Author: Tom Patriot

Want to learn a new skill? Take some short breaks

Tom Patriot

In a study of healthy volunteers, National Institutes of Health researchers found that our brains may solidify the memories of new skills we just practiced a few seconds earlier by taking a short rest. The results highlight the critically important role rest may play in learning. “Everyone thinks you need to ‘practice, practice, practice’ when learning something new. Instead, we found that resting, early and often, may be just as critical to learning as practice,” said Leonardo G. Cohen, M.D., Ph.D., senior investigator at NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders…

Read More

Too much of a good thing? High doses of vitamin D can lead to kidney failure

Tom Patriot

A 54-year-old man, after returning from a trip to Southeast Asia where he spent much of his holiday sunbathing, showed increased levels of creatinine, suggesting kidney damage or malfunction. After referral to a kidney specialist and further testing, it was discovered that he had been prescribed high doses of vitamin D by a naturopath, who recommended a dose of 8 drops every day. Over 2 ½ years, the patient, who did not have a history of bone loss or vitamin D deficiency, took 8-12 drops of vitamin D daily, totalling…

Read More

Mouse and human skin cells produce melanin on a 48-hour cycle

Tom Patriot

Researchers have discovered that mouse skin and skin cells from humans produce pigmentation in response to sunlight on a 48-hour cycle. They observed that exposing skin to ultraviolet light every 2 days yielded darker pigmentation with less radiation damage than daily exposure. The findings appear October 25 in the journal Molecular Cell. “The damaging effects of high doses of ultraviolet rays are known, but we were curious to see the effect of exposure frequency on skin,” says senior author Carmit Levy, a molecular geneticist at Tel Aviv University. “It turns out…

Read More

The Next Potential Trade War Unsettles Stock Market

Tom Patriot

After closing on April 8th, the U.S. Trade Representative proposed an $11 billion list of European goods, including commercial aircraft, dairy products and wine, on which to impose tariffs. The U.S. is considering the actions as retaliation for European subsides to Airbus and the aerospace sector. Separately, the International Monetary Fund lowered its estimate for global economic growth this year to 3.3 percent from 3.5 percent. The major stock indexes were all down sharply. The Dow and S&P 500 indexes fell 0.72 percent and 0.61 percent respectively, while the Nasdaq…

Read More