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Emily at The Antidote blogged earlier this year about a topic that has been of great interest to me for a long time – open access to scientific journals. As Americans our taxes pay for lots of research to be done – but we don’t have access to the results of that research. The results get published in journals that are really too expensive for most people to subscribe to – many are hundreds of dollars a year. The only ones who then end up with access are people at universities or large corporations that can afford an institutional subscription rate. That leaves most people without access to the results of research that we have paid for. What can we do about this? I don’t know, I need to learn more about the details of what’s involved. If/when I find out something, I’ll be sure to post it on this blog.
Barry Leiba at Staring at Empty Pages wrote last week about a really frightening report of the UK – only about 5% of reported rapes result in convictions. He then goes through each of the arguments many men use as an excuse for rape – read it – we need more men like him to make it clear to other men that rape is not an acceptable behavior.
One man is killed for teaching girls, another for giving a patient an abortion, an 8 year old girl is sold as a concubine – what do all these cases have in common? Read the The Rational Fool’s post on the Root of Evil II.
In other science news Michael White of Adaptive Complexity updates us on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. There is now so much evidence that people are responsible for climate change that anyone who still tries to say otherwise just looks stupid. He explains it much better than me though.
(Technorati Tags: research, open access)
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Related Posts:
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- Launch of Indy Science Blogs!
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February 8, 2007
Kids and obesity
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A number of studies have came out recently about health issues in overweight kids. One, from the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons points out the risk of foot damage. Kid’s feet don’t become developed completely until they are in their teens – for boys this is from 15 to 17 years old and for girls, 14 or 15. If too much weight and stress is on their feet it can lead to foot structure problems such as arches flattening and the growth plate of the heel becoming inflamed.
According to the Journal of the National Medical Association kids, like adults who are obese, may risk more complications from surgery such as breathing problems, airway obstruction and needing more anti-nausea medication.
Earlier this year the Journal of Pediatrics published a study showing that even girls as young as 9 have sometimes developed problems that put them at higher risk for heart disease. This includes higher blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
A report in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine collected data on the eating habits and activity levels of over 800 adolescents. The behaviors they analyzed were 1) amount of physical activity, 2) number of servings of fruits and vegetables, 3) % of calories from fat and 4) time spent watching televsion.
The results were somewhat shocking! Over half didn’t engage in 60 or more minutes of activity each day, only 12% ate 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables, just 32% got less 30% of calories from fat and around 30% watched more than 2 hours of TV a day. Only 2% did all four healthy things. And in addition, there was some evidence the behavior of the kids was related to the behavior of their parents.
I’m not sure if I really meet all those guidelines either – but I’ve been working on it. I don’t quite get an average of 60 minutes of exercise each day, but I’m working on it. I’m a little short on the fruits and vegetables thing too, but most days I watch less than 2 hours of TV – plus when I watch it is usually while I’m exercising.
I will definitely make sure my behavior is better by the time I’m a parent. One of the best ways to get kids to live a healthy lifestyle is to set a good example as parents.
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Related Posts:
- New cardiovascular disease prevention guidelines for women
- Nutrition and cancer
- 12 Things You Can Do To Set a Healthy Example for Your Kids
February 6, 2007
Prenatal health
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According to a report in The Lancet there is now a potential new test to check for genetic abnormalities like Down’s syndrome. Currently testing for these types of things involves using chorionic villus sampling (CVS) or amniocentesis. This new test is non-invasive and analyzes DNA from the fetus taken from the mother’s blood samples. More trials and testing will need to be done with it before it will be approved for medical care.
In the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine there is a paper presenting evidence that women taking antidepressants, such as SSRI’s like Prozac and Zoloft, while pregnant doesn’t have an effect on the behavior of the child later on. Four year old children were observed and no statistically significant behavior differences were seen. However, the mother’s moods and stress levels seemed to have an effect on the kids behavior and development.
Drinking alcohol while pregnant – especially during the first two months when many women don’t know they are pregnant – can result in birth defects, can negatively effect normal development of the nervous system and cause fetal alcohol syndrome. In a study published in American Journal of Preventive Medicine over 800 women who drank often and didn’t use reliable birth control were placed randomly into either a group to get counseling or not. It was found that even 5 short sessions with a counselor were enough to reduce their drinking and get them to use birth control.
(Technorati Tags: pregnancy, antidepressants, Prozac, Zoloft, alcohol)
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Related Posts:
- Pregnancy and newborn health part 2
- Pregnancy and child birth (Part 2)
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February 5, 2007
Lung health in women and children
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Recently in The Lancet a paper was published that presents evidence that kids who live with 500 yards of a highway have less lung function as an adult. The study collected data from over 3000 kids in southern California for a period of 8 years. Air pollution from traffic apparently keeps their lungs from developing properly. Decreased lung functioning at a younger age increases the chances of respiratory and cardiovascular disease later on in life.
Another report in the New England Journal of Medicine indicates that the risk of heart disease such as strokes and heart attacks is greatly increased in women who are exposed to fine particulate air pollution. This type of pollution is made of very tiny particles and comes from the burning of fossil fuels. It is not yet known how these particles result in such problems but it may be due to them causing inflammation in the blood vessels and the lungs – which could then lead to the build up of fatty deposits in the arteries.
Data from a paper in Lung Cancer suggests that more money and effort should be put into research in lung cancer in women. More women die from lung cancer than other types of cancer such as breast, ovarian and uterine. Due to smoking being more common in men and women in the past, men’s rate of lung cancer was higher, but now it is increasing in women. It is believed that women might be more susceptible to carcinogens in smoke from tobacco than men are. In the past more lung cancer research was focused on just men. It is now also known that women respond to treatment for lung cancer differently from men. Clearly, much more research needs to be completed to fully understand lung disease in women and how if differs from men.
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February 2, 2007
Science of beauty products
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Today I want to introduce you to a blog of a couple of my fellow Indy Science Bloggers – The Beauty Brains. They are both professional cosmetic chemists who have more than 30 years of experience with cosmetics. They blog about all sorts of topics concerning beauty products and the science behind them. For example they have posts about hair, skin, make-up and much more.
Today I spent some time reading about sunscreens on their blog. I do a lot of gardening in the summer so I am out in the sun quite a bit. I want to minimize the effect the sun has on my skin – age spots and wrinkles as well as reduce my chance of getting skin cancer.
One post answers the question of what is a good sunscreen. They explain the differences between UVA and UVB light and the damage done by both. They also talk about the difference between physical and chemical UV blockers.
In another post they mention that antioxidants in sunscreen may actually have some antiaging properties. I never would have thought that. I just figured it was something made up to get people to buy a product!
They also discuss issues surrounding which sunscreens are available in the US compared to Europe. Its partly due to regulatory and legal issues because in the US sunscreens have to approved by the FDA.
It looks like when summer gets here this year I will have to put a little more thought into what sunscreen I buy this time!
Here’s a question I have for the Beauty Brains – you mentioned on your site that grey hair looks grey because it has lost its melanin, which gives hair its pigment. What’s the biology involved with that? What actually causes hair to lose its melanin? And is there anything we can do to slow the process down? And why do my grey hairs seem more kinky and unruly compared to the rest of my hair?
(Technorati Tags: cosmetics, antioxidants, sunscreen, melanin, wrinkles, grey hair, cancer)
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