder is a thing, and a baby born today is as likely to be born to a single mother as not. Yet in practice, Millennials are forgoing sex during young adulthood. Sort of. They learned from a former president that sex is what you define it as being. 

FINDINGS

Using the landmark Framingham Heart Study to assess how physical activity affects the size of the brain and one's risk for developing dementia, UCLA researchers found an association between low physical activity and a higher risk for dementia in older individuals. This suggests that regular physical activity for older adults could lead to higher brain volumes and a reduced risk for developing dementia.

The researchers found that physical activity particularly affected the size of the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain controlling short-term memory. Also, the protective effect of regular physical activity against dementia was strongest in people age 75 and older.

BACKGROUND

A new review examines the potential of antioxidant approaches for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and multiple sclerosis.

Certain compounds that are involved in oxidative stress look like promising therapeutic targets. For example, researchers are investigating the potential of increasing antioxidant capacity by targeting what's known as the Nrf2 pathway, as well as developing inhibitors of NADPH oxidases, which are key sources of reactive oxygen species. Other potential strategies for limiting oxidative stress in neurodegenerative diseases include reducing the production of nitric oxide, or preventing mitochondrial dysfunction.

Consistent with previous reports, poor sleep quality was linked with joint pain in a recent Arthritis Care & Research study of the general population, but the study found no association between obstructive sleep apnea and pain or daytime sleepiness. This lack of association between pain and sleep apnea is surprising given the established link between pain and poor sleep quality.

Additional studies are needed to determine whether the relationship between pain and sleep apnea is different depending on the cause of sleep apnea. Furthermore, the mechanisms behind the different relationship between pain and sleep apnea compared with that of pain and sleep quality remain unclear and should be investigated.