Health, features and articles | Educational Science

Feb 28, 2007

Types of Eye Disease

Nature has many ways of making it hard for people to see. Here are eye disease prevalence numbers in adults 40 years and older in the United States, based on data from 2000: Cataract (20.5 million)—a clouding of the eye’s usually clear lens and is the leading cause of blindness...

Feb 28, 2007

Aging Muscles Become Hard of Hearing

As people age, neurons have to yell louder at the body's muscles to whip them into action, according to a new study, but exercise could reverse the aging effect. Researchers examined the relationship between neuron activity and corresponding muscle force for 23 subjects between the ages of 18 and 88....

Feb 28, 2007

Acids in Popular Sodas Erode Tooth Enamel

Root beer could be the safest soft drink for your teeth, new research suggests, but many other popular diet and sugared sodas are nearly as corrosive to dental enamel as battery acid. Prolonged exposure to soft drinks can lead to significant enamel loss, even though many people consider soft drinks...

Feb 28, 2007

Healthier Pizza Passes Taste Test

CHICAGO—Pizza could be made healthier through a few simple preparation tricks if consumers are willing to eat whole wheat crust, a new study suggests. Preparing and cooking whole-wheat pizza dough certain ways boosted antioxidant levels, scientists found. The researchers served some of their test pizza to reporters here today, and...

Feb 28, 2007

High-Beef Diets in Pregnant Women Could Lower Son's Sperm Count

Pregnant women who consume meat daily could be more likely to have sons with lower sperm counts than mothers on low-beef diets, suggests a new study. While the development of sperm occurs in steps throughout a guy's life from the pre-natal months to adulthood, a critical stage of development occurs...

Feb 28, 2007

Smokers Are Dead Weight at the Office

Smokers can be deadweights around the office with lower working performance and more sick days taken than their non-smoking colleagues, two new studies suggest. In one study, researchers monitored the career progression of more than 5,000 women entering the U.S. Navy between 1996 and 1997. Daily smokers, they found, showed...

Feb 28, 2007

Humans Can See Race and Sex Even in Simple Outlines

Adult minds are so keen at spotting race, gender and age that we can correctly guess those features from nothing more than a black-and-white silhouette, new experiments show. It's surprising how much information the silhouette provides, said Stanford University cognitive psychologist Nicolas Davidenko, who led the study. We rarely have...

Jan 31, 2007

Top 10 amazing facts about your heart

Matters of the Heart (Image credit: Credit: Dreamstime)Matters of the heart have baffled humans since the dawn of time, with sonnets and entire books devoted to the meaning of love. Now scientists are finding that the blood pump in your chest is just as complex. You can't live or love...

Jan 31, 2007

Older People More Optimistic

Older adults are more likely to see the glass as half full than half empty, a new study finds. Researchers showed 20 young adults, aged 19 to 22, a series of positive, neutral and negative images like chocolate ice cream, an electrical outlet and a dead animal, respectively. A separate...

Jan 31, 2007

'Kinship Detectors' Prevent Incest ... In Some Cases

People are born with kinship detectors that help us stay away from romantic entanglements with our siblings that could lead to evolutionary disaster, a new study suggests. But the system is far from fail-safe, the scientists found. The research suggest humans automatically and unconsciously gauge the relatedness of people they...

Jan 31, 2007

Cities Can Make You Skinny

People who live in the densest, pedestrian-friendly parts of New York City have a significantly lower body mass index (BMI) compared to other New Yorkers, a new study finds. Lower BMI indicates less body fat. The researchers say placing shops, restaurants and public transit near residences may promote walking and...

Jan 31, 2007

Study: Hospitals Should Open Windows to Curb Disease

Simply opening windows and doors could help prevent the airborne spread of germs inside hospitals, medical researchers now report. Airborne contagions can prove deadly, with tuberculosis alone killing 1.8 million people worldwide annually. The greatest risk for outbreaks of airborne contagions perhaps lies in hospitals, which concentrate infected patients and...

Dec 31, 2006

Herpes Might Cause Alzheimer's

Updated 3:01 p.m. ET New research supports growing concerns that herpes plays a role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia. The latest work, announced today, shows a link between a gene and herpes simplex 1, or HSV. The form of the ApoE gene called...

Dec 31, 2006

Beverage Studies Biased in Favor of Industry, Researchers Say

Drug companies aren't the only spin game in town when it comes to biased health-research claims. Studies funded completely by food and drink companies on the nutritional benefits of soft drinks, milk and various juices are four to eight times more likely than independently funded studies to draw conclusions that...

Dec 31, 2006

Caffeine Might Cut Post-Workout Pain

Forgo the after-workout massage for a cup o' Joe? Moderate doses of caffeine—the equivalent of two cups of coffee—can cut post-gym muscle pain, suggests a new but small study. The findings have particular relevance for people new to exercise, since they tend to experience the most soreness. “If you can...