In response to stressors, individuals exhibit different coping styles, each characterized by a set of behavioral, physiological, and psychological responses.
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Irregular sleep may increase risk of cardiovascular events
The body’s clock keeps metabolism, blood pressure and heart rate running on schedule. But when an irregular sleep pattern disrupts this delicate ticking, what happens? A new study led by investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital measured participants’ sleep duration and timing, finding that over a five-year period, individuals who had the most irregular sleep experienced a two-fold increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease compared to those with the most regular sleep patterns. The team’s findings are published in The Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
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Length of pregnancy alters the child’s DNA
Researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have, together with an international team, mapped the relationship between length of pregnancy and chemical DNA changes in more than 6,000 newborn babies. For each week’s longer pregnancy, DNA methylation changes in thousands of genes were detected in umbilical cord blood. The study is published in Genome Medicine.
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Youth exposure to tobacco outlets and cigarette smoking
A new study led by researchers at the Prevention Research Center of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation explores these questions using real time data from 100 youth participants from 16-20 years old to assess the effect of exposure to tobacco outlets on same-day smoking and the number of cigarettes consumed.
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Coping strategies, a matter of neurons
In response to stressors, individuals exhibit different coping styles, each characterized by a set of behavioural, physiological, and psychological responses. The active behavioural style refers to efforts to blunt the impact of stressors and is related to resilience to stress, whereas the passive behavioural style refers to efforts to avoid confronting stressors and is associated with vulnerability to psychopathology. This is a well-known scientific question, shortly called the “fight or flight.” However, the biological basis of the brain has not been fully understood.
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Women paid less than men even at highest levels of academic medicine, study finds
Women who chair clinical departments at public medical schools are paid an average of 88 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts, or about $70,000 to $80,000 less per year, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and UC San Francisco report.
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Child access prevention laws spare gun deaths in children
U.S. states with laws regulating the storage of firearms in households with minors had a 13 percent reduction in firearm fatalities in children under 15 compared to states with no such regulations, finds a study from Boston Children’s Hospital. States with the most restrictive laws had the greatest reduction: 59 percent reduction as compared to states with no laws. Results of this analysis, spanning 26 years, were published in a paper on March 2, 2020 in JAMA Pediatrics.
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Study shows rising age of first drug use in teens, young adults
The average age at which teens and young adults start using drugs has been rising, according to a study published today in JAMA Pediatrics.
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New study may explain why people with autism are often highly sensitive to light and noise
Many people with autism spectrum disorders are highly sensitive to light, noise, and other sensory input. A new study in mice reveals a neural circuit that appears to underlie this hypersensitivity, offering a possible strategy for developing new treatments.
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Memory concerns? Blood test may put mind at ease or pave way to promising treatments
A blood test that may eventually be done in a doctor’s office can swiftly reveal if a patient with memory issues has Alzheimer’s disease or mild cognitive impairment and can also distinguish both conditions from frontotemporal dementia. If approved, the blood test could lead to a jump in the number of Alzheimer’s patients enrolling in clinical trials and be used to monitor response to those investigational treatments.
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