Category: Health

Metabolite may play a role in nicotine addiction

Tom Patriot

A substance that scientists identify to screen people for nicotine use may also play a role in smokers becoming addicted to tobacco. “When you smoke, nicotine is converted into a metabolite called cotinine,” explained South Dakota State University Psychology Professor Brady Phelps. Even those who inhale secondhand smoke can test positive for cotinine. The metabolite is measured in urine, saliva and blood. “Cotinine remains in the body much longer than nicotine,” Phelps said. The half-life—the amount of time it takes for half of the substance to leave a person’s system—is…

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High-intensity interval training increases injuries, research shows

Tom Patriot

People who engage in high-intensity interval training are at greater risk for injury, especially in the knees and shoulders, a Rutgers study found. These workouts, which combine aerobic exercising, weight lifting and calisthenics at maximum capacity, followed by periods of recovery, have been growing in popularity over the past decade, driven by the efficiency of the exercise to deliver fitness goals in less time. The study, which appears in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, acknowledged that while this type of training is effective in improving cardiorespiratory fitness, boosting…

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THE 4-STEP NIGHTTIME SKIN-CARE ROUTINE YOU NEED TO TRY

Tom Patriot

When nighttime rolls around we all have our go-to rituals, whether it be cozying up with a great book, watching TV, or in our case, reaching for our favorite nighttime skin-care products. A thorough evening skin-care routine is essential for many reasons — one of the most important being that as you enjoy your beauty sleep, your skin is working to repair and renew itself. By following a routine and applying the best nighttime skin-care productsto target your key concerns before catching some much-needed Zzz’s you set your skin up for success.…

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High-risk genes for schizophrenia discovered

Tom Patriot

Using a unique computational framework they developed, a team of scientist cyber-sleuths in the Vanderbilt University Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and the Vanderbilt Genetics Institute (VGI) has identified 104 high-risk genes for schizophrenia. Their discovery, which was reported April 15 in the journal Nature Neuroscience, supports the view that schizophrenia is a developmental disease, one which potentially can be detected and treated even before the onset of symptoms. “This framework opens the door for several research directions,” said the paper’s senior author, Bingshan Li, PhD, associate professor of Molecular…

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Does time of day affect the body’s response to exercise?

Tom Patriot

Two papers appearing April 18 in the journal Cell Metabolism confirm that the circadian clock is an important factor in how the body responds to physical exertion. The studies focused on different components of exercise, thereby complementing each other. Based on this work alone, it’s too early to say when the best time is for you to go for a jog. But at least in the lab, exercise in the evening seems to be more productive, although human lifestyles are much more complicated and so this area of research is only just…

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