If you're pregnant or hope to be, pay heed -- a new study says to stay away from several common contaminants.
The contaminant bisphenol-A, or BPA, used to make many plastics found in food storage containers and baby bottles; epoxy resins used in canned goods, and dental sealants may have long-term effects on female fertility.
Lead investigator Dr. Hugh S. Taylor said the study shows that BPA changes the expression of key developmental genes that form the uterus. If pregnant women are exposed to the estrogen-like properties found in BPA, it may impact female reproductive tract development and the future fertility of female fetuses the mother is carrying, according to the study published in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.
"The net effect is concerning," said Taylor. "We are all exposed to multiple estrogen-like chemicals in industrial products, food and pollutants."
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Using physiologic measurements, Massachusetts General Hospital researchers suggest there is a biologic component to feelings of empathic connection and that patients and therapists are "wired to connect."
The study, published in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, found that, during moments of high positive emotion, both patients and therapists had similar physiologic responses and that greater levels of similarity were related to higher ratings of therapist empathy by patients.
"This research supports brain imaging data that shows humans are literally 'wired to connect' emotionally," says lead author Dr. Carl Marci. "There is now converging evidence that, during moments of empathic connection, humans reflect or mirror each other's emotions, and their physiologies move on the same wavelength."
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Using garlic to treat children for various ailments appears to be generally safe, but more research needs to be done on its specific effects.
University of Alberta researchers found garlic tablets did appear to aid upper respiratory tract infections, resulting in a 1.7-fold reduction in morbidity compared with placebo and 2.4-fold reduction versus dibazole, a commercial parasiticide-containing medication. Garlic applied briefly to warts also proved effective with resolution reported in all children after three to nine weeks of treatment, according to the study published in Pediatrics in Review.
"Data are insufficient to recommend precise dosages when treating children," said Dr. Sunita Vohra, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. "Despite its longtime use in many cultures for its purported pharmacologic benefits, further research will help answer questions surrounding garlic's use in children."
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Sixteen-year-old U.S. drivers are involved in 38 percent fewer fatal crashes -- and 40 percent fewer crashes resulting in injuries -- if their state has a graduated driver licensing program, known as GDL.
"Motor vehicle crashes remain the number one cause of death for teens in the United States, and roughly 1,000 16-year-old drivers are involved in fatal crashes each year," said Brad Roeber, AAA Chicago president.
Many of the seven basic GDL components that were included as criteria in the study are in place in states across the nation. They include: a minimum age of at least 16 years before receiving a learner's permit, having a permit for at least 6 months before receiving a license, certification of at least 30 hours of supervised driving practice, an intermediate stage of licensing, nighttime driving restriction for intermediate license holders, a passenger restriction allowing no more than one passenger and a minimum age of 17 years for full, unrestricted licensure.
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It may not be much of a surprise, but a study found that placing shops, restaurants and public transit near residences may promote walking and independence from private automobiles.
New York City dwellers who reside in densely populated, pedestrian-friendly areas have significantly lower body mass index levels compared to other New Yorkers, according to lead author Andrew Rundle, of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University Medical Center.
"A mixture of commercial and residential land uses puts commercial facilities that you need for everyday living within walking distance," Rundle said. "You're not going to get off the couch to walk to the corner store if there's no corner store to walk to."
The findings are published in the March/April issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion.
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