Category: Health

Maternal diet during pregnancy may modulate the risk of ADHD symptoms in children

Tom Patriot

The results of a study led by a team from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by “la Caixa,” suggest that the risk of a child developing symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be modulated by the mother’s diet during pregnancy. The study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, analysed samples of umbilical cord plasma to quantify the levels of omega-6 and omega-3 that reach the fetus. The statistical analysis showed a higher omega-6:omega-3 ratio to be associated with a higher risk of ADHD symptoms…

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Men’s testosterone levels largely determined by where they grow up

Tom Patriot

Men’s testosterone levels are largely determined by their environment during childhood, according to new research. The Durham University-led study suggests that men who grow up in more challenging conditions where there are lots of infectious diseases, for example, are likely to have lower testosterone levels in later life than those who spend their childhood in healthier environments. The study, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, challenges the theory that testosterone levels are controlled by genetics or race. As high testosterone levels potentially lead to an increased risk of prostate enlargement and…

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Do Pore Strips Really Work? Here’s What Dermatologists Say

Tom Patriot

Even if you’ve never used a nose strip before, chances are you’re familiar with them. The iconic Bioré commercials or Mia Thermopolis (aka Anne Hathaway) in The Princess Diaries wearing one in all her awkward teenage glory are just two examples of where you would have seen the popular blackhead treatment in action. Much like sheet masks and pimple stickers, pore strips — often known simply as “nose strips,” due to the facial feature’s overwhelming popularity in this skin-care genre — are much like sheet masks and pimple stickers in that they’re bizarrely satisfying to use.…

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Dopamine conducts prefrontal cortex ensembles

Tom Patriot

Anyone who has savored a bite of chocolate or glanced at each new blinking notification on their smart phone is familiar with dopamine. But that is not all dopamine does. This chemical neurotransmitter also plays a fundamental role in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which controls higher functions such as paying attention, staying motivated, and making decisions. Now, research in rodents reveals for the first time how dopamine changes the function of the prefrontal cortex. In a study published in the journal Cell Reports, researchers found that dopamine has little…

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Geographers use big data to predict how slope affects human travel rates

Tom Patriot

Have you ever been running on a sidewalk making pretty good time, then hit a hill and slowed way down? If so, you’ve experienced how slope affects travel rates. For most of us, understanding how slope steepness impacts our speed is a matter of fitness. For others, such as wildland firefighters retreating from the fire line to a safety zone, predicting how long it takes to move across terrain can be a matter of life and death. Fire crews, city planners and search and rescue teams are just some of…

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