Schepens Eye Research Institute scientists have found that–when tested in a driving simulator–patients with hemianopia (blindness in one half of the visual field in both eyes) have significantly more difficulty detecting pedestrians (on their blind side) than normally sighted people. These results, published in the November 2009 issue of Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, ...

In a development that could have significant ramifications for the nation`s health care system, Baby Boomers may well be entering their 60s suffering far more disabilities than their counterparts did in previous generations, according to a new UCLA study. The findings, researchers say, may be due in part to changing American demographics. ...

Aside from aging itself, obesity appears to be the most powerful predictor of left atrial enlargement (LAE), upping one`s risk of atrial fibrillation (the most common type of arrhythmia), stroke and death, according to findings published in the November 17, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. This prospective study — the first to evaluate factors affecting left ...

Being warm enough at home might lead to better health, according to a new review appearing online in the American Journal of Public Health. Hilary Thomson, of the Medical Research Council`s Social and Public Health Sciences Unit in Glasgow, Scotland, and her colleagues combined the results of 40 studies from the 1930s through 2007. Improvements in general, mental, and respiratory health followed i...

People who become ill from harmless smells are not being silly, says Dutch researcher Patricia Bulsing. Rather, they perceive these smells differently than other people. The smell is detected more rapidly by the brain and processed more deeply. If you expect to become ill from a smell, then the smell in question might really make you ill. Would your favourite perfume smell just as attractive if th...

Highly active antiretroviral therapy has increased the longevity and quality of life for people living with human immunodeficiency virus. But it requires strict adherence in taking the medicine, something that is extremely difficult for many individuals to do. Two new University of Washington studies illustrate just how hard it is to make sure people take their HIV medication. One study looked at ...

Retirees who transition from full-time work into a temporary or part-time job experience fewer major diseases and are able to function better day-to-day than people who stop working altogether, according to a national study. And the findings were significant even after controlling for people`s physical and mental health before retirement. The study`s authors refer to this transition between career...

Two decades ago, studies showed that computer users were violating best practices for setting up hack-proof passwords, and not much has changed since then. What`s clear, say researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and IT University in Copenhagen, is that until human factors/ergonomics methods are applied to the problem, it isn`t likely to go away. They will present the results of their ...

Can the way stock information is presented lead investors to make the wrong decisions? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research shows that when investors use charts, they are likely to make a baseless decision about the riskiness of a stock based on its run-length. Stock graphs are everywhere, available on financial and public websites to be loaded and customized by users. Authors Priya Rag...

A University of Utah sleep expert has joined with researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and Stanford University to identify a genetic variation in humans, which the scientists also developed in mouse models, that allows a rare number of people to require less sleep than others. Published in the Aug. 13 issue of the journal Science, the study describes how a genetic var...