In her youth, Shola, an English Shepherd Dog, was a member of the Edale Mountain Rescue Team, a corps of U.K. pooches charged with helping hurt and stranded hikers. But Shola was retired as part of the Rescue Team after a rare genetic disease affecting dogs, called progressive retinal atrophy (PRA), robbed her of her sight. It’s too late for Shola, but new research has led to a gene test that could prevent the disease from ever being passed down to puppies — perhaps someday eliminating PRA from dog populations for good. “Once the dog’s eyesight starts to fail, there’s no treatment – it will end up totally blind,” explained study first author Dr. Katherine Stanbury, a veterinary researcher at the University of Cambridge. Often an owner may not even realize their dog has PRA until middle-age, long after puppy breeding may have occurred. However, “now we have a DNA test, there’s no reason why another English Shepherd Dog ever needs to be born with this form of progressive retinal atrophy – it gives breeders a way of totally eliminating the disease,” Stanbury said in a Cambridge news release. The key was pinpointing which gene or genes led to the vision-robbing condition. Stanbury’s team did so by comparing DNA samples from six English Shepherds with PRA and 20 without it. The Cambridge group was already… read on > read on >
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Scientists May Have Spotted Way to Predict Seizures
The risk of seizures within the next 24 hours can be predicted by watching for abnormal brain activity patterns in people with epilepsy, a new study finds. The storm of brain activity that characterized a seizure is presaged by abnormal communication between specific areas of the brain, researchers discovered. They say they can forecast seizure risk by analyzing just 90 seconds of these aberrant brain signals, according to their report published in the journal Nature Medicine. If validated, this discovery could help improve quality of life for the 2.9 million Americans living with epilepsy, researchers said. “Until now, the changes in brain activity and the sequence of events leading up to a seizure have been largely unknown,” said lead researcher Dr. Vikram Rao, a professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). “By identifying one of those events, we can offer patients information that can reduce one of the most stressful aspects of epilepsy: the unpredictability of seizures,” Rao added in a UCSF news release. Current methods used to predict seizures require data gathered over long periods of time, and accuracy varies widely based on the individual and the method being used. Some patients with epilepsy have implants that monitor brain activity and attempt to head off seizures with electrical stimulation, researchers said in background notes. Unfortunately, these devices sometimes respond too… read on > read on >
Dogs Can Smell Your Stress and Make Choices Based on It
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Dogs can sniff out whether a human is stressed or relaxed, new research suggests, and that sensory feedback appears to influence canine emotions and choices. The dog doesn’t even have to know the human well to interpret odor in this way, the British researchers noted. “Dog owners know how attuned their pets are to their emotions, but here we show that even the odor of a stressed, unfamiliar human affects a dog’s emotional state, perception of rewards and ability to learn,” said study author Dr. Nicola Rooney. She’s a senior lecturer in wildlife and conservation at Bristol Veterinary School in Bristol, England. “Working dog handlers often describe stress traveling down the lead, but we’ve also shown it can also travel through the air,” she said in a university news release. Her team published its findings July 22 in the journal Scientific Reports. As the Bristol team noted, research has long pointed to scent as an important but perhaps under-appreciated form of emotional communication between people. Rooney’s group wondered if dogs, with olfactory senses that are so much more sophisticated than humans, might catch human emotions through smell, as well, and act accordingly. They constructed an elaborate experiment to find out. First, they trained dogs in a simple task: If a bowl was placed in one location, it invariably contained food. But if it was placed… read on > read on >
Natural Medicine: Head Outside for Better Mental Health, Study Finds
Spending time in nature can provide a boost for people with mental illness, a new review finds. Even as little as 10 minutes spent in a city park can improve a person’s symptoms, researchers found. The positive effects of nature approved particularly helpful for people with mood disorders like depression or bipolar disorder, results show. “We know nature plays an important role in human health, but behavioral health and health care providers often neglect to think about it as an intervention,” said lead researcher Joanna Bettmann, a professor at the University of Utah College of Social Work. For the review, researchers analyzed results from 45 studies involving nearly 1,500 people diagnosed with mental illnesses. The studies varied in structure, with some participants spending short amounts of time in a city park and others having multiple-day wilderness adventures. No matter how long people spent around nature, they always experienced positive results, results show. Results showed that water-based outdoor spaces — rivers, lakes and oceans — had the greatest positive effect. Camping, farming and gardening activities were the most beneficial. The new review was published recently in the journal Ecopsychology. “All of these different types of outdoor spaces delivered positive results, which underscores the importance of preserving green spaces in our natural and built environments,” Bettmann said in a university news release. However, the researchers warned that… read on > read on >
Daily Supplements May Slow ‘Dry’ Form of Macular Degeneration
Daily supplements can slow loss of vision related to late-stage “dry” age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a new study finds. The rate of dry AMD progression into a key eye region slowed by about 55% over an average three years for late-stage patients who took a daily blend of antioxidants and minerals, researchers reported July 16 in the journal Ophthalmology. Prior results have shown that supplements slow the progression from intermediate to late AMD, said lead researcher Dr. Tiarnan Keenan, a staff clinician with the National Eye Institute. “Our analysis shows that taking … supplements can also slow disease progression in people with late dry AMD,” Keenan said in an institute news release. The supplements include the antioxidants vitamin C, E, beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin, along with the minerals zinc and copper. Dry AMD is the most common form of macular degeneration, affecting nine out of 10 people with the eye condition, the Cleveland Clinic says. Dry AMD occurs when small yellow deposits of fatty proteins called drusen start to develop along the light-sensing retina at the back of a person’s eye, researchers explained in background notes. These deposits cause the loss of light-sensitive cells in the retina, a condition called “geographic atrophy” that slowly expands over time. As a result, people progressively lose their central vision. The new study focused on the fovea, a small… read on > read on >
Studies Support Use of Daily Antibiotic to Prevent STDs in High-Risk Groups
It’s long been known that popping the antibiotic doxycycline within 72 hours of a risky sexual encounter can greatly reduce a person’s risk for a sexually transmitted infection (STI). In fact, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention formally recommended this type of “morning after” strategy last month. But what if folks at especially high risk for STIs simply took “doxy” daily — similar to how some people now take HIV meds as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent that infection? Two small new studies suggest that this so-called “DoxyPrEP” strategy may indeed keep STIs at bay. Both reports are scheduled to be presented next week at the 25th International AIDS Conference in Munich. One study involved 52 gay or bisexual Canadian men living in Toronto and Vancouver. All of the men were living with HIV, and they also had a past history of contracting a common STI, syphilis. For 48 weeks, the men were randomly divided into two groups: One group took a 100-milligram pill of doxycycline daily, while the other took a “dummy” placebo pill. Overall, 41 of the 52 men completed the trial. In the group that got doxycycline daily, rates of new syphilis infections fell by 79%, reported study co-author Dr Troy Grennan, of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control. Rates of two other common STIs also declined for the… read on > read on >
FDA Allows Marketing of Vuse Tobacco-Flavored Vapes
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday authorized the sale of the country’s best-selling e-cigarette. The agency’s decision only applies to several tobacco-flavored versions of the reusable product, sold as Vuse. In January 2023, the FDA rejected R.J. Reynold’s application for its more popular menthol flavor, but the company has challenged that ruling in court. Last month, the FDA granted competitor Njoy the first authorization for a menthol-flavored e-cigarette. That vaping brand is controlled by tobacco giant Altria. Despite the Vuse authorization, the FDA stressed that e-cigarettes are far from safe. “All tobacco products are harmful and potentially addictive,” the agency said in a new release announcing the decision. “Those who do not use tobacco products, especially young people, should not start.” In its decision, the agency noted that tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes do not hold the same appeal among youth that fruit- and candy-flavored vaping products do. “While FDA remains concerned about the risk of youth use of all e-cigarettes, youth are less likely to use tobacco‐flavored e-cigarette products compared to other flavors,” the agency said. “According to the 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey, Vuse was among the most commonly reported brands used by middle and high school students currently using e-cigarette. However, only 6.4% of students who currently used e-cigarettes reported using tobacco‐flavored products.” To further discourage vaping among teens and adolescents, the FDA added that it… read on > read on >
Fat Cats Purrfect for Studying Obesity in Humans
Pudgy with a purpose: Fat cats could help humans better understand the way gut bacteria influences conditions like obesity and type 2 diabetes, a new study claims. Food-related changes in obese cats’ gut microbiome have striking similarities to the way diet affects the gut of humans, researchers reported recently in the journal Scientific Reports. As a result, pet cats might be the best source of information about the human microbiome, and whether altering gut bacteria could help battle obesity, researchers say. “Being able to see changes in cats that come up in the context of obesity and type 2 diabetes in people makes them a really good model to start looking at more microbiome-directed therapeutics for obesity in humans if we’re seeing a similar shift,” said lead researcher Dr. Jenessa Weston, an assistant professor of veterinary clinical sciences at Ohio State University. “Animals share our beds. They share our ice cream. There are all these things that people do with their pets that highlight they are a naturally occurring disease model with similar environmental exposures as humans,” Weston added in a university news release. For the study, researchers fed seven obese cats a rigidly engineered diet for 16 weeks. The diet progressed from free-feeding of commercial cat food to feeding a special weight-loss diet, then to calorie-restricted feeding of the weight-loss food. Researchers found that… read on > read on >
Frequent House Moves Take Lifetime Toll on Kids’ Mental Health
Kids whose families frequently move have a significantly higher risk of depression later in life, a new study warns. Children who move once between the ages of 10 and 15 are 41% more likely to be diagnosed with depression in adulthood, compared with those whose families don’t move, researchers found. And kids who move twice or more at that age are 61% more likely to develop depression, results. By comparison, kids who live in a poor neighborhood are 10% more likely to develop depression as adults, researchers noted. The results suggest that a settled home environment during childhood is crucial to protecting children against future mental health problems. “We know there are a number of factors which lead to a person being diagnosed with a mental illness,” said lead researcher Clive Sabel, a professor with the University of Plymouth in the U.K. “However, this is the first evidence to suggest that moving to a new neighborhood during childhood is among them, and we believe the numbers we are seeing could be the tip of the iceberg.” “During those formative years, children are building their social networks through school, sports groups or other activities,” Sabel said in a university news release. “Each time they have to adapt to something new it can be disruptive, so we potentially need to find new ways to help people overcome… read on > read on >
Altered Mealtimes Linked to Depression, Anxiety in Shift Workers
Folks need to have their meals at regular intervals or risk slipping into anxiety or depression, a new study of airline personnel has found. Delaying breakfast or dinner appears to increase a person’s risk of developing a mood disorder, researchers report. The study also found that confining meals to a 12-hour “eating window” every day helps sustain an even mood — good news for folks who engage in intermittent fasting. “An eating window of less than 12 hours may be associated with reduced severity of anxiety or depression,” concluded the research team led by Mi Xiang, an associate professor with Shanghai Jio Tong University in China. For the study, researchers analyzed data from more than 22,600 airline crew members participating in an ongoing health survey of employees at China’s major airlines. The team tracked when participants ate breakfast and dinner, and how much time passed between meals. They then compared that data to the crew members’ scores on anxiety and depression screening tools. They found that people working a day shift who delayed their dinner past 8 p.m. had twice the risk of depression and a 78% higher risk of anxiety, compared with when they ate before 8 p.m., according to results published July 17 in the journal JAMA Network Open. Similarly, delaying breakfast until after 9 a.m. increased risk of depression by 73% and… read on > read on >