Health News

Study helps explain how religious beliefs are formed

Feeling anxious can direct our attention and memory toward supernatural beings such as gods, a University of Otago study has found. Lead author Dr. Thomas Swan, of the Department of Psychology, says the research may help explain how religious beliefs are formed. For the study, published in the International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, […]

Health News

Changing diets—not less physical activity—may best explain childhood obesity crisis

Variation in consumption of market-acquired foods outside of the traditional diet—but not in total calories burned daily—is reliably related to indigenous Amazonian children’s body fat, according to a Baylor University study that offers insight into the global obesity epidemic. “The importance of a poor diet versus low energy expenditure on the development of childhood obesity […]

Health News

Identifying a gene that could explain disparity in COVID-19 effects

The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, has identified a specific genetic target that could help explain the tremendous variation in how sick those infected with COVID-19 become. The study results, recently published in the journal mSphere, describe a molecule made from DNA—miR1307—as a potential dimmer switch that may influence […]

Personal Health

Genetics could explain how traumatic events affect people’s health

Facing the death of a loved one, being given a life-threatening diagnosis, or living through a natural disaster is difficult enough. But those who get through these traumatic life events often face further ill effects. Someone’s chances of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety all increase after being exposed to significant stressors. And […]

Personal Health

Scientists identify mechanism that may explain why males are more at risk than females for neurodevelopmental disorders

Researchers have recently begun to realize that biological sex plays a key role in disease risk. Sex plays a role in hypertension, diabetes, arthritis—and in many neurological and psychiatric disorders. Depression and anxiety affect females more, while neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorders, early onset schizophrenia, and attention deficit hyperactivity, affect more males. Males are […]