A new study of classical Chinese medical texts identifies references to age-related memory impairment similar to modern-day Alzheimer’s disease, and to several plant-based ingredients used centuries ago — and still in use today — to treat memory impairment. Experimental studies of five of these traditional…

An international study has found that having a high status job means that you are less likely to respond to standard treatment with medications for depression. These results, which may have implications for clinicians and their patients, employers and public policy, are presented at the…

Exposure to bright light increases testosterone levels and leads to greater sexual satisfaction in men with low sexual desire. These are the results of a pilot randomised placebo-controlled trial, presented at the ECNP conference in Vienna.Low sexual desire affects significant numbers of men after the…

Smoking leaves its “footprint” on the human genome in the form of DNA methylation, a process by which cells control gene activity, according to new research inCirculation: Cardiovascular Genetics, an American Heart Association journal.

Feeding babies egg and peanut may reduce their risk of developing an allergy to the foods, finds a new study.In the research, which is the largest analysis of evidence on the effect of feeding allergenic foods to babies, scientists from Imperial College London analysed data…

Study is first to find link between gut flora and fat distribution in children, teens Children and teenagers who are obese have different microorganisms living in the digestive tract than their lean counterparts, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of…

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals may alter active form of vitamin in body Exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may reduce levels of vitamin D in the bloodstream, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.The…

‘I won’t be able to cope with my pain if I don’t sleep well’ – research from the University of Warwick reveals that the way chronic pain patients think about pain and sleep leads to insomnia and poor management of pain.Researchers from the Sleep and…

But lack of warmth may cancel health benefits of high socioeconomic status, Baylor study finds Growing up in a well-off home can benefit a child’s physical health even decades later — but a lack of parent-child warmth, or the presence of abuse, may eliminate the…

Being in a relationship does not necessarily, in itself, protect people from having suicidal thoughts. This is the finding of a recent study into the correlation between relationship status and suicidal thoughts conducted by scientists from MedUni Vienna’s Institute of Social Medicine and the Department…

In regions where cancer survival is poorer, people on average have lower awareness of cancer symptoms, according to new findings published  in the British Journal of Cancer. Researchers also found that general awareness of cancer symptoms varies greatly across England.

In a recent article, the Editors-in-Chief of two leading ethics journals stress that there should be better protections for patients from doctors’ personal values as well as more severe restrictions on the right of clinicians to conscientious objection, particularly in relation to assisted dying.