Obesity :: A higher risk of obesity for children neglected by parents

Strategies for decreasing a child’s risk for obesity often focus on improving eating habits and maintaining a high level of physical activity. While this is one way to address the issue, another way to reduce the risk of childhood obesity could simply come down to positive parenting, according to a Temple University study published in the November issue of Child Abuse & Neglect.

Heart Attack :: Eating your greens could prove life-saving if a heart attack strikes

A diet rich in leafy vegetables may minimize the tissue damage caused by heart attacks, according to researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. Their findings, published in the November 12 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that the chemical nitrite, found in many vegetables, could be the secret ingredient in the heart-healthy Mediterranean diet.

Multiple Sclerosis :: Jefferson neuroscientists show anti-inflammation molecule helps fight MS-like disease

An immune system messenger molecule that normally helps quiet inflammation could be an effective tool against multiple sclerosis (MS). Neurology researchers led by Abdolmohamad Rostami, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Neurology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and the Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience in Philadelphia, have found that the protein interkeukin-27 (IL-27) helped block the onset or reverse symptoms in animals with an MS-like disease.

Obesity :: Body-weight regulation scientists give perspective on obesity-related research

When obesity overloads the body with excess nutrients, parts start to fail. Obesity contributes to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure, some cancers, liver disease, immune dysfunction, painful joints, and a host of other problems. With so many parts of the body affected, studies of the health effects of obesity that concentrate on one body organ or system may overlook common underlying events occurring at the cellular level throughout the body.