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Weird science: 5 strange health findings this year

Sat, 01 Nov 2014 06:00:58 -0400

New and exciting health care discoveries are being made every day. Some give hope to those affected by a disease; others help explain the human body and mind a little bit better. The less publicized discoveries, the ones that don’t get the headlines, are often those that can leave you scratching your head.

Here are some recent such discoveries—they may not unlock the cure to a disease, but they teach us plenty about the human condition.

Body Odor Betrays Political Leanings

Dating and mating are far from random. We tend to pair up with people who have similar mindsets, beliefs, even body types. While religion dominates when it comes to how we select our partners, political ideology is a close second. That’s where body odor comes in. According to research published in the American Journal of Political Science, people are attracted to the body odor of those with similar political beliefs.

Unlike the religion connection, this link based on political beliefs has been poorly understood. To help explain it, researchers from various leading universities came together to conduct the body odor study. It included 125 adults who rated the body odor of 20 strongly liberal or strongly conservative people, without ever seeing them.

Overwhelmingly, the sniffers preferred the natural odor of those with political leanings similar to their own. One participant enjoyed a body odor sample so much she asked to take it home, while another suggested the very same sample had gone rancid. As you can guess, the man who provided the sample had similar political opinions to the woman that wanted to keep it, and opposite from the next woman.

Schizophrenia is Actually 8 Different Genetic Disorders

Landmark research published this year has shown that schizophrenia is more complex than previously thought. Genetic scientists evaluated the genetic makeup of 4,200 people diagnosed with schizophrenia and 3,800 normal individuals.

The study was novel in that instead of focusing on a singular gene, the researchers were able to look at clusters of genes. They found that some symptoms of schizophrenia actually correlated to a completely different group of genes than other symptoms. The relationships were all very strong: When individuals had certain gene combinations, they had a 100 percent chance of being schizophrenic.

Action Movies Make You Eat More Snacks

It’s well known that watching television and other sedentary activities cause people to eat more than when simply eating without distraction. Recent research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that what you watch on television also has an impact on how much you eat.

In the study, people watched either 20 minutes of an action movie, the same movie without sound, or an interview program with an array of cookies, candy, grapes, and carrots in front of them. Those who watched the action movie with sound ate nearly twice as much as those who watched the interview program, and those who watched the muted action movie ate 36 percent more.

Psychopaths With High IQs Can Mask Their Disorder

This new contribution to the field of psychiatry actually comes from a psychology student at England’s University of Huddersfield. The student gave tests designed to detect psychopathic tendencies to 50 adults. Those with psychopathic tendencies were categorized further by whether they were indifferent to or excited by images, situations or experiences normally seen as upsetting.

6 foods that help fight disease

Wed, 29 Oct 2014 06:00:54 -0400

When it comes to taking care of your health, prevention is key. This means going to regularly scheduled doctor and dental appointments, but it also means getting plenty of exercise, fruits, and vegetables.

Most naturally occurring fruits and vegetables contain disease-combatting antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Together, these three types of nutrients are called micronutrients and are known to promote immune health and protect against cancer. Some plant foods, however, have benefits beyond fighting cancer. Here are six that research shows have other distinct health advantages.

Turmeric

You can’t eat the first item on our list by itself, but the research on turmeric is too extensive to leave out. This tropical Asian spice is used heavily in curries and Indian cuisine, lending a yellow color to food. Before the Western world got ahold of it, herbalists used turmeric for centuries as a natural remedy for several ailments.

Turmeric contains an antioxidant called curcumin, which has anti-inflammatory properties, so it may be beneficial for such diseases as arthritis and ulcerative colitis. In addition, turmeric has been studied since the 1980s for its anticancer properties. Curcumin has shown promise in preventing and treating several types of cancers, including prostate, skin, and breast cancer.

Fatty Fish

Omega 3 fatty acids are what make fish like salmon and mackerel true superfoods; experts recommend three servings per week and for good reason. Fish oil has been known to be protective against heart disease for years and is recommended as part of any heart-healthy diet. In more recent years, fish oil was discovered to help improve memory and is being studied in Alzheimer’s disease patients.

But the anti-disease benefits don’t stop there. In clinical trials, fish oil has proven to be beneficial for patients with ulcerative colitis, making the disease less painful. In those with autoimmune diseases such as Crohn’s or rheumatoid arthritis, fish oil reduces relapses.

Broccoli

Like all cruciferous vegetables, broccoli has several anticancer components. Research shows that lung and breast cancer patients eat significantly fewer cruciferous vegetable servings than people who have never had cancer, and results have been mixed for similar studies involving prostate and pancreatic cancer patients. Many researchers believe this points to a protective effect of cruciferous vegetables against cancer.

But broccoli seems to have a greater protective effect against cancer than other cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. For this reason, it has been studied more extensively in humans, and several components in broccoli and broccoli sprouts have been pinpointed as anticancer agents.

In addition to fighting cancer, the antioxidants in broccoli also appear to lower the risk factors for heart attack and stroke in men.

Spinach

It seems like Popeye was onto something. Thanks to high concentrations of the antioxidants lutein and beta-carotene, spinach is a nutritional powerhouse. Like many dark, leafy vegetables, it’s also a great source of several vitamins and minerals that keep the immune system in top shape.

The combination of all these micronutrients results in protective benefits against many diseases. Research has credited spinach with anticancer benefits in addition to heart disease protection for those who eat it regularly. As a bonus, lutein is also great for the eyes and can help preserve healthy vision.

Blueberries

Blueberries are one of the most famous superfoods available because they are densely packed with antioxidants and vitamins. Many of those antioxidants are known to be protective against cancer, but the benefits of blueberries don’t stop there.

These berries, which are the most commonly consumed in America, can also help lower blood pressure and stimulate your metabolism. They’re also a brain food and may have protective effects against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, which are neurodegenerative, according to newer research.