A study by Indiana University neuroscientist Heather Rupp found that a woman`s partner status influenced her interest in the opposite sex. In the study, women both with and without sexual partners showed little difference in their subjective ratings of photos of men when considering such measures as masculinity and attractiveness. However, the women who did not have sexual partners spent more time...

Being overweight or obese does not make asthma worse in patients with mild and moderate forms of the disease, according to a study by National Jewish Health researchers, although it may reduce the response to medications. "With both asthma and obesity on the rise in recent years, there has been much interest in the possible link between these two conditions," said lead author E. Rand Sut...

It`s hard to miss the huge eye of a squid. But now it appears that certain squids can detect light through an organ other than their eyes as well. That`s what researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison report in the June 2 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study shows that the light-emitting organ some squids use to camouflage themselves to avoid being seen ...

What`s the secret to surviving during times of environmental change? Evolve…quickly. A new article in The American Naturalist finds that guppy populations introduced into new habitats developed new and advantageous traits in just a few years. This is one of only a few studies to look at adaptation and survival in a wild population. A research team led by Swanne Pamela Gordon from the Univer...

For years, doctors and other health-care providers have managed pregnant patients according to guidelines issued by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). In 1986, ACOG stated, "Regardless of how much women weigh before they become pregnant, gaining between 26-35 pounds during pregnancy can improve the outcome of pregnancy and reduce their chances of having the pregna...

As the frozen soil in the Arctic thaws, bacteria will break down organic matter, releasing long-stored carbon into the warming atmosphere. At the same time, plants will proliferate, nurtured by balmier temperatures, more nutrients from decomposing soil and the increasing abundance of the greenhouse gas they depend on for growth. These connected but contrasting changes have raised a question for sc...

Blood pressure lowering drugs should be offered to anyone old enough to be at risk of a heart attack or stroke (or who is otherwise known to be at risk), regardless of their blood pressure, according to the largest analysis of blood pressure trials to date, published on the British Medical Journal website. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death throughout the world. For 65 year olds ...

A new study published online in the journal Obesity provides further evidence that strict maternal control over eating habits – such as determining how much a child should eat and coaxing them to eat certain foods – during early childhood may not lead to significant future weight gain in boys or girls. Instead, this behavior may be a response to concerns over a child`s increasing weigh...

Nearly 20% of patients with recently diagnosed breast cancer had additional malignant tumors found only by MRI, according to a study performed at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. A total of 199 patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer underwent breast MRI. “We found additional, unsuspected cancers in the ipsilateral breast (the one that had already been diagnosed with cancer) in 16% of...

One well-known and often deadly consequence of alcohol intoxication is impaired driving. Yet still today, it is difficult for even trained observers to fully identify "intoxication," given that so many factors contribute to it. This review examines the very definition of intoxication, as well as methods designed to prevent impaired driving. "It is important to understand and recog...