Your genes could be a strong predictor of whether you stray into a life of crime, according to a research paper co-written by UT Dallas criminologist Dr. J.C. Barnes.
“Examining the Genetic Underpinnings to Moffitt’s Developmental Taxonomy: A Behavior Genetic Analysis” detailed the study’s findings in a recent issue of Criminology. The paper was written with Dr. Kevin M. Beaver from Florida State University and Dr. Brian B. Boutwell at Sam Houston State University.
The study focused on whether genes are likely to cause a person to become a life-course persistent offender, …

According to a new study, oral infections with the human papillomavirus (HPV) are more common in men than women.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, said that while the viruses can be found in saliva, HPV appears to be mostly spread through sex.
Study author Maura Gillison, a professor at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center said the virus can cause cancers at the back of the throat, tonsils and base of the tongue.  Patients infected with oral HPV type 16 have a 14 times higher …

Persistent bacterial infections can make a mess of our bowels and the usual treatment method of adding antibiotics usually causes even more disruptions. Researchers, however, are fine tuning a treatment that involves adding a sample of the stool of another which jump-starts the infected patients immune system, reports Kerry Grens for Reuters Health.
The procedure is used primarily to treat patients with infections from the bacterium Clostridium difficile. “It’s unbelievably effective,” said Dr. Neil Stollman, who was not involved in this research, but who has reported similar success using colonoscopy to …

According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, people with mild depression may find benefits to taking antidepressants.
Researchers analyzed data form six past studies done at the New York State Psychiatric Institute between 1985 and 2000.
The studies included 825 patients with non-severe, long-lasting depression enrolled in trials that compared symptoms with antidepressant treatment versus a placebo.
In three of the studies, the team found that patients taking an antidepressant improved more on a widely-used scale of depression symptoms and severity than those taking the placebo.
In four of the …

The odds of a major depressive episode are more than double for those working 11 or more hours a day compared to those working seven to eight hours a day, according to a report is published in the Jan. 25 issue of the online journal PLoS ONE.
The authors, led by Marianna Virtanen of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and University College London, followed about 2000 middle aged British civil servants and found a robust association between overtime work and depression. This correlation was not affected when the analysis was …

Scientists studying ocean microorganisms have encountered something they have never seen before. A marine virus that cons certain photosynthetic bacteria into letting it come inside because it appears to offer a “helping hand” by bringing resources very like their own to help them acquire phosphorus, a nutrient they are desperately short of. Once inside, the virus uses the host’s cellular resources to replicate itself. About ten hours later, the host cells explode and release the viral progeny back into the ocean.
Qinglu Zeng and Sallie “Penny” W. Chisholm of Massachusetts Institute …

There has been a large drop in the rate of leg and foot amputations among Americans aged 40 and over with diagnosed diabetes, according to a new study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published in the February issue of Diabetes Care. The study reports that between 1996 and 2008 the rate of such amputations fell by 65%.
The authors suggest the most likely reason for this large drop in leg and foot amputations among people with diagnosed diabetes is improvements in blood sugar control, foot care …

About one in five young adults in their late 30′s received a flu shot during the 2009-2010 swine flu epidemic, a University of Michigan (U-M) study released Jan 24 says.
But about 65 percent were at least moderately concerned about the flu, and nearly 60 percent said they were following the issue very or moderately closely.
Using survey data collected from approximately 3,000 young adults during the 2009-2010 H1N1 influenza epidemic, this second of three parts in a U-M Generation X Report explores the first serious infectious disease Americans ages 36-39 ever …

Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), a synthetic class of chemicals which are found in a variety of everyday items, have been found in the human body decades after exposure and are believed to lead to earlier menopause and reduced fertility among women. Some of the products that PFCs are found in include non-stick frying pans, waterproof clothing and fast food wrappers.
A new study is bringing to light clues that high exposure to PFCs in the womb or in childhood could also limit the protection offered by vaccinations to children’s health, reports Nick …

According to a report published Monday, giving birth can be far more hazardous to a woman’s health than obtaining a legal abortion, noting that pregnant women were up to 14 times more likely to die due to complications associated with childbirth compared to abortions.
The purpose of the study, the researchers said, was not to encourage women to get abortions but rather to emphasize that abortion is a safer procedure than many have been led to believe.
“We wouldn’t tell people, ‘Don’t have a baby because it’s safer to have an abortion’ …