Study finds pathological gambling runs in families

Problem gambling runs in families according to a University of Iowa study published in the journal Psychiatry Research. The study also found an excess of alcoholism, drug disorders and antisocial personality disorder in families with pathological gamblers. more  

Electrical impulses foster insulation of brain cells, speeding communications

Electrical impulses foster myelination, the insulation process that speeds communication among brain cells, report researchers at two institutes of the National Institutes of Health. more

Grieving parents at increased suicide risk

People age 70 and older who continued taking the antidepressant that helped them to initially recover from their first episode of depression were 60 percent less likely to experience a new episode of depression over a two-year study period than those who stopped taking the medication, according to a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health. The study addresses a major question in the treatment of depression — when to discontinue medication. more  

Scientists discover reason behind ear canal in chinese frog: Ultrasonic communication

A rare frog that lives in rushing streams and waterfalls of east-central China is able to make itself heard above the roar of flowing water by communicating ultrasonically, says new research funded in part by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), one of the National Institutes of Health. According to the study, which appears in the March 16, 2006, issue of Nature, attributes that enable the frog to hear ultrasounds are made possible by the presence of an ear canal, which most other frogs don’t have. The research may provide a clue into why humans and other animals also have ear canals: to hear high-frequency sounds. more

Standard blood-pressure-lowering treatment to reduce enlarged hearts is less effective in diabetic vs. nondiabetic patients  

Standard blood-pressure-lowering treatment to reduce dangerously enlarged hearts is much less effective and less beneficial in diabetic vs. nondiabetic patients, a team led by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center researchers reports in this month's issue of Circulation. more

Natural chemical process that turns off gene activity sometimes just turns it down instead: Implications for cancer research  

Researchers have discovered that a natural chemical process that usually turns off gene activity can sometimes work like a dimmer switch and instead simply turn down the activity. more

Commercial interests driving standards for formula milk

Commercial interests may be the strongest driver of what goes into formula milk, warn child health experts in this week’s BMJ. more