Health, features and articles | Educational Science

Apr 30, 2011

Energy Drinks Not for Kids, Pediatricians Warn

Energy drinks — sweet drinks containing caffeine and often herbal supplements — have been drawing scrutiny over their nutritional value. Now the nation’s largest group of pediatricians is strongly recommending that they not be consumed by children. “Rigorous review and analysis of the literature reveal that caffeine and other stimulant...

Mar 31, 2011

Brain Scans Predict Alzheimer's Risk in Some Patients

Brain scans may help identify which individuals with a mild decline in their mental abilities will go on to develop Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study. The research focused on patients with mild cognitive impairment, a condition in which people experience noticeable declines in their cognitive function, including memory...

Mar 31, 2011

Exercise During Pregnancy Benefits Baby's Heart

Exercise during pregnancy benefits not just the mother's heart, but her baby's heart as well, a new study finds. The results show regular exercise during pregnancy lowers the heart rate of the fetus, and this effect persists for a month after the baby is born. A low heart rate indicates...

Mar 31, 2011

Restless Legs Syndrome Drug Receives FDA Approval

Seventy-four-year-old Marilyn Butterfield shakes her legs when she sits down for dinner. She shakes her legs when she sits down to read, and she shakes her legs in her bed when she lies down to sleep. She's that woman who is standing at the back of the movie theater to...

Mar 31, 2011

Braids and Weaves Could Cause Hair Loss

Hair grooming practices such as braids and weaves could be contributing to the development of permanent, scarring hair loss in African-American women, according to a new study. Women with advanced central hair loss with signs of scarring, also called central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia, are more likely than those without hair...

Mar 31, 2011

Weight-Loss Surgery May Improve Memory

Weight-loss surgery may help individuals not only shed pounds but improve their memory and concentration. Obese people participating in a new study were tested on their mental abilities. They showed, on average, slightly impaired memory and concentration. Twelve weeks after surgery, subjects' scores registered in the normal range. Meanwhile, the...

Mar 31, 2011

New Blood Test Could Detect Spread of Melanoma

Researchers have found seven proteins that, when at high levels in the blood, can predict the spread of a certain type of cancer to other parts of the body, according to a new study. The seven proteins — CEACAM, ICAM-1, osteopontin, MIA, GDF-15, TIMP-1 and S100B — were seen at...

Mar 31, 2011

Lack of Sunlight and Mono Infection Combine to Raise MS Risk

Little exposure to sunlight paired with an infection of the common virus mononucleosis may put people at risk for multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study suggests. The study, conducted in England, found that the amount of sunlight in a particular area combined with the number of cases of mononucleosis in...

Mar 31, 2011

Want Better Brains? Party!

Visiting friends, attending parties, and even going to church might be just as good for your brain as crossword puzzles, new research suggests. Frequent social activity may help to prevent or delay cognitive decline in old age, the study found. The researchers aimed to rule out the possibility that cognitive...

Mar 31, 2011

Painkillers Reduce Antidepressants’ Effect, Study Suggests

Painkillers such as aspirin and ibuprofen could decrease the effectiveness of certain antidepressant medications, a new study suggests. Mice given both an anti-inflammatory drug (also called an NSAID, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) and a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI, a type of antidepressant) scored worse on a test measuring antidepressant effectiveness...

Feb 28, 2011

Hundreds of Genes Involved in Autism, Many with Similar Roles

There may be hundreds of genes involved in autism, but it's likely that each accounts for only a small number of cases. So the mysterious condition may be better illuminated by studying the roles of these genes in brain development and signaling, rather than by exhaustively searching the human genome...

Feb 28, 2011

Are BPA-Free Plastics Really Safe?

This Research in Action article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation. To design the safest plastics, we need to first understand what truly happens to plastics in the real world as they break down. Researchers from the University of Texas at Austin, the Lombardi Comprehensive...

Feb 28, 2011

Hard-working and Prudent? You'll Live Longer

Taking it easy isn't the key to a long life, according to new research. Instead, it's the hard-working, prudent types who live the longest. The findings come from an unprecedented study of 1,528 gifted children followed from the early 1920s until their deaths. The health and longevity part of the...

Feb 28, 2011

Gastric Band Patients Suffer Major Complications Years Later

Gastric bands for obesity may help people lose weight, but patients frequently experience problems with the device years after they've had the procedure, a new study finds. Nearly 40 percent of patients in the study had some type of major complication with their band 12 or more years after they...

Feb 28, 2011

Warmer Weather May Be Linked to Worsened Heart Health

Rising temperatures and pollution levels may act together to worsen heart health, a new study suggests. The results show high temperatures in the summer months in a U.S. city are associated with a decrease in heart-rate variability, or how regular the time between heartbeats is, which acts as a measure...